But he's off to a pretty good start. He's learned what it takes to win a Stanley Cup — something billions of hockey players have never and will never learn. He knows how to make a professional goaltender look foolish with a flick of the wrist. Although you can't teach speed, he certainly understands the importance his wheels mean to the Black and Gold attack.
However, after a recent discussion with general manager Peter Chiarelli, a few things are painfully obvious.
First, he needs to figure out a way to adjust his watch based on time zone changes. He''ll most certainly have to learn how to not mistake the volume knob for the tuning knob when setting his alarm. He'll learn that the front desk at even the dirtiest of roach motels will be happy to give you a wake-up call. Also, relying on a mental alarm clock is so minor leagues. Plus, you never know when extreme hot tub relaxation will cause you to hit your mental snooze.
And that's just the gist of what he'll learn in terms of sleep habits after missing a team breakfast and meeting on Tuesday morning in Winnipeg, a mistake that cost him a game on the ice.
For Seguin and the Bruins, this benching couldn't have come at a better time. Sure they lost, but the defeat will be worth it — a small sacrifice that will pay dividends down the long and winding road of TS19. Despite the B's being red hot and Seguin leading the way, the kid needed this. In fact, everyone either needs a good benching or needs to see it, no matter the skill level. No matter the streaks.
This isn't to say Seguin is some cocky punk who needs to be put in his place — he's far from it. He's a young kid who made one too many mistakes. He's also a budding megastar who is learning the ropes on the fly. Most of those ropes, believe it or not, are dealing with team rules and responsibility as a professional athlete. What seems to be nothing more than joining teammates for breakfast (the most important meal of the day!), runs much deeper, and paying the repercussions for it is worth it's weight in gold.
Why? Because everyone needs a reality check and for Seguin, in his second year as an NHL sniper, now's as good a time as ever. It's better for the kid to get the wake-up call now (pun intended) than to let such a lesson pass him by before it's too late.
This was also a great message to his teammates, which basically told the bunch that if you miss meetings, you sit — no matter who you are or what meeting it is. It also keeps the younger guys on their toes. Do you think Jordan Caron was preparing to lace 'em up in The Peg? Do you now think he'll go to bed (and set his alarm for breakfast) each night before a road game with the notion that he may be needed as a last-minute fill in? You betcha.
But don't blow off my B.S. yet, Bruins fan, because this message is threefold and it deals with you. Think about it — what did the benching say about this franchise? About its attitude? It was upsetting to hear that the team's hottest skater was a healthy scratch, but what fans can't argue is that Chiarelli and head coach Claude Julien putting their foot down is a great sign. A sign of a winning team, almost Belichickian? In this no-nonsense town, fans don't want some prima donna making his own rules, ticking off teammates and sleeping in just cause they're in Fabulous Winn Vegas. Clearly this isn't some loose-cannon locker room, and if something as minor as Seguin sleeping in results in a seat in the press box, it's clear that nothing worse than that can fester.
Feel at least a little better about the loss now?
Seguin's learned a lot in his short stint in The Hub and he's proven to bounce back. Remember last year's postseason? After watching from the ninth floor during the first two rounds, he bagged six points in the first two games against Tampa Bay. He wasn't happy about sitting then, and he's sure not happy about it now.
"Any time you have to go in the stands, I wasn't happy with myself," he told the Boston Herald. "I told myself I never want to be back up there again. You watch the game and there isn't anything you can do about it. That isn't a feeling I want to have again."
Lesson learned. Just another of many more to come.
Photo via Flickr/Jamie Kellner
