Passionforhockey
01-16-2009, 09:51 PM
saw this and thought its worth posting.. very informative. hits on some the unfortunate bs that was thrown. (ie- supposedly being kicked off the Crunch team in the spring, working at a pizza shop etc. etc.)
http://blog.dispatch.com/cbj/2009/01/q_a_with_stefan_legein.shtml
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Q & A With Stefan Legein
Forward Stefan Legein rode to Cleveland on Tuesday to rejoin the Syracuse Crunch, the Blue Jackets’ minor-league club that he left after only two playoff games last spring.
In the coming days, Legein will attempt to recapture a once-promising career that saw the Blue Jackets select him with their second-round pick in the 2007 NHL draft. Legein stunned the franchise over the summer with his decision not to report to training camp. He instead remained home, recharging his battery and watching an old teammate and fellow Oakville, Ontario native Steve Mason become one of the Blue Jackets’ biggest stories.
On Monday, he finally reported to Columbus to take a physical and speak with members of the Jackets’ management. Standing in a locker room he hopes to one day call home, Legein agreed to an interview with Puck-rakers:
Question: What has changed in your life since notifying the Jackets that you wouldn’t be attending training camp?
Answer: “It wasn’t that I didn’t like hockey, I was just a little bit stressed, a little bit drained and I didn’t want to come in here any thing less than 100 percent. All I did was recharge my battery. For me, this is starting the season on a fresh new page. Hopefully, my play will be good enough to make everyone forget what happened.”
Q: You were sent to minor-league Syracuse at the end of your junior season in Niagara Falls, but you only stayed there for two games before going home. What happened?
A: “I was just so drained. I started the (2007-08) season earlier than most people because I was playing (for Team Canada) in Russia in August (of 2007). I did a whole Western Canada tour and then to Columbus (for training camp), then back for my (junior) season. It wasn’t about Syracuse. I was just looking forward to a break at the end of the season.
“It was selfish on my part. The farm team was in the playoffs and Columbus wanted me to keep playing, but I was so drained I couldn’t do it.”
Q: Do you have some fence-mending to do with the Crunch?
A: “I do have some (fence mending), but players are usually quick to forget and they won’t hold it over my head, I hope. It was a personal decision. I love the coaches there, I love the staff. I had a good time there, but it was bad timing in my life when I was there. If the guys don’t forgive me it’s my job to keep working hard until they see that they have to.”
Q: There were a lot of rumors as to why you didn’t attend camp? What were the most outrageous to you?
A: “The stuff about drugs. That’s not fair to my family or my friends. You never want to hear that about a son or a friend when it’s not true. It really sucked. The people who know me know they were only rumors, they were outrageous. You can’t take it too deep. People wanted to know why this was happening and I knew this stuff was going to happen when I made my decision. It’s something I had to deal with.”
Q: Can you be a bit more specific on why you needed time off?
A: “I just needed to take a step back and make sure what I was doing was right for me. Everyone looks out for themselves and I needed to take a step back. I’m glad I did because I’m focused and ready to work.”
Q: There are going to be people who ask, ‘Why would the Blue Jackets give this guy a second chance after spending a half season without the team?’ How do you respond?
A: “I would understand if they (the Blue Jackets) didn’t want me back, but they do. They picked me at a high position and fortunately enough for me I’ve made enough of an impact before this happened. They didn’t support my decision, which I understand. You can’t just be letting people take time off all the time, but they were great about it. They told me, ‘We’ll have you back when you are ready to come back.’
“They also let me know I wasn’t coming back to a nice parade, but that I was coming back a lot lower on the totem pole than I was. I understood I was going to have to work my way back. That’s only fair.”
Q: Feel like you are on a shorter leash and cannot afford any screw-ups?
A: “I’ve never really had any screw-ups, any trouble outside the game or anything like that. As long as I work hard, this will get swept under the rug and out of people’s mind pretty quick.”
Q: What were you doing with your time off? We heard you training with a Junior B team, the St. Catherines Falcons. Were you also working outside of hockey?
A: “I was not working at a pizza shop, if that’s what you mean (laughing). I’ve heard people say I served them. No, I would go to that shop because it was right by where I lived (with a friend in St. Catherines, Ontario), but, no, I didn’t have a job. I was just a hockey player on a little bit of a vacation.
“I (also) was hanging out with my friends and family, being a 19-year-old kid. I wasn’t doing anything outrageous, flying all over the world on vacations. I was trying to stay close to hockey. I didn’t want to lose total contact with it. I was working out and skating.”
Q: Reaching the pro ranks takes sacrifice. How much of this was just missing the chance to be a kid again?
A: “Junior hockey starts at such a young age, guys coming in at 15 years old, moving away from home. People sometimes forget we are kids. That goes for the veterans, too. They are not super human, they cannot play an 82-game schedule and not get tired and not get hurt. Look at Joe Sakic getting injured snow blowing his driveway. Hey, he’s a normal person, too. Sometimes, people just forget that. We’re not above anyone else.”
Q: I’m guessing you don’t care about what opinions have been formed about you outside of the Jackets’ organization?
A: “Hey, people can believe what they want to believe. I form opinions on things when I don’t know why, too. Everyone is guilty of it some time. But I don’t care what people say. They can say I’m on drugs or whatever. As long as the people in this organization know I’m here for the right reasons.”
Q: What would you say to people who think you’re only back for the money?
A: “It’s not true. For what I’ll be making in the AHL, I could go out and find another job. I miss the game, I miss being around the game and scoring goals. I want to try to be a dominant player. That’s what drives me, not money.”
Q: Did you miss the game once training camp opened?
A: “Even after I said this summer I wasn’t going to camp I knew I’d be going back at some point. Some people were calling it a retirement and that I was quitting. I wasn’t quitting anything, I just needed a break.”
Q: You and Steve Mason were teammates in youth hockey and also on the gold-medal winning Canadian junior world team last year. What can you tell us about Mason?
A: “Everywhere he goes he wins. He’s not one of the guys who accepts what is normal – normal is starting in the NHL as a goalie. He was given a chance and he took it and that speaks wonders about his character. Once he is given an opportunity he doesn’t give it back.”
Q: Have you set a timetable on how long you think it will take to reach the NHL?
A: “Doesn’t matter how long it will take. I feel in my heart I will be back here. I just have to wait my chance. I sacrificed the speed with which my NHL career could start by doing what I did. If it takes a little longer I certainly understand why. I’m going to Syracuse to work hard. They told me, ‘Go to Syracuse and be the one who’s working the hardest when we call and ask who’s working hardest.’ Eventually, I want to give them no other choice but to bring me up.”
-- Tom Reed
treed@[NO EMAIL POSTING ALLOWED]
http://blog.dispatch.com/cbj/2009/01/q_a_with_stefan_legein.shtml
--------
Q & A With Stefan Legein
Forward Stefan Legein rode to Cleveland on Tuesday to rejoin the Syracuse Crunch, the Blue Jackets’ minor-league club that he left after only two playoff games last spring.
In the coming days, Legein will attempt to recapture a once-promising career that saw the Blue Jackets select him with their second-round pick in the 2007 NHL draft. Legein stunned the franchise over the summer with his decision not to report to training camp. He instead remained home, recharging his battery and watching an old teammate and fellow Oakville, Ontario native Steve Mason become one of the Blue Jackets’ biggest stories.
On Monday, he finally reported to Columbus to take a physical and speak with members of the Jackets’ management. Standing in a locker room he hopes to one day call home, Legein agreed to an interview with Puck-rakers:
Question: What has changed in your life since notifying the Jackets that you wouldn’t be attending training camp?
Answer: “It wasn’t that I didn’t like hockey, I was just a little bit stressed, a little bit drained and I didn’t want to come in here any thing less than 100 percent. All I did was recharge my battery. For me, this is starting the season on a fresh new page. Hopefully, my play will be good enough to make everyone forget what happened.”
Q: You were sent to minor-league Syracuse at the end of your junior season in Niagara Falls, but you only stayed there for two games before going home. What happened?
A: “I was just so drained. I started the (2007-08) season earlier than most people because I was playing (for Team Canada) in Russia in August (of 2007). I did a whole Western Canada tour and then to Columbus (for training camp), then back for my (junior) season. It wasn’t about Syracuse. I was just looking forward to a break at the end of the season.
“It was selfish on my part. The farm team was in the playoffs and Columbus wanted me to keep playing, but I was so drained I couldn’t do it.”
Q: Do you have some fence-mending to do with the Crunch?
A: “I do have some (fence mending), but players are usually quick to forget and they won’t hold it over my head, I hope. It was a personal decision. I love the coaches there, I love the staff. I had a good time there, but it was bad timing in my life when I was there. If the guys don’t forgive me it’s my job to keep working hard until they see that they have to.”
Q: There were a lot of rumors as to why you didn’t attend camp? What were the most outrageous to you?
A: “The stuff about drugs. That’s not fair to my family or my friends. You never want to hear that about a son or a friend when it’s not true. It really sucked. The people who know me know they were only rumors, they were outrageous. You can’t take it too deep. People wanted to know why this was happening and I knew this stuff was going to happen when I made my decision. It’s something I had to deal with.”
Q: Can you be a bit more specific on why you needed time off?
A: “I just needed to take a step back and make sure what I was doing was right for me. Everyone looks out for themselves and I needed to take a step back. I’m glad I did because I’m focused and ready to work.”
Q: There are going to be people who ask, ‘Why would the Blue Jackets give this guy a second chance after spending a half season without the team?’ How do you respond?
A: “I would understand if they (the Blue Jackets) didn’t want me back, but they do. They picked me at a high position and fortunately enough for me I’ve made enough of an impact before this happened. They didn’t support my decision, which I understand. You can’t just be letting people take time off all the time, but they were great about it. They told me, ‘We’ll have you back when you are ready to come back.’
“They also let me know I wasn’t coming back to a nice parade, but that I was coming back a lot lower on the totem pole than I was. I understood I was going to have to work my way back. That’s only fair.”
Q: Feel like you are on a shorter leash and cannot afford any screw-ups?
A: “I’ve never really had any screw-ups, any trouble outside the game or anything like that. As long as I work hard, this will get swept under the rug and out of people’s mind pretty quick.”
Q: What were you doing with your time off? We heard you training with a Junior B team, the St. Catherines Falcons. Were you also working outside of hockey?
A: “I was not working at a pizza shop, if that’s what you mean (laughing). I’ve heard people say I served them. No, I would go to that shop because it was right by where I lived (with a friend in St. Catherines, Ontario), but, no, I didn’t have a job. I was just a hockey player on a little bit of a vacation.
“I (also) was hanging out with my friends and family, being a 19-year-old kid. I wasn’t doing anything outrageous, flying all over the world on vacations. I was trying to stay close to hockey. I didn’t want to lose total contact with it. I was working out and skating.”
Q: Reaching the pro ranks takes sacrifice. How much of this was just missing the chance to be a kid again?
A: “Junior hockey starts at such a young age, guys coming in at 15 years old, moving away from home. People sometimes forget we are kids. That goes for the veterans, too. They are not super human, they cannot play an 82-game schedule and not get tired and not get hurt. Look at Joe Sakic getting injured snow blowing his driveway. Hey, he’s a normal person, too. Sometimes, people just forget that. We’re not above anyone else.”
Q: I’m guessing you don’t care about what opinions have been formed about you outside of the Jackets’ organization?
A: “Hey, people can believe what they want to believe. I form opinions on things when I don’t know why, too. Everyone is guilty of it some time. But I don’t care what people say. They can say I’m on drugs or whatever. As long as the people in this organization know I’m here for the right reasons.”
Q: What would you say to people who think you’re only back for the money?
A: “It’s not true. For what I’ll be making in the AHL, I could go out and find another job. I miss the game, I miss being around the game and scoring goals. I want to try to be a dominant player. That’s what drives me, not money.”
Q: Did you miss the game once training camp opened?
A: “Even after I said this summer I wasn’t going to camp I knew I’d be going back at some point. Some people were calling it a retirement and that I was quitting. I wasn’t quitting anything, I just needed a break.”
Q: You and Steve Mason were teammates in youth hockey and also on the gold-medal winning Canadian junior world team last year. What can you tell us about Mason?
A: “Everywhere he goes he wins. He’s not one of the guys who accepts what is normal – normal is starting in the NHL as a goalie. He was given a chance and he took it and that speaks wonders about his character. Once he is given an opportunity he doesn’t give it back.”
Q: Have you set a timetable on how long you think it will take to reach the NHL?
A: “Doesn’t matter how long it will take. I feel in my heart I will be back here. I just have to wait my chance. I sacrificed the speed with which my NHL career could start by doing what I did. If it takes a little longer I certainly understand why. I’m going to Syracuse to work hard. They told me, ‘Go to Syracuse and be the one who’s working the hardest when we call and ask who’s working hardest.’ Eventually, I want to give them no other choice but to bring me up.”
-- Tom Reed
treed@[NO EMAIL POSTING ALLOWED]