Sometimes it seems that way when you watch a player that has NHL aspirations that has them shot down and they are sent down to the top bus riding hockey league in North America.
Rob Schremp is currently the latest member of the list. A list that has included Mathieu Roy (on multiple occasions), Allan Rourke, Marc Pouliot (on multiple occasions), and Robert Nilsson in the last 2 years of Falcons hockey.
It's the same routine from each player, they don't seem to have their heart in the game. In the case of Rourke, he took off to Europe after last season. Pouliot eventually got his heart into the game and finished his 3rd year pro as an Oiler. Nilsson went into the crapper, was a HS at the AHL level, and then upon his return to the NHL went on to play his best hockey of his young NHL career.
Mathieu Roy continues to be a 'tweener, a suitable 7th NHL d-man, or an AHL veteran in the top 4. Like Rourke, he feels the need to play a more offensive game at the AHL level. As a result, both players went from potential impact level AHL players to ineffective AHL players.
Rob Schremp has a choice to make, he can be like Pouliot and suck it up and get back at it like a trooper, he could be like Nilsson and sulk until/if his name gets called again, or he can go the way of Roy and Rourke.
Frustration is a part of everyday life for everyone. Unable to do what you want, make what you want, tell people where to go, and feel how you want to. Some things frustrate us more so than others, and when you have a long history of something or someone upsetting you, it just builds up to a point where something has to give.
It seems as if Robbie is at that point. However he's nearly 1/2 way through the season and he should finish it the way that he started it in Springfield, STRONG. Even if he parts ways with the Oilers at the end of the season, he opens up more doors by showing what he can do than by playing half heartedly. Next year he will be at the negotiating table again, and if he is still our property I don't see why he would accept anything less than a 1-way deal. Pouliot, Winchester, Roy, Stortini, they've all gotten 1 way deals in recent years.
If Schremp is disgruntled he can tell the team to trade him or lose his services if he decides to play in Europe. Soon Schremp will have leverage on his side. Until then he needs to bear down and make a case for himself to be an Oiler this year and potentially in the future.
He isn't the first player to be hugely disappointed by being sent down when they felt that they did enough to stay at the NHL level, and he won't be the last. However a call to his buddy Pouliot could help him through this tough time in his career.
