Jack Eichel is back in Buffalo for Thursday night's game between the Vegas Golden Knights and the Sabres at KeyBank Center.
The game will be on ESPN+/Hulu, which presented an opportunity for Eichel to sit down with ESPN announcer John Buccigross, who will be on the call, as he was last season when the former Sabres captain made his return after a November trade. Buccigross said he spoke with Eichel last week in Las Vegas.
Here are some excerpts:
On the reception he is expecting: "I’m sure I’ll get a pretty similar reception as last time. It won’t be very positive. That’s OK. I think I’ve learned to accept that. Buffalo is a special place for me for a while, and it still is. It is the place where I grew up in the NHL. I think whenever there is a bad breakup in sports and the player goes somewhere else, the fan base is always a bit upset about that. I think that means they care for you a lot and they’re upset that you’re not there anymore. Things ended very poorly there. The fan base is passionate and that’s a good thing. I’ve learned to accept it that they’re probably not going to accept me so I’ve just moved on."
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The @GoldenKnights at @BuffaloSabres on ESPN+ tomorrow. I sat down with Jack Eichel…(Part 1) @espn @ESPNPlus pic.twitter.com/TvmHvqpi0H
— BucciParmPastaExtension8X11 (@Buccigross) November 9, 2022
On his postgame comments last season: "For anyone who has ever done a postgame interview, there is a lot of emotion after the game. I just got off the ice five minutes earlier and we had lost the game and an empty net goal. I didn’t really know what to expect when I came. I felt fine the whole day. There’s a lot of emotions that come through when you get on the ice for the first time, when you’re constantly getting booed. There’s a lot that goes through, but that’s professional sports, though.
"I made the comments I made. I don’t regret making those comments at all. I don’t think there’s enough time to make regrets in life and you just move on and learn from it. Had I been in the same situation again, would I have said the same things? Who knows? At the time, I was five minutes removed from the ice, emotional, just lost the game that was important to me and I said what I said."
Asked if he was coached on how to handle the media interviews, Eichel said he was not.
On whether he is playing with an additional chip on his shoulder: "I think a lot of people’s opinions may have changed in the last 12 months or 16 months or whatever what you want to call it. I know what I'm capable of and the type of player I am."
On whether that provides extra motivation: "Yeah, but I don't need a lot of additional fuel to get me going. ... I’m just going to keep it to myself and work hard this year.”
