Tyler Seguin turned down an offer from the KHL for close to double the money hes making playing for Biel in the Swiss A League, but he doesnt regret that choice for a minute.
That goes double when the Bs prodigy is coming off a day like Monday when he picked up a pair of assists and set up the game-winning goal for linemateformer UNH standout Jacob Micflikier in a victory for his Swiss Club.
The 20-year-old Seguin has five points in five games played for Biel since heading to Europe amidst the NHL lockout, and is still a minus-3 while helping to carry a Swiss hockey club not considered amongst the strongest in their league. While its pretty clear the All-Star forward would rather be in Boston wearing a black and gold Bruins jersey, Seguin is making the best of a unique situation in Switzerland for as long as it lasts.
Its a fun league with pretty good players, wrote Seguin in a text to CSNNE.com. There are a lot of nice guys on my team, and its great for the conditioning aspect.
The biggest reason players like Seguin, Andrew Ference and Zdeno Chara are in Europe playing during the lockout is to keep in tip-top shape for the moment when the lockout ends. Players participating in scrimmages and playing glorified shinny in North America arent
getting the kind of game-shape action and intensity needed once the NHL heads into gear.
Its sad but true that many NHL players will be left two steps behind if they dont find a league similar to the Swiss League for game action during the interim lockout period.
The friendly competition is also just as good as the conditioning benefit in Switzerland.
Boston Bruins
Seguin was keenly aware of Patrice Bergerons four-point (two goals, two assists) debut for Lugano on Monday as well, and has circled the Oct. 20 date on the calendar when the two Bs lineys will go head-to-head in Swiss League action for the first time.
Seguin is eager to line up against one of his role models in No. 37, but admits it will be a little bit of an uphill battle for bragging rights against the reigning Selke Trophy winner.
Bergys team is better than mine, but well see if we can shut him down. LOL, wrote Seguin in competitive jest.
Unfortunately there wont be any TV outlets covering the Swiss League games similar to the national coverage offered for a handful of KHL games.
But theres always the Internet to follow which Bs favorite son gets bragging rights when Seguin and Bergeron clash next week.