Buffalo Sabres: Jack Quinn should view rehab as an opportunity

While it was a major blow to the Buffalo Sabres and their fanbase to hear about Jack Quinn’s Achilles injury, there are always two ways to look at it. 

Any time a major injury occurs to a star player or in Jack Quinn’s place, a brewing star player, it’s easy to get down and out over the situation. Especially if you’re a hard-luck, snake-bitten franchise like the Buffalo Sabres.

Here we are, expecting to make the playoffs in 2023-24 for the first time in 13 long years, and yeah, the absolute last thing we needed to happen did happen. But, I’ve had more than my fair share of wise people tell me, to paraphrase things, that misfortunes shouldn’t be looked at as such, but instead, opportunities.

As for general manager Kevyn Adams, he all but implied this when he spoke at the 2023 draft. Here is what he had to say:

"“What I told Jack on the phone was that I know the character and the person he is. And I’ve also been assured by our doctors that this is something that he’ll make a full recovery, will come back bigger, better and stronger than ever. So, it’s adversity. It’s a bump in the road for him. But the type of mindset he has, I have no worries about how he’ll come out the other side.”"

Buffalo Sabres winger Jack Quinn has an opportunity here

Misfortune is a pest that we all deal with, no matter who we are. Unfortunately in my life experience (32 years), I’ve seen far too many people hanging their heads, slumping their shoulders, and worst yet, lamenting, complaining, you name it, to anyone who would listen.

Looking upon adversity as an opportunity as opposed to a curse or misfortune is, in my opinion, what makes the most successful people who, or what they are. In Jack Quinn’s case, he’s made it to the NHL, and this isn’t the first time he’s dealt with adversity during his pro hockey career.

In 2021-22, he made a successful cameo appearance for the Blue and Gold, before sustaining an injury and missing an extended period. When he returned to Rochester, he was still an effective player and one of the best rookies in the league.

During the 2022 Calder Cup Playoffs, Quinn all but disappeared, and it raised concerns as to whether he was ready to play in the NHL. He erased those concerns this past season.

Given Quinn’s track record of bouncing back from adversity in the recent past, I’m siding with Adams on this one. Sure, this could be Quinn’s biggest challenge yet, and it will challenge the Buffalo Sabres as a unit. But it’s also a major opportunity for them, and Quinn, to show the league that they can not just deal with, but become stronger in the face of adversity.

Source: Mike Harrington: Jack Quinn’s injury is the kind of unexpected lightning bolt the Sabres don’t need, BuffaloNews.com