Sabres' Jack Eichel Contradicts Head Coach Over Injury Status

The Buffalo Sabres are turning into a complete mess and it seems like every week a bizarre story is coming out surrounding the team. This time around it was captain Jack Eichel, who recently missed a game last Thursday against the New Jersey Devils that sparked our attention.

While head coach Ralph Krueger notified the media that Eichel hurt himself in the pregame warmup and that was the reason he was going to miss the game, turns out that wasn't the case at all according to Eichel himself.

Eichel is claiming he got hurt in New Jersey during Tuesday's win and added the injury forced him out for Thursday and for Saturday's game as well.

Here's what the coach told the media on Sunday:

When I mentioned it, the specific region that actually took him out of the game (Thursday), the first time I'd heard about it was warmup. That he was injured and he came out of the Jersey game (Tuesday) injured was clear to me, but it turns out that there was multiple lower-body injuries and whatever. The point is that he came out of Jersey hurt. The warmup call and the region that ended up being (aggravated), it was his first time back in his skates since that game and it changed the game. I definitely didn't do gamesmanship there. It was just that we had hoped he was going to play that game.

The Sabres are struggling and now have lost three straight games. If the team can't turn it around and if Eichel and Krueger can't get on the same page, it's going to spell the end of Eichel's run as Sabres captain because he's going to be wearing a different uniform.

Photo credit: r: John Crouch/Icon Sportswire