Shutdown Pair

Author: TheTick

  • That’s Decidedly NOT Great, Derek

    By now you’ve probably heard the news:  top center Derek Roy is out 4-6 months, due to a quad tendon tear.  The surgery is scheduled in the next few days.  Considering the next guy down the depth chart is Tim ‘I just had my face rebuilt from spare parts) Connolly, that leaves Buffalo extremely thin at center.  Derek lead the team in assists and points, and was second behind Thomas Vanek with 10 goals.  I guess this is one way to get Luke Adam back in the lineup.  Ugh.

    What this goes to show is how lacking this team is in the heart department.  I keep coming back to the teams from 05-07 and how they soldiered on despite player after player dropping from the lineup.  Whether it was Biron stepping in and rattling off 13 straight wins when Miller was out, or rallying around their injured captain and beating Ottawa that night and continuing to win some games after that after the infamous brawl (down 6+ players for much of that).  Why does that not happen now?  Was it really Drury and Briere that drove that?  Jay McKee?  We thought Grier was, and Rivet seemed like the kind of guy that would bring that, but look at where they are.  Back in ’06, if one guy went down, whatever, someone else will step in.  The system would adjust.  Now?  It seems like the balance is so delicate even when things are going well that one minor change sends things into a death spiral.

    Where do the Sabres go from here?  I’ve already looked at tradeable assets, and it seems more likely that Buffalo WILL be sellers.  Unfortunately, it’s hard to justify trading Connolly when he might very well be the only ‘healthy’ center here.  Goose needs to say on the third line, so Luke Adam should see time on the second.  They can trade Rivet if anyone wants him.  Beyond that, it’s just playing out the string on a lost season, and giving guys like Weber, Gerbe, and Ennis as much time as possible to prove they belong.

    The ONLY way Buffalo shouldn’t gear up for next year right now is if they can pull off a deal for one of the big-name forwards rumored to be available, Jarome Iginla or Brad Richards.  Richards makes the most sense, being a center, and if there is one thing that Buffalo has in abundance it’s picks and prospects other teams will covet.  He’s got an NTC, and is playing for a team that’s challenging for 1st in the west.  Dallas may not be able to re-sign him, and their ownership situation is unsettled, but it doesn’t make much sense for either side to move at this point.  Especially to go somewhere which has some ownership questions also.

    I’ll be watching what does (or doesn’t) happen after the freeze with interest.  We’ll find out soon whether Darcy and company have decided to go for broke, or for next year.

  • Games That Don’t Matter

    There were feeds to watch the non-televised game against the ducks on Tuesday, but the game didn’t matter for some very good reasons.  The Sabres faced yet another backup goalie, and the Ducks were on game 5 in 7 days of a cross-country trip, so there was probably no way the starter was going back in.  They got gift-wrapped power plays to start the game, including a 5 minute one for Jason Blake running Kaleta head-first into the boards.  I mean, the only way Craig Rivet is scoring is against a team that has mailed it in.  All I hope to gather from that and carry forward into tonight’s game against the Panthers is getting little Gerbe scoring.

  • Tradeable Assets

    Yes, I think it’s time to look at who has value to ‘sell’, after that effort this weekend.  There is still time to recover, but it’s growing short.  49 games left, but only 30 points in the standings in the first 33.  It took 88 to make 8th last year in the East, but that was unusually low.  It will probably take a few more than that, which seems problematic for this current cast of characters.  So that means changes, and the decision to be a buyer or a seller.

    For the purposes of this post, we are looking at ‘selling’.  I covered ‘untouchable‘ players before the year, thought I am taking Goose off the list.  I might even put Leopold and Roy on, considering their performances so far.  Either way, here’s what i’m looking at for tradeable assets:

    1. Tim Connolly – He’s always going to top the list for a lot of people, and it’s understandable.  We are tired of the injuries, the streaks, potential that never gets realized.  He would have value, maybe, and his contract isn’t terrible closer to the deadline.  He has to be healthy to move though, which is the biggest problem.  By the way, shouldn’t they be putting in a steel honker for Timmy?  Anyway, I don’t know anyone that would complain about him being gone, and most would be happy for whatever they get for him.
    2. Drew Stafford – This would be a case of selling high, as Angry Eyebrows is on a very favorable contract ($1.9mil expiring this year, RFA) for his production so far.  Trading Drew would potentially open a wing spot for Zack Kassian next year while getting some return for another guy who has shown potential here but never really put it all together for any length of time.
    3. Craig Rivet – It honestly makes more sense for him then the team, you know he wants to play but just doesn’t seem likely to get back in barring a run of injuries.  $3.5mil prorated would still be tough for a team to swallow for a d-man in the twilight of his career (who’s not cracking THIS lineup).
    4. Jochen Hecht – Has the complicating factor of another year left on a fairly hefty deal for a two-way forward who is underperforming.  Seems more likely to go if the Sabres are trading for a player with salary coming back.
    5. Chris Butler – Sekera has to be safe, in my mind, as Myers’s new partner.  I get the feeling Butler is on borrowed time, if there was someone that was trusted more to slide into his spot (which is not Rivet).

    I’m honestly not sure what to do about Enroth, as no one would want Lalime, and anyone else that left would be a spare part for spare part deal, not any sort of change that would fix the culture/shake up the incumbents.  Same thing for trading prospects – there may be fantastic deals to be made, but that doesn’t fix the team next year.  All of this also assumes the long-term deal guys stay, which I find extremely likely (Miller, Vanek, Pominville, and probably Myers after this year).

    There are two things that could shift the focus from selling players for picks/prospects.  One would be the Sabres going on a big-time winning streak…and the other is Terry Pegula.  He is the wild card, no doubt about it.  He could complete the sale and decide to set a bomb off in the locker room, wiping out coaches, GMs, players, the whole nine yards.  I know some of you are hoping for that, and to be honest I wouldn’t get upset if it happened.  What that would mean, though is giving up on this year AND next, unless you think the young players and newly acquired talent would mesh immediately with a potential new coach.

    I still have hope that this team figures it out and makes these rambling thoughts moot.  The rational part of me has serious doubts.

  • Beachcombers

    It’s one of the yearly Florida road trips for the Sabres, facing the Florida Panthers tonight and the Tampa Bay Lightning tomorrow.  The Panthers, thanks to injuries and also being the Panthers, have a cast of characters you mostly haven’t heard of, save only their goalie (Vokoun).  Tampa Bay, on the other hand, has Steven Stamkos and other stars up front, but horrible goaltending in the form of Dan Ellis and Mike Smith (matching .880 save percentages).

    The Sabres, of course, come in off a win against the Bruins, where Drew ‘Angry Eyebrows’ Stafford provided all 3 goals.  It might help if someone else scores, especially against Tampa.  I feel kind of bad not having more to say about these teams, especially Tampa, but they just don’t come up except when we’re playing them.  A playoff run by one of them would help.

  • Stafford Beats Bruins

    Stafford upped his season goal total to 8 (in 16 games) as he single-handedly beat the Bruins last night at the Arena.  Perhaps Stafford is going to sit out all of his bad games, and only play in his good games.  Would be a nice change.  Good job, Angry Eyebrows.

    I love the Bruins fan in the background there.  Regulation wins against division and conference opponents are huge right now, and this one puts the Sabres 6 back of 8th place Boston in the East.  There aren’t any teams at the top of the list, save the slumping Caps, who are playing poorly.  It’s up to Buffalo to do the damage themselves by winning games.

  • Gameday 2010-2011 – Penguins at Sabres

    The Sabres are hot right now, gaining 7 of their last 8 points available including 2 shutouts, but the hottest team around is in the building tonight as Sidney Crosby’s Penguins come to visit.  The Pens have won 11 in a row, and all the ‘kid’ has done during that time has put himself at the top of the list for goals and points.  And that’s without (for all or part of that time) Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal.

    On the positive side for the Sabres, they usually do well shutting down or at least curbing the production of top players.  They’ve frustated Alex Ovechkin, and caused Dany Heatley’s line to be -9 the other night with no goals.  If the secondary scoring that occurred last game can take the heat of Vanek a bit, these guys will be back in a playoff spot in no time.  Let’s break the Penguins’ streak TONIGHT.

  • Goose Bites Sharks

    Paul Gaustad has taken a ton of flack, really dating back to the end of last year, for not contributing more on the score sheet.  Last night had to be pretty satisfying then, as the Goose made some plays (and got a lucky bounce of Dan Boyle’s melon) including keeping a close eye on Joe Thornton and Dany Heatley (combined -6 on 4 shots).  Thomas Vanek continued his dominance, scoring 2 and very nearly netting a third.  Jason Pominville even scored on a shorthanded break.  A lot of positives, even if they kept letting the Sharks back in.

    I have to say, I’m impressed with Logan Couture.  He’s putting up Calder trophy numbers, including 6 goals in his last 5 games.  I remember hearing his name 10 times before I heard Heatley’s.  I actually forgot Dany-boy played for the Sharks for the first 10 minutes or so of the game.  A great win for the home fans.  The Sabres are 6-2 in their last 8 home games, by the way, with wins over Washington, Vancouver and LA.

  • Fins to the Left

    We get a visit from the San Jose Sharks tonight, who apparently managed a come from behind win last night against the Flyers.  It was 4-1 Philly when my wife got home, so good on the Sharks for coming back.  A Flyers loss is always a good thing.

    Buffalo has done quite well against the Sharks here at the Arena, owning a 13-1 record against them.  Pretty solid.  The Sabres will most likely be without Drew Stafford and Shaone Morrisonn, along with Tim Connolly.  Coach has Mike Weber’s back too.

    I have been dealing with a huge amount of stuff lately (sick little girl, cub scout party last night, etc.) so I haven’t been able to post much.  Should get things back up and running right soon.

  • Goose-Eggs

    I was going to create a photoshop involving Gaustad and laying eggs, but I think you all will fill in the visual much better than I could.

    Back to back genuine shut-outs for Ryan Miller, that dude is back.  He didn’t have to do much against Columbus who lost their focus pretty early, but Miller was great in out-dueling Brian Elliott in shutting out the Senators.  They’ll need this tomorrow and the rest of the week as well, as a visit to Boston is followed by home games against San Jose and Pittsburgh.

    This note also of interest from Bruce “Malkin to the Kings” Garrioch:

    The Sabres are looking to move veteran D Craig Rivet. He has been a healthy scratch six times this season and is the club’s captain. Making $3.5 million, Rivet is going to be a tough sell.

    It makes sense, but like Bruce says, not many teams need a $3.5 million defenseman who isn’t cracking the roster on the (current) 11th team in the East.

  • Waiting Game

    Interesting, really, that the whole Pegula business drops when the team has it’s longest layoff (barring holiday/all-star type breaks).  This story would’ve dominated the sports media here completely, were it not for the death of Jim Kelley.  There are a TON of tributes to him from writers all over North America, with perhaps one of the best by Jerry Sullivan.  Not having grown up here, I missed most of his era, but it’s obvious even to me how much a part of the sports experience here he was.

    On the Pegula story, it seems that the price is $175 million, a price Mr. Pegula is willing to pay as the rumors go.  Bucky Gleason has been doing some good work on this story, so he needs to be recognized for that so we don’t forget it after he brings up Drury and Briere again next week.