Shutdown Pair

Category: NHL

  • You Just Don’t Know

    Really, you just can’t know how a team, any team, will respond to an injury to a key player.  Many of us wrote off the season after Roy got hurt (myself included), but all the Sabres have done since then is go on a run.  Since the 5-2 loss in Calgary, Buffalo has gone 4-0-1, including a 7-6 barnburner highlighted by a Drew Stafford hat trick, and a 3-0 real shutout of San Jose, and a 2-1 win against the Coyotes, games in which the Vezina quality Ryan Miller made appearances.

    Players and coaches will always throw out the ‘other guys need to step up’ cliche when an injury like this happens, but it really is true, and it’s happened here.  EX:

    “Since Derek’s (Roy) gone, there’s a chance for a lot of guys to step up and play some extra minutes. Guys are trying to take advantage of that.”  Jochen Hecht

    Stafford is on a tear (in addition to the hatty he had an OT game-winner in Phoenix), Jordan Leopold has 10 goals, Shaone Morrisonn has brought an increased physical presence, Mike Weber has too (in addition to a few goals!) and there have been goals by Jochen Hecht, Luke Adam, and Jason Pominville, all guys who are in that ‘needs to step up’ category.

    Looking at the standings, Buffalo is currently 10th, 8 points behind Boston and Montreal (catching both would jump them all the way into 3rd).  The schedule for the month means Lalime will be keeping the bench warm quite a bit, as there is only 1 back to back set of games as part of a 3 in 4, with two of them against the Isles.  Gotta get him in once there, I’d think.  There’s a game each against the teams they are chasing in the Northeast, how successful January is probably turns on how they do there.  It’s a tough lead to make up, but a team that plays the way they have in the past few games can do it.  They are making it interesting, at least.

  • In my experience, there’s no such thing as luck

    Tyler Ennis did what he was supposed to do.

    He went to the net, created traffic, but unfortunately instead of deflecting a goal in, he stopped it.  Of course, some still think it went in, but doesn’t show as such because of the angle of the camera above the net.  Until we have cameras IN the goalposts, there’ll never be a better angle, so we live with it.  Unfortunately for the Tiny Tyler, he followed up that ‘save’ with a high-sticking penalty in OT, and the Avs capitalized for the game-winner (4-3).  Both Budaj and Miller had stretches of spectacular saves, sandwiched around a goal or two that made you roll your eyes.

    The game was definitely a spiritual successor to the Bruins game from the other night, defense optional.  I don’t think there was one d-man that was really any good, Montador got a goal from a bad angle thanks to Budaj brain-farting on the shot.  Thomas Vanek scored on a 4-min power play (yay!), but then the team gave it right back by allowing a shorty after that (boo!).  Hecht scored, Vanek had 1G, 1A, and Drew Stafford had 2 assists.

    Buffalo travels to San Jose for a game tomorrow, a painful 10:30pm start.

  • Gameday 2010-2011 – Sabres at Avalanche

    The Sabres are at an odd place as they visit Colorado.  They came home during a lull in the World Juniors and beat Boston in a wild 7-6 affair, after we all declared the season and the offense dead minus Derek Roy.  The Avs aren’t exactly going gangbusters right now either, 1-4-1 in their last 6 and 4 straight home losses.  It’s apparently Peter Budaj instead of Anderson, so add another backup to the tally, though neither one is good right now:

    Peter Budaj will get the nod in net for Colorado in place of starter Craig Anderson, who’s 1-4-0 with a 3.63 goals-against average in his last five starts.

    Budaj, who will make just his second start in the past month, hasn’t been any better than Anderson. He’s 1-1-2 with a 4.18 GAA in four starts since Nov. 27.

    Budaj has done well against Buffalo, but if the ’11 goals in past 2 games’ Sabres show up, Colorado may find themselves getting blown out.  I’d settle for any kind of win, even a shootout, as bonus points given up to the West don’t matter.

  • Shootouts, Showdowns, and Angry Eyebrows

    Some random thoughts from someone who’s sports-watching was limited over the holidays…

    1.  So I guess Drew ‘Angry Eyebrows’ Stafford sure does love playing the Bruins, eh?  Another hat trick, this time in a wild 7-6 shootout victory.  Stafford’s third goal tied the game with 30 seconds to go, and he added a shootout ‘goal’ too.  Tyler Ennis made some moves for the shootout winner on a night that wasn’t exactly goaltender friendly.

    2.  Canada-USA goes down at the Arena tonight, in the semifinal round of the World Junior Championship.  Patriotic fervor is in full effect, even with the limited number of Americans who are aware of/care about the tournament.  All you need to know is that you can cheer for USA to beat Canada in hockey, and we won the last one too.  Let’s do it.

    3.  Tomorrow’s Sabres game is at 9pm, which isn’t terrible, but the one after that is 10:30pm.  For someone that works at 6am, that sucks.

  • Mike Weber, Scoring Machine

    SOMEONE needed to step up while Tyler Myers is out, and last night it was Mike Weber, who got his first 2 NHL goals and led the Sabres to a 4-2 lead over the Edmonton Oilers.  Weber also had an assist for a 3 point night, while Luke Adam and Jochen Hecht had the other 2 goals.

    Buffalo needs to win these games, but they just haven’t consistently.  Secondary scoring happened last night, and honestly you might as well call it primary scoring with Timmy, Roy and Myers out.  The Sabres need to win 4 or 5 of these games for me to think about them managing a playoff berth.  Do you see that happening?

    Congratulations, by the way, to Ryan Miller for finally getting win 200.  Despite the team struggling, he’s having a pretty nice few weeks (engaged to a hot actress, etc.).

  • Burned to a Crisp

    Hey, I’m making a Flames joke after that game, OK?  What utter crap.  If there was any doubt that the Sabres are done for the year, I think it’s gone.  Here is another game where they the opponent is supposedly just as bad, but the team didn’t show up.  Miller wasn’t great, the power play went 0-fer, and Ales Kotalik and Olli Jokinen both scored on them.  Kind of embarrassing, really.  Love that Drew Stafford scored (might he finally figure things out?) and of course, the Kaleta.  They turn right back around tonight in Edmonton (another 9pm game).

    By the way, lay off Mark Jeanneret, guys.  He’s filling in for a legend, who is also his dad, and the biggest problem (volume) should’ve had a technical fix.  Let’s give him time.

  • 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.