Shutdown Pair

Tag: Derek Roy

  • Se7en

    Hey, I thought the title was appropriate with all the ‘mass murder’ and ‘getting away with murder’ comments going on…We’ve got the first game seven of the Stanley Cup playoffs coming up, after Buffalo came up short in game six.  I didn’t get to watch game five or six, being on the road or busy with family/Easter obligations, so no in depth discussion of what an asshole Mike Richards is.  Everybody knows, now.  I feel for Tim Connolly’s gray matter, and am thrilled to hear “That’s great, Derek” Roy might be back.


    The Sabres should have some advantages here, though whether they’d agree or not, I’m not sure.  Philly is ‘supposed’ to win as they are the 2 and Buffalo is the 7.  This season is a success no matter how you slice it, going from basement to playoffs, giving a high seed a run for their money (and maybe eliminating them!), and getting an owner with deep pockets and a deeper commitment to winning.  They had young players stepping in and stepping up, showing a brighter future there also.  These guys should just roll out there in Philly on Tuesday and have fun.  I want to see Myers with that grin on his face he had after games last year, the “holy crap, I do this for a living? AWESOME” look.  I want the Goose that dumps Briere on his ass at the faceoff dot.  I want the Gerbe who will slam into the bigger Flyers.


    I will be watching Tuesday, but my stress level is such that I may not be able to keep the game on the whole time if it’s close.  I hope to catch up with things a bit more in depth tonight, if I don’t fall asleep as soon as the kids do.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • Gameday 2010-2011 – Leafs at Sabres and Clarke MacArthur

    It’s a post turkey day game tonight against the Toronto Maple Leafs, who have former Sabre Clark MacArthur as their leading scorer.  You are hearing a lot out of this article by James Mirtle, with this as the money quote:

    “In Buffalo, I didn’t really have the opportunity to do this,” MacArthur said. “You look at the minutes I was playing, like 12 minutes a game on average. What are you supposed to do with 12 minutes a game?”

    As you might imagine, this generated some snarky responses from Sabres fans.  Let’s deconstruct this a bit, shall we?  Clarke showed promise in his early cups of coffee with Buffalo, in particular getting 8 goals and 15 points in 37 games in 07-08.  He followed that up with an uneven 08-09 where MacArthur would show up for a few stretches and then vanish.  That included a 17 game and 20 game goalless streaks.  He had 5 goals in the last 8 games of the year, and 6 goals in the first 13, and ended up with 17.  His average TOI was actually 13:50, though he was definitely getting the Lindy doghouse treatment at times with some 6-8 minute games.  Those are balanced out though, even during the bad streaks he was given ample playing time (16min + more than once) to get going and couldn’t.

    His 09-10 season was more of the same, a burst of goals to start the season, then long stretches of inactivity, which lead to Clarke getting traded to the Thrashers for a couple of mid-round picks.  Atlanta didn’t accept the arbitration agreement (they specifically allowed the arbiter to set it high so they wouldn’t have to do a Tim Kennedy-style buyout) and he signed with the Maple Leafs.  MacArthur currently is on pace for 28 goals and 73 points for them, and good for him.  I just take issue with him acting like 187 games and 12 minutes 14 minutes a night is not enough to prove yourself.  The Tiny Tyler is making quite an impression with 15 a night, is that extra shift that huge a difference?

    Anyway, Miller and Roy are both in tonight as per the esteemed Mike Harrington.  Rivet is still sitting in favor of Weber.

  • Thanks, Craig Rivet, and BLOGGER SOLIDARITY

    First off, Craig Rivet is a healthy scratch again tonight, with Weber in his place.  Most interesting is this bit from Lindy Ruff:

    Mike hasn’t been in but we feel that it gives us a physical defenseman, a guy with some edge and we’re going to give him a shot

    Physical defenseman is what Rivet was, when he first got here.  Remember those days?  I thought trading for him was a solid move, despite his age, as he was under a contract that was not too painful, and he came with a rep as being a serious tough guy.  Not bad for scoring, either.  He was a bulldozer in front of the net, voted captain by his peers, and his second game with the team had him deeply involved in the Islanders “Kid’s Day” brawl.  The team rolled right along with him, but it was short-lived.  First a knee injury, then a bum shoulder sidelined Rivet for longer and longer stretches.  A team that started the season without a regulation loss in their first eight games now couldn’t manage to win two in a row.  There were other injuries and struggling players, to be sure, but Rivet’s influence in those early games can’t be overlooked.  Nothing has happened with his roster status or captaincy, but it’s a matter of time.  All I ask is that we remember that there were good times.

    Now, on the fun-time yesterday.  Twitter started to buzz (mildly at that) about Tim Connolly sporting a black eye…and the oddity that maybe Derek Roy was to blame.  It seemed ridiculous, so we started pestering people that were there about it, and checking the pictures.  There wasn’t much to go on at first, so most of us shrugged and waited for more information.  Honestly, most interest in it seemed pretty tongue-in-cheek, with jokes about giving “that’s great, Derek” Roy a medal.  Our ears perked up when Matthew Barnaby tweeted about the Roy/Connolly angle, which he refuted a short time later, with basically the same story Ruff gave Vogl.  There are many opinions out there on this matter, but here’s my take:  Vogl vastly overrates the impact of what we discuss in the boundless wastes of Twitter.  He seemed to see us as plotting mayhem from our underground warrens, boiling out of our lightless tunnels like so many sewer rats to disparage Derek Roy’s and Tim Connolly’s good names.  Most of us seemed to just be having fun with it until the inevitable denial/explanation came.  After that, we denizens of the dark would’ve shrugged, and gotten back to our photoshops and our statistical analyses.  But no, Vogl just HAD to get us all riled up by ripping thousands of sports fans and a fair number of his own colleagues at the same time.  Now, whenever a local blogger or twitter-er needs an example of ‘old media’ that ‘doesn’t get it’, Vogl’s name will be the first one brought up.  All because he took offense (it seems to me) at having to follow up with a rumor that came from Twitter, except for the fact that real people at Catwalk saw the shiner and started asking about it.  But hey, it livened up a few days with no Sabres games.  Maybe we should thank him.  NAHHHH.

  • One, Two, THREE Periods! Ah-ah-ah!

    Now the Count, HE can backcheck

    Hey guys, that first period was not a glorified warm-up!  Those goals counted!  But seriously, it wasn’t a terrible game despite it being a loss.  Right now Washington is still better, so winning one of two games with them is not bad.  What I liked:  seeing Ennis/Roy/Vanek continue to play well, more D contributions, and not giving up when down 3-0.  Capitals goalie Michal Neuvirth was very good, he was definitely the difference after Buffalo scored their two goals (which he didn’t get much help on).

    It’s not getting any easier for Buffalo, as they have a Friday/Saturday schedule at home, with the LA Kings and Steven Stamkos’s Tampa Bay Lightning in town.  Tampa had lost 3 in a row before facing the coach-firing, injury riddled New York Islanders.  If you are a Vanek fan, by the way, watch Saturday.  He’s got 16 goals in 20 games against them.

  • Gameday 2010-2011 – Sabres at Capitals

    The Caps look to get revenge on the Sabres tonight at the Verizon Center, as Buffalo makes the trip down to Washington to face the Ovechkins.  Did you know “that’s great” Derek Roy has 21 points, while Ovi has 25?  I also wonder if we’ll see an NHL goalie this time around.

    Gerbe is back in while Kaleta sits with a bruised sternum.  Rivet is…more interesting.  He’s healthy, but Ruff may not want to mess with a winning lineup.  Rivet isn’t happy about it, but even he said he understands the idea.  It’s something to keep watching as the season develops.  Would they ever reassign the captaincy with Rivet still here?

  • That’ll do, Enroth

    Jhonas Enroth dueled Marty Biron to a tie through regulation, but in the end lost 3-2, gaining Buffalo another point.  5 out of 6 isn’t bad, considering they’d gotten, what, 1 out of 10 before that?  Now to see how they fare against stronger competition, and not fellow basement dwellers.

    I know Vanek is catching heat for not shooting on that play late.  I liked his patience to move around the sliding defender, and he thought Roy had a better shot.  Taken on it’s own, the play is fine.  Some would see it as a pattern of Vanek passing up chances, which is true to a point.  I think Thomas is just trying to contribute what he can while the goals aren’t coming.  Games are more fun when Vanek is sniping, will admit that.

    Enroth’s play has put Buffalo in an interesting quandry.  He’s winning, something Lalime hasn’t done much of in his time here.  His numbers aren’t super-impressive, but he’s made key saves and was strong in the two shootouts.  People say he should go back to Portland to continue development, but to what end?  Miller is the starter for the forseeable future, so what is Enroth’s career path?  Backup goalie is the only option that keeps him here.  If there was a trade offer that gave a solid return, I’d do it, but beyond that, what was he drafted for if not to play with the big club?