Shutdown Pair

Tag: Martin Brodeur

  • The Road Warriors

    That’s what the Sabres are lacking, a dog (sorry Sabretooth)

    It’s kind of ridiculous, really.  We’ve seen plenty of ‘good signs’ for the Sabres at home, but they still haven’t gotten it done.  Then we see them blast the Devils, without Kovalchuk (seriously what the heck?) and Brodeur on the road, and it doesn’t tell us anything.  Tim Connolly, Tyler Myers, and Thomas Vanek are all scoring now, which is good, right?  But will it last?  Again, good signs abound, but these guys have to get it through their heads that they can do that to any team in the league, any given night.  We can see that they are capable of it, they have great passers, solid finishers, guys with great point shots, and a dominant goalie.  They just need to get things done.

    ***

    Okay, what the heck is up with Kovalchuk?  I’m not sure what the Devils and John MacLean hope to accomplish by sitting him – goal scorers don’t score/break slumps wearing a suit.  I can appreciate the desire to sit an underperforming player, but I feel that scorers just need to play out of it.  It’s also a PR NIGHTMARE for a team that also had tons of negative press over his contract to begin with.  Look at it this way:  before the bizarre Kovy benching, I would’ve shrugged off an NJ slump and assumed they’d get back in the mix by Christmas.  Now, I have a few more doubts, wondering about locker room issues and MacLean losing the team/getting fired.  Wouldn’t be the first time Lou has dumped a coach and taken over…

  • NHL Awards Ceremony Pregame

    The NHL gives away it’s major awards tonight in Las Vegas, and I thought I’d toss up some notes in case you are the sort that ignores the off-season until training camp.

    The first name you need to listen for is Ryan Miller.  He is a Vezina finalist, against Brodeur and Bryzgalov.  He has a great look at winning this, especially with the crest of popularity he has from the Olympics here in the US.  Miller is also a top contender for the Messier Leadership award, where he’s up against Sidney Crosby and Shane Doan.

    Miller is also up for the NHL Foundation Award, which, well:

    is awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) player “who applies the core values of (ice) hockey—commitment, perseverance and teamwork—to enrich the lives of people in his community”.

    That’s definitely our man, what with his creation of the Steadfast Foundation and work with other charities.  Mike Green and Dustin Brown are also candidates.

    Perhaps the most interesting award for Sabres fans this year is the Calder trophy, with Tyler Myers up against Matt Duchene of the Avs and Jimmy Howard of the Red Wings.  There are good arguments for all of them, and I’m not honestly sure I could be unbiased about this one.  I think Tyler Myers did more for his team this year, as he basically allowed Buffalo to play the game differently, he came up huge offensively, was huge (heh) in his own zone as well, and soaked up a ton of minutes.  Jimmy Howard could steal this, though, with the ‘goalie is a harder position’ argument.