carpandean

I do ... but Ted Black is still filling my position.

As others have alluded to, Ott is a winger who discovered along the way that he's really good on draws. He gives you a great option when the center of his line is weak or gets thrown out. The latter is very useful for critical draws, where having two players capable of taking draws on the ice is a good idea.

And Bernier was traded that Summer for a 2010 second (later packaged with a throw-in, Paetsch, for Raffi Torres) and, more importantly, a third-round pick in 2009. That pick? Brayden McNabb. While Torres did nothing here, trading Campbell did yield Ennis and McNabb. Oh, and the "package" that Campbell was part of? Brian and a 7th-round pick. So, that's worth mentioning as a package, but Bernier and a 1st is not?

Just to be clear, there's a long way between a "#1 center with size, speed, grit, and leadership" and Jochen Hecht. Going into numerous seasons with Roy/Connolly/Hecht as your scoring-line center depth chart is pure failure. If you can't find something better, even though it's not exactly what you hope for, then either you need to be fired or the team needs to pack it in. (As noted in other places, every move he made in the past year or two for a center has been one that was not helped by having money to spend.) They can say it all that they want, but that doesn't mean that any fan has to accept that it's a good idea. Basically, the conversation with fans has been this: Black: "We're going to do something dumb. OK?" Fans: "No, it's dumb, so don't do it." Black: "I know that it's looked dumb, but we're going to continue to it, because we told you that we would. OK?" Fans: "Yeah, um, it's still dumb, so ... no, it's still not OK."

Darcy: "It seems to be moving toward a bigger man's league ... I do think that there's a shift in that general direction over what we saw coming out of ... you know, maybe ... not this lockout, but the previous lockout." Moving toward? A shift? Since the last lockout ... eight years ago?! Hey Darcy ...

While I doubt it would happen (and ,really, it shouldn't), it would be fun if Rolston walked in the first day and said, "instead of telling you what direction we are going this year, I'll let my captain choices show you. Otter, you're captain; Webbs, Patty (Kaleta), you guys are the alternates. Anyone not get the pattern?"

Which is worse: Toronto losing a game 7 in which they held a three-goal lead in the middle of the third, but in a series that they trailed 3-1, or ... Bruins losing a game 7 that they led 3-0 (early) in a series that they led 3-0? Gotta give it to the B's ... but last night was still fun to watch.

It was only a matter of time. The big question is: who really ran the draft, Nix or Whaley?

Exactly. Ted Black is touting how Darcy turned around the center depth problem that came up at last year's trade deadline. (1) That problem was already almost five years old, and (2) none of the moves that he made to fix it involved spending. So, why did we endure Roy/Connolly/Hecht as our top three scoring line "centers" for so long? Why did we have wingers with minimal experience as our third-best and lower options. He didn't have to find a dominant #1 in that time - they're hard to get - but he couldn't get anyone decent until he could? The move toward bigger/tougher started a little sooner, but it was still too little too late.

The first sign of any good joke ... Gerbe at center.

If I were owner ...

Well, that certainly renders my "stick handling from his knees" point rather moot.

How did he get the supposed glut (in reality only one has proven much at the NHL level) of centers that we have now? Let's see ... draft (Grigorenko), draft (Girgenson), draft (Ennis) and traded a drafted prospect (Hodgson). So, what exactly did he do that he could not have done prior to Pegula? The only "center" that remotely fits that bill is Ville Leino ... who has never actually been an NHL center and was converted to wing in his home country before he actually produced well enough to be in the NHL. In fact, the only move that he has pulled off under Pegula that he could not have before and actually worked reasonably well was Ehrhoff. There, he basically threw the kind of money that only a small handful of GMs would be allow to wield at him. From 2007-now, this team has been extremely thin at center. There's a long way between having Hecht, a converted defensive winger, as your third-best option at scoring line center and actually having a dominant #1 and #2. The latter might have been too much to ask for with his hands tied, but somewhere in between should have been possible.

My feelings on Darcy have always been summed up in a quote from Gangs of New York ... Lukewarm keeps you just good enough to be in contention for a playoff spot without risking falling to the cellar. Perhaps, now, we will see that change. It seems clear that we will head to the cellar ... for how long, nobody knows ... but the question remains whether Darcy will know how to get out of it with the pieces necessary to be a consistent Cup contender.

While his role is a little lower than the rest of that core, I also include Stafford. In fact, he has served as the poster boy for it in terms of underachieving. There's a 3.6% chance of this Summer (and possibly rebuild) taking a big turn tonight.

Realistically, 6th is about the lowest that we can hope for. Those two extra points for fifth are huge. But, yes, everything hinges on losing out.

I heard that, too, but I don't see why it is correct. The Sabres have 44 points and play two teams above them (Pittsburgh, NY Islanders), so they can finish with 44 and not help anyone below them. Of the 8 teams below them, without even considering opponents, they cannot "catch" Colorado or Florida. The only games between teams below them are Florida-Tampa (give that one to Tampa, since they can't catch Florida anyway) and Calgary-Nashville (give Nashville at least one point, preferably before the SO.) If the Flyers get 1 point against Boston, NYI, Ottawa, they pass us. If the Flames get 2 points against St. Louis, Chicago and Nashville, they pass us. If the Oilers get 3 points against Chicago, Minnesota, and Vancouver, they pass us. If the Hurricanes get 5 points against NYI, NYR and Pittsburgh, they pass us. If the Predators get 6 points (or 5 and 1 ROW and/or several + in goal diff) against Calgary, Detroit and Columbus, they pass us. If the Lightning get 6 points against Toronto, Boston and Florida, they pass us. All of these can happen together, which would leave the Sabres drafting third overall, barring a lottery win in 4-14. Am I missing something?

A couple of interesting notes as we wind down the season: 1) Though the Sabres have never finished a season as far off of the playoff pace than they will this year, they were actually worse last year through the first 48GP. 2) It does, indeed, look like the 54-point pace will be right on. 3) Pittsburgh and Florida's symmetry, while visually appealing, really :censored: 'd with my scale. 4) I found it really hard to stay motivated on this thread for some reason :sick:

You forgot to say what you'd do with Darcy. ;)

Difference is that the Sabres can win 4 straight and still lose. After tonight, the analogy breaks down.

Google

Done ... ... no, wait ... ... I think I did something wrong.

Well, when the Sabres show up to play their 43rd game in Anaheim with their whites uniforms and the Ducks are in their whites because it's only their 41st game, then you would have a bit of a problem. ;)

Ha! From WGR's page:

He blocked two big points shots from Subban on the PP (5-on-3, maybe) and had trouble getting off of the ice. I figured he'd be out injured, but never guessed he'd have a broken leg.