JJFIVEOH

Really? Did Lindy put Stafford on the 4th line when his numbers declined? Stafford, Grig and Foligno aren't scoring either, I guess they aren't working.

Wanna get analytical? They don't score regardless of their linemates. It's a moot point. Stafford, Foligno and Grig (eventually) are there to score goals. Hecht is not. Why is that so difficult to understand?

And equally as worthy of a benching, if not more. And he's only got one goal. But Hodgson will get trashed for being a defensive liability.

Gerbe is far from the most ineffective forward, just because his numbers don't show it doesn't make it so. He's been skating well, creating good opportunities and if I had to guess he's near the top on the team in takeaways over the last couple of weeks. It's just a matter of time before he cashes in and/or his linemates get their heads out of their a**es. Rolston sees it, that's why he's getting more playing time and been on the PP. Gerbe was one of Lindy's favorite whipping boys that's why he never got a chance to do anything except 4th line. Hecht was signed to a cheap contract to fill in spaces where they needed to be filled. He's a consistent, reliable, defensive forward and that's what he was signed to do. And yes, I think he's done a pretty good job. This team has several major issues in which Hecht shouldn't even be on the radar right now. Being a +1 in a non-scoring role on one of the worst defensive team in the league is pretty damn impressive to me. Seems he's shutting down somebody when he's on the ice. It amazes me that people even consider throwing guys like Hecht, Gerbe and Enroth under the bus with the problems they have. That's why I call it the Paul Hamilton syndrome. I used to have respect for the guy, he used to be impartial and unbiased when it came to critiquing players based on their roles. He doesn't do that any more, he simply resorts to trashing the players that aren't supposed to carry this team because they're easy targets.

How many more points would Gerbe have if Foligno buried half the prime opportunities he gave him the two games they played together. Hecht is not a liability. Why can't people get that? He is a +1 on the worst +/- team in the eastern conference on lines that never score. That should imply he is important as a defensive forward if you don't actually watch him play. What is Foligno, -7? I think Hecht gets slammed like Enroth and Gerbe because they're easy targets. It's the Paul Hamilton syndrome.

Uh oh.................

Exactly! They would have been calling for his benching two weeks ago.

Gerbe's been all over the ice the last couple of weeks, Hecht is doing what he was brought in to do. Foligno has been pretty much useless the last month. I've got no problem with a benching. Since we're back to throwing Gerbe and Hecht under the bus because a fan favorite is getting benched, aren't we forgetting to run over Enroth? :rolleyes:

Can the Sabres pull off the South Florida sweep? Panthers pulled off a big win Tuesday against the Pens scoring 6 goals while going 4 for 7 on the PP. Florida's rookies have been carrying the team. Drew Shore and Johnathan Huberdeau are both in the top 6 in team scoring, Huberdeau is 2nd in the league for rookie scoring. Peter Mueller is turning out to be a signing well worth the risk due to his past injuries. Not sure if Clemmensen or Theodore will be in net, rumors have it Theodore is being shopped but he got pulled last game and Clemmensen shut down the Pens in the 3rd for the win. Jacob Markstrom is the future, he'll be called up as soon as a spot opens up. Sabres are 8-5-1 in Florida since the last lockout, 4-1-1 in the last 6. It's my first GDT so let's make it worth it. Go Sabres!

FL is not looking for a goaltender. In fact rumors are strong they are shopping Theodore because they have their future #1 in Jacob Markstrom. He was just called up to play two games even though Theodore and Clemmensen were healthy. Tallon's plans are falling into place, all they need is time. They had no intentions of making the playoffs last year so they're anticipating this year being worse because all their rookies are up. Now back to your regularly scheduled program.

Say what?

Let's hope the Panthers blew their load for the week. That was an exciting game!

Interesting stat in the Panthers-Penguins game. Both starting goaltednders got yanked and neither one of them is going to end up with a decision. When was the last time that happened?

That's his fourth penalty this year. <_<

I'm going to go out on a limb and say the Sabres step it up tonight with 2 goals.

For the last two seasons everybody said they needed to break up the core. Exit Connolly, Roy and Gaustad. Now they're even worse. Anybody else get a chuckle out of that?

That pretty much covers my opinion. Thanks for doing all the dirty work for me.

Yes, he would be. Hecht is used as a defensive forward and is probably one of our best at this point.

At this point I'd settle for three. ;)

I think you're going to find almost all #1 scoring lines for most teams are defensive liabilities. That's not to say ours is worse than more though. Are they worse because our D is so bad they can't back them up? Derek Roy wasn't much better. I agree Hodgson needs to work on his D work. But right now he needs to concentrate on scoring because we have none. Let the D do their job. I guess my point was that there are so many other things that need to be addressed I think it's tough to take it out on the young guys.

I'd like to see Tarnasky. I liked him when he played down here, and he seems to be scoring a few in Rochester too. This whole board thinks every player on the team needs to be 6'4" 230# and score 40 goals a season..... while scoring one every other game on the dot. because it really is that easy to accomplish. :wallbash: Then after we have an entire time of 40 goal/yr 6'4" 230 pounders (all for under $3mil/yr contract) the entire board cna whine next year about the team being too slow. Wait....... didn't we work on size during the offseason and now we're slow? Huh.............. I had you until your second sentence. Even those guys shouldn't be worried about right now. Why? Because they're producing! Need to take a look at horrible defense? LOOK AT THE HORRIBLE DEFENSEMEN! Wanna start worrying about players who are responsible for this mess? Look at the high dollar veterans! To criticize your best center who has spent all of 20 games at #1 in his career and has yet to hit 100 games because he isn't defensive? Really? I think we need to start placing the blame on John Scott because he's not putting the puck in the net.

It is a big deal on a team -15 in GF/GA differential. What hasn't he done that he was brought in to do?

Nobody should be blamed. They both thought, along with the majority of the people who posted about it on this board, that it was a good idea. And most still do. http://forums.sabrespace.com/topic/21305-jochen-hecht-back-in-buffalo/

So did the rest of us.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtW8RkI3-c4