DHawerchuk10

You are right on the money with your comment! It's not as much the booing, its the alternative. No Buffalo fan wants to hear the truth, but even when the Sabres are playing reasonably well, the atmosphere is lousy. And then the only time the building gets noisy, its because of booing?! That is an embarrassment. Fan etiquette should be required learning for everybody entering the building. Look no further than the "Let's Go Sabres" chants. You should have your fan card revoked for such heresy! It is "Lets Go Buff-a-lo". The old ways have been lost due to forced relocation....shudder.

Even the stats here don't do the argument justice as the rules and styles of play were different. However, there were nights that Hasek imposed his confidence on the entire building, and you KNEW he wasn't going to be beaten. That's beyond elite, that is a generational talent. Sadly, even that didn't translate into a championship for Buffalo, but at least it came within a whisker.

Well said. When I speak of "average", I am really alluding to his ability (or lack thereof) to be a game-changer. In the grand scheme of things when ranked against other goalies, I am sure he can rank as above average, but what does that matter? Stats can be cherry-picked to support either side of the argument here, and as mentioned, don't stack up to a championship or even a winning team. I think its more important to believe your own eyes when watching Miller. And I see a goalie whose ability can be replaced at a lower salary level, and the "savings" can be used to strengthen the team in other areas. Certainly everybody has a different perception, but that is what makes this argument so compelling. Furthermore, "eliteness" would suggest a talent that can overcome shortcomings of the team. Ryan Miller can't do this, and even many apoligists here have said, "well, he would do better with a better defense". To me, that is like admitting he is not elite. Every goalie would do better with a better defense. The key is to perform at a high level and win games given what you have. ***Disclaimer: I realize our defense has been extremely putrid this year, thus using this year to judge Miller's career performance is somewhat of an outlier.

That is not a bad idea. I don't mind Rolston as coach, but there is no denying the skill of those two guys regardless of sentiment.

If any California team traded for Miller, it would be outright stupidity. This is born out of strict fan bs that Miller wants to be with his wife in SoCal. Maybe yes, maybe no...but why on earth would franchises with superior goaltending trade for a guy who wants to be dealt to your club because his wife is out there? If this happened, I would be extremely happy though, but it makes absolutely no sense. Maybe Ryan will enjoy Edmonton????

If the deal was Vanek or Pominville plus Miller for Quick the Kings would be fools not to pull the trigger. I like Quick, but that would be a hugely lopsided deal in their favor. Perhaps if it was Myers plus Miller for Quick and Martinez it would work, but I agree, I don't see any scenario where Miller goes to LA that makes sense. And the whole, "his wife lives there" thing is complete BS. These are professional athletes, not factory workers. These guys are on the road half the year, you think it really matters where the bricks are put down. If Miller doesn't live in LA during the offseason, then what difference would it make during the season?

We'll take up a collection to pay Brad's medical bills and get R. Kelly to write a song about him. Holy crap this is being overblown!!!!

How quickly everyone forgets the numerous times Kaleta throws himself in front of shots. Kaleta was stupid for the cross check while already being a man down. The fact that Richards went crashing into the boards is bad luck for the most part. In reading some of these posts, you would think Kaleta had devised this during the pre-game skate and was disappointed Richards didn't get hurt. If you want to see a real forceful cross check, watch Thomas Vanek in front of the net on the powerplay. If he was Richards, he would get propelled out to the red line with those.

My god man, he cross checked him in the back 10 feet from the boards, he didn't drop kick him in the throat with his skates.

I don't have a problem with the 2 minutes there, just pointing out the inconsistencies in reactions. I think both deserved two minutes and I agree with your Ennis arguement. But its somewhat disingenious to want to hang Kaleta, and ignore Girardi's hit. Yep, you summed it up perfectly.

Good breakdown. This certainly falls into the "looked worse than it really was" category. Quite frankly, I was somewhat shocked he got 5 mins. It was a cross-check plain and simple, worth of a 2 minute penalty. Since Richards lost his balance, everyone wants to draw and quarter Kaleta. Sorry to disappoint the Brad Richards fan club, but Thomas Vanek takes 5 times that abuse every game, and I never hear a peep from anyone on this board or anywhere. Not only that, but the location of his "supposed injury" changed from his shoulder to lower back while he was on the bench (which was shown on the NY telecast). How about the hit Ennis took in overtime? This is an excellent comparison. Where is the righteous indignation over that?

Are you being sarcastic? Pominville is one of the best two way wingers in the game.

That is freakin awesome! Yeah, I believed it too. I remember thinking how the heck does he know that kid is from Lackawanna? Ha! Unrelated to that, for whatever reason they always seemed to have technical difficulties on NFSN. The sound would always kick out. It happened like a dozen times a year.

I think Darren Puppa owned the Robo Wash on Niagara Falls Blvd. In any event, boy was he a frustrating goaltender. Would make like a dozen great saves in close, only to be beaten by a weak shot from the point. Kind of reminds of a certain goaltender on the current team. I thought LaFontaine got injured off a faceoff against the Habs? He had the collision with Don Sweeney in Game 4, but I thought he was ok after that.

I think you are undercutting the Hasek-led teams a little. As a matter of fact, I often wonder why nobody seems to remember how good of a team we had in 2001 (even without Peca, who was holding out at that time). I would almost argue that team was equal to the 06/07 teams in terms of all around team play. If not for that Lemieux goal in Game 6, and the bevy of mishaps in Game 7 (that missed call with Darius K throwing the puck in the stands still has me fury), Buffalo had an excellent chance to go all the way considering we absolutely owned NJ that year, and matched up well against the Avs. I won't argue that the supporting cast was as good as in the 70's or in '06, but it wasn't '98, when it was Hasek surrounded by a multitude of fringe NHL'ers either. Didn't Kenny Priestlay score the OT winner? 92/93 was a special season as well. If kids today could only hear that Jeanneret! His voice was about 10 octaves higher that season. LaFontaine and Mogilny were almost unstoppable, and freakin Hawerchuk was our PP quarterback. It was unbelievable!

I recall Lindy's first home game versus the Stars vividly. Everyone was still whipped up about Nolan leaving. Seems like yesterday. Time goes by fast!

During the '99 playoffs when we were playing the Bruins (Game 6 to be exact), my buddy yelled what I thought was the most appropriate line ever uttered to a player, and what made it great was that it was timed perfectly (the arena was relatively quiet and we had seats pretty close to the ice). That line was...."Hit 'em with your cane Bourque!" This was closely followed by the first preseason game ever played at "Marine Midland Arena"...somebody from the 300's yelled "###### Grosek! Would you skate!!!!" The fact that it was a meaningless preseason game, and people were already on Grosek made that priceless. Its kind of like being in a crowded lecture hall, and the professor asks for a number...there is always one guy in the back who invariably yells "69". Again, not the pinnacle of wit, but there is a certain humor to perfect timing.

Good points and I agree. The "system" really isn't why we are failing persay right now. The team just isn't executing the basics. That alone is flabbergasting (our gap control is the worst in the league). The "system" as accurately described by SwampD doesn't mesh well with our personel at this point either. It is designed based purely on puck control in the offensive end, and when you can't win a faceoff and are easily knocked off the puck when you do have it, you see the result. I've always been upset that we collapse too low in the defensive zone too, especially with a goalie with a penchent for letting blue line shots go in. Anybody else notice we are horrible on "two on ones" dating back a couple seasons? I would say more often than not we don't even get a shot on goal. What the heck is that all about? I was scared that Pominville was going to lose the puck in his skates right before he scored, that is how much of a rarity that something actually goes right on an odd-man rush.

What can Myers do that others can't? Please explain. Great post, but I wish people can back up these types of comments up outside of saying he won the Calder. Ok, so did Andrew Raycroft. A trophy is no substitute for one's own critical eyes.

So the fact Tyler Myers falls down every other play and gets pushed aside like a bag of leaves is poor coaching? I bet Gragnani wished he had this many people making excuses for him when he was with the team.

Very bold of you, and I would be happy to hear the "I told you so", but its not happening. The Sabres have nowhere to go but up, but their defensive struggles are more fundamental than just having a couple off games. They may be able to to amp up the offense and calm the defensive waters enough to challenge for 8th, but I can't foresee a "solid playoff position".

I am no GM, but you would never get Kessel for Myers. Just discussing Myers with fans from other teams, you can get some feel for how far he has fallen in many peoples eyes. Maybe we can con some GM into taking his potential, but that is waning by the day. Good post. Agree.

Again, I hope you are right. But the evidence is in, and these "analysts" would be better served not to base their projections on one year. He is cut so much slack by everybody because he is so big, but he rarely uses his size for anything constructive. And the reason why people were so high on him to begin with was his skating, and above all, that is what has seemed to have disappeared this year. The previous three years just demonstrated that he is going to be a non-physical "Richard Smehlik" like "play the angles" defenseman with some offensive upside, and that he is prone to wild inconsistencies and extremely slow starts. Anything can happen, but if I were a betting man, I would not bet on Myers becoming even a #1 defensemen in the league. I also have to take issue with the fact that people giving up on Myers is overreacting. It certainly is not. His play has been very sub-par for large stretches the past 3 seasons, with flashes of a good but not great defenseman. Even taking his ROY campaign into consideration, I don't see many things special about him other than the smoke screen created by his size. Obviously our projections of him are not even close, but what do you see him becoming if you don't think he can become a Pronger/Chara type (cause right or wrong, this is what most people as fans were thinking they were getting, but with excellent skating ability)? I see him being a middle of the road (3/4 defenseman), with some offensive upside. Think Richard Smehlik for defensive upside, and on better offensive days, perhaps Thomas Kaberle. But the man is not going to be a top defensive stalwart. He has given no evidence that he even thinks the game that way, let alone display the physical ability. I would really struggle on how you would think he could be better than this, and why you think that way. And don't use the "defensemen take longer to develop" argument here cause it is non-applicable....cause the key word is "develop", Myers has totally regressed in every aspect of the game which is a huge red flag that he is not developing or not going to develop.

I hope you are right.

He will play better, no question. But if that performance was a thousand times better and closer to his baseline, you have basically equated him to a mediocre defenseman.