Done Posted February 17, 2007 Report Posted February 17, 2007 The perfect storm is brewing for the Sabres to tank. Injuries are to be expected, and I would look for more tweaks to come. Guys like Briere, Roy, Pominville, Teppo and Campbell are most at risk as they are either small, worn out or both. Miller has recently come back from a crisis in confidence, and even though Lindy tries to put a positive spin on youth...we are down to two lines of NHL players. I fully expect New Jersey to pass us easily, and just hope that Ottawa can't catch us. It is not out of the realm of possibility for Pitt or Tampa to catch us. We have a serious shot of opening the playoffs on the road. This isn't panic, these are cold hard facts. We have been doing fairly well lately, but it is going to get worse as Lindy leans heavily on his more experienced guys. We don't need to make a deal for the sake of making a deal....we need to make a deal to save the season.
wjag Posted February 17, 2007 Report Posted February 17, 2007 I just listened to an excellent NJ-PITT game. If there is a team to be worried about, it is not NJ but PITT. They are on some kind of roll. But I don't see Buffalo giving up the conference lead. Buffalo has played the ENTIRE season with one or more guys hurt.
hopeleslyobvious Posted February 17, 2007 Report Posted February 17, 2007 The perfect storm is brewing for the Sabres to tank. Injuries are to be expected, and I would look for more tweaks to come. Guys like Briere, Roy, Pominville, Teppo and Campbell are most at risk as they are either small, worn out or both. Miller has recently come back from a crisis in confidence, and even though Lindy tries to put a positive spin on youth...we are down to two lines of NHL players. I fully expect New Jersey to pass us easily, and just hope that Ottawa can't catch us. It is not out of the realm of possibility for Pitt or Tampa to catch us. We have a serious shot of opening the playoffs on the road. This isn't panic, these are cold hard facts. We have been doing fairly well lately, but it is going to get worse as Lindy leans heavily on his more experienced guys. We don't need to make a deal for the sake of making a deal....we need to make a deal to save the season. No, it's panic.
Orange Seats Posted February 17, 2007 Report Posted February 17, 2007 I agree with Hopelessly. It's a possibility that NJ could take over the conference lead, but there would have to be some kind of catastrophy for any of those teams to catch us.
Derrico Posted February 17, 2007 Report Posted February 17, 2007 The perfect storm is brewing for the Sabres to tank. Injuries are to be expected, and I would look for more tweaks to come. Guys like Briere, Roy, Pominville, Teppo and Campbell are most at risk as they are either small, worn out or both. Miller has recently come back from a crisis in confidence, and even though Lindy tries to put a positive spin on youth...we are down to two lines of NHL players. I fully expect New Jersey to pass us easily, and just hope that Ottawa can't catch us. It is not out of the realm of possibility for Pitt or Tampa to catch us. We have a serious shot of opening the playoffs on the road. This isn't panic, these are cold hard facts. We have been doing fairly well lately, but it is going to get worse as Lindy leans heavily on his more experienced guys. We don't need to make a deal for the sake of making a deal....we need to make a deal to save the season. Cold hard facts?? Hey buddy, lay down ur crack pipe, those are ALL speculative opinions. Nothing, and I mean nothing is facts in your entire statement. Talk about panic......this team will be just fine down the stretch and then get a great confidence boost when Specek, then Connelly, then Afinagenov return.
rickshaw Posted February 17, 2007 Report Posted February 17, 2007 This team thrives when the chips are down. Last year they were amazing without Briere. Without Connelly. Without Drury. They are fine. This will give others a chance to step up. Their key guys will be even better. We will be fine. You are totally panicking. Relax. The Sabres have been on top all year. We have one bad month and half this board wants to throw in the towel. A one game under .500 month!! Chill out. Detroit has lost 5 in a row this year. Anaheim??? 3-8 in their last 11. The list goes on. The Sabres are good. Re-frigging-lax.
Rabbit151 Posted February 17, 2007 Report Posted February 17, 2007 What? We need to drop all the way to 5th to not have home ice. I need to vomit right now.
wjag Posted February 17, 2007 Report Posted February 17, 2007 What? We need to drop all the way to 5th to not have home ice. I need to vomit right now. Good point.
Wraith Posted February 17, 2007 Report Posted February 17, 2007 Is there any evidence to support the popular idea that smaller guys are more susceptible to injury, as the initial author of this thread suggests? We've lost four players in the last week and a half. Three of the four are our "big" guys (Spacek, Gaustad, and Novotny) while only one is small (Max). I just don't see any real evidence to suggest we'll be more injury prone because we're undersized.
wjag Posted February 17, 2007 Report Posted February 17, 2007 Is there any evidence to support the popular idea that smaller guys are more susceptible to injury, as the initial author of this thread suggests? We've lost four players in the last week and a half. Three of the four are our "big" guys (Spacek, Gaustad, and Novotny) while only one is small (Max). I just don't see any real evidence to suggest we'll be more injury prone because we're undersized. The thing that has me scratching my head is how they got injured. Talk about self inflicted wounds: Spacek: Blocked shot (although my recollection is the puck hit him vice him moving in front of the puck) Gaustad: Own skate cuts a tendon Novo: Restrains high ankle injury during a check he instigated Max: Fell awkwardly. Not sure if he had help or not. So why then? I think it reflects the strategy of opposing teams to play a physical game against the Sabres. The most effective way to shut down Max is to wear him down, get him in the penalty box for retaliation penalties and if the stars align, out of the game.
bob_sauve28 Posted February 17, 2007 Report Posted February 17, 2007 The perfect storm is brewing for the Sabres to tank. Injuries are to be expected, and I would look for more tweaks to come. Guys like Briere, Roy, Pominville, Teppo and Campbell are most at risk as they are either small, worn out or both. Miller has recently come back from a crisis in confidence, and even though Lindy tries to put a positive spin on youth...we are down to two lines of NHL players. I fully expect New Jersey to pass us easily, and just hope that Ottawa can't catch us. It is not out of the realm of possibility for Pitt or Tampa to catch us. We have a serious shot of opening the playoffs on the road. This isn't panic, these are cold hard facts. We have been doing fairly well lately, but it is going to get worse as Lindy leans heavily on his more experienced guys. We don't need to make a deal for the sake of making a deal....we need to make a deal to save the season. I've just taken a small glass of poison. Your 'facts' are beyond dispute and I cannot face the castostrophe that is about to befall the Sabres....and Western Civilization. Good Bye cold cruel world. :D :D
Done Posted February 17, 2007 Author Report Posted February 17, 2007 I've just taken a small glass of poison. Your 'facts' are beyond dispute and I cannot face the castostrophe that is about to befall the Sabres....and Western Civilization. Good Bye cold cruel world. :D :D I know....I know... :) What really got me going was the fact that Peters is actually a 3rd liner in seniority terms right now and will start every game for the next month most likely. If you rearrange the lines, they look like this: Hecht-Briere-Pominville Kotalik-Drury-Vanek Stafford-Roy-Pailee Peters-Mair-McArthur Now.....4th line is close to worthless as a scoring line. Roy has 9 goals playing with our two most gifted forwards, how many will he have with two rookies? 90% of the city thinks Kotalik should be outed....and Pominville is as cold as ice. Lindy will likely keep the skill guys spread out, but that is going to turn us into a defensive team again. If we are going to win, we are going to win 2-1 and 3-2 from now on. Who do you lean on in this situation???
Samson's Flow Posted February 17, 2007 Report Posted February 17, 2007 I know....I know... :) What really got me going was the fact that Peters is actually a 3rd liner in seniority terms right now and will start every game for the next month most likely. If you rearrange the lines, they look like this: Hecht-Briere-Pominville Kotalik-Drury-Vanek Stafford-Roy-Pailee Peters-Mair-McArthur Now.....4th line is close to worthless as a scoring line. Roy has 9 goals playing with our two most gifted forwards, how many will he have with two rookies? 90% of the city thinks Kotalik should be outed....and Pominville is as cold as ice. Lindy will likely keep the skill guys spread out, but that is going to turn us into a defensive team again. If we are going to win, we are going to win 2-1 and 3-2 from now on. Who do you lean on in this situation??? from what ive heard the lines arent going to look like that. it will be more like stafford and macarthur filling in for the injuries. its more along the lines of... Hecht-Briere-Pomminstein Stafford-Roy-Vanek Paille-Drury-Kotalik Peters-Mair-MacArthur to me that looks like three decent lines of scoring power and one practically useless fourth line (peters cant even hold the puck when hes open). this may be a blessing in terms of getting the AHL players real nhl experience during the season where we have some time to iron out the wrinkles.
Knightrider Posted February 17, 2007 Report Posted February 17, 2007 This team thrives when the chips are down. Last year they were amazing without Briere. Without Connelly. Without Drury. They are fine. This will give others a chance to step up. Their key guys will be even better. We will be fine. You are totally panicking. Relax. The Sabres have been on top all year. We have one bad month and half this board wants to throw in the towel. A one game under .500 month!! Chill out. Detroit has lost 5 in a row this year. Anaheim??? 3-8 in their last 11. The list goes on. The Sabres are good. Re-frigging-lax. I don't think Drury missed much time last year, but I would replace his name with Dumont and Miller, and, to a lesser extent, Pyatt and Kalinin. The nice thing about this team is that there is no single injury that will doom this team. Most teams cannot say that.
hopeleslyobvious Posted February 17, 2007 Report Posted February 17, 2007 from what ive heard the lines arent going to look like that. it will be more like stafford and macarthur filling in for the injuries. its more along the lines of... Hecht-Briere-Pomminstein Stafford-Roy-Vanek Paille-Drury-Kotalik Peters-Mair-MacArthur to me that looks like three decent lines of scoring power and one practically useless fourth line (peters cant even hold the puck when hes open). this may be a blessing in terms of getting the AHL players real nhl experience during the season where we have some time to iron out the wrinkles. You're right on with the lines. Although you could easily swap lines 2 and 3. Either way we are still getting more scoring from our 3rd line than most teams. Since we're doomed to be caught by the Devils let's look at our 2nd and 3rd lines compared to theirs (according to THN's depth chart): Pandolfo: 11G, 14A, 25 pts., Gomez: 10G, 37A, 47 pts., Brylin, 11G, 20A, 31 pts. Parise: 23G, 22A, 45pts., Zajac: 11G, 17A, 28pts., Lagenburner, 19G, 26A, 45 pts. Kotalik: 14G, 22A, 36pts., Drury: 30G, 23A, 53pts., Paille: 2G, 6A, 8pts. (In 21 games). Vanek: 29G, 27A, 56pts., Roy: 9G, 28AA, 37pts., Stafford: 2G, 3A, 5pts. (In 19 games). What Paille and Stafford's stats are low consider these facts: Paille is more than capable of filling Gaustad's role on that line. Stafford's numbers are off because he saw limited ice time in a lot of the games he played. Sure it hurts losing players, but we are not doomed.
Samson's Flow Posted February 17, 2007 Report Posted February 17, 2007 You're right on with the lines. Although you could easily swap lines 2 and 3. Either way we are still getting more scoring from our 3rd line than most teams. Since we're doomed to be caught by the Devils let's look at our 2nd and 3rd lines compared to theirs (according to THN's depth chart): Pandolfo: 11G, 14A, 25 pts., Gomez: 10G, 37A, 47 pts., Brylin, 11G, 20A, 31 pts. Parise: 23G, 22A, 45pts., Zajac: 11G, 17A, 28pts., Lagenburner, 19G, 26A, 45 pts. Kotalik: 14G, 22A, 36pts., Drury: 30G, 23A, 53pts., Paille: 2G, 6A, 8pts. (In 21 games). Vanek: 29G, 27A, 56pts., Roy: 9G, 28AA, 37pts., Stafford: 2G, 3A, 5pts. (In 19 games). What Paille and Stafford's stats are low consider these facts: Paille is more than capable of filling Gaustad's role on that line. Stafford's numbers are off because he saw limited ice time in a lot of the games he played. Sure it hurts losing players, but we are not doomed. great stats there. but to compare the devils and the sabres in terms of statistics isnt quite fair to the devils. They give up the least amount of goals in the NHL, and the sabres score the most in the NHL. so how are the devils supposed to compare to us? i see it more as a product of both team's systems rather than superior line pairings.
JujuFish Posted February 17, 2007 Report Posted February 17, 2007 Hey look, it's the new DeLuca. I knew we were missing something this season. :)
Done Posted February 17, 2007 Author Report Posted February 17, 2007 Hey look, it's the new DeLuca. I knew we were missing something this season. :) DeLuca should have stuck to his guns. The refs are starting to call games Old NHL style....our guys are getting killed, and Darcy is busy watching "Mad About You" reruns. We Will Get Passed For 1st in the East. If we can hold Ottawa off, we might be ok in the playoffs. If we start in 4th or 5th, I don't see us pulling it off.
EdwardSauve Posted February 17, 2007 Report Posted February 17, 2007 The perfect storm is brewing for the Sabres to tank. Injuries are to be expected, and I would look for more tweaks to come. Guys like Briere, Roy, Pominville, Teppo and Campbell are most at risk as they are either small, worn out or both. Miller has recently come back from a crisis in confidence, and even though Lindy tries to put a positive spin on youth...we are down to two lines of NHL players. I fully expect New Jersey to pass us easily, and just hope that Ottawa can't catch us. It is not out of the realm of possibility for Pitt or Tampa to catch us. We have a serious shot of opening the playoffs on the road. This isn't panic, these are cold hard facts. We have been doing fairly well lately, but it is going to get worse as Lindy leans heavily on his more experienced guys. We don't need to make a deal for the sake of making a deal....we need to make a deal to save the season. Ick! It is COMPLETE panic and UTTER senselessness. Not cold hard facts.
hopeleslyobvious Posted February 17, 2007 Report Posted February 17, 2007 DeLuca should have stuck to his guns. The refs are starting to call games Old NHL style....our guys are getting killed, and Darcy is busy watching "Mad About You" reruns. We Will Get Passed For 1st in the East. If we can hold Ottawa off, we might be ok in the playoffs. If we start in 4th or 5th, I don't see us pulling it off. Why will we get passed for first in the East? Every team has it's ups and downs all year. The Sabres had a big slump recently and have turned things around lately. The Devils have been hot lately, but will cool down eventually. If last year and this year to date are any indication they are a very hot and cold team. Why does injuries mean that we are doomed? Last year this team faced injuries as bad or worse than this year: Briere: 1/2 season with sports hernia. Dumont: 1/2 season with sports hernia. Miller: 2 months with broken thumb. Connolly: significant time with knee injury. Hecht: significant time with knee injury. Those injuries could have been the demise of the team last year, but instead young players took the opportunity to step up and be contributers (Eg: Pominville, Roy). This could easily happen again now: Paille has enough experience that I think he can fill in for Gaustad on the Drury line. McArthur is currently 5th in the AHL and looks ready for the NHL. Stafford has 22G and 22A for Rochester, and I think this is his big opportunity. So forgive me if I don't share in your pessimism.
BRH Posted February 18, 2007 Report Posted February 18, 2007 I'm looking at the standings and I don't see any real way we lose our division. Pittsburgh and New Jersey could both catch us and it wouldn't matter because we'd still get one of the top three spots as a division winner. Same thing happened to us last year, only in reverse, when we finished ahead of everybody except Ottawa and still had to open as the fourth seed. Ottawa is still 12 points behind us and the division is littered with teams who got that close to us and then fell back (see, e.g., Toronto and Montreal).
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