Corp000085 Posted February 25, 2007 Report Posted February 25, 2007 Now that we've gotten through the 2 biggest regular season games in about 20 years, and with the attention of the entire western sports world, its time to move on. Starting with the injuries: Drury is having more tests on his face to see if he broke bones. He apparently had an MRI yesterday, but he was also "Feeling better". What do i suspect? his concussion like symptoms may be caused by the cut and black eye itself. Worst case? he broke a bone in his face and he's out for a few more weeks, and comes back with a shield. If Lafontaine can play with a shattered jaw and a shield, drury can play with a cracked orbital bone and a mask. He'll be good to go! Novotny--He skated over the weekend, and if that's an indication of when he'll be back, we could be talking as early as tuesday and definitely by the weekend. Spacek--He's getting close to hitting that 3-4 week mark. Hopefully we'll get a positive update on him early this week. The callups With the imminent return of novotny, the sabres can afford to send down mancari. Spacek would free paetsch to play wing and have ryan sent down. It would also afford teppo a day off, which he needs badly. Ryan--He's got some stone hands. Don't know if that's his skill level, or if that's just nerves. Too early to tell, but i'm not really confident in him at the moment. Kaleta--Hello Adam Mair v.2.0 He's big, he has a lot of energy, and after Mcgratton's balls met the wall last night, he can strike fear. He'll be Paul Gaustad v.2.0 when he has more time to work on his defensive game and faceoff ability. He's a guy who darcy and lindy will have to evaluate for a peters type of role... NOt the fighting peters roll, the heavy hitting enery role that he plays. Stafford--Ok, i was really worried when afinogenov, kotalik, novotny, etc. started to drop. I was scared of the rookies. I'm not scared of Stafford anymore. He's officially put Kotalik on notice. Stafford will be the last guy to be sent down unless he's not sent down at all. Trades: At this point, you can't trade anyone... Unless darcy has supreme confidence in Stafford, i could see him pulling the trigger on kotalik, but who knows what we'd get for him... Roy? Biron?? Roy has been on fire lately. It would be hard to trade him. Biron? His salary could be freed, but then you're giving up your goalie depth. THe sabres need a defenseman. They're not deep there at all, although with card of funk playing, campbell's game stepped up... If the sabres had tanked the last few games due to the injuries, i think marty of someone else would already be gone... We've kept on winning, so at this point you have to dance with who you brung. The games: Toronto, montreal, and toronto again before a 3 game homestand. If the sabres can ride the storm and at least pick up 2 wins, they should be golden. Hopefully drury will be back by the homestand, and after the sabres get through these three games, we can begin to talk about magic numbers for clinching playoffs, division, conference, and presidents trophy. Presidents trophy?? Yes, believe it or not, with only one single forward line of four unaffected by the injuries, and with almosst their entire prospect pool playling, killing penalties, and scoring game winning goals for us, the sabres still have the best record in the league. Ottawa did gain on us in the division race, but they are 11 back. If they get to 9 or 7 i'll be really scared, but at 11, the sabres can just continue to play their brand of hockey. The playoffs and that big shiny thing? When we went 10-0, we thought it would be easy living in the moment. This is an 82 game season with a lot of ups and downs. The sabres, at this point, have turned their biggest downer into a major upper. The teamwork they showed on thursday and the heart they showed last night is what makes this team so special. They're not 10-0 anymore, but they're even more special now than when they curtain called after the atlanta game. This is a great team with the heart of a champion. They'll get to prove that in april. Till then, enjoy the ride! I am! Now, we've got ourselves a 2 day break before a ho-hum toronto game. LETS GO BUFFALO!
zow2 Posted February 25, 2007 Report Posted February 25, 2007 I agree with some of your assessments. Stafford is definitely a player....Ryan just botched some great chances but at least he's putting himself in position to get chances. He also was standing there as Spezza scored the winner. One big aspect of moving on is goaltending. Whether its Miller or Biron, the Sabres need more from them. If Buffalo wants to do anything in the playoffs they need to be able to win some 2-1, 3-2, 1-0 type games. Right now Miller is not an elite goalie IMO. We are giving up at least 3 if not more per game and that's not going to get it done in the playoffs.
bob_sauve28 Posted February 25, 2007 Report Posted February 25, 2007 Stafford is a defensive liability right now, IMO. Good player, great shot, offensive ability, but he still needs to fine tune his game before he is ready, and the NHL playoffs are not the place to do that
DR HOLLIDAY Posted February 25, 2007 Report Posted February 25, 2007 I agree with some of your assessments. Stafford is definitely a player....Ryan just botched some great chances but at least he's putting himself in position to get chances. He also was standing there as Spezza scored the winner. One big aspect of moving on is goaltending. Whether its Miller or Biron, the Sabres need more from them. If Buffalo wants to do anything in the playoffs they need to be able to win some 2-1, 3-2, 1-0 type games. Right now Miller is not an elite goalie IMO. We are giving up at least 3 if not more per game and that's not going to get it done in the playoffs. Dude Miller is a great goalie who's stats would be crazy good if he played for a more defensive team......... :D
wjag Posted February 25, 2007 Report Posted February 25, 2007 I think Stafford should stay up at playoff time. Ryan and Kaleta did what we asked. With some more seasoning they'll be pushing starters for jobs. These guys got some big league, big time game experience and our franchise will be the better for it. Mancari still needs work. Kaleta hurt Mcgrattan last night on a quality check. And that one move at center ice was as good as a forward could make. He has potential. Miller would have won that game last night if he was in for all of it. I have no doubt in my mind on that. It's a shame we couldn't squeeze a point out of that game last night. Battling back from 3 down deserved a point. I look forward to the next three games. Did you know: Buffalo is the only team in the NHL not to be shut out this year?
Hawerchuk Posted February 25, 2007 Report Posted February 25, 2007 Alot of good points in this post. Now without sounding too negative, what upside does Novotny bring to the table? I don't hate the guy, but he hasn't really showed me any offensive prowness. I thought he was paid to score goals and points. I'm not seeing that from him before he was hurt. I just as well have MacArthur or Kaleta playing instead of Novocop. Just my opinion, but Novo hasn't been that great. I really want to see Afino and Spacek back ..... SOON!!!
deluca67 Posted February 25, 2007 Report Posted February 25, 2007 Stafford is a defensive liability right now, IMO. Good player, great shot, offensive ability, but he still needs to fine tune his game before he is ready, and the NHL playoffs are not the place to do that Stafford is not ready to be a top six forward at this point. To have him thrown in that role may make it unfair to judge at this point. When all are healthy I like the idea of Stafford playing the fourth line and some special teams shifts during the playoffs. This is where the injuries can be a blessing. If needed you will have a bunch of young guys with significant experience. It will really make next seasons training camp very interesting. But that's putting the cart before the horse.
X. Benedict Posted February 25, 2007 Report Posted February 25, 2007 I don't think Stafford is a defensive liability- he made mistakes giving the puck away in the neutral zone. What he brings to the walls and the corners is very impressive. Ryan is much, much faster than I thought he was from camp. He is creating chances and once he stops gripping so tight, he'll finish. He may not be ready for everyday play on this Roster or come playoffs, but his speed does give a line some enticing looks.
bob_sauve28 Posted February 25, 2007 Report Posted February 25, 2007 I don't think Stafford is a defensive liability- he made mistakes giving the puck away in the neutral zone. What he brings to the walls and the corners is very impressive. Ryan is much, much faster than I thought he was from camp. He is creating chances and once he stops gripping so tight, he'll finish. He may not be ready for everyday play on this Roster or come playoffs, but his speed does give a line some enticing looks. I think Stafford makes plays he thinks he can get away with in Rochester, but the NHL makes you pay. He will get over that. I agree with everything else you say about him. And holy cow in Ryan fast! When he got the puck on the wing last night he took off like a rocket!
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