inkman Posted February 27, 2007 Report Posted February 27, 2007 With the saved Novotny money, the Sabres will be able to throw in a spare tire for Drury's new limo. Hey, cars need tires.
nfreeman Posted February 27, 2007 Report Posted February 27, 2007 Briere and Drury are a heartache for another day. Let's think about our forward lines for the PLAYOFFS, shall we? Briere-Connolly-Hecht Drury-Zubrus-Kotalik Roy-Max-Vanek Stafford-Pominville-Mair Oh, yes.
Stoner Posted February 27, 2007 Report Posted February 27, 2007 I've heard some mention of Zubrus helping on faceoffs. He's OK but still only a 50% guy. Just thought I would throw that in there and help darken the mood a bit.
Buffalo Wings Posted February 27, 2007 Report Posted February 27, 2007 Briere-Connolly-Hecht Drury-Zubrus-Kotalik Roy-Max-Vanek Stafford-Pominville-Mair Oh, yes. I like it, too....but the first two lines have 2 centers. Put Pominville back with Briere & Hecht and have Connolly center Stafford & Mair and I'd like that better. I don't know if Drury could move to F, but I imagine he'd work with it. That is....IF they re-sign Zubrus and IF Connolly shows he's ready. Pominville-Briere-Hecht Drury-Zubrus-Kotalik Roy-Max-Vanek Stafford-Connolly-Mair
nfreeman Posted February 27, 2007 Report Posted February 27, 2007 Freeman, you forgot Afinogenov. :P He should be back for the playoffs. No way, eh? I referred to him as "Max".
Chilly Posted February 27, 2007 Report Posted February 27, 2007 No way, eh? I referred to him as "Max". Already edited my post - I missed it. Only saw the "RV" of the "RAV" line when I read it the first time.
jshockeyguy7 Posted February 27, 2007 Report Posted February 27, 2007 I like it, too....but the first two lines have 2 centers. Put Pominville back with Briere & Hecht and have Connolly center Stafford & Mair and I'd like that better. I don't know if Drury could move to F, but I imagine he'd work with it. That is....IF they re-sign Zubrus and IF Connolly shows he's ready. Pominville-Briere-Hecht Drury-Zubrus-Kotalik Roy-Max-Vanek Stafford-Connolly-Mair Pominville-Briere-Hecht Drury-Roy-Kotalik Zubrus-Max-Vanek Stafford-Connolly-Mair(Paille maybe?) This would put a "pure" center on each line, with Roy moving back to his line from last years playoffs.
Barnabov Posted February 27, 2007 Report Posted February 27, 2007 I like Zubrus much better than the old crop of vets swapped around today - take him any day over Gary Roberts/ Guerin / Tkchuk and he was much more affordable - I don't see any way to have fit much more under the cap than his 1.85 mil While we're talking lines - here's mine from another topic: Hecht-Briere-Pominville Kotalik-Drury-Zubrus (who's listed everywhere I've looked as a right winger) Vanek-Connolly-Afinogenov Paille- Roy - Mair Peters fills water bottles during the playoffs. Obviously if Timmy is not back, Roy moves up to center the 3rd line or plays left wing on 2nd line and Zubrus moves down to center 3rd line (not that we really have a 1st/2nd or 3rd line but rather several 1 to 1A lines). Lydman-Tallinder Spacek - Campbell Numinnen-Kalinin Paetsch(who I'd like to see playing 4th line forward as noted elsewhere)
Hawerchuk Posted February 27, 2007 Report Posted February 27, 2007 I was gonna go ask the HABS how they liked him when he was there. HFBoards is pretty good chat room, but its so overloaded with people you can't even get in! I definitely like the 20 goals he has too. Losing Novo doesn't bother me. But losing out on Ryan Smyth to the friggin Islanders does. Dammit!!!
Bmwolf21 Posted February 27, 2007 Report Posted February 27, 2007 I've heard some mention of Zubrus helping on faceoffs. He's OK but still only a 50% guy. Just thought I would throw that in there and help darken the mood a bit.Actually, Z's 49.7% puts him third among the Sabres' healthy centers - better than Roy (48.1) Mair (45.8) and Novotny (44.1) and is less than 1/2 of a percent worse than Briere's 50.2 success rate. So if he takes the same number of draws Novotny did, he should improve our faceoffs by default.
nfreeman Posted February 27, 2007 Report Posted February 27, 2007 I like it, too....but the first two lines have 2 centers. Put Pominville back with Briere & Hecht and have Connolly center Stafford & Mair and I'd like that better. I don't know if Drury could move to F, but I imagine he'd work with it. That is....IF they re-sign Zubrus and IF Connolly shows he's ready. Pominville-Briere-Hecht Drury-Zubrus-Kotalik Roy-Max-Vanek Stafford-Connolly-Mair Not sure what this means -- I was referring to playoff lineup, not next year (when I fear there will be some reshuffling -- but that is for discussing in July, not now, as I am far too psyched for this year). As to the top 2 lines having 2 centers -- here is my thinking: 1. Connolly and Briere played together a bit last year and were just phenomenal. I've heard Lindy talk about how great they were together. I like Pommer but if Connolly is in shape he's better. Hecht needs to stay on that line to dig it out of the corners. 2. Roy-Max-Vanek is a high-octane scoring machine, so I expect Lindy to leave them alone once Max (or as some refer to him, "Afinogenov") is back. 3. That leaves Zubrus either on Drury's line or the 4th line. Based on his numbers, I don't expect him to be a 4th-line guy. Also, Darcy said on WGR just now that Lindy likes the flexibility Zubrus gives the team -- and he said specifically that Drury can play wing (he said the same about Roy, FWIW). 4. I did struggle with having the 4th line be Stafford-Pominville-Mair, ie no true center. I think I've heard Roby or Lorentz say recently that Mair can play center. Not sure whether Stafford has played center. I will admit that this line was just process of elimination. Holy mackarel I am psyched to get our guys back and rolling. In the meantime, I'm guessing tonight's forward lineup looks like this: Briere-Pominville-Hecht Zubrus-Ryan-Mair Roy-Vanek-Stafford MacArthur-Kaleta-Peters Although if Zubrus can't get there in time, I guess Mancari stays in.
frisky Posted February 27, 2007 Report Posted February 27, 2007 Lydman-Tallinder Spacek - Campbell Numinnen-Kalinin Paetsch(who I'd like to see playing 4th line forward as noted elsewhere) I like Paetsch better than Kalinin. I think Kalinin has plateaued with the Sabres and would be in line for a change of scenery to give him a boost.
Taro T Posted February 27, 2007 Report Posted February 27, 2007 Briere and Drury are a heartache for another day. Let's think about our forward lines for the PLAYOFFS, shall we? Briere-Connolly-Hecht Drury-Zubrus-Kotalik Roy-Max-Vanek Stafford-Pominville-Mair Oh, yes. OK, here's my take. Hecht - Briere - Pominville Roy - Drury - Kotalik Vanek - Zubrus - Max Paille (Paetsch) - Connolly - Stafford (Mair) with Hank & Toni Jaro & Soupy Dmitri & Teppo. The reason I have Connolly on the 4th line is I am not certain that he'll be ready for a regular shift initially. And part of my choice of having Zubrus on Max's line is due to hearing Darcy (IIRC, I might have heard the TSN guys babble about it, but I thought Darcy said it) say that Max is very excited about the Sabres getting Zubrus. Assuming the team does get healthy, that is a pretty darn impressive lineup with at least 2 guys that deserve to be playing on the outside looking in.
That Aud Smell Posted February 27, 2007 Report Posted February 27, 2007 And part of my choice of having Zubrus on Max's line is due to hearing Darcy (IIRC, I might have heard the TSN guys babble about it, but I thought Darcy said it) say that Max is very excited about the Sabres getting Zubrus. Assuming the team does get healthy, that is a pretty darn impressive lineup with at least 2 guys that deserve to be playing on the outside looking in. Whether you heard it right or not, Dave, this stands to reason for the 2 young-ish Russians. I suspect they know one another from the national team.
Barnabov Posted February 27, 2007 Report Posted February 27, 2007 OK, here's my take. Hecht - Briere - Pominville Roy - Drury - Kotalik Vanek - Zubrus - Max Paille (Paetsch) - Connolly - Stafford (Mair) Nice lines Dave! If Tim gets up to speed - that "4th" line with him, Paille & Stafford in the playoffs would be frightening. I love Adam Mair but would have to go with the Offense in the playoffs.
nfreeman Posted February 27, 2007 Report Posted February 27, 2007 Whether you heard it right or not, Dave, this stands to reason for the 2 young-ish Russians. I suspect they know one another from the national team. Darcy did indeed say that Max was very psyched.
IKnowPhysics Posted February 27, 2007 Report Posted February 27, 2007 Hecht - Briere - Pominville Roy - Drury - Kotalik Vanek - Zubrus - Max Paille (Paetsch) - Connolly - Stafford (Mair) with Hank & Toni Jaro & Soupy Dmitri & Teppo. Unfreakenstoppable.
Samson's Flow Posted February 27, 2007 Report Posted February 27, 2007 OK, here's my take. Hecht - Briere - Pominville Roy - Drury - Kotalik Vanek - Zubrus - Max Paille (Paetsch) - Connolly - Stafford (Mair) with Hank & Toni Jaro & Soupy Dmitri & Teppo. The reason I have Connolly on the 4th line is I am not certain that he'll be ready for a regular shift initially. And part of my choice of having Zubrus on Max's line is due to hearing Darcy (IIRC, I might have heard the TSN guys babble about it, but I thought Darcy said it) say that Max is very excited about the Sabres getting Zubrus. Assuming the team does get healthy, that is a pretty darn impressive lineup with at least 2 guys that deserve to be playing on the outside looking in. i think dave wins the sabres lineup game. holy shiite! what everyone overlooks on this is that this gives us the best faceoff guys we have centering our three lines. the vanek max line has always struggled in the faceoff department and cant always put them in there for clutch draws since roy isnt very strong on draws (something like 45%). putting Zubrus in there could make it reasonable to use them on imp. faceoffs. anyways that sabres lineup looks like they can truly roll 4 lines again and score 5-10 goals a night! EDIT: Roy is a 48.1% according to BMWolf, better than what i said, but still not good for "clutch" draws
BRH Posted February 28, 2007 Report Posted February 28, 2007 Whether you heard it right or not, Dave, this stands to reason for the 2 young-ish Russians. I suspect they know one another from the national team. Zubrus is Lithuanian, not Russian. I know it's a bit like saying Briere is Quebecois and Roy is from Ontario, but they ARE two different countries... even if for some reason the Lithuanians are allowed to play on the Russian national team (and why would they? Latvia has its own team). Some United Nations the Sabres have. Nine different countries are represented now (ten if you count Quebec :)): USA (Drury, Miller, Stafford et al) Canada (Briere, Roy, Campbell et al) Finland (Teppo, Lydman) Sweden (Tallinder) Czech Republic (Spacek, Kotalik) Germany (Hecht) Austria (Vanek) Russia (Afinogenov, Kalinin) Lithuania (Zubrus) That's at least seven or eight different first languages, too: English, French, Finnish, Swedish, Czech, German, Russian. That's GOT to be some kind of record, doesn't it? Most teams seem to load up on guys from one country (like Dallas with the Finns and Detroit with the Swedes). I can't think of another team that can fly nine different flags in its locker room (all under the SABRES banner of course!).
Niaure Posted February 28, 2007 Report Posted February 28, 2007 Hello there, I'm a new member here. I came here from Capitals boards (let's say I was traded here :D ). So, I became a new fan of Buffalo Sabres. It will take some time for me to settle in here,but I think it will be Ok. Here's something about my favorite Sabre Dainius Zubrus: His nationality and passport is Lithuanian (REMEMBER - NOT Russian) and if can,he playing for Lithuanian national team (Pool B silver medals last year). His first language is Lithuanian,but speaks Russian and English too. Originally he is RW,but for a few last years he was a 1st C and alternate captain in WSH. Friendly guy, unselfish player. I hope he will be a 1st - 2nd line forward and help to win the cup for BUF.
cdexchange Posted February 28, 2007 Report Posted February 28, 2007 Hello there, I'm a new member here. I came here from Capitals boards (let's say I was traded here :D ). So, I became a new fan of Buffalo Sabres. It will take some time for me to settle in here,but I think it will be Ok. Here's something about my favorite Sabre Dainius Zubrus: His nationality and passport is Lithuanian (REMEMBER - NOT Russian) and if can,he playing for Lithuanian national team (Pool B silver medals last year). His first language is Lithuanian,but speaks Russian and English too. Originally he is RW,but for a few last years he was a 1st C and alternate captain in WSH. Friendly guy, unselfish player. I hope he will be a 1st - 2nd line forward and help to win the cup for BUF. Hey, welcome to the board and welcome to Sabres Fandom :beer: Thanks for the info about our newest Swordsman. Do you live down in DC?
Niaure Posted February 28, 2007 Report Posted February 28, 2007 Hey, welcome to the board and welcome to Sabres Fandom :beer: Thanks for the info about our newest Swordsman. Do you live down in DC? No, I live in Lithuania
BuffalOhio Posted February 28, 2007 Report Posted February 28, 2007 Ding ding ding ding ding ding!!! We now have a member from Lithuania. All I can say is, wow! As for the lines, I really liked Stafford Roy Vanek last night. They were really buzzing, and Roy was a stickhandling magician out there. If Max is excited for Zuby to be here, maybe we should pair them up and leave SRV alone.
MBD Posted February 28, 2007 Report Posted February 28, 2007 It's always nice to welcome a new fan to the Sabres family. Especially an international one.
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