some positives of the game

[dusty west]

1.) campbell may have had his best game yet, going with 3 assists and a plus 3 game. stafford continues to contribute with two golas and can be seen to work hard at every play.

 

2.) the remergance of players in the hero situation continues to be amazing. when you have players like pomniville and stafford making plays early, the captains can make plays later. drury finds ways to score late when needed.

 

3.) conklin. who's to say that with the depth of the sabes conklin couldnt hold up the fight if miller happened to go down. you often see many backup goaltenders get hot in the playoffs. its the playoffs. its for real.

 

4.)roy. roy may be the grittiest player out there. he's five nine and a buck nintie, but he is constantly a pest, he seems stay in the play longer than his opponent and can still have legs at the end of a play to get it to faster skaters like vanek. if vanek would ever stop deeking himself out, who knows what could happen. go sabes!

 

5.)ruff. this will probably be the peak of his career. he has his team. he has plenty of years under his belt. it's the new nhl. ruff could very well be the face of it, if This team could win the cup.!

 

6.)we want it now!. buffalo has suffered long enough. i would love a course theory but we have none. dammit kelly. dammit modano. dammit the kick.

 

 

 

i really need to go see 300

[deluca67]

Here are some positives.

 

16 blocked shots.

 

Only 4 giveaways.

 

Drury won 72% of his faceoffs.

[inkman]

After seeing Gary Roberts play against us on Tuesday, I really wished the Sabres had traded for him. After watching Drew Stafford last night, I realized we already have a younger, better version of Roberts on the team already. ;)

[X. Benedict]

After seeing Gary Roberts play against us on Tuesday, I really wished the Sabres had traded for him. After watching Drew Stafford last night, I realized we already have a younger, better version of Roberts on the team already. ;)

 

I can't remember a Sabres rookie that moves so well without the puck.

[Doohicksie]

And yet.... I still see him missing defensive coverage and coughing up the puck in he Buffalo zone on clearing attempts. Don't get me wrong, I'm not getting down on him. Quite the opposite- with a little more experience and coaching, Stafford has a tremendous upside. He already holds his own and I'm sure he'll only get better.

 

Everybody raves about Conklin. He needs some coaching too- rebound control. Part of the reason for the high shot count was Conklin himself. He gives up some big rebounds. Many of the goals and quality scoring chances came off rebounds. Again, not writing him off or anything- just saying there is room for improvement. I hope he gets better with the rebounds.

 

He did make some absolutely amazing saves, not the least of which was the late deflection. I thought it was a case of being in the right position to make the save, but it was more than that; in the replay you can see him reacting to the deflection as it comes to him. That guy's got some amazing reflexes.

[Rabbit151]

Does Stafford have a bit of a mean streak? I'm just wondering.

 

After his first goal, he looked like a school-yard bully. Watch the replay, I believe as he lifted his arms to celebrate, he took the time to use his left arm to quickly corral a Florida player by the head or neck and give him a shove.

 

I have no access to replays, can someone check that out and corroborate it for me? If I saw it correctly, I thought it was a lovely little bit of bullying.

[wonderbread]

i saw it he puts his hand on the back of the guys neck and kinda shoves his head down towards the ice. It was like he was a dog that shat on the carpet and Stafford was rubbing his nose in it.

[inkman]

I have no access to replays, can someone check that out and corroborate it for me? If I saw it correctly, I thought it was a lovely little bit of bullying.

Word. It was a piece of brillance. It was little eff off to whoever was in front trying to check him. :D

[Bmwolf21]

And yet.... I still see him missing defensive coverage and coughing up the puck in he Buffalo zone on clearing attempts. Don't get me wrong, I'm not getting down on him. Quite the opposite- with a little more experience and coaching, Stafford has a tremendous upside. He already holds his own and I'm sure he'll only get better.

Yep - even at this point in his career, I feel more secure with Drew on the ice than I do about a half-dozen other current Sabres, including Kotalik, Kalinin (different positions, but still) Mair, and most of the Saberks...

[Claude Balls]

Everybody raves about Conklin. He needs some coaching too- rebound control. Part of the reason for the high shot count was Conklin himself. He gives up some big rebounds. Many of the goals and quality scoring chances came off rebounds. Again, not writing him off or anything- just saying there is room for improvement. I hope he gets better with the rebounds.

He gave up a few rebounds, but all in all he protected the puck pretty well. Remember, he had 45 shots pumped at him. Any goalie in the league is bound to have a few bounce of him. I couldn't have been more pleased with Conklins performance. He kept the Sabres in a game that they were totally dominated in. I think it will lead to Miller playing better.

[Rabbit151]

i saw it he puts his hand on the back of the guys neck and kinda shoves his head down towards the ice. It was like he was a dog that shat on the carpet and Stafford was rubbing his nose in it.

 

That's a good description of it. Thanks guys, just wanted to make sure I'm not seeing things. I'm turning 40 next month, you never know when old-age is gonna blindside you. Oh, by the way, you never know when old age is gonna blind-side you....oh ...I said that already.

[drnkirishone]

Stafford isn't gonna see much if any playoff hockey with his game the way it is. Reminds me of Vanek last year in that they both were missing things defensivly. Say what you want about Lindy he demands his players be accountable in there own end or they sit.

[deluca67]

Stafford isn't gonna see much if any playoff hockey with his game the way it is. Reminds me of Vanek last year in that they both were missing things defensivly. Say what you want about Lindy he demands his players be accountable in there own end or they sit.

I like Stafford but sometimes he has mental lapses. Last night and against Florida his miscues at his own blue line put the Sabres on the PK.

[Bmwolf21]

Stafford isn't gonna see much if any playoff hockey with his game the way it is. Reminds me of Vanek last year in that they both were missing things defensivly. Say what you want about Lindy he demands his players be accountable in there own end or they sit.

Vanek's playoff benching was more a result of overall work ethic than his defensive liabilities. His perceived lack of desire to play at both ends of the ice didn't help his case for getting back into the lineup in the postseason, but it was his inability to put out a consistent effort that doomed him to the press box.

 

If Lindy truly sat players based solely on not being accountable in their own end, then Briere and Max would have seen some pine as well...

 

Drew is only 21 years old, so he is going to have lapses and bad play. But I don't think Lindy will hesitate to use him, even if it is in a limited role, in the postseason because we've seen what he is capable of.

[wjag]

Stafford plays in post season. Word.

 

He is getting all the seasoning he needs with this closing stretch. Every game the Sabres seem to play is against a team scratching for a playoff position or playoff seeding... These games all count in his maturation process. He has acquitted himself quite well.

 

There isn't a guy on this team that doesn't have d-zone lapses. Did you see that give away by Briere last night? Miller was the only reason that particular give away didn't result in a goal. It was by far the worse play Danny has made all season.

[drnkirishone]

Max doesn't blow his defensive coverage nor if he is on the backcheck does he make bad decisions. It's just that players like him and Briere are normally the ones carrying the play down ice so there linemates are normally the closest to backcheck. I see alot of similaries between Vanek from last year and Stafford this year. They both were prone to mistakes in there own end. Also I think Lindy will make a heck of a defensive player outta stafford just might not be in time for the playoffs

[deluca67]

Max doesn't blow his defensive coverage nor if he is on the backcheck does he make bad decisions. It's just that players like him and Briere are normally the ones carrying the play down ice so there linemates are normally the closest to backcheck. I see alot of similaries between Vanek from last year and Stafford this year. They both were prone to mistakes in there own end. Also I think Lindy will make a heck of a defensive player outta stafford just might not be in time for the playoffs

 

Max has missed 18 games and still is fourth on the team in giveaways with 62. Briere is Third.

 

The best defense for players like Max and Briere is their offense. They are not the players you want down low defending a cycle.

[drnkirishone]

I'm not talking about giveaways. I am talking about picking up the wrong player, I'm talking about leaveing guys unchecked and them scoring goals. These are things Stafford does in his end and is why he is not gonna see alot of playoff hockey