Noronen's reconditioning assignment

[hopeleslyobvious]

Could this be an indication of a move to come?

[Monkeygirl]

Whoa, hmm, I think it definitely signals that something is up, but with Darcy, you never know.

Maybe he pulled Mika aside and told him that if he wants to get traded, his best chance is to be playing so teams can see he's not rusty....or he could be saying, look Mika, you're not going anywhere until the offseason so you might as well get some playing time. I hope it is the first theory.

[Corp000085]

i see it as a sign that NO trade will be made. The sabres have to keep a 23 man roster, and with the injured guys coming back, they'd have to make a trade, waive someone, or send someone to rochester. Hopefully the latter is the case. I was all for trading biron in the past, but there's obviously no locker room issues with keeping both guys on the roster, so i say keep em...

[GrimFandango]

Mika really got the short end of the stick in this whole deal... however, it has to be stated that if he moves on, he really is a class act.... he could have been very negative about all of this, but instead he took it in stride understanding the situation... even when he let his frustrations known it was never detrimental to the team.

 

 

in a perfect world, i wish we could keep all three goalies... they are such good people that i am proud to have each of them wearing our crest each night. it will be a shame to see one go, but i realize it is inevitable.

[deluca67]

i see it as a sign that NO trade will be made. The sabres have to keep a 23 man roster, and with the injured guys coming back, they'd have to make a trade, waive someone, or send someone to rochester. Hopefully the latter is the case. I was all for trading biron in the past, but there's obviously no locker room issues with keeping both guys on the roster, so i say keep em...

 

 

OK. Then what did the Sabres offer Mika to go? Mika could have sat around and collected his NHL salary.

[bob_sauve28]

Could this be an indication of a move to come?

 

 

Maybe maybe not, to not answer you question. I think Ruff has been trying to get him to do this for awhile. I could mean Noronen is about to be traded and the other team wants him to get some work. It could mean Biron is about to get traded, it could mean nothing is going to happen.

 

There! My long winded non-answer. And Concgradualtions on you acceptence to JAG Corps, I hope its a worthwhile experience for you.

[hopeleslyobvious]

Maybe maybe not, to not answer you question. I think Ruff has been trying to get him to do this for awhile. I could mean Noronen is about to be traded and the other team wants him to get some work. It could mean Biron is about to get traded, it could mean nothing is going to happen.

 

There! My long winded non-answer. And Concgradualtions on you acceptence to JAG Corps, I hope its a worthwhile experience for you.

 

Thanks Bob!

 

Personally, I think Biron is going to get traded...but my guess is as good as yours. I thought that this would happen right before the break, so he would be in shape coming back. But I am completely speculating, so who knows. I will tell you for sure in 9 days ;)

[mphs mike]

My gut tells me that Mika has a premonition and wants to be in "game" shape.

[Taro T]

OK. Then what did the Sabres offer Mika to go? Mika could have sat around and collected his NHL salary.

To the best of my knowledge he still will collect his NHL salary while on a "conditioning assignment". I assume that for salary cap and roster limit purposes a conditioning assignment is treated like the player is on IR, but don't know that for certain. (Definitely makes sense for roster limit, not certain whether the powers that be consider this an end around run on the salary cap, so CBA may not allow teams to exceed the salary cap while someone is on conditioning assignment. Either way, salary cap considerations aren't an issue for the Sabres.)

[PTS]

I got a strong feeling Darcy is working a trade to bring in that stud defenseman we need. This move might be an indication of that, or at the very least that Marty is going to be shipped out.

 

My guess is Darcy told Mika that Marty will most likely be traded and that the team needs Mika to be ready to play 7-10 games down the stretch. Go to Rochester and get in game shape and when you come back, Marty will be traded.

[Guest AstrosShorstop]

I got a strong feeling Darcy is working a trade to bring in that stud defenseman we need. This move might be an indication of that, or at the very least that Marty is going to be shipped out.

 

My guess is Darcy told Mika that Marty will most likely be traded and that the team needs Mika to be ready to play 7-10 games down the stretch. Go to Rochester and get in game shape and when you come back, Marty will be traded.

I concur with you. i believe a biron trade has been finalized contingent upon Mika getting in shape incase he should need to go in for Miller. Simple cap economics would have the sabres dumping Biron salary though almost paid in place of Mika who would be easier to sign short or long term. I doubt you will get a stud defenseman either. I been hearing Brendan morrison from vancouver coming up. I don't like that trade as morrison is 30 and having a bad year. Interesting though that morrison was in the lineup tonite so who knows...i myself hold out hope that we get a bruising defenseman.

[Goodfella25]

Personally I think Darcy has made the wrong decision in waiting this long to figure out the goalie situation, and it is going to hurt us. The problem is that if we trade Biron now, the backup is Noronen, a goalie who has barely played at all this year. What if we need him down the stretch run? What is Miller gets injured? We are going to play a rusty goaltender?? Anyone who has played the game knows that it doesn't matter how much you practice, there is no substitute for actual gameplay, and Mika has barely played.

 

On the other hand, if we move Mika, the rewards will be much less than what we could potentially get for Biron, yet we would have two goaltenders going into the playoffs that could get the job done. That sounds better to me, but I would still like to add a defenseman.

 

By the way, I wouldnt say Morrison is having a "bad year." He has 42 points, which to my knowledge would tie him for 2nd on the Sabres. He would also tie Numminen for most assists with 30. I think he would be a good pickup, but only if we trade a forward

[Taro T]

Personally I think Darcy has made the wrong decision in waiting this long to figure out the goalie situation, and it is going to hurt us. The problem is that if we trade Biron now, the backup is Noronen, a goalie who has barely played at all this year. What if we need him down the stretch run? What is Miller gets injured? We are going to play a rusty goaltender?? Anyone who has played the game knows that it doesn't matter how much you practice, there is no substitute for actual gameplay, and Mika has barely played.

 

On the other hand, if we move Mika, the rewards will be much less than what we could potentially get for Biron, yet we would have two goaltenders going into the playoffs that could get the job done. That sounds better to me, but I would still like to add a defenseman.

 

By the way, I wouldnt say Morrison is having a "bad year." He has 42 points, which to my knowledge would tie him for 2nd on the Sabres. He would also tie Numminen for most assists with 30. I think he would be a good pickup, but only if we trade a forward

While Mika has 0 minutes of NHL action in 2006, Marty only has ~125 more minutes. After the conditioning assignment is over, a case could probably be made that Marty is rustier than Mika.

 

At the risk of sounding like the proverbial broken record, I am basically as comfortable having Mika as the backup as I am having Marty as the backup. Come playoff time, if either were required to put in extended duty, the Sabres already darkhorse chances of winning the SC become much slimmer. As I think Marty will bring in more in trade than Mika will and I think Mika has more (here's that horrible word) potential upside than Marty, I would prefer to see Marty be the goalie traded in the package for the D-man this team really needs.

[hopeleslyobvious]

While Mika has 0 minutes of NHL action in 2006, Marty only has ~125 more minutes. After the conditioning assignment is over, a case could probably be made that Marty is rustier than Mika.

 

At the risk of sounding like the proverbial broken record, I am basically as comfortable having Mika as the backup as I am having Marty as the backup. Come playoff time, if either were required to put in extended duty, the Sabres already darkhorse chances of winning the SC become much slimmer. As I think Marty will bring in more in trade than Mika will and I think Mika has more (here's that horrible word) potential upside than Marty, I would prefer to see Marty be the goalie traded in the package for the D-man this team really needs.

 

Well put, I completely agree with you!

[Larry Playfair]

I hope its b/c a move is about to happen - itd be great to get a good Dman. And if Miller goes down , and we need to play our backup for a stretc, we have a snow balls chance anyway.

[LabattBlue]

I remember earlier in the season, Lindy tried to get Mika to go down for a conditioning assignment and he said no. Accepting the current request to go down makes me agree with other posters in this thread, that Darcy has promised Mika one of two things...

 

1.Mika will be traded before the deadline

 

or

 

2.Marty will be traded and Mika will be the #2 goalie with plenty of ice time coming down the stretch(6 to 8 games).

 

 

My preference and I have not budged on this since early this season...package Marty, a prospect & a #1 pick for a solid defenseman(NO RENT-A-PLAYERS!!)

[Guest Guest]

I remember earlier in the season, Lindy tried to get Mika to go down for a conditioning assignment and he said no. Accepting the current request to go down makes me agree with other posters in this thread, that Darcy has promised Mika one of two things...

 

1.Mika will be traded before the deadline

 

or

 

2.Marty will be traded and Mika will be the #2 goalie with plenty of ice time coming down the stretch(6 to 8 games).

My preference and I have not budged on this since early this season...package Marty, a prospect & a #1 pick for a solid defenseman(NO RENT-A-PLAYERS!!)

 

 

Two points I agree with in that thread:

- Kudos to Mika for taking this the way he has; most other athletes would have been disruptive

- No rent-a-players. I think this team is so close, but there is certainly something to be said for chemistry. I almost feel as though we are playing with the house money right now b/c I did not expect this much. That is not to say I am not up for a trade, but I don't want us to bring in any attitudes b/c this could be a solid team for years to come, and I would rather enjoy that over other scenarios that could play out with a hired hand/edo.

[SHAAAUGHT!!!]

Don't let us forget that Mika is a great goaltender, rust or no rust. He was playing great hockey for us before he was injured earlier in the season. Even though Mika hasn't been suiting up for games, Marty has to have a lot of "rust" at this point as well.

 

Since Miller doesn't seem to be injury prone, and can obviously handle the workload, it seems to be a mood point who is sitting on the bench next to Peters.... Marty and Mika are both capable back-ups that could easily wins us some games when needed.