Thomas Vanish

[LabattBlue]

I'm sure many would welcome it.

slump buster? :blush:

[wonderbread]

PA just got pnwed. Nice job as per usual Mr Freeman.

[inkman]

slump buster? :blush:

Vanekneedsthis.bmp

[Stoner]

PA just got pnwed. Nice job as per usual Mr Freeman.

 

You wanna be third man in? I'll drop you like the Octomom's bladder.

 

I'll play. How did I get, how do you say, pnwed?

[Stoner]

Just checked the ice time stats, and Vanek is behind Grier and Hecht in even strength ice time, among others. He's also behind Pominville and Connolly, who are also both behind Grier and Hecht. That's a real head-scratcher.

[nfreeman]

PA just got pnwed. Nice job as per usual Mr Freeman.

Yesssss! Much obliged.

 

how do you say, pnwed?

My 9-year-old reports that it is pronounced such that it rhymes with "loaned."

 

Just checked the ice time stats, and Vanek is behind Grier and Hecht in even strength ice time, among others. He's also behind Pominville and Connolly, who are also both behind Grier and Hecht. That's a real head-scratcher.

Why? Shouldn't ice time be earned?

[Sabre Dance]

 

Why? Shouldn't ice time be earned?

 

Who do you put out there when everyone sucks?

[darksabre]

Who do you put out there when everyone sucks?

 

The players generating the most chances.

 

So...Mike Grier, Tim Kennedy and Patrick Kaleta.

 

 

:unsure:

[SwampD]

Did Lindy not require him to play D last year, when he had 40? Did Lindy decide over the summer to put weights in his skates to slow him down? Why in the world would Lindy want to shackle his best goal-scorer? Isn't it in Lindy's interests for Vanek to be the best player he can be?

Didn't Vanek also become Lindy's little project last year? He was going to make him the "best two way player in the league" I believe. I guess he left him in the back of the closet with the half finished NASCAR model and the unused home brewing kit.

[static70]

Who do you put out there when everyone sucks?

Don't we have a farm team? Throw out the Pirates. Hell, they can't do any worse than a loss, which is what the big club is accomplishing now, game after game. I say mix in some youth thats hungry and wants a job with the big club.

You want to light a fire under this teams ass, bring in guys after their jobs. Make them perform.

[SouthernSabre]

Vanek's decline as a player has been shocking since the broken jaw. I keep thinking that he's been sent to the press box and then about a period or so into the game, I finally see #26 coming into the play a dollar short and a day late.

 

The Buffalo fans have been more than understanding but I think if he doesn't click with Torres on his line (G'Bye Stafford, Mr. Weak Link!) I think some booing of Mr. $7 million a year would be in order. I'd like to get rid of Vanek and Stafford in the offseason. Roy is the only one who's competing on that line and with his size, he's behind the 8 ball. I just don't see Vanek in synch with the boring Buffalo system, although Ruff's attempt to make him into a complete player (one takeaway per game) has been a failure too. He's just become less offensive.

 

I agree with most of what you say, except that I think Derek Roy was the best player for the Caps last night. Everytime someone comes near him he just gives them the puck. He is a turnover machine. I saw him di it twice in 15 secs in our own end last night.

[Grinder42]

If the Rangers could find a trading partner for Gomez, the Sabres can find someone to take Vanek off their hands. The only untouchables are Miller and Myers. The Sabres could do a lot with the 7 mil that Vanek is costing them.

 

He is nowhere near the player he was 2 or 3 years ago. For those who love to throw the excuse out there that guys like Vanek, Roy and Pominville were playing against 2nd and 3rd line players a couple of years ago and therefore had more success, save your breath. Watch any game for the rest of the season and tell me that opponents are throwing out "defensive/checking" lines against our top players. There is no line matching going on for the most part. These guys are simply not willing to work hard enough now that they have their big contracts.

 

Roy would bring the biggest return in a trade and I would love to see him go, but the Pominville/Vanek contracts are the biggest albatrosses on the team. A combined 12.4 mil cap hit thru the 13-14 season. LQ and DR showed the rest of the NHL that they aren't going to let the teams "core" get to FA.

 

They really showed them, didn't they? :doh:

 

 

AGREE TOTALLY! It is time to move Vanek if he does not put up amazing numbers! I also agree with the statement about Rivet not weraing the C anymore...he is a shell of a former player he once was! This team has become one of the least interesting teams in the NHL....Thanks Darcy and Larry.....People in Buffalo are yet disappointed again.....Perhaps Tmmy Galisano is cheaper than Ralph....Unfortunately Tom is cashing in on merchandise...No one wants to by Buffal gear were all waiting for Toronto Bills gear!

[theend]

 

Did Lindy not require him to play D last year, when he had 40? Did Lindy decide over the summer to put weights in his skates to slow him down? Why in the world would Lindy want to shackle his best goal-scorer? Isn't it in Lindy's interests for Vanek to be the best player he can be?

 

This is right on - Vanek isn't being hampered by Lindy, he's hampering himself. For whatever the reason - lack of confidence, attitude, it doesn't really matter - he's just not performing. But even with that said, he's having one down year, and we just dump him? My god, I've heard about 'What have you done for me lately?" syndrome, but this is ridiculous. The guy has scored 35+ goals three straight seasons and people want to trade him away? Do you see the offensive problems we have right now, and you want to trade the one guy on the team who's shown he's capable of putting up a high number of goals?

[bottlecap]

Don't want to scapegoat Vanish because the whole team blows right now. They're a "fragile" bunch and and Buffalo needs a bunch of new players.

[MillerSaves]

Vanek had 40 last year and was well on his way to 50 before he broke his jaw. He's having a terrible year, and I still don't understand how someone can look at him and see a player on the same level as Crosby or Ovechkin, but at the same time the Sabres could unload him in a heartbeat if they wanted to.

 

IMHO, Vanek has the same problem that every other alleged top 6 forward on the Sabres has: he's not mentally focused/determined/confident to be the top dog. He doesn't take the ice at the beginning of every shift knowing he's the best player on the ice and determined to make something happen. When the game isn't going his way, he doesn't seize control of it.

 

Having said that, I'd much rather dump (in order) Pommer, Hecht or Roy than Vanek. 40+ goal scorers are too rare in the NHL to just unload, and Vanek's done it twice already. He needs a true #1 center with both talent and heart. I really think that with a center like Kesler or Toews, Vanek's level of play would improve dramatically -- not just because he'd have better passes to convert into goals, but because his center's intensity and focus would subconsciously cause him to be more plugged into the game.

 

Not only that, but our hypothetical new #1 center would allow the other centers to move down to their natural roles -- TC as #2 center and Roy as #3 center or 2nd-line winger.

 

This is the guy the Sabres have been dying for since Black Sunday. He wasn't available yesterday, but DR or his successor needs to find him this summer.

 

I agree completely. This team lacks a dominant center and that's why Vanek has been struggling so much. IMO that was our biggest need going into the trade deadline. Tim Connoly although I love him he is not anywhere close to being a #1 center. Vanek needs a good center to play off of and he will flourish. The last thing we need to do is get rid of Vanek and reduce the skill of the offense even more. Pommer is the most expendable IMO. I would touch Roy either.

[carpandean]

This team lacks a dominant center and that's why Vanek has been struggling so much.

We've had the same centers since 2007 and he averaged 38 goals over those two seasons. In fact, Connolly's been healthy more and we've added Kennedy, so we're arguably better down the middle. Would he be better with a dominant center? Of course, but not having one doesn't explain why his production dropped so far.

[FearTheReaper]

We could have used those picks (and I just love saying this next line) TO BUILD FROM WITHIN :lol: .

 

LMMFAO.

 

I've thought alot about that fateful summer latly. I would imagine there would've been quite an uproar if Vanek went to Edmonton. But how long would the masses groan? A month or so? Then the season would start and you would hear about it but it would've faded eventually.

 

At this point, i've had enough of Vanek and his garbage. Either show up and do what you get paid (the most money in the history of buffalo sports) to do, or stay off the ice with Roy, Staff and Pommer and drink keystone, while playing grab the (insert whatever adjective nessacary).

[FearTheReaper]

I think there's a big problem between Vanek and Ruff, and Vanek doesn't want to be here.

 

I agree with this.

[nobody]

OV has speed, Vanek doesn't.

 

If he gets a 1 on 1, it'll take all but two seconds before his stick is lifted from behind.

 

I'm not thrilled about Lindy's "below the circles defense" either, but I doubt Vanek is mobile enough to let him hang around the red line looking for the long pass, simply because he has concrete in his skates.

 

I can easily see the two having issues though.

 

So let him hang around the other teams blue line then.

[nobody]

Just checked the ice time stats, and Vanek is behind Grier and Hecht in even strength ice time, among others. He's also behind Pominville and Connolly, who are also both behind Grier and Hecht. That's a real head-scratcher.

 

 

And I've agreed with you on this before. Gotta try playing Vanek 25 minutes for a stretch of games to see how that makes his game.

[VansTheMans]

And I've agreed with you on this before. Gotta try playing Vanek 25 minutes for a stretch of games to see how that makes his game.

 

It's at least worth a shot.

 

At this point in time in our horrific skid, what else do we have to lose?

 

Besides, your best players SHOULD be getting the most amount of ice time. I understand Lindy saying, "I'll play those who put forth the most effort". But let's be real: We're not going to win many games with Adam Mair and Ellis getting 20 minutes of ice time.

[FearTheReaper]

It's at least worth a shot.

 

At this point in time in our horrific skid, what else do we have to lose?

 

Besides, your best players SHOULD be getting the most amount of ice time. I understand Lindy saying, "I'll play those who put forth the most effort". But let's be real: We're not going to win many games with Adam Mair and Ellis getting 20 minutes of ice time.

 

Wasn't there a point in time when Vanek was given this much ice time, and he was scoring like wildfire, playing great 2 way hockey, and hell there was even a run of games where he was gritty.

[VansTheMans]

Yup. Then Lindy took it all away for seemingly no reason, and its been regression ever since. :wallbash:

 

It's really infuriating to witness.

[nfreeman]

We've had the same centers since 2007 and he averaged 38 goals over those two seasons. In fact, Connolly's been healthy more and we've added Kennedy, so we're arguably better down the middle. Would he be better with a dominant center? Of course, but not having one doesn't explain why his production dropped so far.

True. But I still feel like at this point, he needs to get some direction from a linemate.

 

Wasn't there a point in time when Vanek was given this much ice time, and he was scoring like wildfire, playing great 2 way hockey, and hell there was even a run of games where he was gritty.

Yup. Then Lindy took it all away for seemingly no reason, and its been regression ever since. :wallbash:

 

It's really infuriating to witness.

When, exactly, did this occur?

[Kristian]

So let him hang around the other teams blue line then.

 

With the passing we see night after night, what makes you think anyone will be able to get him the puck?