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Leino: Whither the Bounce Back?


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Posted

I was firmly in the Leino-will-bounce-back-in-2012-2013 (well, 2013) camp. I therefore shouldn't be surprised (but I am, somewhat) to find his absence from the lineup to be as frustrating as it is (for me, as a fan).

 

I heard Ruff on GR this morning talking about 23's injury-- that it's an injury other Sabres have had and he's now treating for it in a way that helped those other players. Still, dude will miss at least 1/8 of a shortened season right out of the gate -- more likely ~20%.

 

Did Leino play in Europe during the lockout? It's aggravating that he showed up to the abbreviated camp with an injury -- a treatable one, at that, it appears.

Posted

He didn't play anywhere during the lockout. He said is wasn't bothering him before "camp". Whether you want to believe that or not. He had surgery on his left hip about 2 1/2 yrs ago. he could have really used the lockout time to have surgery on his right hip. Again, if he knew.

Posted

I seem to remember reading he may eventually need surgery to fix it once and for all. Did it happen recently or is it a carry over from last season and if so how long has the team known of the injury ? If so why wasn't surgery done early in the off season if it is in fact one of those nagging injuries ?

Posted
He said is wasn't bothering him before "camp". Whether you want to believe that or not.

 

i never suggested that he's not to be believed about when the injury came on.

 

He had surgery on his left hip about 2 1/2 yrs ago. he could have really used the lockout time to have surgery on his right hip. Again, if he knew.

 

in the same interview/write-up (link below), he said it doesn't feel like the same problem/issue that required him to have surgery years ago. for whatever that's worth.

 

http://blogs.buffalonews.com/sabres/2013/01/pregame-audio-leino-dealing-with-hip-issue.html

 

Did it happen recently or is it a carry over from last season and if so how long has the team known of the injury? If so why wasn't surgery done early in the off season if it is in fact one of those nagging injuries ?

 

as chz notes, in the interview linked above, he said he was feeling fine throughout the lockout, came to buffalo, started going hard (i am left to infer that he hadn't been going hard prior to then?), and the soreness/weakness came on gradually.

 

i was fairly jazzed about the 25-9-23 line that was reported in camp. i just want (need) to see the guy succeed here.

Posted

i never suggested that he's not to be believed about when the injury came on.

 

 

 

in the same interview/write-up (link below), he said it doesn't feel like the same problem/issue that required him to have surgery years ago. for whatever that's worth.

 

http://blogs.buffalo...-hip-issue.html

 

 

 

as chz notes, in the interview linked above, he said he was feeling fine throughout the lockout, came to buffalo, started going hard (i am left to infer that he hadn't been going hard prior to then?), and the soreness/weakness came on gradually.

 

i was fairly jazzed about the 25-9-23 line that was reported in camp. i just want (need) to see the guy succeed here.

 

I'm pulling for him as well because if he finds success so do the Sabres. They need him to find his groove.

Posted

Only a Buffalo team could spend so much money for so little. Even A-Rod doesn't seem like as big a failure as Leino at this point - at least Rodriguez helped get a World Series victory for the Yanks in 09, although he's been useless since. Leino has accomplished NOTHING in Buffalo.

 

Leino may be more analogous to Carl Pavano - what a flop he turned out to be for the Yankees.

Posted

The guy is a giant steaming turd and will be bought out at the end of the season. He will then be completely out of the league in a few more years. Flyers fans were laughing at us the day the Sabres signed him for that outrageous contract. One of the biggest WTF moves Darcy Regier has made in a long WTF career.

Posted

The guy is a giant steaming turd and will be bought out at the end of the season. He will then be completely out of the league in a few more years. Flyers fans were laughing at us the day the Sabres signed him for that outrageous contract. One of the biggest WTF moves Darcy Regier has made in a long WTF career.

 

 

Like a Connolly replacement. After the trade deadline passes, we'll hear stuff like, getting Leino back is like winning a trade.

Posted

I saw at least one national sports writer post that Leino's hire would be reason enough for many NHL teams to can the GM. It's a spectacular failure in any case.

Posted

The guy is a giant steaming turd and will be bought out at the end of the season. He will then be completely out of the league in a few more years. Flyers fans were laughing at us the day the Sabres signed him for that outrageous contract. One of the biggest WTF moves Darcy Regier has made in a long WTF career.

 

Flyers fans that I spoke to were really upset he left; they regarded him as a top-line wing. And let's not forget he was widely-regarded as 2nd-best forward available in FA that year (behind Richards IIRC, who wasn't going anywhere but the Rangers). Everyone in the media was talking about how good he was and where he was going to end up. Is he a bust? Only if having a mediocre season on a struggling team can be considered a bust. I'd be shocked if he was bought out. Hell, I'd put money on it. He'd at least be traded to a team at the cap floor since (I believe) next year his cap-hit is more than his actual salary.

Posted

Flyers fans that I spoke to were really upset he left; they regarded him as a top-line wing. And let's not forget he was widely-regarded as 2nd-best forward available in FA that year (behind Richards IIRC, who wasn't going anywhere but the Rangers). Everyone in the media was talking about how good he was and where he was going to end up. Is he a bust? Only if having a mediocre season on a struggling team can be considered a bust. I'd be shocked if he was bought out. Hell, I'd put money on it. He'd at least be traded to a team at the cap floor since (I believe) next year his cap-hit is more than his actual salary.

I don't know what everyone in the media was saying, but I remember being really skeptical when that signing happened and I definitely wasn't alone. (We could probably find that thread.)

 

Another bad move where the fans seemed to know more than Regier, and not in retrospect.

Posted

I don't know what everyone in the media was saying, but I remember being really skeptical when that signing happened and I definitely wasn't alone. (We could probably find that thread.)

 

Another bad move where the fans seemed to know more than Regier, and not in retrospect.

 

I seem to remember a graphic on NHL network (lifted from TSN) with Richards #1, Leino #2. Ehrhoff was #4, if I recall correctly. And while I do remember some fans being sceptical, there would be sceptical fans if the Sabres traded for Crosby. All I'm saying is that a lot of common wisdom was that Leino was a break-out player that year and he'd have the pick of teams to play for.

Posted

I seem to remember a graphic on NHL network (lifted from TSN) with Richards #1, Leino #2. Ehrhoff was #4, if I recall correctly. And while I do remember some fans being sceptical, there would be sceptical fans if the Sabres traded for Crosby. All I'm saying is that a lot of common wisdom was that Leino was a break-out player that year and he'd have the pick of teams to play for.

 

It is true that plenty were excited over the signing at the time. Of course, we all thought that he was willing and able to play center, which he is not. But yeah, a lot of us were pretty excited to see Ehrhoff and Leino within days of one another.

Posted

I seem to remember a graphic on NHL network (lifted from TSN) with Richards #1, Leino #2. Ehrhoff was #4, if I recall correctly. And while I do remember some fans being sceptical, there would be sceptical fans if the Sabres traded for Crosby. All I'm saying is that a lot of common wisdom was that Leino was a break-out player that year and he'd have the pick of teams to play for.

Leino was definitely ranked #2 in available FA forwards but that was certainly due to how thin the FA crop was that year and not due to his ability to help a team win. His career stats at that point were unbelievably thin.

 

Compare how Sabres fans reacted to the Regehr and Ehrhoff acquisitions that same year with the Leino one. In the latter case, fans were definitely not sold on his contract or the fact that the team was signing him to play center when he had been a LW up until then. Turns out those concerns were well-founded.

Posted

I think the Leino at centre experiment failed. The Leino on LW, that would be interesting. I want to see him back in the lineup

 

Oh, I fully agree, he doesn't seem to have centre skills. I think he can be a productive wing though. Or I hope at least.

Posted

I think the Leino at centre experiment failed. The Leino on LW, that would be interesting. I want to see him back in the lineup

And isn't Lindy still seriously considering using him at center when he is healthy? Nuts. Edit to fix Lindy.

Posted

And isn't Lundy still seriously considering using him at center when he is healthy? Nuts.

 

I don't know who Lundy is :) but I don't think anyone has been suggesting that Leino will play a traditional centre role again.

Posted

I don't know who Lundy is :) but I don't think anyone has been suggesting that Leino will play a traditional centre role again.

 

Please see below.

 

My reply to a post by 26CB in the Grigorenko thread ...

 

Update from Bill Hoppe on the Grigs decision:

 

http://www.buffaloho...orenkos-future/

 

“There’s lots of issues, and part of it is we’ve got issues at center with winning draws and the youth at center ice and whether Ville (Leino) can come back in and play,” Ruff said. “That’s all part of the discussions there with center ice.”

 

Did I just read what I think I read ... good grief!!

Posted

I seem to remember a graphic on NHL network (lifted from TSN) with Richards #1, Leino #2. Ehrhoff was #4, if I recall correctly. And while I do remember some fans being sceptical, there would be sceptical fans if the Sabres traded for Crosby. All I'm saying is that a lot of common wisdom was that Leino was a break-out player that year and he'd have the pick of teams to play for.

The "common wisdom" at the time was that the Leino signing was a panic move after the Sabres realized they had zero chance at Brad Richards. Many here pegged Leino for exactly who he was a as player, a offensive player with limited skills that found himself in the right place at the right with the Flyers. That stretch of games fooled the Sabres into giving him a contract he never had a chance to coming close to justifying.

 

If Leino had signed with the Rangers or Leafs and had the exact same season as he had with the Sabres, 99% of the posters here would be murdering Leino, the contract and the team that signed him. Leino is a bust and one of the worst NHL contracts ever signed. The only reason more posters don't admit it is because the Sabres are the team that made the huge mistake.

Posted

The guy is a giant steaming turd and will be bought out at the end of the season. He will then be completely out of the league in a few more years. Flyers fans were laughing at us the day the Sabres signed him for that outrageous contract. One of the biggest WTF moves Darcy Regier has made in a long WTF career.

 

Im not trying to defend Darcy on this one, but many NHL analysts had Leino as one of the top free agents available before the 11/12 season. I wasnt happy w/ the contract, but I was excited when the Sabres picked him up. Honestly, how many on this board were ticked off when Leino signed / Buffalo?

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