LabattBlue Posted October 3, 2006 Report Posted October 3, 2006 feel free to chime in with your thoughts on the eve of the opener... My Sabres preview... Forwards... Kotalik - He needs to be a more consistent forward, use the body and try to be more than a one-dimensional hockey player (big shot, not much else). Drury - I see no reason why he can't duplicate last years numbers. He will be playing with a winger that does not have hands of stone. Roy - The sky is the limit. I like his offensive game, his grit, his skating. Just stop the diving. Pominville - He has always had the hands of a natural goal scorer. Let's see if he can work hard enough to pot 25-30 goals. Novotny - Made his way up to the big club by accepting the fact that he needs to be a 2 way forward who is willing to hit and can contribute offensively. Gaustad - I am hoping he can start to grow into the role of one of the team leaders. His grittiness WILL be needed this year. Mair - I am intrigued by some of the things I see from Mair offensively. If he can stay healthy, I expect to see him net 10-15 goals and continue to be a physical force. Connolly - I'm keeping my fingers crossed. All you need to do, is go back and watch game 1 of the Sabres v. Senators series to know that Connollly was about to explode on the NHL scene in a big way. Vanek - All the talent in the world. Like Kotalik, he has to use his size to his advantage and keep his head in the game at both end of the rink. Hecht - Steady 2 way player who needs to stay healthy. Underrated, but very much needed. Briere - The pot of gold is at the end of the rainbow. I believe Danny is capable of 40+ goals and 100+ points. He is that good. Peters - NO COMMENT. I don't care how much weight he lost. I would be shocked if he had any more of an impact than he did last season. Max - He will be dynamic and frustrating at the same time and when he is more dynamic than frustrating, the Sabres will win. Paille - He is ready for the NHL and hopefully will be back up soon playing on the 3rd or 4th line. Defense... Tallinder - The guy would have made a run at the Conn Smythe if the Sabres made it to the finals. I believe he is all-star material if not this year, next year at the latest. Lydman - I'm not as high on Lydman as I am about Henrik, but these two as a pair should be a force this year. Teppo - Solid. I see him playing 55-60 games and rested come March/early April. Spacek - Don't know much about him(because he played primarily in the Western Conference) except that he should help in terms of not having to play a forward on the PP point. Watching him against Pittsburgh, he appears to be very smooth with the puck. Kalinin - Stay healthy, don't get in a funk and show that you can be a top 4 dman in the NHL. Campbell - The Umberger hit will live on forever and was AWESOME. That being said, except for Fitzpatrick, Campbell was the Sabres worst +/- player in the regular season and he also had that distinction in the playoffs. Paetsch - I'm interested to see him play. Hopefully he is a better option than either Fitzpatrick or Janik would have been. Goaltending - Miller - Is he ready to go from being a top 10-12 goalie to elite goalie? I'd like to see if he has worked on some of his shortcomings. i.e. going down too early & giving up the high goals Biron - He is a solid backup and I think he will be here for the season unless the Sabres are not near the top at the end of the regular season. In summary.... Who do I believe will be better than last year from start to finish?...Roy, Pominville, Tallinder, Kalinin, Briere & Gaustad. My biggest concerns...Campbell(defensively),Kotalik, Vanek, physical play on the blue line & most importantly, Connolly's health. I just don't know category...Ryan Miller. I want him to succeed. He had a very good season last year. I'm just not sure he has what it takes to be an elite goalie. Prove me wrong Miller! I believe the Sabres can challenge for the highest point total in the NHL, and if so, they should be poised for a long run into the playoffs! GO SABRES!!!!
Sabresince70 Posted October 3, 2006 Report Posted October 3, 2006 I agree with most everythiong you said, and would even put more emphasis on Hecht. Maybe a stat person cold check on it, but I believe last year he was the one forward that we seemed to need last year (were the Sabres even .500 w/out him last year?) I also would like to see him wearing the third letter for the season. Anyone hear who will be the alternate?
hopeleslyobvious Posted October 3, 2006 Report Posted October 3, 2006 feel free to chime in with your thoughts on the eve of the opener... My Sabres preview... Forwards... Kotalik - He needs to be a more consistent forward, use the body and try to be more than a one-dimensional hockey player (big shot, not much else). Drury - I see no reason why he can't duplicate last years numbers. He will be playing with a winger that does not have hands of stone. Roy - The sky is the limit. I like his offensive game, his grit, his skating. Just stop the diving. Pominville - He has always had the hands of a natural goal scorer. Let's see if he can work hard enough to pot 25-30 goals. Novotny - Made his way up to the big club by accepting the fact that he needs to be a 2 way forward who is willing to hit and can contribute offensively. Gaustad - I am hoping he can start to grow into the role of one of the team leaders. His grittiness WILL be needed this year. Mair - I am intrigued by some of the things I see from Mair offensively. If he can stay healthy, I expect to see him net 10-15 goals and continue to be a physical force. Connolly - I'm keeping my fingers crossed. All you need to do, is go back and watch game 1 of the Sabres v. Senators series to know that Connollly was about to explode on the NHL scene in a big way. Vanek - All the talent in the world. Like Kotalik, he has to use his size to his advantage and keep his head in the game at both end of the rink. Hecht - Steady 2 way player who needs to stay healthy. Underrated, but very much needed. Briere - The pot of gold is at the end of the rainbow. I believe Danny is capable of 40+ goals and 100+ points. He is that good. Peters - NO COMMENT. I don't care how much weight he lost. I would be shocked if he had any more of an impact than he did last season. Max - He will be dynamic and frustrating at the same time and when he is more dynamic than frustrating, the Sabres will win. Paille - He is ready for the NHL and hopefully will be back up soon playing on the 3rd or 4th line. Defense... Tallinder - The guy would have made a run at the Conn Smythe if the Sabres made it to the finals. I believe he is all-star material if not this year, next year at the latest. Lydman - I'm not as high on Lydman as I am about Henrik, but these two as a pair should be a force this year. Teppo - Solid. I see him playing 55-60 games and rested come March/early April. Spacek - Don't know much about him(because he played primarily in the Western Conference) except that he should help in terms of not having to play a forward on the PP point. Watching him against Pittsburgh, he appears to be very smooth with the puck. Kalinin - Stay healthy, don't get in a funk and show that you can be a top 4 dman in the NHL. Campbell - The Umberger hit will live on forever and was AWESOME. That being said, except for Fitzpatrick, Campbell was the Sabres worst +/- player in the regular season and he also had that distinction in the playoffs. Paetsch - I'm interested to see him play. Hopefully he is a better option than either Fitzpatrick or Janik would have been. Goaltending - Miller - Is he ready to go from being a top 10-12 goalie to elite goalie? I'd like to see if he has worked on some of his shortcomings. i.e. going down too early & giving up the high goals Biron - He is a solid backup and I think he will be here for the season unless the Sabres are not near the top at the end of the regular season. In summary.... Who do I believe will be better than last year from start to finish?...Roy, Pominville, Tallinder, Kalinin, Briere & Gaustad. My biggest concerns...Campbell(defensively),Kotalik, Vanek, physical play on the blue line & most importantly, Connolly's health. I just don't know category...Ryan Miller. I want him to succeed. He had a very good season last year. I'm just not sure he has what it takes to be an elite goalie. Prove me wrong Miller! I believe the Sabres can challenge for the highest point total in the NHL, and if so, they should be poised for a long run into the playoffs! GO SABRES!!!! Nice analysis. Couple of comments: Tallinder: Couldn't agree more. Also, I believe he is one of the most underrated defenseman in the NHL. You never hear about him from the national media, and I can't believe he was left off THN's top 20 defenseman list. Miller: He showed last year from December until the Olympic break that he has what it takes to be an elite goalie in the league. I think his slump resulted from 2 things: 1) Rustiness from not getting any work during the Olympic break, 2) His inexperience letting it get to him. With that being said, in the playoffs it looked like he learned from the slump and can put a bad performance behind him (Eg: Game 5 of the Philly series). Hopefully when he slumps this year (over an 82 game schedule every player will slump at some point) he can bounce back quick.
Screamin'Weasel Posted October 4, 2006 Report Posted October 4, 2006 Peters - NO COMMENT. I don't care how much weight he lost. I would be shocked if he had any more of an impact than he did last season. Ignoring the fact that "NO COMMENT" itself alone is a comment, you followed it with not one, but two more comments... Sorry, I could not resist ;)
Bmwolf21 Posted October 4, 2006 Report Posted October 4, 2006 Nice analysis. Couple of comments: Tallinder: Couldn't agree more. Also, I believe he is one of the most underrated defenseman in the NHL. You never hear about him from the national media, and I can't believe he was left off THN's top 20 defenseman list. Miller: He showed last year from December until the Olympic break that he has what it takes to be an elite goalie in the league. I think his slump resulted from 2 things: 1) Rustiness from not getting any work during the Olympic break, 2) His inexperience letting it get to him. With that being said, in the playoffs it looked like he learned from the slump and can put a bad performance behind him (Eg: Game 5 of the Philly series). Hopefully when he slumps this year (over an 82 game schedule every player will slump at some point) he can bounce back quick. I think a 3rd factor was fatigue late in the regular season and going deep into the playoffs. After the Olympic break the Sabres had 26 games, and Miller played in 18 of those (this was a quick count off the Internet, so the numbers might be off a little) and then played in all 18 playoff games. That is a lot of work for any goaltender, let alone a youngster. I think the fatigue started to show itself around games 3 & 4 of round 1, where he gave up 18 goals on 59 shots, he righted the ship in time for the shutout in Game 5, but there were goals given up through the rest of the playoffs that indicated his focus wasn't as sharp as it could be, and I think it was the physical and mental toll from so many games. I think it was a great learning experience for both Ryan and Lindy (he was probably still used to rolling the same goalie out there night in and night out, thanks to Dom) and its also a reason why I'd love to keep Marty around as long as possible (not likely, given the cap issues), so he can spell Ryan throughout the season, and especially in the stretch run.
hopeleslyobvious Posted October 4, 2006 Report Posted October 4, 2006 I think a 3rd factor was fatigue late in the regular season and going deep into the playoffs. After the Olympic break the Sabres had 26 games, and Miller played in 18 of those (this was a quick count off the Internet, so the numbers might be off a little) and then played in all 18 playoff games. That is a lot of work for any goaltender, let alone a youngster. I think the fatigue started to show itself around games 3 & 4 of round 1, where he gave up 18 goals on 59 shots, he righted the ship in time for the shutout in Game 5, but there were goals given up through the rest of the playoffs that indicated his focus wasn't as sharp as it could be, and I think it was the physical and mental toll from so many games. I think it was a great learning experience for both Ryan and Lindy (he was probably still used to rolling the same goalie out there night in and night out, thanks to Dom) and its also a reason why I'd love to keep Marty around as long as possible (not likely, given the cap issues), so he can spell Ryan throughout the season, and especially in the stretch run. The stretch run this year won't be as tough as the one last year. That condensed schedule in March due to the Olympics was brutal.
Bmwolf21 Posted October 4, 2006 Report Posted October 4, 2006 That's true, and the experience will help as well. I think he handles the stretch run much better this year.
hopeleslyobvious Posted October 4, 2006 Report Posted October 4, 2006 That's true, and the experience will help as well. I think he handles the stretch run much better this year. You can also take away one of the goals from game 3 of the Philly series. I am not one for saying that one really shouldn't count against stats, but Miller was in the process of going to the bench when Afinogenov turned the puck over which resulted in an open net goal. Since Miller was still on the ice (around the blue line) it counted against his stats. Something else to keep in mind is that many of the shots that beat him in the playoffs were deflected. I am not giving him a free pass, but when the puck changes directions it makes it tougher to stop.
Ogie Oglethorpe Posted October 4, 2006 Report Posted October 4, 2006 Soupy has the "A" http://www.sabres.com/newsarchive.cfm?id=638
Bmwolf21 Posted October 4, 2006 Report Posted October 4, 2006 You can also take away one of the goals from game 3 of the Philly series. I am not one for saying that one really shouldn't count against stats, but Miller was in the process of going to the bench when Afinogenov turned the puck over which resulted in an open net goal. Since Miller was still on the ice (around the blue line) it counted against his stats. Something else to keep in mind is that many of the shots that beat him in the playoffs were deflected. I am not giving him a free pass, but when the puck changes directions it makes it tougher to stop. I am not trying to pile on him for the two games in Philly, but he got a lot of heat in the media (and from some on this board) about needing to play better, and he really turned the intensity up and showed what he could do with the Game 5 shutout. As for the deflections, I know this will rile up some people on this board, but the main culprit of deflected "own" goals in the playoffs was Jay McKee - it was getting to the point where I wanted him to stop trying to block shots b/c he was putting a few in our own net....
nfreeman Posted October 4, 2006 Report Posted October 4, 2006 Great preview, Labatt. I agree with just about everything. I might just add that I think Miller's play, as it was last year, will be the most critical factor in determining whether we make another deep run in the playoffs. I thought for 75% of the season last year he was a top 5 goalie. Other than game 1 he was great vs. the Senators. He wasn't quite at his peak in the conf. finals, but he still played very well. Still, we only have one year of performance to go on when evaluating him. Generally I agree with you that he's still somewhat of an unknown -- which is why his contract is perhaps the biggest risk other than Timmy's. I'd put it this way: if he backslides, we won't be going to the finals. If he plays as well or better than last year, the sky is the limit.
Sabresince70 Posted October 4, 2006 Report Posted October 4, 2006 Soupy has the "A" http://www.sabres.com/newsarchive.cfm?id=638 I had saw that article earlier, but in todays game notes only Drury and Briere are listed. Was that "A" only for that preseason game or was it perm.?
shrader Posted October 4, 2006 Report Posted October 4, 2006 I had saw that article earlier, but in todays game notes only Drury and Briere are listed. Was that "A" only for that preseason game or was it perm.? I saw something yesterday that said they hadn't decided on who would wear the A during the year. I think it was a Buffalo News article, but I can't remember for sure.
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