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New Year's Grieve

I want to first say Happy New Year to everyone. I hope you all have a very fun and safe holiday tonight. The long dick of the law will be out trying to fuck all of us tonight, so keep your legs closed and make sure you have safe means of travel home.

Now that that's out the way, we'll get to the Sabres. Last night on the WGR post-game show, the host started out by saying that we should all feel a little bad for Terry Pegula. He mentioned how big of a fan Pegula is and how much desire he has to make Buffalo an attractive place for hockey. Awesome, we all know that story. (Personally, I refuse to feel bad for someone that is ultimately responsible for the success and failure of a franchise, but anyway.) We know about the renovations, the alumni, and the atmosphere he has tried to create. In just months he has already had the ability to attract big name free agents and get one Robyn Regehr to waive a no trade clause. He's done very well so far, but he isn't even close to being finished. All of that was chapter one.

It's time for him to begin working on chapter two. Hoping that Brian [Cozio, I think?] was just making a statement rather than relaying fact, I don't want an owner that sulks and says "woe is me," I want an owner that demands the kind of respect he deserves. Terry proved in just a half of a year that it is very much a privilege to play hockey in Buffalo, so if your coach struggles to get his [men] out of bed in the morning, he needs to be fired; if players continually refuse to "show up for an entire 60 minutes," they need to be traded or waived; and if your GM doesn't have the ability to do that, then he needs to go too.

Knowing how the entire Sabres hierarchy is set up, those steps I just mentioned obviously wouldn't happen in that order, but that isn't my point.

I elected to not watch the game against the Capitals last night. I didn't even check the score once. I was home, I wasn't doing anything important. I just felt like spending some quality time with the wifey (she hates sports, and that's fine). Right before bed I checked nhl.com just to see the score and highlights. You see, even if the Sabres lose, I'll still go back and watch at least the meat of the game, because if I didn't, I wouldn't be able to honestly assess their performance.

Yesterday was an entirely different story. All I had to see was one play. One play that made me not want to watch that game at all: The Derek Roy giveaway at 16:18 of the second period that lead to the Cap's second goal. Now, it wasn't so much the giveaway itself, it was Roy's lackadaisical effort that followed. He barely backchecked, had a chance to take the body on Ovechkin (and didn't of course), and then skated in circles in his own end while Ovi, Semin and Backstrom worked on putting the puck in the net. The Capitals were even outnumbered as the play developed into the Sabres' end. Didn't matter, scored anyway. That play was the culmination of the entire season for me so far.

When I saw it I was furious. I actually considered immediately cancelling my NHL Gamecenter membership on my computer. I mean, what the hell, I can. I pay it in $20/month installments, why keep watching this shit.

Of course I didn't.

Mr. Pegula has said that he wants to make the fans happy. He has said that he wants to do all he can to make this team a winner. Well, what are you waiting for? You call the shots, sir. You have eyes too. You have to be able to see that injuries aren't the issue here. The majority of this team never shows up for an entire game. Injuries or not, when your healthy players don't put forth an effort, it really doesn't matter anymore.

You know, if this team went out and gave everything they had and went 0-82 by season's end, I could care less at this point. I just want to see a hockey team that tries. The irony of that is, if this team actually did give a shit on a nightly basis (injuries included), they would have a hell of a lot better record than they do right now.

It is the season. It's time to start over again. It's time for resolutions. It's time for Terry and Ted to prove a point to everyone. Start the New Year off with a shake-up. This season is all but lost already, so why not start over now? Why not free up cap space, why not pack this organization with future draft picks? If they can't trade any of these overpriced losers, waive them, who cares?! Finish this season with a bunch of no names from the ECHL. It would probably be more entertaining.

If they unload Stafford, Roy, Miller, Gerbe, Gaustad, Boyes and Kaleta, they will have freed up about $23 million in payroll. Money that can be used to go out and get whatever you want come the off-season. If they can't get rid of Goose, Boyes, and Hecht during the season, their contracts are at least up after this year anyway.

The Sabres could put themselves in the ultimate position to build this team up for next season. They'll have more Rochester guys even more ready by then and the NHL free agent list looks a whole lot better than it did last year.

So if Terry wants his words to carry any sort of validity, he needs to take appropriate action to back them up. Sack up, put your money where your mouth is, and do what you've come here to do. You seem like an awesome guy, turn this shit-for-a-team around so we can all stays friends.

Injury Bugs and Underlying Diseases

Fifteen years ago I would be freaking out about the Sabres recent spate of injuries. But I guess there's just something about pushing 40 that makes you realize there's more important things in life than worrying about the respective fates of charmed 20-somethings.

Or maybe it's just that I can barely bring myself to care much about sports these days after realizing that I'm now too old to play pro hockey even if I were once good enough (which I wasn't).

Whatever the case, there's a certain amount of satisfaction that comes with my newfound sobriety towards the Buffalo Sabres (however depressing its genesis may be). Whereas I was unable to approach my Sabres analysis with little more than unbridled emotion back in the day, I now find myself capable of applying the same type of rationality that I bring to virtually any other situation. (Okay, most of the time.. fuck off.)

Like every other Sabres fan, I've had a long time to assess and digest the abilities of Lindy Ruff and Darcy Regier. A looooong time. These guys are clearly two of the best in their field at what they do. They're both Grade A talents with A-Class character. I don't think that's ever really been in question. One thing that is in question, however, is whether these guys are the right men for the job in Buffalo.

After all these years together, Ruff and Regier might as well literally be joined at the hip. Regier is not going to fire Ruff. If Ruff ever goes, Regier will be going with him. Regier will never fire his best friend. Never. You just don't do that sort of thing, and as a man I can at least respect that.

I'd be willing to bet it's Ruff and Regier's relationship over the past dozen years that's been the primary cause of most of the good that's come to the Sabres organization during that span, nearly all of which probably goes unseen by the fans and in some cases even ownership. Building trust between employer and employee is crucial to performance; treating subordinates as peers often breeds respect. However, too much trust can lead to complacency. And if you're not careful, being too friendly with your players can extinguish respect for authority. You get the idea. Every benefit has a cost.

And so it is with the injury bug.

As I think we've all written a couple times, I don't like the team's reliance on all the injuries as the reason for its poor record the past few weeks. If anything, it's primarily the roster players who have made untimely decisions that have cost the Sabres wins. That said, Ruff has done a good job managing the lineup and lines during a stretch that no coach would ever want to endure. Although hardly tough decisions, he has rewarded Kassian for his outstanding play with increased ice time, and he's also made the right call in keeping Brayden McNabb in Buffalo despite Mike Weber's return to the lineup. Similarly, the fantastic play of guys like Kassian, McNabb, Tropp, and Brennan -- especially given their NHL inexperience -- is a testament to Regier's ability to draft and develop top talent. These two guys will have jobs in the NHL as long as they want them.

Ironically, however, we're nevertheless left to wonder why the Sabres play so inconsistently night in and night out. (This is not unique to the Sabres, but not every coach enjoys a 13-year tenure with one club either.) Why they refuse to finish checks unless they feel like it. Why Thomas Vanek, Cody McCormick, and Pat Kaleta have trouble finding teammates who will actually bust their asses every goddamned shift like they do. Why a system that has lost effectiveness after taking teams by surprise six years ago seemingly hasn't adapted even though the rest of the league has caught on to the secret. Why a power play has, on balance, buh-lown! for years. These are the responsibilities of the coach. Ruff has undeniably done very good things with subpar NHL talent over the years -- if we're to believe Regier's hands were tied under Golisano and Quinn, that is -- so I don't question his ability to coach; I question why he has not gotten better results considering he's had the luxury of knowing his team better than anyone save perhaps for Barry Trotz.

That said, even more interesting amid all these injuries is the Darcy Regier situation. Will GMDR finally move assets before they've overstayed their welcome now that we almost unquestionably know that the kids on the farm can play and perform? The silver lining to the injury bug is that Regier now knows (or should know) he has the luxury of dumping salary to gain cap space while simultaneously improving the team. (I know, right!!) Does anyone even remember Brad Boyes? Zack Kassian not only outperforms him right now, he costs over three million a year less. (Oh, and he kind of resembles that nasty Milan Lucic guy, who I would love to have on my team.) Corey Tropp is going to be awesome, so Regier could likely shop Kaleta right now before his propensity for injuries renders him damaged goods. Finally, even though Jochen Hecht brings intangibles and leadership, you can't tell me Szczechura isn't an even swap offensively if Hecht and his four million could be packaged to land one more big gun up front. By the way, we've still got Marcus Foligno in Rochester.

And I know Buffalo can never seem to have enough defensemen, but right now we have Ehrhoff, Myers, Leopold, Sekera, Gragnani, Regehr, Weber, and McNabb with Brennan, Finley, and Schiestel in the immediate pipeline. Seriously, there is no reason teams even score on us, much less any reason our D can't put the puck in the net every effing game. We have an imbalance of offensive defensemen already with more ready for promotion, so there's at least two that can be moved tomorrow. Myers-McNabb can be Niedermayer-Pronger in a few years, but anyone else is fair game. I think Sekera would look good in Ranger blue.

The tragic irony here is whether you actually want Darcy Regier at the controls when it comes to making decisions that will impact the team for years ahead. Ted Black should have his hands full right now, but if there's one thing that has to change for Regier to keep his job, he has to learn to cut his homegrown players loose. He won't fire Ruff, but if he refuses to acknowledge the opportunities before him and act now, we will have substantive proof that our addiction to untimely injuries is nothing compared to our deep-seated disease that is a complacent GM.

Boyes Night Out

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

It was nice to see (well, hear... I stone-aged it and listened to the radio feed) the Sabres actually come out of the gate swinging for once. They've lost about twenty starters over the past eight days and now need to rely heavily on minor-league talent, yet they still seem to be able to stand up to a defending champion that has finally found themselves. The Bruins are no joke, the hangover is in the past now. They've won their last ten games after a slow start, but you saw what a little bit of hard work and determination did to the defending champs. Even the bruised and battered Sabres almost beat them. All you have to do is want it.

It makes you wonder what kind of team this would be if only they would do this on a nightly basis. They may not find themselves in the infirmary as often either... just sayin'. If you're effort and awareness is pointed in the right direction, you're able to protect yourself better against someone trying to take your head off in the corners or neutral zone.

Overall, I was impressed last night. Goose finally regained some of the manhood that he lost the last time these two teams met. It wasn't the best scrap I've ever seen, but like a crappy Christmas present, it was the thought that counted (I would also like to quickly thank Zdeno Chara for taking it easy on Regehr. God knows we can't lose another blue liner). Then there was Nathan Gerbe acting like a gnat that flies around your kitchen and drives you insane because you can never find a way to kill it. And once again Jhonas Enroth looked like he's quite comfortable (and capable) as the starting goaltender. Even though he was beaten three times in regulation, he still boasted a better SV% last night than the reigning Vezina trophy holder. And when Chara cannoned a 50-footer in which Enroth had no chance on, the fact that he waited until the shot was actually past him to drop to his knees excited me a little bit. For the most part, this team played the entire game, not just a period or two, the whole damn thing. So for that I applaud them, they better realize that they need to keep it up. And while I'm at it I might as well say congratulations to T.J. Brennan on his first NHL goal. Good job buddy. Shave the porn stache.

On a low note, it appeared that Brad Boyes sustained an injury with some significance. At the best it looked like a high ankle sprain, at it's worst it could be a torn up knee. So you're looking at a month and a half minimum. Not that I'm upset about his presence being lost on the ice (.38 points per game, BOOOOO!!!), I'm afraid that his trade value will plummet farther than it likely already has.

Hopefully they can keep up the good play though. They gave a rather valiant effort last night, and even in the wake of this loss I can still see some promise around the corner. Sure, you'd rather have an overtime or shootout loss on the road, but under the current circumstances I consider the 1 point a win.

We're also going to get a good look-see at some (possibly a lot) of the young talent that's been developing over the past few years. And these young guys have something to prove, so expect them to set a fire under the rest of the boys' asses. Maybe even Hecht will show up and play some good hockey. Hell, the last time he did was in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Hurricanes... everyone was hurt then too.

Primping for LucicFest

No word from the Sabres or Buffalo News yet, but I've been wondering the past couple days whether Lindarcy would call up some muscle in anticipation of the rematch tonight against the Bruins, especially with Weber and Myers already on the shelf.

Combine this with the fact that Cody McCormick's been out of the lineup and you kinda get the feeling tonight could get ugly (i.e., lots of Sabres bleeding) if anyone decides to take a run at Milan Lucic or Tim Thomas. Lucic would probably wreck McCormick fairly handily (again, Darcy, please trade for this guy), much less anyone else who decided to go toe to toe to ice with him.

The only players who even have a sporting chance of winning a fight tonight are Goose and Regehr, and even then you still have the prospect that Zdeno Chara would decide to get into the fray. Ever youtube any of his fights?

So again, I wonder if we'll see Zack Kassian or Marcus Foligno get a call. Kassian's known as more of a hitter than a fighter, but either of these guys would at least serve a couple purposes, the latter of which sounds bad but is entirely practical: 1) they bring some size and toughness to the lineup, and 2) if they end up with a broken hand you're not losing a guy off the regular roster.

Or maybe they're just banking on Jochen Hecht to fill the void, as he should make his return from a concussion tonight.

Of course, if I had to guess, I'd say we probably won't even see much attempt at retribution at all. And yes, I really hope I'm wrong. Not to the point where the Sabres take cheap shots or cost themselves the game by taking stupid penalties, mind you. But playing a full-on 60 minutes of desperate hockey and finishing checks sure would be nice.

What The Hecht?!

Since the news in Sabreland started heating up weeks ago with rumblings of a goalie controversy, the Sabres have been the topic of discussion due to a couple other situations they've put themselves in. Everyone has been caught up in so many different ranges of emotion recently, a few of the sideline notes dating back to the offseason still find themselves settled on the back burner.

The Buffalo Sabres have what I consider to be a lot of semi-valuable dead weight. Stock that can be traded away in order to succeed in piecing together that always tricky chemistry puzzle. Bundling together the correct trade package could look very sexy to another team and bring excellent return in their favor. Return the Sabres need sooner rather than later.

Up until this point, I believe that the Sabres would be a middle of the road, .500 team had it not been for the extraordinary play of Jhonas Enroth. He won in all of his backup appearances and is currently giving this struggling offense/defense some much-needed confidence as they move forward with their only capable netminder. Without knowing the extent of Ryan Miller's injury, I'm reluctant to believe that Lindy would even consider starting Drew MacIntyre, a 28-year old goaltender with only two NHL starts in his entire career. So, it's obvious to me that Darcy Regier needs to start warming up that Blackberry and dive in to some serious trade talks.

Over the weekend, we got to see what happens to a goaltender when he faces 34 shots on the road, gets on a plane, flies back home, and starts in net the next evening. Throughout the course of the 28 shots Enroth faced against the Coyotes, he ended up letting in a few inexcusable ones. For someone who appears to have as much skill, focus and confidence as anyone, that performance was a direct result of the effects from travel and fatigue. And moving forward, after the game Wednesday against Boston, the Sabres will basically be playing every other day for the next few weeks.

Option One: Trade for a capable backup goalie. It's obvious that Jochen Hecht was left on this team in order to encourage Christian Ehrhoff to sign as a free agent. There isn't any other logical explanation for his presence. He's had only three decent seasons with the Sabres (one of them in the pre-lockout era), and I don't know if any of those numbers warrant the type of money he's recieving. It definitely feels like another situation where, somehow, the journeyman of the NHL always seems to find a permanent home in Buffalo. I don't know what his current value is, especially after the concussion, but I think there would be someone out there that would pick up his contract if the deal was sweetened enough on the Buffalo end. He does fill that veteran leadership role, which is ever so valuable to the young teams (Edmonton, Colorado, NYI).

Option Two: Trade for the #1 center who this team will not succeed without. It is absolutely dire for this team to have someone like Ryan Getzlaf or Jason Spezza. A big-bodied, hard-working guy whose size equals his skill. The Sabres currently don't have anyone with both of these characteristics combined, but it has been an almost proven neccesity to winning a cup in the past decade. Players like this bring a ton of grit and pair it with enough talent to put up over 80 points a year. Obviously the price would be pretty steep, as the Sabres would have to give up at least one reputable player. Not just because the other team wants that player; they'd have to do it because they're currently right up against the cap. They don't have the same luxury that the Leafs had a couple years ago, just giving up three picks for Phil Kessel. So, Sabre Nation would more than likely wake up to find themselves without an Ennis, Myers, Leopold or Miller.

Getting rid of an up-and-comer or star goaltender may seem like a very costly price. However, in order to aquire the likes of a Spezza, Getzlaf or Nash (I realize he's not a center), you have to be willing to take these risks. Risks that this team has never quite taken during the past few "building years."

The time to win is now, and the Sabres have more expendable talent than they'd like to admit (Hecht, Miller, Kaleta, Boyes, and Sekera among them). We'll just see if Regier can pull the trigger on a deal that will send over the final gear for this engine. In reality, it may only take Enroth and one more premier player to turn this pretty good team into a great one.

It's Not about Momentum; It's about Desperation

As I was lying on my couch back on April 21 watching reruns of the 2011 first round playoff matchups on NHL Network, I wasn't expecting to hear the best hockey quote of all time (well, save perhaps for the time Jim Schoenfeld called referee Don Koharski a fat pig ... hard to top that one).

Tampa Bay Lightning coach Guy Boucher was at the podium taking questions after his guys had just lost in double overtime to go down 3-1 in their series against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Then it happened. You faintly heard a reporter ask Boucher if he thought the Lightning could come back to win the series. Boucher shot him a glare as if he was imagining blowing the guy's head off with laser beams and said (and I paraphrase), "If you knew me you wouldn't even ask me that question." He said he'd seen it before, done it before.

And then he said the one thing that made me an instant fan: "It's not about momentum; it's about desperation."

Apparently so. The Lightning came back to eliminate the Pens in Game 7 and went on to sweep the Caps in round two.

Notwithstanding the fact that I think that's a great quote in general, I think it resonated with me more than it normally would have because if there's one thing that consistently seems to be missing from Buffalo's game, it's desperation. Or, more specifically, 60 minutes worth per game. The Sabres always seem to be able to pour it on in the last few minutes when they're down 4-1.

Now, I realize it might seem a bit silly to complain about this right now. At the time of this writing the Sabres are currently sitting atop the Northeast division and are in second place in the Eastern Conference with 24 points, just one behind Philly and three behind Minnesota and Chicago, who lead the NHL.

Still, to me it feels like the Sabres have this statistical advantage despite their play, not because of it. Before you dismiss me as a garden-variety cynic, consider this: a mere two points separate Buffalo from eighth place Ottawa. That means that by the next time the Sabres lace up for a game, which is two days from now, the standings could look considerably different.

Yes, it's only November. There's not even any such thing as the "playoff picture" until February. But considering the recent games against Boston and New Jersey looked like "Men vs. Boys I & II," respectively, with the Sabres being thoroughly outworked and overmatched in both contests, I see their current 12-8 record as a bit of an anomaly. If Vanek and Pominville were starting as slowly as the rest of the team, these guys would probably be mired in last place with the Islanders.

Through the first 20 games of the season, the Sabres' outings seem to be going a little like my golf game. It never fails. I'll hit a monster 300 yard drive down the middle of the fairway, then shank the approach and five-putt. And, of course, whenever it takes me six strokes to reach the green, I'll sink my first putt. In short, if I could pick and choose my best shots from each hole and magically combine them into one series every time, I'd be on the pro tour.

And so it seems to be going for Buffalo. They've tended to start slowly, especially at home, and if Miller or Enroth have been able to withstand the first 10-20 minutes, they can usually pull out a W. And just when they finally come out of the gate flying and taking the fight to the opponent, as they did Saturday night against the Coyotes in Buffalo, Enroth lets in a couple softies and turns in a subpar performance.

Thankfully for the Sabres and their fans, these guys actually are pro athletes. While there's no hope for my golf game, these guys still have a sporting chance to learn to put together a full 60 minutes of hockey every game (Psst: I'd even take 55). Maybe it's true that Leino just has to find some chemistry with new linemates and Ehrhoff has to find some open lanes to the net. Regardless, it all starts with determination. And not just by Matt Ellis and Corey Tropp.

With injuries starting to pile up -- Hecht, Ennis, McCormick, Miller, and Weber are all still out and you know the news isn't going to be great on Myers -- it's gut check time for the Sabres. No better time to start digging deep than the rematch against Boston on Wednesday.