swordplay

Brendan Shanahan Is a Joke

Tyler Myers was slapped with a three-game suspension by Brendan Shanahan for boarding Scott Gomez during Monday's night's game against the Canadiens.

Forget the fact that there's no apparent attempt by Myers to injure on the hit, or that it should be acceptable to attempt to injure dickheads like Scott Gomez. Admittedly, Myers probably deserved a game or, more appropriately, a fine for the play. But Gomez was playing the puck and, despite the fact that Myers has almost a foot on him, he still hit Gomez on the shoulders.

If you recall, I went on record saying that Shanahan made the right call when he decided not to fine or suspend Milan Lucic when he steamrolled Ryan Miller. However, for a league that supposedly wants to eliminate hits to the head, it's patently absurd that Shanahan deemed Lucic's hit acceptable while determining that Myers's was worth a three-game suspension.

The Sabres are being diplomatic about the suspension. I, on the other hand, have no such obligation. Brendan Shanahan is a fucking assbag.

Whoah!

Time flies when you're having fun... and replacing water heaters, and alternators, and furnaces, and laptops.  I turn my back for a minute and the Sabres go on a 10-3-3 tear.  To be honest, I've been watching most of the games or, at the very least, parts of most of the games.  I just haven't had time to sit and type up my thoughts lately, but Trevor and Erik have been holding down the fort admirably. 

The Sabres, with rare exception, have always been a second half team.  It would appear that this year is no exception.  The thing is, they aren't scoring any more goals than they were before the break.  The good news, though, is the goals are starting to come from sources other than Vanek and Pominville.  For example, is it possible that Drew Stafford is trying to reignite my man-crush with him?  I had all but given up on him ever scoring on a regular basis again, yet here he is racking up points all of a sudden.  I said in a prior post (that I'm too lazy to go get the link for - I guess that "Sabre mentality" is rubbing off on me) that his play has been there all along and if anyone on this team was truly snakebit it was him.  He's proving that persistence pays off as things finally start to go his way.  Derek Roy is another guy who is finally starting to find the net.  Pat Kaleta continues to impress me with solid play every night.  The team has definitely rallied since the break and, as a whole, is showing passion and fire consistently.   Heck, Tyler Myers actually dropped the gloves in Anaheim!  Who needs more proof than that?!?

But as far as I'm concerned, the success of this team since January rests squarely on the shoulders of one Ryan Miller.  As I said, the team isn't scoring any more goals than they were in the first half of the season.  But they aren't giving up nearly as many either.  Some of that can be attributed to better back checking and guys actually getting in lanes and blocking shots.  Some of it can be attributed to a noticable decrease in the amount of bone-headed turnovers in the defensive zone.  But most of it is a direct result of Ryan Miller finally shaking off the funk he's been in and playing like an absolute beast between the pipes.  In the past three weeks, we've seen him play stellar hockey.  And back-to-back shutouts in two nights?  I think that's a first for him.  And I'm not talking "Ryan Miller shutouts"... I'm talking legit goose eggs. 

There are many Ryan Miller detractors, of which I've been one lately.  But no one can argue with his recent play.  Forty-three saves in Anaheim?  Thirty-nine in San Jose the very next night?  Are you kidding me?  Don't get me wrong, I still have my concerns... he does disappear for long stretches, and he's a whiney little bitch when things don't go his way.  Look at his commets earlier this week about his boyfriend, Paul Gaustad, being traded.  But when he turns in all-star performances like he has been lately, it's hard not to want him on your team.  But, Jesus, some consistency would be nice. 

It boils down to this.  When he plays well, the team wins.  When he doesn't, they lose.  It's as simple as that.  I don't think Enroth gives you that.  So if you don't like that model, you have two options.  Find another goalie who can provide that level of play on a more consistent basis, or go to a lesser-skilled minder and stack the team in front of him and hope you can outgun the other guys on a nightly basis. 

If it sounds like I'm changing tack and saying Ryan Miller is our savior, that's not the case at all.  But he IS winning us games right now.  If he can keep his head straight and do it regularly, then he should rightfully have a place as the starter on this team.  I'm just afraid that he'll keep this up long enough to save his job and that's all. 

Care for a Tissue?

All the suspicions and questions ever had about the Sabres being more of a "friends and family" network rather than a competitive hockey team were all but answered last night. Upon reading Ryan Miller's comments in John Vogl's new article, I don't see how anyone could think differently.

"It was a pretty tough day," Miller said Tuesday. "I'm not going to lie. I'm not real happy about the way it all turned out, but that's the business of hockey."

"We don't make those decisions. That's more proof because if I had any more influence, Paul would still be here."

These comments alone provide enough evidence for me to believe the Sabres' core has grown too comfortable and is in desperate need of a shake-up. Obviously some of these guys were more worried about their own friendships than winning hockey games -- not too hard to see with only a glance at their current record.

Now, what Miller said during this interview wasn't too far from Jason Pominville's comments when he said, "It was a little bit of a tough day but we can all understand the circumstances." It was the way he said it and underlying criticism that stood out.

Everyone has a right to express his own opinions, but Miller overstepped his boundaries with some of his yesterday (emphasis mine).

"No matter the way you view hockey, you have to understand how important players like Paul can be and how long it takes to develop a guy that plays that way at such a high level. Winning those faceoffs is not easy. Killing those penalties is not easy. Not a lot of guys are willing to do that job every night, and he was."

Not only did Miller slap Darcy Regier in the face with the first comments I posted, but the comment directly above gives an indication of how he views the rest of the team as well. Comments proving that Miller is just as selfish (perhaps more so) and bullheaded as many have accused him of being over the years.

It kind of makes you think Trevor was right when he alluded to Miller's teammates not liking him. If they did, they would have done a better job sticking up for him after Lucic emasculated him (remember, one of the guys who failed to defend him that day was his BFF Paul Gaustad). I'm not going to dig deeper into the Miller/Goose friendship because I honestly don't care about their relationship. But let's be real here and get back to the point: If Miller is going to go out in the media with stupid comments like these, what do you think he says to these guys behind closed doors?

Big ups to Trevor for decoding that one way back in November.

As far as Darcy goes, I don't know where he stands on Miller's thoughts. But I'm pretty sure GMs don't like being second guessed by their own players. Even with the amount of doubt we've had surrounding Regier over the years, I understand that he's not going anywhere for a while so I'll just have to hope he does a decent job while he's here. You would think that this thought process would apply even more so to his players.

Which makes me wonder what he'll do with Miller come the off-season. I sometimes think the Sabres have kept Miller around because he brings attention to the city and the team. Outside of one or two really good years he hasn't held up to that standard lately, and his image of "best goalie in the world" has long since faded.

So here's your chance, Darcy. Get rid of him as soon as possible (July 1st) before his attitude and play alike smolder even further. You don't want to put yourself in the same situation you did when you traded Hasek, do you?

At this point, even if Darcy couldn't get much in return for Miller I wouldn't give too much of a shit. I just want his crybaby ego outta here. I'm not saying that Miller is the only reason for the Sabres' failures over the last couple seasons -- just read any post prior to this one -- but his narcissism and narrow-mindedness haven't helped. He doesn't appear to be any different than Terrell Owens or Chad Johnson.

How many championships have those two won?

Better Off Deadline

As I watched the game versus the Rangers last night, I was a bit under the influence (duh?). Being caught in the blurriness of alcohol, I let my imagination start to run wild.

I actually let myself day dream to the point where I was asking myself, "Where will I stand if the Sabres actually make it to the playoffs?" Just observing how they've played as of late, it's starting to seem like it's not as far of a reach as it once was.

Just like Trevor, I've spent the past few weeks rooting against my favorite team. I figured if they would drop far enough out of contention, significant changes would be the next thing to come. Obviously Lindy and Darcy's jobs are safe for eternity, so I've been at least hoping for a shake-up on the ice.

It's gotten to the point where my desire to see them lose has actually been scaring me a little. I've never cheered for the other team before, never. Through good times and bad, I've always been on the side of my beloved Sabres.

I thought, "If the Sabres somehow went deep into the playoffs, how would I just turn down the hate meter?" I'm obviously a true fan at heart, but I haven't felt like one lately. I've legitimately hated these guys (or at least how they've been coached and managed).

To be completely realistic though, I don't think it's anything I'm going to have to seriously worry about any time soon. This team is still missing vital pieces to a Stanley Cup puzzle. Although Miller has played exceptional as of late and Ennis has helped fill the void at center for the moment, they still don't possess the scoring and toughness that's needed to make it four rounds in professional sport's hardest tournament.

So now that I've brought myself back down to Earth, I'm still pissed that the Sabres have been winning so much lately. Why? Because winning now doesn't get you in the draft lottery. Winning now doesn't force the overdue firings of both GM and coach. In Buffalo, winning now just sustains the hell we've already suffered.

This team is so screwed up, I wouldn't be surprised if last night was yet another example of such sustainment. Even though the Sabres suffered a loss in overtime last night, simply escaping MSG with a point was a victory for a team who couldn't buy that point two months ago. A point that surely kept hopes high not only in the locker room, but one would assume in the eyes of management as well.

With the deadline hitting mid-day tomorrow, I can honestly tell you that I'm little more than disappointed. All I wanted was Darcy to feel some sort of pressure. I was hoping he would need to approach the most anticipated day of the season with the idea of, "If I don't it a home run today, it will cost me my job."

Thanks to the recent play of his team, he literally doesn't have to do anything.

And due to the ignorance running through the veins of the ownership department, I would assume that they are comfortable thinking they were right when they decided to buy the injury excuse.

Stafford scored last night, let's keep him, he's so worth it! Roy back checked twice, he's a changed man! A real leader! Miller is the best goalie in the world again! This team is PERFECT!

Trust me, I wouldn't be surprised at all if that was the outlook from Darcy and more importantly, Terry Pegula.

Why do I think that? Why wouldn't I?!

All this team had to do was lose 3 out of their last 4 games. By winning 3, the status quo will be upheld; zero moves (or at least nothing significant) will be made at the deadline -- Darcy thinks his shit players are worth gold anyway; and this team will be primed and ready to sell another excuse when they just miss the playoffs or get dumped in the first round.

This team will continue to refuse to learn from hindsight and scramble to find their spectacles when it comes to having any foresight.

Of course, there's always the possibility that I'll be wrong. But seeing how Darcy has mismanaged his team on this day in most other years (except stealing Briere from Phoenix, of course), prepare yourself. Because there is a great possibility you'll be watching the same team after the deadline that continuously let you down before it. Only now, you'll be hoping that same team can not only make the playoffs, but somehow find a way to succeed if they happen to get there.

7:22

That was the time on the clock in the third period last night when Ryan Miller made a beautiful over-the-shoulder snag of a Ranger wrist shot from the high slot.

Left is right. Up is down. Cats play with dogs.

For the record, I remember bitching during the '06-'07 season -- during a game against the Atlanta Thrashers (and perhaps the very one in which Mike Ryan put the puck in his own net) -- that Miller had a terrible glove hand, especially over his shoulder. I don't remember who scored but it was nevertheless a weakness that could be identified all the way back then.

Miller's save last night was sick -- it may have been lucky because he seemed to duck and close his eyes but sick nonetheless -- so hopefully that will pay dividends toward increasing his trade value. Of course with my luck, that would mean Buffalo would just want to keep him.

Wow!

Well THAT was a fun game to watch for a change!  As I posted on Twitter, tonight was the best game I've watched all season, and that's for ALL teams, not just the Sabres.  The Sabres looked strong the entire game.  The third period was off the chain, and the overtime period had a terrible boarding call against Ennis, leaving the Sabres to fight off a 4-3 Rangers power play for two full minutes.  That penalty kill was a thing of beauty.  The Sabres cycled well, got in lanes, blocked shots, and were always in position.  The last 15 minutes of the game honestly had a playoff feel.  The energy was incredible.  And both goaltenders put on a clinic tonight.  Henrik Lundqvist was, well, Henrik Lundqvist, but Ryan Miller was the Ryan Miller of the Olympics.  He played brilliantly.  He made several glove saves.  (Yes, actual saves.  With his glove.  I know.  I'm as shocked as you are.)  He flashed the five hole and then took it away in the blink of an eye.  He looked like a man who was in the zone and it was nice to see.  It also begs the question, where has he been for three months?

As a fan, all I've ever asked for is effort.  Bills, Sabres, my kids' games... it's all the same.  I tell my kids all the time, "I don't care if you win or lose as long as you play your hardest the entire game."  Too often over the past several years, we've seen the Sabres play great for a period, or a piece of a period, but then take a shift, a period, a night off.  Since the All-Star break, they've been a different team.  I don't know what happened.  Could it really be that most of the team is healthy?  Did someone on the team finally step up and become a leader and start calling guys out for not playing? Did Lindy cry in the locker room and beg for the players to save his job?  Whatever happened, it worked!

For three games now, the Sabres have played the entire game.  Ryan Miller has played exceptionally well.  It's like someone flipped a switch.  I don't understand it, but I definitely like it, because at the end of the day I love this team.  (Team in the broader sense, not this particular collection of players.)  There are those, even those who write for this blog, who would rather see the Sabres lose the rest of the way to have a shot at the number one draft pick.  I'm not saying it's right or wrong.  Everyone handles being a Buffalo sports fan differently.  Personally, I have never been wired that way.  Would it be beneficial to the team?  Yes.  But man, I just can't stand to see a team give up, which is why I've been so angry at this team all year.  They gave up.  They were going through the motions, mailing it in.  I don't understand it, and I don't understand what changed it.  All I know is I'm glad it changed.  I'd rather watch them win than watch them lose, even if it means a worse draft pick.  That's just how I am.  And if they play like they did the past two games and lose every single game, well then at least it wasn't for lack of effort, and I'll forgive that every time.  Just keep playing hard for 60 minutes every night.

I do have to admit though, I have a little extra hatred in me for these particular Sabres right now because they proved tonight that they CAN play well and they CAN be a competative team, which also proves they squandered what could have been a great year by being lazy, and that REALLY pisses me off.

Schadenfreude, Anyone?

I've never really been the type of person to take pleasure in other people's misfortune, but when people seemingly insist on visiting despair upon themselves, it's hard not to laugh.

Or to root them on, for that matter.

As recent events have illustrated, the Buffalo Sabres have not only failed -- and failed spectactularly -- to live up to self-imposed expectations, ownership has also made it clear that there will be no attempt to salvage the season (or to get a jump on improving prior to the summer) by doing anything but adhering to the status quo.

I think Erik might have been a bit too harsh on new Sabres owner Terry Pegula yesterday, but let's not confuse harsh with offbase. The Sabres are indeed the softest team in hockey, a culture that has been instilled by management and reflected by most of its players over the years.

In fact, if I read one more article about Ryan Miller's lip quivering during a post-game interview, I swear I'm going to burn every last one of my fucking Sabres hats. To quote Phil Wenneck, pull yourself together, bro.

Here's where we are: When the face of your franchise is a basketcase, you're pretty much screwed.

Erik commented last night that it's "rather fun" to watch Miller's career unravel before our eyes. I don't share this sentiment. Interesting? Surreal? Yes. Fun? No. I don't want the Sabres to suck (Well, suck enough for the rest of the year to get the first pick in the draft? Sure.) I don't take any pleasure in watching an individual's career go down the drain, especially if he's on my team.

However, what I do enjoy watching is insanity in action. They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. This is Darcy Regier in a nutshell. So while I may not get much satisfaction watching a player battle psychological issues that could be out of his control, I can't say the same for a GM who has every opportunity to objectively evaluate his team yet chooses to adhere to fantasy as a strategy for success.

Ryan Miller has always been somewhat of a headcase, but I believe he now realizes that every player in the league can beat him over his glove shoulder. He can do nothing about it. He is done.

Let me repeat that: Ryan Miller is done. I take no pride in writing that. He still gets the last laugh because he's a multi-millionaire, but just because an owner, GM, and coach think you can live up to your contract doesn't mean you can. Failing to both realize and act on this now will only further delay the Sabres' reversal of this downward spiral.

The problem is not injuries (you don't see Philly bitching about the loss of Chris Pronger for the season). I hope Mr. Pegula knows this. I hope he was just trying to provide some positive reinforcement while he figures out how to right this ship when he chalked up his team's horrendous play to bad luck. Because if he truly buys the injury excuse -- and let's face it, he seemed pretty convinced last week -- he's going to sell this team well before he wins a Cup.

Terry, this is what complete disarray looks like.

Complete disarray metastasizes itself in things like pathetic excuses when you can't pinpoint tangible reasons for failure. It's just like chemistry, which the Sabres continually say they need to develop in order to find success. But "chemistry" is the word you use when you can't find any rational, tangible explanation for why things work so well.

Just as things often work out unexpectedly and with seemingly little effort, sometimes nothing works no matter what you do.

I may not know much, but one thing I do know is that guys like Derek Roy, Drew Stafford, Ville Leino, Nathan Gerbe, and Tyler Ennis do not suck; they're in a pretty exclusive fraternity for a reason. But despite all the denial by Sabres brass, the combination of players they've assembled just isn't working.

Yes, your guess is as good as mine.

But the job of a GM is to, at minimum, be able to identify this. I've never thought much of Lindy Ruff as a coach, but this poor schmuck just looks lost behind the bench. He has the look of a guy who knows he's lost his team and, if nothing else, he needs to be fired for his own sake (in addition to my own).

In the meantime, the Sabres find themselves mired in a dreadful seven-game roadtrip. Any sober fan knew the Detroit game was over before it started last night; it was only a matter of by how much. The same goes for tomorrow night in Chicago. The word "dismantled" comes to mind. I don't see Buffalo winning more than one game on this roadie -- hell, they've already dropped the first two -- but the only thing that could potentially improve their odds is for Enroth to get the starts from now on until he loses two in a row.

Like it or not, the future is either Enroth or someone else. The options going forward for Miller are 1) buyout or 2) AHL. He is currently untradeable -- who'd give up property and take on that contract? -- and I doubt he'd even be picked up on waivers. He is the definition of sunk cost, and even I don't think Regier is dumb enough to keep him around given his cap hit. (Of course, Regier ideally wouldn't be around to have this decision on his hands.)

There's really no succinct explanation for the state of the Buffalo Sabres -- they've worked hard to create this mess over many years -- but if there's one thing that needs to end it's the incestuousness that defines this team. From the cozy, unhealthy relationship that is Regier/Ruff to the famed "core" that has spent more time together than most married couples, it's just time for a divorce.

And yes, until Terry Pegula and Co. realize this, I'll be reveling in the ignorance and naivete that currently define them.

To paraphrase Phil Wenneck, You actually gonna ride this or are you guys just fuckin' with me?

In Enroth We Trust (or at Least I Still Do)

A little while back, I remember hoping that Jhonas Enroth would turn out being the diamond in the rough I thought he could be. Praying that if he would put up great (or even good enough) numbers, Darcy would find himself in an unavoidable pickle: having to choose between the "franchise" goaltender and the younger, less expensive one.

I'm never going to claim that I'm smart or savvy enough to make it in the big leagues as a general manager (I'll save that for my brother), but if you look back at that post, I sounded pretty qualified for the job on that day (assuming things stay how they are currently, of course).

I'll be completely truthful: I in no way ever thought we would see the demise of Ryan Miller build up to this kind of magnitude. I've always been more of the "he's not that great" type of person, but even this surprises me.

Back when I lived in Pittsburgh, I'd get into conversations with strangers about hockey all the time -- after all, I was a bartender. The most common thing a typical Pittsburgh hockey fan would say to me after finding out I was a Sabres fan was, "sorry." Sorry? Fuck off, I would think to myself. It always pissed me off that someone would lead off a conversation with something as ignorant as that, doubting another man's fandom because of a lack of championship rings.

The warm sensation of anger usually wore off pretty quickly though. Looking back, most Pittsburghers I've ever met were ultimately some of the best people I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. Those people love their sports, and I would sometimes find the ribbing a little annoying, but most of the time they didn't mean any ill will by it.

But let's get back to the whole "ignorance thing." So after the hate was gone and I realized that whoever I was talking to wasn't Satan, we would get back to a normal conversation. The second thing that would come out of these people's mouths more often than not was, "You guys got a hell of a goaltender though." That's what always puzzled me. Pittsburghers are always so caught up in their own teams, how the hell would they know how good Ryan Miller is?

I just started telling myself that they were all fucking crazy. Like I said, I was never a fan of the guy and I had my reasons. So I would let them know it. In turn, they probably thought I was fucking crazy too.

Hopefully, we can all now finally agree that Ryan Miller is worthless, right? I'm sure there are a few people left on the Miller bandwagon, but from what I hear and read, his popularity is wearing thin from just about every angle. Trust me, I'm not happy about this. As much as I would love to say "I told you so" sometimes, turns out I'm not that much of a selfish prick. It's all about the team, and this team is now left with a goalie who is severely underperforming, and whose cap hit is over $6 million dollars.

Regier has already botched the possibility of trading Miller at the point where he held any substantial value, so I wouldn't be surprised if he refused to waive him also (assuming the option would even cross Darcy's mind). It seems unlikely that anyone would actually pick Miller up even if he were waived given his cap hit and poor performance, but that point is moot.

However, the Sabres need an overhaul. More importantly, they need to free up some cap space in order to complete this overhaul. And Miller has to be one of the primary targets. (Again, assuming this crazy idea of an overhaul would even be an option for Regier.)

Think about it, Tyler Myers's big boy contract goes into effect next season: a brand spanking new $5.5 million cap hit. Do you really want to carry around both of those contracts? Especially when one of them isn't being properly earned? I know that Hecht's, Boyes's and Gaustad's contracts end after this season (freeing up about $10 million), but that still leaves very little negotiating money for free agency.

So what's wrong with Jhonas Enroth as our starter? Why has he been so overlooked this season? It's obvious that he's not the next Dominik Hasek (at least not yet, who knows?), but on the other hand, the criticism he has gotten this season has been completely unwarranted -- as if the media are trying to stave off the embarrassment of their 6-year man-crush.

Just the other night, I heard Brian Koziol from the WGR 550 post-game show say, "We still have two mediocre goaltenders," or something like that. I'm not worried about getting the exact quote correct, it was a stupid one in the first place.

I'll admit it, he had two terrible games this season: one against the Coyotes, one against the Rangers. Both, if you ask me, were excusable losses. Well, as excusable as a loss can get. The loss to the Coyotes came less than 20 hours after he shutout the Hurricanes in Carolina, where he was bombarded by 40+ shots after his team gave up on him. And the loss to the Rangers was just one of those games where nothing went his way, and the Rags were surging to the top of the conference at the time. Everyone has a game like that once in a while. Just ask Ryan Miller.

Every goalie needs a little help once in a while though. During the 9-game span where Enroth relieved Miller due to his concussion, the Sabres averaged 2.2 goals per game. But it was Enroth's poor play that led the Sabres to a 3-5-1 record in those 9 games, right? Well, Mr. Koziol seems to think so. That is an absolute joke.

Let's have a little fun and compare Miller's and Enroth's stats side by side.

Miller: GP: 24 W: 10 L: 11 OTL: 3 GAA: 3.05 SV%: .901

Enroth: GP: 20 W: 8 L: 7 OTL: 4 GAA: 2.46 SV%: .923

Note: Miller's 24 games played were all starts. Out of Enroth's 20 games played, 17 were starts. I don't think that makes too big of a difference when it comes to overall statistics, just figured I'd tell you anyway.

Honestly, judging by how poorly the offense has performed all season, you can't take into consideration either player's win/loss record. So I won't actually bang up Miller for having a below .500 win percentage. But outside of that, there's no comparison.

Now I don't like to get into numbers too much, but they usually tell a pretty factual story. Especially in the realm of GAA and SV%. The separation between these two in those categories are fairly dramatic. So dramatic, that Enroth will have to start playing extremely bad, and Miller will to have to start playing extremely well for their numbers to get anywhere close to each other before the season ends.

Either way, the numbers Enroth has now are technically worthy of winning a Stanley Cup someday: See Marc-Andre Fleury.

It's been made clear that Darcy has been on the phone for the last 3 weeks trying to make trades. Derek Roy's name has made it to the forefront of those rumors (at least that's what came out in the media). Obviously no one wants him. If they did, he would've been gone yesterday.

The Sabres seem very desperate to make a move though (duh, completely understandable). I know Darcy was just quoted saying "no trades are imminent," but I don't believe that means he's necessarily stopped trying. The problem is, no one wants to pick up any big contracts for underperforming players.

I'm no GM, but I'm not stupid either. All of these GMs know how good Jhonas Enroth is (or could be someday)... I mean, if I know it, so do they. This is where I start to worry: In order to get any substantial return in a trade, I fear that these teams may want Jhonas Enroth to be packaged into the deal as a pot sweetener.

If this is the case, and Darcy Regier hasn't pulled the trigger because of it: good, I'll give him credit for at least doing something right. It still doesn't excuse him from the trainwreck he's created up until know though.

The obvious wish most of us have is for Darcy to magically turn into a GM that stops undervaluing his young talent and stops overvaluing his veteran talent. Will he ever turn into that? That's anyone's guess. I'm going to assume that he won't. Hopefully that will cost him his job one day, but I'll also assume that would be anyone's guess also (since it hasn't happened yet, of course).

But I've gone down that road way too many times (just click on Darcy Regier on our categories list, his desired firing is the topic of most), I don't really want to turn this post into another Darcy bashing one.

Whether it's Darcy or somebody else at the helm next year, I just hope they realize that not every winning team's success boils down to whether they possess a goaltender of elite status or not. Capable goalies with small price tags can be key ingredients to a championship recipe too.

So, maybe Jhonas Enroth's face doesn't belong on a $1 bill as of yet (maybe a fiver -- inside joke), but his great attitude, low cap hit, and most importantly, his exemplary play despite being stuck on a dog shit team, should solidify a future for him in Buffalo. If not, I just hope to not see him cleaning up for someone else in the future.

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.

Time to Put Up or Shut Up

Howard Simon (@hsimon62) tweeted 1 hour ago regarding comments by Ted Black...

"on trades?? darcy has free reign to do whatever it takes. only constraint is stay within cap. there is no list of players he can't trade." [sic]

Now we get to see what kind of GM Darcy Regier really is.  Frankly, I think he has it in him.  I truly believe he was handcuffed by previous ownership.  Prove me right, Darcy.  Make a move.  Make several moves!  Blow this team up.  Get rid of the plethora of potential-30-goal-scorers on this team and go get an ACTUAL 30 goal scorer.  Get a true #1 center.  Get a new coach.  Get a shrink for Ryan Miller's fragile ego.  Do what it takes!!  I'm even willing to let go of my man-crush, Drew Stafford, and get stuck with yet another Sabres jersey in my closet of a player who didn't last if it makes this team better.  (On a side note, it's a fact I'm jinxed when it comes to buying jerseys.  I finally decide to get a player who I think is going to hang around a while, and they are gone shortly after.  Next one is gonna have Perreault's name on it so it will last more than a year.  In the meantime, I'll hang my Stafford jersey between my Satan jersey and my Dainius Zubrus "Zubaz" t-shirt from 289 Productions, and throw in my Stu Barnes bobblehead.)

The fact is, the Sabres have an overwhelming amount of young talent in Rochester.  Package some Sabres, package some Amerks, package some prospects, draft picks, your sister, a gift card to Mighty Taco, I don't care.  Sell the farm for a Jerome Iginla or a Ryan Getzlaf.  Dazzle us, Darcy!  Make the Sabres faithful stand up and collectively say "WOW!" 

Off you go... go on... don't come back til it's done.

 

Miller Better, Hardly Elite

"I felt more like myself. It's nice to stay in the game. I wanted to be there for the guys and I felt better. I gave them a chance. I felt like it was a good step forward for myself."

That was a quote from Ryan Miller following the Sabres' 4-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators on Dec. 20. Miller has played better since his abysmal showing the previous game, when he was yanked after giving up three soft goals in a row to the Penguins. But it's pretty hard not to play better than that.

The last thing I want to hear from my $6.25 million goalie is that it's "nice to stay in the game" and that he's taking a "step forward." Are you kidding me? That would be amazing coming from a goalie making half Miller's salary. The point is, Miller's being paid to be an elite goalie, yet he's being outperformed by some backups across the league.

No worries, though. When Tyler Myers returns all will be well and the Sabres will win again. Cats will play with dogs. Unicorns will prance down the streets.

Those Darned Injuries Strike Again!

When Ottawa's Erik Condra scored into an empty net last night to make it 4-1, I couldn't help but think, "Hey, that wasn't much harder than when Miller's actually on the ice!" I guess the one upside to last night's loss, though, is that it didn't start with Miller for a change.

But as I've said before, it didn't start with injuries either. The first Ottawa goal came after a turnover by Mike Weber. The second was the result of a turnover by Luke Adam and a good play by Kyle Turris. The third was on a power play tap-in by Erik Karlsson.

Hell, the best forward for the Sabres last night was Derek Whitmore, the 26-year-old rookie making his NHL debut. Derek Roy and Drew Stafford, on the other hand, who together comprise an $8 million cap hit, were flat-out putrid.

So please, once and for all, let's dispense with the notion that the Sabres' unraveling and disarray are due to injuries. After all, it's not like Ottawa's any effing good.

Sad State of Affairs, Part Deux

Disappointing night tonight, that's for sure, but not a huge surprise. Well, the loss wasn't a surprise, but I have to admit, the number of goals allowed was. I didn't watch, as I was out Christmas shopping with the missus. I got my updates on my phone from the NHL Game Center. 6-1 at the end of the second? Seriously? I didn't even have to look to know Miller was playing. As a matter of fact, even before the game started I knew that A) Lindy was going to play Miller, that B) Miller was going to fall flat, and that C) The Sabres were going to lose to a team more banged up than them. Let's face it... the Sabres are missing some good players, but the Pens are missing THE BEST PLAYER IN THE NHL, along with half their freakin' roster. Erik nailed it in his post earlier tonight... the injury excuse is played out. To paraphrase Jack Nicholson as the Joker, this team needs an enema!

Leino's Goal (and a whole lot more...)

Leino's 1st period goal was the prettiest play I've seen in ages! As soon as video hits YouTube I'll post it here!

UPDATE: 12/8/11 - So the best I can do for video is a link to NHL.com's video highlights of the game. Wait for the page to load, sit through the commercial, and then click the "play" icon for the Leino goal on the right. It's worth the wait though. Great play. Why can't this team do more of this and less of the whole sucking thing??

OK - So I wasn't planning on live blogging, but couple things...

3-1 Sabres after first? When was the last time THAT happened?

Gerbe should be shot for that turnover while clearing the zone at the end of the period. Inexcusable. Can't blame Miller for that goal.

While I'm on the subject of Miller, he's playing well. That poke check on Jagr's breakaway made Jagr look like an old man. Wait! Jagr IS an old man! Still, great play by Miller on a future Hall of Famer.

Corey Tropp needs to stay up. He adds much needed toughness to the lineup. He absolutely lit up Zac Rinaldo in a fight at the end of the 1st.

2nd Period Highlights

Mller makes save with his face after mask is knocked off by teammate.

Timmonen scores.

Hartnell scores. Cue the home ice collapse... again...

And Jaromir Fucking Jagr scores with his walker. 4-3 Flyers. How quickly things have gotten out of hand! By the way, Jagr's goal? You guessed it, high glove side on Miller. I'm pretty sure I could score on Miller high glove side at this point and I haven't been on skates in 15 years.

Final thoughts on the 2nd period. Turnovers KILLING the Sabres! I can't blame Miller for much of this. He should have had the Jagr goal. By this point, there isn't a hockey player all the way down to mites that doesn't know you go high glove side to beat Miller. But, other than goal, the coming loss is completely attributed to poor defense and AWFUL turnovers. Get ready for an ugly 3rd period...

3rd Period Highlights

5:30 left in 3rd, Sabres have had a couple of chances, most notable was Stafford. Other than that, snoozeville so far.

3:34 Stafford gets absolutely robbed!

2:45 Miller's mask flies off on a save... again. Play stops for repairs. UPDATE: Apparently the save opened the sutures from the cut sustained in the 2nd.

1:35 DREEEEEEEEEWWWW STAAAAAAAAAFOOOOOOOOOOOOORD scores with Miller pulled for the extra skater.

Final thoughts on the 3rd... this period was ALL Drew Stafford. He had at least 4 solid chances on top of his goal. Nice to see him get off the schneid. We're going to OT.

OT Highlights

Miller with big save on Coburn right out of the gate.

3:45 left - Surely the Sabres smell the blood in the water, right? RIGHT?? A home ice win would be huge and they have the momentum right now.

2:58 Miller with nice save on Hartnell knuckleball.

HORRIBLE turnover by Gragnani leads to Giroux breakaway and OT winner.

Final game thoughts... Turnovers were obscene tonight! Every single goal but one came off a bad turnover. I can't knock Miller, he played a solid game. As I said earlier, the only goal I really blame him for is Jagr's in the 2nd. The team in front of him has to play smarter. Gerbe's gaffe at the end of the 1st was inexcusable, and Gragnani can't make that pass in OT. Terrible decision on his part. I hate the Flyers. Thankfully (said with sarcasm), Gary Bettman has reduced them to an afterthought for Sabres fans with the proposed reorg plan. Thanks Sabres for another soul crushing home loss.

Jordin Tootoo's Hit on Ryan Miller

The great part of living in this country is that we are all free to "call 'em as we see 'em."  So it is with this post, in which I'm going to amicably disagree with Erik's take on the Tootoo/Miller hit.  Although I didn't get to watch the game, I've watched the hit five times now, thanks to the link from James Mirtle's article in the Globe and Mail.  I respectfully disagree that Tootoo was directed into, pushed into, guided into, or had nowhere else to go but into Ryan Miller.  Best case, it was a poor decision by him to cut that hard to the net with a defenseman on him.  He knew where he was on the ice, he knew the angle he had to take to get in front of the net, and he knew there was no way he was getting there given Ehrhoff's position on him.  Worst case, it was an intentional cheap shot on a goalie in the crease.  I'll agree it wasn't as bad as the Lucic hit, but given Tootoo's history, you'll never convince me that he didn't take full advantage of a marginal push to fling himself headlong into Miller.  Just my two cents.  By the way, I liked Goose threatening the opposing goalie on his way off the ice. 

UPDATE: In retrospect I wanted to add that, while I disagree with Erik's take on the intent of the hit, I fully agree with the premise of his post.  Just wanted to throw that out there.

Things That Make You Go "Hmmmmm"

One of the things I enjoy most about hunting is that sitting in a tree stand for hours on end gives one ample time to contemplate life. Sometimes it's pondering a big decision, or how I'm going to tackle a big project at work. Today, as I was sitting in my stand freezing to death, waiting for the sun to get high enough to reach my little corner of the hollow I was in, I thought about the Buffalo Sabres, and I had an epiphany.

Ryan Miller may be struggling right now, he may be streaky, he may be short-tempered with the media, he may be hurt or he may not be. Frankly, I think the only thing wrong with his head is that it's in California with his smoking hot new wife instead of between the pipes with the rest of his body. But he's also done a lot of good for this team and the league. He's been VERY outspoken about concussions and head shots and was, at one time (if he isn't still), a player representative for the league's competition committee and was heavily involved in developing rules regarding head shots.

And then it clicked...

If, in fact, the team used Ryan Miller in an attempt to get a suspension for Milan Lucic by drumming up a fake concussion diagnosis, and knowing how seriously he takes the issue of concussions, well I would imagine that might get him a little fired up. If nothing else, he has always struck me as a stand-up guy. I'll bet a guy who does things to try to better the game by serving on the competition committee and fighting to eliminate head shots didn't take kindly to (allegedly) being used as a pawn. And suddenly it all makes sense... Ryan Miller comes out this week and says publicly he's not sure he even had a concussion. I've had concussions. Anyone who has played a contact sport has had concussions. You know when you have one. Well... maybe not when you receive it, but at some point thereafter, you know you got your bell rung. In light of my epiphany, Miller's comment sure looks like a shot across the bow of Darcy Regier to show his dissatisfaction. No one with half a brain says something like that without fully knowing how it will look. Then maybe Darcy fires a shot back in the form of shopping Miller on the open market. It leaks, trade rumors fly, and all sides back pedal and say all the right things. Stranger things have happened, right?

I am not a guy "in the know." I have no inside sources. This is pure speculation from a fan who happened to spend a lot of time in a tree stand thinking today.

Exposed: Miller Time Is Up

Since the news of Ryan Miller's "concussion," the talks of goalie controversy have subsided a bit as focus has turned towards other subjects, like everyone else getting injured and in turn evaluating their replacements. It's been music to my ears though, because that means I was right about Jhonas Enroth all along. There hasn't been an outcry to get Miller back in the net because he hasn't been the problem for the Sabres in the losing department. Hell, Enroth has been great; he's been very sound and has also proven he can even make those miraculous, Broduer-/Hasek-esque saves at times. Every once in a while you'll hear those idiots on the Versus post game program mention that Miller is still out of commission before they start their analysis on the game that night, but for the most part it's been pretty quiet.

In fact, it seems like Bill Patrick and Jeremy Roenick are still flying high on the Miller bandwagon, and that's good. I hope a lot of other fans, teams -- and most importantly, GMs -- still feel the same. Hopefully those people still wish that he played for their team.

To put it simply, Ryan Miller is a PR tool. Somewhere along the lines he developed a reputation. A reputation he earned just being who he is: a good, American-born hockey player in a Canadian sport.

In today's NHL, roughly 20% of the players are American. Outside of Miller, Patrick Kane, and the ones on your favorite team, name twenty more, or even ten more. A vast majority wouldn't be able to. That's where it all starts. The NHL isn't the revenue hoarder that is the NFL. The NHL is trying to work from the ground up and acquire as many fans as they can. That's where Miller comes in. He's basically the NHL's Captain America, and that's fine. The one problem: he's not a capable Stanley Cup-winning goaltender, so I don't want him on my team. The evidence is on the table, and numbers don't lie. You can argue his pretty good SV% and GAA all day, but the only important numbers are wins and losses. And he doesn't win when it matters most.

Come on, tell me the last time our golden boy won a game carrying any significance. If you ask me that question, I would say never. I know a lot of people would disagree with me, but the fact of the matter is, he's never even gotten to the Stanley Cup Finals. Even if you get there and don't win it, you're still nothing in my book.

I know it sounds a little harsh, but it is what it is. The Sabres have been ousted in the first round of the playoffs the last two years. I think they had a legitimate shot against the Flyers last year. But with Miller obviously too busy wiping the mist off his shoulder that the puck leaves behind after it sails up into Momma's cookie jar, he crumbled in game 7, ultimately leaving the Sabres hopeless. Seeing him once again staring in confusion as he wonders how that puck just seems to magically make its way high glove side -- always high glove side -- time and time again, into the net. He's been figured out. Teams know how to beat him. But hey, let's keep the illusion of Miller greatness going. Yeah, somewhere else.

I've mentioned in an earlier post how Regier is in a great situation having another capable goalie in the system. A goalie whose numbers are better than Miller's. And most importantly, a goalie that is currently being paid peanuts in exchange for his services. That's the thing, the Sabres never seem to trade their players while they're at their peak, or in their prime, even if it's the smart thing to do. I don't know if they're afraid or what, but you have to realize the assets you possess and get the most out of them while you still can. The problem isn't goaltending right now, so why have a $6 million backup? (Or is the plan simply to revert back to Miller this weekend and pretend Enroth hasn't given the Sabres the chance to win every single game except one since he's been the man the past couple weeks?)

This team is desperate for offense and it's absolutely imperative for them to get a number one center. And with Miller still having trade value, he's the first one that needs to go. Ask the Anaheim Ducks if they'd like him on their roster. Jonas Hiller isn't getting the job done anymore. Actually, he never really has. The Ducks need Miller and the Sabres need Getzlaf. I know it would be crazy to think that they would even consider trading away the likes of Ryan Getzlaf, but if you sweeten the deal enough, everyone is fair game. So maybe you give a Miller, a Hecht, and a prospect and/or a pick. Who cares? If you want to get high-profile talent, you either have to give up high-profile talent or bulk up the deal enough to make it worthwhile for the other team, sometimes both. But in the end, you greatly improve your team's offense and dump salary. Talk about two birds.

I just fear that when Miller returns, he'll continue his slump and be worth nothing more than a skate sharpener by mid-season. They have to act soon; he's going to be considered healthy in the next day or two.

Just take a look at the Sabres' upcoming December. Why wouldn't he slump? It's not going to be an easy ride for a rusty Ryan Miller if he returns to the starting lineup. Detroit, Philly, Pittsburgh, New York, Florida, and a couple with Toronto and Ottawa leave me very scared for the month upcoming. If Miller starts the majority of these games, and they lose most of them -- even if they lose because the team can't score -- it will heavily affect his trade value. Why? Because a great goalie wins games for you. By the new year, if people start seeing him as just a pretty good goaltender (right now he is still considered elite), this year and seasons to come will have already been lost.

It seems to me that when other teams struggle they make changes as soon as possible. But with the Sabres, it appears that they're all just one big, happy family, and they wouldn't want to risk breaking up that family, even if it meant they would grow and become a better team as a result. I'm not saying that you have to be completely cut-throat, but when the goal is to win, any and all appropriate measures need to be taken in order to do so.

I know it's easy to sit at a computer and criticize an accomplished businessman, but I hope Regier realizes how detrimental this situation will eventually become if the Sabres continue to pay Miller that $6.25 million over another two years. It will further hinder this team, which already has little to no cap flexibility, when the time comes to sign players and make deals in the future.

Remember what happened in the Hasek situation? By the time he was actually traded, everyone in the league knew that he wanted out of Buffalo, which drove his value down so much that the Sabres ended up with nothing more than Vyacheslav Kozlov. They actually acquired a pick in return too but no one remembers who they used that on. Actuall, I do. Jim Slater. Good job on that one. Regier should have been dumped after that travesty. Instead, we're still stuck with him, so let's hope he learned a little bit from that one.

So Darcy, stop acting more like the "cool uncle" and more like the guy who's going to do everything in his power to get this team on track for a Stanley Cup run. The Sabres are still considered to be in that conversation. It's not going to happen with some of the talent that's just sitting around right now though.

Hey, on the bright side for me though, I live in Austin, TX. Instead of wasting my money on the Center Ice package, I can start taking advantage of the "year-round, sit on the patio and drink beer weather." It would surely beat the "lock yourself in and watch a poorly-managed hockey team" nights that I'm currently having.

I Should Have Known!

First, let me apologize in advance. I am typing this with my thumbs on my iPhone, so please excuse the typos that are sure to follow and the brevity that is inevitable when one's thumbs are about to fall off. But, I just couldn't ignore my thoughts when I read this article from PuckDadddy: http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Ryan-Miller-isn-8217-t-sure-Milan-Lucic-concuss?urn=nhl-wp18468. (Sorry... Apparently mobile posts don't allow you to hyperlink URLs to text within the post so you're stuck with the full URL.)

[Editor's note: Here's the link.]

In case the link doesn't work, the gist of the story is that Ryan Miller is now saying that he isn't sure he actually had a concussion and PuckDaddy speculates that perhaps it was all a ploy to get the league to enact a suspension against Lucic since the league takes injury into account when making such decisions. (I think I paraphrased that well enough.)

Anywho... Back to my original thought which is that I should have known!!! I should have known it was a ruse as soon as the team announced that Miller had a concussion. I mean, when was the last time this organization identified an exact injury? Seriously, think about it. It's always "upper body" this and "lower body" that, but Darcy was very quick to specifically state that Ryan Miller sustained a concussion as a result of the Lucic hit. Interestingly enough, it just happened to coincide with Ryan Miller's gigantic slump, so it's not like the Sabres were going out on a limb by giving up his services for a couple of weeks to ride a hot Jhonas Enroth. Still, I'd like to think that this team is above playing dirty pool to try and exact revenge when its players failed to do so on the ice. But it does beg the question, doesn't it?

I'd like to say more but I have to go ice my thumbs. Read the PuckDaddy article and discuss amongst yourselves.

Capital Punishment

Over the past few years, the Washington Capitals have had the luxury of using the Sabres as their personal whipping boys. I'm not going to do any serious research on the exact numbers, I just know that the scale has been tilted severely in the wrong direction.

The Sabres and Caps play each other four times a year, and if my memory serves me right, I don't think Buffalo ever wins more than once a year. So, the one in four odds look even more devastating to a team that has just lost eight important players (I'm not counting Miller, I just don't think he's relevant anymore). I gave them more of a one in sixteen chance last night, which is actually very generous considering their recent misfortunes.

I can't say that I really hate the Caps though (I'm not real big on hating teams for the sole fact that you can never beat them). I guess that's what living in Pittsburgh for ten years does to you. If you want to know what it's like to hate a team, live there. Not to go totally off course here, but I have never been around a more undeserving group of fans than I was while living there. There isn't any more of a Sabres/Penguins rivalry than there is a Sabres/Caps rivalry -- Buffalo's had a couple important games or series against both -- but just seeing how fair-weathered those people became when they got Crosby and started winning was disgusting to me. For Christ's sake, I'm pretty sure they've been bankrupt more times than the Sabres, but at least Buffalo's bankruptcy came as result of a felony, not as result of hockey boredom. I guess it's kinda like how Washington became when they got Ovechkin. Can't say that for sure though having never lived in or around the District.

There have been certain moments when I have not liked the Caps, like when Briere was boarded by Ovi into the open bench door, or when Olie the Goalie got hot for a week and ruined the Sabres' entire year. It's just that those few and far between moments never transcended into hatred. I guess when you find yourself cheering for them to beat the Pens every year in the playoffs you tend to let some of those things slide.

But let's get back to yesterday. To be completely honest, I wasn't even going to pay attention to the game last night. I had already been physically feeling like crap since Friday morning, and follow that up with the Colombus game later that night, why give a damn about something that would seemingly amplify the pain? The reason I watched at all was to see Kassian play. I would type the other guy's name too, but I don't feel like looking up how to spell it. Also, I never realized that Kassian's name was pronounced "Cash In"; hopefully that's some awesome foreshadowing toward what kind of player he'll be one day (or maybe just is already). It would save R.J. a lot of time and effort giving him his own little tag line too. Either way, good job netting your first goal, hope to see many more of those.

The thing that made me the most happy though was watching the Capitals steal a page out of the Sabres playbook and taking the majority of the night off, obviously resulting in their eventual demise. There seriously wasn't one moment of nervousness for the entire 60 minutes. The Caps definitely lost this one more than the Sabres won it, but what the hell, it's still fun to watch a game like that once in a while. The funniest thing was that you knew the Washington bench totally heard Rob Ray criticize their focus about ten times throughout the game, and they obviously didn't care. Priceless.

If the Capitals would've come out playing with a little more intensity, the game could have ended up much differently than it actually did. Judging by the Buffalo effort alone though, I still think the Sabres win that game by a goal or two. So I have every reason to believe that if Vanek, Pommer and the rest of the Rochester Americans work this hard every night, this rough, injury-filled time of the season could go unnoticed by the time everyone is healthy. In reality, it should set the bar even higher for the others when they return. I don't know, it's just one game, but it would be nice if that actually ended up being the situation in the end.

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.