Happy Days

Maybe instead of having a phantom goalie the Sabres should put something in front of the net to improve picking corners and shooting.

I find it to be strange how the Sabres have about 10 guys on defense who should have NHL games this season yet they never turned that into a package deal to upgrade the quality of their team. It is like Darcy is more concerned about depth and injuries to players on defense to where you had several NHL defenseman on the AHL team instead of using that asset to improve the quality of the players on the NHL team. Pysyk and McNabb both should have some NHL games this season but are stuck behind other players of similar ability because Darcy appears to prefer minor league depth over the quality of NHL talent.

He scored 31 goals in 62 games in a contract year. The next most he has scored was 20. He certainly has talent to be a very good player in the league but his work ethic and character has to come into question.

I have a lot of resect for his tenacity on the ice. He is an in your face, hard working type of player.

With there being 2 buyout players after the season, Villie Lieno is an obvious choice as on of them. Who will the 2nd player be?

http://sabres.nhl.com/club/app Players are continuing to miss games. It's a shame that they don't press Fear enough to get a deal done. The more games they play the better chance of them making their mark in franchise history!

http://sabres.nhl.com/club/app Players are continuing to miss games. It's a shame that they don't press Fear enough to get a deal done. The more games they play the better chance of them making their mark in franchise history!

I heard Andrew Peters was complaining about not having a pension. Can you imagine making a half million $ per year for 6 years working only 3-4 minutes a night for only about 35 nights a year. Poor guy.

Ted Black said he wants to create somewhere that people would want to come back to over and over again. They should put a world class luxury/health spa in there.

How proven is Ruffs system? They missed the playoffs 6 of the last 10 seasons. Players continually come from other teams and have their production drop. Who was the goalie for Florida this season? Who are big names on that team?

Dineen had much less talent in Florida than Ruff had here in Buffalo, yet Dineen made the playoffs without excuses.

Even a 40-50 point scorer is poor for a guy who makes 4.5 million against the cap. He also lacks other intangibles.

Ok the question should be why did Luke Adam all of the sudden suck at hockey after having a dominant final season of jr, then being maybe the best player at the traverse city tournament and then having a great AHL rookie season, then may have been the best player at coming out of the gate strong in the NHL? What happened to him? Luke Adam is only a year away from being AHL rookie of the year. Some team may still see his upside for their organization. I'm sure Gerbe's value was much higher 2 years a go coming off a AHL rookie of the year. After having a great final season of college hockey Now I'm pretty sure Gerbe value is much less. What happened to Gerbe? Why we're his numbers so poor last season? Does he all of the sudden suck at hockey too now? Why hasn't he been better?

As of right now I would guess the forward lines to be Vanek Hodson Pommers Foligno Ennis Stafford Ott Grigerenko Lieno Gerbe Ellis/McCormick Tropp/Kaleta Gerginsons might have a chance at the 4th line center after spending part of the season in Rochester as he adjusts to playing against grown men or be a call up in case of injuries. He could be the best option for a 4th line center that the team has right now. They may want Grigerenko to go with another European type player so Lieno might be used on the RW. Ott would bring grit to the line and take faceoffs. The problem with the team the way it is currently constructed is that there is no shut down line to turn to. There is no quality defensive center yet. Perhaps Girginsons can become that but he may not be there yet. I think Ruff lost confidence in Luke Adam (or Luke Adam lost his confidance due to Ruff) so I wouldn't be surprised if he gets traded in some package deal along with a defenseman. I think Lieno is the weak link of the forwards. He's not a leader, he's not tough or physical, his offense is poor (he's only had 1season over 10 goals 0 seasons over 20 goals, he doesn't play the penalty kill, he's not a great defensive forward, he lacks size, he lacks great speed. I just don't see how he fits. We all know that Ruff juggles his lines all over the place so take this with a grain of salt.

Can we trade Ville Leino for some ice girls?

If the Sabres signed Doan and if Gergonsons made the team the lines could look something like this Vanek Hodson Pommers Foligno Ennis Stafford Ott Grigerenko Doan Gerbe Gergensons Kaleta/Tropp That would be a much tougher lineup for teams to play against. It would bring a much better balance of skill, speed, grit, and leadership than we have had in the past.

I'm not sure how many more quality seasons he would have left but he would provide leadership and toughness. I was thinking of him on a line with Grigerenko and Ott and how that line would work out. I heard Grigerenko say that he needs to work on his draws. Ott could be on Grigerenkos line and take draws. Doan would be a mentor on the other side to help Grogerenko become a pro. Having 2 gritty, hard working, leader, veteran wingers next to Grigerenko makes a lot of sense.