Jump to content

Doohickie

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    39,263

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Posts posted by Doohickie

  9. Around the NHL: 2015-2016

    in The Aud Club

    Posted

    I bet it is an amazing feeling, playing for your school. The Wings have a lot of Michigan natives/locals on their team right now. Blame the local schools or homerism, but it is kinda neat. Sometimes I wonder if they'd have a better team if there weren't so many locals, if there is some local favoritism happening in the Griffins/Red Wings franchise...

     

    I like these articles. I like humanizing these famous giants of the sport I love.

    I think it helps the team bond to the fan base. Look at how all gaga Buffalo fans went over Kaleta, who if he didn't play on his hometown team might never have made it to the NHL.

     

    And I don't think you can single out a single one of the WIngs' Michigan products as not worthy of NHL play.

    John Scott will wear a black jersey with the ASG logo on it instead of a team jersey of any kind.

     

    Why don't they just make him where a scarlet A while they're at it.  :rolleyes:

  12. The romance of hockey

    in The Aud Club

    Posted

    During the tank, Buffalo Sabres goalies were continually downgraded.  Yet, under Arturs Irbe's tutelage, they managed to put up surprisingly good save percentages.  Without goal support they didn't win much, but they consistently outperformed expectations, leading many to call Irbe the Goalie Whisperer.  His influence turned several sows ears into silk purses, goalie-wise.

     

    With the head coaching change, Irbe was sent packing and Dan Bylsma brought in his own man, Andrew Allen.  After Robin Lehner, the anointed starter, suffered an injury in Game 1, the Sabres were in familiar territory, seeking to turn scrubs into starters.  And as it turns out, the Sabres still have a Goalie Whisperer on staff.  Chad Johnson has played much better than expected, and Linus Ullmark has grown by leaps and bounds.  Now Lehner's back, and after just a few games he's making moves described as Hasek-like.

     

    So who is this Goalie Whisperer?  We all thought it was Irbe, but he's gone and the trend continues.  In fact it's been with the Sabres for quite some time; we've been spoiled by good goalies.  The tank was delayed much longer than prudent because our goaltending allowed the team to make the playoffs when the assembled skaters were mediocre.  Our goalie was the team in 1999 when the Sabres last made it to the finals. 

     

    I think the Goalie Whisperer has been with the Sabres through that entire period.  Could it be that the Goalie Whisperer is a dispossessed spirit, perhaps coming with the team to the FNC from the Aud?  A ghost of Sabres past?

     

    Maybe the The Phantom of the Aud has been whispering from the rafters, improving our goalies in ways even they themselves didn't understand, making mediocre goalies good, and good goalies great.  Could it be the ghost of Roger Crozier, who brought the Sabres to within 2 wins of a Cup championship before succumbing to the Flyers in 1975?  Perhaps he cannot rest until the Cup banner hangs from the rafters.  Or maybe Tim Horton got back to the Aud from Toronto after all, and has been helping the defense ever since, by whispering to the goalie, putting ideas in his head, when to flash the leather, when to flop, all from the shadows.

     

    We may never know who the Phantom of the Aud is.  But he won't rest until he helps the Sabres hoist the Stanley Cup.

  13. Around the NHL: 2015-2016

    in The Aud Club

    Posted · Edited by The Big Johnson

    Another Player's Tribune article, I know people here like to read these: http://www.theplayerstribune.com/justin-abdelkader-college-hockey-red-wings/

     

    Justin Abdelkader describes his college experience.

    Justin Abdelkader, Stats geek:

     

    It has taken me six years, but I completed my bachelor’s degree in Business Management this summer. I won’t lie to you, it was pretty difficult to stay motivated — especially writing those term papers. But I found a way to make it relevant to my current career. My last assignment was a 22-page research paper on the emergence of advanced analytics in hockey, which was really interesting, because I was able to use statistics to prove some of my gut reactions about the players I go up against in real life.

  17. GDT: Buffalo @ Colorado, 10:00 pm est, 1-20-2016

    in The Aud Club

    Posted

    Need a scouting report. How did Grigorenko look? Zadorov? Did Zads take a run at anyone?

    The first 5 or 10 minutes saw a lot of hitting from the Avs. The Sabres kept their composure and put a lot of pressure on the puck to frustrate them.

     

    Grigo is Grigo. He looked dangerous at times, only to fumble the puck before he could shoot.

     

    Zads went after the big hit early, but defensively he's still a lightweight and a liability to the team.

×
×
  • Create New...