SabresFanInRochester

Hodgson has a style that he plays and he isn't going to be able to just transform into a two-way menace like Toews. People used to complain that Vanek never looked like he was giving full effort. That's the way certain people play. It is on the coach for taking a top 2-line player and putting him on the 4th line to send a message. I never liked that philosophy.

I think the plan is to trade Myers for Gibson. Oh... damn.

Prophetic? The WGR page has a tab for "Kane Trade" and right next to it "Sabres Lose."

Thanks for completing flipping me on thinking this is the deal of the century in Buffalo's favor. I didn't realize Kane was a top-line forward in WPG. And I should completely disregard the prospects because they are not proven NHL players. Sounds right on. A #4 pick who isn't working out with his current team is certainly worthy of a #12, #13, #16, #31, and a top 30. To be fair, WPG added their #19 and #157 -- what a steal! Go Sabres! Yeah, I'm laying it on pretty think.

Add a sub-par goalie in return and book it!

How old is/was Myers??? And how are you able to judge Lemieux, Armia and an undisclosed 1st with that rationalization?

Now it's clear to me. BUF surrounds him with talent to make him flourish. Crystal.

How can this possibly be thought of as a good deal? Look at it from WPG's perspective: They got rid of 1 player that they cared about (Bogosian), 1 player who they never wanted to wear their jersey again, and 1 player who I have no clue about (Kasdorf.) In exchange for Myers, Stafford, two top prospects (who were either or slated to both be 1st round picks) and a 1st round pick. WTF!

I just checked the calendar to see if it is April 1st -- I feel we got fleeced in this deal.

What numbers are you talking about??? He has had 30 goals once and outside of that, he has never had more than 20.

He'll love playing on a thinned-out, talentless team next year. I am already surprised. Now that Myers and Stafford are gone, Hodgson is the only whipping boy left. Who should we adopt to fill this new role?

My Myers jersey is now obsolete. :censored: And I hate the trade if it is indeed done. I think we overpaid.

Awesome! Now that expectations are there, I cannot wait for this board to turn on him in 4 years because he hasn't developed into Chara or Shea Weber. I will start the "he's worthless thread" now. Tongue in cheek comments above. I think Zadorov is fine. I say the above because I think Myers needs to be on this team and I think some of his criticism comes from the past couple of years of performance. Judge him on his skill set and what he could contribute to a contending Buffalo team with talent, not what you want him to be or what he has been.

I think you are right. Buffalo has an overabundance of 4th line players sprinkled into all 4 lines because they lack the talent to field a real team of skill players. Next year, hopefully, a lot of those marginal players are in the AHL. And players who should be performing better riding along talent will either being rejuvenated or traded.

Ales was on a good team and could afford to be a role player.

Robyn Regehr played his two worst statistical seasons while in Buffalo. http://www.nhl.com/ice/player.htm?id=8467344. My point is good players will have crappy stats when they play on a crappy team. Do you remember when Luke Adam centered Vanek and Pominville for a 10-12 game stretch? He put up crazy numbers. And when that cooled off, he dropped to lower lines, until he ended up back in the AHL, and then out of town. An average player (or even below average player) may look good with talent surrounding him. But I cannot think of many instances when a good player looks good when there's no talent surrounding him. It is difficult to perform well on a team that lacks talent. I think Cody's bigger issue is that he is being forced to play a system that does not fit his style. When last season ended, Cody played in the World Championships as a winger and was an absolute stud. Fast forward to Buffalo this year. He's been on a 3rd or 4th line, expecting Flynn, Kaleta, Mitchell, or Deslauriers-type players to support him. Geez -- I wonder why he looks lost out there. I am frustrated that he works out with Gary Roberts to get big and strong, yet he never finishes a check. But that's his game. Just as it was for Ales Kotalik, and many, many other players in the league.

I will throw a theory out there: When I was in college, our colors were purple and orange. However, there is not a standard purple, so they unofficially changed uniforms to be navy blue, which you could find across different vendors with the same shade. I don't know if royal blue has as much discrepancy as purple, but that is a possibility. If you get your jerseys with a royal blue color, what is the likelihood of finding a t-shirt, cap, sweatshirt, ... all with the same shade of royal blue. It's easier to print ink in a certain color, than to find a consistent base fabric.

If you were to transplant Shea Weber to Buffalo, with everything else constant, his numbers would suffer. I think Myers is a solid player on a limited talent team.

:rolleyes:

You're absolutely right. You cannot look at the standings now and assume they will hold that while missing a key part of their offense. However, to miss the playoffs, the Islanders would have to play below .500 hockey, and that's not even a guarantee that they would miss. They lose a defenseman, Tavares, or Halak -- look out below!

Thank you for posting something encouraging. Now I must duck to avoid the onslaught for supporting positive thoughts on this message board. But keep your chin up.

I think there's still a rebuild, but I think the pieces may be in Buffalo's possession. You can put a formidable defense together with Gorges, Myers, Risto, and Zadarov. To round out the 5/6 D-men, you can insert a couple of the kids from Rochester -- Pysyk, McCabe, Ruhwedel. They might be young and learning, but as 5/6, they won't see huge minutes and will grow into their roles. [And I think Weber fits this role quite well.] The offense will take great shape once you can put more than one line together. This year, Ennis and Girgs were looking pretty good with Moulson. And then I started to notice teams finishing their checks on Ennis. His playmaking is taken away when he's laying on the ice. And Girgs cannot be a one-man show. He is talented but he's more of a hard worker than a pure skill player. If you get McDavid to center a top line, you just made all your other centers better. Ennis can play center, unless there's depth to move him to wing. Girgs will play center and I see him playing a Paul Gaustad type of role. Reinhart is getting there. Grigorenko is getting there. If either Reinhart or Grigo are ready, Ennis gets moved to wing. Gionta will be the Mike Grier type of player. Armia is developing. I think Moulson will stay and be a finisher with one of the top two lines. Hodgson would make a nice winger on a scoring line with some talent. You can pull in one experienced vet who is a finisher and you have two talented lines to compete. Round out your 3rd line that Girgs is centering with Gionta and Deslauriers and then put a checking line together and life is good. I think you are fielding a playoff team. (I know I neglected goalie, but for the sake of space, Enroth is very serviceable, IMO.) Getting McDavid solves a lot of problems and quickly. This is just my opinion. I think there is enough in the system to support a winning team next year.

:w00t: That's a good one!

I saw the title and immediately thought I love the clean look. Bummed to find out that we weren't talking about female grooming habits. Too disappointed to voice my opinion on the topic.

I didn't expect doctors to chime in, but I am shocked no one else knew this... http://www.thedailyj...clots/17058371/ You get hit by a puck, in an unprotected area, like the back of a calf, you break blood vessels and the area bruises. That's the beginning of the process -- Deep Vein Thrombosis -- and an unfortunate side effect could be a clot. Be careful if you get a deep bruise. I am not trying to make everyone paranoid the next time they get a bruise, but if you take a 100mph puck or ball to an unprotected area of your body, monitor it closely. I learned of this from my lacrosse days. Being big and macho and stopping a lacrosse ball with minimal padding is not good for the body. I am still very surprised lacrosse goalies do not have more padding.