LabattBlue Posted March 22, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2007 jad1 -- didn't you agree the other day to stop beating this dead horse? Now I have to repeat myself: there is no way Spacek or Dmitri gets scratched during the playoffs. Paetsch is a nice player, but he's #7. I'll throw my 2 cents in here... Paetsch may dress as a 12th forward, but I agree that he is not sending Spacek or Kalinin to the press box if all 3 are healthy and ready to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jad1 Posted March 22, 2007 Report Share Posted March 22, 2007 That should apply to the forwards, as well. Kotalik comes back, he better play like a man possessed; same goes for Mair, Paille, Roy, Vanek...otherwise Lindy has a bunch of young, hungry players ready to go if the veterans can't or won't play desperate, gritty, playoff hockey... Definitely. Due to the cap and injuries, the 'healthy scratch' has been missing this season. It was a big motivating tool last season. I'm counting on its return for the playoffs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nfreeman Posted March 22, 2007 Report Share Posted March 22, 2007 No, I didn't. And after watching Paetsch cover Spacek's ass all last night, right now it's obvious who should sit and who should play. Watch Paestch play, he battles every inch of the ice and makes very few mistakes. The nightly over-under for Spacek/Kalinin bone-headed give-aways is five. Spacek and Kalinin aren't bad players, their just being outplayed by a (pretty good) rookie. Either they raise their game, or they sit. My apologies. It was Bmwolf. Bmwolf -- you did agree to stop beating this horse. No weaseling out of it with picking Paetsch but then saying "but it seems Lindy will go with Kalinin over Paetsch". Both of youse: I like Paetsch, but he is clearly #7. For a while he got (and deserved) credit for being a difference-maker on the PP, but his effectiveness there seems to have faded. Meanwhile, Dmitri got 21 min. last night -- 2nd-most on the team behind Soupy (Paetsch had 19). Jaro got 15:33. This was least on the team, but remember that this is just his 3rd game back after being out for a month. Lindy likes and trusts experienced defensemen. Jaro got the 2nd-most ice time last year on a cup finalist. Our impressions of who plays better on any given night are always going to be subjective, but ice time tells us on an objective basis how Lindy feels about a given player. I just don't think it's realistic to expect a rookie to supplant experienced defensemen who get a lot of ice time. In any case, it's hard to envision a playoff run with no injuries, so we'll probably see Paetsch anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bmwolf21 Posted March 22, 2007 Report Share Posted March 22, 2007 My apologies. It was Bmwolf. Bmwolf -- you did agree to stop beating this horse. No weaseling out of it with picking Paetsch but then saying "but it seems Lindy will go with Kalinin over Paetsch". Not only do I not recall saying I would "stop beating this horse" (I am assuming you mean in regards to playing Paetsch over Kalinin/Spacek - I did say I would stop drilling Kalinin for being what he is - a talented player with a ton of potential who is wildly inconsistent) but if you look up to the top of the page, you'll see that I quoted another post - I didn't write anything about "Lindy picking Kalinin over Paetsch." If you find and link to a recent post of mine that says I think Paetsch should play over those two in the playoffs, I'd be happy to retract my statement. But IIRC, most of my posts were regular-season based - that Paetsch should stay in the lineup while they rotated guys like Kalinin, Teppo and Spacek in and out of the lineup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bills_fan_in_raleigh Posted March 22, 2007 Report Share Posted March 22, 2007 Let's just say that at some point...Lydman, Max, Paille, Connolly, Kotalik and even Gaustad(2nd or 3rd round) are back for the playoffs. Who sits? Obviously, you start with Ryan, MacArthur & Peters, but then what do you do. Mair? Paetsch? I know...it's a nice problem to have. :) Kotalik-Drury-Zubrus Max-Connolly-Gaustad Vanek-Roy-Stafford Hecht-Briere-Pominville Tallinder-Lydman Campbell-Spacek Teppo-Kalinin Spares...Paille, Mair, Paetsch & Peters Back to Rochester...Ryan & MacArthur I find a way to keep Paetsch up, he can help on power play plus provides extar d or winger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shrader Posted March 22, 2007 Report Share Posted March 22, 2007 Right off the bat I'll admit that I have missed a few games recently due to the college hockey postseason, but I have to throw in my two cents on the Kalinin comments. Something has clicked with this guy lately. He's been more of a force in his own end and has made an impact in the offensive zone as well. I don't know if Lindy took the leash off him or what, but he's jumping up on plays a whole hell of a lot now. From what I've seen, I'm enjoying his play lately and I don't even consider taking him out of the lineup at this point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nfreeman Posted March 22, 2007 Report Share Posted March 22, 2007 Not only do I not recall saying I would "stop beating this horse" (I am assuming you mean in regards to playing Paetsch over Kalinin/Spacek - I did say I would stop drilling Kalinin for being what he is - a talented player with a ton of potential who is wildly inconsistent) but if you look up to the top of the page, you'll see that I quoted another post - I didn't write anything about "Lindy picking Kalinin over Paetsch." If you find and link to a recent post of mine that says I think Paetsch should play over those two in the playoffs, I'd be happy to retract my statement. But IIRC, most of my posts were regular-season based - that Paetsch should stay in the lineup while they rotated guys like Kalinin, Teppo and Spacek in and out of the lineup. My mistake. I read too much into your earlier posts about rotating the defensemen and I misattributed to you the item you quoted. I retract. Sorry to you and jad1 for my bearing false witness. But Paetsch still isn't going to jump over anyone into the top 6 in the playoffs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bmwolf21 Posted March 22, 2007 Report Share Posted March 22, 2007 Fair enough, n. Here I was all set to accuse you of practicing "myopic douchbaggery" but I'll save that for someone else. :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wonderbread Posted March 22, 2007 Report Share Posted March 22, 2007 whats iirc mean please tell me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jad1 Posted March 22, 2007 Report Share Posted March 22, 2007 For what it's worth, I'd say that Kalinin's recent play has cemented him a roster spot in the playoffs. Spacek was on the verge of being in Ruff's doghouse before he suffered a couple of injuries. He has only played a couple of games, but he's looked extremely shakey, including coughing up the puck four feet in front of Miller last night. Also, his being teamed with Pronger was the big reason for the minutes he received in the playoffs last year. He hasn't been better than the fifth or sixth defenseman on the Sabres roster this season. There's no way you could say he's been better than Tallinder, Lydman, Numminem or Campbell during any period of time this season (except when one of those guys were injured). And with Kalinin's improved play lately, he falls behind him too. So that leaves Paestch, who has matured throughout the year into a solid contributor. If the playoffs start tomorrow, Paestch gets the start. But the playoffs don't start tomorrow, and the Sabres D probably won't be 100% healthy when they do start. So the argument for the time being is moot. As mentioned above, internal competition for roster spots is the best thing that could happen to the Sabres right now. Hopefully Ruff will reward those who earn it with ice time in the playoffs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SabresFan526 Posted March 22, 2007 Report Share Posted March 22, 2007 I assume Gaustad is done for the season and does not come back for the playoffs. I also assume that Timmy, Max, and Kotalik come back before the playoffs end. Here's what I see: Hecht - Briere- Pominville Zubrus - Drury - Max Vanek - Roy - Stafford (This due to the recent chemistry which has been awesome) Kotalik - Connolly - Paille (Mair comes in every other game depending on Paille's performance) Potential opportunity to flip flop Drury and Connolly and potential opportunity to flip flop Max and Stafford. On D, I assume all 7 are healthy: Tallinder - Lydman Teppo - Kalinin Spacek - Campbell Paetsch comes in for whoever is struggling, injured, or tired. My guess would be for Teppo or Kalinin. Now, if Gaustad comes back, which is more likely in the Conference Finals/Stanley Cup Finals time period if at all, here's what we could see: Hecht - Briere - Pominville Kotalik - Drury - Gaustad Vanek - Roy - Stafford Zubrus - Connolly - Max If Gaustad does come back, that might be the greatest and most talented 4th line I have ever seen. I mean just look at this. When this team is 100% healthy they can roll 4 lines with more speed and talent than any other team in the NHL. But, when will they ever be 100% healthy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smallmarketguy Posted March 22, 2007 Report Share Posted March 22, 2007 There's plenty of talent there, but not much grit. If things click, this is a great team, but ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wraith Posted March 22, 2007 Report Share Posted March 22, 2007 There's plenty of talent there, but not much grit. If things click, this is a great team, but ... I've heard this time and again and it's bullsh%t. I submit that most people don't know the difference between being gritty and being physical. These are the same people who think Adam Mair has some of the most grit on the team. Grit is determination and strength of will. It has almost nothing to do with how physical you are. The Sabres are not very physical, but you don't go through the adversity the Sabres have gone though and remain where the Sabres are at this point in the season without a whole lot of determination. Some of the grittiest guys on this team are some of the least physical. Look at the playoffs from last year and tell me who were the most determined? Tim Connolly and Derek Roy were incredibly gritty in the playoffs last year, as was Chris Drury. These are guys who are barely physical at all. Jason Pominville showed more grit in one play to take out Ottawa than Adam Mair et al have shown in their entire careers. I would give up being physical in a heart beat if it also meant losing the stupid penalties (thank you Peters and Mair) and getting the grit our little guys show. This team has grit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knightrider Posted March 22, 2007 Report Share Posted March 22, 2007 Also, I don't know about anyone else but Vanek is giving me the heebie jeebies. He totally folded up tent last year and he's been rather silent recently. I'm concerned that he's worn down and getting ready to pack it in again. Until he shows me something in the playoffs I'm probably going to have that fear that he's Dave Andreychuk part 2 (tons of reg. season goals, invisible in playoffs) Do you mean the guy who is second on the team in points, first on the team in goals and leads the league at +40 and has 4pts in the last 2 games? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eball Posted March 22, 2007 Report Share Posted March 22, 2007 Do you mean the guy who is second on the team in points, first on the team in goals and leads the league at +40 and has 4pts in the last 2 games? Zing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samson's Flow Posted March 22, 2007 Report Share Posted March 22, 2007 Separately, Tim Graham of the Buff. News has a post on Sabres' Edge about potential forward lines if everyone is healthy. Check it out: http://buffalonews.typepad.com/sabres/ He says: Based on how the lines are right now and coach Lindy Ruff's tentative plans down the road, his lines might look something like this: Jochen Hecht-Daniel Briere-Jason Pominville (automatic) Derek Roy-Chris Drury-Ales Kotalik (Roy has worked well on Drury's left) Thomas Vanek-Tim Connolly-Drew Stafford (could the hand-eye skills be any more sublime?) Michael Ryan-Dainius Zubrus-Maxim Afinogenov (Ruff wants to unite Zubrus and Afinogenov) So, it looks like Graham has Ryan ahead of Paille, Paetsch and Mair for the last forward spot. this looks like it would work well to compliment everyones style of play. my only thought is that if connolly isnt ready to take a full shift, then roy can move down to center (vanek-roy-stafford) and put in paille on drurys line to make a good defensive line (paille-drury-kotalik) i really like the zubrus line, with our two fastest guys (max and ryan) on one line looks really scary. plus zubrus will work to win the battles and play the front of the net. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bmwolf21 Posted March 22, 2007 Report Share Posted March 22, 2007 whats iirc mean please tell me IIRC = If I Remember Correctly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sabregoats Posted March 22, 2007 Report Share Posted March 22, 2007 i really like the zubrus line, with our two fastest guys (max and ryan) on one line looks really scary. plus zubrus will work to win the battles and play the front of the net. I was under the impression that Zubrus was brought in to play on a line with Drury. Maybe I was off base but didnt Drury also say something along the line of wanting more stability with the players on his line? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samson's Flow Posted March 22, 2007 Report Share Posted March 22, 2007 I was under the impression that Zubrus was brought in to play on a line with Drury. Maybe I was off base but didnt Drury also say something along the line of wanting more stability with the players on his line? yeah i guess, but iirc zubrus said in an interview that he would love to play with fellow russian max afinigenov. all year drury has been the "leftover" line getting whomever isnt already paired up. I think roy and kotalik sounds like a pretty good group of linemates for drury, and if they can get some minutes logged could give him some stability. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hopeleslyobvious Posted March 22, 2007 Report Share Posted March 22, 2007 What have Vanek and Roy done of late to warrant the "not getting seperated" treatment? They've both been having trouble scoring and they are both notoriously streaky. The two have a ton of chemistry. The Vanek-Roy-Afinogenov line had a ton of chemistry...Stafford replaced Max and they didn't miss a beat. Maybe it's a coincidence, but it seems to be that you always get a strong line with the two of them together. Despite the fact that they have trouble scoring sometimes, they generate a ton of chances! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit151 Posted March 23, 2007 Report Share Posted March 23, 2007 IIRC = If I Remember Correctly I thought it meant, " I'm in re-hab, coincidentally " Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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