FearTheReaper Posted December 13, 2008 Report Share Posted December 13, 2008 I really cant stand it. Everyone agrees hes a natural winger. Hecht is not a 40 goal scorer nor a 60 assist man. Hes a solid 2 way forward whos best aspect of his game is his excellent play on the boards. It seems as if,with Connolly gone week in and week out,that Ruff has placed Hecht into the second line center playmaking role. Thats not his game. At times it looks like Hecht it out of place. A perfect example was Torontos 1st goal tonight. Hecht makes an attempt to clear the zone,after battling along the boards. He fails,he didn't get enough wood on it. So he slightly slides back into the wing position and then realizes,hes gotta take the center spot in front of the net. A minor mental error that comes with being forced into a new postion. I just hope that Hecht is filling this spot untill Connolly becomes healthy again. But i have a sneaking suspicion that this is managements way of "filling gaps from within". I think that Hecht at center might be Regiers answer to Connolly being a free agent. This might be the cheap way to fill the 2nd line center spot. And if it is,then it spells even more trouble down the middle. Maybe Hecht will make it work by seasons end. But if they want to fill in the center problem from within,then why not transform Mc Carthur into a center? Hes not that far into his nhl carrer,and it would be easier for him to change. As opposed to Hecht,whos been a winger almost his whole carrer. Mc Carthur has already shown he can play well at center this year. If they give up on Connolly this offseason,then the right thing to do is to go out and find a good 2nd line center. Thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carpandean Posted December 13, 2008 Report Share Posted December 13, 2008 If they give up on Connolly this offseason,then the right thing to do is to go out and find a good 2nd line center.Thoughts? I agree 100% with the general idea of this thread. This has been a problem for two years now. It's bad enough to count on Connolly if you have a viable alternative for when he is out. Hecht is, as you say, a natural winger and could be used as a center on a shut-down line, but a true scoring line. What's worse is that they've now got Pommer and Vanek on his wings. Both those guys need someone that can set up a play with passing and that guy's not Hecht. As for the line that I quoted, whether or not they re-sign Connolly for next season (better be for very cheap if they do), they better bring in another top-two center. We can't make that same mistake for three-straight seasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kristian Posted December 13, 2008 Report Share Posted December 13, 2008 I really cant stand it. Everyone agrees hes a natural winger. Hecht is not a 40 goal scorer nor a 60 assist man. Hes a solid 2 way forward whos best aspect of his game is his excellent play on the boards. It seems as if,with Connolly gone week in and week out,that Ruff has placed Hecht into the second line center playmaking role. Thats not his game. At times it looks like Hecht it out of place. A perfect example was Torontos 1st goal tonight. Hecht makes an attempt to clear the zone,after battling along the boards. He fails,he didn't get enough wood on it. So he slightly slides back into the wing position and then realizes,hes gotta take the center spot in front of the net. A minor mental error that comes with being forced into a new postion. I just hope that Hecht is filling this spot untill Connolly becomes healthy again. But i have a sneaking suspicion that this is managements way of "filling gaps from within". I think that Hecht at center might be Regiers answer to Connolly being a free agent. This might be the cheap way to fill the 2nd line center spot. And if it is,then it spells even more trouble down the middle. Maybe Hecht will make it work by seasons end. But if they want to fill in the center problem from within,then why not transform Mc Carthur into a center? Hes not that far into his nhl carrer,and it would be easier for him to change. As opposed to Hecht,whos been a winger almost his whole carrer. Mc Carthur has already shown he can play well at center this year. If they give up on Connolly this offseason,then the right thing to do is to go out and find a good 2nd line center. Thoughts? Bottom line is, very few wingers are good at center. A defensive-minded winger playing center on a so-called scoring line however, is just plain moronic and Lindy needs to stop being a fool in cases such as these. You have ONE center Lindy, you'd better play him with your league leading scorer, everything else is just bad coaching and I don't care how frustrated you are. You could argue that Lindy is being pressured into these things, but it doesn't take away the fact that he's made his fair share of bonehead moves so far this season, too. This one goes into the book of stupid coaching decisions along with only playing the league's top scorer for 13 minutes about a month ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LabattBlue Posted December 13, 2008 Report Share Posted December 13, 2008 Blame Darcy. He is the one who relied on Connolly to be the #2 center when his ability to stay healthy is below average at best. Yet IF the Sabres miss the postseason, DR and LQ will talk about how much they counted on Connolly and Max blah blah blah Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wonderbread Posted December 13, 2008 Report Share Posted December 13, 2008 I didn't even know he was still playing this year! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bmwolf21 Posted December 13, 2008 Report Share Posted December 13, 2008 Blame Darcy. He is the one who relied on Connolly to be the #2 center when his ability to stay healthy is below average at best. Yet IF the Sabres miss the postseason, DR and LQ will talk about how much they counted on Connolly and Max blah blah blah Yep. Built-in excuse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kristian Posted December 13, 2008 Report Share Posted December 13, 2008 Blame Darcy. He is the one who relied on Connolly to be the #2 center when his ability to stay healthy is below average at best. Yet IF the Sabres miss the postseason, DR and LQ will talk about how much they counted on Connolly and Max blah blah blah Well obviously I DO blame Darcy, I'm just a little tired of Lindy getting a free pass everytime. Darcy built a crap team, but Lindy doesn't make them any better by having a 2nd-line winger act as a playmaking center on a scoring line, and if he's still trying to send a message to Darcy, well then it's getting old as we pretty much know he doesn't care in the slightest. That said, I fully agree - The only thing FO loves more than their smallish, soft forwards are their excuses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LabattBlue Posted December 13, 2008 Report Share Posted December 13, 2008 Well obviously I DO blame Darcy, I'm just a little tired of Lindy getting a free pass everytime. Darcy built a crap team, but Lindy doesn't make them any better by having a 2nd-line winger act as a playmaking center on a scoring line, and if he's still trying to send a message to Darcy, well then it's getting old as we pretty much know he doesn't care in the slightest. That said, I fully agree - The only thing FO loves more than their smallish, soft forwards are their excuses. Who else does Lindy have to throw out there as a scoring line center? Vanek? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FearTheReaper Posted December 13, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 13, 2008 I agree 100% with the general idea of this thread. This has been a problem for two years now. It's bad enough to count on Connolly if you have a viable alternative for when he is out. Hecht is, as you say, a natural winger and could be used as a center on a shut-down line, but a true scoring line. What's worse is that they've now got Pommer and Vanek on his wings. Both those guys need someone that can set up a play with passing and that guy's not Hecht. As for the line that I quoted, whether or not they re-sign Connolly for next season (better be for very cheap if they do), they better bring in another top-two center. We can't make that same mistake for three-straight seasons. I know its really frustrating to watch Vanek and Pommer out there,and theres no one to step them up. There both great finishers,but neither one has alot of playmaking ability. I definetly like the idea of Hecht on a shutdown line. Maybe that would work if Connolly stayed healthy. Something like Paille-Hecht-Kaleta. But the bottomline is Pommer needs a playmaker,and Hecht needs to stay a winger. Why not a Vanek-Roy-Hecht line? Its agrivating that Ruff never even try's these combinations,yet goes with dumber ones. I could maybe see giving Connolly a one year deal for less than what hes making now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LabattBlue Posted December 13, 2008 Report Share Posted December 13, 2008 I could maybe see giving Connolly a one year deal for less than what hes making now. It doesn't matter how little you would pay him, you'd still have no scoring line center after Roy when Connolly goes on the injured list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kristian Posted December 13, 2008 Report Share Posted December 13, 2008 Who else does Lindy have to throw out there as a scoring line center? Vanek? I know Roy is playing poorly, but whether we like it or not, he's the only one who comes close to qualifying. Sad, isn't it? *edit Well, actually Roy seems to have stepped up a little, so why not give those three a go? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tom webster Posted December 13, 2008 Report Share Posted December 13, 2008 I have said before and I will say it again, Jochen Hecht's contract is going to be a real problem for this team. He is not a $3.8 million player. Just think what this team would be like if instead of Max, Tim and Jochen at over $10 million cap, they had a Jokinen, Shanahan and Perreault at $9 million. Gerbe - Roy - Stafford Vanek - Jokinen - Pominville Shanahan - Gaustad - Kotalik Paille - Perreault - Kaleta MacArthur, Mair and your payroll would be less. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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