Drew Stafford...

[inkman]

I'm not sure who peed in his Cheerios a week or so ago but I'm glad they did. He has been playing with a serious axe to grind. I realize Goose has been leading the club in this type of play but we've come to expect that from Goose. Stafford's physical play has been mostly non-existant to this point in his career...until now. Let's hope he keep it up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

p.s. Whoever did the peeing, needs to find Paille's bowl of Cheerios

[Wraith]

I'm not sure who peed in his Cheerios a week or so ago but I'm glad they did. He has been playing with a serious axe to grind. I realize Goose has been leading the club in this type of play but we've come to expect that from Goose. Stafford's physical play has been mostly non-existant to this point in his career...until now. Let's hope he keep it up.

p.s. Whoever did the peeing, needs to find Paille's bowl of Cheerios

Agreed on all counts. Stafford had a few moments earlier in his career, such as when he went after Chris Neill after the Drury hit and when he flipped a Boston Bruin over the boards and into the bench last season, but nothing like this last stretch.

 

I see this as a continuation of his recent play. It's like someone reminded him that he was bigger than most everyone else. First he started being dominant with the puck in the corners, then he started crashing the net, now he's hitting. Good stuff.

[BetweenThePipes00]

Agree on Stafford and Paille ... Last year's Dan Paille is EXACTLY the kind of player they need, I just don't know what happened to the guy.

[nfreeman]

The fouler of the cheerios was likely Stafford's agent. This is Stafford's (RFA) contract year. He knows that if Bernier got $2.5MM as an RFA, a good year this year will get Stafford into the $3MM range. (And, btw, it's far from clear to me that the Sabres will pay that much.)

[PASabreFan]

Agree on Stafford and Paille ... Last year's Dan Paille is EXACTLY the kind of player they need, I just don't know what happened to the guy.

 

Last year's Paille who didn't hit anyone?

 

Gaustad, who's the best 3-0 down player in the league?

 

Stafford, who can't stay out of the box?

 

I kissed DeLuca, and I liked it.

[Guest Sloth]

The fouler of the cheerios was likely Stafford's agent. This is Stafford's (RFA) contract year. He knows that if Bernier got $2.5MM as an RFA, a good year this year will get Stafford into the $3MM range. (And, btw, it's far from clear to me that the Sabres will pay that much.)

 

Stafford's one of the few players on the team that can actually hit. Buffalo needs to keep him. If they don't keep Stafford, they'll be beyond soft and their record will be worse.

I don't think another team is going to offer $3 million for him. Stafford will be in town next year.

[inkman]

Stafford, who can't stay out of the box?

Like I said in the GDT, I'll take a player commiting overly aggressive penalties any day of the week. It send a message to the other team. Don't #%^$#! with me, I'm a little crazy and might #%^$#! your #%^$#! up. It's the ticky tacky stick penalties that I can't stand.

[bottlecap]

Sometimes a guy gets away with murder, (like that late headshot on Keith) and then starts being more

aggressive and effective after that, like he's been emboldened. I've seen that happen against the Sabres. I hope that Stafford can keep it up and grow into a power forward role, but I didn't like those two powerplay goals with him in the box and that mouse potato comment sticks in my craw.

[BetweenThePipes00]

Last year's Paille who didn't hit anyone?

Hey, he scored 19 goals and had twice as many hits a Pominville ... Not saying he is Mark Messier, but you can't deny if he played as well as he did last season, they'd be better off. Not saying he was an all-star.

 

Stafford, who can't stay out of the box?

Yeah, he's taken a whopping 7 penalties all season in 41 games ... at least you are not overreacting to one game. But hey, like INK said in another thread, if they are penalties of aggression, I'll live with it. The stats say that 87% of the time it won't hurt them and maybe it makes them less fun to play against. I'm not ready to give up on the kid at age 23 ... 23 points in his last 23 games and +9 ... he's not the problem.

[carpandean]

(like that late headshot on Keith)

Late? I can see some argument that his elbow contacted the head (though, I don't believe that it was a blatant elbowing attempt), but that wasn't even remotely late. Watch the replay. You can't even get the "wuh" of "one" out before Stafford hits him. Heck, you can't even get the "wuh" out on the slow-motion replay. It wasn't even close to late. It was closer to being simultaneous than it was to being late.

 

If Stafford does embrace his physical game, he could be a beast. I'll be watching him closely to see if he keeps it up.

[SwampD]

I think Paille is playing hard. I'm just not sure if he has the talent that Stafford has. IIRC he lit up someone pretty good in the Detriot game.

[bottlecap]

Late? I can see some argument that his elbow contacted the head (though, I don't believe that it was a blatant elbowing attempt), but that wasn't even remotely late. Watch the replay. You can't even get the "wuh" of "one" out before Stafford hits him. Heck, you can't even get the "wuh" out on the slow-motion replay. It wasn't even close to late. It was closer to being simultaneous than it was to being late.

 

If Stafford does embrace his physical game, he could be a beast. I'll be watching him closely to see if he keeps it up.

 

I don't agree. I think to hit a defenseless guy after he shoots is a late hit, it was too much like that Drury incident and deserved a suspension. You see Keith try to get to the bench? That was scary. I'm against headshots of any kind.

[BetweenThePipes00]

I think Paille is playing hard. I'm just not sure if he has the talent that Stafford has. IIRC he lit up someone pretty good in the Detriot game.

 

He's not as talented as Stafford, no doubt, and I think he does play hard most of the time ... but he seems to be missing an edge he had last season and that edge translated into a lot more scoring chances for him.

[BetweenThePipes00]

I don't agree. I think to hit a defenseless guy after he shoots is a late hit, it was too much like that Drury incident and deserved a suspension. You see Keith try to get to the bench? That was scary. I'm against headshots of any kind.

 

It's a split-second decision ... if keith keeps carrying the puck instead of shooting it for another half stride, it's shoulder to shoulder on a guy with the puck in position to score. If he had not hit him and he had scored, Stafford would get ripped for standing there and watching him in the slot. I think they are generally too soft on headshots too, but this was not a dirty play and he was not headhunting. On the reverse angle you can see he didn't even turn into him and hit him square ... if he wanted to go headhunting, it could have been far worse.

[inkman]

He's not as talented as Stafford, no doubt, and I think he does play hard most of the time ... but he seems to be missing an edge he had last season and that edge translated into a lot more scoring chances for him.

All I can muster is that he is thinking too much instead of just playing. He can flat out dominate on the forecheck, control the boards form end to end, and eliminate players on the D end but for some reason he looks lost. Who knows...

[carpandean]

I don't agree. I think to hit a defenseless guy after he shoots is a late hit, it was too much like that Drury incident and deserved a suspension. You see Keith try to get to the bench? That was scary. I'm against headshots of any kind.

Like I said, you can make an argument about it being a head shot, but ask anyone that has played hockey for a while and they will tell you that it wasn't late. Neil's hit was borderline late and it happened a good one-count after Drury passed the puck. Also, Neil started behind Drury, cutting in front at the last second, so Drury didn't see him even though his head was up. Stafford was even with Keith for a bit before the hit, so Keith could have seen him if his head were up. Even Robie said that you don't cut through the middle like that, especially with your head down, because you will get destroyed. He said that you learn that when you are six years old. If Stafford were suspended it would have been because of an elbow (borderline), not because it was even close to being late. In fact, Stafford was already bracing for the check before Keith released the puck, so I'm not sure how he could have avoided the hit.

 

Edit: I agree with BTPs, too.

[bottlecap]

I've played hockey for years and I see it as a headshot. He saw Keith toedrag it through the middle with his head down and Stafford waited until during or after the shot to deliver the hit, when he was at his most defenseless. It would have been nice if Stafford could have prevented the shot somehow. Now Keith is questionable for Friday's game against the NY Rangerswith a "shoulder/head injury." The Sabres have been through enough of this nonsense themselves. I would make it a rule that a player who causes a concussion should be suspended for as long as the injured player is out of commission plus five games.

[darksabre]

I've played hockey for years and I see it as a headshot. He saw Keith toedrag it through the middle with his head down and Stafford waited until during or after the shot to deliver the hit, when he was at his most defenseless. It would have been nice if Stafford could have prevented the shot somehow. Now Keith is questionable for Friday's game against the NY Rangerswith a "shoulder/head injury." The Sabres have been through enough of this nonsense themselves. I would make it a rule that a player who causes a concussion should be suspended for as long as the injured player is out of commission plus five games.

 

Okay great. So what about it being late? That's the point being argued here is it not?

[bottlecap]

Okay great. So what about it being late? That's the point being argued here is it not?

Maybe my definition of late and yours is different, but mine is during or after a shot is taken. A different problem is when a late shot becomes a shot to the head. The whole problem is it looks like he's out with a concussion.

[SwampD]

I've played hockey for years and I see it as a headshot. He saw Keith toedrag it through the middle with his head down and Stafford waited until during or after the shot to deliver the hit, when he was at his most defenseless. It would have been nice if Stafford could have prevented the shot somehow. Now Keith is questionable for Friday's game against the NY Rangerswith a "shoulder/head injury." The Sabres have been through enough of this nonsense themselves. I would make it a rule that a player who causes a concussion should be suspended for as long as the injured player is out of commission plus five games.

And then he could powder his a$$ after changing his diaper and give him a foot rub after the game. It was Stafford's ice and Keith skated into it. Drew didn't run him or even give him anything more than bracing for the collision. And like I've said before, if the suspensions were as long as the concusions, Connolly would score every time he touched the puck because noone would want to get near him. That's just not a good idea.

[carpandean]

I've played hockey for years and I see it as a headshot. He saw Keith toedrag it through the middle with his head down and Stafford waited until during or after the shot to deliver the hit, when he was at his most defenseless. It would have been nice if Stafford could have prevented the shot somehow. Now Keith is questionable for Friday's game against the NY Rangerswith a "shoulder/head injury." The Sabres have been through enough of this nonsense themselves. I would make it a rule that a player who causes a concussion should be suspended for as long as the injured player is out of commission plus five games.

We'll have to agree to disagree. Both players were moving in toward the goal line, he saw Keith cut into the middle and, in turn, cut in for an open ice hit. I don't know how he could have hit him any earlier. As BTP points out, Keith could have held the puck for another split second and he would have prevented the shot perfectly as you wanted. Keith just released it when Stafford hit him.

 

I don't like head shots any more than you do and if I thought that Stafford intentionally brought his elbow up for a dirty head shot, I'd be calling him out to ... but for the head shot, not for being late. As for the injury, do you remember how long it took Umberger to get to the bench after "the hit" by Soupy? I don't because no video on YouTube runs long enough for him to even stand up. He missed two playoff games, but that was as clean of hit as you can get. He shouldn't have had his head down and neither should have Keith. As BTP also pointed out, Stafford could easily have made that much worse and insured that he kept Keith out for a very long time, not just game-to-game.

 

I will admit that, were the teams reversed, I would probably be calling for a Stafford suspension, but it doesn't mean that I would right in doing so. Neil wasn't suspended and, while I thought it was much closer to borderline, he probably shouldn't have been given the rules. Drury's injuries were more a result of his loose helmet coming off before his head hit the ice than the actual Neil hit.

[Kevbeau]

I think Paille is playing hard. I'm just not sure if he has the talent that Stafford has. IIRC he lit up someone pretty good in the Detriot game.

 

I think he's suffering from Kotalik syndrome. He'll show up every now and then and remind you that he can own the boards and then kind of disappear into the zone for a few games.

 

It was nice to Ales playing physical in the 3rd last night. I figured he'd be playing like a man on fire being a UFA this season, but at times it still looks like he's floating.

[bottlecap]

We'll have to agree to disagree.

 

I agree to that. I'm just looking for a way to severely cut down on concussions. :thumbsup:

[ROC Sabres]

I agree to that. I'm just looking for a way to severely cut down on concussions. :thumbsup:

Running Connolly out of the league would cut down on about 60% of them ;)

 

There's my headshot on him for the day.

[carpandean]

I'm just looking for a way to severely cut down on concussions. :thumbsup:

On that, we can agree.

 

How to do that, I am not sure, but don't see Stafford's hit as the place to start. Again, agreeing to disagree.