GAME DISCUSSION THREAD

[Doohickie]

I still blame Lalime. He didn't win games for us, plain & simple. The biggest bone-head move of the year for Darcy was a non-move: Not picking up Manny Legace when St. Louis put him on waivers. Yeah, he had an off year this year, but Legace has been a top notch goalie most of his career and at that time we'd already seen what Lalime could (not) do. Release Lalime, insert Legace. It was just after that point when Miller got injured. I think a change of scenery would have done Manny good. And the Sabres good.

 

And oh, by the way... for much of his career, Legace has been second banana, much like this guy. I think he would have stepped right in like Marty used to.

[SwampD]

Wow. Blaming Lalime has got to be the dumbest thing I've heard in a while. Against common opponents, Miller and Lalime have almost identical records. And Lalime played most of his games without Vanek. What's next, blaming the officiating? We only missed the playoffs by a few points. Maybe a couple of those calls that didn't go our way made the difference? Stupid officials.[/sarc]

[Swedesessed]

You see about as well as Governor Patterson.

 

You must have a serious crush on Lalime, and oh keep resorting to the personal attacks punk, it will get you far in life.

This board is a joke. Delete my account because I know realize what a complete waste of time it is arguing with people like you who act like you are a God of hockey and act as if I never watched a game in my life.

 

How frigging SILLY of me to POINT out that PERHAPS a backup goalie with a 5-13-3 record was PART of the reason we missed the playoffs. Man I really am such an idiot to think that? Nah, he played SOOOO well...that sizzling .900 sv percentage and 3.10GAA, that was ALL his teammates fault, that's right, of course!!!!!!!!!

 

Did you open up YOUR damn eyes and watch the backup tonight? Probably not, as you are too busy polishing Lalime's knob.

[carpandean]

How frigging SILLY of me to POINT out that PERHAPS a backup goalie with a 5-13-3 record was PART of the reason we missed the playoffs. Man I really am such an idiot to think that? Nah, he played SOOOO well...that sizzling .900 sv percentage and 3.10GAA, that was ALL his teammates fault, that's right, of course!!!!!!!!!

Of course he was part of the reason; we missed by TWO POINTS! Again, the problem with just missing is that every little thing was part of us missing, because one loss was the difference in making it or not. The difficult question is why aren't we up over 100 points with the better teams in the league? Lalime didn't play great, but there were a hundred other reasons why we lost to teams like Ottawa, Atlanta, NYI and Tampa even with Miller in net. Those problems are a much bigger concern. The team should be able to step it up enough to beat those bottom teams with Lalime in net, but they couldn't even do it with Miller in net. I guess what I am trying to say is that you point the finger at Lalime like they were otherwise a great team. Guess what, they weren't and they showed it the most against those bottom teams.

[FogBat]

You must have a serious crush on Lalime, and oh keep resorting to the personal attacks punk, it will get you far in life.

This board is a joke. Delete my account because I know realize what a complete waste of time it is arguing with people like you who act like you are a God of hockey and act as if I never watched a game in my life.

 

How frigging SILLY of me to POINT out that PERHAPS a backup goalie with a 5-13-3 record was PART of the reason we missed the playoffs. Man I really am such an idiot to think that? Nah, he played SOOOO well...that sizzling .900 sv percentage and 3.10GAA, that was ALL his teammates fault, that's right, of course!!!!!!!!!

 

Did you open up YOUR damn eyes and watch the backup tonight? Probably not, as you are too busy polishing Lalime's knob.

Who's to say that these guys are any better than our little confine on the Internet?

[thesportsbuff]

:blink:

When Miller went down we were in 8th place(tied with the Rags and Florida). Hardly a powerhouse. Carolina and the Pens weren't even in at that time. They played better...we didn't. Our big push was a four game win streak all against teams not even in the playoffs. Lalime/Miller is irrelevant. the team in front of them stunk.

 

nobody said we were a powerhouse. lalime/miller is NOT irrelevant. Miller is a better goaltender. I can confidently say that he would have won at least two or three (and thats at the VERY least) of the 15 that lalime lost. which, by the way, would have been enough to make playoffs.

 

Wow. Blaming Lalime has got to be the dumbest thing I've heard in a while. Against common opponents, Miller and Lalime have almost identical records. And Lalime played most of his games without Vanek. What's next, blaming the officiating? We only missed the playoffs by a few points. Maybe a couple of those calls that didn't go our way made the difference? Stupid officials.[/sarc]

 

oh boy just give it a rest.

 

do you watch the games or just read the stat sheets afterwards? Lalime is AWFUL. he can't control rebounds AT ALL and doesn't have the ability to make "the big save" that Miller does night in and night out. he's not a good goaltender. he's a mediocre backup that should not have played 24 games.

 

For what it's worth, Tellqvist probably would have done a better job, so you can take a small portion of the blame off of lalime and throw it on Lindy for starting lalime even as the disappointing performances stacked up.

 

Did you forget about the 05-06 season when Miller went down and this guy went on a phenomenal win streak?

 

um did you forget that was three years ago and we had briere/drury/dumont/grier/mckee, that just ASIDE From the point that Biron is (and even then would have been, if not for miller) a starting goalie in the NHL where Lalime has been a backup since just about that time?

 

 

 

nobody said we were some superstar team that would have won the cup if Miller stayed healthy, but you all know that Lalime isn't anywhere near the level of Miller. he IS the reason we didn't make playoffs.

[SwampD]

nobody said we were a powerhouse. lalime/miller is NOT irrelevant. Miller is a better goaltender. I can confidently say that he would have won at least two or three (and thats at the VERY least) of the 15 that lalime lost. which, by the way, would have been enough to make playoffs.

oh boy just give it a rest.

 

do you watch the games or just read the stat sheets afterwards? Lalime is AWFUL. he can't control rebounds AT ALL and doesn't have the ability to make "the big save" that Miller does night in and night out. he's not a good goaltender. he's a mediocre backup that should not have played 24 games.

 

For what it's worth, Tellqvist probably would have done a better job, so you can take a small portion of the blame off of lalime and throw it on Lindy for starting lalime even as the disappointing performances stacked up.

um did you forget that was three years ago and we had briere/drury/dumont/grier/mckee, that just ASIDE From the point that Biron is (and even then would have been, if not for miller) a starting goalie in the NHL where Lalime has been a backup since just about that time?

nobody said we were some superstar team that would have won the cup if Miller stayed healthy, but you all know that Lalime isn't anywhere near the level of Miller. he IS the reason we didn't make playoffs.

New Rule - On any team that gets shut out in a loss to the Islanders, the goalie will not be held responsible for said loss.

 

Addendum 1 - In that, or any other loss as well.

[darksabre]

You must have a serious crush on Lalime, and oh keep resorting to the personal attacks punk, it will get you far in life.

This board is a joke. Delete my account because I know realize what a complete waste of time it is arguing with people like you who act like you are a God of hockey and act as if I never watched a game in my life.

 

How frigging SILLY of me to POINT out that PERHAPS a backup goalie with a 5-13-3 record was PART of the reason we missed the playoffs. Man I really am such an idiot to think that? Nah, he played SOOOO well...that sizzling .900 sv percentage and 3.10GAA, that was ALL his teammates fault, that's right, of course!!!!!!!!!

 

Did you open up YOUR damn eyes and watch the backup tonight? Probably not, as you are too busy polishing Lalime's knob.

 

Of course he was part of the reason, I never said he wasn't you schlub. My issue is that you're hell bent on making him the whipping boy of this team's failures. Should this team have had someone else as a backup? Yes. Is Tellqvist a better backup? Most definitely. But when this team signed Lalime, they knew what they were getting themselves in to. We knew at the beginning of the season that Lalime had more potential to be a better backup than Thibault, with the equal possibility that he could also be as big of a disappointment. Most teams in the past have been reluctant but happy to part ways with Lalime; hell, he was boo'd out of Ottawa.

 

When you look at the backups over the last few seasons, I think it's easy to rank them as such: Ty Conklin=Biron>/=Lalime>Thibault

 

As someone else has said, Lalime and Marty have had similar numbers and Marty was blessed with a better team in front of him. Lalime and Marty were also better liked by the team than Thibault, who seemed to be less outgoing which most likely means less locker room presence.

 

We talk on this board a lot about wanting players who have heart and love the game, even if they may be less skilled. That is the kind of player we have in Lalime. And is also the kind of player we had in Biron. And I think Tellqvist is also that kind of player, and depending on Lalime's situation, would be a great backup to keep around next season if Lalime leaves. Because the advantage we gain with Tellqvist is that he is a goalie who has played against a stronger Western Conference which has likely left him with a better ability at his position as backup.

 

The prospect of the goaltending tandem of Miller and Tellqvist next season excites me. I think it would be better than having Lalime.

 

But there is no way I can fault the player of Lalime, who's life is the sport of hockey and his personality reflects that. The same as old man Teppo. You probably would like to blame this season on him too, right? Well I personally would like to thank both of them for having the heart to keep playing despite this team's mediocrity. It takes heart to continue playing for a team that, collectively, has none. If Lalime calls it quits after this season, well, then hopefully it is because he has no choice. But if some other team decides to give him a chance, there's no way you can blame him for that.

 

And yes, I am the God of Hockey, and you should leave. I am bound to reply with personal attacks when my legitimate posts are met with snarky comments. If you've got something to say, then say it. But I guess when you run out of arguments there isn't much left to do but respond with what you think are clever little quips. You'll probably type a bunch of little smilies and a one liner as a response to this, and then spend the next three hours touching yourself while looking in the mirror, thinking about how, "haha! I really showed him!" <_<