LabattBlue Posted September 21, 2009 Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 Two questions... 1. WIll Lindy once again refuse to use his backup goalie on a regular basis(especially down the stretch)? 2. Will Darcy grow some balls and find an alternative(Enroth should stay in Portland) if Lalime shits the bed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2ForTripping Posted September 21, 2009 Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 Two questions... 1. WIll Lindy once again refuse to use his backup goalie on a regular basis(especially down the stretch)? 2. Will Darcy grow some balls and find an alternative(Enroth should stay in Portland) if Lalime shits the bed? Two Answers... 1. Of course he will 2. Of course he won't Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PASabreFan Posted September 21, 2009 Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 Hopefully he'll get it right this time. Miller could help by announcing he would rather focus on making the playoffs than playing in the Olympics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frisky Posted September 21, 2009 Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 I"m not too confident that it will be different than last year. I read that Lalime had hip surgery on both hips and a sports hernia. Now I've also read it was just one hip as well which is bad enough. Those are tough to rebound from for goalies. I think Darcy should go buy a shooter tutor as the back-up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inkman Posted September 21, 2009 Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 1. WIll Lindy once again refuse to use his backup goalie on a regular basis(especially down the stretch)? My biggest complaint about Lindy has always been his handling of the back-up goalie. The only time it worked out for him is when Biron and Miller were battling it out and played almost evenly. Otherwise it will be: Play Miller often Play Miller in crucial situations Lose back-up due to not playing Play Miller because back-up can't win games Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rickshaw Posted September 21, 2009 Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 If the team wants to make the playoffs this year, they need to use both goalies. The backup has to get a quarter of the games, plain and simple. As good as Miller is, he is not the type that can play more than 60 games. He breaks down, mentally more-so, than physically. Early on in the season Ruff must get Lalime games and build on them, win or lose. They should already have his starts charted imo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eleven Posted September 21, 2009 Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 If the team wants to make the playoffs this year, they need to use both goalies. The backup has to get a quarter of the games, plain and simple. As good as Miller is, he is not the type that can play more than 60 games. He breaks down, mentally more-so, than physically. Early on in the season Ruff must get Lalime games and build on them, win or lose. They should already have his starts charted imo. Said it last year, and I'll say it again: Lalime should start every fourth game, regardless of who the Sabres are playing. Or at least, Ruff should divide the season into twenty groups of four consecutive games, pick which one of each four Lalime will start, and stick with that, if he needs more flexibility. But because Ruff leans toward playing Miller too much when he makes the decision game-by-game, he needs a plan now that he will stick to later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rickshaw Posted September 21, 2009 Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 Here are the first 2 months of the season. My choices for goalie. DATE VISITOR HOME SCORE Sat Oct 3, 2009 Canadiens Sabres MILLER Thu Oct 8, 2009 Coyotes Sabres LALIME Sat Oct 10, 2009 Sabres Predators MILLER Tue Oct 13, 2009 Red Wings Sabres MILLER Fri Oct 16, 2009 Islanders Sabres LALIME Sat Oct 17, 2009 Thrashers Sabres MILLER Wed Oct 21, 2009 Sabres Panthers MILLER Sat Oct 24, 2009 Sabres Lightning LALIME Wed Oct 28, 2009 Sabres Devils MILLER Fri Oct 30, 2009 Maple Leafs Sabres MILLER Sat Oct 31, 2009 Sabres Islanders LALIME November 2009 DATE VISITOR HOME SCORE Wed Nov 4, 2009 Islanders Sabres MILLER Fri Nov 6, 2009 Flyers Sabres MILLER Sat Nov 7, 2009 Sabres Bruins MILLER Wed Nov 11, 2009 Oilers Sabres LALIME Fri Nov 13, 2009 Flames Sabres MILLER Sat Nov 14, 2009 Sabres Flyers LALIME Wed Nov 18, 2009 Panthers Sabres MILLER Fri Nov 20, 2009 Bruins Sabres MILLER Sat Nov 21, 2009 Sabres Senators LALIME Wed Nov 25, 2009 Sabres Capitals MILLER Fri Nov 27, 2009 Sabres Flyers MILLER Sat Nov 28, 2009 Hurricanes Sabres LALIME Mon Nov 30, 2009 Sabres Maple Leafs MILLER Miller gets 16 starts, Lalime 8 Lalime gets enough games to not get rusty and ruin his season. 58 games remain from this point on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamRoller72 Posted September 21, 2009 Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 Here are the first 2 months of the season. My choices for goalie. Miller gets 16 starts, Lalime 8 Lalime gets enough games to not get rusty and ruin his season. 58 games remain from this point on. I love the concept, but the reality is Lalime would lose 4-6 of those games. The Sabres will be in a dog fight all season for the 6th to 8th spot in the Eastern Conference. They can't afford to sit Miller every other game. I'm not sure if Lalime could handle that workload physically either....double hip surgery is no joke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PASabreFan Posted September 21, 2009 Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 rickshaw, your concept seems to be to give Lalime the "easy" games. Maybe that's not the right approach. I almost got the feeling the first 10 games last year that Miller and Lalime could be a one-two punch. Lalime needs to play more, and in tough spots too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carpandean Posted September 21, 2009 Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 I love the concept, but the reality is Lalime would lose 4-6 of those games. The Sabres will be in a dog fight all season for the 6th to 8th spot in the Eastern Conference. They can't afford to sit Miller every other game. Technically, that's every third game, not every other. Every other would be 12 for Miller, 12 for Lalime. Personally, I'll be content if Miller gets 18 and Lalime gets 6, as long as it is done like that on a consistent basis. A nice 3:1 ratio that would give Lalime 20+ starts and Miller <60 going into the playoffs. The real question is whether the team will show up and play when Lalime is between the pipes. Not that Lalime didn't lose a couple of games last year on his own - almost any backup will - but he certainly wasn't as bad as his 5-13-3 record. With his play, they should have gone at least 8-10-3, which would have put them in the playoffs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wonderbread Posted September 21, 2009 Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 Great stuff here fellas. I'd like to see Miller get 2/3's of the starts and Lalime get the other 1/3. However we all know Ruff will mess up and start Miller for 20 games straight to open the season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shrader Posted September 21, 2009 Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 Great stuff here fellas. I'd like to see Miller get 2/3's of the starts and Lalime get the other 1/3. However we all know Ruff will mess up and start Miller for 20 games straight to open the season. No, he usually does that later in the season. The backup actually gets a start or two early in the season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rickshaw Posted September 21, 2009 Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 rickshaw, your concept seems to be to give Lalime the "easy" games. Maybe that's not the right approach. I almost got the feeling the first 10 games last year that Miller and Lalime could be a one-two punch. Lalime needs to play more, and in tough spots too. We all know there are no easy games anymore. But I looked back and I gave Lalime starts against Ottawa (who owns us) Philly, and Carolina. Basically, aside from 2 games in 3 days, and one 11 day break, I have Lalime playing every 7 or 8 days. I don't see it benefiting anyone if Lalime doesn't start for 2 weeks. It could be tweaked upon further review, but to start the year having Lalime play one of 3 is, to me, a good idea. That way we'll know if he's up to the task or not. If not, make a change because come February it gets really tight for games being bunched together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wjag Posted September 21, 2009 Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 Okay prepare to shoot the messenger.. Isn't this whole topic a red herring? If you have a blue chip goal tender, you play him as many games as possible. If you have two quality goal tenders, you trade one. If you don't have a quality goal tender, you play the hot hand for as long as its hot. I just don't know too many teams that are in a position to platoon the goalies effectively. Now admittedly, I only watch the Sabres and whomever is playing them on a given night. So it may be that there are some teams out there that have a blue chip goal tender and a decent platoon (Detroit, others?) but realistically, isn't it the case most teams ride one guy and sweat out the other one's starts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skibum Posted September 21, 2009 Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 I just hope Lalime plays like he did before his hip problem flared up. You have to wonder how well a 35 year old dude can recover from hip surgery, especially since goaltending is such a hip-intensive job. I think ultimately Lalime's playing time will depend on the team's W-L record. The bigger the cushion in the points standings, the more Lindy will feel comfortable playing Lalime. That seems to be the formula. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eleven Posted September 21, 2009 Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 Okay prepare to shoot the messenger.. Isn't this whole topic a red herring? If you have a blue chip goal tender, you play him as many games as possible. If you have two quality goal tenders, you trade one. If you don't have a quality goal tender, you play the hot hand for as long as its hot. I just don't know too many teams that are in a position to platoon the goalies effectively. Now admittedly, I only watch the Sabres and whomever is playing them on a given night. So it may be that there are some teams out there that have a blue chip goal tender and a decent platoon (Detroit, others?) but realistically, isn't it the case most teams ride one guy and sweat out the other one's starts? Problem is, Lindy seems to want to play Miller close to 70 games a year, if not more, and Miller doesn't handle that heavy load well. (Very few goalies do.) 73 games in 2007-08 was absurd. 59 last year, with the injury, and when he went down, the Sabres had a rusty backup. His best years were spent splitting time with Biron or taking 3/4 of the games--and yes, I know the teams in front of him were better then, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deluca67 Posted September 22, 2009 Report Share Posted September 22, 2009 Lindy Ruff is not a stupid man. He plays Miller every chance he gets because he is this teams only chance to win. He knows the more you play Lalime the less chance he has at making the playoffs. Playing the backup for 20-25 games on paper sounds like a good idea. It's a good idea if you have a goaltender capable of playing 20-25 games backing-up your starting. Lalime is another of Regier's huge failures. What should be yet another nail in the coffin containing his future as Sabres GM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nfreeman Posted September 22, 2009 Report Share Posted September 22, 2009 Lindy Ruff is not a stupid man. He plays Miller every chance he gets because he is this teams only chance to win. He knows the more you play Lalime the less chance he has at making the playoffs. Playing the backup for 20-25 games on paper sounds like a good idea. It's a good idea if you have a goaltender capable of playing 20-25 games backing-up your starting. Lalime is another of Regier's huge failures. What should be yet another nail in the coffin containing his future as Sabres GM. ...not to beat a dead horse or anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deluca67 Posted September 22, 2009 Report Share Posted September 22, 2009 ...not to beat a dead horse or anything. The Sabres would have a better chance at the playoffs starting the dead horse in goal for 20-25 games than they would Lalime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wjag Posted September 22, 2009 Report Share Posted September 22, 2009 The Sabres would have a better chance at the playoffs starting the dead horse in goal for 20-25 games than they would Lalime. Not true. Lalime is way better than a dead horse. A dead horse can't go side-to-side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bottlecap Posted September 22, 2009 Report Share Posted September 22, 2009 Ruff has blew the backup goaltending ever since he started coaching. At first, Hasek hid his obvious judgement problems but when Hasek left, it exposed Lindy as someone who needs to ride one goalie. Meanwhile Regier has been getting someone elses' rejects as the Sabres backups and they haven't been working. About Ruff: When you're a hammer, all problems look like a nail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deluca67 Posted September 22, 2009 Report Share Posted September 22, 2009 Not true. Lalime is way better than a dead horse. A dead horse can't go side-to-side. Wouldn't need to go side to side. You would just lay the horse across the crease taking away the bottom of the net. Which is more net than Lalime takes away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wonderbread Posted September 22, 2009 Report Share Posted September 22, 2009 Ruff has blew the backup goaltending ever since he started coaching. At first, Hasek hid his obvious judgement problems but when Hasek left, it exposed Lindy as someone who needs to ride one goalie. Meanwhile Regier has been getting someone elses' rejects as the Sabres backups and they haven't been working. About Ruff: When you're a hammer, all problems look like a nail. Bittersweet Motel? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Two or less Posted September 22, 2009 Report Share Posted September 22, 2009 The Sabres would have a better chance at the playoffs starting the dead horse in goal for 20-25 games than they would Lalime. Kevin Sylvester disagrees... http://sabres.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=499367&navid=DL|BUF|home Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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