Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Sabres' one-third report card
5:25 AM | 
Posted by
Nick Mendola
(WGR 550) -- Unfortunately, 82 isn't divisible by three, so 27 games is as close to one-third of the way through the Sabres season as you can get. I'll try not to be skewed by last night's toddler-effort against the Devils, but we should have a discussion about our local hockey team.
If you'll allow me to editorialize, I love the actual game of hockey, and it leads me to be harder on teams and players than I would in another sport, say, professional football, where I have a team and a handful of players in the league I find alluring, but a league that makes me want to punch myself in the throat.
So here's the harsh truth: The Buffalo Sabres are a good hockey club that needs two things -- some tough love and another scorer.
SABRES FIRST-THIRD REPORT CARD -- PART I -- GOALTENDING -- GRADE: A-
-- Ryan Miller has been absolutely outstanding for the whale's share of his season workload, and while Whiner Line callers and revisionist historians will tell you that every time he plays a bad game, Lindy Ruff made the wrong call, the truth is that Patrick Lalime has been a disappointment. Miller has quite literally been an a-plus, but the back-up goaltending has been well short of acceptable.
Miller is first in goals against average (1.90) and save percentage (.935), second in shut-outs (3) and fifth in wins (16). He's had some remarkable performances that don't show up in the post-game box score, like Nov. 28's 5-1 win over Carolina. Miller's second period was about as good as it gets, as he stood on his head to keep the score at 1-0 before the Sabres turned it on against the lowly Canes for a five-goal third period. Let's face facts -- the score would've been 3-0 against a lesser goaltender and the sad truth is that the Sabres have been known to close up shop in games like that.
PART II -- DEFENSEMEN -- GRADE: B-
-- The boys on the blue line aren't going through a good span recently, but don't let that color your analysis of their first 27 games on the whole. They've been mostly good.
Three players have played in all 27 games -- Steve Montador, Tyler Myers and Henrik Tallinder. The talk before the season was that Tallinder spent the offseason getting his mind to a carefree point where his injury problems and struggles could stay in the past. Granted he's had plus-5 and plus-3 nights on his resume, but Tallinder is arguably back to where he was when he inked a long deal to stay in Buffalo -- playing sound, unnoticed defensive hockey.
A lot of that can be linked to Myers, the young giant. Myers has had issues with the puck lately, but that's going to happen with any rookie puck-mover. The reason he keeps handling the puck is that the Sabres need to grow the guy and let him work through his errors. His reach on defense and gut-instincts on offense are uncanny, and he's starting to grow into a physical role. It seems unlikely he'll ever be a Dion Phaneuf, but more a Jay Bouwmeester.
Montador has been a welcome addition to the mentality of this team, but his on-ice play has a handful of question marks. He's physical, and his presence in front of Miller is what the team missed since Jay McKee left town. Montador is also willing to fight, though I'm not sure he qualifies as a terrific brawler. His mistakes have escalated in the past few weeks, but all-in-all, a good signing.
It hasn't been a banner 2009 for Craig Rivet. The captain is having a tough campaign, with just one assist since Nov. 11. He's a minus-2 overall, and seems to be fighting the puck on the power play. He has just three points playing five-on-five.
It's shocking to see Chris Butler pull into the station at minus-7. The lanky blueliner's poor stats could be equated with his defensive partners, because I've liked his play for most of this season. He'll be a big part of the team's future on defense. Toni Lydman has only played in 13 games this year and his giveaways are the reason people have made him such a whipping boy. The folks who say he doesn't play physical enough are taking it too far, as Lydman sometimes takes himself out of position to land a hash-mark hit. Andrej Sekera has had an improved 2009, but is far from being the Brian Campbell replacement some pundits pegged him to be. Nathan Paetsch has only played seven games, and is solid in the locker room.
PART III - OFFENSE - GRADE: C
-- Two areas plague this offense, and one isn't their fault. Let's start with what is -- inconsistent effort, something that is quick to lose you respect amongst Buffalo fans. The forwards have a bevy of members who you'll know inside of their first shift whether you like their chances to score this year.
The main protagonists in my mind -- in terms of simple effort -- are Tim Connolly and Clarke MacArthur. Connolly has registered 13 of his 21 points in five games. He has one goal and seven assists in his other 22 contests. Yes, I realize I'm taking all his multi-point games away from him, but I feel it's a valid point. Take away his four-point game in Philly, and he has just two points, both helpers, since Nov. 11. Not-so-good. MacArthur is an enigma, but he's earned some respect this year. A tiger can't change its stripes over night, and MacArthur's effort has been leaps and bounds above the moribund play we saw in his first two years. Hopefully he puts it all together.
With Derek Roy, it doesn't seem to be effort, it's commitment and smarts in his own end. Roy has the exact same numbers as Connolly so far, but chips in far more consistently. Roy needs to get away from the fancy pass, but you wonder at what point he becomes a guy who would fly higher in a system that gives him a pass on defensive zone effort, as Ruff did with Daniel Briere.
Of course, there's Thomas Vanek, who actually deserves you yelling "shoot" at him. Vanek has just 61 shots on goal, which is the main reason has has more assists (10) than goals (8) for the first time in his career. Both he and Jason Pominville get the "lazy" rap for lack of production, but it's less warranted than their teammates to be sure. Pominville is such a tough nut to crack. He gives you 100 percent effort, game-in and game-out, and he hasn't missed a game since the 2005-06 campaign. It's just that his touch is lost somewhere in limbo. He works himself into position to get many cracks at garbage goals and empty nets, only to fire it wide. At some point, I expect it to turn around. You don't spend your entire life scoring only to forget how to shoot.
Drew Stafford will do some things that amaze you, but still hasn't made that "leap" everyone expects from a highly-touted first-round pick. He's on pace for a career-high in goals, and there isn't much better than watching him successfully bull his way through a defenseman to the net with the puck. He's become much more adept at puckhandling in the zone, with the addition of a single-man cycle in the corners that is hockey beauty to watch. Jochen Hecht rounds out the top-six forward and has had a minor renaissance this year with a renewed dedication to tossing the puck on net from any angle. He has 75 shots this year, second to Pominville.
The team's most valuable forwards, if you will, are five of the "bottom six." Paul Gaustad, Mike Grier, Matt Ellis, Patrick Kaleta and Tim Kennedy have been out-performing expectations.
Gaustad and Grier are this team's heart, without question. Without Grier, this team is 2-3-1. Without Gaustad, they are just a game above .500. You wonder who else is on that bench without a suit that's making noise about hustle and effort. Gaustad's .146 shooting percentage is the best on the team, excepting Tyler Ennis' one goal on four shots, while Grier has put the term "intangibles" back in this line-up's vocabulary.
Kennedy's growth has astounded me, quite literally. He's got this chip on his shoulder the size of a boulder, and he'll finish his check against just about anyone. There's a reason his teeth look like an unfinished jigsaw puzzle, and the guy is making his hometown proud. I still wish Kaleta would fight more and better, but his role on the team is indispensable. He does his job without crossing into Daniel "Russell Hammond" Carcillo territory. Keep in mind, I wanted Carcillo on this team while he was in Phoenix, so I probably still do in my heart of hockey hearts. Anything you get from Ellis is a bonus and you've been getting a lot of good puck pressure. Adam Mair has had a lot of trouble getting going this year. That probably happens when the team puts you on waivers and you end up staying put. Awwww-kward.
PART III - FRONT OFFICE - GRADE: TBA
-- I'm not part of the small-but-fierce "fire Lindy Ruff" brigade, so you can commence writing your emails about how one of the league's most-respected coaches is a bum and not enough people realize it. In fact, I think if there are players who won't buy into a "work hard" approach, I probably don't want them on my team.
I am in a really tumultuous relationship with Darcy Regier, however. This team needs another scoring forward, and they need it yesterday. This isn't about getting better at the deadline, or before the Olympics. It's about a hellish December schedule that requires Ruff play a goaltender not named Miller several times. I've heard the names Alexander Frolov and Ray Whitney. Fine. Grab an expiring contract, give up a bit player, a line-up filler and a third-rounder and call it a day. If the Sabres miss the playoffs this year -- which they shouldn't -- it will be because this team lacks a lamp-lighter. If you're waiting for Pominville to come around, don't be silly. He probably will, and wouldn't you like to have him and another guy.
As a Whiner Line caller said, this team isn't the 1984 Oilers, and another goal scorer wouldn't give this team an embarrassment of riches. It would just give them some riches.
OVERALL GRADE: B
I predicted the Sabres to come in sixth place. They're looking a little better than that. So, if they're out-performing my expectations -- with apologies to the "Their season will be done by New Year's Day" whackos -- I've gotta go above-average. Let's talk again after game No. 55.
Email: nick@wgr550.com
If you'll allow me to editorialize, I love the actual game of hockey, and it leads me to be harder on teams and players than I would in another sport, say, professional football, where I have a team and a handful of players in the league I find alluring, but a league that makes me want to punch myself in the throat.
So here's the harsh truth: The Buffalo Sabres are a good hockey club that needs two things -- some tough love and another scorer.
SABRES FIRST-THIRD REPORT CARD -- PART I -- GOALTENDING -- GRADE: A-
-- Ryan Miller has been absolutely outstanding for the whale's share of his season workload, and while Whiner Line callers and revisionist historians will tell you that every time he plays a bad game, Lindy Ruff made the wrong call, the truth is that Patrick Lalime has been a disappointment. Miller has quite literally been an a-plus, but the back-up goaltending has been well short of acceptable.
Miller is first in goals against average (1.90) and save percentage (.935), second in shut-outs (3) and fifth in wins (16). He's had some remarkable performances that don't show up in the post-game box score, like Nov. 28's 5-1 win over Carolina. Miller's second period was about as good as it gets, as he stood on his head to keep the score at 1-0 before the Sabres turned it on against the lowly Canes for a five-goal third period. Let's face facts -- the score would've been 3-0 against a lesser goaltender and the sad truth is that the Sabres have been known to close up shop in games like that.
PART II -- DEFENSEMEN -- GRADE: B-
-- The boys on the blue line aren't going through a good span recently, but don't let that color your analysis of their first 27 games on the whole. They've been mostly good.
Three players have played in all 27 games -- Steve Montador, Tyler Myers and Henrik Tallinder. The talk before the season was that Tallinder spent the offseason getting his mind to a carefree point where his injury problems and struggles could stay in the past. Granted he's had plus-5 and plus-3 nights on his resume, but Tallinder is arguably back to where he was when he inked a long deal to stay in Buffalo -- playing sound, unnoticed defensive hockey.
A lot of that can be linked to Myers, the young giant. Myers has had issues with the puck lately, but that's going to happen with any rookie puck-mover. The reason he keeps handling the puck is that the Sabres need to grow the guy and let him work through his errors. His reach on defense and gut-instincts on offense are uncanny, and he's starting to grow into a physical role. It seems unlikely he'll ever be a Dion Phaneuf, but more a Jay Bouwmeester.
Montador has been a welcome addition to the mentality of this team, but his on-ice play has a handful of question marks. He's physical, and his presence in front of Miller is what the team missed since Jay McKee left town. Montador is also willing to fight, though I'm not sure he qualifies as a terrific brawler. His mistakes have escalated in the past few weeks, but all-in-all, a good signing.
It hasn't been a banner 2009 for Craig Rivet. The captain is having a tough campaign, with just one assist since Nov. 11. He's a minus-2 overall, and seems to be fighting the puck on the power play. He has just three points playing five-on-five.
It's shocking to see Chris Butler pull into the station at minus-7. The lanky blueliner's poor stats could be equated with his defensive partners, because I've liked his play for most of this season. He'll be a big part of the team's future on defense. Toni Lydman has only played in 13 games this year and his giveaways are the reason people have made him such a whipping boy. The folks who say he doesn't play physical enough are taking it too far, as Lydman sometimes takes himself out of position to land a hash-mark hit. Andrej Sekera has had an improved 2009, but is far from being the Brian Campbell replacement some pundits pegged him to be. Nathan Paetsch has only played seven games, and is solid in the locker room.
PART III - OFFENSE - GRADE: C
-- Two areas plague this offense, and one isn't their fault. Let's start with what is -- inconsistent effort, something that is quick to lose you respect amongst Buffalo fans. The forwards have a bevy of members who you'll know inside of their first shift whether you like their chances to score this year.
The main protagonists in my mind -- in terms of simple effort -- are Tim Connolly and Clarke MacArthur. Connolly has registered 13 of his 21 points in five games. He has one goal and seven assists in his other 22 contests. Yes, I realize I'm taking all his multi-point games away from him, but I feel it's a valid point. Take away his four-point game in Philly, and he has just two points, both helpers, since Nov. 11. Not-so-good. MacArthur is an enigma, but he's earned some respect this year. A tiger can't change its stripes over night, and MacArthur's effort has been leaps and bounds above the moribund play we saw in his first two years. Hopefully he puts it all together.
With Derek Roy, it doesn't seem to be effort, it's commitment and smarts in his own end. Roy has the exact same numbers as Connolly so far, but chips in far more consistently. Roy needs to get away from the fancy pass, but you wonder at what point he becomes a guy who would fly higher in a system that gives him a pass on defensive zone effort, as Ruff did with Daniel Briere.
Of course, there's Thomas Vanek, who actually deserves you yelling "shoot" at him. Vanek has just 61 shots on goal, which is the main reason has has more assists (10) than goals (8) for the first time in his career. Both he and Jason Pominville get the "lazy" rap for lack of production, but it's less warranted than their teammates to be sure. Pominville is such a tough nut to crack. He gives you 100 percent effort, game-in and game-out, and he hasn't missed a game since the 2005-06 campaign. It's just that his touch is lost somewhere in limbo. He works himself into position to get many cracks at garbage goals and empty nets, only to fire it wide. At some point, I expect it to turn around. You don't spend your entire life scoring only to forget how to shoot.
Drew Stafford will do some things that amaze you, but still hasn't made that "leap" everyone expects from a highly-touted first-round pick. He's on pace for a career-high in goals, and there isn't much better than watching him successfully bull his way through a defenseman to the net with the puck. He's become much more adept at puckhandling in the zone, with the addition of a single-man cycle in the corners that is hockey beauty to watch. Jochen Hecht rounds out the top-six forward and has had a minor renaissance this year with a renewed dedication to tossing the puck on net from any angle. He has 75 shots this year, second to Pominville.
The team's most valuable forwards, if you will, are five of the "bottom six." Paul Gaustad, Mike Grier, Matt Ellis, Patrick Kaleta and Tim Kennedy have been out-performing expectations.
Gaustad and Grier are this team's heart, without question. Without Grier, this team is 2-3-1. Without Gaustad, they are just a game above .500. You wonder who else is on that bench without a suit that's making noise about hustle and effort. Gaustad's .146 shooting percentage is the best on the team, excepting Tyler Ennis' one goal on four shots, while Grier has put the term "intangibles" back in this line-up's vocabulary.
Kennedy's growth has astounded me, quite literally. He's got this chip on his shoulder the size of a boulder, and he'll finish his check against just about anyone. There's a reason his teeth look like an unfinished jigsaw puzzle, and the guy is making his hometown proud. I still wish Kaleta would fight more and better, but his role on the team is indispensable. He does his job without crossing into Daniel "Russell Hammond" Carcillo territory. Keep in mind, I wanted Carcillo on this team while he was in Phoenix, so I probably still do in my heart of hockey hearts. Anything you get from Ellis is a bonus and you've been getting a lot of good puck pressure. Adam Mair has had a lot of trouble getting going this year. That probably happens when the team puts you on waivers and you end up staying put. Awwww-kward.
PART III - FRONT OFFICE - GRADE: TBA
-- I'm not part of the small-but-fierce "fire Lindy Ruff" brigade, so you can commence writing your emails about how one of the league's most-respected coaches is a bum and not enough people realize it. In fact, I think if there are players who won't buy into a "work hard" approach, I probably don't want them on my team.
I am in a really tumultuous relationship with Darcy Regier, however. This team needs another scoring forward, and they need it yesterday. This isn't about getting better at the deadline, or before the Olympics. It's about a hellish December schedule that requires Ruff play a goaltender not named Miller several times. I've heard the names Alexander Frolov and Ray Whitney. Fine. Grab an expiring contract, give up a bit player, a line-up filler and a third-rounder and call it a day. If the Sabres miss the playoffs this year -- which they shouldn't -- it will be because this team lacks a lamp-lighter. If you're waiting for Pominville to come around, don't be silly. He probably will, and wouldn't you like to have him and another guy.
As a Whiner Line caller said, this team isn't the 1984 Oilers, and another goal scorer wouldn't give this team an embarrassment of riches. It would just give them some riches.
OVERALL GRADE: B
I predicted the Sabres to come in sixth place. They're looking a little better than that. So, if they're out-performing my expectations -- with apologies to the "Their season will be done by New Year's Day" whackos -- I've gotta go above-average. Let's talk again after game No. 55.
Email: nick@wgr550.com
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