Our friend Bucky

Our friend Bucky Gleason at The Buffalo News (TBN) is back to his old tricks again.  It's amazing that the Buffalo News uses someone who knows nothing about hockey to write a feature called "Inside the NHL".  That's kind of ironic isn't it?  Anyway Bucky proved what most of us already know, that he is anti-Sabres.  He starts by breaking down six problems with the Buffalo Sabres.

1. Underachieving stars. Fair or not,  Thomas Vanek  is getting paid $10 million this season. He had five points, same as fourth-liner  Daniel Paille,  and 17 shots on goal entering the weekend.  Maxim Afinogenov  scored one goal for Buffalo, matching Leafs defenseman  Bryan McCabe. Afinogenov, whose stat line read 0-0-0 seven times in the first eight games, is one of the most overrated players in the league.

I'm not going to try to defend the players he is criticizing because everyone has their own opinion but I've put in bold the areas to pay attention to.  How can you preface the statement "Afinogenov is one of the most overrated players in the league by saying he is an underachieving star.  Isn't that contradicting yourself?  

4. Little leadership. Buffalo loves a good blowout. Its first three wins were by a combined score of 18-7. Get the Sabres down a goal or two, and they disappear. It's a sign they lack strong leaders who are comfortable under duress. It could define their season either way.  Jochen Hecht  is a solid two-way player, but is he a guy who commands respect in the dressing room?

I'm sure this was written prior to the Sabres beating Florida and Tampa Bay over the weekend but a little editing would have been a good idea since on Friday and Saturday the Sabres came from behind to win both games.  

Heather B. over at Top Shelf had something to say about this article as well.  She talks about Bucky questioning Jochen Hecht.

Is Jochen Hecht someone who commands respect in the dressubg room? I don't know, why don't we ask the teammates who voted him captain?

Ha you nailed that one Heather...If Bucky Gleason would think before he writes he may actually be able to put a real thought on paper.

The part of this that really got me though was when he talks about the Rangers.  It is apparent that Bucky really has it out for the Sabres and will never say anything bad about Chris Drury after this comment.

Snicker while you can at the New York Rangers, who had just 15 goals in nine games going into the weekend and suffered back-to-back 1-0 losses last week. Unlike the Sabres, their first 10 games were not indicative of trouble.

Drury, Jaromir Jagr and Brendan Shanahan had just one goal apiece while newcomer Scott Gomez had two. They're veterans who will come around. Shanahan led NHL forwards with 54 shots on goal going into the weekend. The Rangers were playing terrific defense, allowing a league-best 1.78 goals per game through their first nine contests.

Are you kidding me?  Why don't you just move to New York and cover the Rangers because you are as much of a Rangers homer as Larry Brooks.  If the two of you work together you may be able to pull some good thoughts together and come up with a rational story...on second thought probably not.