Spacek Leaves for Montreal

by David Oleksy on Jul 1, 2009 8:34 PM EDT

After spending last weekend in Montreal I can honestly say that it is a nice city. It is even nicer when you are earning $3.85/season for the next three years. Jaroslav Spacek will call Montreal home for the next three years as a member of the Montreal Canadiens.

Darcy Regier stated that they knew they were going to be without the services of Spacek because of the term of the contract. Spacek was looking for a longer term contract and the Sabres were not willing to go beyond two years for Spacek.

Jaroslav Spacek

Buffalo Sabres

Height: 5-11

Weight: 204

Born: Feb 11, 1974

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2008 - Jaroslav Spacek	80	8	37	45	2	38	4	0	0	0	130	6.2

The Sabres are going to miss Spacek at both ends of the ice. He was the Sabres best defenseman last season but they were unwilling to go beyond one year. The Sabres have a plethora of young talented defenders and they expect some of those players to contribute in the next season or two.

The Sabres signed Steve Montador to replace Spacek but they are different players. Montador is a good defensive player that plays a physical style but he doesn't have the offensive skill that Spacek has. Buffalo will probably try to bring in another player that can fill the offensive void that was left with the Spacek departure but they may not come for a couple of days.

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going cheap

once again ownership has gone cheap.signing montador to replace spacek, gimme a break. spacek was our best offensive “d” and now we get "another stay at home “d”. Well now its up to lindy to field our best 5 on the pp. All 5 have to be forwards. At least we can put 4 “d” on the pk

by buffslobob on Jul 1, 2009 9:03 PM EDT reply actions

Is Spacek really worth the kind of money that Montreal threw at him? I don’t think he is and really don’t think he will be in three years. I can’t wait till the Sabres play the Habs and Spacek is on their blue line. Vanek and Roy will pick Spacek apart on the blue line.

He is a good player but not worth anywhere near the money the Habs threw his way.

D.O.
www.diebytheblade.com - An SB nation destination for Sabres fans everywhere

by David Oleksy on Jul 1, 2009 9:09 PM EDT up reply actions

Obviously, the signing of any defenseman was going to be the sign that Spacek was out the door. That being said, he is a good player and should fit well with the Canadiens but I won’t miss his services all that much.

Die By The Blade - An SB nation destination for Sabres fans everywhere

by Zachary Zielonka on Jul 1, 2009 9:49 PM EDT up reply actions

I agree completely. Montreal will regret that contract very soon. Spacek was/is a nice player, but he’s old, and not worth that money.

It still baffles me that some people call this ownership cheap. I can agree with some off of the ice concerns, but certainly not the on ice moves. If you are a small market with limited revenue, and you push to the cap limit year after year, how are you cheap?

Assuming Sekera is retained, are they still going to pursue another defenseman?

by krytime on Jul 1, 2009 10:02 PM EDT up reply actions

They may

Darcy mentioned on WGR this afternoon that he would like to add a puck-moving defenseman. It could take some time before the Sabres next move because Darcy wants to make some trades first. The problem is that when it comes to trades…it takes two to tango.

D.O.
www.diebytheblade.com - An SB nation destination for Sabres fans everywhere

by David Oleksy on Jul 1, 2009 10:37 PM EDT up reply actions

Who is out there as a puck moving defensemen? Off the top of my head, I have nothing…

I’m kind of surprised how small some of the FA deals were today. It makes me think the players as a whole realize salaries will be going down somewhat. Which also makes me think Darcy will have a heck of a time shedding salary to make changes.

by krytime on Jul 1, 2009 11:26 PM EDT up reply actions