Down the stretch...

by bflo on Mar 4, 2010 10:23 AM EST

Well I thought that the Olympic break was everything that his team needed. Big guns (Vanek, Roy, Connolly, Pominville) all had over 2 weeks of rest. This was their time to relax, and find their game again. Well two games back from the break and the same old stuff is happening. And last night during the Sabres - Caps game I had a real tough time watching this team. Outshot almost 2-1, again... And when Miller was making saves to keep us in the game, again... we started to hang our heads?! I saw plenty of times during stoppage in play where they panned the bench and heads were down, same on the ice. They look like they just dont care. Millers post-game interview spoke 100% of what Im trying to say. Hes pissed too, and you can tell. Wouldnt you? Giving up 2 goals, on 39 shots to the Caps. Stopping OV cold point blank a few times...

Which brings me to this point. POINT BLANK CHANCES!!!! We had at least 5 last night. Ellis shot 4 feet wide on a half empty net. Myers shot one of the D-mans leg (who had no stick) at a half empty net. Pominvile, my God... does he ever get a shot to go in anymore? The whole thing this entire season has been Miller is amazing but where the O?? Which is why I changed my signature to read what someone in the game thread posted... So thank you for my new sig "Jsz"

"Its always Miller Time
Whens it gonna be Sabres-Offense Time?"
- by Jsz on Mar 3, 2010 6:25 PM PST

We need goal scorers... So these are my new line combos to try and spark that...

Vanek - Connolly - Stafford
Torres - Roy - Pominville
Ennis - Gerbe - Grier
Hecht - Gaustad - Kaleta

     Myers - Tallinder
     Sekera - Lydman
        Rivet - Butler

             Miller
            Lalime

edit: With Gaustad out then maybe bring up McCormick? That would be nice to have him get up here before the playoffs.

With Kennedy and Montador as the scratches. Let Mair try and clear waviers again, dont care at this point if he does or not. He brings NOTHING to this team IMO. "Mairs office" is cute, but Im not looking for cute. I want to win. I want Buffalo to win. I want all of you guys to win.

I know with these lineups Hecht loses some playing time... But I think he can twilight with the top 3 lines and fill in certain shifts or whatever, plus the PK.

Im sick of D-men playing on the wing also. Im not sure if I mentioned this above... but it needs to be re-iterated if I hadn't.

What do you guys think? And if this is used a place to rant, thats fine with me too. I didnt want to take any stories that DO and the boys have written and turn it into a bitch-fest. So I made this one for that lol.

This is a fanpost written by a member of the community, it doesn't necessarily express the views or opinions of Die by the Blade

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You made me change my sig too, now.

Not even the Toronto Maple Leafs could kill my optimism

Free Tyler Ennis!

by Ubiquitous on Mar 4, 2010 11:40 AM EST reply actions

Well, minor victory for me today. I correctly picked Torres linemates. Yay lol. Now if the other 3 lines fall into place then chances are Lindy reads DBTB… but which one of us is he?? Haha.

"Its always Miller Time
Whens it gonna be Sabres-Offense Time?"
- by Jsz on Mar 3, 2010 6:25 PM PST

by bflo on Mar 4, 2010 4:50 PM EST via mobile reply actions

At this point I really don’t think it matters who is on what line with who…bc at the end of the day all the lines are essentially the same and I love the new sig by the way that is awesome…wish I would have thought of that…

Where else would you rather be than right here right now - Marv Levy

by ajred12 on Mar 4, 2010 5:53 PM EST reply actions

Haha yeah when he (Im guessing) typed that, I thought it had to be my sig, I find myself saying it more often the last 20 games or so.

Heres to the playoff push!!

"Its always Miller Time
Whens it gonna be Sabres-Offense Time?"
- by Jsz on Mar 3, 2010 6:25 PM PST

by bflo on Mar 4, 2010 10:32 PM EST via mobile up reply actions

Ranting can be healthy

I, too, was thinking that the break would give some of our non-Olympians a chance to get their heads/bodies right. Looks like we’re still waiting on that, in most cases.

I’m not one of these alarmist, “Fire Lindy/Darcy, trade players x, y, and z” types, but something needs to be done here. Whether it’s a benching, shuffling the lines, calling up some guys from Portland… something. A lot of our guys just look listless out there.

As far as lines go, that Hecht-Connolly-Pominville line was looking fantastic back in December/January, but has clearly cooled off since TC’s point streak ended (funny how that works). Speaking of streaks, we could REALLY use one of Vanek’s trademark semi-annual hot streaks right about now.

As someone noted in an earlier post, Myers looked piss-poor on Tuesday, but seemed to bounce back last night. Glad to see Kaleta return to the mix; too bad Goose took his place pretty much immediately.

On the plus side, I am pretty satisfied with our trade deadline moves. I’m looking forward to seeing what Torres will do for us, both as a roughhouser and as our “top goal scorer.” I always liked Paetsch, but he was obviously expendable. And I know you were a MacArthur fan, but I don’t think his trade really came as a surprise to anyone.

Anyways.. we’ll see what happens. A lot can happen in 20 games.

"Few of us have chosen our clubs, they have simply been presented to us; and so as they slip from the Second Division to the Third, or sell their best players, or buy players who you know can't play, . . . we simply curse, go home, worry for a fortnight and then come back to suffer all over again." Nick Hornby, "Fever Pitch"

by kramertoneman on Mar 4, 2010 5:55 PM EST reply actions

Haha yeah DO mention the possability of Mac getting traded so I figured it could happen.

Its a shame Ennis is banged up right now, same with Gerbe because I think they could have been that shakeup we needed.

And I as well am looking forward to seeing Torres play. He seems like that badass,
Kaleta type, just more scoring.

Im ready for tomorrow. I hope we take it to Philly!

"Its always Miller Time
Whens it gonna be Sabres-Offense Time?"
- by Jsz on Mar 3, 2010 6:25 PM PST

by bflo on Mar 4, 2010 10:29 PM EST via mobile up reply actions

if your avarege your avarege

Buffalo is a good team..good…but how many times in a season can you hear the same thing from your players, “We gotta be better” This team needs a center that can distribute the puck like drury and briere and to be affective. It opens up lanes for the rest of the team with great depth. Playoffs is good but i dont feel great about meeting the Pens Caps or Devils in any situation. Inconsistant scoring and production from the blueline.

Got some work to do before being a playoff team let alone a contender again!

by thenewhockeytown on Mar 6, 2010 12:58 PM EST reply actions