Bring up Cody McCormick

by Dred Scott on Apr 18, 2010 6:18 PM EDT

If the Bruins can take Vanek down like with no consequences, Lucic's going to take Miller out pretty soon. McCormick would send the right message to these dirtbags. I'm no proponent of dirty play, but a big hit on Recchi followed by a whooping of Luci would really set things straight I think. It's tough in a 1-1 series to potentially lose a skill player for an enforcer, but if they're going to have any longevity in these playoffs, something needs to change

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Good idea

Someone needs to knock the heck out of Boychuk. Again. Myers absolutely RUINED him in Game 1.

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by sabresfan96 on Apr 18, 2010 10:24 PM EDT reply actions

The Sabres have enough fourth liners already, they need to call up an offensive player.

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by David Oleksy on Apr 18, 2010 10:30 PM EDT reply actions

Disagree. Bruins will continue to play cheap if they know they can get Vanek replaced w/ Mancari/Gerbe/Stafford. The only way they can win in this situation is if they respond physically.

by Dred Scott on Apr 18, 2010 11:28 PM EDT up reply actions

They can play physical anyway. We still have Mair, Gaustda, Kaleta, Torres, Rivet and Montador.

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by David Oleksy on Apr 18, 2010 11:38 PM EDT up reply actions

cheap?

how are the bruins playing cheap? if your gonna say the bruins are playing cheap you can say the sabres are playing cheap. because besides the first game, i have seen nothing cheap from either team. this is called HOCKEY btw.

by aeivy63 on Apr 21, 2010 11:43 AM EDT up reply actions

Mair Gaustad and Rivet are hardly deterring any rough play. Torres plays well on the boards and Montador will throw down —but do you truly believe that Lucic and Chara —and now that dirtbag Boychuk will stop hacking away? The amount of post-whistle activity is so much higher in this series than it is in any of the others this round. Pitt-Ott is second, by a good amount. The Sabres are trying to play aggressive/physical but without a real enforcer, it seems like they might be all bark and no bite.

by Dred Scott on Apr 19, 2010 12:47 AM EDT reply actions

So because this is going to be a low scoring defensive game, lets bring in someone with very minimal NHL experience is going to be more of a defensive liability rather someone who can find the back of the net. That makes inherent sense doesn’t it?

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by Zachary Zielonka on Apr 19, 2010 7:52 AM EDT up reply actions

Not sure where you extracted that line of reasoning, but it is absurd as you suggest. The reasoning is that bringing in McCormick may prevent the loss of our top-wingers, or at least open the game up a bit more for them. Gerbe/Mancari/Stafford cannot replace Vanek, Roy, Connolly

by Dred Scott on Apr 19, 2010 2:20 PM EDT reply actions

I think your basic premise is wrong. Vanek wasn’t the recipient of a cheap shot because he’s Thomas Vanek. He got hacked and ridden into the boards because he beat the defenseman, was a threat to score and that defenseman happened to be the type of player who responds with an obvious penalty. The Sabres could have been the team that played against the Chiefs in Slap Shot and Vanek is still getting hacked on his way to the net. Cody McCormick could be sitting on the bench dressed up like Rambo, waving a machette around and screaming at the other team and the Bruins are going to play like the Boston Bruins play. They’re big and tough and that resulted in Vanek taking a cheap shot. Fighting tough with tough or cheap with cheap isn’t going to make the Vanek’s of the roster any safer and if anything, ratcheting up the physical play of this series makes them less safe.

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by kaisertown on Apr 19, 2010 9:54 PM EDT reply actions

Makes sense but...

at some point you have to stand up to the school yard bully or they will make your life miserable. Guasted just isn’t playing like the guy we know. I wonder if he’s injured and no one is saying anything.

by dzfromny on Apr 20, 2010 9:12 PM EDT up reply actions

I’m all about the Sabres playing tougher, I just don’t think it makes the skill players any safer while driving to the net. Also, I’d rather see Buffalo improve their toughness while fighting for pucks in the corner and in front of the net then watch them trade punches. I think the Sabres need to stand up to Boston for themselves and not to stop Boston from playing tough. Guys like Lucic only have one playing style and there’s no changing it. It would be like Bruins fans saying they need to stand up to Kaleta to get him to stop throwing checks a half second late. There’s just no stopping Kaleta from throwing his body around.

by kaisertown on Apr 20, 2010 10:23 PM EDT up reply actions

The Sabres could have been the team that played against the Chiefs in Slap Shot and Vanek is still getting hacked on his way to the net. Cody McCormick could be sitting on the bench dressed up like Rambo, waving a machette around and screaming at the other team and the Bruins are going to play like the Boston Bruins play.

I have a really tough time believing this and evidently Lindy Ruff does too… we’ll see in an hour.

by Dred Scott on Apr 21, 2010 6:30 PM EDT up reply actions

I think the Sabres need to play tougher in order to play better. Not to protect their skill players. Cheap players will take cheap shots. It’s like my point about Kaleta. He could be playing against the biggest, strongest, most physical and mean team in the league and he’d still be flying around, throwing his body at anybody he could find. That’s just the way he plays and the way Boychuck plays includes taking out a player that gets by him to prevent a goal.

by kaisertown on Apr 21, 2010 6:37 PM EDT up reply actions

Your point though is baseless. I think you’d agree that the sabres played tougher last night, and I think a lot of it had to do with the confidence knowing that a tougher guy is on the ice. I’d love to believe that all hockey players, or all sabres are completely fearless — but that’s just wishful thinking. Kaleta’s tough as nails but you’re just lying to yourself if you think he wouldn’t adjust his game if he was playing a team with 20 Colton Orrs

by Dred Scott on Apr 22, 2010 1:11 PM EDT up reply actions

Its pretty evident when you watch guys like Connolly cough up the puck in the defensive zone as quickly and irresponsibly as possible when a guy like Lucic or Thornton is steamrolling in his general direction.

Ironically, our smallest players (Kennedy, Ennis, Gerbe when he was here) are fearless. Its the medium-sized guys (9, 19, 29) that look scared. At least our defensemen aren’t having those issues, or we’d have never made the playoffs.

by lassathrax on Apr 22, 2010 4:07 PM EDT up reply actions

P.S. how funny is it to see Kennedy and Chara in a lumber battle. Kid only comes up to his waist. I know I’d be cautious about it.

by lassathrax on Apr 22, 2010 4:08 PM EDT up reply actions

It’s a case a Napoleon complex lol. I know I had it. I was always the smallest defensman on every team I’ve played on. My goal was always to lay out the biggest player on the other team to show people size doesn’t matter. after a while you don’t realize what your doing until a 6’5" 240 person is rag-dolling you around the ice. Kind of like the saying “Be wary of the quiet man, with the crazy look in his eyes”…you gutta be wary of the small guy with the Napoleon complex

P.S. Never fuck with a small quiet man with a crazy look in his eyes

by Dangles-McDonnybrook on Apr 22, 2010 4:57 PM EDT up reply actions

I think you’d agree that the sabres played tougher last night

Which is why I said:

I think the Sabres need to play tougher in order to play better

I don’t think that Cody McCormick makes Thomas Vanek any less likely to get hacked after beating a defensemen and having nothing but ice between him and the goalie. That was my original point. Toughness doesn’t protect your players against a team like Boston. Milan Lucic and those guys are going to take their shots. It’s enivitable. Buffalo needs to play more like McCormick to win pucks and create chances for themselves, not to keep Ryan Miller safe.

From an earlier comment of yours:

I have a really tough time believing this and evidently Lindy Ruff does too

I don’t know if you got a chance to listen to Ruff’s comments about McCormick before he played, but everything he said was about winning pucks, playing tough in front of the net and playing actual hockey. He didn’t mention anything about being tougher to protect the skill players.

by kaisertown on Apr 26, 2010 4:47 PM EDT up reply actions