Thomas Vanek: 2010-2011 Report Card
by Zachary Zielonka on Jul 27, 2011 10:00 AM EDT
in 2010-2011 Report Cards
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PrintIt's time to put the finishing touches on the 2010-2011 season for the Buffalo Sabres. Here is a complete report card of every single player that played any amount of time with the Sabres this season. The journey began with Luke Adam and will conclude in a month with Mike Weber. Thanks to Japers Rink and Mile High Hockey for the inspiration.
Key Stat: While Vanek did have 32 goals this season, he had five stretches of five games or more during the season in where he didn't score a goal.
Thumbs Up: Vanek is unquestionably the team's go to scorer with his 32 goals in the regular season and 5 in the postseason. He has the potential to score 50 goals and with the additions this season, don't be surprised if he comes close to reaching that plateau this season.
Thumbs Down: Vanek is a streaky player throughout the season. It's something that consistently plagues Vanek and once he gets into a scoring drought, he starts to grip the stick a little tighter and he starts to react to every shot missed on net.
Voting: On a scale of one to ten, one being the lowest and ten being the highest, grade Thomas Vanek on his season according to the expectations you had for him. If he met them, give him a five or a six. If he eclipsed them, aim for a seven or beyond. If he failed to meet them, give him a lower number relating to how poorly he missed the target. At this point, putting a poll in is pointless so leave your vote in the comments.
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ATLAS!
to quote Billy Bob from Varsity Blues
A 10… a 10… a <Bleepin’> 10!
Vanek didn’t score 40 or 50 goals, but he showed some things we’ve been waiting for from him for some time. I believe he took over this team when Roy went down and he was finally rewarded with a letter during the final month of the season. I love watching Vanek play and he’s become my favorite Sabre over the last season or so.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDJjPZS6HxM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1b2O-QKJDY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBHRJS_kUqY&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLVs3_kiHe0&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-ZeJS04xNw&feature=related
"If we needed any more motivation to win a Cup sooner than later, we've got one now," Black said. "I really want to listen to the game that RJ calls when he finally gets to shout out, 'Buffalo wins the Stanley Cup.'"
by FloridaBuffalo on Jul 27, 2011 10:14 AM EDT reply actions
Overall, a solid season and a key player in turning things around.
Although, I can’t help but wonder how different this team would be had we allowed Vanek to sign with the Oilers and possibly recieved guys like Jordan Eberle, Magnus Paajarvi, Taylor Hall, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins with 7 million a year of extra space space in compensation.
I hate this argument. There’s no guarantee that the Oilers would still be last if they had Vanek on their team, so we might not have been able to draft them anyway. We have Ennis and Myers. Last I heard they were pretty good. And oh, btw, even with three of those four guys, the Oilers still sucked.
I’m not arguing it should have been done, its just something fun to think about. Oilers may have not been last, but the difference between Vanek and Penner wasn’t going to make a 15 spot impact, but obviously there was no reason to believe the Oilers would fall so fast. Either way, four first round picks is still four first round picks. We still could have drafted Ennis and Myers so that doesn’t really play into things.
9
His play before Roy went down keeps him from a 10. His play and leadership after Roy went down and his playoff performance make up for most of it.
9.5
My favorite Sabre. Might be my favorite athlete. I love watching Vanek play.
Now attending the Univ. of Hockey.
10
He’s our Austrian Lord of Power Play Goals.
On the Mike Weber bandwagon!
I hate Christian Ehrhoff because he should have been Tomas Kaberle.
Speaking of the power play – who will be our defenseman on the PP this year? I know Myers and Ehrhoff are givens? Leopold and Gragnani? Does Lindy use 5 forwards on one of his sets?
Choices, choices
Could see Leo and 4 forwards or Leo and Rej (still think he is going to be traded) or MAG whichever is playing that night.
Really, anyone besides Regehr & Weber can play it well. It’s a nice position to be in. I’d expect Ehrhoff to have the top spot – he is fantastic on the PP and you can’t have Myers as the #1 PKerand PPer.
Here is a post on hfboards that shows every goal Ehrhoff scored last season. It is exciting to watch because he isn’t a PP QB at all; he more or less roams around the zone looking for open seams to score or he bombs shots from the point. Some of the goals are absolute lasers as well….I can’t wait to see him wear blue and gold in October!
"We’re gonna win the Stanley Cup. Then, you know what, we’re gonna win it again,"
-Terry Pegula
by bgred105 on Jul 27, 2011 12:59 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Remember, Lindy Ruff said that he didn’t think Ehrhoff was a power play QB type. bgred’s right on the money – he’s basically a roaming cannon out there.
Die By The Blade - Your home for the best Buffalo Sabres talk online.
@andyboron
Who would be the PP QBs then?
Myers? Pominville? Leopold?
Sure :)
Or Grags, or Sekera…we have a ton of depth right now. Ehrhoff is really good on the PP if you allow him to just do his thing, which is skate around and look for open lanes. He scores a few goals like this in the link I posted in my previous comment. Since he is arguably our biggest FA acquisition (monetarily he is), I would like for him to just do what he does best, instead of having him play a position that he is not used to (such as PP QB). Of course from the sounds of it, he will do just that.
I added some links below to the PP goals Ehrhoff scored this past season:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9M21__wcfOE&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLsXoEEiqAM&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryYBuKS2tGA&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYzar0b2rgY&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZWNbxydWzc&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjcRGzfifSw&feature=player_embedded
"We’re gonna win the Stanley Cup. Then, you know what, we’re gonna win it again,"
-Terry Pegula
on thing sticks out on all of those bombs on the power play..
Traffic in front of the Net.
"If we needed any more motivation to win a Cup sooner than later, we've got one now," Black said. "I really want to listen to the game that RJ calls when he finally gets to shout out, 'Buffalo wins the Stanley Cup.'"
by FloridaBuffalo on Jul 28, 2011 12:16 AM EDT up reply actions
Yes! Also, the Sedin twins are always helpful. The one goal was basically Henrik Sedin skating in the zone for 10 seconds then dumping off to Ehrhoff for a flat-footed one timer. Of course we have good offensive players, but its hard to say if we have anyone the caliber of Daniel and Henrik on our squad. I am still confident we can see good production from Ehrhoff with the caliber of offensive players we have on this team.
"We’re gonna win the Stanley Cup. Then, you know what, we’re gonna win it again,"
-Terry Pegula
Myers isn't really a QB either - or at least not yet.
His bread and butter is sneaking down and finding the back-door pass.
Save Jenrry Mejia!
Keep Reyes, Trade Wilpon.
So to answer your question
MAGS when he’s in the lineup.
Save Jenrry Mejia!
Keep Reyes, Trade Wilpon.
We can only hope he’s learned to shoot during the offseason.
On the Mike Weber bandwagon!
I hate Christian Ehrhoff because he should have been Tomas Kaberle.
har.. har..
"If we needed any more motivation to win a Cup sooner than later, we've got one now," Black said. "I really want to listen to the game that RJ calls when he finally gets to shout out, 'Buffalo wins the Stanley Cup.'"
by FloridaBuffalo on Jul 28, 2011 12:17 AM EDT up reply actions
Five
Vanek played and produced at about the pace I expected of him. His 32 goals was only one better than Stafford’s 31 goals and they had little or no effect on the result in most games. I suspect their are not too many, perhaps no, teams in the league whose top scorer has only 32 goals.
I think his scoring droughts and his inability to handle the emotional trauma that comes with them is a lack of maturity. At his age, that is not a good thing. He has been a part of the NHL long enough to have matured into an aggressive, accomplished goal scorer. Instead, he is a frustrated wanna be who misses open nets and miss fires far too often.
For the Sabres’ fans and the image of team, he projects unmaterialized potential that the opposition feeds off of, because they know the Sabres are counting on him to produce and he usually fails to do so even though the opportunities to score come frequently.
Only 10 teams had players with more goals than Vanek. He was tied for 14th for most goals in the league. Your perceptions seem a bit biased.
by lassathrax on Jul 27, 2011 12:25 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
P.S.
The players he was tied with for goals:
Ovechkin
Crosby
Toews
Nash
Kessel
Couture
Some players he was ahead of in goals:
St. Louis, Selanne, Kovalchuk, Tavares.
by lassathrax on Jul 27, 2011 12:27 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
P.P.S.
Vanek was second on the team in shooting percentage with a 13.4% conversion rate (Stafford was 1st with a whopping 17.3%). So to say Vanek misfires far too often makes you sound like you have ridiculously unrealistic expectations.
by lassathrax on Jul 27, 2011 12:33 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Wrong
The dude is makeing over $6,000,000 per annum; I expect him to score when it counts. He reminds me too much of Satan.
Right
because we all know that players score exactly at a rate appropriate for their pay (the appropriate rate of course being whatever you pull out of your neither regions).
Save Jenrry Mejia!
Keep Reyes, Trade Wilpon.
Further more, Vanek had zero control over the contract he was given. Kevin Lowe is to blame. Is Vanek worth $7mil a season? That’s a big debate, but that contract isn’t his doing. An Offer sheet was put in and the Sabres matched it. Vanek is the Sabres’ BEST player and he’s only getting better.
"If we needed any more motivation to win a Cup sooner than later, we've got one now," Black said. "I really want to listen to the game that RJ calls when he finally gets to shout out, 'Buffalo wins the Stanley Cup.'"
by FloridaBuffalo on Jul 28, 2011 12:20 AM EDT up reply actions
7
Not a disappointment, but still not the Full Vanek. I’m expecting him to light it up in 2011-12, especially on the PP. Dude still needs to figure out how to relax though.
Relaxation = Complacency
Vanek will stop at nothing to improve his play, and I think it sends a great message. If he were to relax and accept occasional failures, I think he would be much slower to improve. He realizes he needs to push his limits to play to the level he expects of himself, and IMO that is the sign of immense maturity (ahem, Geo…) and drive to win. I am really warming up to the idea of Vanek as captain, he sets a great example to the kids on the team.
I don't think so
Vanek is so tightly wound that it adversely affects his game. I think Miller at this point is a good example of being intensely competitive & driven without letting a bad play or game rattle his confidence and put him off his game. In his younger days he seemed more vulnerable to it; now he keeps his focus and comes back stronger. Miller has bad games, but (except for that team-deep disaster early last season) he rarely has bad stretches. ATV needs to take Zen lessons from him or something.
Game 7 was a full-team meltdown. The Sabres admitted afterwards that they felt like they blew their chance in Game 6 and it showed from top to bottom.
Die By The Blade - Your home for the best Buffalo Sabres talk online.
@andyboron
Very true.
From Dave Davis, posted on KuklasCorner via CSNphilly.com:
So what was it about the Sabres series that wore the Flyers down so much?
Too many times against Buffalo, the Flyers fell into early two-goal deficits and were forced to climb out of seemingly insurmountable holes. There are positives to be said for never quitting, but there’s also an emotional and physical toll that repeatedly getting into such situations can take.
"I think that the Buffalo series may have taken more out of us than a normal seven-game series," Sean O’Donnell said. "They are physically and emotionally exhausting, there was a lot of ups and downs there. We came back a lot, I think looking back on that seven-game series, it seemed more like a nine- or 10-game series."
They looked more like they’d been bruised and beaten up in a pair of series against high-caliber competition, not just a single series against a No. 7 seed. When they finally faced off against Boston, they looked like a shell of the team they were back in December and January, and lacked fire, jump and the desperation coach Peter Laviolette speaks so highly of.
"We’re gonna win the Stanley Cup. Then, you know what, we’re gonna win it again,"
-Terry Pegula
If so who had a meltdown in game 6 when buff had a 3 goal lead blown? Call it a team meltdown, but leaders who are supposed to be cool under pressure (i pointing at you miller) and are considered elite get the job done every time. Miller lacks concentration and a spine when it is go time.
…. doing this on a phone blows…
by buzzin on Jul 27, 2011 7:08 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Show me one player in any sport who gets it done EVERY time. I'm sure even Jordan failed at least once.
Miller lacks concentration and a spine when it is go time.
Reading the Buffalo News much?
Save Jenrry Mejia!
Keep Reyes, Trade Wilpon.
by Ogre39666 on Jul 27, 2011 8:26 PM EDT up reply actions 2 recs
I would have agreed with you last offseason.
However, he seemed to take a step forward this past year. He seems to no longer let the pressure he puts on himself drag him down.
Save Jenrry Mejia!
Keep Reyes, Trade Wilpon.
8
I really liked Vanek’s play last year from December onward…he seemed to be able to become 100% ATV as opposed to showing flashes of brilliance. The goals he scored in the Washington and Philly game alone showed how dominating he can be during a game. I also feel that he finally showed us last year that he can be a star in this league, and that his 06-07 season would not be his best season of his career. I see lots of PP goals from him this year, with Ehrhoff drilling shots from the point and ATV putting in the garbage. Personally, I have grown to like him so much that I almost bought his jersey this off-season (this is a huge step for me since I might be one of the most frugal people alive).
"We’re gonna win the Stanley Cup. Then, you know what, we’re gonna win it again,"
-Terry Pegula
7.5
Regular season was a 9 and playoffs were a 6. He scored 5 goals and was -7!
Fun fact: All 5 of his goals were power play goals so they don’t count as +’s
On the Mike Weber bandwagon!
I hate Christian Ehrhoff because he should have been Tomas Kaberle.
by Ubiquitous on Jul 27, 2011 1:55 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Just reinforces how much salt one has to take when looking at +/-.
Save Jenrry Mejia!
Keep Reyes, Trade Wilpon.
9
Sniper who can get the garbage goals. Really stepped up when Roy went down.
Puck Daddy's top LW's....
Rank ATV 8th in the NHL. While I would place him ahead of Morrow and Lucic, I think that is a decent ranking. They also give Leino the 14th best LW, so I imagine they have not heard (or care to fact check) that we are placing him at C for next season. If these were last season rankings, I would be fine with it, but they are supposed to be projected rankings for 2011-2012. Oh well.
"We’re gonna win the Stanley Cup. Then, you know what, we’re gonna win it again,"
-Terry Pegula
He ranked Brenden freaking Morrow ahead of Vanek?!
What a joke.
Save Jenrry Mejia!
Keep Reyes, Trade Wilpon.
They also completely left off Drew Stafford, who finished the season tied for 21st in the NHL in goals. I guess the author is assuming he’ll have a fairly large regression.
Die By The Blade - Your home for the best Buffalo Sabres talk online.
@andyboron
It was the same idiot writer that put out that God-awful list of “top” centers the other day. I am baffled by how baseless opinions pass as news just because it is the off-season.
because it is the off-season.
You just answered your own question.
Die By The Blade - Your home for the best Buffalo Sabres talk online.
@andyboron
Yes but he was left off the list – I realize there’s more to it than scoring, but you’d think a guy who was 11th amongst RW in goals would at least make the honorable mention of a top 25 list.
Die By The Blade - Your home for the best Buffalo Sabres talk online.
@andyboron
Yes, supposedly Martin Erat is a superior RW? There are some serious questions with McCaig’s analysis, or lack thereof. I do not mind if the public and media underrate our team and players going into this season…it will just be more of a surprise when we bust out offensively.
"We’re gonna win the Stanley Cup. Then, you know what, we’re gonna win it again,"
-Terry Pegula
8
Was very impressed with his play once they put the A on his jersey, he played like a entirely different person.
Btw, my first post.
by Binthet on Jul 27, 2011 7:26 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
Glad to have you on board!
Die By The Blade - Your home for the best Buffalo Sabres talk online.
@andyboron
9.
Very good statistical year and took on a leadership role. Can’t wait to see what he’ll do this upcoming season.
Save Jenrry Mejia!
Keep Reyes, Trade Wilpon.
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