Thoughts on the season, Pominville, Vanek, and assorted Sabres

I've been wanting to do a fan post for a long time. I've been a Sabres fan since 1995, when I was 5 years old my dad used to have me sit down and watch the game with him when he was able to have me over, I only got to see him twice a week because he had joint custody.

So Tuesday's, Friday's, and every other weekend, when the Sabres played, I was there in front of the TV wearing my midget Hasek jersey cheering with dad, watching Rob Ray pound some guy into the ice(might be a reason I got into so many fights in school. Violence on the TV and kids right?) I would say I have a very in depth knowledge of the game having watched it this long, I love my Sabres, and I've decided that when other fans and bloggers want to call it quits, I'm going to step up. If this gets good feed back I'll do more, maybe even buy a domain and pay someone to fancy it up. But if Bucky Gleason can actually collect a paycheck writing what he does, then I can entertain at the very least for free.

That being said, some background about me. I am from Rochester, NY, I went to HS at Gates Chili and upon graduation enlisted in the USMC. I've been stationed at Camp Pendleton, CA, an hour north of San Diego for over 2 years, and including training have been in 3 and a half years, spending time in NC, SC, and Florida for training. I work as an Avionics Technician on the CH-46E(google it) helicopter, love my job, hate certain aspects of the military, most notably fellow idiots of mine who piss on the bodies of people they kill, and tape it for entertainment. Side Note: That is not adequate representation of our military. As much as I cry about some things that go on, I have my own pride for this organization and its members, certain ones however should be flipping burgers, not holding a rifle. I spend most of my time watching hockey, reading about hockey, chasing women until I find one that doesn't epitomize "california girls" and hanging out with friends with a couple 6 packs of premium beer. I played hockey in a somewhat limited capacity during my teenage years, mostly PUG's with friends at Lakeshore or ESL and more than anything, I love the bone crunching hits in hockey that you don't get in other sports, followed there after by fighting, then by highlight-reel-through-the-entire-team-goals. What you all really want to hear after the jump.

I've been wanting to do a fan post for a long time. I've been a Sabres fan since 1995, when I was 5 years old my dad used to have me sit down and watch the game with him when he was able to have me over, I only got to see him twice a week because he had joint custody.

So Tuesday's, Friday's, and every other weekend, when the Sabres played, I was there in front of the TV wearing my midget Hasek jersey cheering with dad, watching Rob Ray pound some guy into the ice(might be a reason I got into so many fights in school. Violence on the TV and kids right?) I would say I have a very in depth knowledge of the game having watched it this long, I love my Sabres, and I've decided that when other fans and bloggers want to call it quits, I'm going to step up. If this gets good feed back I'll do more, maybe even buy a domain and pay someone to fancy it up.

That being said, some background about me. I am from Rochester, NY, I went to HS at Gates Chili and upon graduation enlisted in the USMC. I've been stationed at Camp Pendleton, CA, an hour north of San Diego for over 2 years, and including training have been in 3 and a half years, spending time in NC, SC, and Florida for training. I work as an Avionics Technician on the CH-46E(google it) helicopter, love my job, hate certain aspects of the military, most notably fellow idiots of mine who piss on the bodies of people they kill, and tape it for entertainment. Side Note: That is not adequate representation of our military. As much as I cry about some things that go on, I have my own pride for this organization and its members, certain ones however should be flipping burgers, not holding a rifle. I spend most of my time watching hockey, reading about hockey, chasing women until I find one that doesn't epitomize "california girls" and hanging out with friends with a couple 6 packs of premium beer. I played hockey in a somewhat limited capacity during my teenage years, mostly PUG's with friends at Lakeshore or ESL and more than anything, I love the bone crunching hits in hockey that you don't get in other sports, followed there after by fighting, then by highlight-reel-through-the-entire-team-goals. Now, to today's article...

Usually I'm bummed when my team is never represented, like any good fan, at the NHL All-Star game and skills competition. This year however, we finally have someone not named Ryan Miller being mixed in with the league's elite. And despite the fact that I feel Vanek is more deserving in a way(more goals vs more assists) than Pommer, I can't help but be thrilled about this.

I've noticed in the past couple seasons that whenever the Sabres get a break, such as the week off from games the team got early on in the season, you know, when after one loss we had many fans going right back to their old selves, pre-pegula air, all doom and gloom, woe is us, the season is ruined.

Vanek needs the rest, bottom line. He's clearly got a few small nagging injuries. We need a hard late season push if we have any hopes of making the playoffs. I know this team won't make it far, changes still need to be made, but a hard fought playoff series is what will bring together the players still signed on for the next several years, who will be here within Terry's self proclaimed timeline to have Buffalo finally etched into Lord Stanley's hardware. We need Vanek at 100% to do that. It would be nice to have Pominville rested right with him for that reason, but I'm not worried about Pommer, he played what, 3 or 4 consecutive seaons without being out due to injury? Vanek isn't exactly a frail Tiny Time with polio, the man takes more abuse than I see any other 40 goal scorer taking, and because of all those hacks, slashes, and cross checks, he needs a rest. I'd prefer if we didn't enter another playoff series with him coming off another injury, similar to the Boston series.

Reall though, this is why I'm glad Pommer-doodle is headed to All-Star week. Pominville is playing over his head right now, aside from his 80 point campaign back in 07-08. He's second on the team in points and his chemistry with Vanek can't be called a streak anymore. I feel like this will keep him going, give him some incentive to prepare for it, maybe sharpen up his skills playing with the leagues best players for a game, learn how to become a more effective set up man alongside Vanek, etc. I don't think one game will throw off his chemistry with ATV, not if they were able to keep it consistent for 42 games. If he didn't go to the ASG(It's late, I'm using abbreviations now) he would simply be going through the motions under Lindy for a week, watching the games on TV. Should be interesting to see what comes of it, but I'm banking on him not coming back as a RW version of Roy.



Since him and Vanek are really the only useful players thus far into the season in terms of forwards, I don't know if things could have worked out better. Imagine if Vanek went to play and instead of having a banged up shoulder like he does now, like he always has, he takes an awkward hit, it gets torn, and he's out the rest of the season? Part of the reason I don't usually vote for our players to go to the ASG too, I'd rather they get hurt giving it all for the Blue and Gold, and not along side Crosby, Malkin, Chara, or any other cry baby/goon in the Eastern Conference that I wouldn't mind getting the chance to chirp at for every dirty play or dive they've taken. Anyways, moving on....this next ones been bothering me for awhile now, almost every article I read has some comment on it about this guy. No, not #30.

I've noticed an awful lot of hate on Gragnani this season, fans clamoring both on this website, and others, for him to sit in the press box. I think some things bear repeating when it comes to him. He is currently +12, tops on the team, by an extremely wide margin. Three times higher than the next closest player, GERBE @ +4. I love Gerbe, he's the little big man, the honey badger, pissed off hornet, etc. He plays with heart and determination, more than anyone else on this team, probably because he's been dogged his entire career starting in High School/Juniors about his size(really just guessing, maybe his skill kept everyone other than that D-Bag Carcillo quiet), and he's a fan favorite.

But on a team with this much talent offensively and defensively, he should not be you're second overall player in terms of +/-, regardless of how baseless of a stat it can be sometimes. It makes Gragnani look good, and everyone else like our 4th line checking and defensive forwards look like ass. Unacceptable, but I think MAG deserves much more respect than he is getting out of this fan base, supposedly one of the best in the NHL, at least up until the past 2 seasons.

Everyone talks about MAG's boneheaded giveaway's resulting in goals, but I can only recall watching it happen once, and unlike many of you, I have gamecenter live, there's only like 2 games I miss all year, and it's because I'm not near a TV with Cable or feel too lazy to walk down to the Duty building from my barracks room to watch. He's a very offensively gifted D-man, leading the team in points against Philly in the playoffs last year was no fluke, he's going to be one of the best powerplay quarterbacks in the league within 3 years. Before I keep rambling I'm cutting myself off right here, and asking every fan who reads this to cut him some slack.

Robyn Regehr was brought in to be a nasty, shut down defense man in the offseason, and leads the team in being a minus player. On one side of the coin, he's always out against the oppositions best players, and since Miller has been playing with more holes in him than a sieve, you can't really fault Regehr for having as terrible of a +/- as he does. Miller has a 3.01 GAA and .902 SV% as I type this. Some would say it's Regehr's fault for allowing those shots, but considering Ryan has been unable to stop them from just about everywhere on the ice, I'm not going to say our defense's stat line is entirely truthful about their play. Turning over the puck and giving Claude Giroux a breakaway during OT kind of erodes their "defense" a little bit, but none the less... I'm happy with Regehr's play, he does play against the best, and he makes them pay. Ask Ovechkin what it's like getting lifted airborne and into the glass. And Jagr could barely get a shot off when Lindy matched Regehr up against him. Crosby doesn't like being on the ice with the guy and he has the ability to create more time and space than anyone else in the league. Regehr is proof Darcy has some capability as a GM, even if it's slightly limited.

And on that note, I have a reluctant confession to make. I jumped off the Darcy and Lindy train this season. Even though I love Lindy and want so badly to see him be the coach to bring a cup to Buffalo, because he loves this city and he's a Buffalonian in my book, not a Canadian, and he has a good system, I think it is time him and Buffalo parted ways. Someone recently wrote an article or FanPost about the relationship between a teams coach and the difference it makes in wins. They compared it to the amount of wins a good GM will get a baseball team. But I think the two are incomparable. Baseball is really the same game played by two different teams. Down to how each position performs. There is no system in baseball. In football, each team has it's own system, ergo, a better comparison. In hockey, the coach makes all the difference in the world. You can tell by looking at St. Louis this year. Regardless if the other 2 dozen teams changed coaches and aren't getting results, they just picked the wrong knucklehead, the new knucklehead, etc. Lindy's system just isn't fit for this team, not right now or not anymore.

This team while still full of potential is in a way being rebuilt. It's not a roster explosion like Philly, or the complete rebuild like Edmonton, but it is being rebuilt. Most of you see that the core is still here and are clamoring for a rebuild. It's already happening, look at the signings and trades we made at the deadline and off season, the play of our rookies who will be here next year. The standings show this team is rebuilding. There are many new faces on this team this year, I sort of expected them to need an entire season to get the kinks worked out, or two full seasons, one to identify the real problems that were there under Golisano, Terry giving everyone a chance to show why they should be here or not, and the next to make the changes, adjust and develop chemistry, and then make the cup run the next year. Terry didn't become a billionaire by being stupid, and he's been a Sabres fan all his life, I'm sure he didn't expect 2 defensmen and a winger, signed to be center, were going to make this team an instant winner. In fact, I'm pretty sure that's what Ted Black said, that the goal was 3 years and it hasn't changed. However, I don't think Darcy is the one that should be tinkering after this season. He has proven he knows how to make good draft choices in Myers, Kassian, McNabb, MAG, Adam, Ennis, etc, and a few good trade choices, such as Regehr and the rights to Erhoff, but, to have an elite winning team, you need an elite guy to build it, and making some good choices some of the time and some bad choices some of the time isn't going to get you there. Nothing against him, but Boyes worked out so well didn't he? Cap space that could have been used to sign Richards, what we really needed, and not a guinea pig like Leino who would have made a good complimentary addition for about 2.75 million a year or a little more. I'd like to see what Lindy can do as GM. He's had to suffer through half assed rosters his entire career in Buffalo, if anyone would be salivating at the mouth to build a winner here it should be him. I just see his words being lost on some players of this team, ones like Roy and Stafford....

....who are the winners of all my anger in this post. When you are the teams leading point scorer for 2 seasons, play at a PPG level before getting injured and halfway through a season you're on pace to be at a career low, it's time to go. No matter what the coach is, that kind of uninspired play can be traded for a draft pick and a bag of pucks to teach the prospect you select with it. I think he's as bad for the locker room as he is on the ice. I'm not too sure how many of you follow "Roysie" on twitter, or saw his gongshow cribs-gone-wrong video on youtube, but he just seems like one of those arrogant guys who only cares about the millions he's now getting and partying it up. He has a mini hostel in his basement, and as cool as that is, it leaves you wondering his mind is at when it clearly isn't on the puck and the game. He flat out looks lazy or like he isn't paying attention. And his attitude screams self important. This is really more an emotional rant than anything, but I want to see this team win, and I've never seen a champion with cancer growing on the side of it. This team is an amateur body builder, and Roy is the cancer messing up the testosterone needed to build and get stronger. End. Of. Story.

Enter fuman Drew. Staffords video's over the years have entertained me and made me like him as a person, or as much as I can like a person I've never met and who certainly wouldn't make a 21 year old Marine with a moderate drinking problem his friend, unlike the common man. But he's downright funny. And a damn talented hockey player, he's shown it in bursts. Unlike Roy I don't think he's bad for the locker room, and I don't even think him getting a shiny new contract and ceasing to give a damn is what his problem is. I think he's almost entering Ovechkin territory, without all the endorsements, awards, money and stats. I think he's severely snake bitten, trying his damndest to improve and start scoring and just struggling. I'm still frustrated, he's made a couple silly plays, errant passes, that I expect from a rookie, like MAG, and not someone who has been in the league almost 5 years, or over, not sure when he came in exactly. For a man as talented and as experienced as him he has to do better, especially if the puck isn't tickling twine. You can't score and then gift wrap the other teams goals at 4 million a year.

And finally, to the fans, I will always love Buffalo and its fan base. The atmosphere while lacking at times, I still love going to games at FNC. I only get to go once or twice a year, but I always have a good time, and the fans are passionate, you can tell by how much they complain. Which is why some of you should stop doing it. Be grateful you have a hockey team to watch that has a bright future. Try being a Coyotes or Blue Jackets fan that has ownership or management like Golisano, with no one to save them, or better yet, no ownership other than the NHL. This is a great franchise, one I always call the only sports franchise worth paying money to see. No, the Bills aren't worth paying money to see, and neither is football for that matter. Call me Un-American, but it's true, I can get in the cheap seats with 3 people at a Sabres game for what 1 seat at a football game will cost in some cities. Stop dogging the players who chose to stay here, or move from somewhere else to try and win a cup for this city for the first time in its life. Aside from a few, they bust their asses for crap pay as pro sports go and get knocked around by teams like Boston because they were built for the post lockout and then the person who built the team wouldn't face facts and adapt. There isn't going to be a cup this year, but that doesn't mean sell your season tickets, stop watching them on TV or taking your kids to the game, or complaining in the comments on one of Bucky Gleason or Jerry Sullivans articles mean to troll the fan base and get a rise out of you. Buffalo sports fans are on average smarter than the rest of the NHL's, don't let two hack reporters who just need people to cry with them sucker you into giving them what they want, it just encourages them.

If I offended anyone, I'm sorry, only if I went beyond all reason though. But if you're one of those arm chair GM's spreading doom and gloom and killing the joy in my favorite teams arena... if you aren't willing to turn it around, or cheer anyways, find another team and just root against us, its seriously less of a crime.

With that, feel free to offer me creative writing tips in the comments, or just tell me I suck, I won't jump in front of a Erhoff slapshot headfirst over it, it's almost midnight here and I've been up for about 4 days due to stress, so my brains kind of shot. I realize this didn't read like a truly professional sports article like something from Top Shelf(you will be missed Heather) and I know I'm capable of it, but I needed to vent frustration at what I've heard since the season started. I need practice and sleep. And I'm just used to writing for my friends/family about the Marine Corps life and my life, not potentially thousands of strangers. #fearofrejection

LETS GO BLUE AND GOLD!