With the 2011-12 Buffalo Sabres ending in disappointment and after a few weeks for us to gather our thoughts, it’s time for us to issue our report cards on the season. Over the next few weeks, we’ll grade every player that wore a Buffalo Sabres uniform in 2011 and 2012, from Luke Adam to Mike Weber.
Introduction: When Brad Boyes was acquired in a trade last season, Sabres fans were excited about the prospect of adding a former 40-goal scorer to the team, while Blues fans snickered and told us to enjoy watching every shot go high and wide. St. Louis fans are probably still snickering, because outside of the shootout, Brad Boyes was a giant disappointment for the Sabres over the last two seasons.
Now Boyes and his $4 million salary are leaving Buffalo, so let’s take a look back at his season that was.
Key Stat: Boyes is tied for third among all active NHL skaters with 29 career shootout goals (29/64, 45.3%) and led the Sabres with 5 shootout goals this season. He was most effective in the skills competition, and toward the end of the year it seemed like he only dressed in case Ruff needed him in the shootout.
Thumbs Up: For someone who dressed in 65 games, Boyes had an astonishingly low 6 penalty minutes. Despite only averaging 13 minutes a night, he still managed to be in the top 10 on the team in shots. Boyes received good power play time and was 6th on the team in power play points (though we should also mention that he only managed 8 points on the PP – that’s more of a depressing thought for the team than a good thing for Boyes, but c’mon. Work with us here.)
Surprisingly, Boyes was one of the Sabres better road performers, finishing with the 7th most points on the team during an awful road season for Buffalo.
Thumbs Down: If you throw out the last game of the season, Boyes scored 6 goals. That’s not just bad, folks, those are Adam Mair numbers. His 8 goals and 23 points this season are career lows by far. Despite being near the bottom of the team in both hits and blocked shots, Boyes had his 513 consecutive games played streak snapped, and missed 15 total games to injury, and finished the year as a healthy scratch. He was always unwilling to park himself in the dirty areas of the ice, preferring to glide through and avoid contact.
Voting: On a scale of one to ten, one being the lowest and ten being the highest, grade Brad Boyes 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.
On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest, how would you rate Brad Boyes for his 2011-12 season?
| 1 | 49 |
| 2 | 80 |
| 3 | 55 |
| 4 | 22 |
| 5 | 8 |
| 6 | 2 |
| 7 | 0 |
| 8 | 1 |
| 9 | 1 |
| 10 | 1 |