The Sabres defense, once thought to be the strength of their team, has failed miserably so far this season, and with both Robyn Regehr and Andrej Sekera out, Darcy Regier announced today that the Sabres have recalled Adam Pardy from the Rochester Americans.
Pardy, who was the forgotten part of the Roy-Ott trade, has been a borderline-NHL defenseman his whole career, playing for both the Dallas Stars and Calgary Flames in addition to Buffalo. He has been playing well down in Rochester, and I’d highly advise you to go read this article by WGR’s Matthew Coller about Pardy’s strong start to his Amerks career. From the article:
Pardy dominated in his first game, on the same day he was waived and didn’t even have a proper pre-game meal. Since then, that’s all the Amerks have come to expect from their D-man.
“You see it, his physical presence out there, he’s a man,” goalie David Leggio joked after seeing Pardy play for the first time. Since his arrival, the Amerks have won four of five games and he has three points.
Pardy’s recall is partly due to injuries along the blue line to Andrej Sekera and Robyn Regehr that will keep them out of at least another game, but it’s interesting to wonder if the poor play of many of the Sabres defenseman will see Pardy enter the lineup thanks to a healthy scratch.