
Rising Stars
1st Rising Star: Raffi Torres
I didn't exactly understand the logic of Lindy Ruff putting Raffi Torres with Adam Mair and Matt Ellis in his first game back from injury. There has been a lot of pressure on Torres to perform since his trade from Colombus. If you want to get an offensive player going, you shouldn't be putting him on the 4th line. Well, that's why I'm not coaching the Sabres. Torres finally made an impact for the Sabres; getting three assists and actually making Adam Mair look good. I kid, Adam. I need just another well played game by Torres to get him out of the Dominic Moore model. But hey, at least he's not Bob Corkum.
2nd Rising Star: Tim Kennedy
You want to talk about a rise and fall and a rise for this season, it's Tim Kennedy. Timmy is kind of the epitome of what the Sabres season has been like. Kennedy played exceptionally well the first two months of the season, but really hit a rookie wall around January. I think the biggest problem for Kennedy was that Lindy Ruff was treating him as if he was going to be a shutdown center by playing him with Grier and Hecht. I don't think Kennedy's all around game suits well with playing on a line with a bunch of grinders.
Kennedy has offensive talent. We definitely saw it in the beginning of the season and by playing with the third and fourth liners, it kind of dragged his production down. This may sound remedial, but playing with talented players will help your offensive game out. He looks really aggressive out there, and looks to have found a niche with Roy and Stafford. I kind of wish Ruff would do this more with some of his younger talent.
3rd Rising Star: Darcy Regier
I know Darcy and I haven't exactly seen eye to eye, and having Christmas dinner together is out of the question. However, I'm definitely digging these rookies. Tyler Ennis, Tyler Myers, Tim Kennedy and Nathan Gerbe have made such huge strides during their time in Buffalo. You can tell that Gerbe and Ennis have a complete understanding of what it takes to play in Ruff's system. You have to give credit to the coaching staff in Portland for making these kids play in Ruff's system. Hell, they've looked better than some of the vets on this team.
I didn't exactly understand the logic of Lindy Ruff putting Raffi Torres with Adam Mair and Matt Ellis in his first game back from injury. There has been a lot of pressure on Torres to perform since his trade from Colombus. If you want to get an offensive player going, you shouldn't be putting him on the 4th line. Well, that's why I'm not coaching the Sabres. Torres finally made an impact for the Sabres; getting three assists and actually making Adam Mair look good. I kid, Adam. I need just another well played game by Torres to get him out of the Dominic Moore model. But hey, at least he's not Bob Corkum.
2nd Rising Star: Tim Kennedy
You want to talk about a rise and fall and a rise for this season, it's Tim Kennedy. Timmy is kind of the epitome of what the Sabres season has been like. Kennedy played exceptionally well the first two months of the season, but really hit a rookie wall around January. I think the biggest problem for Kennedy was that Lindy Ruff was treating him as if he was going to be a shutdown center by playing him with Grier and Hecht. I don't think Kennedy's all around game suits well with playing on a line with a bunch of grinders.
Kennedy has offensive talent. We definitely saw it in the beginning of the season and by playing with the third and fourth liners, it kind of dragged his production down. This may sound remedial, but playing with talented players will help your offensive game out. He looks really aggressive out there, and looks to have found a niche with Roy and Stafford. I kind of wish Ruff would do this more with some of his younger talent.
3rd Rising Star: Darcy Regier
I know Darcy and I haven't exactly seen eye to eye, and having Christmas dinner together is out of the question. However, I'm definitely digging these rookies. Tyler Ennis, Tyler Myers, Tim Kennedy and Nathan Gerbe have made such huge strides during their time in Buffalo. You can tell that Gerbe and Ennis have a complete understanding of what it takes to play in Ruff's system. You have to give credit to the coaching staff in Portland for making these kids play in Ruff's system. Hell, they've looked better than some of the vets on this team.
Ennis and Gerbe are playing great in the open ice and their motors are always running. You never get a sense that these kids are taking a shift off. They want to earn their spot on this squad. Every time I see them on the ice, you kind of get the feeling they can score at any moment. Just watch how Gerbe or Ennis play during a shift. I don't know what it is, maybe it's the staring at the new hot girl in class that I mentioned the other day. But I just can't keep my eyes off of them.
I know all of you dam Regier apologists have been telling me that his master plan is centered around the youth movement in Portland. Well, if this is just a tip of the iceberg for these kids, then you can just call me a Regier apo.l..o..ggg....I'm becoming more open minded. How's that?
Falling Stars
1st Falling Star: The Florida Teams
My god, those are some terrible, terrible hockey teams. I think the NHL should look into sending those teams down to the AHL for a tune-up. Fans always say that the NHL should move the southern teams to the Canadian hockey hotbeds. Seriously? We have stolen Canada's game and you want to torture our neighbors to the north with watching that crap? Sorry, but I'd be looking at buying CFL season tickets if I had to cheer for that garbage. As for the Panthers, how the hell can you have just five shots in two periods?? No wonder why the Capitols are going to win the President's Trophy.
2nd Falling Star: Time Warner Cable NYC
Bastards!? So it's 7pm, I have my Turkey sandwich ready, along with my glass of um...milk. I turn on channel 431 for the Sabres game and lone and behold, there's nothing there but pitch darkness. Reset the cable box, same thing. Called Time Warner Cable, they had me reset the dam box again, while they shot some electronic signal into my box. Nothing but darkness. Of course, all the other channels were working for Center Ice. As if they are a ton of fans in NYC that want to watch the Hurricanes play. Luckily, the channel came back on at the start of the 2nd period. So, you're lucky TWC, because I had Fios on line two.
3rd Falling Star: Drew Stafford
I'm going to keep putting Stafford on this list. It's not just about wanting to see Ennis or Gerbe play in Stafford's spot. It's how Stafford has just one goal in his last 23 games. Like I wrote the other night, you'd think that Stafford would try and put his best foot forward and pick-up the slack with Vanek and Connolly out of the line-up. Now, with the emergence of Ennis and Gerbe, I think it's safe to say that Stafford is on audition for the rest of the regular season to keep his job.
Overall
Nice, solid outing for the Sabres. I probably could have added more stars to the list, but my frustration with TWC isn't letting me think clearly. Plus, they beat the dam Panthers. To think that the Sabres need a win against lonely Toronto and a Senators regulation loss tomorrow night, and they can clinch the division. That's pretty dam cool. I know fans have always said that no one thought this was possible in October, but how about a month ago? Remember when Ottawa was breathing down their necks? Very impressive, Sabres. BTW, I'm still scared of Ottawa.
I tried sticking up for Stafford the other day, not really knowing his stats exactly to the numbers. My gosh, I will not be sticking up for him anymore until he scores at least 10 more goals, geez man, he needs to get with it.
ReplyDeleteYeah, Stafford is dead to me. They need to lose him next year if they have all these prospects in Portland.
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