as alluded to in the 2010/11 sabres season preview, lindy ruff will have a tough time finding a spot for tyler ennis...he's a legit top-six forward who was ahl rookie of the year last season--as a center...he's fast, quick, and "greazzy" (ruffs word,) he creates space for himself and his line mates, has innate on-ice vision, can tinkle the twine when the opportunity arises and he's an excellent set-up man...
problem is, as a center, whether we like it or not, he's behind derek roy and tim connolly...as a left wing he's behind thomas vanek...ideally, he should be on the second line with connolly and whomever logging 16-19 mins. per game while jochen hecht--the sabres #2 lw right now--would seem a natural fit on the "checking line" with rob niedermayer and mike grier...unfortunately, it seems as if connolly's inept with anyone other than hecht on the left side...thus the quandary for ruff...
jason pomminville is still recovering from a concussion and should be back within a week to ten days...hearken back to last season when the only consistent line was hecht/connolly/pomminville...go back to late in the season and into the playoffs where connolly disappeared when hecht was out with injuries...out of sheer necessity, ruff must play hecth with connolly in order to maximize production from his #2 center...which in and of itself is a travesty...
add in the fact that ruff likes balanced scoring and would love to be able to get production from at least three lines, and you have ennis playing left wing with nieds and grier...
we've all learned to dismiss the notion that darcy regier will make moves with his top-six...for the past three seasons "la core" has been untouchable...therefore, what you see is what you'll get up-top...
for his part, ennis has taken it all in stride...he started out the year with derek roy and somehow transformed him from "dipsy-doodle" derek to "drive-to-the-net" derek...the results?...roy sat atop the nhl leaderboard for goals and points...until, of course, roy got full of himself and contracted a severe case of "maxitis"...the individual play increased as did the turnovers, the scoring went down and, as shown in the ot goal by ilya kovalchuk vs. the devils, roy was so full of himself that he felt he was above the team and his coach leaving defense to those without his "skill-set"...in that same time-frame, jason pomminville was injured, shaone morrison was injured and the whole team went into a funk at home...and so did ennis...
ennis was/is going through growing pains both literally and figuratively...he added 5 lbs. to his 5'9" frame during the off-season and the opposition was getting a better handle on his game...things weren't working for himself and the sabres on offense after the first few games...add in the fact that a top-six winger (pomminville) went down thereafter and you have some line juggling...vs. atlanta on the road, the "reincarnation of adam mair" was consumated as 4th-liner cody mccormick, played top-six minutes along side connolly and hecht...he notched a goal in that game and in the following home loss to ottawa connolly notched his first two of the season and was named the second-star for the game...ennis was relegated to the 3rd line in these new combinations....
in the game vs. atlanta, the first game with these new line combos, ennis notched his first goal of the season and notched his first point in three games as he blew past the thrasher d and walked in on chris mason to open the scoring....that play showed just how much quicker and faster he than his new line mates...the moans and groans and fever-pitch calls for ruff's head had subsided as both mccormick and ennis scored goals in the 4-1 victory, a victory which snapped a five-game losing streak...yet, in many fans' eyes, this was just another case (albeit completely unfounded in this blogger's eyes) of ruff inhibiting the offensive abilities of gifted players through his system...
yes, the ennis/nieds/grier combination is a strange one, but not too strange...ennis' talents are sick, especially when compared to his two line mates, as are his speed and quickness...and you'd think it would destroy him mentally, but it hasn't happened yet as evidenced by his two goals, one assist and plus-three rating in the three games this line has been together...imo, unlike "la core" which came before him, ennis seems to have the intestinal fortitude to overcome obstacles and play the game with the utmost professionalism no matter what his role is...he sticks to the system and makes the most out of his line mates and the time he has on the ice...
it actually may be a plus that ennis is on a line with nieds and grier...these are two vets who have been through the rigors of a long season with one of them winning the cup (nieds, '07, anaheim)...they've pretty much seen it all in their 33 years (combined) in the nhl...they know trends, they study tape, they grasp the nuances of a shift, period, game, month, season and post-season....they have a complete understanding of "ebb and flow" as well as "peaks and valleys"...all of this experience is now imparted upon ennis and it seems as if he's the type of player who will soak it up like a sponge...
now, i pose this question to you, the reading audience: would you rather have anyone from "la core," meaning roy, drew stafford or connolly, teaching ennis the nuances of the game or would you rather have the veteran influence of nieds and grier?...in this situation, i'd rather have the latter...
in 1974 a small but spunky goal-scorer came into the national hockey league for the buffalo sabres...there really was no room for danny gare in the top-six, even though his skill-set warranted that...he ended up on the "checking line" with two of the best in the business--don luce and craig ramsay...in his first two seasons, gare had 31 goals and 50 goals respectively...being with two of the best checkers in the game did not inhibit gare...neither should ennis be inhibited on a line with nieds and grier
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