back in july, 2003, darcy regier refused to part with 2002 draft pick (#11 overall) keith ballard in order to obtain chris drury...quinn stepped in and forced regier to do it, and it worked out pretty well ...(note: quinn was also instrumental in drury's departure as well)...
would quinn do it again?...i'm not sure...as of right now he has his own personal problems as he recovers from heart surgery at the cleveland clinic, so it's safe to say that he has other things on his mind...it's expected that he'll be in the hospital for at least a few more days...hopefully, once he regains his faculties and feels well again, he'll have had some sort of epiphany to the effect that stagnation is causing the sabres fans to become restless and that it is beginning to show at the box office...and it will only get worse if things continue as they are...
should quinn do it?...absolutely...it actually shoulda been done this off-season (if not a few years ago)
what should they do?
paul hamilton on wgr's "roundtable" brings up daniel briere's present situation with the flyers...basically briere said that life's easier right now because he's not seeing the likes of zdeno chara very much in the course of a game...when he was in buffalo, he would see chara the whole game...in other words, he was going up against the top d-men in the league...you could also add that he was facing the opposition's top checking line as well...
with those top players tied up for most of the game, production fell to the second and third lines...with briere anchoring the sabres top line, chris drury's line and derek roy's line thrived...thomas vanek had a year worthy of a $50m poach attempt by then oilers gm kevin lowe...
with the departure's of drury and briere, the likes of roy and vanek were asked to step up to the top-line and face the top-defenders in the league while the rest were counted on for secondary scoring...the results were two missed playoff years in a row and question marks as to whether or not they could produce in that situation with that style of play...
last season saw an emphasis on vezina-winner ryan miller and the defense lead by calder-winner tyler myers...production from the top-six forwards was stunted, but defense carried the team to the playoffs...in the playoffs vs. the boston bruins there was no scoring from the sabres top-centers--roy and tim connolly-- vanek looked fully able to handle his top-lw role, pomminville contributed and rookie tyler ennis contributed in a depth role...once again, on the whole, they looked over matched in their roles...but, still, nothing was done...
so now we're 10 games into the season and the sabres are faced with a few areas that are weak:
- ryan miller still has not hit his stride, although much can be attributed to a mediocre (at best) defense
- the defense is off to a rough start with tyler myers going through growing pains, jordan leopold is still adapting to the new climate, but has played very well, and shaone morrisonn had the triple-whammy of adjusting to a new team, a d-partner and dealing with an early season injury
- on offense more adjustments with rob niedermayer, cody mccormick and nathan gerbe coming in and tyler ennis beginning his first full season
- scoring from the forward lines are down, with some players being non-existent
the #1 line that will face the oppositions #1 defenders is vanek/roy/drew stafford...so far, roy started hot and has cooled down, vanek started cold and is heating up, stafford is still inconsistent...i do believe that vanek is a top-line player...roy can produce in a top-line role facing top defenders, but is better suited to the second line...stafford is more like a third-line rw...
nothing new, the sabres are still lacking a true #1 center while #1 rw is, and has been, even more of a major problem area
that could be overcome if the second line produced...it hasn't...and therein lies a major problem...
the line of jochen hecht/connolly/pomminville was the most consistent line the sabres had last season...a line the helped get the team off to a great start...this season, that line started out slow, some would say were "invisible" on a nightly basis...
with the sabres #1 line taking on top-defenders, this line has the opportunity to do some damage...connolly should be able to handle #2 center duties, but looks out of it most nights...pomminville is a solid #2 rw, but has been injured...hecht is a #3 lw, but is capable of playing #2 as long as there's chemistry between him and his linemates, as proven last season...
right now, the invisibility of connolly means the sabres are lacking a player to take on the #2 center position...
what are the sabres options in regards to filling these holes?...regier would say that these players will "grow into them"...on the other end, some sabres fans would say trade everybody except miller, myers and ennis...
maybe quinn could tell regier to address one area...even if the second line starts producing, there's still areas that could use some help on the top line...although i'm not privy to, nor claim to be privy to, any inside information concerning the availability of players, by the looks of, it here are some players that might be available:
- jamie langenbrunner, rw, nj devils--the devils are in worse shape than the sabres and one would have to think that some changes are coming...langenbrunner brings alot to the table--he has two rings, is a leader still capable of top-line duties, and is clutch in the playoffs...potential top-line: vanek, roy, langenbrunner
- simon gagne, lw, tb lightning--gagne's a goal-scorer...he's been injury-prone lately, but when he's on the ice, he's a top-notch lw...presently he's goalless in six games with his new team and is a minus-8...it should not be a problem moving vanek to rw (i actually think he'd do much better there)...potential top-line: gagne, roy, vanek
- chris drury, c, ny rangers--(ducks for cover)...i know all the criticisms and hatred for the guy, but he brings a lot to the table, has two years left on his contract with only this one being financially atrocious and would certainly help in the secondary scoring role and top-six leadership role...ny was a bust for him and the team...potential second-line: hecht, drury, pomminville
the bottom line is this, darcy regier needs to shake-up and strengthen the top-six...larry quinn is his boss...if quinn says do it, it'll get done...if it doesn't happen soon, whether this team turns it around or not in the near future, the bottom line will be adversely affected...and i'm pretty sure that will not please larry quinn
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