how many times over the past 3+ years have we heard lindy ruff say "our best players need to be our best players?"...ryan miller is the only sabre to hold up his end of the bargain...others like derek roy, jason pomminville, and thomas vanek have all been inconsistent in that area...
miller is the unquestioned leader on the team and has proven that one does not need to wear the letter to be the leader...craig rivet wears the "c" after being voted captain by the players back in oct., 2008...craig rivet has also been riding the pine lately, unable to crack the top-six on d as of late after two years of on-again, off-again injuries...
so the question remains, who in this group of skaters is ready join miller and place themselves behind sissyphus' boulder not only to stop it from rolling further downhill, but to also muster the strength to begin pushing it back uphill?...who has the intestinal fortitude to reach down for that little bit of gumption and give when there seems to be nothing left to give?...who seems to have "smelled the blood" of a soon to be vacated captaincy and responded with production and leadership?
20 seconds into the tampa bay highlights we see vanek get leveled by matty ohlund only to get up, take away the puck and uncork a slapshot that said, "you will not stop this"...just how groggy was he from the hit?...look at what he does after stever montador gets a little overzealous in the goal celebration...
from the time captain craig rivet went down after the november 6 game vs. toronto, a span of nine games, vanek has points in eight of those--5 goals (including two game-winners and a shoot-out goal, his second in a row,) 6 assists, and he is a plus-three...the sabres as a team went 5-3-1 during that stretch and moved from the near the bottom of the eastern conference into the middle-third, where they now hover...
it should be pointed out that ryan miller was back between the pipes for four of the five wins with the team going 1-2-1 in his absence...but that's what we're talking about--your best players being your best players...since ryan miller cannot/should not wear the "c," thomas vanek seems to want it more than any other sabre right now and is backing it up with production...
the sabres are at montreal tonight then are off until friday...if they want to remain where they're at and build upon a pretty strong month of november, two points tonight would go a long way, as teams around them will be able to garner points while they're off for five days...
and, if they want two points tonight, their best players will need to be their best players, with ryan miller and thomas vanek leading the charge...
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