soooooo...you may have heard that drew stafford scored a hat trick vs. the bruins a couple of nights ago...pretty damn impressive, especially because they were the only three goals that the sabres scored..two of them came on the normally languid pp as well...plus, sabres won that four-point match vs. their adams division rival...most definitely first star worthy... ***we saw daniel briere play, you, sir are no briere***
derek roy has been driving me crazy and during the past two-plus seasons i've wanted him shipped out...yup, i'll admit it...i loved him for his first couple seasons as he hit the ice with alot of spunk for such a small player...and his feistiness lead to some solid production...but...
after july 1, 2007, i began to turn on him...and it wasn't for his production, which hit a career high of 81 points in 78 games in the '07/8 season, it was how he got those numbers and the style of game he played... he seemed to be skating with a sense of entitlement instead of a sense of purpose...he moped alot and gave up when the going got tough...on many instances lindy ruff called him out for being too fancy, especially in front of the home crowd..imo, he thought he was the second coming of daniel briere, and after briere's departure, it was if he felt that he was the anointed successor to briere's leadership role...
***thick-headed***
derek roy would love to score highlight-reel goals in a "run-n-gun" system, that's what the sabres did in his second season when the team scored a league-high 3.63 goals per game on their way to the presidents trophy...and who wouldn't?...it was his preferred style, a style in which he was reared...lots of goals in a free-style manner is good for the ego and, probably more importantly, good for the wallet...
the problem, though, is that since that '06/7 season the league has changed, clutching and grabbing has crept back in and it's a helluva lot harder to score goals....and, for three seasons, roy still thought he could dipsy-doodle his way through this pre-lockout style of play...the end-result was solid numbers for roy, two non-playoff years and a first-round knockout delivered at the hands of the boston bruins for the team...
***from spotlight to second-fiddle***
this year seems to be different...it may have started out similar to non-playoff years, though, with the sabres going into an october funk the likes of which hasn't been seen for quite some time...roy lead the team in goals (6) and assists (7) and was in the top-ten in points league-wide, even leading the league at one point...he was also one of the games 3-stars three times (1st, 2nd, 3rd)...but the sabres finished the month 3-7-2, near the bottom of the eastern conference...great for roy, bad for the team...
during the month roy's goal total went from six to three and he was named a game-star once (3rd)...but roy had eight assists during november and of them six were primary...the sabres began to pull themselves out of the hole they dug by going 6-6-1 for the month...
***keep it going***
the team has started out the month of december by going 4-1-1 playing some pretty good hockey against some pretty good teams...we've seen thomas vanek get off the schneid as he begins to heat up...we saw drew stafford come back from an injury twice during the month and in two games he has four goals (including the hat trick)...and we've seen the pp edge upwards poised to hit the middle-third of the league after an atrocious start...
as we look at what roy has done during this month, he's continuing to be the set-up man and is on pace for a career-high of 60 assists...of his eight assists this month, five have been primary...he's been named a star of the game only once (2nd) so far in december...
***roy's niche***
the sabres are playing a much stronger team game and are moving up the standings...for his part derek roy seems to have found his niche, at least in terms of how he, and the team, can be successful in the league as the game is played right now...
is it too early to dump the "poor man's briere" and "dipsy-doodle" monikers from roy?...mmmmmm...maybe...is it to early to say "he's got it?"...possibly...is his simplified (can't believe i'm gonna type this,) unselfish approach helping the team?...yup, immensely...
derek roy is actually becoming the team-leader he always thought he was (or could/should be) by not trying to be the hero, by not being highlight-reel fancy, and by not wanting to be a star...and i believe he's smart enough to understand, and may further embrace, the irony of it...blue-collar buffalonians certainly do...
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