oh God!...noooooo!how could the sabres lose to the ny islanders 7-6 and the toronto maple leafs 2-1 in ryan miller's last two starts?...worse, because of miller, jhonas enroth, who beat the motreal canadians on the road in between and makes about 1/10th of what miller makes, was sent down to portland....
i can see sabres' fans frantically looking for that panic button..."trade miller, now!!!...enroth is the future, at least near-term...look at the trend in the nhl?"..."even if miller was elite, you don't need an elite goalie to win the stanley cup"..."look at the blackhawks last season!"..."this bum makes $6m?"
no long diatribes here, just this:
- two of the last three cup-winners had goalies who were considered "above average" at best--chicago, 2010 with antti niemi and detroit, 2008 with chris osgood...the 2009 cup-winner was pittsburgh with 1st-overall pick (2003) marc-andre fleury in net...
- all three of those teams were strong up-the-middle
- all three of those teams were strong on defense
- all three of those teams either have future hall-of-famers on their team (detroit) or have youngin's that look to be future hall-of-famers (pittsburgh--crosby, chicago--toews, both #1 centers, btw)
- game one--brian boucher (L) 6-5
- game two--michael leighton (L) 2-1
- game three--leighton (W) 4-3 OT
- game four--leighton (W) 5-3
- game five--boucher (L) 7-4
- game six--leighton (L) 4-3 OT
22 goals given up by the hawks in six games
in addition, the flyers had a "roulette-wheel" decision to make on a nightly basis as to red or black--who to start...
sorry boys and girls, trends are just that--trends...remember the trend the sabres were out in front of?...the new nhl?...were did they end up after the nhl changed in 2007...exactly
tried and true take away miller and this team would be near the bottom of the league...
that's my story and i'm sticking to it
Giggy and Ward are above average when they won it. Elite goaltending isn't needed and the cash can be better spent. Sorry Boos.
ReplyDeletegoing back, cam ward was a bonafide #1 goalie as was giggy...
ReplyDeletei get the point, but how often in the last three years has money been the problem?...this year the sabres sit $4m under the cap...last year--$1.7m...2008/09--$6.3m...2007/08--$5.5m...
all-in-all, i like having a true #1 goalie...any team heading into--and moving through--the playoffs in a situation like the flyers last year, are basically sitting at the roulette wheel playing black or red...
the ancillary effect of miller in buffalo is that he adds credibility to the franchise...when a player of his calibre signs with the sabres, players take notice...
We agree to disagree. Miller isn't elite, there in lies the problem. Ward was a rookie that split time with Gerber and Jiggy was on his was down. The last elite goaltender was Marty 7-8yrs ago. Average goaltending wins cups and I'd rather put 3-4 mil of Miller's money towards a #1 center or top #2 d-man.
ReplyDeletei'm with ya, d...
ReplyDeletei happen to believe that he's just hitting his prime with plenty of upside...he hasn't stole games with the frequency he did last season, but he does win games...
remember two years ago when he went down?...checking back, the sabres went 4-7-2 during his absence and ultimately missed the playoffs by two points...
agree to disagree, but i will say this much: it'll be interesting to see if the philadelphia flyers model gets them a cup...
this will mark the fourth year in a row that they've gone with (relatively) inexpensive goalies and no clear-cut #1...it will also be the second year with a hall-of-famer on the back-end..
peace...and give a big howdy to all the buzzards for me
Will do. Keep up the good work.
ReplyDelete