Thursday, February 10, 2011

some random thoughts for february 10, 2011 (Andrej Sekera, Marc-Andre Gragnani)

how do you go from a 3-9-2 start, which put you at or near the bottom of the league, to 2 games below .500, and very near a top-eight spot in the conference without winning three games in a row?...very simple, don't lose more than two in a row...

and that's exactly what the sabres have done...since nov. 6th the sabres have gone 22-13-3 while losing two games in a row four times, once in late november (tampa, pitt) and once in mid december (fla, tampa) and once in late december (fla, calgary)...in that same time-span they've won two in a row seven times (four times since derek roy went down on dec. 23) including the latest (vs. totonto and tampa)...

been hearing alot of squawking concerning the lack of a three-game winning streak, and it's well deserved...but at least they haven't gone into a prolonged slump

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vancouver d-man dan hamhuis got leveled by the ducks ryan getzlaf last night and was out of it for a few moments...no comment on the hit here, except to say that it was a hockey hit, but ya gotta look at the canucks and see possible trading partner...their defense has been battered all season and, even with the return of sami salo possibly on saturday, they are still missing keith ballard who may be out 4 weeks and alex edler who's out indefinitely with back problems...

if darcy regier were to talk with 'nucks gm, mike gillis, i'm sure he'll bring along photos of nathan paetsch, jeff jillson and rory fitzpatrick...been there, done that, got bounced

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i want toronto's first-round pick in the 2011 draft...boston has it, and it looks to be around a top-five...word on the street is that it may be available...

bruins gm peter chiarelli is believed to be taking a look at rookie center zach hamill first, but "acknowledged he’d have to consider taking a look at what's available in the trade market."

ummmm....hello...darcy?....you remember jim benning, don't you?...yeah, he was with the organization for a while and went to boston where he's now assistant general manager...seems as if they could really use a veteran center as well as a veteran d-man...sure, it's within the division, but think about it--a top-five pick in the draft this year


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sorry guys (and gals,) i've not been sold on andrej sekera all season...love the way he can move the puck up-ice, don't like much else...as previously blogged, he needs to get away from tyler myers...myers has enough problems of his own and really doesn't need the scatter-brained defensive liabilities that rej brings to the table...park his ass on the third-pairing or, better yet, move him at the deadline...

one thing that makes rej moveable is the fact that the sabres are deep with "puck-movers" in the organization...marc-andre gragnani was poised to make the sabres out of training camp before his quest was derailed by injrury...last season was an ahl breakout year for the 6'2", 200lb. third-round pick (2005)--he had 12 goals, 31 assists and was a plus-2...this season's he's looking to better those marks...presently he's second on the team in scoring with eight goals, 24 assists and is a plus-11...the sabres also have fast-developing drew schietsel as well as tj brennan, alex biega and nick crawford plying their trade in portland...in addition, dennis persson, who at one point looked to be a lost-cause/first-round-bust, seems to be "getting it"...

would it really hurt the sabres near or long-term to move sekera, especially at the deadline when they'll get the optimum return?

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did y'all realize that portland back-up (and williamsville, ny native) david leggio is 14-4-0-1 with a 2.64 gaa and has a .915 sv%?...not bad for an undrafted free agent...(for more on him check out my previous blog)

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with the trade of ottawa's mike fisher to nashville today (no real surprise in "mr. underwood" heading to music city,) the 2011 trade deadline is off to an early start with the fisher deal being the fourth in the last 24 hrs...

with the gun sounding, how long will it be until regier joins the race?...yeah, i know...february 28th, noon is the over/under with the heavy money on the over...

peace


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