Nathan Gerbe Spin-o-Rama Goal

Here's to you, Daniel Carcillo.

Nathan Gerbe epitomizes the city of Buffalo in the eyes of the sportsworld. He's a hard-woking guy who really gets no respect.

Last night Flyers pest, Daniel Carcillo, condescendingly gave Gerbe a "good little boy" pat on the head with the Flyers ahead in the game and seemingly in control.

Midway through the third period, Gerbe repaid that bone-headed move with one of the best goals of the year in the entire NHL.

Not to make this too much about Carcillo, because yesterday as a whole was a landmark in Sabres lore, but Carcillo has a flare for stupidity.

Back on April 25, 2009, Carcillo's hubris got the best of him and his team against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

With the Flyers in complete control of the game and the Wachovia Center rocking, Carcillo dropped the gloves with Max Talbot. In a somewhat spirited bout, Carcillo got the better of Talbot and headed to the box arms-a-pumpin' much to the delight of the home crowd.

It was an unecessary fight and/or taunt and was a turning point in the game as the Penguins scored five unanswered goals to win the series 4-2.
http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008030146

But. Enough of that.



Here's to Nate Gerbe and the Buffalo Sabres.

~~~ADDENDUM~~~

From John Vogl, the Sabres Edge, April 14, 2011:

PHILADELPHIA -- Nathan Gerbe is short. He always has been. It's likely the 5-foot-5 Buffalo forward hears cracks about his size on the ice all the time, but Philadelphia's Daniel Carcillo took it to another level during the teams' last meeting. The Flyers' agitator patted Gerbe on top of the head, a move that aggravated Sabres coach Lindy Ruff.

Gerbe insisted today it didn't bother him.


"No, not at all," Gerbe said after preparing for Game One of the teams' playoff series tonight. "I’ve heard it since Day One of my life, so it’s something I’ve lived with, I’ve rolled with, and other players I know in this league have, too. It’s something you have to go through.


"It doesn’t bug me. I’m a small player, you can’t be surprised."


Gerbe got the last word in Friday's game, scoring a dynamic spin-o-rama goal midway through the third period to tie a game the Sabres won in overtime, 4-3.


"I don’t how me patting somebody on their head sparks a team," Carcillo said today. "But, you know, the kid made a pretty nice move and got lucky with it going off [defenseman Danny] Syvret’s stick. It is what it is. I don’t really have much to say about that.


"That’s your guys’ job is to magnify everything, you know? Ours is to try and keep it as even-keel as we can."


Gerbe says he won't have much to say to Carcillo, but it's certainly a matchup worth watching.


"You have to take a lot of hits, maybe some whacks and stuff after the play, but you’re going to have to suck it up and keep going," Gerbe said. "You’ve got to remember that the team is bigger than any individual player. I don’t care about getting Carcillo back. I’d rather win a game for this team. That’s the biggest thing. We know what kind of player he is, so I’ll just have to stay away from him and let him be."