ch-ch-ch-ch-changes in the air?...hopefully

a slow start by the buffalo sabres equals widespread panic amongst some fans...(shrugs)...it's not surprising...as for the other extreme, general manager darcy regier stated that the components are there, they just need do redirect their focus and become more passionate...

some fans are calling for major changes, like firing head coach lindy ruff and/or regier, or minor changes like firing assistant coach brian mccutcheon (for an inept powerplay)...some are looking to player movement via trade, waive or buyout (names like tim connolly, craig rivet and jochen hecht are being thown about) as a way to shake things up...some put bags over their avatars heads...and some would like to see this:



then there's the group that still bemoans the loss of chris drury and daniel briere...and max afinogenov...and brian campbell...and hank tallinder...and even tim kennedy...fine...whatever...what's done is done, but if you want to wallow in what-shoulda-beens, go ahead...

simple facts:

• the buffalo sabres got booted from the playoffs last season in the first round
• at the end of season press conference, both larry quinn and darcy regier said significant changes need to be made
• the buffalo sabres are 3-6-1 to start the 2010/11 season, their 40th anniversary season
• larry quinn is part owner/managing partner of the buffalo sabres
• quinn has done a great job with the bottom line
• quinn is likes darcy regier as his general manager
• regier helped stabilize a franchise in turmoil when he came on board
• regier built an exciting team for the post-lockout nhl
• those two teams went far and the excitement remained through two non-playoff years, although it diminished until their playoff appearance last season
• regier also has stated that lindy ruff will remain on as coach as long as he's the gm, and there's no reason not to believe he'll remain true to that
• ruff has also been a stabilizing factor for the buffalo sabres during his tenure and he works with the team that was given him
• there has not been a change to the top-six on this team--save the trade of ales kotalik in 2009--post-drury-briere
• there has not been a impact trade to bring a player in since 2003 (drury)

based upon the above facts, its safe to assume that:

• larry quinn will be with the sabres as managing partner
• darcy regier will remain as general manager at least for this season
• lindy ruff, barring a total collapse, will remain on as coach (his contract also runs out at the end of the season) and with that comes the probability that assistant coaches mccutcheon and james patrick will remain on as well
• because of regier's belief in his core and a myriad of reasons (in his eyes) not to make a significant trade, there (in all probability) will be no movement in the top-six forwards
• because of the turn-over on the back-end with the loss top-four d-men tallinder and toni lydman countered by the additions of jordan leopold and shaone morrisonn, pretty sure that the latter along with captain craig rivet and steve montador will make up the "veteran" part of the d-corps...tyler myers leads they "youth" portion and either andrej sekera, chris butler or mike weber fill the final spot in the line-up while the other two will be in the pressbox...

you're probably asking yourself, "what's the point, boos?"

first off, the extremes are, well....the extremes...this 3-6-1 sabres team is not as talented as regier would think, nor does it have the leadership that he believes...on the other side, there is talent on this team--ryan miller is the reigning vezina winner, there are players like thomas vanek, derek roy and jason pomminville who do produce (although not as much or as consistently as we would like,) the defense--although in a bit of a rut right now--is solid and the bottom-six, veteran role players can--and do--contribute in a significant way to the sabres success both on and off the ice...plus they have two promising rookies in tyler myers and tyler ennis who are contributing...

but, as we all know, a move of significance is needed...since status quo reigns supreme with regier, nothing will probably get done unless this man gets involved:

"yeah, i'm ultimately responsible for the buffalo sabres"

what should he do?...tune in...



if i were a devils fan, i'd be ticked

if i was a devils fan who attended the game last night, i'd be ticked...ilya kovalchuk was a healthy scratch, martin brodeur was on the bench until johan hedberg (in his first start of the season) got the hook and the devils, outside of the first two minutes, played an incredibly listless game...

on kovalchuk:  it was speculated, according to msg analyst ron duguay, that kovalchuk and devils head coach john mclean had a spat...no further information has been released but this is what mclean had to say, “That’s between him and I,” MacLean said, “That was my decision"...and he did not elaborate on the reasons for scratching the two-time 50-goal scorer...
kovalchuk is an incredible offensive player, an elite sniper in the nhl...perhaps mclean found his defensive play offensive as well...who knows, but one thing for sure, the off-season turbulence is affecting the devils, who are off to a 2-5-1 start...

brodeur was given the night off, until he was summoned half-way through the game...hedberg, who had a 12-2-2 record vs. buffalo and a gaa of 2.25, got the hook after giving up four goals on 15 shots...

the sabres played a totally different team in the devils...basically they had a pretty easy night...some notes:

--mike weber had a solid game after a rough first couple of shifts and looked real confident in his first game of the season patrolling the blueline
--it seems as if tyler myers needs to add an extra inch to his stick, and maybe he should dump the composite stick for a wood one...it's as if the puck is always half-an-inch out of reach (maybe because myers grew an inch since last season) and is bouncing off his stick more often than not...yeah, he's having a rough start, but there will come a time where the game will slow down and it will start making sense again...he's going through some changes--height, weight, opposition, d-partner...kinda like going through puberty all over again
--chris butler seems to be rounding into his'08/9 form, which is a good thing

it'll be interesting to see how these three acquit themselves throughout the season...as of now andrej sekera and butler have had the most ice-time, and of the two, buts has looked much better...it seems as if the game has slowed for him

tyler ennis has been on a line with vets rob niedermayer and mike grier...as mentioned in another blog here, it's a good thing...the gripes from sabredom have been about him wasting his talents on the third line with checkers and defensive-minded players were at a fever-pitch when this line was announced...just to remind everyone, danny gare came into the league as a scorer and spent his rookie campaign with don luce and craig ramsay, two of the best defensive forwards in the league...he had a 50-goal rookie season...

on hank tallinder:  jerry sullivan of the buffalo news brings up the point that maybe tyler myers is having a poor start because of the loss of hank tallinder...the article is more about the loss of tim kennedy, but he ties in hank as well...as part of "the core" hank really didn't do much for me...yes he had a comeback year last season, and that can be attributed more to myers than anything, but he was one of the biggest wusses on the team...two instances where he failed to protect his goalie, the face of the franchise--the scott gomez (nyr) hit on ryan miller and the chris phillips (ott) hit on miller as well...totally inexcusable...

lack of compete was a hallmark of henrik tallinder when he was in buffalo...it seems as if tallinder carried it with him to new jersey as exemplified in a play where 5'6" nathan gerbe out-competes 6'4" tallinder for the puck setting up a bang-bang, derek roy to thomas vanek goal...

myers will shake his heebie-jeebies...as for hank?...so long and thanx for all the fish

 

the last on tim kennedy (for me, at least)

tim kennedy would be in the blue-and-gold for the 10/11 season if:

• he could win faceoffs
• his agent, allain roy, would have properly guaged the market-place
• he would have accepted a two-way contract with the sabres

cut the crap with all the home-town-boy sentiment...

simple fact is that nobody wanted to trade for the former 6th-round pick and nobody was willing to snatch him up on waivers for $1m...and, as we speak (type,) kennedy has yet to sign a contract even though the sabres are on the hook for $167k this season (and next)...fact is, kennedy is a small, bottom-six (as of now) lw who gambled and lost...

as a player, i really liked his sandpaper, really liked the way he brought it every game, and think he has the capability to become a top-nine lw production-wise...in essence, he was anti-core...a hard-working, lunch-bucket player who, on the ice, didn't seem to take for granted the fact that he was in the nhl...

for his part, darcy regier offered $800k on a two-way contract which, imo, was a somewhat generous offer considering the market-place this off-season...as much as i dislike what regier has done over the past few years, and as much as i believe he should not be renewed at the end of the season, it looks as if his offer was above market-value for kennedy and more than fair in this case...

the gamble for the kennedy camp was that regier would do what he said he would do...that he would buy out the contract if it came in at that price...after all, they thought (imo, of course,) there's no way that the sabres would create a public relations mess over $200k for a hometown-boy, right?...the (print) press and the afternoon radio sports-talk show would be all over it...dirt from the past would be flying...parallels between past "controversial" decisions and this one would put regier in a cage...and the quinn-bashing would, once again, reach a feverish pitch...

all parties played their cards well on this one...it was obvious that regier had the hand won, pretty foolish to think that he could be bluffed...

much respect for kennedy...he did well on the ice and i'm sure a contract awaits him for this season...even though it may end up being a parallel salary (including the sabres $167k,) there are many players who've either done that or have taken less to continue to play the game...

good luck, tim