When the Buffalo Sabres were rolling four lines the last two games without John Scott in the line-up they had back-to-back four-goal games that wound up being back-to-back wins.
To the anti-Scott contingency, those two games were proof that the Sabres didn't need a talentless goon/enforcer wasting a precious spot on the ice even against a tough team like the Boston Bruins, a team who the Sabres had beaten 4-2 two nights earlier. They have legitimate fourth-liners like Matt "Freakin" Ellis, Kevin Porter, Matt D'Agostini and now Linus Omark to skate a regular shift.
What was that?
Oh, he didn't play last night in their 4-1 loss against Boston?
Hmmm. So that's why the Bruins Zdeno Chara used Steve Ott as a tree stump to hack at. Oh yeah, and that's why the Bruins Johnny Boychuk was flying around the ice laying to waste any Sabre he wanted. (How's your hip, Porter?)
Even the Bruins Patrice Bergeron had his chest full last night, slashing away at Tyler Myers before both dropped the gloves. It was Bergeron's first NHL fight (and Myers' second.)
In anti-Scott circles (mostly outside of Buffalo) the common refrain is that Scott is totally worthless.
In Buffalo, the following from a Sabres fan in a Sabres thread who calls himself (or herself) sbroads24, sums up the local anti-Scott contingency: "John Scott has 0 points and is a -9 in his career as a Sabre, also being by far the worst possession forward on the team, maybe even the league. Most of his shifts start in the offensive zone and end in the defensive zone. He's not a good player, Nolan can try all he want that won't change. Waive him, no one will take him, let him play in Rochester until someone cheap shots us again. He's wasting a spot that could be occupied by a young player."
He (or she) continues in a later post: "The numbers prove he's an awful player, our record proves him being here does nothing to help the team. People like him because they like fighting, that's it. I'm pretty confident Scott will not be here next year when a new GM is here, and wouldn't be surprised to see him waived at some point. The last 2 games proved he literally makes no difference and they are better with other guys in his place."
The Sabres would be better this year with other guys in his place, if the other guys were, say, Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Pavel Datsyuk, Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, etc...
But, unfortunately on this edition of the Sabres, the team only has a bunch of borderline NHL'ers ready to take his spot. A handful of players who are a dime a dozen, who do skate a regular shift, but whose contributions are so scarce that a win or two because of them will probably not make much of a difference when all's said and done.
What we do have, though, at this point in the season are black and white numbers that can help frame the Great John Scott Debate because the Sabres have played 36 games this season and Scott has played in 18 (drum roll please):
The record with Scott in the lineup--4-11-3, 11 pts. Without Scott--5-13-0, 10 pts.
Goals-for with Scott in the lineup--25, 1.38/gm. Without Scott--39, 2.16/gm.
Goals-against with Scott in the lineup--48, 2.67/gm. Without Scott--56, 3.11/gm.
Goal differential with Scott in the lineup--minus-23. Without Scott--minus--17.
It's pretty simple. Obviously Scott really doesn't have any skill to speak of, and he certainly isn't helping the team on offense.
Defensively, though, the team is a bit better when he's in the lineup.
Overall, things balance out to the point where this year the team snagged one more point with Scott in the lineup.
So speak the numbers.
Personally, I wouldn't worry about Scott taking away time from the likes of Ellis or Porter or even a young borderline NHL'er like Luke Adam this season. What I do worry about is the burden of protecting teammates falling on the shoulders of Steve Ott, Cody McCormick and Mike Weber.
They should not be tangling with the heavyweights of the league and/or getting their heads bashed in ala Corey Tropp. At least not on a regular basis.
Overusing tough, gritty players to stand up for their teammates in an enforcer role put a hurtin' on former Sabres like Craig Rivet and Robyn Regehr. The goal should be to keep tough and gritty players then add to the lot, not hasten their demise by having them play an enforcer role.
In this year of transition, where more of an emphasis is on tougher and grittier, the Ott's and McCormick's as well as youngin's like Marcus Foligno and even Zemgus Girgensons need Scott. Methinks that the rest of the team like having him around as well.
*******
Tyler Myers drops the gloves with Patrice Bergeron.
Umm, Tyler? You might want to bring that swing a little lower when the guy is that much shorter and, ummm, an upper-cut coulda really done some damage.
Just a thought.
Showing posts with label whiny internet posts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label whiny internet posts. Show all posts
Sunday, December 22, 2013
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Dude, Really? What Are You Like After A Loss?
The set-up:
The seventh-seeded Buffalo Sabres go into Philadelphia for the first game of their series. Due to a relentless forecheck the Sabres are forced into a Muhammed Ali-like "rope-a-dope" battle. The officiating "tilts" towards the Flyers as they have a 5-1 advantage on the powerplay.
This is the type of scenario that in the past would have lead to a sure Sabres loss. Instead the Sabres PK unit shuts down the Flyers, they hold them scoreless throughout the game and take Game One, 1-0.
Nothing really to complain aboput right?
Leave it to this "fan" to find something (many things) to whine about:
http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/sabres-nhl/article394072.ece
Here's an unbelievable line from the above article:
"Ice time was a factor, with Vanek and Ennis getting only 13 minutes because of the Flyers' 5-1 power-play edge."
Doesn't Vanek earn over 7 MILLION DOLLARS a year? I know our new owner isn't as concerned about his bottom line as the previous owner, but talk about getting laughably little for your money!
Nobody wants to criticize Lindy right about now, and I get that. However, why do other teams double shift their stars earning that much money, while Ruff not only never double shifts Vanek, but also allows him to sit even longer on the bench in a playoff game due to "game circumstances." ?
At the same time, Ruff has thought nothing about over-playing his star goalie who earns about 2 Million a year less then Vanek, to the point of exhaustion year after year. Is it just me, or shouldn't Vanek be killing penalties sometimes, as well as double shifting regularly? Especially now at this point in his young career, as he seems to be taking on the role of leadership more and more?
I bet Edmonton would have used the heck out of him had the Sabres not matched that insane contract the Oilers handed him a few years ago. Of course I have no way of proving that take, but I see almost every other team double shifting it's star players and using them on all special teams. Why doesn Vanek get used so sparely on Buffalo?
Every Sabre on the team did what they needed to do on Thursday night. They won.
The seventh-seeded Buffalo Sabres go into Philadelphia for the first game of their series. Due to a relentless forecheck the Sabres are forced into a Muhammed Ali-like "rope-a-dope" battle. The officiating "tilts" towards the Flyers as they have a 5-1 advantage on the powerplay.This is the type of scenario that in the past would have lead to a sure Sabres loss. Instead the Sabres PK unit shuts down the Flyers, they hold them scoreless throughout the game and take Game One, 1-0.
Nothing really to complain aboput right?
Leave it to this "fan" to find something (many things) to whine about:
http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/sabres-nhl/article394072.ece
Here's an unbelievable line from the above article:
"Ice time was a factor, with Vanek and Ennis getting only 13 minutes because of the Flyers' 5-1 power-play edge."
Doesn't Vanek earn over 7 MILLION DOLLARS a year? I know our new owner isn't as concerned about his bottom line as the previous owner, but talk about getting laughably little for your money!
Nobody wants to criticize Lindy right about now, and I get that. However, why do other teams double shift their stars earning that much money, while Ruff not only never double shifts Vanek, but also allows him to sit even longer on the bench in a playoff game due to "game circumstances." ?
At the same time, Ruff has thought nothing about over-playing his star goalie who earns about 2 Million a year less then Vanek, to the point of exhaustion year after year. Is it just me, or shouldn't Vanek be killing penalties sometimes, as well as double shifting regularly? Especially now at this point in his young career, as he seems to be taking on the role of leadership more and more?
I bet Edmonton would have used the heck out of him had the Sabres not matched that insane contract the Oilers handed him a few years ago. Of course I have no way of proving that take, but I see almost every other team double shifting it's star players and using them on all special teams. Why doesn Vanek get used so sparely on Buffalo?
Every Sabre on the team did what they needed to do on Thursday night. They won.
DOWN GOES FRAZIER!!!
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Why Ryan Miller Is Disliked By Some Sabres Fans
Nothing earth-shattering, but in a classic, "what have you done for me lately/the grass is greener"-scenario, the play of Sabres back-up, Jhonas Enroth, has given fuel to the ever-present, "Ryan Miller is average and not worth his salary" contingency.
Sabres fans and the media tend to get a little overzealous, at times, and there's talk of Enroth supplanting Miller. WGR's, Mike Schopp, tried to get Sabres beat-reporter Paul Hamilton to commit to the concept, but Hamilton shot him down (the same thing happened when Schopp wanted Lindy Ruff to be held accountable [read: fired] earlier in the year) without giving the matter a second thought.
The internet's where the fun is as fans chime in on everything. The Enroth/Miller "debate" is interesting, if not amusing at this point, at least in my opinion.
Sports fans usually have a short memory. Before the Toronto game, Miller had two shutouts--both 1-0--at Montreal and vs. New Jersey. Sandwiched in between was a 4-2 victory against Florida. But it was the loss to Toronto that pulled out the pitch-forks and torches.
Meh, whatever. So we delve into the morass with a composite of posts concerning Ryan Miller taken from a hockey-rumor site Wednesday, March 31:
Again.....Miller is so way overrated by many on here Indy......... You know Pairo...For 6.3 million I expect Hasek like performances every night and Vezina trophies every year...
i have hasek/Roy expectations for a goalie making over 6 mil a year.. i don't expect him to save them all (i am realistic) but for what he is supposed to be valued as i don't feel he fills his end of the bargain... All that being said at this point if i had to chose i would probably pick him over Ewok (Enroth).. for now
And I would too but I only base that on Ewok's limited body of work. God forbid Miller DID get hurt for the better part of a full season and Ewok put up a 2.5 GAA and a .910 save percentage while he played, If I'm GM I seriously consider making the change permanent and taking what I can in trade for Miller.
I actually have that mindset now. If Darcy could get a couple top 6 forwards and a pick/prospect (obviously it would depend on which top 6's are coming back) I think long and hard on that deal...
my reason for keeping miller at this point is also based upon the body of work only.. However if you can move miller for a top 6 forward or top 2 D i would do it... go get another back up goalie or young up and comer at a low cost (maybe JSG or Lindback) split the time in goal. As you said solid D and timely scoring seems to mean more..
(out come the stats):
Year GP W L GAA SV%
2002-03 15 6 8 2.63 .902
2003-04 3 0 3 5.06 .795
2005-06 48 30 14 2.60 .914
2006-07 63 40 16 2.73 .911
2007-08 76 36 27 2.64 .906
2008-09 59 34 18 2.53 .918
2009-10 47 29 12 2.10 .932
2010-11 32 21 8 2.62 .914
Which one is least like the rest? when will people start to understand last year was the OFF year.. the Stats do not LIE..
aside from the start of last season til the all star break, every year for miller is an off year
i do not understand how so many people are blind to the truth.. him looking good before was smoke and mirrors because they were scoring at will and winning when they had briere and drury.. then last year he stood on his head and now he is back to what he was before but our offense is not.. He has always been a slightly above average goalie that some how is the face of the american hockey.
I don't know how easy it would be to get rid of him, so i think we will have to get used to seeing him back there
Conspiracy Theory Alert!
Ryan Miller faked the injury against the Rangers because he is afraid of making this year his worst loss percentage of his career.
http://sports.yahoo.com/n...K_D8vtqAvHNomVFI3UHVivLYF
A loss last night would have put him on par with his record during the 2007-08 season - the worst of is career and the year the Sabres finished 10th in the conference.
He opted to play against TO to play for the "easy" win. He played poorly, realized he wouldn't be able to play his best against the Rangers, and instead of taking a likely loss, let Enroth play to not make this the worst season of his career.
My take on Ryan Miller:
http://buffalosabresnow.blogspot.com/2011/01/trade-ryan-miller.html
http://buffalosabresnow.blogspot.com/2011/02/despite-trend-ryan-miller-stays.html
Big thanx to my buzzard friends, though...Solid!!!
 |
| Ryan Miller |
This is nothing new, it's been going on all year. The Miller-hate/dislike always peaks after a Sabres loss. This time it grew after Enroth shut out the NY Rangers 1-0 Wednesday night while Miller was out with an injury (or if you go to the end, a "fake injury").
 |
| Jhonas Enroth |
All the talk is about Enroth, and it should be, because of him the Sabres are presently in a playoff position and could end up as high as 6th in the conference. He's been playing very well.
Sabres fans and the media tend to get a little overzealous, at times, and there's talk of Enroth supplanting Miller. WGR's, Mike Schopp, tried to get Sabres beat-reporter Paul Hamilton to commit to the concept, but Hamilton shot him down (the same thing happened when Schopp wanted Lindy Ruff to be held accountable [read: fired] earlier in the year) without giving the matter a second thought.
The internet's where the fun is as fans chime in on everything. The Enroth/Miller "debate" is interesting, if not amusing at this point, at least in my opinion.
Sports fans usually have a short memory. Before the Toronto game, Miller had two shutouts--both 1-0--at Montreal and vs. New Jersey. Sandwiched in between was a 4-2 victory against Florida. But it was the loss to Toronto that pulled out the pitch-forks and torches.
Meh, whatever. So we delve into the morass with a composite of posts concerning Ryan Miller taken from a hockey-rumor site Wednesday, March 31:
Again.....Miller is so way overrated by many on here Indy......... You know Pairo...For 6.3 million I expect Hasek like performances every night and Vezina trophies every year...
i have hasek/Roy expectations for a goalie making over 6 mil a year.. i don't expect him to save them all (i am realistic) but for what he is supposed to be valued as i don't feel he fills his end of the bargain... All that being said at this point if i had to chose i would probably pick him over Ewok (Enroth).. for now
And I would too but I only base that on Ewok's limited body of work. God forbid Miller DID get hurt for the better part of a full season and Ewok put up a 2.5 GAA and a .910 save percentage while he played, If I'm GM I seriously consider making the change permanent and taking what I can in trade for Miller.
I actually have that mindset now. If Darcy could get a couple top 6 forwards and a pick/prospect (obviously it would depend on which top 6's are coming back) I think long and hard on that deal...
my reason for keeping miller at this point is also based upon the body of work only.. However if you can move miller for a top 6 forward or top 2 D i would do it... go get another back up goalie or young up and comer at a low cost (maybe JSG or Lindback) split the time in goal. As you said solid D and timely scoring seems to mean more..
(out come the stats):
Year GP W L GAA SV%
2002-03 15 6 8 2.63 .902
2003-04 3 0 3 5.06 .795
2005-06 48 30 14 2.60 .914
2006-07 63 40 16 2.73 .911
2007-08 76 36 27 2.64 .906
2008-09 59 34 18 2.53 .918
2009-10 47 29 12 2.10 .932
2010-11 32 21 8 2.62 .914
Which one is least like the rest? when will people start to understand last year was the OFF year.. the Stats do not LIE..
aside from the start of last season til the all star break, every year for miller is an off year
i do not understand how so many people are blind to the truth.. him looking good before was smoke and mirrors because they were scoring at will and winning when they had briere and drury.. then last year he stood on his head and now he is back to what he was before but our offense is not.. He has always been a slightly above average goalie that some how is the face of the american hockey.
I don't know how easy it would be to get rid of him, so i think we will have to get used to seeing him back there
Conspiracy Theory Alert!
Ryan Miller faked the injury against the Rangers because he is afraid of making this year his worst loss percentage of his career.
http://sports.yahoo.com/n...K_D8vtqAvHNomVFI3UHVivLYF
A loss last night would have put him on par with his record during the 2007-08 season - the worst of is career and the year the Sabres finished 10th in the conference.
He opted to play against TO to play for the "easy" win. He played poorly, realized he wouldn't be able to play his best against the Rangers, and instead of taking a likely loss, let Enroth play to not make this the worst season of his career.
My take on Ryan Miller:
http://buffalosabresnow.blogspot.com/2011/01/trade-ryan-miller.html
http://buffalosabresnow.blogspot.com/2011/02/despite-trend-ryan-miller-stays.html
Big thanx to my buzzard friends, though...Solid!!!
Saturday, January 15, 2011
trade ryan miller?
gotta love some of the blogs complaining about ryan miller...sure, he's not having a vezina-like season, but he's been solid and has come back strong after an inauspicious/injury-plagued start to the season...
many of the posters on various blogs point to his stats post-lockout and boldly state that, outside of last year's vezina-winning campaign, miller is average, overpaid and should be traded...
one of the "greatest" trades had ryan miller going to detroit for goaltender jimmy howard and a couple of other red wings not named datsuk, zetterberg, franzen or even abdelkader...the thought being that howard is as good as miller and is cheaper and that the sabres should "sell high"...and it's based strictly on goalie stats not taking in consideration the team that's in front of either goalie...so let's look at the stats for this season, starting with the teams (which the arm-chair gm's fail to mention):
the team breakdown goes like this...as of right now:
- detroit record, 27-11-6...buffalo, 19-19-5
- detroit, points percentage, .682 (2nd in the league)...buffalo, .500 (tied, 23rd)
- detroit goals/game, 3.39 (2nd)...buffalo, 2.65 (19th)
- detroit goals against/game, 2.82 (18th)...buffalo, 2.93 (20th)
- jimmy howard has a record of 22-7-3...ryan miller is 17-13-4
- howard has two shutouts...miller, three
- howard's gaa is 2.83...miller's is 2.64
- howard's save percentage is .906...miller's is .912
no, guys, it has nothing to do with the team in front of goalies...
i guess many still can't get over dominik hasek and will forever compare any sabres goalie to him
my senitiments, exactly, "dominator"
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
a post from a hockey rumors site:
"All of this talk about thanking Golisano...Great...If you must thank him go ahead...As I recall there were 2 other potential buyers at the time and Golisano happened to be Bettmans favorite....Me...I just say good riddance TG....You had the ability to provide us with a competitive team but instead you chose to use the team to make money for yourself forsaking the good fans of Buffalo by providing an underachieving, less than mediocre team that portrayed your own lack of enthusiasm for the game and winning. Goodbye TG and take that piece of trash Larry with you. I hope you enjoy all of the money you made off the good people of Buffalo."--a post from a hockey rumors website
dude, really?
"All of this talk about thanking Golisano...Great...If you must thank him go ahead...As I recall there were 2 other potential buyers at the time and Golisano happened to be Bettmans favorite....Me...I just say good riddance TG....You had the ability to provide us with a competitive team but instead you chose to use the team to make money for yourself forsaking the good fans of Buffalo by providing an underachieving, less than mediocre team that portrayed your own lack of enthusiasm for the game and winning. Goodbye TG and take that piece of trash Larry with you. I hope you enjoy all of the money you made off the good people of Buffalo."--a post from a hockey rumors websitedude, really?
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