Halfway There

by Ryan

There are many ways to categorize the passage of time. For most people these periods of time are divided by weeks, months, and years. For entire civilizations time has passed by decades and centuries, and each can be broken down into other various periods, eras, and so on. With all those classifications, you would think people would settle with the choices we have, but sports fans have one more category: seasons.

Just as with time in general, seasons can be broken down and examined in a variety of ways. You can take a season month by month, week by week, or even game by game. The slow crawl of a hockey season leaves plenty of time for introspection, but the traditional benchmark for a look back is the halfway point. After 42 games you have a pretty good impression of the league, and can determine which teams are good, which teams are bad, and which teams still have time to be good.

We all know the numbers that represent this team's progress. 21-16-5. 47 points. 7th in the Eastern Conference. These numbers indicate that the Sabres have a good chance of making the playoffs, and after last season's disappointment it's hard to say that wouldn't be progress. The numbers don't lie, Buffalo is in relatively good shape in the playoff race, and a finish just above .500 would get them a spot in the postseason.

However, when you take away the numbers and consider what you've watched this season, it's hard to be satisfied with much. After a fast start the Sabres finished off October with a two game losing streak. Both games were awful performances at home, which would prove to be a trend as time passed. November saw another period of up and down hockey, with a five game losing streak anchoring the month. There were more terrible home games, most notably against Columbus and Philadelphia.

December started with another disaster at home, this time against the Predators. The up and down play continued, with a record hovering just over .500 and a home record on life support. Fans were getting restless, and the team was unable to string more than a few wins together at a time. While the new year has brought a 4-1 record thus far, we still don't know if this team will be able to make a push towards the postseason or if they will continue to play mediocre hockey.

If there is a word to describe the first half, it is "uneven." The effort from individual players as well as the team as a whole has fluctuated game in and game out, and no one is quite sure how to get things to change. The "last straw" of sorts may be the embarrassing 4-2 home loss against Washington on December 30th, but that remains to be seen.

Injuries can be given some of the blame, with captain Craig Rivet missing significant time as well as Tim Connolly, Patrick Kaleta, Jochen Hecht, and Paul Gaustad missing extended periods. This has resulted in a lot of rookies seeing lots of ice time, and while they have played well at times it was quite evident the holes in the lineup hurt the effort.

A discussion of season highlights begins and ends with Thomas Vanek, who led the league in goals for the majority of the season and only remains a few off the pace at the halfway point. He has had a few shaky performances here and there, but no one has played better for the Sabres than Atlas. Derek Roy leads the team in points, but his game has been noticeably lacking for periods of time. Even with his current numbers people expect more of him, and I have a hard time arguing against that sentiment.

The defense has struggled, with previously strong players such as Henrik Tallinder and Teppo Numminen playing poorly. With Rivet missing time the blue line has seen its share of youngsters, with Chris Butler and Mike Weber starting games with the big club. Andrej Sekera has continued to evolve into a top flight defenseman, seeing huge ice time in his first full year with the club.

The rest of the forwards have been a grab bag of moderate growth and utter disappointment. Maxim Afinogenov has been downright awful, and players such as Clarke MacArthur, Drew Stafford, and Daniel Paille have been uneven in their play thus far. A steady forecheck has come from the likes of Gaustad, Mair, and Peters, and Kaleta has done his job when healthy enough to do so.

When I look back on the season I see more missed chances and frustration than anything. So many home games were given away, and at times it seems little effort was put forth in a number of games. The Sabres are still in decent shape, but you can only look back on those lost points and wonder where they could be with a full effort in every game. This team is still looking for an identity and leadership, and until it finds it they will continue to lose games they should win, giving away points in the process.

The good news is that there is reason to think the Sabres will improve down the stretch. Play between the pipes has improved, and a capable backup behind Miller will allow the franchise goaltender to catch his breath in February and March. They have an abundance of forwards giving secondary scoring to the top line, with 15 players registering at least ten points. This means there may be a few chips available for Darcy Regier to make a move. The defense has played better recently, and if they can stay healthy down the stretch they may be able to find a solid top six to roll out on a nightly basis.

If there is anything you can appreciate about the Sabres thus far, it's that they haven't completely shot themselves in the foot this year. Last season's halfway point brought a ten game losing streak that all but killed the postseason. The Sabres have been uneven, but they certainly haven't been bad for an extended period of time.

The Buffalo Sabres are an underachieving team for sure, but not to the point where this season has been a failure. There is room for growth, room for improvement, and room for change if necessary. There is no free agent elephant in the room, no major expiring contracts to get upset about, and no salary cap crunch. For the next 40 games, all anyone has to worry about is playing hockey well enough to play another seven hockey games come April.

Based on that last sentence alone, I'd say things are looking up.

Last Game Against the Bottom Feeders

The Sabres have played Tampa three times already this season. Let's review:

Oct. 27: Sabres 4. Lightning 3.
Overtime winner by Vanek.



Jan. 29: Sabres 4. Lightning 2.
Three point night for Pominville.



Feb. 20: Sabres 4. Lightning 3.
Vanek scores in overtime for his first career hat trick.



Tonight should be a good night, even if we are sitting in tenth.

Rangers are in New Jersey tonight and the Blackhawks are hosting the Capitals so if the Sabres take care of business and get some help, they'll be one point out of a playoff spot by sunrise. But let's play the game first...

So How'd That Scoreboard Watching Go?

by Ryan

Crap


Crap


Crap


Crap

Uh... not so good, then? I guess it's back to 9th and we'll have to do it ourselves tonight.

10-7-1, boys and girls.

Some thoughts on the Habs and another two big points to come.

A Look Back

by Ryan

To be completely honest, I started this post almost two months ago. I was looking through things this morning and found that I never finished it. Being that this is the first Sunday without football (you know, if you consider the Pro Bowl "football") I thought it would be a good time to take a look back at the season that was.
Here we go:

Buffalo Bills Record: 7-9

Points per game: 15.8 (ranked 30th)

Yards allowed per game: 362.9 (ranked 31st)

Bills players on Injured Reserve: 17

Crushing, absolutely soul sucking home losses: 2 (Dallas and Denver)

Players thrown under the bus: 1



Blank stares: countless



Derek Schouman transactions: 5

People who can actually picture Derek Schouman: 0

Games played at Skydome: 0

Ridiculous photoshops of Kevin Everett: 1



Photoshops not in bad taste due to medical miracles: see above

Reasons for hope: 2





Tag of the year: "We got Dick for Less..."

Favorite joke no one got: Patrick Estes




It's going to be one heck of an off season...

At the Halfway Mark

by Ryan

If you would have told me we would be hovering at the .500 mark after 41 games this year, I would have punched you in the mouth.

Seriously, I would have punched you in the mouth, then told you that you are reading too much into the value of Danny Briere and Chris Drury. Yeah, I'm as much of a "team chemistry" guy as anyone can be, but we have an almost identical roster other then those two players. Violence is not a common response from me, but after such a silly statement I would have felt it fitting. You expect me to believe we are going to sit in 11th place on January 9th, 2008?

Shenanigans. I declare shenanigans on you, good sir. Half of the roster could have made the All Star Game. Vanek and Pomminville are going to score 40 goals each this year. Drew Stafford is going to make "the leap." Tim Connolly is going to be Tim Connolly and set up goals like Moses granted him the golden Synergy himself.

And yet, here we sit.

19-18-4

42 points.

11th place.

Wow.

I think the picture of the season as of yet is this:



Insert whoever you'd like over Stan's face. Connolly, Roy, Pomminville, Stafford, Afinogenv, Gaustad, or most recently Vanek will all do. So many missed chances and lost points. This season the difference between 4th and 12th place is just a few missed chances and blown leads. How many of those have we had to put is in 11th?

We will get to some numbers and real insight before the Ottawa game, but what I wanted to talk about was how this season has felt so far. I can't be the only one that has been monstrously let down by these first 41 games, nor the only person with a certain optimism to the next 41. Eventually, they have to turn it around.

Let's face it, there is too much talent on this team for them to suck this hard for 81 games. Something will give, and until then all I ask is a consistent effort from everyone on the roster. Just... play your game. Hard.

I really don't know what else there is to say.

Afternoon Disaster

by Ryan

Losers of five straight, you would think the Sabres would try and put together a solid performance on a Sunday afternoon against a sub par Thrashers team.



Those of you that would like to keep thinking that better avoid this post like the plague.

I'm not going to do a full game recap because, quite frankly, I don't want to throw up while watching football. Here are a few thoughts on my mind, though:

- The Sabres defense has 4 unrestricted free agents come July 1st. Are any of them playing like it? Yeah, two of them (Teppo and Nolan Pratt) aren't playing at all, but Brian Campbell and Dimitri Kalinin just look... meh out there. Campbell can cry all he wants, but he better show he wants that money for me to ever want us to re-sign him.

- Speaking of D, Nathan Paetsch is playing his way into a suit and a comfy seat in the press box. He may have had a giveaway per minute of ice time. Someone call Elias.

- As Chris said during the game, you can tell Pomminville played with Hecht today. How many chances does he need before he puts one in? Just one more, right? But hey, at least he got that assist.

- I like Timmy and Vanek playing together. I didn't think either had a bad game, but their level of talent on the ice at the same time just has to reap results. As nice as it was to see Sparky get a goal, when are we going to get primary line scoring?

- How does Colin Stuart go coast to coast and score? Did we have Darren Hatcher on the blueline? Good God.

- Rich has been away from Internet access for a bit, but he sent me an interesting text during the game on Friday: "It's sad, but Max is the perfect match for this team. If they got their s--t together, they could be real good. If he got his s--t together, he coulda been Bure."

I'm not sure what Max could have been, but I know that without him we look completely different, even when he's not playing well. With the slump a lot of people will be talking trades, but I just can't imagine Darcy getting anywhere near the value he should for Afinogenov.

Max is more of a "potential" player, even when he's performing well. It's hard when last season he averaged over a point per game, but he still does more for you when he's on the ice regardless of stats. Having a player like Max completely changes how people defend us, and I just don't think we can get that kind of value back in a trade.

- Peters looked great on the bench today. Glad he got some ice time in after Roy broke his purse strap.

- Thrashers unis look awful. The Pens make baby blue look good, Thrashers make it look like sewage.

- When is someone just going to say "Screw it, I'm taking this team on my shoulders"? Does anyone have the guts to do it? The consensus pick is Vanek, but he may be too young to really take that role on. I'm so tired of watching this team floundering around during the games they need. Yeah, it's only January, but this game could have been a huge win. Instead, we're three spots out of the playoffs and staring at Johan Hedburg's backside in the standings.

I certainly don't know how to fix this team, but someone downtown better figure it out fast. This season is starting to slip away.

Friday Night Recap

Man I love playing the Devils...

My "I Was There" Post

By Chris

Not exactly a View from the Roost, but I was at the game tonight and here are just some quick thoughts on the Sabres 3-1 victory over the Blackhawks, overshadowed by Pat Kane's homecoming. And rightfully so.

-It was my first look at the HD scoreboard in person, and all I have to say is "Wow."

-As I was walking back to my seat from overpaying for French fries (turns out it's a better deal to spend an extra three bucks and get four surprisingly-good chicken fingers with the fries), I was distracted for just a second from the ginormoustron by a call from Ryan. The Faux Roost sign was up over Section 309. Those bastards.

-I was really impressed by the reception Kane got. Everyone was waiting for him to get out onto the ice for warm ups and not even there did he disappoint, roofing a wrister on his first practice shot.



The ceremonial puck drop was also a very sentimental moment. Kane and Brian Campbell were met at center ice by Pa Soupy, Pa Kane and Grandpa Kane and received a standing O from the crowd. It was nice to see, not only for the Kane family, but for the entire Western New York hockey scene.

-And then it didn't take long for me to stop liking Kane. The Pride of Buffalo snapped home a shot just two minutes into the game. I didn't cheer for that, but there were plenty who did. Yeah it was nice to see, but as soon as the clock started ticking, the kid was the enemy.

-Miller saves. The Sabres netminder played exceptionally well tonight and is one of the main reasons the Sabres were able to pull out the W. The save on Ruutu late in the third was one of the stops that made my jaw drop.



-The Vanek-Roy-Stafford line was very good tonight. The moved the puck well and showed the kind of swagger you need from your top line.

-Overall I thought the effort from the Sabres was very good. They had a few mental lapses here and there, especially early, but they actually worked hard, especially along the boards, and got through the night. A few nights off should bode well. Hopefully.

-I was kind of disappointed in Tallinder. He's been out of the game for awhile now so I'd like to think it's just a matter of getting the rust off.

-Why Sekera is in over Pratt I will never understand, unless Pratt has some sort of injury I don't know about. Sekera will be a pretty good defenseman, don't get me wrong, I'd just like to see him get a little more seasoning on the farm before he's starting over veterans. Especially veterans that I suddenly like.

-I've been hard on Campbell the last few games, especially. I haven't posted my thoughts here, but I just didn't like what I was seeing out of him in the defensive zone. He was watching plays develop instead of being more proactive and has been caught eying the puck into the net. Tonight, I thought he played pretty well. His offensive talent has never really been a question, but I thought he was much more responsible in his own end tonight. Maybe it's because of the "C" he's wearing on his chest that makes me extra-critical of him, and I haven't been a huge fan of his over the past few seasons, but I did like his game tonight. Hopefully it's a sign of things to come.

-If the C was to stop rotating tonight, I'd leave it with Jochen Hecht. He's been a leader all year and his play in the last month or so has been nothing short of excellent. I'd give a letter to Goose, based just on work ethic and then leave a letter with Lydman on the defensive end.

-I think Chicago is about a year and two good players away from being serious contenders. They've got a real good core of young talent and pretty good goaltending. They have the building blocks to be an elite to for many years to come, which is good, because it'll be fun to cheer for Chicago then.


-Arena hosts are unnecessary. The PA announcer did everything tonight and I was absolutely fine with it. If not for the Pickleass disaster last spring and the stupid contest this summer, I probably wouldn't even make a point of this.

-Afinogenov played a good game. I actually saw him pass it to a teammate as he crossed the blue line and everyone was actually onsides! It could just be a good stretch for him, but I still think the Sabres would be better off moving him.

Then again, Darcy Regier has made only four trades in-season during his ten-year tenure that weren't around the trade deadline. For the record, these are the four in-season non-deadline deals:

11/12/97: Andrei Trefilov to Chicago for a draft pick
12/18/98: 1999 2nd round pick (Milan Bartovic) to LA for Donald Audette; Claimed Roman Ndur off waivers (Darcy was busy this day)
1/23/00: 2000 8th round pick to LA for Vladimir Tsyplakov
11/6/02: Jason Woolley to Detroit for future considerations

If history is any indication, there's a a good chance we won't see anyone on the move until late February.

Defending the Homefront?

by Ryan

4-2 Final from HSBC Arena tonight. It... it didn't go very well. Some thoughts about the game while we sacrifice some oxen to the Blueline Gods:

- Nolan Pratt is not a miracle worker. Granted, he got burned badly by Zednik on his first shift. He looked very rusty throughout the game, and I think pairing Paetsch with him was not the best of ideas. After the second Florida goal Pratt was paired with Captain Finland. He ended up a -1 with 13:27 in ice and will get better in time, but with an overall defensive performance like that it's hard to claim he looked good.

- The newest edition of The Hockey News lists the Sabres defense as the 9th best in the league. I... I tend to disagree after tonight's performance. The forwards didn't seem interested in back checking all night, and Sekera looked like balls again. Campbell was probably our best D tonight and he ended up a -2. That pretty much sums things up.

- It is stunning to see this team continue to regress in their own zone, and I don't think any amount of line juggling is going to fix it. Lindy needs to figure out what pairs he wants and stick with them. The same goes for his forwards. They need to learn to play together in their own zone before they can get anywhere offensively. A lot of the chaos is caused by players out of position, and more than once there were multiple Panthers alone in front. Just awful.

- I loved the Mair/Montador fight. For one, they actually threw punches (I’m looking at you, Petey) and when they both fell they were man enough to let the other player get back up. I know during a fight you are supposed to be mortal enemies, but I liked the gamesmanship both players showed. Nothing scripted about it, but a generous enough move by both players that led to a much, much better fight. Even if it was a draw.

- Man, that crowd was saying “GOOOOSE” a lot in the third. Oh, they were booing? Fair enough then.

- Stafford can't get anything going right now. Maybe he should pray more.

- The Roy/Vanek/Afinogenov line is responsible for three goals tonight before they were blown up. That’s a lot of payroll finishing -9 on the night.

- Zednik had two easy goals tonight. He also make Sekera look like me playing D in pickup. Therefore, I hate him.

- Goose absolutely destroyed Greg Campbell in that fight. He didn’t mess around, and put a few uppercuts in, then pulled the poor chap’s jersey over his head. In a related story, Colin Campbell has suspended Goose indefinitely, proving that Greg’s dad doesn’t have to beat up Paul’s dad to settle the argument.

-The Harry Neale Quote of the Night:

“Dumb and Dumber. That was a good one. Might describe some of the plays tonight.”

- Greg Campbell took a four minute high sticking penalty on Goose late in the third. Did anyone else imagine Colin Campbell literally looking the other way when that happened? I know it was incidental and everything, but he's just so good at it when it's not his son...

So what to do with this team? It's been a frustrating first 11 games to say the least, and the booing tonight seemed pretty justified to me. We're 1/8th through the season and sitting in the basement of the Eastern Conference. Teams like Ottawa and Montreal aren't waiting around for us to catch up.

The next nine games are going to say a lot about this team, and I think after this stretch I will be able to adjust my expectations of the team. If this group don't step up during we are losing four points a game. At this point we can't afford to fall further behind.

To me, Monday can't come soon enough. You can tell from the postgame interviews the players know what is ahead, and I want to see what they are made of.

A Bad Bounce at the Hub

by Ryan


What a way to start off November with an "eh." 4-3 OT Final.

A few things worth noting:

- I am absolutely terrified of Phil Kessel. The One Testicle Wonderboy is getting near Sabre-killer status, and is off to a great start overall. I remember him scoring his first NHL goal against us last year when he literally took the puck off a teammate's stick and gunned it by Biron.

- However, the real Sabre-killer has to be Marc Savard. 24 points in 25 games prior, and he picked up two more points tonight. A great shot on Miller in the third, even though I think Miller went down a bit early.

- I also enjoyed Glen Metropolit's game tonight. I've always liked him (possibly because his name is just sick), and I was pretty surprised the Thrashers were willing to let him go just to rent out Keith Tkachuk for two months. Then again, he stole Goose's third star. Screw him.

- If I were the GM of the Bruins, I would try pretty hard to avoid having a guy named "Thornton" on my team. Especially if he sucks.

- The ice looked just awful in overtime. The puck was already skipping around a bit throughout, but within the first minute of overtime a puckcarrier for both teams fell with no one around. There was a Van Halen concert there on Tuesday, but I doubt that affected the ice much. However, the forecast shows temperatures in the mid 50s in Boston tonight, and that may explain the bad ice at game's end. One thing's for sure, the Sabres certainly have had bad luck with bad ice recently.

- Goose has been a beast so far this year. He already has four goals, and was involved on all three goals tonight. How Gaustad didn't get at least the third star is beyond me. Maybe Wally was picking them tonight.

- Even though Vanek continues to struggle, you have to appreciate his game tonight. He actually tried to hit the Unfrozen Cave-Defenseman that is Zedeno Chara, and showed some great vision with that pass to Max for the first goal. He still looks a bit tentative, and I miss that arrogance he played with last year. Something happened after Opening Night. He had it then (slap shot on a breakaway), but its been nothing but cute passes and shots wide since. I thought the OT winner on Saturday would break him out of it, but it may take a bit more than that.

- You have to hand it to Love Potion Lydman for that shot block sequence tonight. He may not say much, uh, ever; but coming back from a puck to the face point blank does show some on ice leadership. Also, watching him take that ceremonial faceoff was just great comedy.

- I guess the Sabres did play a pretty decent road game, and a bad bounce cost them an extra point. Special teams looked great, killing off 4/5 (including two back to back thanks to Fat Crosby) and going 2/3 on their man advantages. Puck movement continues to be excellent, but tonight they actually got the puck into shooting lanes on the point.

The Sabres will be back at it tomorrow night against Florida, a team they played less than a week ago. Hopefully being back on home ice will get them in gear a bit quicker than usual. We may have our first look at our new toy as well.

A win is a win is a win

By Chris

The playcalling still wasn't great, but the offense was able to generate 19 points. The defensive scheme was well executed, even at the end when it looked like we were all bound for another last-second heartbreak. As ugly as it was, the Buffalo Bills got the job done. And at this point, that's all you can ask for.

Trent Edwards wasn't flashy at all. He only completed 52% of his passes, but that was all he needed. He ran an effective no-huddle offense, almost reminiscent of the K-Gun and was able to get the win, despite another late interception. Then again, a rookie quarterback only threw one interception against the Baltimore defense. That's cause for some celebration. If Edwards isn't out there next week, then Jauron should be fired. The guy moves the chains and allows the defense to rest. He gives the Bills the best chance to win.

Marshawn Lynch was able to churn out a very respectable 83 yards against a stout Baltimore defense and that was enough. This guy is a freaking horse. That's the only way to effectively describe him. He will fight for every single yard he gets--and behind the Bills line, maybe that's what's required.

The defense continues to play well above the level they're expected to. After all, those are 2nd and 3rd stringers out there late in the game. For them to be able to pull out a win like this is a huge confidence boost.

Sure they almost coughed up another close game, but they didn't. Maybe they're learning how to win. Right now, that's enough for me.



Willis who?