Christmas in July

by Ryan

To those of you who purchased one of these:



We here in the Roost have a gift for you:



With a seam ripper you're just a few minutes of work away from a shiny new blank jersey. No need to drop another few bills on a new uni when you can just recycle. Perhaps you can re-invest a few numbers and get one of these bad boys:



This is just another lesson for us all: always buy jerseys based on contract length.

...

Jon.

From Darcy's lips to your ears (and computer screens)

By Chris

Here's a transcription of the Sabres press conference today regarding the Steve Bernier and Craig Rivet trades. Also some info on where the team stands with Ryan Miller, Maxim Afinogenov and Jason Smith. I'll be interjecting briefly here and there.

Media: Can you fill us in, so far, on the two transactions today? Is that it for today?

Darcy Regier: That’s it for today. We’ve obviously traded Steve Bernier to Vancouver and really the focal point was to acquire a defenseman in this process. So effectively use the assets in the Steve Bernier trade to acquire Craig Rivet and we think we’ve accomplished filling a very important need for the hockey club. Craig brings tremendous leadership, character. He’s a proven veteran and a very good player. So when I think you put him in with our hockey club he’ll make a very significant contribution to this team.

Were we all wrong to think that Bernier seemed to be an important part of the future when he was acquired for Brian [Campbell]? Did something happen there? Was it an issue of not being able to sign him; did he want too much?

No, I think when you looked at our right wing, we really had six right wingers there. So it was a situation in which we looked at the right side, we looked at the individual players and we knew that we had to add to our defense. We really came down to who could we move in order to acquire the defenseman. It took two separate deals but that was really the decision. The decision was to take one of our quality forwards and acquire a quality defenseman.

So it looks like Afinogenov will still be around. And of all the right wingers to trade for picks (Afinogenov, Kotalik, Pominville, Stafford and Kaleta), they choose Bernier? Okaaaay...

The quality that Craig brings, most of it is leadership and experience, and physicality, too.

That’s right. He’s got a physical aspect to his game. So when you look at those three components, you look at some of the young guys that we have coming up, whether it’s Sekera, Weber, in hopes that they make our hockey club, I think that the blending of the experience and the youth going forward is going to be a very good for us.

It'll be nice having a guy on the blueline that isn't afraid to hit people. I've wanted a big mean Canadian defenseman since Rhett Warrener left. We had Brad Brown for awhile (but he kind of sucked) and Jay McKee was that guy for one year, so maybe Rivet can finally fill that void and do it well for three more years.

Obviously you’re comfortable getting Rivet basically in essence of Campbell and the draft picks because that’s basically what happened.

Yeah I guess you can reduce really, we acquired a first, a second and a third round pick for Brian and then used that to acquire a first pick and Craig Rivet. So I think it’ll prove out well.

We'll know in the year 2017. We need to see if Tyler Ennis was worth a first rounder and how those two picks work out. So Rivet can bomb, but the trade might still be a success if two of those other four aspects become something that can help the team. Gotta love fundamentally building a franchise via trades and the draft.

Have you had any inquiries about some of the other players like Maxim Afinogenov? Have you had a number of teams call you on him? Is there anything going on, on that front?

No, the Max front is very quiet. I expect Max to start with us based on the activity of the summer. I think Max will, the focal point will be for him to, if he’s here, I expect he will be here, to kind of regain his form and have the type of year that he had two years ago.

Worst news of the day. It's time to cut ties with Afinogenov and his $3.33 million cap hit. As exciting as he may be, he's even more frustrating. I guess the fact is that no one even wants him so we're essentially stuck with him. When I talked to Ryan, he wouldn't even be shocked if Max was signed to an extension if he bounces back. I think I'm going to be sick.

Are you happy with where the blue line is now? Are you looking to pick up maybe someone else; I know you were kind of linked to Jason Smith earlier in the week too.

I think we were linked to everybody that was available that hasn’t been signed yet. We will look, continue to look for ways to improve our defense but I think the goaltending’s been covered. I think it’s been a great addition for our defense. Our forwards were in good shape going into the off season. In fact we had too many forwards. So if we had an area where he had extra depth, it was really up front and we did what wanted to do which was convert some of that back into the defense.

I still think the Sabres need to re-sign someone like Pratt to split time with Paetsch in the sixth spot. As much as I like Weber, I don't think he's ready to take on that kind of role. Plus, if two guy get hurt on the blue line (very likely to happen), we're looking at Weber and someone like T.J. Brennan in the top six. Not good news. We're still thin on proven defensemen.


Have any further talks with Ryan Miller’s agent? Any updates on his situation?

No but I expect we’ll talk with either Ryan and/or his agent in the next couple days.

And from the talks you’ve had do you think Ryan wants to stay here long-term?

No I think Ryan hates Buffalo and wants no part of our cheap ass organization. I'm actually wondering why I even bothered coming back last summer for three more years. I guess it's probably because I wouldn't be able to get work anywhere else. Look at poor Dave Nonis. He had to crawl back to Brian Burke. I don't want to look that desperate. Come on. What do you think he's going to say? He's going to give fans hope that Miller won't turn his backs on us at the end of the year when he signs with Detroit.

I do think he wants to stay here long-term. I’m optimistic. We’ll know more when we hear back from his side but I remain optimistic with respect to Ryan.

How do you think the impact might have been of some of the other goaltenders signing a potential contract for Ryan?

Well I don’t think it altered the marketplace significantly. Huet is not as…is obviously an outstanding goaltender. I think the only reason he’s not in Montreal is because you’ve got one of the best young goaltenders in an awful long time entering the league in Carey Price. And I think if you look Fluery’s contract in Pittsburgh, it’s reflective of the market as well. I don’t think there’s been any significant upward movement in that marketplace.

I can't believe Darcy made sense of that question. It literally took me ten minutes to transcribe it, trying to get the syntax mostly right.


Can you be a little more specific on Rivet’s game and what he brings to the table? Obviously he spent a lot of years in the Eastern Conference.

Yeah he did.

Does he have a role on special teams, what will that role be? How does he round out your defense corps?

Well, I think if you look at his numbers, he may have had the best offensive year of his career. When you look at 35 points in 74 games, he’s someone that can certainly contribute on the power play, he’s going to play in penalty kill situations. He’s logged over 20 minutes a game in San Jose. I think he’s a guy that can help on both sides, offensively and defensively.

Do you think you have enough depth there at defense now or before the season yo need to acquire a little more depth there, considering that Mike and Andrej are maybe bound for this team?

Depth-wise I think we’re OK. If we can add to it we certainly will but I’m pretty comfortable with where we are depth-wise right now.

I wouldn't be shocked at all if they decided that they're really not that comfortable with Paetsch playing a regular role. That guy turning into Jeff Jillson last year really screwed up their plans on the blueline. Thank goodness Sekera stepped up (and hopefully he won't pull a Paestch).

Is Jason Smith still a possibility? Is he still on the radar?

I had a conversation with his agent yesterday. I have not spoken to him today. I know he was close to making a deal. Is he on the radar? Well we’ve had…We’ll see where it goes. I haven’t talked to him today. He may be signed for all we know.

Happy to see we're actively pursuing him. And from what's been reported, he hasn't been signed. Yet. One year, $2.5 million. Do it, Darcy.

Any update on Paille and Macarthur? Any talks with them yet?

I did talk to Danny Paille’s agent today and we played telephone tag with Clarke’s agent the other day so those talks will continue.

How important is it for you to get a defenseman for you in the first few days of free agency?

I think at some point in the summertime we needed to add a defenseman. When you look at the marketplace it was quickly drying up in the free agency. When we looked at the unrestricted free agency marketplace for defensemen, and looked at the cost of doing business in that area, we made the decision to look in the trade route, trade marketplace. We think that Craig is an outstanding addition to this hockey club.

So Henrik Lundqvist is basically, is that approximately where you think Ryan’s numbers might be?

I wouldn’t attach it to one individual goalie. I really think it’s a group of goaltenders that Ryan belongs with and will be treated fairly amongst that group.

Miller is a top eight goaltender. He'll be paid like a top four in this marketplace. I can live with that.

Bye Bye Bernier

By Chris

Well this certainly came as a surprise while I was eating lunch today:

Buffalo, NY (WGR 550) -- The Buffalo Sabres traded RW Steve Bernier to the Vancouver Canucks Saturday, in exchange for a second round draft pick in 2010 and a third round pick (Los Angeles’ selection) in 2009.

This move certainly looks like one that sets in motion the wheels to another deal. For what, though, no one outside of the front office can really be sure. Bernier has a load of upside who was hampered by an injury and a tough adjustment period in his short time in Buffalo. He made a giant splash in his debut game but fell off the radar quickly after that.

Perhaps Darcy and company are looking to collect picks in hopes that it will sweeten a secondary deal. Maxim Afinogenov is still an option to trade away but what is he really worth?

Perhaps the Sabres are looking at putting the money that would have gone to Bernier (a restrcited free agent) towards new deals for Jason Pominville and Dan Paille. Then again, it's not like Bernier was going to make that much in the first place, so it's certainly not a salary dump move.

Whatever the next move is (and whenever it happens), hopefully it will make the Brian Campbell trade seem like it was worth it. As it stands, the Sabres traded Campbell for 2008 first round pick Tyler Ennis (who, at the earliest, is three years away from making the team), a third round pick in 2009 and a second round pick in 2010.

At this rate, we won't know how the Campbell trade really affected the team until at least 2014--six years from now.

The next few days and weeks will certainly be interesting. Now we wait.

Was This Really Necessary?

by Rich

I know that I'm asking for it by reading one of the "blogs" on The Worldwide Leader's website, but this is a bit much. With apologies to the gentlemen at Fire Joe Morgan, there are some things here that need to be addressed.


If there is one thing I can stress, it is to not read too much into Steve Bernier's first night as a Sabre. That doesn't mean to dismiss it out of hand either.


Well-hedged, sir. No need to actually offer an opinion on a player's performance when you can say that it might be significant. Or it might not. The important thing is that Sean Allen successfully dodged the question.


Bernier played the entire night on a line with two of Buffalo's most dynamic players -- Thomas Vanek and Derek Roy and it resulted in two goals and an assist in the Sabres' 8-4 win over the Predators. A grinder by nature, Bernier had benefited from playing with talent way above his head in the past (Joe Thornton), so as long as he remains with that unit he can keep his production in the fantasy-useful realm. However, Bernier's value is tied 100 percent to his linemates, and a move of [sic] the top line would mean his value crashes and burns.

So those three points that Bear put up last night were solely the result of being on the ice with Vanek and Roy. It's true; if you look closely, Bernier never actually touched the puck on any of those plays. The combined awesomeness of his linemates propelled the puck into the net, and the scorekeeper simply took pity on Steve, awarding him some points so that we, the foolish fans, would feel better about the truly devastating loss of perennial Norris trophy-winner Brian Campbell.

Little Known Fact: Steve Bernier did accomplish something of note last night, tying Don Luce's team record for "Most Points Awarded to a Player Due Solely To His Teammates." The record had stood since a 1975 game against the Flyers, when Luce was credited with a natural hat trick simply for sharing ice time with the French Connection.

Anyhow, skipping down a bit in the article we find this gem:


Speaking of Campbell, he led all Sharks in ice time as they dominated the Blue Jackets 4-2. Campbell chipped in an assist and would have had the third assist on the first goal (if such a thing existed).

Okay, this one just hurts my brain. I'm going to need to go one sentence at a time here.

Speaking of Campbell, he led all Sharks in ice time as they dominated the Blue Jackets 4-2.

Just so we're clear, the Sabres "won" 8-4. The Sharks "dominated" 4-2. I'm not trying to argue that the Sabres did dominate the Preds, but it's just silly to say that a 4-2 win is any more impressive than an 8-4 win. You know what? Screw it. While we're randomly qualifying and disqualifying stats, let's just have the two goals that Jocelyn "The Human Empty Net" Thibault allowed stricken from the record. I'd say the Sabres' 8-2 win was at least as "dominating" as SJ's 4-2 final.


Campbell chipped in an assist and would have had the third assist on the first goal (if such a thing existed).

As my Texan roommate said after reading this line, "If my grandmother had balls, she'd be my grandfather."

While we're on the topic of the "third assist," since when is it useful to create stats to describe events that didn't actually happen? I'm all for stats, but only if they actually have some meaning. A "Third Assist" stat would give 4 of the 5 players on the ice when a goal is scored a point. You're telling me that it's statistically significant to keep track of the guy who passes to the guy who passes to the guy who passes to the guy who scores? That...would do nothing but artificially inflate the offensive statistics of mediocre players and completely skew perceptions on the actual value of an offensive player. As far as I know, the purpose of statistics as they pertain to sports is to make the evaluation of players easier, not more difficult.

Also, I notice that there's no disclaimer about Soup's abilities. For those of you keeping track at home, the Sabres got a guy with 15 goals (13 at the time of the trade) whose scoring is apparently completely dependent on his linemates, and the Sharks got MVP candidate, Hall-of-Fame defenseman, and Nobel Prize nominee Brian Campbell (who has 5 goals credited to him and 44 more that would have been if not for his charitable nature and insistence that those goals be credited to his less awesome teammates). Does this guy know Bucky Gleason?

A View From the Roost: Big Bear in the Blue House

by Ryan


Well that one sure ran the gauntlet, didn't it? But first, a story:

As we were walking to the arena some guy pulls out a whistle and blows into it, then quickly put it away. Most people would think that was quite awkward but dismiss it. Instead, I'm the goofball that goes:

"Is that a Jordin Tootoo whistle?"

"Yeah, it is," the guy responds, pulling it out to show me.

"How did you know that?" his friend asks, deservedly so.

So I quickly explain to him that I saw the auction online and remembered the name. He tells me that he is from Jordin's hometown, actually coaching him in Pee Wee hockey. It was his first time in Buffalo and he wasn't really a Preds fan as much as a fan of Jordin's. In fact, he went down to see him play in Nashville last year and was impressed with how nice the people were.

We talked the rest of the walk from Pearl to the front doors, discussing the Aud, the ACC, and the city itself. His friend was a Sabres fan and we talked about Bernier and where he fit in the lines. While we never exchanged names or even shook hands, as we parted I really felt like I had made a good impression on the both of them.

After that Mair fight and the last few minutes, I hope it was enough.


---

Now that that's out of the way, let's talk a little about Steve Bernier. Actually, let's roll the next picture if you will.



That's Steve Bernier, and I'm pretty happy with that photo. He doesn't go after Tootoo because he's sticking up for his fellow Frenchman, he goes after him because Roy is wearing the same sweater as he is, even if for just a few hours.

Now Bernier says anyone would do that, but that's exactly what I wanted to hear out of him. In his mind, everyone should go after a guy who jobs someone, and I love that sentiment. Think back to that game against the Sharks when Joe Thornton went nuts and no one stepped up. Tonight every single player on ice would have jumped in no questions asked, and I think that has a lot to do with guys like Pratt, Kaleta, and Bernier playing on this team.



Bernier showed up tonight, plain and simple. I really, really hope it continues but who knows at this point? Again, one night does not tell the tale of the trade. Think back to the trade deadline before the lockout. We play the Caps in Washington, Grier has a few points and Brad Brown gets into a fight and has a few big hits. Where has Brad Brown been the past few years? We went 1/2 on that deadline even though both had big first games with the club. Having a good first game is a classic deadline reaction, so let's see how he does for the duration. As far as tonight: consider me impressed.

Some other thoughts:

- Miller going down completely took the air out of the building. Thibault coming in made me absolutely catatonic, and those two goals were pretty much guaranteed. To be fair, that Arnott goal was an outstanding shot. Still, TBO starting equals a 13th place finish.

-A big "GOOOOOOOOOOSE" was well deserved when Gaustad went after Nichol off the faceoff late. How anyone could be inches away from him in the faceoff dot and not drop the gloves is beyond me. Piece of trash.

- Peters had a good fight. There, I said it. And what a pass on that goal by Kaleta. Since when did we have a serviceable 4th line? Even when Hecht, Max, Stafford, and Ryan come back we are still going to need a good 4th line to bang bodies and crack some skulls. Seeing it come together, even for a brief time, is good news. We can't make any serious playoff noise without it.

- The D was pretty shaky in their first game without Soup. The offensive flow out of the zone was put into the hands of the forwards with relative ease but responsibility in our end was mediocre. I didn't mind the pairs, and the Five and Dime were very solid for the first time in a while. We are going to need them to step up big and they answered tonight.

- Wasn't it fun to see Tim Connolly make a move that worked? He's been playing great lately and taking him off the top line didn't affect any of the three. If BRV (short for "brevity"?) stays together we may have a decent lineup when the reserves come in.

- Chris Mason was AWFUL tonight. His 5-hole was weak all night, and his positioning looked shaky at best. What happened to that bald guy who beat out Vokoun last year?

and finally...

- What the hell is wrong with some people? Booing Erat when he took a puck to the face is unacceptable. Who cares if we had a 2 on 1 going the other way? Anyone who has ever taken a puck to anywhere knows how much it hurts. He went down for a reason, and if you think he turtled that's your call. Boo the refs the first time if you want, but don't boo the guy for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Besides, Timmy scores on the same play a minute later. Weren't we the fans crying foul when the Philly faithful cheered Dumont getting hurt in the playoffs a few years back? Get it together, people.

Once again, two big points on Friday. Who's ready for Montreal?

Meet Steve Bernier

by Rich

Well, the NHL trade deadline has come and gone. Brian Campbell is on his way to San Jose, and in exchange the Sabres acquired a certified pre-owned Steve Bernier. So who is this guy, anyhow?


Steve Bernier was the 16th overall pick in the 2003 draft (by the Sharks). A 22-year old native of Quebec, the 6 foot-2, 225-pound winger has 13 goals and 23 total points this season in about 13:00 of ice time per game. He also led the Sharks in hits last year, and in his spare time he enjoys poutine, body-checking, and holding linesmen ever so gently.

Steve Bernier battles Andrej "Balls" Sekera on the boards

Essentially, this is a kid who can score and hit, and isn't afraid to drop the gloves. Looks like his fighting technique could use some work, though. We'll see where Lindy puts him tonight against the Preds (against whom he has a goal and two assists in three games so far this year). Oh, and he likes blood donors, too:



...That's gotta be good, right?