smokinandjokin Posted January 9, 2006 Posted January 9, 2006 The Sabres have suffered a rash of injuries this season, including Miller, Briere, and Dumont. I thought losing Briere and Dumont would really bite them in the ass, especially because of their lack of proven scorers on the roster. Well, I was wrong...Drury, Kotalik, Connolly, and Max all lifted their games, and they got contributions from young bucks like Vanek, Roy, Gaustad, and Campbell. They managed to play a gritty style and outhustle teams to win a lot of close games. However, watching the Sabres lately, teams are playing them much tougher. They will no longer sneak up on anybody or be overlooked. Coaches will start breaking down Ruff's system and figuring out where it is beatable. That brings up the question: Do the Sabres have enough goal scorers? Watching them against New Jersey, with their top three returning scorers from '03 out with injury (Dumont, Briere, Drury) they appeared to have very little punch up front. Even with those injured players, while their power play has been lethal, they have struggled scoring in 5 v 5 situations this season. Those tight, hardnosed games against a conference rival seem to be the ones where your money players need to score. If you have a 40-goal scorer on your roster, a decent chunk of those will be game-tying or game-winning goals (unless you are Miro Satan.) I think Vanek can be that player, and the goal he scored late against NJ showed a glimpse of his potential greatness. But as the stretch run begins, teams are going to realize that the Sabres are deadly on the PP and impotent at even-strength. Without Dumont and Briere, and with Drury already nursing a groin strain with the Olympics and a very busy schedule coming up, do the Sabres have enough "offense by committee" to either catch Ottawa, or at least hold on to the #4 seed and get home-ice in the 1st round? Getting those guys back for the playoffs will be huge, and I don't think home-ice a big deal, especially with the way Ruff has them playing on the road. I don't think they should trade for a forward...If anything, they need a defenseman more. But can the "Senior Amerks" keep the ship afloat until the snipers come back?
taterhill Posted January 9, 2006 Posted January 9, 2006 i think they will finish 4th-6th..first is pretty much out, as Ottawa is in front of them...I would rather have them finish 4th and not kill themselves keeping pace with Ottwawa...
shrader Posted January 9, 2006 Posted January 9, 2006 i think they will finish 4th-6th..first is pretty much out, as Ottawa is in front of them...I would rather have them finish 4th and not kill themselves keeping pace with Ottwawa... 560195[/snapback] Ottawa has shown that they can't play without Spezza and Alfredsson. First place is not out of question if their injuries continue to linger.
Taro T Posted January 9, 2006 Posted January 9, 2006 I don't see the weak spot for the team being the forwards. I still think they need more help on D than they do at forward. Teppo will be close to 38 by the time the season is over. It would be nice to have another solid defenseman on the roster to allow him some rest down the stretch and also to allow the depth player on D to be Campbell or Tallinder rather than Fitzpatrick. I am not as concerned about the compressed schedule after the Olympic break as the Sabres have one of the younger teams in the league. They also have one of the fastest teams. Both of these should be to their advantage as older, slower teams wear down during the stretch run. The one wildcard is, the league has done a good job of limiting the obstruction non-calls so far this season; will that continue after the Olympic break? My guess is that the answer to that question is yes, but we won't know for sure until we get there. If they continue to call obstruction, the Sabres should still do well against teams like NJ (see game of 11/15). If they don't the Sabres will have a rough go of it with teams like NJ (see game of 1/7). I expect the Sabres to "struggle" and play "only" 0.500 until the Olympic break based upon the opponents over the next month and how the Sabres matchup against them. After the break, provided they don't have a trade backfire nor have the league go away from the obstruction crackdown, I expect the Sabres to go back to winning the majority of the games they play. I doubt they will overtake Ottawa, but there are still WAY too many things that can happen between now and April to make any specific predictions.
X. Benedict Posted January 9, 2006 Posted January 9, 2006 I expect the Sabres to "struggle" and play "only" 0.500 until the Olympic break based upon the opponents over the next month and how the Sabres matchup against them. After the break, provided they don't have a trade backfire nor have the league go away from the obstruction crackdown, I expect the Sabres to go back to winning the majority of the games they play. I doubt they will overtake Ottawa, but there are still WAY too many things that can happen between now and April to make any specific predictions. 560318[/snapback] starting next week the hardest part of the schedule starts. If they can play .500 hockey that would be great. It is a killer from Jan 16 to the olympic break. As for scoring, I would still like to see Connolly shoot more in 5 on 5's and I think Vanek will have a better second half than first half. Sabres have run into some good goaltending recently, what is more a concern is playing like the first 40 minutes against NJ and thinking they can win.
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