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Buffalo Sports
DON'T GET ME STARTED had me wondering how much laugher would be coming from Sabres fans, if before the season began, anyone mentioned that the Sabres would be a worse team than the Atlanta Thrashers; the Washington Capitals; the New York Islanders and others with over half the season over.
No one is laughing now. Check that. The opponents are probably snickering now that last season's President Cup winners are floundering.
The Martin Luther King Jr., afternoon contest against Phoenix was anything but a contest. It was a way for Wayne Gretzky's club to feast on the lowly fortunes of the visitors. And feast they did, winning 6-2 over a Buffalo team that simply wasn't challenging.
Lindy Ruff decided to give Jocelyn Thiebault one of his rare starts after Ryan Miller did little against the Toronto Maple Leafs Saturday last. Mistake? Who knows. After all Ryan Miller hasn't been exactly stealing games for the Sabres in the last month and a half.
Thiebault let the first shot he faced from the circle beat him. Later, not screened, he allowed a blast from the blue line to tickle the twine bhind him. It mattered not. The Sabres defensemen, especialy Toni Lydman, did little to help the goalie out....and neither did the forwards. Simply put, the Sabres went out for a skate. They provided more energy in practice and in the warm up.
When that shot from the blue line got by Thiebault, my thoughts went back to the days of the best shot blocker in the NHL - Jay McKee. Is he missed? You betcha. Not too many Sabres are turtling to the ice when an opponent fires away.
Let's face it. The Sabres are not a good hockey team. They are looking up at the standings and find themselves 6 points behind 8th place in the Conference standings.
With Miller playing about average, or just below average, the backup goaltender has to step up to the crease and stop the foes. Of course, the Sabres simply allowed last year's backups - Marty Biron and Ty Conklin to depart. Conklin was whisked out of Buffalo with the Sabres getting nothing for him. Look what's happening. Conklin has spearheaded the Pittsburgh Penguins up the ladder in the Conference standings with outstanding performances. Hey Darcy - hey Larry - are you watching? How do you guys evaluate talent?
So it's all up to Ryan Miller. There's 36 games left in the season and Buffalo has 46 points. If 90 points would get you into the playoffs, the Sabres would need to have 44 more 2-point victories. That's winning 22 of the 36 games. That's a daunting task - especially the way the team is playing. Right now a one-game winning streak is looked at as a major accomplishment.
Other teams are gearing up. Other teams are shoring up their clubs for a run, including Atlanta and Washington. Toronto is also battling for a playoff spot. The Sabres? Well, who knows what's happening. After all Larry Quinn and/or Tom Golisano aren't talking and they have to share in the mess they helped create. THEY (front office officials) have been telling fans that this is a really good hockey team. Look at the standings and a challenge to that thinking is in order.
Dallas is next, Thursday and the Stars are no slouches this year. They have a fine record with a well balanced club that will probably give the Sabres fits. The Sabres will need to bring an "A" game against the Stars.
I would like to think that the absence of Tim Connolly and Maxim Afinogenov has a lot to do with the Sabres slide.
Oh well....as the season begins to wind down in a couple of months, Sabres fans thoughts might be turning to the April NFL draft to find out who the Bills will be selecting.
In the meantime, those many thousands of Sabres fans who forked over $200 bucks (non-refundable) for the right to be placed on a waiting list for season tickets are probably musing that this was money ill-spent considering the way the Sabres are going.
The latest 2- game losing streak with a grueling road trip continuing in Dallas Thursday. So far this has not been a happy New Year for Sabres fans on Don't Get Me Started.
© Copyright 2008 by Speakupwny.com
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