Sabres Thoughts: Top six are getting it done..Raffi Torres is MIA… Lets not get cocky

Just when you thought the Sabres were dying, somehow and someway, they have clawed their way out of the grave and are now shoveling dirt on the Ottawa Senators. As of today, they are in 1st place in the division; 9 points ahead of the Senators and Canadians. To think that it was only six days ago that the Sabres lost to a below average Thrashers team, and are now on the cusp of winning their second division title in four years is just kind of..um..weird…crazy..great.. strange…You tell me.

Actually, if there’s one thing that I don’t want to hear apologists tell me is the following:

“You see?! That’s why you don’t jump off the bandwagon. It’s a long season and it should prove that you shouldn’t throw dirt on a team in March. We knew it all along that this team was just fine.”

As for your throwing dirt on the Sabres comment, that’s true. However, you shouldn’t have been sipping on champagne in January and comparing this team to the Sabres 05/06 squad. As for the “We knew this team was fine all this time” comment… please. The Sabres deserved the criticism for their play in February and early March. Especially considering that this was the same core of players that have constantly underachieved over the last two years.

In all honesty, I think the Sabres are a little lucky to be in the position they are in. I’ve said throughout the season that the Sabres are playing in a very weak Eastern Conference and have to take full advantage of it. Had the Senators just played .500 hockey since the Olympic Break, the division race would be a hell of a lot closer. The Senators are making out as if it’s 07/08 season all over again with their recent collapse. But hey, I’ll take the two points and a Senators collapse for the next ten years. Overall, the Sabres are in great shape heading into the playoffs.

Why did the Sabres get hot?
For a change, the team’s recent winning streak didn’t really have much to do with Ryan Miller or the Sabres defensive play (even though both were factors). A lot of the credit has to go to the Sabres top 6 forwards.

It’s hard to believe that Jochen Hecht has 19 goals this season. Hecht is in a three-way tie for the most goals on club with Derek Roy and Dominic Moore…err…Raffi Torres. The guy’s like groundhog day for the Sabres. Besides last year’s disappointing season, Hecht always plays the same way game in and game out. He always gets an ugly goal, he always plays good two-way hockey, and he always gives a nice honest effort.

I can only imagine that Lindy must treat Hecht as if he’s the teacher’s pet during practices:

“That Hecht guy over there, he plays the right way. He plays desperate. Hell, he’s missing a chunk of his ear and he still can listen to what I want from him. He does whatever is asked of him and I reward him with playing time in crunch time. He’s my boy and I love him so much. Now, for the rest of you free loaders, 20 laps around the ice..and Thomas Vanek, meet me in my office so I can just hit you with the ruler and have you write 1,000 times on the chalkboard that I wish I could play like Hecht “

Hecht is definitely one of those players that you tend to forget about when watching the Sabres play, but he really should get more of the credit for the team’s success.

Besides Hecht’s stellar play, Jason Pominville had a pretty nice roadtrip; scoring four goals in five games, including a hat-trick against Tampa Bay. Pomer has to keep this sort of scoring touch up for when the playoffs start. There is a reason why Pominville got 5 million dollars a year. He was one of the few Sabres that played well after Drury and Briere left, although he did regress last year. But by his bank account, the Sabres are telling me that he’s suppose to be their second best forward.

I’m still not a huge fan of Pominville, as I think there are times that he tends to disappear when the team needs a game-winning or tying goal. He just better be there for the playoffs, especially when the goals become harder to score and the pressure gets amped up. If he can do that, then I’ll start giving him the benefit of the doubt.

Tim Connolly also had a nice road trip; scoring six points. Now, if you want to know my thoughts on Connolly, just reread my Pominville part of the blog and just replace his name with Timmy’s.

Who still stinks like Bob Corkum’s underwear?
Did you even know that Bob Corkum…err…Dominic Moore….err…Raffi Torres didn’t play in his last two games? I sure as hell didn’t. Mr. Torres was out of the line-up due to a hand/wrist injury. However, those injuries may have not occurred with the Sabres. Paul Hamilton is reporting that the injury may have happened while playing for Columbus. Well, if that’s the case, someone has some explaining to do.

You would think that after a trade, the Sabres would at least have the opportunity to request a physical. I mean, if John McCargo can get sent back to the Bills after failing a physical with the Colts, why couldn’t the Sabres do the same with Torres? This is just another reason why you shouldn’t wait till trade deadline day to make moves.

Now, it should be noted that Torres did score a goal in three of his last five games with the Blue Jackets, so his wrist couldn’t have been that much of a factor in his play. However, if he did get hurt in Colombus, it’s Darcy Regier’s job to find out if he has been nursing any injuries or at least have the team doctors look at him upon arrival.

Now, if time was of the essence and it was impossible for the Sabres to have the doctors look at him after the trade went down, well, then maybe the NHL should find a way for all of its players to be available for physicals prior to trades.

What does it all mean?
Look, I’m not going to sit here and kiss the Sabres asse
s. You should know that I’ve always been skeptical about this team. There have just been times this season that the team has sleep walked through their games. However, they have beaten some quality teams.

Yes, they had a successful road trip, but you can’t ignore the type of teams that the Sabres have beaten down. Carolina, Tampa Bay and Florida are just god awful. That Tampa defense that I saw on Thursday night was one of the most sorry excuses for a blue line that I’ve ever seen. The Sabres should wipe the ice clean with those teams.

I’m not at the point where I can just sit here and act as if the Sabres are going to steam roll their first round opponent like in 2007. I still don’t have a firm grasp at how this team is going to play in the playoffs. Even the biggest apologist can’t tell me that they have all the confidence in the world that the Sabres will beat the Flyers, Senators, Devils or Canadians in the first round.

We all know that Ryan Miller has the ability to steal a series or two, but the Sabres need their top six forwards to play the way they did on their last road trip. I know everyone talks about the importance of goaltending in the playoffs, but if you look at three of the last four Stanley Cup Champions, goaltending wasn’t exactly their strongest point.

Guys like Eric Staal, Sidney Crobsy and Henrik Zetterberg brought their “A” games when it came to bringing home the Stanley Cup. The days of Devils hockey, with the clutching, grabbing and boring style of defense have become passe since the lockout. Offense is winning championships nowadays.

Now, I love Ryan Miller. He proved that he could take on the greatest hockey players in the world and stand on top of his head. However, he isn’t playing along side Zach Parise and Patrick Kane. If the Sabres want to make some serious noise in the playoffs, they need to give Ryan Miller all the help he can get.

But that’s the playoffs…the regular season is still upon us and this upcoming week is going to be very interesting for the Sabres. They play the Canadians, Lightning, Senators and Bruins.

As of now, all three of those four teams are in the top 8 of the conference and could all possibly be first round match-ups for Buffalo. I don’t want to say it’s a measuring stick week for the Sabres, but it sure will give me a better feel about how this team is going to play in the playoffs…more so than beating down the crappy Florida teams.