40) Who should be on the Sabres 2nd line?

As I discussed earlier with figuring out which line combination the Sabres should use for their first unit, I’m still sticking with having each line do one thing collectively well. For the 2nd line,  I think the trio of Stafford-Connolly-Ennis could work. Now, I’ll be frank, I’m not a fan of putting Stafford on this line. I consider him to be useless (BTW, I would have put Tim Kennedy on the line, but we all know what happened), but I can’t see him being a checker on my 3rd line, and playing along side the 4th line guys would be useless. Actually, can we just cut the dude?

Of course not. 

Anyways, this line to me, represents creativity.  When Tim Connolly and Drew Stafford are on, they can be the best players on the ice. Problem is, they do it once every 10-15 games. As for Tyler Ennis, well, some people are really expecting this kid to be the real deal, and if that’s the case, I’m not dumping him on some line with Adam Mair or Matt Ellis, oops, Mair isn’t on the team anymore (Thank god).  As of now, the Sabres should have two lines that have the potential to have six players who can score 20-30 goals. Oh, and by the way, Lindy better play these guys a lot. Sorry, but Cody McCormick shouldn’t be playing as much as Thomas Vanek. Bottom line: Screw the rolling of the four lines.

39) How would I change the 2nd period intermission report?

Raise your hand if you hate “The Whip” during intermission. At first, I thought the premise of the segment was going to be pretty damn cool.  Anyone can listen to Robie talk about the art of fixing a toilet seat, Rob Ray talking about kicking Tie Domi’s ass, and before I really got to know Harry Neale, he was the lead color guy on CBC. Well, the problem is that the topics they conduct are totally dull and would be used on a slow sports day on Talk Radio. I mean, how many times do we have to hear the fighting topic in the NHL?

Anyways, I’m over “The Whip”. 

So how would I change it? Lets do our version of a hot stove segment. To me, the biggest problem with the NHL is that they do such a piss pour job in marketing other teams. In short: Most Sabres fans probably couldn’t tell you much about the Minnesota Wild or the Dallas Stars. It’s not their fault, it’s just the NHL has no real outlet to discuss their teams. So, what I propose is getting together a couple of the print, radio and TV guys in Buffalo to discuss the dealings about the NHL. Say what you will about Bucky Gleason, but he covers the NHL and has sources all across the league. Wouldn’t you want to hear what’s going on behind in the scenes in Atlanta or a stupid trade that just happened? Bottom line: You’d be able to expose the NHL as a whole, rather than just the Sabres. Besides Bucky, you could throw in Mike Harrington and Paul Hamilton. Honestly, I’m just looking for a rip off version of “Hockey Night in Canada’s Hot stove”, but Buffalo style.

38) Which Sabres player will surprise us this season?

Hmm, this is a tough question. I’m going with Jordan Leopold. And here is why; he’s the new guy?! It’s just the curse of the new guy and whenever a fan sees a new player on the Sabres, the fan is looking for any silver lining to enjoy his play. Hell, look at Cody McCormick, dude played like three games last year and fans were salivating at the way he played. And if it’s not Leopold, it’s going to be Morrisonn. Again, the new guy will always surprise us.

37) Which  Sabres player has to be the ex-factor?

Thomas Vanek? No. Derek Roy? Not today. I’m going with Patrick Kaleta. Here’s the thing about Patrick, and this has nothing to do with him being from Buffalo, he brings a lot to the table that many players on this roster don’t have: Aggressiveness. When Kaleta was injured last year, how many times did you sit there and say, “Man, we really needed Kaleta to send a message to someone tonight.” Kaleta, only played 55 games last year, and it always seemed like he would play 5 games and get hurt for another 4. All I know is when he returned to the line-up, you just sensed that something was different about the club and it was for the better.  Not to mention, for being a rat, Kaleta can put the puck in the net.

36) Is Lindy Ruff overrated?

Yes, God forbid, I actually call out Lindy Ruff; and yes, he’s overrated. Look, he’s a good coach, but most people in this town act as if he’s the Vince Lombardi of hockey. Lets look at the facts, he’s been the Sabres coach since 1997, and the team has won two division titles and made the playoffs 7 times (missing them 5 times). I don’t know, but those numbers don’t exactly tell me that he’s the league’s best coach.  Lets put it into perspective: over that time, a total of 22 NHL teams have equaled or made the playoffs more times than the Sabres.  

Now sure, there are some outside factors that go beyond Lindy Ruff’s coaching abilities, mainly,  a cheap owner, who only cares about the bottom line of the team. Even still, there have been a number of players that have come to Buffalo, had some high or moderate expectations, and have failed miserably. Frankly, some of that has to go on the coach. Again, Ruff is a good coach, but is he the best coach in the league? I don’t buy it. Is he a top five coach? I just don’t really know. The numbers say he isn’t and the fact that he’s a tough, blue-collar guy that has playing ties to Buffalo, sure doesn’t hurt his popularity either.