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30) Is Rob Niedermayer an upgrade over Tim Kennedy?
Even if you own a bar in South Buffalo and were leading the rally cries about Tim Kennedy being bought out, I think you have to say that Niedermayer is an upgrade over him. On the offensive front, I think Kennedy is a slightly better than Niedermayer #2, but not by much. Both players had 10 goals last season, but when you saw Kennedy play, you saw a little more offensive skill. Niedermayer is mostly a grinder and while Kennedy could be a gritty guy, he could also show flashes of some skill. Now with that being said, Niederemayer has an upgrade over Kennedy in the leadership department. He’s got cup winning experience and is coming from two organizations that know how to win. Plus, I think he’s more of a solid defensive forward than Kennedy.
29) Will Patrick Lalime finally solve the riddle of the back-up goalie?
Actually, I probably should have put Lindy Ruff’s name in the question. Lets be honest, Ruff really holds the key to whether Lalime will be effective in relief of Ryan Miller. I blame the coach for screwing over Lalime last year, when Ruff decided to play him once every 6 weeks. The key for a backup goaltender is for the coach to try and keep him on a set schedule. When Lalime was playing every 6th or 7th game at the start of the season, he played well. He beat the Penguins and the Blackhawks, in victories where he really stood on his head. Then the Western Conference road trip in January happened, where Patty had a bad game against the Ducks and Lindy blew a gasket. He pretty much took Lalime out of the goalie rotation and had him start once a month.
As for this year, Ruff has to count on Lalime because the Sabres play a league high 22 back-to-back games. As long as Lindy Ruff has been the coach, he has never been able to master the goalie rotation for the backup. He was spoiled by Hasek in the 90’s, because he could easily play him for 70 games. Now he has Miller and he doesn’t trust any other backup to get the job done. BTW, don’t even mention Marty Biron’s name. When Marty was Miller’s backup, he had the easiest job in the world because when he went in to man the pipes, he had all-stars playing in front of him. Bottom line: The Sabres need to play well in front of whoever is playing goal and Lindy has to trust Lalime.
28) Why am I not impressed with the Sabres goal production?
All I ever hear from Sabres apologists is that the team doesn’t have any problems putting the puck in the net. “Well, they were ranked 10th in goals scored, so everything is cool and you’re just picking on them.” Well, the problem is that the Sabres seemed to score all of their goals against subpar teams. In 26 games against the Islanders, Maple Leafs, Thrashers, Panthers, Lighting and Hurricanes, the Sabres scored exactly 100 goals, which makes up almost 46% of their 231 goals scored in 82 games last year. Of course, those teams happen to be non-playoff squads.
Now, in 32 games against the Flyers, Capitals, Penguins, Devils, Bruins and Senators, the Sabres had only scored 61 goals. Yes, 61 goals! That’s a shade under two goals per game. Bottom line: When the Sabres were playing piss pour teams from Florida, they could easily run up the score. However, once they had to take on playoff teams; forget it. Hell, go back to series against Boston, where the team struggled to put the puck pass Tuukka Rask. Again, do I really need to make a case for why I’m not a fan of the Sabres scoring habits?
27) Will Harry Neale lose his mind…even more?
When Harry Neale was announced to takeover for Jim Lorenz at the start of the 2007 season, my arms were wide opened in anticipation for having the former lead color analyst for CBC on every Sabres broadcast. Frankly, I didn’t really remember anything Harry brought up during the Hockey Night in Canada games that made me think he was going to be a great color guy for us, but I just thought his resume was impressive enough. Well, three years later, I kind of wish that Jim Lorenz would return phone calls from MSG. I don’t know what it is, but Neale seems to just read off a bunch of stupid stats that I already know the answers to or he just says stuff that doesn’t make any sense. I’ll never forget when he was on “The Whip” and discussed why the NHL should consider having 10 playoff teams per conference. I mean, why don’t we invite the AHL into the playoff picture. Not to mention, what happens after round 1, when there are only an odd number of teams left? Does that team get a bye? Frankly, Neale just bores me and he offers nothing.
26) Why does Tim Connolly have an “A” on his jersey?
I have no clue. Everyone knows that TC isn’t a leader and he’s known to be a player that ducks out of the locker room after a tough loss in order to avoid the press. I don’t know why all of a sudden, after 9 years with the team, Ruff decided to have Connolly become a leader on the team. This is nothing more that Lindy Ruff trying to impose responsibilities on one of his more talented players, when everyone knows that TC doesn’t want to be a part of it.
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