50 questions for the Buffalo Sabres: 35-31

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35) Will Craig Rivet be a factor this year?

If you wanted to make a list of Sabres players that disappointed me last year, Craig Rivet would have been in the top 3. He played like hot garbage and seemed to age quicker than Mel Gibson in the movie “Forever Young”. Of course, everything changed when it was revealed that Rivet had been battling a shoulder injury for the last two years. So, I guess we should all be forgiving and just chalk this up to someone playing hurt. Well, I’m not. Rivet had struggles prior to coming to Buffalo in San Jose, and he’s at an age where the body normally breaks down, especially for someone that has been a physical player throughout his career. On a positive note; I remember last season when I heard an interview with Rivet on WGR. He spoke so eloquently and you could really hear the passion in his voice. You could totally tell that he was a leader for the team. However, how many leaders do we need on this team? Anyways, to answer the original question, I think Rivet will be better than last year, but he won’t merit the 3.5 million dollars he’s getting for this season.

34) Will the Sabres miss Hank and Toni?

Yes, the Sabres will miss them because the duo represented kind of a safety net for knowing what you would get from the Sabres blueline on a nightly basis. They weren’t flashy and weren’t going to make all-star teams, but they just did the little things very well. Now, I still have  a lot of confidence in the Sabres front office to find and develop young defensemen to take over. I know, I’ve been hard on Regier and company for not being able to really find elite scorers via the farm system, but you can’t say that about them finding your typical stay at home defensemen. Lindy knows how to coach up d-men and  has a history of being able to find those guys. So, sure, they will be missed, but I think it will be only for the short-term.

33) Which Sabres player will be exploited the most for MSG Commercials?

I’m going with Goose. Last year, Gaustad had his little helpful hints on trying to save trees and the ozone layer with the “Blue and gold makes green” campaign. However, he had competition with Derek Roy, who was the key Sabres spokesman for Cellino and Barnes. However, I think advertisers must know that most Sabres fans hate Derek Roy and he would probably be a bad choice as spokesman. So, I’m going with Goose to get more commercial airtime. Plus, he’s a fan favorite and everybody likes him.

32) Why do I hate preseason hockey?

I’m sorry, but didn’t we learn anything from the Bills preseason? Now, don’t give me this crap about wanting to see how Zack Kassian and Luke Adam play. Fine. If you want to see how they play, just realize that they are playing against guys who will be in the OHL or some other hockey league that you will never hear of by opening night. Not to mention, its preseason hockey and I seriously doubt that some of the vets are going to be playing for their lives. Sure, preseason hockey is better than no hockey, but to sit here and get excited or bent out of shape about anything regarding the Sabres, is just stupid.

31) Which Sabres player represents a make it or break it year?

Got to go with Drew Stafford. He’s going into the final year of his contract and if he has another season of 10-13 goals, I don’t think he’s going to get 2 million dollars again. We all know about Stafford; he’s got nice speed for a guy his size and has a pretty decent shot. However, he sometimes plays like he’s performing an acoustic version of Nirvana’s “About a girl”. In other words; he plays like he’s half dead. Not to mention, I’ve heard rumblings that Stafford is one of those guys who is more interested in playing guitar than playing to get better. Stafford is considered by the coaching staff to be a top six forward and had plenty of playing time on the top line. I’m not sure Stafford deserved that spot, but you can tell that the Sabres are going to give their former first round pick every opportunity to succeed. The Sabres need him to turn it around, because their biggest issue last year was that the team didn’t put the puck in the net enough. If Stafford can put it together this year, you know the Sabres will award him rather nicely because of being a homegrown player. If he doesn’t, well, I don’t see why they would want to bring him back. Unless, they only have to pay him a million bucks (Oh, wait, Tim Kennedy is gone).