I’m typing this up during the second period of the Sabres game so if they happen to score on the power play, I’m still posting this. I want to talk about one of the biggest and most frustrating issues with this godforsaken team – the power play (or as I like to call it on Twitter, the pooper play). I actually made diagrams for this so enjoy my mad Paint skills.
Let’s talk about the first unit…
As you can see, I am very against putting Pominville on the point. Why you may ask? BECAUSE HE DOESN’T KNOW HOW TO KEEP THE PUCK IN THE ZONE. I swear to God this guy has something on his stick that makes the puck pop over the blade because EVERY time he tries to keep it in, it goes out regardless. Pominville has always been great in the slot because him and Roy create chances from there. Also, his sticks are always the one to break so when he lets the shot go – cue explosion of the composite stick. Speaking of which, those things need to go too but that’s a whole ‘nother rant that I can go off about. My proposed change is to put Roy on the point with Ehrhoff while have Pominville and Stafford along the boards. If only we could clone Vanek and make him two people because while his ass is deadly in front of the net, so is that slapshot of his. This is the real reason why we suck. Blame him, he’s too lazy to be two people.
Another issue with the power play in general is the lack of right handed defensemen on the team. With the exception of Myers (who is usually on the power play), Ehrhoff, Sekera, and Gragnani are all left-handed. I think watching a left-handed defensemen on the left side of the boards will cause them to hit the boards, the flow of play is just brutal…stuff like that. They seem to be rare in the league. So far, keys to a successful power play:
-Take Pominville off the point.
-Clone Vanek.
-Get more right-handed defensemen.
Two of these are actually plausible. Unfortunately, myself or scientists have not created a cloning device yet. I’ll get on that soon.
The second unit is just a mess because of the injuries plaguing this team. Adam and Ennis on the boards is a great choice because Ennis is skilled and Adam is big but also has good hands. Kassian is a big body at the top of the crease and you could switch him and Adam with one another if you had to cycle the puck. (Cycling the puck?! The Sabres NEVER do that.)
Gragnani and Sekera are at the points and we all saw what happened with Grags at the end of the Flyers game. I think he realizes what the hell he did. I’m one of the few people willing to give him another chance (I give everyone on this team chances, damn it. Too many.) While Sekera and Grags are superb passers for the most part, perhaps they pass too much. Actually, generally speaking the Sabres pass too much. If you go to any games, you know how often the crowd yells ‘SHOOT!’ Everytime I sit next to a guy at the arena and this is said, I want to dick punch him. A woman? “Shut up.” I know you’re frustrated and clearly the team is too but I think they’re smart enough to realize they have to shoot the puck in order to score a goal. They see more than you do on the ice. How about you put on some equipment and go on down there to try and score a goal, huh? Actually you might do better than half of these guys right now…
You would think after Brian McCutcheon was fired the power play would have gotten better. I believe it’s somehow gotten worse. Hella bad. A disaster. While the Sabres try to figure out what the hell the problem is at home with winning games, perhaps they can figure out their power failure too.
Follow Shelby on Twitter: @ShelbyBufWins and @shelbygriswold.
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