In June 2006, the Sabres felt that they were cheatd. They felt as though a chance to win sports' most prestigious trophy had been stolen from them.
In June 2006, Buffalo faced the eventual Stanley Cup champions, the Carolina Hurricanes, in the Eastern Conference final. Buffalo went into battle without Tim Connolly (who had been their best performer in the postseason), Henrik Tallinder (their best all-around defenseman), Teppo Numminen (the most experienced player on the young roster), and Dmitri Kalinin (another top 4 defenseman). They took the series to seven games with the likes of Doug Janik, Rory Fitzpatrick, and Jeff Jillson on the blue line. Buffalo looked like they would hold their own, when on the morning of game 7 it was announced that Jay Mckee (who led the league in blocked shots) would be unable to play due to a staph infection. The Sabres, despite playing 4 defensemen who had spent the majority of the season in Rochester (including Nathan Paetsch, playing just the 2nd game of his NHL career), were able to play with, and even lead, the 'Canes. They eventually lost, however, in the 3rd period.
Fast forward to fall of 2006. Buffalo is out to prove that they deserved that Cup. Well everyone knows what happened. The Sabres stromed through the regular season and won the President's Trophy. Come playoff time, however, the Sabres seemed to expect their talent to carry them, and lacked the hunger seen the previous year. Buffalo was embarressed by Ottawa in the conference finals.
That summer, poor management seemingly led to the departure of both Daniel Briere and Chris Drury, the co-captains of the team. Additionally, an offer by Edmonton to restricted free agent Thomas Vanek forced the Sabres to invest arounf $50 million in the young scorer.
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This past season, Buffalo had, without question, enough talent to make the playoffs. However, they seemed to mourn the loss of Briere and Drury all season, rather than to make a new identity for themselves. Despite finishing with a respectable 33 goals, Thomas Vanek struggled horrible through the first 49 games, posting only 13. Maxim Afinogenov, who had scored 61 points in 56 games the previous year, finished with an abysmal 28 points in the same number of games. Jocelyn Thibault looked lost in many games, and his unreliability as a backup forced Miller to start 30 straight games before Thibault played the final, meaningless game of the season. Team leader Brian Campbell was dealt at the trade deadline for young and unproven Steve Bernier.
So now the Sabres face the task of climbing back into contention. It all has to start with a good offseason. The Sabres must first finally put the Drury and Briere era behind them. For the Campbell trade to have any value to them, they must take advantage of the first round pick they received from San Jose, as well as their own first round pick. Most importantly, however, they need to make smart trades. The players in question are as follows:
Maxim Afinogenov- Dynamic skater with good hands. With him, its a gamble. Will you get the point a game player of two years ago, who drove fear into his opponents? Or will you get the invisible forward who constantly turned the puck over, and who was barely noticable whenever he took the ice?
Verdict - trade him and take what you can get, hope to find a team willing to take a chance on him.
Ales Kotalik- Big, sometimes physical winger who has a rocket of a slapshot. Capitalizes on one-timers from top of the circles, especially on powerplay. Has provided pretty consistent 20-25 goal scoring when he's stayed healthy, and seasons he hasn't he's still thrown in 15 goals. Sometimes seems lazy. Won't give you much more than the 23 goals he had this year, but shouldn't be expected to. Expectations are often too high.
Verdict - keep him. He can score, and the Sabres struggled in that department at times.
Tim Connolly- Quick, playmaking center with excellent hands and moves.During the 05-06 season, this guy showed just how talented he was. He has a terrific wrist shot, but almost never shoots. He'll make mindblowing passes and moves when he's healthy. Unfortunately, he rarely is. His career high in goals: 16.
Verdict - trade him. This is the hardest decision to make. Possibly the most talented player in Buffalo, but he can't stay healthy. Not worth risking for yet another season.
Jocelyn Thibault - Former starter, expected to be a strong backup, but proved very unreliable, and as such, unable to spell Miller in the home stretch.
Verdict - trade trade trade. Take anything. If you can't get anything, cut him.
The Sabres have yet to improve their team at the trade deadline in the post-lockout era. Apart from this offseason, they should set a goal to get truly better at the deadline. If they make smart moves and lock up their free agents, they have enough talent to shake off this previous disappointing year and contend once more for Lord Stanley's Cup.
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4 months ago
I am in agreement with most of what you say. Afinagenov has to go. The team, especially the broadcasters, and those around the league, have to let go of the fact that Briere and Drury are gone. The Campbell move was a huge disappointment. This team was actually a lot closer to success than given credit for. With Campbell they would have made the playoffs. Their scoring ability is not questioned, but the support in front of Miller is. I figure with the way the young guys have performed, namely Paille (sp?) and MacAurthur, their defense is really the only question mark. Being without Numminen all season and Spacek for much of it, they were relying too heavily once again on some quality, if unproven, newbies. Two 1st round draft picks need to be used wisely. They need an offensive D'man to replace Campbell as well as a solid stay at home guy to keep the puck out of our end. Teppo is on his last legs. Spacek, for all his skills, looks a little chubby and slow sometimes. They were close for the last couple of years. They're not surprising anyone anymore. They need to fill out their roster with character guys. And please, Finny, pass the puck!!
4 months ago
T-BO is a UFA so they either need to resign him or he will be gone. otherwise I agree with your contention, especially with Kotalik.
4 months ago
The Sabres have talent on offense with guys like Hecht, Kotalik, Paille, etc., but the problem last year seemed to be that if Vanek and Roy weren't scoring, then nobody else was....I really like Paille too though, he's a hard worker who brings a lot to the table. He has above average defensive skills and isn't afraid to get physical, plus as he showed this year, he has potential to light the lamp. MacArthur is similar in that he'll get physical and is strong in the defensive zone, but he won't ever be more than a 3rd line player...
4 months ago
They need to do something about Connolly. If not moving him to another team, then at least get him off the power play. He makes the worst decisions with the puck and isn't smart enough to quarterback things.
4 months ago
the problem with connolly is he OVERthinks everything. he always tries to make one last pretty pass instead of just shooting the puck.
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