He's too nice. He's friendly and benevolent. He's soft spoken. He's courteous and well mannered. He's an all around nice guy.
For those reasons, and others, he was named captain of the Sabres at the beginning of last season.
For those reasons, I don't think he's an effective team leader. He's a great assistant coach. I just view him as a motivational leader, the kind of guy who's not afraid or timid to tell his bros that they sucked out loud for the umpteenth time this season.
Case in point, Sunday's post game locker room was an angry, uncomfortable place due in large part to Pominville's house hockey turnover that Pascal Dupuis buried behind Ryan Miller to tie the game at 3. Moments later, Paul martin scored the game winner. After the game, Pommer talked about having to be harder on pucks and all five guys playing more attentively and aggressively in their own end of the rink. He wasn't blushing. He wasn't out of breath. His blood pressure wasn't boiling over. His nostrils weren't flaring. His eyes weren't glazed over with the residue of rage and frustration.
Ryan Miller let it all hang out, didn't he? Steve Ott and Robyn Regehr were balls-out honest, to say nothing of chafed at their team's third period collapse.
Not Pommer. He was as cool as the other side of the pillow. Hakuna Mutata. No worries. Tomorrow's another day. Its good.
Monday was a mandatory off day, which meant the team didn't assemble for practice. When the troops trickled in to the rink for Tuesday's game day skate, the message was loud and clear: play better in your own zone, and protect the puck or else.
Or else what? Or else the leadership group is going to hold guys accountable?
You want to scatter the flock? Take out the shepherd. in other words: If you want to send a loud, clear message, single out the leader.
Translation: If Lindy and Darcy ain't goin' anywhere, then maybe it's time to train the laser beam on the forehead of the captain of the team. Maybe its time for Pominville to be traded. He is a valuable offensive player and is a former All Star. He plays PP and PK, and thrives 5 on 5. I'm not so sure he's cut out to be the captain. Is he in the same class as Toews, Crosby, Getzlaf, Giroux?
I don't think so. Tough times demand tough talk, and I don't think Pominville can pull his teammates out of the ditch with his passive leadership style.
Seriously. I don't mean any disrespect or ill will towards Jason Pominville. Personally, I don't think he's cut out to be the captain of an NHL team. Its becoming clear to to me that Pominville doesn't have a stomach for this prolonged losing streak. He doesn't throw his weight around, both figuratively and literally. He tends to speak in cliches and he isn't very forceful. He didn't have one last year either when the team was mired in the muck of mediocrity. Where was the captain during the forgettable six game western roadie that saw the Sabres get flogged and embarrassed.
On Tuesday night in the loser's locker room, the captain was at it again. He was careful not to offend any of his teammates with his post game synopsis. His voice barley raised an octave while describing his level of frustration. He didn't seem mad or perturbed. He may have been stewing inside, however, he didn't give anyone a glimpse into his anger. I'm not asking the guy to take a chair and throw it through the 100 inch TV screen in the locker room, nor am I asking him to drop F-bombs and challenge people to fist fights. Thats not Pommer's style. He's a different kind of leader. Unfortunately for him, in my opinion, this team needs a stiff kick in the ass by its leaders. Thomas Vanek gets pissed off when he wins NHL Player of The Month. He gets a red ass when he only scores three goals in a game and not six. TV is his own worst enemy. He holds himself accountable to the team. Ditto Steve Ott, Robyn Regehr, and Ryan Miller.
In the NHL, the object is to win more games than you lose. Right now, the Sabres are a bonafide mess. They've accepted the taste of losing. They rationalize their lossses. They qualify their failures. The leaders are not leading by example, as evidenced by recent struggles by Pominville and Stafford. This team doesn't need politically correctness. It needs an ass kicker who can provide mark messier-like leadership on the ice, in the room, on the bus, and at the hotel.
I'm all for No More Mr. Nice Guy.
After the Winnipeg embarrassment, rather than lambasting his team for skating in cement through the first 41 minutes of the game, he opted to accentuate the positives, like the way his team played in the third period of a loss.
“Actually, I thought we played better in the third . We obviously didn’t get the start we wanted again. It’s a part of the game that has to improve. We have to get better in that area. We’ve got to get better starts. (I'm) disappointed in the way we came out, but I thought as the game went on we did some better things, managed to get within one. (We) had a few looks in the third, but we’re not going to win games when we started they way we did tonight. Even though we played hard for 20 [minutes], we got to play hard for 60.”
Really, Jason?! When did the NHL become a 60 minute business? So, the goal is to skate like your hair is on fore for all 60 minutes? Then why don't your teammates believe you when you and Lindy Ruff say it?
Or this gem that the captain offered up regarding the at-times despicable play in front of Ryan Miller in the Buffalo d zone?
“I think we’ve got to be better in our zone. It’s definitely an area we talked about; we know we have to do better. They scored on some good opportunities they got that we gave them. They also had a lot more chances that did go in. I think, overall, it has to be better in our zone. We’re not playing good enough without the puck and it starts there, Pommer said”
Oh, I see. One minute into the game, its not okay for Evander Kane to outwork three, count them, three Buffalo Sabres behind Ryan Miller's net.
Thanks for clearing that up for me , Jason. I thought the goal of the break-out had been changed for your team to throw pucks at enemy sticks, like the soft serve ice cream cone that Gerbe that Gerbe served to Ladd:
Soft effort. Just like occured duriing the sequence of events that led to the Dupuis game-tying goal on Sunday.
Losing sucks. it makes people agitated and upset. That why 18,000+ people booed the Sabres for 40 minutes on Tuesday night. I was shocked at the bile and venom that the fans were spitting at the team. After the game, Ryan Miller said that his team deserved the boos because the Sabres are not playing the caliber of hockey that the city of Buffalo deserves. Miller's right. The fans deserve better. They want better. They demand better.
Pominville's post game comments were set to a lullabye:
“It’s obviously disappointing and frustrating; we have got to be better and we got to dig ourselves out of this. We’re not in an easy situation, we know that. It’s going to take a lot of work, starts with compete and battles, but we have to start somewhere.”
Which guy would you run through a burning building for ? Pommer?
thanks, sabres.com
Regehr?
thanks, sabres.com
Miller?
thanks, sabres.com
I'll take Regehr's directness and Miller's fire over Pominville's pablum any day of the week.
I'm all for trading Pominville in a deal that will fetch Ryan O'Reilly, jarome Iginla, or Corey Perry.
If the team isn't thinking about trading him now, I feel like they should begin to consider the option. Pominville, Vanek, and Miller will all qualify for UFA after the 2013-14 season. With the cap shrinking next season and likely beyond the Sabres will not be able to keep all three players. Personally, sign Miller and Vanek long term and move Pominville while he has excellent trade value right now. His $5.3 milion cap numberis not difficult for a contender or a re-building team to absorb. I would then sew the "C" on Vanek's sweater for the next five to seven seasons.
"We are not playing the caliber of hockey that this city deserves".
The boo birds were out in full effect for long stretches of the first and second period.
Lindy Ruff said: "I'm embarrassed".
For whatever, inexplicable reason, his team was dopey and played like its skated were encased in cement for the first forty minutes against Winnipeg. How can players who are under the watchful eye of their head coach and GM play so badly? Talk about taking a nose dive! The Sabres played some of their best hockey of the season this past weekend against two Eastern powers conference in Boston and Pittsburgh. It boggles the mind that this team was not ready to play an inspired 60 minutes. Frankly, its unacceptable.
The door to the Buffalo room opened a lot later than it normally does, and later we found out from captain Pominville that he and a group of players spoke openly and freely about their disgusting performance. Funny, I didn't hear any F-bombs or screaming from where I stood just outside the door. Hush, calm tones prevailed over raucous, raw, unbridled passion. I really don't get this team at times this season. Just when I think I think I have them figured out, they go and head fake me into believing something else to be the truth.
"We didn't start skating until the third period", said Ruff.
Much more to come from this smoldering pile of rubble......
So, I'm standing alone having a sip and a chocolate chip cookie during intermission, when Mikhail Grigorenko, happens up to the cookie platter for a snack.
I had to ask him how he's doing.
How could I resist.
"I'm good. I'm working out a lot and I've been skating quite a bit too", he told me.
I asked the rookie he's anxious to play, having been scratched two games in row now.
"Oh, yeah. I need to play. I thought for sure that I would be in the lineup tonight, but it didn't happen. I'll just get ready for the Toronto game".
He appears to be in good spirit. No bad mood. He gets it. He's cool like that.
He's a rookie and he's learning the NHL ropes.
I asked him if he could recall being scratched two games in a row.
"Its been a long time", he said with a smile.
Ever scratched two games in a row in Quebec?
"No. Patrick Roy would mix his lines, but he would keep six of us in that group. You knew who you were going to play with in that six man group. No surprises".
I asked Grigo if he has time to keep in touch with his Remparts teammates.
"Yes. We do keep in touch. They have been playing very well. They are winning a close games, like 3-2 and scores like that. I keep in touch"
Lindy Ruff has decided to park Mikhail Grigorenko for tonight's game.
Why?
I don't know. Grigo hasn't played since the 4-2 Sabres win over the Bruins on Friday night.
I can understand the rationale of sitting the 18 year old against the Penguins due to his relative inexperience against two of the top centres in the NHL in Crosby and Malkin. However, I'm shaking my head right now at his exclusion from the lineup against one of the worst teams in the NHL right now in the Winnipeg Jets.
There's got to be a method to the madness.
Ruff has scrambled 75% of his lines for this game and has juxtaposed his D pairs. Kaleta to L2, Stafford to L4, Leopold to the press box.
Something is cooking. Maybe the fact that five Western conference scouts (DAL, CAL, COL, ANA, MIN) are here tonight to watch the game prompted the lineup shuffle and the Grigo scratch.
I'm not concerned yet, however, I will be if Grigo is turfed for the game in Toronto on Thurdsday night.
To quote the immortal Gord Downie: "Lets just see what tomorrow brings"....
Grigo has a goal and 2 assists in 14 games played. He's -4 right now. Ruff has said that he has been satisfied with the rookie's defense and his energy inside games.
Join the Discussion:
»