PK Subban's play in his past two games has drawn the ire of his head coach, Michael Therrien.
On Tuesday night, the Montreal defenseman was called for a high sticking penalty on Buffalo D, Mark Pysyk, in overtime. Subban tried to destroy Pysyk with a high speed hip check, however, in whiffing, his stick clipped Pysyk's head. Ref's hand point to th eheavens. Subban felt shame.
The Subban penalty sent Buffalo to the 4-on-3 PP. Steve Ott seized the moment and beat Carey Price for the OT PP GWG.
Therrien, in his post game pressser characterized the Subban penalty as "stupid".
Afterwards, a visibly disappointed Subban faced the music.
On Thursday night on Long Island, Therrien benched Subban during the second period, a move that must not have sat well with Subban, who then erupted to score two goals in the 4-2 Candiens win. Subban tied the game with PPG midway through the second period and added an insurance goal in the third period. Earlier in the game, Subban was the culprit for a too many men on the ice penalty. After the game, Therrien didn't refer to Subban by name, but noted that that his team needed to be more disciplined in during all aspects of the game. Paging Mr. Subban.
Subban's is usually an upbeat, high energy personality. In his post game presser on Thursday night, Subban appeared to be in a ho-hum mood. Getting benched will do that to a proud, prime time performer.
Thanks, canadiens.nhl.com
“He’s a player that responded well to the message we sent him,” coach Michel Therrien said. “He played an excellent third period.”
Subban told reporters Friday that Therrien has been great for him as a player.
“I’ve enjoyed playing for him,” the defenceman said. “He brings out the best in his players.”
Pat Kaleta is one of the most polarizing athletes in Buffalo history. The mere mention of his name is a cluster of hockey fans will get you one of two things:
A fist-pump, or, a look that can kill.
Within the cozy confines of the eight counties that make up Western New York, Kaleta is viewed as a folk hero, He’s the local kid who dragged his bag through the slushy muni rink parking lots at 6am to attend practice, who would eventually earn an opportunity to play in a premier OHL town for a legendary squad like the Peterborough Petes. Kaleta is a Buffalo kid. He oozes Buffalo ethics and values. He loves when his team is winning and the fans are going ga-ga for an encore performance,. Like they were on Thursday night after the thrilling 5-4 shootout win over the hated Toronto Maple Leafs.
Travel outside of the 716 area code, and you'll get an earful from the bar stool prophets and "hockey purists" who say that players like Kaleta are "bad for the game".
Kaleta doesn't care what the fans from enemy teams and the talking heads from US and Candian broadcast outlets think about him. If he wanted to know their opinion of him, he'[d asked them He doesn't care about the chatter and the smack. All he cares about is being accountable to the team that he dreamt of playing for when he was seven years old.
Like it or not, Kaleta represents Buffalo well.
Styeve Ott knows a thing or two about being politically correct, and he's just fine with his buddy Kaleta.
“I guarantee every single team in this league would love to have a guy like that on his team. A guy that would go through the wall for you--block shots, play hard, hard minutes of hockey, fight, hit-- all those aspects.”
Incidentally, Ott was rung up for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for blowing a kiss to a Leafs player on Thursday night. Don't they know that Otter is a peace-loving young man?
Aggression is Kaleta’s core brand identifier. These days, business isn’t doing so good. The hit from behind on Brad Richards was weeks ago, however, its still an issue with many people in the NHL. Including his interim head coach, Ron Rolston. Kaleta paid his penance for the dirty hit on the Ranger centre man. He sat out the NHL-mandated five game suspension, and also endured the supplemental, supplemental discipline that Rolston slapped on him as Kaleta was made a healthy scratch in Washington last weekend. Getting called out by his former road roomate and fellow team leader, Ryan Miller really raised eyebrows. Kaleta says the matter was handled and its forgotten. Just brothers being brothers, he told me. Losing $76,000+ in salary and six games in a lockout-shortened 48 game NHL season is a stiff price to pay. Kaleta won’t talk anymore about the Richards incident other than to say that he’s on his way to correcting his game.
Kaleta told me on Thursday that he has been looking inside himself in recent weeks, looking for the solution to simplify his game and to do more of the things that will add value to his Sabres team. He told me that sitting and watching sucks. However, sitting 150 fet above the ice surface and bench, gave him a clearer perspective on how he’s going to be playing the game from now on.
Kaleta told me that he has found solace and inspiration in watching how his locker neighbor and fellow S’der, Steve Ott, handles his business on the bench and one the ice.
“I watched Otter a lot. The positive things that he can do for our team and how he controls certain things. I can learn from that. Obviously, he’s a warrior… and it’s a good thing he’s doing an interview right now because I don’t want to tell him that I look up to him (laughing). He’s a really good role model.”
Kaleta is contrite and honest. He wants to put the Richards incident behind him so that he can get back to doing the things that he loves doing the most:
Getting under the skin of opponents and killing penalties.
“You know me. I take great pride in killing penalties for the Buffalo Sabres. Power play is something of a long shot for me to be on, so I can always improve upon if called upon to do t, but right now, I take tremendous pride in penalty kill and blocking shots”.
Fans don’t get to see the busted up hands, fingers, arms and shins of Pat Kaleta. They don’t get to see the swollen ankles with ice bags ace bandaged to them, that look bigger than loaves of bread, as the player gimps across the room to the trainers table. Fans and critics don’t get to see the contusions and battles scars that PKers like PK36 have to endure in their high risk line of work.
Kaleta told me that he used to just sit watch and the way that Mike Grier would handle his chores at the practice rink and inside games. He says that Grier is one of his mentors and teachers who he looks up to the most in his career.
“Mike taught me the right way to do things. I know I don’t always do them perfectly, but I try. I really do.”
“That’s a family thing with me in my family. Its always “be fearless. Don’t be afraid to do anything”. If I can lead by example by blocking shots and doing certain thing slike that then by all means I’m going to do it because I know that the position that we as a team are in right now isn’t one that we want to be in but we’ve got a big hill to climb, but, why can’t we be the team that climbs that hill”?
Despite all of their failures in the first two months of the season, and all of the acrimony, the Sabres enter tonight play only four points out of eighth place. They only have two teams standing between them and the eight hole. Kaleta likes his team’s chances to close the gap and to grab a playoff berth.
“ You look back at the NHL, with the Giants two years ago, when they just squeaked into the playoffs, and then they end up winning the Super Bowl. They were together. They went through it for each other, with each other, and they came together to win a championship. LA (Kings last year. it’s a thing that I’ve heard Otter talking about it that we take pride in wanting to make the playoffs. We all want to make the playoffs. There’s nothing more important in this locker room than getting in. It takes game by game, shift by shift. It sound cliché, it sounds like we don’t really think like that, but we do. That’s what it is. Shifts build periods. Periods build games, and then we go from there”.
Kaleta acknowledged to me that there are no more mulligans. No more margin for error. All of the “get out of jail free” cards have been used. If the Sabres are going to prevail, the team is going to have to scarifice their bodies to win games. That’s fine with Kaleta. That’s what he does for a living.
“If we’re going to do something special like making the playoffs, it all comes back to hard work out there, and battling for one another. As long as you can look at yourself in the mirror, and everybody can say that we gave it everything we got, then you can live with efforts like that. Sometimes it doesn’t always work to your advantage, but you have to want to win“.
Kaleta wants to win. He wants it more for the team success than his own personal success.
“I will go to battle for every guy in this room. I know that they will do the same for me. We have each other’s backs. We are brothers, and we are going to do anything and everything in our power to get to the playoffs”
Thomas Vanek skated on Friday morning and is ready to return to the starting lineup against Montreal on Saturday night.
Vanek was hobbled by a Christian Ehrhoff point bomb to the hip in Montreal on Tuesday night. He sat out the 5-4 Buffalo shootout win over Toronto on Thursady night.
Nathan Gerbe didn't skate on Friday. Afterwards, Ron Rolston said that Gerbe is okay and that he will be making the roadie to Montreal. Will he play or will he sit again?
Gerbe is not a big fan of sitting out games when he is healthy. I'm going to go out a limb and say that he's not pleased that RR sat him Thursday night. This situation bears watching.
Gerbe has 3 goals and 3 assists in 25 games this season. He's a -3.
Ron Rolston will ahve to make a roster decision on Saturday in order to pulse Vanek back into the fray.
Which forward will sit?
John Scott? Jochen Hecht?
**
Reggie Sekera participated in the skate, however, is unlikely to play in Montreal on Saturday.
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