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Goose Nest

July 27, 2013, 2:04 PM ET [47 Comments]
GARTH'S CORNER
NHL news by Garth • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Once a Sabre, always a Sabres.

Congrats to long time Sabres and Amerk Paul Gaustad. He and his fiancee were married this weekend in Portland.





Ryan Miller stood up for Goose in his wedding party.




When Darcy Regier bought out the final year of Nathan's Gerbe’s contract, he mashed a button that activated the "hate" emotion inside of the former Sabres winger. Its not the $1.85 million in salary that Gerbe is upset about. Its that he never saw the buyout move coming. Nothing lasts forever in pro sports. Players are only as good as their last play.

“I was a little shocked that happened,” Gerbe told the Raleigh News Observer.

“Then it becomes something that drives you to work harder. I want to prove everyone wrong, and especially prove it to one team up North.”


The team "up North" to which Gerbe was referring was Buffalo, NY.

Bitter much, Gerbs?

You better believe he is. Thats the fuel that feeds Gerbe's fire.

Listen, Buffalo. Gerbe doesn't hate you personally. He hates failure. He hates not achieving and surpassing his goals. He hates losing. He hates mediocrity. He hates that his injuries marred his experience in Buffalo.

I can't say I blame him.

“Something that drives me and fuels me is being a player who’s tough to play against,” Gerbe said.

“Get out on the ice, get rolling, get the energy going and help my team any way I can. It’s going to be different playing for another team but I’m fired up to get down there.”


It wasn't supposed to end like this for Gerbe in Buffalo. He was the underdog that inspired his fans and teammates alike. Gerbe personified the old sports bromide that states:

"Its not the size of the dog in the fight. Its the size of the fight in the dog".

Gerbe's heavy body checks and cheap shots that he would land on Boston skyscraper Zdeno Chara made Sabres fans love him all the more. Gerbe was the little engine who could. He played a "x factor" role for the Sabres akin to the that of Steve Tasker of the Super Bowl era Buffalo Bills teams. Gerbe, like Tasker, had to work harder and train harder because his size and strength were not equivalent to that of brawnier, taller opponents.


Remember when Gerbe seemingly willed the Sabres to the playoffs in 2010? He nearly earned the Sabres a playoff berth on his own the following season when Lindy Ruff kept feeding Gerbe playing time and he scored 16 goals (31 points in 64 games) for the Sabres in the 2010-2011 season. The euphoria and the positive vibes were contagious. The Gerbe-Gaustad-Kaleta line became an effective shut-down trio that Ruff loved to employ at the ends of games. Fans couldn't get enough of the 42-28-36 line. When Gaustad was traded to Nashville at the trade deadline in 2011. His role on the team was never really as defined after he returned from nagging injuries. Its too bad.

Then in December 2011,Gerbe was forced out of the lineup and would eventually visit the spinal surgeon in July 2012 to correct the L5-S1 damage that was caused when Marc-Andre Bourdon of the Philadelphia Flyers blew up Gerbe from behind.



Gutless.

The NHL lockout worked out well for Gerbe because he was able to use the extra time off to complete post-op physical therapy. While many of his Sabres teammates were playing overseas in Europe, Gerbe was skating with a group of Sabres teammates and college kids in Buffalo. He was putting in the work and trying to recapture his fire. Gerbe made his 2013 season debut on January 24 against the Carolina Hurricanes. The underdog overcame the odds, returned to what he loves doing the most: drive opponents crazy.

Remember this disgusting sucker shot to Gerbe's newly repaired back, in his first game back since the July 2012 surgery?



Nice retaliation by Tyler Myers, eh? This Bowman cheap shot on Gerbe is an embarrassing microcosm of Myers' 2013 season. More on that later.

I'm still incensed that veteran official Dan O'Halloron was allowed to man handle Gerbe the way that he did. If I was Gerbe, I'd have teed up a slap shot at O'Halloran's melon in that game. Another embarrassing moment in Sabres history. I digress.


“I was hurt in 2011 and it was something I didn’t notice right away,” Gerbe said.

“I kept going and played 40-some games, which probably did not help me. I got to the point I struggled to take off my skates and put on my clothes.

“My recovery from surgery took about seven months. I was cleared to work out the day the lockout ended, and I jumped right into games, without a workout, which may not have been the smartest thing to do. But I’ve gotten stronger in the offseason and feel healthy and ready to go.”


Gerbe is not guaranteed a roster spot in Raleigh. He's signed a one year, two-way deal that will pay him only $550,000 ($250,000 guaranteed).


Its time once again for the underdog to shut up his critics and doubters. Its time for a healthier Gerbe to sow his seeds of hatred from rinks in the Research Triangle to Washington, DC, and all points in between.


The odds of Gerbe cracking into the top 9 forward ranks in Raleigh are long.

I like his chances to do so. I've always liked his spunk and his belief in himself.

Gerbe will be great again.








Ron Rolston and Joe Sacco will now have an opportunity to hold an open tryout for Gerbe's roster spot. Vanek and Foligno are fixtures in the top six, while, John Scott will be the bomber on the fourth line. Johan Larsson, and Zemgus Girgensons will battle it out in camp for the right to see who sticks and stays in Buffalo and who heads back to Rochester.


***


The Ehrhoffs and Hechts chill out in Germany.


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