Wanna blog? Start your own hockey blog with My HockeyBuzz. Register for free today!
 

Happy Birthday, Lindy?

February 17, 2012, 9:41 AM ET [944 Comments]
GARTH'S CORNER
NHL news by Garth • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Bruins pivot Rich Peverley is now out 4-6 weeks with a third degree sprained MCL ligament in his right knee.

Boston GM Peter Chiarelli will have to make a move to upgrade his lineup.


Doies this mean that Paul Gaustad may be on the move to Boston?


Peverley has 9G, 29A this season. His loss leaves a huge hole up the middle of Boston's lineup. He's second on the Bruins in assists.

Why would Buffalo make a trade with the hated Boston Bruins?

The Bruins are desperate. If Dominic Moore went from Tampa to SJ for a 2nd and a 3rd rounder, Goose will fetch more. Does Dan Paille ring a bell?


Its Darcy Regier's job to get the maximum value for Gaustad if he does not intend to extend his contract beyond this Summer. Regier can create a bidding war for Gaustad. Teams who are scouting the big fella include: Chicago, Colorado, Minnesota, Anaheim, and Toronto.

Boston needs a centre. They don't want one. They NEED one. Goose is the best option available to Boston right now.

Were I Buffalo, I'd ask Boston for David Krejci in return for Gaustad. Center for center. I'd include Sekera in the deal.

Krejci has been in and out of the dog house this season after he thrived in the Stanley Cup playoffs last spring. Krejci has a tab of $3,750,000 this season, and, he'll be a $5,250,000 cap hit for the '12-13, '13-14, and '14-15 seasons.



***


Congratulations to Lindy Ruff, who turns 52 years old today.

Lindy's team is not skating today. Lindy's having a team meeting instead. Mired in a three game losing drought, Ruff is beyond pounding into his players in that their offense is anemic and that screams out loud for immediate improvement. Today's message should be more about accountability and work ethic than anything else. Can all 23 guys in the room look one another square in the eyes and honestly say that he is doing everything humanly possible in order to turn this mess into a positive experience? Some guys can't make eye contact with the guy in the mirror, let alone with the mates who they share the room with.

Aren't birthdays supposed to be joyous and fun? Something tells me that Ruff's birthday isn't going the way that he hoped that it would.

His team was shellacked 7-2 in Philly last night, surrendering 7 unanswered goals in the final forty minutes after playing a tremendous first twenty minutes.

John Vogl of the Buffalo News tweeted this morning that Ruff has spent 25 of his 52 years on Earth in Buffalo, NY. Ten years as a player and 15 years as head coach.

Yowza!

****



No skate for the Sabres today. Habs spent 30 minutes on the ice.

Erik Cole is expecting the Sabres to be in a foul mood tonight.


Thanks, Habs TV


The Sabres are the second worst goal differential team in the Eastern Conference right now. They enter tonight's play an abysmal -30. The Tampa Lightning are -33 right now.

The Columbus Blue Jax have flat-lined this season, largely due to their -53 goal differential.


Through 57 games, the Sabres have scored only 139 goals. As a team, they have allowed 169 goals against.

They've earned their 14th place lot in life by virtue of their incessant inability to score goals.


Pominville and Vanek have 43 goals combined (22 and 21 respectively).

Roy (11), Stafford (9), Gerbe (5), Gaustad (6), Leino (4), Boyes (3) have 38 goals combined in their cluster of offensive ineptitude.

Two guys horse pulling the wagon does not a championship team make. Three guys with double-digit goals for is unacceptable. Wasn't that long ago that the team had 10 twenty goal scorers on it.

Goal scoring isn't easy in today's NHL. The post lockout flow and skill is gone from today's game. Defensemen are no londer treated like pylons by gifted offensive goal scorers like they were five seasons ago. Hooking, holding, and obstruction/interference are now back in the NHL. 90% of the goals in today's game are scored below the has marks and in the blue ice. Save Vanek and Pominville, the Sabres command respect from enemy D in the dirty areas of the ice. The majority of Sabres forwards make their living out on the perimter, where its safe and collision-free. Its where the path of least resistance is accepted.

Good things happen when you put your head down and smash your way to the net.


Roy couldn't put the puck in Lake Erie while standing on shore line right now. He'd hit a lamp post, like he's hit dozens of goals posts and crossbars this season. Stafford and Boyes are 30+ goal guys who've been in the cooler for the past four months. When you refuse to drive the net and use your speed and size, you are not rewarded. Each are getting out of the game exactly what they are putting into it. Leino has been a yard sale. 4 goals for $27 million??!! Gaustad should be scoring 10-15 goals per season by simply standing on top of the enemy goalies head and tipping pucks. Gerbe has the shot and the speed to score 20+.

Where has the scoring juice gone?


Lindy has the opportunity to send a stiff and stern message to his team by benching some of his frequent offenders. Lets face it, there are 25 games remaining in the worst offensive season in team history. The team will need to rip off a miraculous 20-5 winning streak in order to qualify for the eighth seed and the right to get jacked up in the first round by King Lundqvist and the Rangers. Were I the coach, I start adjusting the poor efforts of the guys that are paid handsomely to provide offense to this struggling team. I do so by turfing Derek Roy for tonight's game. I then bench Stafford for Sunday's game.






We're 10 days from Trade Deadline Day.

The wind of change will no doubt be blowing through the core group of this woefully under-performing team.





***


Dateline January 31. Sabres win 3-1 in Montreal.

The Sabres chirped the Habs in the late stages of the game to the point of infuriation. Max Pacioretty was the object of the smack of Paul Gaustad.

Pacioretty and his team mates were not amused by Gaustad's "Chara" smack.
























Might not seem like much of an incident, but it was a big deal to the Habs at the time.

Tonight is a game about pride, not playoff seeds for the 14th place Sabres host the 13th place Canadiens. I expect a chippy, and chirpy game from both teams who will have a lot of frustrationsfrom this maddening season to take out on one another while on the ice.



***

Ryan Miller for Buffalo. Carey Price for the Canadiens.
Join the Discussion: » 944 Comments » Post New Comment
More from GARTH'S CORNER
» Hailing Taxis
» He With The Gold Makes The Rules
» Sedentary Seven
» The Sedentary Seven
» GadZuccs