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Looking For Answers In Florida

February 27, 2013, 2:44 PM ET [363 Comments]
GARTH'S CORNER
NHL news by Garth • RSSArchiveCONTACT
The Sabres skated today in Sunrise, Florida. John Vogl of The Buffalo News reported these line combos at the practice session.

26-19-29
9-63-42
55-12-21
82-25-36


John Scott is the extra forward. Why, I don’t know? Hecht hasn’t scored a goal in twenty games this season. I’d sit Hecht and play Scott in his place. Gerbe hasn’t scored in sixteen games. Can Scott be worse offensively than two fat bagels?
Were I Roslton, I’d use the following line combos for Thursday night’s game against the Panthers:

26-19-29
9-63-42
82-25-21
32-12-36


Jochen Hecht has earned a night in the press box. Gone are the days when he gives you a ton of added value on the PK to counter-balance his streaky 5-on-5 scoring. That version of Jochen is a faded memory. Now he’s been reduced to a D-role playing, minute-eater. He skated 5:52 (all 5 on 5, no PK) with two shots and no points in the Tampa game.

Gerbe skated 14:02 TOI in the win over Tampa, 1:01 of which came on the solo Buffalo PP. He was -1, with a missed shot, three shots on goal, two hits and a take away. At least he’s willing to throw the body, despite having just recovered fully from offseason back surgery. For that reason I play Gerbe over Hecht. Hecht doesn’t want any part of the physical contact that is part of his job description. He avoids the contact, like he did vs. Burmistrov in the Winnipeg loss last week.

Ehrhoff, Regehr, Myers, Sekera,Weber, Pardy, and Brennan all skated today. Jordan Leopold did not skate as he nurses his upper body ailment.



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I'm curious to know your opinion.





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In recent days, the St. Louis blues have lost three impact forwards to injury. Andy McDonald and Alex Steen were involved in a nasty collision at practice on Tuesday. Both players are now out of the lineup. McDonald has a knee injury, while Steen has an upper body ailment. Late last week, uber-talented rookie, Vlad Tarasenko was knocked out of the STL lineup with a concussion.

The Blues announced today that McDonald has been placed on injured reserve with a left knee injury.

Losing three key contributors to injury in a 48 game season is brutal.

Steen (LW) is the leading scorer on the Blues. McDonald (LW) adds grit and offense. Tarasenko (RW) had 6 goals and 6 assists in 17 games before getting gonged out of the lineup.

Suddenly, the Blues are extremely vulnerable. They are said to be looking for a veteran forward(s) to get them through this difficult time.

The Blues will attempt to bondo their body damage and play through the three injuries with AHL replacements.

Their next seven games are against some tough competition in the form of the Blackhawks, Oilers, Dtars, Kings, Coyotes, Sharks and Ducks.

Ken Hitchcock is wearing a brave face in public, however, he and his GM Doug Armstrong must be concerned about losing games and valuable ground in the Western standings.

Thanks, blues.nhl.com
The Blues sent a scout to watch games in Buffalo last week.


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Speaking of key injuries, the Vancouver Canucks announced Wednesday afternoon that centre Ryan Kesler suffered a broken foot while blocking a shot three games ago. He’s been playing despite the injury.
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