Sabres Need Santa's
Help
Dec 14th, 2003 by
Dave Davis
It’s time for the Buffalo Sabres to
compile their Christmas list and find a willing Santa who will help
deliver a gift or two.
After a dismal pointless four game home stand, followed by a heart
wrenching loss Saturday night in Minnesota, the Sabres are quickly
free falling from the playoff race. Just recently in the thick
of things and toying with the prospect of breaking above .500, they
now sit four points out of a playoff berth, with teams ahead of them
holding multiple games in hand.
Failure to score big goals when needed, giving up goals at the most
inopportune times, holding closed door meetings with struggling
veterans, this is looking like November of last season all over
again. The only thing missing, mercifully, is a bankruptcy
crisis or owner scandal - admittedly, things could be worse.
Two of their highest paid players, Miroslav Satan and Alexei
Zhitnik, are a combined minus 26 this season. None of their
three goaltenders has been able to stake a valid claim to be the
number one stopper. Their forwards aren’t backchecking, and
their defense isn’t scaring anyone.
We should have learned a lot about this team after losing four
straight at home. In all four games, the Sabres trailed 2-1
early in the third period. In all four games, they were right
in it and at least playing well enough to grab some points. In
all four games, missed saves, missed empty nets and/or missed
defensive responsibilities sent them to the locker room with
nothing. Then in Minnesota they couldn't hold a 2-1 third
period lead of their own, as bad goaltending let them down.
Hopefully the Sabres front office learned something. The cold
hard fact of the matter is that this team is not good enough to make
the playoffs, as it is currently assembled.
Sabres GM Darcy Regier is in a position to show how dedicated he
really is to putting a playoff caliber team on the ice. There
are some teams with antsy GM’s right now, such as Dallas, Boston,
the Islanders and about a half dozen others. If Regier has the
belief, as do many folks in Buffalo, that this free fall will not
stop on its own, then he owes it to the organization and to the fans
to get on the phone and get creative very quickly. If he
doesn’t have this belief, his eggnog thermos should be confiscated
and tested immediately.
The best case scenario, and the path of least resistance to a
playoff berth, would be to acquire a bona fide number one
goaltender. This one move alone would be a huge lift, and
would help mask some of the teams’ other obvious deficiencies.
Mika Noronen backers who didn’t feel uncomfortable following the
third period Minnesota meltdown may be sharing the same thermos with
Regier. As it stands right now, the Sabres don’t have a
number one and won’t contend for the playoffs until they do.
For all of his solid play this season, Noronen’s lapses and
inconsistency are revealing him as still a work in progress.
Ryan Miller is not quite ready to face NHL quality shooters, and
Martin Biron is on his way to becoming an afterthought in this
organization after having countless chances of his own.
The bad news is that there doesn’t seem to be a good fit to get a
solid goalie that they can afford. Curtis Joseph would be the
right guy if only not for his $8 million contract for this season
and next, less whatever Detroit would be willing to pay in cash.
They missed a chance this summer at getting Roman Cechmanek, and
Phoenix won’t deal Sean Burke while they are in playoff
contention, and he’s too expensive anyway.
With that in mind, it may be necessary to look at options at other
positions. Regier is still overseeing a club with not enough
nastiness and intensity. How about an infusion of energy and
jam into this club? Eric Cairns is still out there.
Dallas would ask a lot for Brendan Morrow but he is certainly worth
looking at. Even Darcy Tucker is available and despite his
past could be a much needed spark plug for this team.
The Sabres, who have not enough naughty and too much nice, could use
Santa’s help, but their GM needs to submit his list soon before
hopes for this season slip away.
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