Post-Mortem: Bills beat Chiefs, Bills 35, Chiefs 17

I'll say what i said at the half; what a difference a week makes. In the fourth quarter last week, Bills fans were hopeful at the strength of C.J. Spiller on the ground, hoping for an incredibly unlikely comeback and wondering what the hell happened to the team that had so much hype during the summer. In the week leading up to this game, the Bills were dealing with questions of the lackluster secondary, the multi-million-dollar prima donna bust in Mario Williams and questions of what's going to happen with Fitz after a less than lackluster performance at the Meadowlands.

This week, the Bills came out and did what they needed to do to the Jets; punch them in the mouth. Things were not perfect for the Bills early on. But things don't need to be perfect for them to get going. C.J. Spiller (15 carries, 123 yards, 2 TD, 3 catches, 47 yards) was an absolute beast for the Bills, gashing the Chiefs time and time again, crushing them beneath his runs. It more than made up for a lackluster start for quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick (10 of 19, 178 yards, 2 TD) who struggled early in the passing game before finally capping off a solid drive that started in Chiefs territory after a Matt Cassel fumble with a sharp touchdown reception by Scott Chandler. In Fitz's defense, while he wasn't as sharp as we'd like him to be, the important spot on that stat-line is what's not there; No interceptions.

The defensive line was much improved as well. Free agent acquisitions Mark Anderson and Mario Williams both came up large when the game was still in question, Anderson (3 Tackles, 1 TFL, 1 QB Hit) with a big early tackle for a loss while Williams (2 Tackles, Fumble Recovery) capitalized on an Alex Carrington sack, turning into the Bills third touchdown. But it was a complete game by the front line, as Kyle Williams (3 tackles, 2 sacks) had a great game and Marcell Dareus (2 tackles, sack) had a tremendous performance, especially considering the tragic loss of his little brother in a shooting during the week.

But, the defensive line doesn't get that push at all if Cassel can keep moving the ball fast enough to counteract them. The secondary, which was picked apart by Mark Sanchez in week one had a solid game, not giving up very much at all until the game was already decided. The best drive the Chiefs were able to muster in the first half, near the end of it, was spurred forward by a big (and ridiculous) penalty on Da'Norris Searcy on a nasty but unintentional jolt he gave Kevin Boss, knocking him out of the game. It sustained the drive, which finally fell apart with the lone useful Chiefs weapon, Peyton Hillis, getting stripped on his way into the end zone, effectively finishing the half and the Chief's chances of getting back into it.

This was not a perfect game for the Bills. Fitz's early play left quite a lot to be desired and will do nothing to stop the voices who were calling for Barkley watch to begin during the week. The tremendous chemistry that he developed with Stevie Johnson (2 catches, 56 yards, TD) seemed sorely lacking. Stevie was targeted five times on the day, but there were a couple bad passes by Fitz and a bad route by Stevie on what would be the second TD drive (Spiller) with Stevie freelancing on a quick-hit play, making Fitz look bad. Spiller's touchdown certainly makes that seem less villainous, but it's one of those performances where you wonder what would happen against a better team.

All and all, it's a much better outcome this week for the Bills. Sure, it's easy to say that a win is better than a loss, but just as the 48-28 score was not nearly as close as it looks, so too was the Bills 35-17 win this week a lot more of a rout than it seems. But there were still a number of warts on the Bills performance. Fitz needs to improve and sit down with Stevie and figure out how they're both going to do what they need to do.  But, a win is a win and (with the 1-0 Jets still yet to play) the rest of the AFC East is also at 1-1. It means statistically we're all in the same boat. It's just a matter of performing.

Bring on the Cleveland Browns.

Addenda:

• Leodis McKelvin had an impressive 88 yard punt return for a touchdown, making a lot of people remark on how much this was a mirror image of last week's game. Second longest in team history. 
• C.J. Spiller's 2012 campaing marks the fifth time a running back in Bills history has run over 100 yards in the first two games of the season. The other four were Fred Jackson, Thurman Thomas and O.J. Simpson twice.
• Bills defense recorded 5 sacks (Dareus, Carrington, Sheppard and K. Williams [2]) is the most in a game for the Bills since playing the Redskins in TO last year. 

Bills/Chiefs at the Half (Bills lead 21-0)

What a difference a week makes, eh?

Last week, the Bills were getting demolished by a Jets team that we were hoping to prove ourselves against. This week, the CJ Spiller show is on the air, in the air and on the ground. It's not a perfect game, but the Bills are looking rather impressive. Spiller is making the Chiefs defense look like they were just promoted from Pop Warner. As WGR550's Jeremy White put it on Twitter after the second Spiller touchdown, "CJ Spiller is the kind of back that scores touchdowns at the snap."

But it isn't just on the offensive side of the ball. The Bills defense has been stout today. They've only allowed one sustainable drive, the last of the half. It was buoyed by a long catch by the tight end Boss with a 15 yard personal foul call on a gnarly looking impact between the falling Boss and Da'Norriss Searcy that seemed to knock Boss out. Even then, they were able to come through at the goal line, forcing RB Peyton Hillis to fumble into the end zone, giving the Bills the ball back to finish the half, leaving them up by three touchdowns and set to receive the ball to start the second half. 

It is, essentially, the opposite of what we saw last week. And while I'm excited, the part of me that was trying to keep my head up after (and during) last week's debacle in The Meadowlands remembers well the start last year against these same Chiefs and how the season ended. 

Fast Facts

• CJ Spiller had already been leading the league in rushing going into Week 2, is having a tremendous game, in the air and on the ground. So far, 11 carries for 92 yards and two touchdowns in addition to 3 catches for 47 yards.
• Fitz has looked a little shaky, but he has done well enough not to lose. No interceptions is a huge improvement, plus a red zone connection with Scott Chandler for the third Bills touchdown.
• The new defensive line has been stout. Mark Anderson had a big stop in the backfield, Mario Williams recovered a fumble after a big sack by Alex Carrington (yeah, I forgot he was still on the team too) and after the death of his brother in a robbery attempt, Marcell Dareus has two tackles for a loss, including a big sack of Matt Cassel

Week 1 Post-Mortem: Jets exploit Bills, win 48-28

Many of the questions that we thought had been answered for the Buffalo Bills are questions again. All the questions we had are still questions. Let's take a look at the Buffalo Bills opening game of the 2012 campaign.

The Good: It is very hard at this point to see the bright side of today's game for the boys in blue. Even the impressive stat line for C.J. Spiller (14 carries, 169 yards, TD) is overshadowed by the fact that he had those touches at the expense of an injured Fred Jackson (6 carries, 15 yards). WR Stevie Johnson (4 receptions, 55 yards, TD) looked good when he got the ball, though his most impressive play was a 29 yard TD in garbage time where he was never touched. Scott Chandler (4 receptions, 38 yards, TD) had a solid game as a safety valve and Donald Jones (5 receptions, 41 yards, TD) was sure handed and, like Chandler, had a solid game. Also, until the last drive, the defense only gave up 89 rushing yards, which is a bright point considering how this Jets team ran all over the Bills the last five times they won.

The Bad: I don't know where to start here, except that it's a little easier because there was a lot of ugly in this game. While the highly-touted defensive line was helpful when it comes to the above-mentioned rushing success, there were no sacks. More importantly than the fact that there weren't sacks, Mario Williams, the highest-paid defensive player, in the NFL was invisible. His stat-line will go down as 1 tackle and possibly 1 hurry (or pressure, or whatever they're calling that stat this year). The linebacking corps also will get a mixed review today, again because of the combination of how (relatively) well they did against the ground game and the fact that the Jets had no trouble finding short routes. I know that can't be blamed completely on them, but they played their part and we didn't hear a lot about them, because by the time they were making tackles, the game was so lopsided that they weren't getting mentioned.

The Ugly: Let's start with the things out of the control of the team. Fred Jackson was hurt early in the game. Before the injury, his game wasn't great, certainly not the M.V.P. candidate numbers we saw before he was injured last year. It looked ugly, but doesn't seem like it was quite so bad. David Nelson (2 receptions, 31 yards) sounds like it could be a much more serious injury from what Chan Gailey stated after the game, but we'll wait and see how tests come back this week. Overall the Bills gave up four turnovers for a total of twenty-four points for the Jets. Finally, on the play that probably was the knock out blow for the Bills, there was a punt return for a touchdown.

The Disastrous: Ryan Fitzpatrick's numbers may be deceiving. Fitz went 18 for 32, 195 yards with three touchdowns and interceptions. It sounds like an even game, but was an absolute horror show. The touchdowns all came after the game was essentially over and the interceptions looked like the worst of Fitz's interceptions last year; badly thrown balls that make you wonder what he was thinking. As bad as the pick six in the second half was (or that the Scott Chandler first down that should have been a pick six if it could have been held onto by the first defender), I focus on the Darrelle Revis pick. Fitz through the pass he was the worst at to the receiver he trusts against the best cornerback in the league. Missing with that pass is criminal. A good quarterback knows what he can do and doesn't make that mistake against the best guy in the league. And while we're on the topic of coverage, the Bills secondary was brutal today. At the end of the second half, the best thing I could come up with was, "Well at least Aaron Williams was close enough to interfere with his guy on third down."

* * *

All in all, it's a bad day for Bills fans. As bad as Fitz was, and he was as bad as we've seen him, it was really only one game. We'll see what comes out in regards to the injuries for Jackson and Nelson, but while today was a shot at the swagger the fanbase had after the big free agent signings and the national football pundits being positive about the Bills' chances at the post season. Also, and as bad as the secondary and defensive line were, they didn't necessarily make Mark Sanchez look good (as terrible as they were when the game felt like it was already over); Mark Sanchez had a very good game, and he had a number of good passes that didn't need to have bad coverage to be completed. Some of them were very good.

Also, remember, next week is the Kansas City Chiefs. The Bills have plenty of chance to improve, and while they looked like a hot mess today, the wheels have note quite fallen off yet.  █


Follow me on Twitter and here at bflosportsman.blogspot.com.

Jets/Bills at the Half (Jets leading 27-7)

This was a game where I was expecting the Bills to come out, punch the Jets in the mouth and show the pundits who picked them in the preseason that their faith was not ill-given. The defense was supposed to be vastly better. We were hoping that a healthy Ryan Fitzpatrick, given a full off-season and the mechanical enhancements of QBs coach David Lee was going to mean a significant difference on the offensive side of the ball, especially with a healthy Fred Jackson and Stevie Johnson on the field.

The first series seemed good. The defense was bending, only gave up one first down and got a turnover. And then the wheels fell off. Fitz has been terrible, ending two drives on bad INTs, and C.J. Spiller put the ball on the ground after his best throw of the game, setting up a two-minute drill for Sanchez. Fred Jackson's numbers were bad (Six touches for fifteen yards) and was injured after his best run of the day. The loan bright spot was Spiller, with an incredible run that was aided by bad tackling.

And the defense. The defense has been a hot mess. They can't get off the field on Third Down. More importantly, the secondary battle looks like men against boys. On a lot of the plays, it doesn't look like there are defenders even on the play until after the pass is caught. It would be easy to say that they're making Sanchez look good, but a couple of his passes, the ones that were actually defended (weren't many) have been very well placed. For a defense that was gashed last year by opponents running game, they've only allowed one good run (and have contained the Wildcat efforts of Tim Tebow). But for a defense that was supposed to be so fierce against the passing game and was supposed to rattle Sanchez and the Jets faithful, this has been a terrible performance from the Buffalo Bills.

Oh, and when the Bills didn't turn it over, they gave up a punt return for a touchdown.

Fast Facts

• On six possessions, the Bills have one touchdown, three turnovers (resulting in seventeen points for the Jets), a punt that was returned for a touchdown and a kneel down at the end of the half. The Jets have scored on ever drive since Sanchez ended the first with an interception.
• The Jets are 3 for 4 on third down. The fourth was a questionable spot by the replacement refs and was still turned into a field goal.
• Despite the interception by Revis on the first Bills drive, Stevie Johnson is the leading Bills receiving threat. At the half, he's caught three balls for a total of 26 yards. Spiller had 30 yards on one catch before putting it on the ground. 

Rome Wasn't Built in a Day

It's amazing to think about the waiting game that we as Sabres fans were playing during the Suter and Parise sweepstakes that went on beginning July 1st. The whole league was really. The choices of Ryan Suter and Zach Parise were going to set the market and allow for the trading to begin. Sports pundit logic followed that once Suter and Parise's deals were done, Rick Nash would get traded. Then once the most available trade bait was off the table, the slightly less available Bobby Ryan would be able to be traded for by the Buffalo Sabres (or anyone else in the league, but let's be serious, we're more interested in the Sabres here).

After a long wait, the first domino fell; Suter and Parise were both signed by the Minnesota Wild. But then a funny thing happened; absolutely nothing. The Nash deal didn't happen, nor anything else on a large scale. Even Shane Doan has yet to decide on what team to sign with, torn between his desire to stay in Phoenix and his need for stability. With the market stagnant, the Sabres did what it seems like everyone locally was waiting for them to do and moved Derek Roy to the Dallas Stars in exchange for the gritty Steve Ott. 

Then came word of a massive contract offer from the Eastern Conference for Shane Doan with some conjecture that it is possible that the Sabres had made that offer. It sounded ridiculous, utterly and completely so, until the other shoe dropped; A report from Elliott Friedman of the CBC stated that the Sabres had offered the Wild's wonder twins up to $100,000,000 to play at the First Niagara Center. A move that would brashly make use of the deep pockets of owner Terry Pegula and let Darcy Regier figure the rest out. 

This changes everything. It may not seem like it does, seeing as the aforementioned whales didn't land with the Sabres. It means that no one on this team is safe. Don't get me wrong; in my head I have a list of players (namely Myers and Ehrhoff) that are essentially untouchable. But let's imagine for a moment that Ryan Suter and Zach Parise are Buffalo Sabres. Then we have an overwhelming abundance of quality defenders. Then, all those deals for top superstars, the ones that start with "We want Tyler Myers," the ones that we all figure Darcy would immediately hang up on, may become possible.

Can you imagine, for a moment, the Sabres starting the season with a line of Thomas Vanek, Ryan Getzlaf and Zach Parise? 

This all means that the Sabres can do just about anything. It reaffirms thoughts of making big deals and making this team something that we can not just hope, but expect to be in the conversation to challenge for Division, Conference and Stanley Cup Championships. And for that, I can be patient. I don't want to make a deal for the sake of making one. I want there to be a big deal. I expect a big deal. But I know that Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither are Stanley Cup Champions.

Why I can't blame the Philadelphia Flyers

The sports world (well, the hockey world at least) is abuzz at the Philadelphia Flyers' audacity in signing Nashville Predators captain Shea Weber to a ridiculous offer sheet that threatens to cripple the team however it turns out. It's either a financial crippling, making the centerpiece of one of the smallest of the league's small market teams pay through the nose for the man who has been their leader since he suited up for them or a publicity nightmare where (no offense to Pekka Rinne) the two best players on the team have left in the same summer. It also renews league-wide resentment towards the Flyers, who are either being resented for being the biggest of big fishes when it comes to making a splash in the summer or just a somehow less-honorable version of corporate-level Broad Street Bullying.

But I'm not buying it, and I'll tell you why.

What bothers me about the whole issue is the immediate flashback that most Buffalo sports fans will have to that terrible summer, when Kevin Lowe forced the Sabres to swallow the Thomas Vanek contract. The problem with that is that while Kevin Lowe was universally reviled for his actions in targeting both Vanek and then-Ducks rising star Dustin Penner (and G-d did I love Brian Burke for ripping him a new one after it), there's a question of vulnerability of the players targeted that is completely ignored. And because of that, and the situation, I don't think this is a fair comparison; in this case, Lowe took a swing at some low hanging fruit that was available at the time. He drastically over paid (not that the Vanek contract seems completely insane five years later) and in the end got one of the players he wanted. Good, young, developmental guys that had the possibility to be something great in this league.

And that is where my eyes are forced to look back a few weeks earlier in July.

In Buffalo, looking at that terrible Summer, there is still the argument over who we hated the most. Was it Chris Drury for taking the same money to go to play in Ranger blue for the same money we offered him? Was it Philadelphia for making a ridiculous offer to Danny Briere when the majority of us had already given up on him to chase Drury? Was it Lowe for making the Sabres eat the poison pill that was the Vanek contract when they were so low?

No. We hated the Sabres the most. We hated that Darcy Regier couldn't put the deal together for these guys. We hated that 'if we had just told Briere we'd take what was on the table for his long term deal, which was less than we offered him or Drury, he'd still be here.' We hated that Drury was upset that Briere was treated shoddily. We hated that we were watching a team that had the heart two summers previous if not the health to bring the Cup to Downtown Buffalo and had the skill if not the grit to do it the following year disintegrate.

So, as much as I hate the Flyers, I couldn't blame them for Briere and I can't help but blame Nashville for the mess they've gotten themselves into.

Look, I get it, they're a small market team that's fought, that's clawed tooth and nail to carve a rabid fan base out of Volunteer and Titan territory. We should want a guy who has so much grit and heart and pure "it" to stay in that town and help make that team what it could be if he just held on.

But here's the thing; Weber was a restricted free agent. People have been talking about the possibility of Weber being moved for over a year, be it the previous deadlines or now. You could have moved him for a player and some picks and remade your team. Or maybe, just maybe, you could have enticed him to stay. Not just enticed, but locked him in utterly and completely. You could have done something amazing, what the Sabres failed to do (because if you have Weber locked in long term before, maybe you get Ryan Suter and then you're looking at a Zach Parise or some other player up front.

You build yourself a dynasty, like they are growing in Pittsburgh. You make the guy who is the best player on your team and possibly the best player in the history of a team that had Mario Lemieux on it in Sidney Crosby a hero. You sign the OTHER guy who is a true superstar in Evgeni Malkin to a long term deal that doesn't cripple the team and hold on to a guy like Marc-Andre Fleury who can keep the roof from blowing off at the other end of the ice. And when you have a player like Jordan Staal  who you make an incredibly lucrative offer to and doesn't really want to go, you send him out and get a boatload in return.

At the end of the day, when the best player in the history of your organization's contract is coming up, you have three choices; lock him up, trade him away or run the risk of playing the blame game the way that Sabres fans did in '07 and Preds fans are going to have to do now.

On Realism and the Fickle Fan Base

I'm hearing a lot of "Hockey Heaven is a lie," "Terry Pegula was scared off by the Rangers, what the hell!?" and "I was going to come back to watching hockey, but now I'm not because they gave up on Richards" from fans on WGR550.com and in other places.

It is not the defeatist in me talking when I say this; The Sabres weren't going to get Brad Richards. I know we wanted him and that anything seemed possible. And it still is. But not every player wants to come to Buffalo. Some people want a big city. Some people really want to play with their favorite coach or want a ridiculous amount of money that is going to make it impossible to make the rest of the team function without gutting it.

And that's okay. If Richards doesn't want to be here and wants a ton more money than is realistic, Toronto, Los Angeles, Calgary and (the team I bet he will end up with) New York can have him. And if you have any concerns about us second guessing ourselves and whether he is going to be overpaid, wait until you see the contract that Tim Connolly will get signed to not long after the Richards deal is official.

But that is all okay. If we go to war with this team (lines below) we're much better than we were last season if we can bring it together at all. We should have beaten Philadelphia last year and we could have beaten Washington. Now we've greatly upgraded our defense and traded out Connolly for Ville Leino.Despite what Darcy Regier has said about being done, I don't believe it. I think it's a smoke screen so that we don't overpay for another center.

And if it's not, well, it's year one of a three year plan. I'm not settling. I'm looking at what's been done and think that we have a team that's a Cup contender (though not necessarily a Cup favorite yet, need to see what what the team looks like on the ice before I go that far). I believe, as I did during the time leading up to the Regehr trade, that defense was far and away the best place to put our money (rather than focus on an overpriced center). We have one of the top goaltenders in the league and we've made our defense better by an order of magnitude. We'll be fine.

No wonder Ryan Miller goes into hiding in the off season. After all the good stuff we said about our town in the lead up and the wooing of Robyn Regehr and Christian Ehrhoff, we've become hyper-negative. So everyone, take a breath, and quit your bitching. We've improved the team a lot, and if you think failing to overpay Brad Richards means that the team isn't doing all they said, you're barking mad.

But, if you want to get off the bandwagon now, just remember that we're not going to let you back on just because Darcy made a move, and we sure as hell don't want you at the Party in the Plaza or the eventual parade where we ask which gawky white guy is going to rap about winning the Stanley Cup.

I am Jack's Cautious Optimism

The Sabres are not done.

It is, as best as I can tell, impossible for the Sabres to go forward without making any moves. While this team is leaps and bounds better than last year's team, I don't know that they've gone from "Playoff Team" to "Stanley Cup Favorite" which is where we wanted them to be (and where they would have been had Brad Richards been signed today). We might be a Stanley Cup Contender, but to mix my sports metaphors, I want a quarterback, not a project.

Like I said, I don't think we're done. We've about a million to go below the cap (The Sabres, for the Record, have the highest cap number for next year as of this writing) and need to pay Enroth, Sekera, Weber and Gragnani. Kotalik and Morrisonn (the latter of which who, according to WGR550's Paul Hamilton, wants to be waived) will go away and give us more room. But we're sort of deep all over our roster except for center.

And we need a legitimate number one center.

Derek Roy is above average, but he's not the clutch player that we need to lead us out onto the ice. Ville Leino, for all the team's talk, would be better served on the left wing (and if we're doing individual goal songs, his should be the Thundercats Theme, seeing as he is their leader). I can live with Gaustad and McCormack as my bottom centers if Roy is second on the depth chart and we have a legitimate stud on the first line. It's the missing piece,

Now, there is a part of me that wants to scream that it's a three year plan and we could certainly go into the season with this roster and make a move near the trade deadline to bring someone in (because if you thought this year's Free Agent class was bad, don't even consider looking at next year). Or that we can trade for someone next year in the off season.

But that part of me is wrong.

Three years, to my mind, simply accounts for the possibility of injury and bad luck. I would expect to see someone else moved and think that Leino as a center is a bit of a smoke screen so as not to screw us in negotiations for another center.

As for the contracts, if Leino plays to the level of his contract, then I'll be pleased as punch. But it's a little high. As is Cody McCormack's who was also signed today, but I feel like his contract is less of a risk of being a huge overpayment. I also think that Christian Ehrhoff's contract is a little ridiculous, but that's the NHL in this day and age. He is far more proven than Leino and being payed less per year (If certainly not for the first two years).

At the end of the day, I give the Sabres a B on the report card, but do so in pencil. When we have the four RFAs taken care of and see what else happens in the trade market, I can then properly judge the Leino signing and maybe use a pen for my grade.

The Rich Get Richards

Is Brad Richards a realistic choice for the Buffalo Sabres to be going after?

This single question could be the most important one in the history of the franchise. And I don't know that I'm actually exaggerating at all with that assessment. Brad Richards is the man this year. He is the one whale available in the Free Agency market that opens this Friday at Noon. An acquisition of Richards would, without a shadow of a doubt, indicate that Terry Pegula's promise of Hockey Heaven (and the newly accredited University of Hockey) is more than just lip service.

Let's look at the pros first. Brad Richards is a legitimate number one center, which we haven't had since 2007. What's more, he's an even better center than either Danny Briere or Chris Drury. That's not to be critical of either of them, but you're talking about a legitimate superstar in Richards, scoring .972 points a game (716 in 772) in the regular season and 62 points in 63 games in the playoffs (compared to .799 during the season and 96 points in 97 playoff games for Briere). He has a ring from his time with the Tampa Bay Lightning. He wants to play in a hockey market that is a legitimate Stanley Cup contender which we're close to without him and possibly the top contender in the Eastern Conference with him.

I'm going to say that again. With Brad Richards and no substantive subtractions, the Sabres push to the head of the line with Boston, Washington and Pittsburgh.

And one last thing, for all the talk of his age, he has just turned 31 and minus a concussion at the end of last season (which he came back from to finish out the season and try to make the playoffs) he has never had serious injury issues. He's missed 5.8% of his games throughout his career, his career low for games played being 56 games in 2008/09. With reports in the New York Post that he's looking for 8 Years and between $50 and $55 Million dollars ($6.875 average cap hit at the top end) it seems a very reasonable price to take that step forward.

But it's not all unicorns and rainbows. The NY Post story stinks to me a little bit. Looking for comparables I'm drawn to compare Richards to Joe Thornton in San Jose. Thornton is a center, is also 31 years old (ten months older in fact than Richards) who is at just over a point a game during the season. Thornton makes $7 Million through the next three years, which (if I recall) happened before he hit the market and was a sort of a home town discount.

Add in that Richards is the only whale on the market and doesn't have the playoff questions that Thornton does (despite what he has done this year to amend that) and I worry that a story like that might be generated to get blood in the water and get offers up closer to $8 Million dollars or higher. Much higher if it ends up being a bidding war between Buffalo, Toronto and the New York Rangers.

Don't get me wrong; I'm more than willing to back up a Brinks truck for Richards. My only issue is if backing up said Brinks truck means that Uncle Terry can't install the Scrooge McDuck swimming vault for Tyler Myers.

Then there's the coin flip of whether a guy like Thomas Vanek and his emerging leadership role take a step back; can Vanek get the 'I'm Awesome' spirit into his head and be the captain we need him to be? If he can't do that with a top center to play with, well, then I don't know how much I need his services. It's not a Richards question, it's a team question. Can we pull together the way we need to.

I think the answer is yes and you go do what you need to do. Taking a look at the Sabres, there is room to be made having just over $11 Million Left (with the clutch deal that Darcy Regier made with Nathan Gerbe at 3 years/$1.433 Million per) under the cap. Assume that another $5 Million gets added to that when Kotalik and Morrisonn get sent to Rochester. I'm also sending Brad Boyes away (Florida isn't the only team struggling to make it to the floor) and I have $20 Million to work with.

Just to make the numbers easier to work with, let's call Myers plus Richards $13 Million. That leaves you $7 Million for your four RFAs, Cody McCormick and a third center or extra defender. That's a solid to great team there.

The rest of this is purely conjecture....

Derrick Roy and Jason Pominville have done a lot for this club, and I love Roy's contract for our cap. But their $9.3 Million will be nice to help Colorado get to the Salary Cap floor. Overpay to send them there, with Calgary's 2nd Round Pick (or perhaps our first) to get Paul Stastny. It gives me $2.7 Million more to work with and gets me a 2nd center who can be a #1 on a team without Brad Richards (and as Richards ages, can becomes the #1 when Richards becomes a #2). Can that get me Max Talbot (who wants to test the waters) or Chris Drury (if he's healthy). I'm willing to bring in another year of Rob Niedermayer or (shudder) Tim Connolly if that's the guy we're bringing in behind Stastny and Richards.

I offer the following lines for you consideration:

Buffalo Sabres 2011-12 Forwards
Thomas Vanek	Brad Richards	Drew Stafford
Jochen Hecht	Paul Stastny	Tyler Ennis
Zach Kassian/Nick Foligno	Drury/Talbot/Connolly/Niedermayer	Nathan Gerbe
Cody McCormack	Paul Gaustad	Pat Kaleta

Buffalo Sabres 2011-12 Defenders
Tyler Myers	Robin Regehr
Jordan Leopold	Marc-Andre Gragnani
Andrej Sekera	Chris Weber

With this roster, it leaves us something like $2 Million, give or take a million depending on what we land as a third center, to play with in regards to call-ups. That gives us time (and room) to see if Foligno or Kassian develop to replace Jochen Hecht's expiring contract and Luke Adam to become an emerging 3rd Center.

I will note that if we don't land Brad Richards, it's not game over by any stretch. Stastny is a fantastic target for a #1 center if we can grab him and allows us a little more money to work on another defender or a better

What A Long, Strange Trade It's Been

Fweh. It sounds like we're all set, and I could wake up in the morning and find it all reversed, but, let's go with what we're looking at now.

According to his agent, Robyn Regehr has waved his No Movement Clause to come to Buffalo. TSN's Bob McKenzie reports that the deal hasn't been processed by the league (and still may not, see Ryan Smyth's various deals that haven't happened yet) but confirms the trade details originally broken by Joe Pinzone at Buffalo Wins is as follows:

Buffalo Receives: Regehr and Ales Kotalik
Calgary Receives: Chris Butler, Paul Byron and the 2012 2nd Round Pick  

If the trade holds up, this seems like an absolute steal for the Sabres.

• I love getting Regehr. Calgary fans are distraught over how much they're going to miss the man called "The Tunnel of Death" (Best Nickname for a Sabres player at least since "The Cookie Monster" but certainly since "Alexander the Great"). This is the kind of lockdown defenseman that we need and will be a great guy to help improve our guys defensively and will help brutalize top lines with Tyler Myers. Also, putting a veteran in that spot who is going to play that physical game will free up Myers offensively. 
• Kotalik's contract is there for Flames cap relief and the Sabres can easily move that down to Rochester, or with more difficulty (per Terry Pegula's focus on players first) either send him to the Czech Republic or buy him out and take a million dollar shot. And, who knows. There's a what if factor; what if he comes back here, gets a talk from Lindy and decides to tell all his doubters to back off by making a place for himself on this team
• Butler hurts a little, but not as much as (realistically) any of our other D-men. Going in, Myers was the only guy I wasn't willing to trade. Sekera has the most promise (did you see him in the Olympics outplaying the Chara?) but doesn't always show it. Gragnani blew us away in the playoffs. Butler or Weber going is something I would have been fine with... especially for Regehr. While they play different games, I see them as a coin-flip value wise. 
• Byron is a prospect with eight careers NHL games and is put together with the 2nd rounder. He's not Luke Adam. He's... just a prospect, and not the top prospect (just like Butler isn't the top prospect or the top D prospect). In exchange we get a guy like Regehr? I'm on board.

Now.... like I said, I could wake up tomorrow and this could be blown up, but as of right now, I'm going to go to sleep pleased with what's probably going to happen here. And we'll see you in the morning!

<> Sports Man's Afterthoughts <>

• While I really like the idea of Drew Stafford being on hand to talk to new players, having him interview our new Finish forward Joel Armia who can't quite speak English was almost painful to watch.
• I understand that there were legal issues with using the Jets logo on day one. I'm really hoping it's fixed for tomorrow. The silver and black NHL sweater is atrocious. #missestheblackandorange
• Holy crap there were lots of other trades today. More on them tomorrow but I find the original Soupy Campbell going to Florida interesting and wonder how long that team is for South Florida.

Happy Hundredth Day of the Lockout!!!

The lockout of members of the trade organization that was once the NFLPA/Players Inc. by the National Football League has turned a lucky 100 Days Old today. Let's celebrate and sing a song in recognition of this fortuitous anniversary! For a hundred days, we've been here to listen to information about the NFL negotiated its latest TV deals in bad faith and how certain players feel the NFL is "Modern Slavery." We've endured player-organized workouts, the debate as to whether the injury risk without insurance from the league under contract was worth it followed by the debate as to whether or not the practices helped players at all, except from a public relations standpoint.

Which led to still more discussion as to whether or not OTAs actually help players.

Word of 'secret meetings' (being advantageously leaked for PR reasons) came out! And in the midst of those talk, rumors just so happened to come out about the plans that the NFL has for a shortened season. Who knows if the NFL leaked it to add pressure or if the Players leaked it to get PR points. Secret meetings give way to not so secret meetings.

Not so secret meetings give way to extensions of Board of Governors meetings. No one wants to see the Hall of Fame game cancelled. Things are improving. They take steps back. They improve more. They're not going to leave the table without a deal. Everyone wants a deal....

No kidding.

What we've learned in the last one-hundred days is this; Football is America's pastime and with the amount of money on the line, there wasn't a way that a deal wasn't going to be made. No games are likely to be missed, not even pre-season games (unfortunately). The NBA and NHL both gained a little extra exposure for their playoffs because Joe Casual Fan in New Hampshire and Jill Casual Fan in Houston didn't have, when it comes down to it, irrelevant Patriots, Cowboys and Texans news to contend with in their pleasure of following the Mavericks and Bruins to their respective titles.

But at the end of the day, when the deal is made, people will either say "thank God" or just "finally" and it will all go back to normal. It may come off that I hate the NFL. I don't. Sure, sometimes I may hate that the Bills don't get traction in the league, and I might prefer hockey, but it doesn't remove the entertainment value of our national sport.

What I hate is the farce that this off season has been. I hate the clever page that popped up if you clicked the link to the player's website above. I hate multi-millionaires comparing themselves to slaves. I hate the owners for making the 'bad deal' in '06 that they opted out of in '08. I hate that Ralph Wilson feels superior about voting against that deal and that he will likely vote against this one too. I hate that we're all going to come crawling back to our couches and HDTVs and our Fantasy Football Leagues like an abused spouse because 'it wasn't so bad' and 'at least we didn't lose any games, let alone a full season and Stanley Cup final.'

I hate that I wrote this blog. And I hate that I'll forget all this when the season starts.

Boom Goes the Dynamite - Philadelphia Flyers Extreme Roster Makeover

One years ago, Buffalo's own Patrick Kane scored in overtime to beat the Philadelphia Flyers in the Stanley Cup Finals. Last month, they beat a 'coming' Sabres team before getting shellacked by the eventual Stanley Cup Champions. Not too shabby, right?

Today, according to various sources, they signed the top Free Agent goaltender in Ilya Bryzgalov to a nine-year, $51 Million contract that will make him (as of this writing, according to Sportsnet.ca 's Mark Spector) the highest paid NHL player next season at $10 Mil, and traded away center Jeff Carter to Columbus to clear up some cap room in exchange for a couple picks and a Jakub Voracek.

And they traded away Mike Richards. Their Captain.

O.O

Richards is heading West to the Los Angeles Kings for the rights to RFA Wayne Simmonds and World Junior Championship MVP Brayden Schenn. Richards was, as noted above, the Flyers captain and number one center, Carter the number two. To say that their roster has been 'shook up' is like saying that Niagara Falls is 'kinda impressive'.

And the Flyers certainly aren't done. Even if Danny Briere moves back to center, they still need another guy up the middle. With word that Brad Richards is likely looking at either the Toronto Maple Leafs or New York Rangers, it likely means more trades. There was an early word that Kris Versteeg was also moving, to Florida, but that was almost immediately poo-pooed by Panthers management. They also have the 8th overall pick in tomorrow's draft and cap room to work with.

It's going to be an incredibly exciting off season around the league, if it hasn't already gotten to that point just with these trades.

TSN Reports Flames D Robyn Regehr asked to waive no-move clause to come to Buffalo

Original Article

So. Robyn Regehr.

Regehr is a solid defender. His numbers the last two years are almost identical; 2G 15A 17P +2 (the only difference is that he played 81 games in 09/10 and 79 last season). He feels like a better version of Shaone Morrisonn. To me he feels like a good anchor defenseman, a strong, tough player who's numbers (if not his style) are very comparable to former Sabre Henrik Tallinder.

I am going to be a very happy fan/armchair analyst if this is true. Kevin Bieksa is going to be the big fish this year when it comes to defensemen, and his cost will likely be well north of the 4.05 Million that we'd be playing Regehr for the next two years. It's also worth noting, looking at the numbers, that Bieksa and Regehr's playoff numbers are almost identical in the cup years. Now, it's fair to say that Regehr isn't the guy he was in 2004, offensively speaking. But, I'm excited about the possibility of a Myers/Regehr top, lockdown defensive pairing.

The only questions are, will he waive his no-move clause and what's the cost? If it's Boyes, I'm happy. If it's a prospect and a pick I'm probably still happy, but I really want to know who that prospect is first.

We certainly will see.

Congratulations to the 2011 Stanley Cup Champions

Analysis on the Bruins victory and the ultimate moment of the 2010-2011 NHL Season will come in the morning. For now, from a devoted Sabres fan to the Bruins' nation, Congratulations and we'll get you next year.

After two...

(Full disclosure: I've been rooting for the Bruins since the Burrows incident in Game One)

Things are going from bad to worse for the Canucks. It seemed for a long time like they were on the cusp of breaking out before the Marchand goal and seemed to have a golden opportunity to get back into the game before deciding not to call timeout, leading directly to Patrice Bergeron's second of the night, and it seems to just about be lights out.

But as a Sabres fan, I know that no big lead is safe in this year's playoffs.

...at the end of One...

1-0 Boston with Patrice Bergeron coming out of a scrum in front of the net with the first goal of the game. This series, whoever has scored first has won this game, but that will continue to go contrary to the 6-0 record of home teams until the game is over.

It feels like the Canucks are playing better in spurts, while the Bruins are playing a more even, controlled game. Both goaltenders look pretty good, but Roberto Luongo seems to be fighting the puck a little more than Tim Thomas. Right now it's the Bruins 4th line that's really shining out there. Every time they hit the ice, Paille, Marchand and Thornton change the flow and dominate play when they're on the ice, while Zdeno Chara and Dennis Seidenberg continue to be the most lock-down defensive pair on the ice.

I still like my prediction after one.

Game Seven Predictions

This is most certainly and definitely it. The final game of the NHL season, Game Seven. Canucks v. Bruins

I'm tempted to hedge, tempted to sit on the fence and give if/than predictions.

Instead, I think it's a simple; Bruins win 4-2. David Kreijci will get the game winning goal but Tim Thomas will continue to be the engine that drives this team.

And if I'm wrong, I'm wrong, and think we'll figure it out very early in tonight's game.

Sabres GM for the Summer - Part Two

Welcome back to my tyrannical reign at the top of the Buffalo Sabres. For those of you who missed the first half, shame on you. But, I am a kind dictator, so to review; I signed a third line center, locked up Tyler Myers long-term and moved six million dollars off the payroll. Are we clear? Okay, moving on..

4. Add someone solid on the blueline
At the end of the day, the Sabres defensive corps failed out. There were too many holes in the young, developing players who weren't quite there yet and veterans like Steve Montador and Shaone Morrisonn just didn't come through when we needed them to. I've already sent Morrisonn down to the minors, and Montador is a free agent who I'm not looking at resigning unless there's some inside information about an injury being responsible for his tanking the latter third of the year through the playoffs. I want one more veteran to go with Myers, Jordan Leopold and three of the youngsters.

A lot of people are talking about Kevin Bieksa of the Vancouver Canucks being the hot commodity of this year's off season. He's a solid player and this playoff became clutch. Last season he made 3.75 Million. If not for his playoff, I'd look at him getting somewhere between 4.25 and 4.5, but his stock is rising and he could be a 5 Million a year player or higher (ie Brian Campbell's ridiculous contract in Chicago). If the price is that high (or higher) I'm not a horse in that race.

I may, however, be interested in taking a look at another Canuck in Christian Ehrhoff. In Ehrhoff, you're getting a guy who can quarterback your powerplay and put in a lot of quality minutes. The guy put away 50 points last year and was a plus-19 through the regular season (he's plus-74 for his career) and has 12 points through the playoffs. Last year, he made 3.1 and with a very good season and a decent playoff, he goes over 4 million and if the Canucks win the cup, he could be up near 5. But, again, I think that Bieksa is going to get a lot more attention than Ehrhoff and that may keep his price down a little bit more.

Other options (ie slightly less expensive) may be the Hurricane's Joni Pitkanen, the Ranger's Steve Eminger or the Flames Anton Babchuk.There are also a couple of bold moves to be made. If Shea Weber is sitting there without a solidified contract, I take a long look at how many draft picks and how much money it will cost to win the RFA steal of a lifetime. There are also teams like the Flyers who need cap relief and have a lot of ducks to get in a row, and assuming they land Ilya Bryzgalov (and seeing how the functioned without him against Buffalo), maybe Chris Pronger becomes available. With either Pronger or Weber, it completely changes the way that you build your team and the Sabres have one of the top defensive corps in the league.

5. Remember how I wasn't going to go after the #1 Center this year?Forget that for a moment. While I'm not making the #1 center a priority this year, I'm not going to ignore a ringing phone or not think about what I might do. I'm looking at my four young defenders and guys like Nathan Gerbe and Tyler Ennis and wondering what one or two of them look like paired up with a pick. Or how a nice low two years of Derek Roy may look awfully attractive to a cash strapped team.

Throw away the 'former Buffalo Sabres Captain' baggage, and Danny Briere could be there for Roy. Or send our first round pick and Gerbe or Ennis to the Blackhawks for Patrick Sharp. Superstars like Jason Spezza could be on the market, with a relatively reasonable long term contract, say Spezza for Ennis and the first and second, or Gerbe, one of the defenders and the first or second. If Thomas Vanek can not take a step back with another star working with him, how potent does a top line of Vanek/Spezza/Stafford sound with a Second line of (Gerbe/Ennis)/Roy/Pominville? 

In summary, my Sabres could look very different than the team that's here now, if the right opportunity opens up, but that's not what I'm looking to do this year. I'd rather keep my team solid, keep some money in my back pocket and be able to make a move either next year or kill it at the trade deadline. If July 5th gets here, and we've added Ehrhoff, Fleischmann or Drury and a long term contract for Myers, I'm okay with what we're doing. If we make a big move and bring in a Weber, a Pronger, a Briere, a Spezza or even take a run at a guy like Brad Richards... I'm on board, because at least they're making good on their desire to grab the brass ring and hoist Lord Stanley's Cup at Niagara Square.

Sabres GM for the Summer - Part One

The Buffalo News likes their summer feature where some of the jobs of the major sports players are divied up between editors and columnists for a day; What would Bucky Gleason do if he was the GM at One Bills Drive? How would Mark Gaughan make the team Bucky put together do something on the field? How would Jerry Sullivan fix the power play?

Well, as an opinionated Sabres fan, I clearly think I have all the answers. (Or, at least I find it fun to consider what I might do to improve my team). So, here's my 'off the cuff' plan for the Sabres off-season.

(Note: I'm going to be working with the numbers that are essentially agreed upon in the media from what I've read in the News and heard on WGR 550 that the Sabres, with who they have signed, plus the remaining RFAs are going to have about $10 Million to work with)

1) Sign a Third Line Center
This year isn't quite the year to go fishing in the open waters for big game, unless it's not so much in the open waters but much closer to home (I'll get to that later). Brad Richards is a heck of a player, but his price is going to be driven up by the lack of other top tier players (let alone centermen) that are entering Free Agency this year. So, while I feel the number one center is a definite need for this team.

My first look is going to be at former Sabres and soon to be form Rangers Captain Chris Drury. I don't have qualms over the way he left in bringing him back to the team (if he will come at the right place) and I think he's the kind of player who can call business business and sit down with Lindy, Thomas Vanek, Ryan Miller and the rest of the leaders in the room and say, 'This is your team, not mine. I'm here if you need me, but you're the vocal leader. I'm the guy who's going to do my job and put everything out there on the ice.' If that works, and we can get him for somewhere between $1.75 and $2.25 Million, preferably lower but with reasonable performance bonuses, then I'm a happy man.

But, there are lots of ifs there, not the least of which being hangups from 2007 and the fact that his being bought out (which can happen from today onward) puts him on the market first. My secondary thought here is a guy like Tomas Fleischmann of the Colorado Avalanche. He's a solid player who didn't play a full season last year but was able to pick up 31 points over 45 games. Extrapolated to a full season, he'd end up with 56 1/2 points, which would have been good enough for second on the team in scoring (his 31 points would have tied him with Nathan Gerbe and Paul Gaustad for 9th on the team in scoring). According to Cap Geek, he made approximately 2.6 Million dollars last year, and it is possible that his price could go up based on the aforementioned center-light free agent market. If he can be had between 2.75 and 3.5, plus incentives, I'm all in, as he has the potential to fill a second-line roll behind Derek Roy if we need to wait to get our top dog.

Without going too much more deeply into the pool of Free Agents I would offer one more option. The problem is, that option is Tim Connolly. I am not a huge Tim hater, but I think that his time here may simply be done, and unlike Max Afinagenov, he doesn't have a huge local fan base to root for his return. What he is is a (mostly) solid center who became invaluable on the PK by the end of last season. I don't relish the idea of bringing him back, and certainly not for what we were paying him before. But, if we need to, say somewhere between 1.5 and 2.25, I would (reluctantly) sign up for it.

2. Keep the Fish you have
If not for the fact that Drury may be available at some point today, I would have made this my first point, because this is the single most important thing that the Sabres need to do; Lock Tyler Myers up and do it for the long term. There's a lot of talk about players with "It" factor, the guys who have the skill, the room to grow and the intangibles to be a sure thing. Myers is that guy, the way that there hasn't been a guy like that on this team since Pat LaFontaine. He is the guy on this lineup who is not expendable in any way shape or form. I sit the big fella down and say, "Tyler, you are the guy who is going to lead this team to the promised land," and then proceed to back up a Brinks Truck. My guess is that we land somewhere in the neighborhood of 7 Years and somewhere between $38 and $45 Million dollars. It's a huge pay day, but is nothing compared to what he'd get on the open market, and getting an RFA offer sheet next year on him that makes Vanek's look like pocket change is not at all unrealistic for a talent like his.

3. Clear Cap Space
Yes, I know, $10 Million sounds like a lot of money to play with. But, realistically, it's one big fish or two medium sized fish (to be mentioned in the second half of our run down). But that's just next year. Sabres owner Terry Pegula has redefined the goal of the team, the oft quoted "the Buffalo Sabres' reason for existence will be to win a Stanley Cup[1]." Barring miraculous work of EA Sports NHL trading proportions and/or remarkable effort from this squad, it's probably not going to happen this year. So I'm building for the future and keeping an eye on the cap, because it doesn't matter how much money our super-heroic owner has, the cap will keep it in check. Here are the two or three steps I would take;

1. Move Shaone Morrisonn down to the AHL team (whoever it ends up being). It moves 2.075 Million off the books while keeping him around in case we run short of defenders. It also lets him grow into a veteran role on the aforementioned AHL team.
2. Find someone to take Brad Boyes off our hands. Don't get me wrong; I like Boyes. I like him a lot, enough that I was considering trading away Drew Stafford's rights or just letting him go for a matched contract (and picks). I think that his slump towards the end of the season was because he was forced to play center and that even moving him back to the wing, he never got into his groove in the playoffs. I think he can be the guy who showed up the day he was traded here. But, I've paid for Stafford, and need the cash more than the player. If we trade him away for a low pick (a.k.a. thank you for taking this money off our hands) it's fine, but I see him being able to get a third round pick or a prospect for him.
3. This is the tricky one. I've already said that my number one center isn't my goal this year. But, I'm willing to look at it if the move is right. Derek Roy has two years at 4 Million a year left on his contract. For the right team, that could be a very attractive player at a very attractive price, like Boyes was to us this year. But... this is contingent on the right play being out there to get a Top Flight (if not Superstar) center that will work on this team AND then being able to replace Roy as a would be 2nd line center. 

That's it for part one. Stay tuned for the second half of my summation of what I would do, if I were the Sabres GM this summer.

The State of Goaltending in the NHL

Tim Thomas is, more than likely, about to win both the Vezina Trophy and the Conn Smythe Trophy (regardless of whether his team wins the Stanley Cup tomorrow night, 8PM on NBC). In six games in the Cup finals, he has allowed a total of seven goals. Over the course of his career, he has carried a sterling 2.11 Goals Against Average and a .933 Save Percentage. This year has been even better, carrying a 2.06 GAA and a .937 SvPc.

Roberto Luongo is not going to win the Conn Smythe this year, even if his team wins the cup, and has at best an outside chance at winning the Vezina. In three home games in the finals he has two shutouts (four taking the playoffs as a whole) and a 0.66 GAA, while at the same time being chased from the net in two out of three games in Boston, giving up a total of fifteen goals in, realistically, two games worth of playing time.

This year, statistically speaking, the two best goalies in the league are playing for the Stanley Cup

Last year Antti Niemi and the two-headed dragon of Michael Leighton and Brian Boucher went head to head in the finals. The three finalists for the Vezina were all drummed out in the first round of the playoffs. Going back to the lockout, this will be the only year that one of the top goaltenders will have won the cup (In order, Niemi, Marc-Andre Fleury, Chris Osgood, J.S. Giguere and Cam Ward).

Before the lockout with only a handful of exceptions, the goaltenders that won the cup were the best in the game. Don't believe me?

1976-79 Ken Dryden (Montreal)
1980-83 Billy Smith (New York Islanders)
1984-85 Grant Fuhr (Edmonton)
1986 Patrick Roy (Montreal)
1987-88 Grant Fuhr (Edmonton)
1989 Mike Vernon (Calgary)
1990 Bill Ranford (Edmonton)
1991-92 Tom Barrasso (Pittsburgh)
1993 Patrick Roy (Montreal)
1994 Mike Richter (New York Rangers)
1995 Martin Brodeur (New Jersey)
1996 Patrick Roy (Colorado)
1997 Mike Vernon (Detroit)
1998 Chris Osgood (Detroit)
1999 Ed Belfour (Dallas)
2000 Martin Brodeur (New Jersey)
2001 Patrick Roy (Colorado)
2002 Dominick Hasek (Detroit)
2003 Martin Brodeur (New Jersey)
2004 Nikolai Khabibulin (Tampa Bay)

It's possible that Thomas or Luongo will distinguish themselves further and make it to the level of some of those players, but I doubt it. The problem is this; Goaltending today is easy. I'm not saying that I could go out there and be an NHL goaltender, or that they don't deserve credit for standing in front of vulcanized rubber going (at times) in excess of 100 MPH. But, there's a disconnect between the great goaltenders of the past and the guys playing the game today.

Today, with the size of the gear, playing the percentages gets you about ninety-percent there. I know how to position myself to make a goal impossible. When Luongo made his inflammatory comments about the goal Vancouver won on in Game Five, he was talking about the way that most goaltenders are trained today, which is a condition of the size of the gear. A great save is made when a goaltender stands still and shrugs his shoulder in front of a puck.

Take a look at this video.

I was initially looking for just the first clip, Patrick Roy's ridiculous glove save while positioned, essentially, in the slot. But, through five minutes, you can see the evolution as gear got bigger and bigger. Goaltending became less and less about reflexes and guts, and more about a safe choice. It's a Hollywood super-sequel, or the eleventh Call of Duty game. It'll get the job done, but it is not the stuff of greatness.

And that, is why Roberto Luongo was right, and why Tim Thomas is one of the most engaging goaltenders to watch in the league. He plays at the edge of the crease and beyond it, he slides from side to side and makes legitimately great saves. He makes the spectacular saves that a guy like Luongo may make blandly from time to time, but likely misses all together, because playing inside the box it is impossible. Playing on the edge is just better for a game looking to grow.

(Also, if they made the gear smaller and/or the nets bigger, there's more scoring, which means more risks being taken each way, still more scoring and more excitement. But that's another argument for another time)