AB Podcast Ten: Only a Year of Pegula and Why He May Be Keeping Darcy

Email: nick@fcbuffalo.org

Podcast:

An ode to Darcy Regier’s search for the man in the middle.

Centerman – AudioBuffalo.com

Email: nick@fcbuffalo.org

LYRICS:

Waitin’, watchin’ the clock, another loss, it’s got to stop

Fans will take no more, the playoffs out-of-reach Excuses are out the door, so much hubris Didn’t win with Gratton or Dainius Zubrus

He lies and says he’s in love with them, can’t find a centerman… He dreams of Spezza and then Malkin, can’t find a centerman… Can’t find a centerman Can’t find a centerman Ohh…

Talkin’ to himself, can’t get those GMs on the phone… And then there’s Leino-o-o… Memories back when he had Drury and Briere

Now he’s stuck waiting for D. Roy to come along… Would trade a kidney, just for Bergeron

He lies and says he’s in love with them, can’t find a centerman… He dreams of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, can’t find a centerman…

He lies and says he’s in love with them, can’t find a centerman… He dreams of Crosby and then Malkin, can’t find a centerman…

Can’t find a centerman Can’t find a centerman Yeah…

He loved Tim, ah… He won’t let Goose leave this way Luke Adam… ah… we’d even take Jokinen

Can’t find a centerman Can’t find a centerman

Oh, Jordan Staal. Oh, Ryan Getzlaf. Koivu, Any Koivu, Just a Koivu, Find a Koivu.

Podcast:

Caption: "FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THINGS HOLY WOULD YOU PLEASE TELL SOMEONE ELSE BESIDES YOU AND THOMAS HOW TO BE GOOD AT HOCKEY!?!?!?!?!!??"

1) This is my least favorite Sabres team of all-time.

2) Derek Roy and Drew Stafford are playing as if they are in one of the dreams in “Nightmare on Elm Street” and there is no plausible way they are escaping hockey doom on any given play.

3) When Jhonas Enroth looks that far out-of-it, you have to wonder whether an actual brick wall could keep a sub-3.00 GAA behind this line-up.

It’s late April 2010 and the atmosphere is grim in the Buffalo Sabres locker room. Two centers have been interviewed back-to-back about the fan disdain for their performance in Buffalo’s six-game loss to the Boston Bruins. One, Tim Connolly, isn’t close to saying any of the right things but the other, Derek Roy, is crushed like a man in his first marital spat. The honeymoon is over.

Roy was left in pieces that day by the sentiment that existed amongst fans and analysts: Roy’s two assists in six games were a monumental disappointment. That the points came in the Sabres’ two wins may be irrelevant to some, but the fact was not lost on me. Lindy Ruff had called Roy the engine of the team going back to the team’s upstart campaign after the lockout, and that team had Danny Briere and Chris Drury (heard of ‘em?).

Roy’s next season was a revelation, or so it seemed. He scored in the first three games of the season on the way to averaging a point-per-game heading into Christmas, only he didn’t get there. With 35 points in 35 games, this was the Roy that fans saw glimmers of during the previous five mostly-inconsistent seasons. He was distributing the puck, facilitating the power play and cutting down on his horrendous knack for minor penalties. He was “on it,” as the kids say.

Then he got hurt with a capital ‘H’: a torn quad tendon. He was out four-to-six months, but he barely fit into that time frame: Roy returned in four months and three days, showing little burst but posting an assist in the Flyers’ elimination of the Sabres in the first round.

With Connolly gone, this was to be Roy’s year. It’s hardly even resembled one of his lesser campaigns. Roy’s .64 points-per-game is his worst since his rookie season when he notched 19 points in 49 games. He was 20 years old.

Has he fully recovered from the injury? It’s impossible to say, but something’s not right with Roy. The most frustrating thing about No. 9 is that he may very well be the engine of this team. Laugh if you will, but look at the facts:

– When Roy records a point, the Sabres are 12-2-3.

– When Roy fails to mark the scoresheet, the Sabres are 5-15-0.

It’s maddening. Perhaps it would be better stated if I went with he’s maddening. Roy doesn’t seem to be vacationing during losses, something that looked rather damning during the early absences in his career. In fact, he seems to be pressing. At his worst he channels the worst of Maxim Afinogenov in blue-and-gold; Bad giveaways and fluffed chances are the bane of his season. At his best — this year — he simply looks like an average NHL player.

That’s a major regression for the engine of the Buffalo Sabres, an engine that needs a major overhaul. The Sabres have the NHL’s ninth-leading scorer in Thomas Vanek and its 11th in Jason Pominville. Imagine the season Nos. 26 and 29 could be having with a productive middle man. Roy’s 23 points are 102nd in the league, behind seven defensemen and tied with four others. And despite the major production coming from Vanek and Pominville, Roy sits 37th amongst players deemed centers by NHL.com. That’s behind guys like Rich Peverley, Tyler Bozak and David Legwand and it is not for lack of ice time: Roy is averaging the same or more minutes per game than Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Sedin.

To borrow an adjective from BBG, those statistics are even more vulgar than the Sabres play of late. Where are you, Derek Roy?

Email: nick@fcbuffalo.org

He was so good and Miller so poor that Malkin figured his whole body could score

1) Evgeni Malkin is an absolute monster and just having one center better than the Sabres top middleman instead of three — Sidney Crosby and Jordan Staal are injured — was enough to get Pittsburgh by Buffalo

2) Ryan Miller was a garbage monster tonight.

3) Derek Roy is lost on the ice right now and it’s not a pretty sight.

Email: nick@fcbuffalo.org

I’ve been thinking a lot about the concept of what we take for granted and what we overvalue as sports fans, especially Buffalo sports fans. Do we take solid running backs for granted because we have a track record of NFL name-value players running through our lines (Thomas, Henry, McGahee, et. al)? Did we immediately overvalue Ryan Fitzpatrick because he’s the anti-Edwards?

In hockey, it cuts even further to the core when you consider the Sabres lack of a No. 1 center and their fans’ fetishisation of trade rumours. Brendan Morrison was rumoured to be on his way to Buffalo so many times you’d think he was a Bass Pro big wig. Steve Bernier’s numbers had fans salivating, but Big Bear’s big inconsistency has him out of the NHL. Raffi Torres danced like sugarplums over the heads of fans 10-20 times as well only to be a tattooed lump of coal when he finally arrived.

So how does it work in reverse, especially pertaining to the Sabres stars or trade bait? When fans are cultivating deals that involve Drew Stafford as the center piece in an offer for Bobby Ryan despite the fact that they lament No. 21′s very existence on the ice most nights, what can you expect in return?

Numbers can be whores sometimes, but they are also pretty reliable when you’re looking at a big picture. Think of it as a Magic Eye: if you look at that bugger long enough, you’ll either go nuts or figure out something oddly revelatory. So let’s get together and find some comparables, then see if we really want to deal Derek Roy or Drew Stafford? We may want to anyway because of the culture of the room, but at least we’ll get an idea of what an opposing fan would see coming their way.

2001 NHL Draft Class, 2nd rd, 32nd overall — Derek Roy — 500 GP, 151 goals, 404 points .8 points a game is pretty solid for a second-round center. Who else has a similar ‘O’ reputation at center in the ’01 class?

1st rd, 4th overall: Stephen Weiss, 588 GP, 135 G, 365 pts 1st rd, 6th overall: Mikku Koivu, 465 GP, 104 goals, 345 pts 2nd rd, 49th overall: Mike Cammalleri, 523 GP, 183 goals, 400 pts 3rd rd, 95th overall: Patrick Sharp, 524 GP, 176 goals, 348 pts

Cap hits: Roy (4.0), Weiss (3.1), Koivu (6.75), Cammalleri (6.0), Sharp (3.9)

2004 NHL Draft Class, 1st rd, 13th overall — Drew Stafford — 347 GP, 100 goals, 211 points

1st rd, 4th overall: Andrew Ladd, 433 GP, 101 goals, 222 points 1st rd, 21st overall: Wojtek Wolski, 399 GP, 91 goals, 248 points 2nd rd, 53rd overall: David Booth, 328 GP, 92 goals, 179 points 3rd rd, 97th overall: Johan Franzen, 425 GP, 135 goals, 248 points 5th rd, 134th overall: Kris Versteeg, 280 GP, 80 goals, 180 points

Cap hits: Stafford (4.0), Ladd (4.4), Wolski (3.8), Booth (3.88), Franzen (3.95), Versteeg (3.0).

How many of those players would you say are worth more to their teams than Stafford and Roy? What are the relative values? Sharp is a budding star, but third fiddle. Franzen is a proven playoff vehicle. Ladd and Koivu still wear C’s if I’m not mistaken, et cetera, et cetera.

The debate is interesting, which obviously doesn’t say anything definitive — it’s more an exploratory journey through numbers. If I had to sum it up in a certain fashion, I’d say that dealing either of these players would be a message to the locker room about attitudes than numbers. Both players will be getting you someone else’s problem, not an answer. That’s why I’m relaxing despite my desire for a trade.

Email: nick@fcbuffalo.org

(WECK 1230) — Derek Roy will miss 4-6 months as a result of a torn quadriceps muscle, an injury that can plague a comeback even longer than that period of time.

With Roy hitting his career stride in both effort, two-way play and point production, this is a terrible knock for a hockey team. It casts the Sabres into the role of also-rans and makes their likelihood of being sellers instead of buyers at the deadline almost certain.

The thing is: it doesn’t have to be this way. The Sabres have one of the deepest farm systems and prospect hauls in hockey, along with the New York Rangers. Unfortunately, with Darcy Regier in miserly charge as the season’s Ebeneezer Scrooge, the Ghosts of Hockey Past tell us that Regier will hold onto those assets rather than give Lindy Ruff a nice Christmas goose (not that he can do it during a roster freeze, but the metaphor was too juicy to pass up).

Being without Roy is a tough knock to absorb, but under this administration it seems it would be a death knell. Virginia Tech LB Barquell Rivers suffered the same fate in March and was shut down by the Hokies midway through the season. That was a 3-4 month sentence in the Spring. It was the same injury that helped the Dolphins’ Jason Ferguson in his decision to retire. In other words, a big deal.

Barring a team-imposed roster freeze during a potential ownership switch, the puck in his Regier’s end. Ask yourself this: what is more likely? That Regier will ship prospects out to try and make a run for the postseason, if that even makes sense, or that he’ll wrap up the season talking about the team would make the playoffs if they hadn’t been bit by the injury bug?

We’ll end this article the way we have for a couple years now: Prove me wrong, sir.

Email: nickonweck@gmail.com

(WECK 1230) — “Heart and Desire” was a team motto for the Buffalo Sabres in the past, a phrase co-opted with hope by a coaching staff and dismissed by many who watched them.

Maybe, just maybe, the true meaning of that phrase was latent, only to emerge when the beaten-down boys were battered even further. It seems unlikely and too optimistic to a certain outfit of fans who feel to bludgeoned to believe, but could this be the case?

There are those who will tell you “heart and desire” is a term of inconsequential rhetoric. To be sure, this is often the case. Too many Springsteen and Dylan rip-offs have stripped the emotion out of ardent, passionate and tender terms. As Lindy Ruff learned with “heart and desire” and the Sabres learned with giving the new guy a ‘C’, you can’t yield potatoes from an apple tree.

Now, it’s silly to claim this five-game point streak is the long-awaited resuscitation of a dead giant, but there are signs a real hockey team had been hibernating. As a matter of fact, you don’t want the Sabres to be “back,” you want them to arrive. Last time I checked no team brought any of Lord Stanley’s possessions here, just something that belonged to a bunch of presidents.

Truth is that real “heart and desire” may not be measurable, but they are observable, as a combination or singular entities. Anyone who argues the absence of such intangible features doesn’t have much of a competitive streak in them.

Sabres fans witnessed the revelation of the fruits of such impassioned labor in consecutive overtime wins. No, not because they won — though certainly you won’t see such frenetic and delirious celebration in a 5-2 loss. This unveiling of sorts came from two players punching out of a glass case of emotion Ron Burgundy would appreciate.

(AP Photo/Don Heupel)

In the case of Thomas Vanek, it all started Saturday with what should’ve been the end of a shift by all normal hockey standards. The big winger had finished a lumbering stint in the Capitals end and looked prepared to dump the puck and head off for a change.

Instead, No. 26 quite literally gritted his teeth and tuned up his trunks for another run at Caps’ netminder Braden Holtby. This surpisingly turn up-ice caught the defensemen offguard and Vanek cut through them before making Holtby resemble, well, a rookie back-up goaltender. The ensuing celebration was enormous for Vanek’s standards.

Two nights later, it was Tyler Myers’ turn. The reigning Calder Trophy winner had been struggling mightily in his sophomore campaign, adjusting to a new defense partner, additional playing weight and an increased commitment to physical play. All are factors in his slump, but none are excusable. This 20-year-old kid was being touted as the best Sabres blueliner since Phil Housley and the favorite to be the best all-time.

(AP Photo/Don Heupel)

So when Myers pounced on an ugly Vancouver turnover and exposed a poor angle from Vancouver goaltender Cory Schneider, the kid unleashed unusual emotion. It’s not like the guy hasn’t scored a game-winner before, either.

I’m not saying this is a Sabres renaissance, but I am promising one thing: there are guys who might have an off-game or two, but are exhibiting true signs of understanding “heart and desire.” Myers and Vanek have joined Ryan Miller and Jason Pominville as guys who have tasted it and “get it.” Derek Roy may be there, too.

This team — nearly exactly — was punished severely by the Boston Bruins for not getting it, and you know what “it” is. Even guys like Tim Connolly — my personal hockey whipping boy — have showed at least a slight increase in edgy play (I still think if he has marginal value he should be moved, but figure Darcy Regier is going to wait until the deadline to see who needs a 10-minute a game power play guy).

This is still a 7-9-3 ice hockey team with a lot of work to do in order to make their fans and outsiders believe they’re a contender, but after a one-game trip to Washington they are home for four games.

Real teams understand what that four-game spell means for a season.

Real teams take at least five points away from those four opponents, regardless of record.

Real teams show you “heart and desire.”

The question remains: Are these Buffalo Sabres a real team?

Email: nickonweck@gmail.com

(WECK 1230) –  At the age 27, the player finds himself at a career intersection. Drafted in the first round, the short-of-stature forward has been criticized for lax play in his own zone and all-around underperforming. Sure, he’s scored a bunch of goals, but they weren’t big ones and he’s failed to distinguish himself as much of a leader. The center was even featured in a league-wide video showing the unsportmanslike diving bringing down the game.

The year is 2004, and the player’s name is Daniel Briere.

Why skate down this oft-repeated aisle of memory lane? Because there is very little difference between Roy and the early years of his mentor Briere. In fact, most scenarios have Roy ahead of Briere at this point in their careers.

The inspiration from this post goes back to Oct. 26 when the Sabres fell to the Flyers by a 6-3 margin. The team’s postgame show mentioned how Briere’s goal and assist were what was missing from the team though Roy had tallied two helpers in the contest. The next day, another media member said there’s “no chance” the Flyers would deal Briere for Roy straight-up (a deal which would be absurd given the age/contract disparity).

It’s this Briere/Roy comparison that gets me aggravated every time.

Roy’s received grief for all of the above things his mentor Briere did in the opening paragraph, and this time of struggle is the player’s chance to step out as a No. 1, as the latter did in 2005-06. No player’s career has been better overwritten by post-lockout fortunes than Briere. Fact of the matter is Briere had been statisically inferior to Roy in every way before each turned 27.

Roy played in 80 more games than Briere during their respective first 27 years, so it’s better to compare by per-game numbers.

Goals-per-game:  .31 to .30, Roy

Assists-per-game:  .49 to .33, Roy

Points-per-game:  .80 to .63, Roy

Overall plus/minus: +45 to -25, Roy

Game-winning goals: 27 to 15, Roy

Numbers can be deceiving, but don’t make the mistake of thinking Briere didn’t benefit from a supporting cast. His Phoenix teams featured Jeremy Roenick, Keith Tkachuk and Shane Doan, and the Coyotes only missed the playoffs once during his tenure there, though he only made the cut in two series.

Head coach Lindy Ruff has identified Roy as the team’s “heartbeat” going back to the 2006-07 Presidents Trophy campaign. So far this season, the numbers bear out this description. The Sabres are 0-5-1 this season in games Roy doesn’t post a point. Doing the simple math, Buffalo has recorded a 3-4-1 mark when No. 9 tallies a point.

So Roy’s nearly point-per-game start (13 pts in 14 games) may be the first step in the maturity of a player many fans scapegoated after a miserable one-and-done against Boston in the 2010 playoffs. I’m not saying you have to love No. 9, but he’s well-ahead of where Briere was when the mentor entered his “put-up or shut-up campaign.”

As much as it pains me to say it while the team struggles, I have to make this point in leaner times as opposed to easily writing this post during a five-game winning streak. Times don’t get much leaner than 3-9-2. I imagine times are going to get better, and here’s a huge chance for Roy to assert himself as more mature than his mentor, a player no longer wearing a letter on his sweater in Philadelphia.

If Roy can get this team back from the basement, you may find him a surprising candidate for captain. Before last season’s emergence of Tyler Myers and Ryan Miller, I had been told numerous times by national experts that Roy was the No. 1 asset of the Sabres. Most critics of this philosophy are quick to point out that those experts don’t watch Roy every night. Something tells me that if Roy were to be dealt, fans would start romanticizing his new numbers as the center explodes like his mentor.

Email: nickonweck@gmail.com

by NATE FOLEY (email nefoley17@gmail.com)

(WECK 1230) — The Sabres are not Stanley Cup contenders.

This may seem harsh considering the season is only 10 games old, but the team just does not have the make up of a champion. The leadership on this squad is virtually nonexistent. Dressing room leaders like Craig Rivet, Paul Gaustad, Mike Grier and Rob Niedermayer are not good enough players and do not get enough minutes to be legitimate captains.

Out of the oft-mentioned “core” group of players, someone needs to step up and assume a more prominent leadership role. Derek Roy, Thomas Vanek, Tim Connolly and Jason Pominville should be the guys that lead the way, both on and off the ice.

They do neither.

Wearing the “C” in the NHL is a badge of honor. It actually means something. It is a privilege that should not be taken lightly. A good captain understands that he is there to lead by example. There are many good leaders in the league right now, but there are a handful of young Canadians that really stand out as prototypical players meant to wear that “C.” Sidney Crosby, Mike Richards, Ryan Getzlaf and Jonathan Toews embody everything that the leader of a team (and ultimately an organization) should be.

Nate Foley thinks Ryan Miller's leadership between the pipes won't mean much without a skater backing it up. (AP Photo/Tom Mihalek)

These players almost never take a shift off. They can play in any situation and none of them are afraid to get their proverbial “nose” dirty. For the most part, they are also consistent point producers as well. Even when they are in so called “slumps,” these guys are not invisible. When Vanek, Roy, Connolly, and Pominville are not found on the score sheet, they are usually not found anywhere else on the ice. The aforementioned captains, along with Dallas captain Brendan Morrow will always be forces to be reckoned with, game in and game out.

The skilled Sabres players lack consistency, and the tenacity needed to win in this league. A very talented youngster like Tyler Ennis is in his rookie season, and naturally will be looking up to players who have his same skill sets. Roy, Vanek and Connolly are not two-way players, not in the least. Ennis will see that it is acceptable to slack in the defensive zone, as long as he is producing offensively.

Nobody is present in that locker room that can hold anyone else accountable for their play. If the heart and mindset of a Grier could be placed in the body of Derek Roy, the Sabres would have their captain. Unfortunately, this type of transplant is impossible at the moment. Until then, fans can only hope that somebody can step up or pray that major changes will be made.

Neither seems likely at the moment.