Now, it's very early in the season, but the two teams that were the envy of Bucky Gleason, Montreal and Toronto, because they were so active in the offseason currently have a combined five (5) points in twelve games. Not exactly jumping out of the gate are they? Hell, Montreal couldn't score an equalizer late in the game last night despite skating seven guys. For those of you who may only know as much about hockey as Bucky, a team can only put six guys on the ice at a time, one of them usually being a goalie.
So, here, we've tried to be a voice of reason. Guys like Tallinder, Lydman, Connolly, and even Max (at times) weren't nearly as bad as they were being made out to be. Drury, Briere, Campbell, and Biron were certainly good players, but the Buffalo News' apotheosis of those guys gave rise to us coining "buckyperbole." But after all that vitriol, we get this, without any sort of mea culpa.
It's a big reason I'm not a huge fan of many sportswriters.
Henrik Tallinder was getting grief from almost every angle last season, a good chunk of which was spent getting chunks taken out of him.
Plaschke-nanigans. In the first sentence? Really?
His coach publicly criticized him.
This is actually one of the things that makes hockey so endearing to me. Coaches and other players call each other out, whereas in other sports (I may or may not be thinking of football here) are so terrified of "bulletin board material" they choose to say little. Or, if you're a New England Patriot, nothing at all.
Fans pointed toward him as a primary problem. The media, not to mention opposing forwards, took turns throwing him down and kicking him around.
Bucky left out "especially me, because I still haven't forgiven Darcy Regier for not resigning Chris Drury, so if it looks like one of his signings may not be working out I'm going to jump all over it. Truth be damned."
It seemed everybody wanted to spank Hank,
Plaschke-nanigans. If he does it again I'm going to start adding the tag multiple times.
but you know who was most upset with Tallinder becoming a shell of his former self? Henrik Tallinder. The Sabres' 30-year-old veteran defenseman was so low that he suggested, and many agreed, a change in scenery might be the best remedy for a stale career tumbling downhill.
Since the Buffalo News doesn't appear to have a sports editor, or, if it does, that sports editor appears to be Warren Buffett's golden retriever, some editing here is in order:
The Sabres' 30-year-old veteran defenseman was so low that
There. That's better.
Tallinder four years ago was considered the Sabres' best defenseman — back when they twice reached the conference finals with a roster that included Brian Campbell — before a steady decline for two straight seasons.
What's that? When Tallinder signed his contract he was considered one of the best defencemen on the roster? Seriously? Then why, in the name Rene Robert, do you insist on crucifying the general manager for trying to keep him on the roster? Getting mad at Tallinder's contract is like getting mad at Max's contract. These were two of your best players. If Darcy should've walked away from them, walking away from Drury and Briere is equally brilliant.
Injuries contributed to his downfall, but there was no getting around the fact that he was regressing, not to mention depreciating.
For somebody that spends so much time complaining about how the front office is so conscious of the salary cap and talks about it so often, you certainly spend a lot of time harping on players' value in terms of their contract. This is just "Chris Drury the asset" all over again.
Once he lost his bang, the Sabres lost their buck.
Plaschke-nanigans. Stop. Just stop.
"I didn't feel comfortable with myself. I wasn't miserable all the time, but a lot of times I didn't play that well and it took a toll. It doesn't work. [Playing poorly] doesn't make me a worse person, but I took it like that, which is bad.
According to local experts, playing poorly does make you a worse person. A string of poor play got Tallinder pilloried, such that he suddenly needed to get shipped out. It didn't, and still doesn't, seem prudent, yet you'd never know reading the paper or listening to WGR. The local media has a responsibility to be honest, but I can't take the extremes and the biased views. Hence, these posts here.
Tallinder has been solid while playing alongside longer, lankier rookie Tyler Myers. Tallinder didn't have a point but was plus-5 Tuesday against the Detroit Red Wings, his best plus-minus rating since a plus-6 in a blowout over the Flyers during the 2005-06 playoffs.
Wow, so he's good again? Awesome! I'm sure what will follow is a nice admission that allowing Tallinder to play through his troubles and that Darcy Regier, like any GM, needs to take risks with players pretty much daily and that this one is paying off now.
Myers had an assist and was plus-3 against the Wings.
Or we're going to get an irrelevant stat about Tyler Myers. Sigh.
"He's been a huge help for me," Myers said. "He's just always talking, helping me in certain situations when we're on the ice. During the games, he's always in my ear. I really like that. Any advice he can give me, I'm really happy to take."
He's helping a young rookie. Nice. Knowing that he's mentoring your favorite defenceman ever we'll definitely get an "OK, I was a little wrong, and keeping Tallinder was a good idea."
The Sabres aren't exactly short on size with the pairing, which was thrown together just before the opener. The 6-foot-3 Tallinder and 6-8 Myers found instant chemistry and could be the Sabres' most consistent tandem through the first four games.
OK, not only is he playing better he's doing so consistently. So, apology...
"He's gaining confidence," Ruff said of Tallinder. "It's a "real good, feel good,'
Sorry Lindy, plaschke-nanigans on you too. Beware, people, this appears to be a new, highly contagious, strain. Ask your physician for a vaccine when (s)he tells you they're all out of swine flu shots.
The Sabres were believed to be shopping him over the summer.
Again, this needs some editing:
They either couldn't find a team willing to accept his $3.25 million salary for this season or couldn't get enough in return. If he keeps playing well, it could be a great move never made.
FINALLY!!!! Sort of. All he says is it could be a great move, but never actually admits that if this turns out to be a great move, he was completely, wholly, entirely, wrong.
Plus-minus rating can be misleading, but it can be an indicator over the course of a season.
So, plus-minus is a worthless stat except for when it's not a worthless stat? We almost made it through one of these without a completely worthless sentence that effectively says nothing. Maybe next time.
For what it's worth, Tallinder is leading the Sabres through four games with a plus-6. Myers, second with a plus-4, says the veteran has helped him get adjusted to the NHL. Tallinder says the kid has helped rejuvenate his game.
Tyler Myers. Not only is he Big T, with a great upside, a giant physique, and very strong early returns in terms of his play, he also makes the guys around him better. Cue the cliches!!
You could probably also write a new post today about the lack of column lambasting Sabre fans for booing Max Afinogenov last night. When a few other players returned that I won't name returned. OK, I will, Chris Drury and Danny Briere. Anyways, when they returned, the fact that they were booed was treated by the Buffalo News as a crime punishable by death. How could anyone boo these players. No one in their right mind would boo them. After all, these were two guys drafted by the organization, developed by the organization, at the time they departed, they were longest tenured member of the team. It wasn't totally their fault that the head coach had a hair on his a$$ about the guys and put them on a line with Mair and Gaustad (Seriously, what was up that)which seriously impeded his skill and speed driven game. They only left because they had for some reason fallen out of favor with the entire organization. It wasn't like they were short term mercenaries who had career years with Buffalo and spun that into the biggest contracts of their lives.
ReplyDeleteWait, I mean, they were actually the last part. Max was the first part. My bad.