Sabres' state of mind (goal celebration last night)
A radio host who shall remain nameless (the one who sounds like he should be hosting "Chopped" on the Food Network, not the one doing a poor impression of Frank Caliendo doing a great impression of John Madden) has been mentioning the "joyless" mood around the Sabres. And it's a point he's made in past seasons.
He has talked about how weak the Sabres' goal celebrations are. It jumped out at me last night. You'd think getting the tying goal on the road, the way things have been going, would have brought more than a couple of half raised sticks in one hand and a few pats on the helmets of expressionless players. Stafford, Pominville, Vanek, Leopold and Ehrhoff were out there.
I guess on one hand you might say "act like you've been there before," which all of those guys have been. On the other hand, if you don't have passion and enthusiasm in this game, you're in trouble.
It just looked like a beaten, dejected, dispirited bunch. Which begs the question, is it just the slump, the injuries etc. or is there a much deeper problem?
A radio host who shall remain nameless (the one who sounds like he should be hosting "Chopped" on the Food Network, not the one doing a poor impression of Frank Caliendo doing a great impression of John Madden) has been mentioning the "joyless" mood around the Sabres. And it's a point he's made in past seasons.
He has talked about how weak the Sabres' goal celebrations are. It jumped out at me last night. You'd think getting the tying goal on the road, the way things have been going, would have brought more than a couple of half raised sticks in one hand and a few pats on the helmets of expressionless players. Stafford, Pominville, Vanek, Leopold and Ehrhoff were out there.
I guess on one hand you might say "act like you've been there before," which all of those guys have been. On the other hand, if you don't have passion and enthusiasm in this game, you're in trouble.
It just looked like a beaten, dejected, dispirited bunch. Which begs the question, is it just the slump, the injuries etc. or is there a much deeper problem?
I think you're digging way to deep. Act like you've been there before, especially when you're on the road, is the option I've always thought a team should take.
I have to wonder how dejected this team really is at this point. Injuries aren't exactly morale raising, especially when you have so many injuries and players playing injured. I mean you have Vanek, Gaustad, Leopold, and probably more that are playing hurt, plus so many guys hurt and off the ice, not to mention the team is struggling. You gotta wonder if they are feeling defeated. Maybe once a few guys come back it will inject some fire into them.
4 full seasons with this core group. If anyone actually believes it's a slump then I suggest they pull their head out of the sand.
This team, especially it's forward ranks, have real issues. They need to be broken up, players need to go. Bring in a different set of players to mix/match with whats left and lets see if we can't get a little more excited about goals, especially when they are putting them in on a regular basis.
I watched one of those "every goal scored tonight in the NHL" highlight packages and, holy hell, there is a lot of fire and passion and mayhem when goals are scored in this league. A Leaf Tebowed after scoring in the shootout last night. Bush league? Maybe. But at least he has a pulse.
The one reaction I hate, and we've seen it from Stafford and Roy lately, is the look to the rafters, yes, thank you God, I scored a goal, finally I am delivered from my slump.
These guys are way too tight. Wonder where that comes from?
Not really something I'd read a lot into. If anything, I think it's worse when they celebrate like they just won the cup after scoring a meaningless goal - I don't want to see a guy doing that when the team is still down 3 goals.
But really - it's not something you can really draw any conclusions from. Different players will react differently at different times.
It may point to a deeper issue. Part of the praise for the AHL recalls is that they arrive with energy -- passion if you will -- and over time it falls away. Emotionless is no good in this sport and if they can't get mad about how things are going, channel that anger somewhere, this slump will continue to linger.
Call it what you will, a stale message or losing the room, but the easiest thing to try injecting life into this collection of corpses would be in making a coaching change.
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I watched one of those "every goal scored tonight in the NHL" highlight packages and, holy hell, there is a lot of fire and passion and mayhem when goals are scored in this league. A Leaf Tebowed after scoring in the shootout last night. Bush league? Maybe. But at least he has a pulse.
The one reaction I hate, and we've seen it from Stafford and Roy lately, is the look to the rafters, yes, thank you God, I scored a goal, finally I am delivered from my slump.
These guys are way too tight. Wonder where that comes from?
That was Colton Orr and I believe they were doing a night time practice for fans or something of that nature. It definitely was not during a real game/shootout.
That was Colton Orr and I believe they were doing a night time practice for fans or something of that nature. It definitely was not during a real game/shootout.
That was Colton Orr and I believe they were doing a night time practice for fans or something of that nature. It definitely was not during a real game/shootout.
A radio host who shall remain nameless (the one who sounds like he should be hosting "Chopped" on the Food Network, not the one doing a poor impression of Frank Caliendo doing a great impression of John Madden) has been mentioning the "joyless" mood around the Sabres. And it's a point he's made in past seasons.
He has talked about how weak the Sabres' goal celebrations are. It jumped out at me last night. You'd think getting the tying goal on the road, the way things have been going, would have brought more than a couple of half raised sticks in one hand and a few pats on the helmets of expressionless players. Stafford, Pominville, Vanek, Leopold and Ehrhoff were out there.
I guess on one hand you might say "act like you've been there before," which all of those guys have been. On the other hand, if you don't have passion and enthusiasm in this game, you're in trouble.
It just looked like a beaten, dejected, dispirited bunch. Which begs the question, is it just the slump, the injuries etc. or is there a much deeper problem?
I read into it the opposite way. They should feel haunted and exasperated after they score, given how things are going. That they actually do just means that they are indeed aware there is a problem, whereas a lot of the time with this team I wonder if they actually know they are failing to meet expectations.
It may point to a deeper issue. Part of the praise for the AHL recalls is that they arrive with energy -- passion if you will -- and over time it falls away. Emotionless is no good in this sport and if they can't get mad about how things are going, channel that anger somewhere, this slump will continue to linger.
Call it what you will, a stale message or losing the room, but the easiest thing to try injecting life into this collection of corpses would be in making a coaching change.
I agree that there could certainly be an issue here. I hadn't really noticed it much myself (as far as goal celebrations) but if the team is playing emotionless hockey that has to end soon. However, I don't think firing Ruff is the answer (although it could be). If there is one person I know that has passion in that lockerroom and on the bench its Lindy Ruff. I like Pominville and he's having a great season, but he appears to be as even keeled as they come. Could the lack of fire from him as a captain be playing a role?
All that being said, I feel like Roy may need to be moved. Last year Vanek made comments about essentially not wanting to play on a line with Roy. And Schopp and the Bulldog eluded to a player telling them "watch us go now" when Roy got hurt last year. The results of the team when he was out of the lineup were staggering when you consider they lost their No. 1 center. I know we need centers and he's a quality point producer on a reasonable contract, but if the team would be better off without him, as they were last season, then he's a valueable trade chip that we can use.
My hunch is that it is the pressure we put on them to perform. We told them it was Stanley Cup or bust and now they're clinging to a playoff spot. They feel like they are way behind the 8-ball. I know what that feels like. It's no good.
They need to slow everything down and take it one game at a time. Forget all expectations and play hockey. They have the skill to go deep. Everything I'm seeing is mental. Players are only so strong, it's time for Lindy to step up and show us how motivational he can be when everything is on the line.
My hunch is that it is the pressure we put on them to perform. We told them it was Stanley Cup or bust and now they're clinging to a playoff spot. They feel like they are way behind the 8-ball. I know what that feels like. It's no good.
They need to slow everything down and take it one game at a time. Forget all expectations and play hockey. They have the skill to go deep. Everything I'm seeing is mental. Players are only so strong, it's time for Lindy to step up and show us how motivational he can be when everything is on the line.
Wait......wut?
It's Stanley Cup or bust every year. What you say here makes no sense.
They don't play a season merely to play a season, the goal every year is to win Lord Stanley's Cup.
If they feel pressured by that then they shouldn't be hockey players in the NHL.
It's Stanley Cup or bust every year. What you say here makes no sense.
They don't play a season merely to play a season, the goal every year is to win Lord Stanley's Cup.
If they feel pressured by that then they shouldn't be hockey players in the NHL.
What you say makes no sense in reality. In theory, yes. You play to win the game, and to win the Cup. In real life only a handful of teams are realistically expected to do so every season.
The Islanders for example, do not have the pressure we do to win the Cup or go deep in the playoffs. Their owner did not have a press conference saying that their only reason for existence is to win the Stanley Cup. On top of it all, this is for an organization that has never won a championship in their history.
They're not only hockey players, but they're also human beings. I've said it many times before, a higher paycheck does not give you magical mind powers that allow you to ignore criticism and become a hockey playing robot. This applies to coaches too. Think of the pressure on Lindy. He's coached 14 seasons and never won a Cup. Now a rich owner comes in and says "OK, I believe the only reason you haven't won the Cup is because you never had the resources, here are the resources. Go win the CUP." Not easy.
Unlike most fans, all of this does not surprise me. Don't believe me? Look at the Philadelphia Eagles. Unlike them, we have 82 games to make the playoffs.
