Well 12 games into the season, which is a good taste. The Sabres have to be pretty happy with their play for most of it. Last week was a bit of a bad stretch, but those weeks will happen, and its how you pull yourself out, is what matters most. Shutting out two opponents is a good sign.
They are standing 1st in the Northeast and 2nd in the Eastern Conference. Thats higher then most would have said about the Sabres, and have done that with missing key players for a lot of the season. Hecht, Connolly, Gaustad and Rivet. They have the best goals against in the league, giving up only 25 goals in 12 games. Defense was not what the Sabres were good at last year, and having two straight shutouts is a sign of that after giving up 10 goals in two games. 10 goals in 4 games looks much better. And is a better reflection of the season.
Ryan Miller is showing he's worth every penny of his new contract, and proves me wrong based on old numbers. I guess using old numbers to predict future earnings, is just as bad as political polling. Well his GAA is 1.62 and his Sv% is a high .942. Thats 1st in the league in GAA and 2nd in the league in Sv%. Not usual terroritory for Ryan Miller. (Who my fiance still thinks is crap) Its funny every time she says it. She doesn't like his form. But Ryan is playing much better then last year, and Lalime minus the Ottawa game is also much better at the backup position.
The offense is pretty much the same. Except for Vanek deciding to put the team on his back. He has been impressive and his 11 goals in 12 games shows that. Roy is struggling thats evident, and theres no reason for that, with Vanek on his line. Pominville is getting back, he misses Hecht and he's back so look for Jason to bump up his nice numbers. 3 players have 9 points, Spacek, Pominville and Kotalik. MacArthur and Sekera have 8 points and Max has 7 points. Scoring is being spread out, though Vanek has almost a third of the teams goals and that has to change. But the offense has not doubt suffered from the injuries to the centers early on the season. But with all them healthy again, well Connolly is Connolly so, I'll look for offense to get better.
The reason for the good start, 8-2-2, is they are playing for most of the season, a team concept. They play good defense and can buzz in the offensive zone. The first period of the Devils game is a good example, if Weekes was shaky, they would have 5 goals in that period. This is the team I think Lindy always wanted to have, but had young players and players that weren't good on the defensive side. They have that tough captain, and a team that is a team. Really look up and down the lineup, these guys have been together for years. Its how you make a team and it takes years. Finally this is the team that they wanted to build and the fact theres more brewing in Portland makes me excited for the Future.
Kevin Lowe might have done the Sabres a favor, we can look at that statement 3 years from now.
They are standing 1st in the Northeast and 2nd in the Eastern Conference. Thats higher then most would have said about the Sabres, and have done that with missing key players for a lot of the season. Hecht, Connolly, Gaustad and Rivet. They have the best goals against in the league, giving up only 25 goals in 12 games. Defense was not what the Sabres were good at last year, and having two straight shutouts is a sign of that after giving up 10 goals in two games. 10 goals in 4 games looks much better. And is a better reflection of the season.
Ryan Miller is showing he's worth every penny of his new contract, and proves me wrong based on old numbers. I guess using old numbers to predict future earnings, is just as bad as political polling. Well his GAA is 1.62 and his Sv% is a high .942. Thats 1st in the league in GAA and 2nd in the league in Sv%. Not usual terroritory for Ryan Miller. (Who my fiance still thinks is crap) Its funny every time she says it. She doesn't like his form. But Ryan is playing much better then last year, and Lalime minus the Ottawa game is also much better at the backup position.
The offense is pretty much the same. Except for Vanek deciding to put the team on his back. He has been impressive and his 11 goals in 12 games shows that. Roy is struggling thats evident, and theres no reason for that, with Vanek on his line. Pominville is getting back, he misses Hecht and he's back so look for Jason to bump up his nice numbers. 3 players have 9 points, Spacek, Pominville and Kotalik. MacArthur and Sekera have 8 points and Max has 7 points. Scoring is being spread out, though Vanek has almost a third of the teams goals and that has to change. But the offense has not doubt suffered from the injuries to the centers early on the season. But with all them healthy again, well Connolly is Connolly so, I'll look for offense to get better.
The reason for the good start, 8-2-2, is they are playing for most of the season, a team concept. They play good defense and can buzz in the offensive zone. The first period of the Devils game is a good example, if Weekes was shaky, they would have 5 goals in that period. This is the team I think Lindy always wanted to have, but had young players and players that weren't good on the defensive side. They have that tough captain, and a team that is a team. Really look up and down the lineup, these guys have been together for years. Its how you make a team and it takes years. Finally this is the team that they wanted to build and the fact theres more brewing in Portland makes me excited for the Future.
Kevin Lowe might have done the Sabres a favor, we can look at that statement 3 years from now.
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