The Reasonable Argument for ‘Shooooooot,’ and Other Observations
Wednesday, December 9th, 2009 9:21 pm by mrenninger
So, the Sabres are playing well against the Caps at the moment- Miller just made a great save from the slot halfway through the second, but I figure I’ll publish today’s post now, in case you would like some good intermission reading…
HOW TO YELL SHOOOOOOT AND JUSTIFY IT TO YOUR FRIENDS WITHOUT LOOKING LIKE A JACKASS
Derek Roy, Drew Stafford and Tim Connolly are likely the most talented skating forwards on the team, and there is no question that they have occasionally dazzled us challenging the other team 1-on-3 and using a great move to make it through- Stafford deking one of the Rangers out of their skates last Saturday comes to mind- but even on the rare occasion such a challenge works, you still have to beat the goalie, which Stafford failed to do.
(ONE QUICK NOTE pertaining to that Rangers game: blue eye shadow, hockey socks, an Avery jersey and screaming ‘shoot’ when your team has the puck in the neutral zone makes you look like a hockey groupie, and not an intuitive one at that. If you are trying to be Elisha Cuthbert at the game, at least do a better job of looking like her. Okay, back to the issue at hand)
Far too often these challenges result in a simple turnover in the offensive zone or a drop pass to no one. Couple this with our defensemen’s penchant for playing incredibly far up on the rush, and suddenly the teams bad habit of giving up more than a couple odd man rushes a game seems to make sense. Myers, certainly the defenseman with the best nose for the puck (but still learning what to do when he actually has the puck) has been a repeat offender this season, attempting numerous drop passes in the neutral zone which more than once have resulted in Miller finding the puck behind him. These mental lapses are not the result of poor play or taking a night off- though those certainly exacerbate the situation- but simply a predictable result of gambling one too many times. And as much as can be said for the teams leading scorer, he has certainly been the leading culprit of such misplaced hubris this season, as if he is attempting to become Max Afinogenov circa 2005 and if coming out looking like Max circa 2008. It seems as if Roy wants to be the pretty passer when he would be much more appreciated by both fans and his teammates as the simple scorer (I realize I’m hoping for more Cellino and Barnes saying ‘great goal Derek! on my screen, but I’m willing to make the sacrifice). There certainly is something to be said for taking advantage of the opposing team caught on their heels, but there is just as much to be said for shooting the puck in and establishing a more rewarding chance.
I wish Cellino and Barnes would congratulate me on a great pass too!!!
In this regard Roy would be well off to take a look at Thomas Vanek, who, like Roy now, came out a few years ago almost tentative to let ‘er rip, more content to look for a linemate to take the chance, even if such a pass had one or two opposing players positioned in the way. Now we look at the 40 million dollar man and see a player who shoots first, passes second and is always quick to give chase after letting the shot go. Some may say the production of these efforts have been sub-par so far this season and while a look at the statistics may support the idea, anyone who knows this team, and Vanek specifically knows the lamp will be lit plenty more times as the season evolves. Remember, for every Lundquvist and Brodeur there’s an Emery and Toskala. So when the Sabres find themselves entering the offensive zone at even strength, don’t feel guilty about wanting to- or if you’ve hit the Molson kiosk enough, actually yelling- shoooooot!!!
Just don’t yell it in the neutral zone.
PORTLAND PIRATES AND OTHER OBSERVATIONS
So I was going to watch the Flyers-Islanders game on Versus last night before I found something much more enticing on basic cable channel 13: Providence Bruins at Portland Pirates. Since I had never watched our minor league affiliate before, and I’d watch Jeff Dunham play with puppets over Peter Laviolette and Ray Emery (okay, maybe not Jeff Dunham, but definitely a Tyler Perry sitcom), I didn’t need coaxing. During the matchup I jotted down a few things about some players we’ll see this season, and some we hopefully won’t.
I tuned in at the start of the second period, it was 3-1 Providence. Good to see Patrick Lalime’s conditioning trip went well. One of my favorite local bartenders tells me that Lalime’s ineptitude is a result of Ruff not playing him enough. I would like this bartender to serve me this weekend so I will only say this and hopefully put the Lalime argument to rest for awhile: to get more chances, you can’t be letting in 5 a game. You’re a professional, when you get a chance, take advantage, and don’t give up 3 goals on 7 shots to the guys who can’t crack the Boston roster.
- Ennis had a great deke on ONE guy at the blue line to set up a great chance. Can’t wait to see this kid up here again.
- Jeff Cowan had a shorthanded breakaway and if this guy makes an appearance for the pro squad, Mike Grier may have competition for least innovative player on a breakaway.
- Did you ever wonder what happened to Dany Sabourin, me neither but apparently hes the Providence Bruins goalie.
- Gerbe had a couple great shifts, getting in the way of a pass in the defensive zone, buzzing around the offensive zone and an assist which definitely shows me why he’s wearing 42 for Buffalo tonight
- I’m telling myself it is just the AHL and that’s why Cody McCormick is looking good. Can’t imagine any situation where I want this guy up barring an injury or a 10 game losing streak.
I knew Rick Jeanneret’s son Mark (below) is the play-by-play guy for Portland but this was my first chance to actually listen to him call a game and I’m definitely very impressed. His cadence and excitement is on par with his old man and if you’ve heard some of RJ’s calls from the 70′s you can definitely notice the similarities. After the disaster of Kevin Sylvester trying to call a game a couple years back, I have to hope Mark will follow in pop’s footsteps. He even calls “SCOOOOOOOOOOORES” the same way. I may be hunting for more Pirates games in the future just for him.- And lastly, well wishes to Mike Grier and his mother, hope for a quick recovery and see him back in the blue and gold soon.
March 20th, 2010 at 11:29 pm
lol a handful of of the feedback most people put up are kinda silly, frequently i question if they in truth read the content pieces and content before writing a comment or whether or not they just read over the subject of the blog post and jot down the first thing that drifts into their heads. at any rate, it is really good to read through keen commentary every now and then compared to the exact same, traditional blog vomit that i almost always discover on the internet i’m off to have fun with a smattering of rounds of facebook poker regards
April 17th, 2010 at 6:33 am
You are an interesting writer. I sent this one to my friends.