So the season officially starts today in Europe blah blah blah blah blah. I have more important things on my mind right now.
I pulled up Sabres Edge yesterday to see if there was any of kind of report on practice and sure enough, John Vogl hit us with all the lines and defensive pairings on the ice. The lines were fine - you can see them at the above link if you're so included - but I immediately skipped down and checked out the pairings, being a defense girl and all. Here's what I find:
Toni Lydman-Craig Rivet
Jaroslav Spacek-Andrej Sekera
Mike Weber-Teppo Numminen
Henrik Tallinder-Nathan Paetsch
Hmm. When you remove Nathan Paetsch - and I think most would agree he is kind of the odd man out - you'll notice that a certain Swedish d-man is left hanging there all by himself with no partner to play with. But it is practice. And I do sometimes get a little fixated on what's going on with said Swedish d-man so I figure I'm probably overreacting, reading into things, making trouble where there isn't any.
And then I pull up the latest video of Lindy Ruff on Sabres.com (you'll have to find it yourself because I'm an idiot when it comes to linking video from there and I refuse to embed it because it eats my blog) and Paul Hamilton asks, "Looking at your defensive pairings today, I'm wondering has Henrik dropped out of your top six?"
So. I'm not the only one reading into things.
The good news is Lindy didn't immediately say, "Heck, yeah, he has, I'm tired of that jackass being on my team." But he didn't say, "Of course not, I love Hank," and he totally changed the subject to how well Teppo played in back-to-back games. I've worked with kids for a number of years and I know that one of the best ways to avoid answering a question you don't want to answer is to change the subject to something else that the asker might be interested in not that I'm comparing the local media to my emotionally disturbed children. Wait, was Bucky there? Then I might be a little bit.
Anyway, as the season begins today somewhere in the world, that's the mood here at Top Shelf. Slightly panicked and a little irrational.
8 comments:
Heather, I almost sent you an email this morning about all of this. I saw that same practice line-up and knew you would be somewhat concerned. Hank will be fine. Lindy is just dishing out some tough love. Don't forget all those foxy defensive-defensemen stats from Mirtle's blog last year. Hank's still got it. He totally does.
I have to admit, I am somewhat amused to be playing the role of the sane, non-panicking voice of reason with you. Usually I'm the spaz. The student has become the teacher. :P
I think Ryan Miller fans should be panicking alongside with you if Hank Tallinder outside of the top six is a serious possibility.
I mean, come on. Tallinder is a pretty solid d-guy. He's not scott stevens, but freaking heck, he's better than Weber or Sekera. Or Numminen. I think.
I figure I'm probably overreacting
You wouldn't be a Sabres fan if you didn't overreact to something!
Another thing to keep in mind is the relative cost of Hank sitting versus the cost of Weber/Sekera sitting. Every game Hank sits in the press box costs the team $31,250. Every game Weber/Sekera sits costs the team roughly $8-9 grand. If you're going to have to fork out the salary, you might as well make sure the more expensive guy is playing on the ice, so you're getting the most bang for your buck.
I have to admit, I am somewhat amused to be playing the role of the sane, non-panicking voice of reason with you. Usually I'm the spaz. The student has become the teacher. :P
HANK IS GOING TO BE A RED WING I JUST KNOW IT!!!!!!!
AAAAHAHAHA!
Okay, so I'll tell you what you always told me:
Why the heck would the Red Wings want Hank? They have a pretty decent defense core as it is. No, Hank is our cross to bear. We're never getting rid of him. :P
Why the heck would the Red Wings want Hank? They have a pretty decent defense core as it is. No, Hank is our cross to bear. We're never getting rid of him. :P
I don't know, Kate. Did I usually make Crunchy sound so pathetic? Still, I suppose you have a point... Henrik Tallinder... Nicklas Lidstrom. Henrik Tallinder... Nicklas Lidstrom... Detroit doesn't really need the upgrade :P
But the Devils might want an upgrade in net. I'm worried about Ryan Miller. :)
Jonathan, dude. I can't believe we have to put with Ryan Miller for a MILLION MORE YEARS! Who's idea was that?!
(Sarcasm, folks.)
(For now.)
Post a Comment