Nathan Gerbe Come to Save Us All

I don't really have a lot of interest to say about the Tampa Bay game (other than those are some really dreadful third jerseys) but I figured I should go on the record with my opinion of the much longed for Nathan Gerbe.

I thought he was fine. He didn't score any points but he was a +2 and while he didn't look like a guy with a lot of experience at the NHL level (for good reason obviously) I didn't think he looked terribly overwhelmed either. I thought he looked fairly confident and if nothing else he puts the friggin' puck on the friggin' net. Most of the Sabres seem to have lost their ability to get a puck through all the bodies in front and they always seem hesitant to shoot unless the sky has opened and the sun is beaming down to highlight the perfect spot. Gerbe flings it toward the goalie AND actually gets it TO the goalie. The back-and-forth score shows that Gerbe was not the automatic solution to all the Sabres' problems but we did actually score some goals and I do think that Drew Stafford and Derek Roy both played one of their best games of the season, particularly Stafford. I don't think it's coincidence that they were Gerbe's line mates. I'm glad Lindy Ruff threw Gerbe right in there on a top line. I kind of wish we'd seen more of Mark Mancari with players who can actually play hockey.

And Jochen Hecht got in a fight! That happens maybe once every other year and I don't know, for some reason it always makes me really happy.

You can almost hear Ryan thinking, "Wait. Is that... is that Jochen?" (Photo by Scott Audette/Getty Images)

That's all I got. If you need more and you haven't read it yet, check out yesterday's Lindy post.

ETA video:

Hockey, Hockey, Hockey!

A couple of posts have already popped up about the Sabres-Wild game I had the pleasure of attending with Kate and really, they've already covered what I wanted to say. But heck, I'm going to say some of it anyway very quickly before heading off to bed for the night.

- Early on Sunday I was feeling a little melancholy for some unknown reason. I had a major case of the blahs and not even the thought of hockey was doing much to cheer me up. But once I got out of my car and started walking toward the arena, my spirits were immediately lifted. Seeing people walking around in Sabres jerseys, slipping in with the crowd filtering into the arena, seeing skaters on the ice... I couldn't wipe the grin off my face. I sat down in my seat and just stared all around, taking in every detail I could. It felt amazing to be in HSBC for real(ish) hockey again.

- Speaking of seats, thanks to the awesome Keller for giving Kate, and in turn me, his fantastic seats for the night. Kate has a picture of our view in her post but we were nineteen rows back right behind the goalie on the end where the Sabres shoot twice. It was a very cool perspective. I've sat in similar seats once before and I love watching guys clear the puck down the ice from that angle. You really get a good feel for just how hard and far they're hitting the puck and just how fast it's moving.

- A lot of people have been really high on Nathan Gerbe - TBN's John Vogl has been practically raving about him - so I was really anxious to see him in action. He's clearly talented and based on what I saw probably should be the first call-up but I don't think he's ready to start in Buffalo. I'm just not sure who he should leap over at this point except for Clarke MacArthur and I think most of us can agree that it would be much better for Gerbe to be playing regular minutes in Portland than sitting in the press box in Buffalo.

That said, I don't think Gerbe will be in Portland long. He definitely looks confident and comfortable and I'm sure he's eager to prove himself.

- Tim Kennedy looked a little more overwhelmed. He was by no means bad but he definitely needs some seasoning in the AHL. It was very cool to get to see his first moments in a Sabres uniform though. The crowd gave him a huge roar of approval every time he had the puck, especially during the shootout. I can't even imagine how awesome that must've been for him.

- Maxim Afinogenov was easily the best Sabre on the ice. Granted a lot of the veteran forwards were out for this game but Max looked really good. There was very, very little of the bad Max - no stupid drop passes, not as much stick handling through the entire crowd, no pulling his line mates offside - and a lot of speedy reasonably smart hockey. It was pretty remarkable. If Max puts together a good season I think the Sabres are really in good shape. I'm sure someone somewhere will complain that he isn't locked up long-term even though we've spent all summer complaining that he's not playing in another city right now but I'll gladly take one more good season out of Max before we part ways. For the record, I'll point out one more time that it's really important that Max play with guys who can skate and think fast.

- Second game in a row where someone in a Buffalo sweater dropped the gloves to defend a teammate. I love it and I hope it continues. Paul Gaustad is usually pretty good about that anyway but I also think this is Craig Rivet's presence in the line-up making an impact.

- Despite the loss, the Sabres looked really good. I have no idea how many of Minnesota's players were NHL level and how many of them were AHL/juniors babies but for the most part, the Sabres really controlled the play and outside of the Jaroslav Spacek's deflection into his own goal I don't remember any glaring mistakes especially on the defensive end which is what's going to make or break this season, I think.

- Henrik Tallinder was fantastic. Amazing. SPECTACULAR even. I'm confident he's going to have a fabulous 2008-2009 season.

- Kate and I really did have a pretty lengthy discussion about Mike Weber's number change. I seem to be in the minority but I really liked him in 34 and I'm not a fan of 4 at all. It's partly because I don't like the way most single digits look on a jersey - 5 is good, 9 is acceptable and that's it - but I realized tonight that it's also partly the font. I'm not a big fan of the number font used on the slug jerseys.

- Hockey is BACK, you guys!

Friday Musings

A few quick hits:

- The classic logo at center ice looks awesome and surely - SURELY! - it means the death of the slug is right around the corner. Now that the franchise has squeezed every dollar they can out of it, we're moving on, right? Do you know how happy I would be to not have to not buy a really cool t-shirt or hoodie because it has a slug on it? How much I'd love walking into the Sabres store and seeing a store full of classic logos? That would be amazing.

Taken from a link provided in the comments at Sabres Edge.

- I've given this Nathan Gerbe thing a lot of thought and I think I've decided he should start in Portland. Definitely use him as the first call-up if he's ready for that and definitely use him to pressure anyone who may be underachieving in Buffalo but let's see the kid play with pros in the AHL first especially since offense is not a pressing concern right now. If he totally kicks ass down there, well that'd be a pretty good problem to have.

- Mark went to practice yesterday (Wednesday) and reported that Henrik Tallinder and Toni Lydman were paired together during most of the defensive drills. What the hizzle, Lindy? Are you trying to confuse them, not to mention me?

- John Vogl reports that Lindy plans on keeping Jochen Hecht at center this year which is more than fine with me. I love Jochen at center. The rest of Vogl's potential lines are as follows:

Thomas Vanek-Derek Roy-Drew Stafford

Daniel Paille-Jochen Hecht-Jason Pominville

Paul Gaustad-Tim Connolly-Ales Kotalik

I hope this means he thinks Maxim Afinogenov is going to be gone because Max definitely does not belong on the fourth line. I get that that he's frustrating and inconsistent enough that you might shy away from putting him on one of the top lines - when he's playing poorly he's sometimes a real drag on his line mates - but he needs to play with people who are fast and skilled. People have given him a lot of crap for last season for good reason but after he came back from his injury he was on the worst possible lines for his skill set. He can't play with muckers and grinders who can't skate and carry the puck. He's useless then. You almost may as well just bench him if that's how you're going to use him.

I'm fine with that first line though I wouldn't be against trying Max with Roy and Vanek just to see what happens. (Blow it up fast if it doesn't work though since in the past Max has been a bad influence on Derek.) Love, love, love Paille with Jochen and Pommers. I don't know if I'm sold on Goose on the third line. I like him immensely but I go back and forth on how good he actually is and how good he can be.

At any rate, it's so nice to be close enough to the season to be talking about this stuff! Wheeee!

- Speaking of Max, he's going to be either traded or let go at the end of the season. We all know that. We may as well admit now that the change of scenery is going to be good for him. He'll be in a new system with new teammates and a new coach and he'll probably score 20-25 goals. Can we agree now to not retroactively pretend like we thought the Sabres should have kept him all along when that happens (Bucky)?

- Derek Roy will score 100 points this season. That's my one prediction for the year.

- Note to Gambler: Roy-Z was definitely short. I want to say he was a little bit shorter than me because I seem to remember glancing down but I wasn't paying enough attention to really say for sure. He was definitely not taller than me though. If anything he was even with me. I also didn't see what kind of shoes he was wearing which I would have taken into consideration as well had I been paying attention. (I was in the front row of the most recent U2 concert in Buffalo and while I already knew Bono was a shorty he was also wearing boots with rubber soles that were at least 3 inches thick. I'm pretty sure he's really only 4'3".) I'm 5'7"ish so I'd say Roy-Z is in the 5'6"-5'7" range. No way he's his listed 5'9".

- I haven't had a chance to flip through the media guide but I've enjoyed all the stuff other bloggers have pulled out of it. Anne discovered that Patrick Kaleta's nickname is "Kaltsy." Okay. Friends and I have joked about how the Sabres seem to just slap "sy" on the end of something for a nickname but Kaltsy doesn't even make sense! His name isn't Kaltleta! And I had to actually sound it out to think about how to say it. Anne's comment is worth repeating here: If a nickname is harder to say than the guy's actual name, it's a stupid nickname.

- The only real nickname I've ever had is "Heat."

Is It October Yet?

A week or so ago Mark's mom asked us if we'd be interested in taking her to prospect camp this weekend. We reluctantly agreed. I mean, do we seem like the kind of people who would be interested in a bunch of kids playing hockey in the middle of the summer? (That's a joke for those who don't recognize them.) Unfortunately she bailed on us so we ended up going by ourselves again, not that we had to drag ourselves there. As Mark said, "For someone who was complaining that you hated hockey and needed a break from it, you're spending an awful lot of your summer at hockey-related events." Hmmmm... Might be some truth in that especially since I already have plans to go back to camp on Monday with some friends.


The prospects broke up into two teams and scrimmaged so they only used one rink instead of both of them. I know a lot of people feel like the best way to watch hockey is from above so you can really see plays developing. I agree with that generally speaking and when we go to games we always sit way up (although that's partly because we're broke and cheap), but when we can get to stuff like this, I like to sit up close and see things from a different perspective. So we sat in the third row. I'm not going to pretend like I really know enough to judge these kids' performances - I can barely stand on ice skates so to me everyone out there looked amazingly talented - but here are some non-expert opinions.

Andrej Sekera and Mike Weber both looked really good. It's weird to call them the veterans at 22 and 20 but they did a lot of talking with the other prospects and just looked a touch more self-assured than some of the younger, less experienced guys. They were on different teams during the scrimmage so we didn't really get a look at them together, but I don't really see why either of them won't make the team out of training camp unless Darcy Regier brings in a veteran defenseman and/or Nathan Paetsch plays out of his head. I get why Paetsch is being referred to as the incumbent, but to me he's the one who really has to earn his spot going in. I've never been super high on him though so I could be biased.

Weber continues to be a pretty firm next-in-line as Heather's Favorite Sabre. I just really like the way he plays and handles himself. I'm in no rush to get rid of Henrik Tallinder - no worries, Hank! - I'm merely doing a little scouting. At one point Weber made an absolutely beautiful stick poke against his opponent and it made my defense-loving heart go all pitter-patter. Okay, I totally missed it because I was futzing around with my camera. But Mark assured me that it was exactly the kind of play that I would've loved. I also noticed that he's started referring to Mike as "your boy" which is probably a sign. We only do that with a few select players.

My boy takes the ice.

Nathan Gerbe is very small. No, it's true. He is very reminiscent of Derek Roy however in that he doesn't seem the least bit bothered by his size on the ice. Granted, they weren't really hitting each other during the scrimmage but they were playing hard and he wasn't the least bit afraid to stick his nose in there against players much bigger than him (i.e. everyone). The other thing I really liked about him is that he wasn't hesitant to put the puck on the net and go from there. After getting used to watching the Sabres refuse to shoot unless they have the perfect opening, it was a refreshing change. Gerbe's team killed the other team in the scrimmage and he roofed one absolutely beautifully placed shot over the opposite shoulder of the goalie. He's definitely very skilled and I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see him on the big team sooner rather than later.

Look at his tiny little legs. He looks like a kid in his first hockey uniform.

I didn't get a really good picture of Tyler Myers - those little brats wouldn't stand still long enough, the nerve - but I'm happy to report that he really is very tall. He definitely seems thin for his height but I know he's talked about how getting stronger is one of his goals. It's clear why everyone talks about his skating as a strength though. I know tall guys - especially tall guys who are still very young and new to their bodies - are often kind of awkward and unsure and that wasn't the case with Myers at all. He looked very strong on his skates, very smooth, almost graceful. I can definitely see why the Sabres were so high on him. Sadly, the BFG does not wear a visor.

Darcy Regier and Lindy Ruff were there, of course, watching from above. (Dad in front of us to his small son as Lindy entered the building and walked across the ice: Look! It's Lindy Ruff! Small son: Lindy Ruff?! What's HE doing here?!) Both Darcy and Lindy seemed to be in a very good mood. Every time I looked up they were grinning at each other and laughing about something. I'm sure someone in the crowd was grumbling about Darcy being so happy when he should be out signing free agents and re-upping contracts but I enjoyed seeing them both looking so mellow. I know they are very good friends in real-life and it certainly appeared that they were enjoying each other's company. There was one point where Darcy was on the phone ("Darcy's on the phone!") so I'm sure the Sabres will be announcing the acquisition of Nicklas Lidstrom any day now.

Darcy's on the phone!

I'm just posting this picture of Darcy because it never fails to crack me up.

This one too.

Jhonas Enroth did play in the scrimmage and while I meant to keep an eye on him, I didn't really. Sorry. Goalies aren't my thing. He wandered out of the net a few times but unlike a certain other goalie we all know, he mostly handled himself well. Otherwise, sure he looked great.

Some guy I don't recognize chats up Enroth. (I think.)

After practice a handful of players came over to the corner of the rink and signed autographs and took pictures with the kids in the crowd which I thought was really sweet. Some of the kids were so clearly excited that it was pretty cute to watch. Their faces just completely lit-up every time someone new turned to walk in their direction instead of going the other way. The players seemed to really be enjoying it too. Must be nice to be able to make someone else that happy. I'm sure getting stopped by fans all the time gets old eventually so it was cool to see the younger players embracing it while it's fresh and new.

Mike Weber signed for quite a while. He'd start to walk away but came back immediately every time someone called his name.

Tim Kennedy looks to be 22 going on 12. Dude is rocking a serious baby face. Mark usually rolls his eyes at me when I comment on how young someone looks but this time he was the one who actually said, "Holy crap, look at him!" He didn't look that much older than some of the kids he was posing for pictures with. He looked good on the ice though.

So young.

I have no idea who this kid is. I did kind of half-heartedly flip through some photos but I couldn't make a match. He was my favorite though. He walked over with a pretty hearty, "Hey, guys!" and really talked to every single kid he signed something for, calling the kids "buddy." He was super cute with them. If anyone knows who he is, please share.

I have no idea who this is but I like him already.

The spot where the kids were standing was not in the path of where the players departed the ice so players had to walk out of their way to come over. Originally everyone was at the top of a little staircase but as things started clearing out the kids started inching down the stairs and eventually onto the floor beside the rink. One little guy was totally cracking up all the adults in the area. He kept screaming, "Hey! Hey! We're over here!" you know, in case the players couldn't figure out where the sound of the screaming kids was coming from exactly. This kid was the most aggressive about moving out toward the players and eventually he was standing about halfway between the stairs where the kids were and the stairs where the players were exiting. When one player started walking toward the exit this kid started jumping up and down, literally waving his hands back and forth over his head, yelling, "Over here! Hey, you! Over here! Please come over here!" The player hesitated for a second before finally heading toward the kids. This little guy started cheering triumphantly and as he handed the player whatever it was he had to be signed he said, loud enough that those of us in the stands could hear, "Hey, who ARE you anyway?!" It was hysterical. The player in question - Dylan Hunter according to the man standing in front of me which I'll just go with because I couldn't see his face very clearly through his pulled-down baseball cap - took it in stride though. And Mark refrained from yelling, "Your dad was an asshole!" so that was nice too.

All in all, a very entertaining day. Mark was complaining that it made him excited for the season to start and then he remembered it wasn't even July yet but it was a nice little sip of real Sabres hockey. It still amazes me that I can just walk into a building, totally free of charge, and plop myself down a few feet from professional athletes, not just here but during training camp and game day skates as well. I can't tell you how many bloggers in other NHL cities have said to me, "You can go to morning skates? You just walk right in?!" It's pretty cool.

Nathan Gerbe is Good at Hockey

Now that every playoff series is under way, I have a better feel for where I stand on all the different teams. But first! Mark and I watched long stretches of the NCCAA Championship game which featured Sabres prospects Andrew Orpik and Nathan Gerbe. I've been hearing Gerbe's name for a while but, you guys! He's really, really good! He's a teeny tiny 5'5" but while he looked small standing next to other players, I never really thought about him being small when he was actually playing. He seems kind of fiery and he skates really well and he actually scores! A lot! In the last two games of the tournament - big games - he had five goals and three assists. He was the best player on the ice! He was voted Most Outstanding Player in the Frozen Four!

I admit these guys are usually not on my radar until they're in Rochester - and even then I don't really know anything about them until they've shown their face in Buffalo at least once - but yeah, this one might be good. I mean... I've heard people say he was good and I knew he was up for the Hobey Baker. But seeing him play was kind of a revelation.

How many inches do you think he'll grow between here and Buffalo though? I mean, they can't list him at 5'5." It would totally give away that Derek Roy is not really 5'9" :P

As a side note, I was so excited to discover that Ray Ferraro was calling the game. He was my favorite person involved in NBC's coverage last year and I've really been missing him. Who decided Pierre McGuire and Mike Milbury would make for a good intermission show?

One more side note. Notre Dame got totally jobbed on their waived off goal. Apparently the NCAA has about the same grasp as the NHL on the kicking motion rule. (None.)

I hope we're seeing a lot of this in the next few years.
(Note to playoff pool participants. Any line-up changes must be made before 1 p.m. on Monday. If you forget, your first week's line-up will just play for another week. A couple of people have asked if it's possible to look at everyone's scores on one page. It is! At the top under "Stats/Standings," click on "Group Standings." And when you do, please note that Vanek's Hair is NOT in first place despite his dancing and gesturing.)