[gdameo]

Now that the Caps got DJ King from the Blues. See the EAST teams with fighters (only who fight frequently):

Toronto -Orr, Rosehill
Ottawa - Carkner, Neil
Boston - Thornton, Lucic
Montreal -
Buffalo - McCormick

Washington - King, Erskine
Florida -
Carolina -
Tampa Bay - Fritz
Atlanta - Boulton, Thorburn

Pittsburgh - Godard, Rupp
Philadelphia - Cote, Shelley, Carcillo
New Jersey - Leblond
NY Rangers - Boogard, Prust, Brashear
NY Islanders - Gillies, Konopka


The only actual fighter on Sabres is McCormick and he def can't handle most of those players. I created a thread similar like this but now there are a few more HW in the East. Do you still think we should sign a HW for cheap? 500k? In case to handle those goons. We are going to get pushed around and it's not going to help us win. If we sign a decent MW fighter like Asham then I'll be OK but McCormick can't do all of the works.

Thoughts?

[Palladius]

This team has none of the attributes that would allow them to carry a guy on the active roster for the sake of fighting.

It's a dying role in this generation of the game, and there's really not much purpose in it. Lucic and, if he can keep his head in the game - Carcillo, are really the only ones on your list that aren't making their team worse by being on the roster.

I like my hockey fights as much as the next guy, don't get me wrong - but to carry a guy on the roster who's only purpose it to sit for 5 minutes for fighting? No thanks.

[Steve]

I think if Rivet is healthy this year he'd be willing to scrap with most of those guys.

[htsportplaya]

Steve, on 29 July 2010 - 11:25 AM, said:

I think if Rivet is healthy this year he'd be willing to scrap with most of those guys.

Same with Goose...

[gdameo]

this is exactly my point

Why do you want Goose or Rivet to fight them? They play at least 15 minutes a game and if they get hurt - it's a loss for us. So should they fight the fighter that play 5 minutes?

That's why I think we should sign a HW in case - it's cheap - they can just take care of them instead of having our players (Goose, Rivet, etc) to risk themselves.

Goose got hurt when he fought - i forget who

Rivet too got hurt when he fought as well

[SabreRock]

gdameo, on 29 July 2010 - 11:43 AM, said:

this is exactly my point

Why do you want Goose or Rivet to fight them? They play at least 15 minutes a game and if they get hurt - it's a loss for us. So should they fight the fighter that play 5 minutes?

That's why I think we should sign a HW in case - it's cheap - they can just take care of them instead of having our players (Goose, Rivet, etc) to risk themselves.

Goose got hurt when he fought - i forget who

Rivet too got hurt when he fought as well

who do you sit from the team to play this HW you sign? I can't think of a guy who would come out of the lineup EXCEPT McCormick. And honestly, at this point, I'd like to see what that guy can do on this team. He played well in the playoffs.

Why waste the roster space on a fighter? It makes no sense, given as Palladius said, fighting is not a prevalent part of the current game.

--by the way, WTF is an HW? Or an MW, for that matter?

[weave]

Gdameo, I feel your pain. There isn't much that gets the adrenaline of a fan going quite like a couple of bigtime fighters going at it. And Buffalo does get physically dominated at times. However.............

Right now,I don't want to see a player on this team whose only role is fighting. For this reason: As said by others, this team will need to roll 3, maybe 4 lines that score if it is going to be any good. And they will still need a line to handle the other teams top line. That means I don't think that Buffalo can really afford to have a 4th line that plays 3 shifts per period like when Peters was here. I do want to see more guys on this team who are willing and able to defend themselves though. Now, if they want to pick up a ruffian that can play regular minutes, I'd be all for that. Problem is, I don't think any of those guys are available right now.

Love me some good fights though. I'd really enjoy seeing a few guys on the Sabres that are willing and able to go. Unfortunately, the Sabres top 6 aren't good enough to carry the scoring load by themselves, and that means scoring by committee, so there is no room on the roster for a dedicated fighter. Hopefully Kassian is ready to come up next year and add some fighting majors to the roster while playing a regular shift.

[weave]

SabreRock, on 29 July 2010 - 11:48 AM, said:

--by the way, WTF is an HW? Or an MW, for that matter?

HW - heavy weight

MW - middle weight

Like in boxing

[thetrump]

weave, on 29 July 2010 - 12:03 PM, said:

Gdameo, I feel your pain. There isn't much that gets the adrenaline of a fan going quite like a couple of bigtime fighters going at it. And Buffalo does get physically dominated at times. However.............

Really? You find those staged fights between two miserable hockey players to be entertaining? I'd rather see normal players who fight because they are pissed off not two overweight overpaid goons go at it because it is the only thing they know how to do on skates.

Watching Peters the last couple seasons he was in Buffalo was miserable. His fights were overwhelmingly boring. Maybe this has jaded my view, but I'd rather have "key" players fight when the time is right then have to dress some goon for 3 minutes of ice time so he can spend the rest in the box.

[weave]

thetrump, on 29 July 2010 - 12:23 PM, said:

Really? You find those staged fights between two miserable hockey players to be entertaining? I'd rather see normal players who fight because they are pissed off not two overweight overpaid goons go at it because it is the only thing they know how to do on skates.

Watching Peters the last couple seasons he was in Buffalo was miserable. His fights were overwhelmingly boring. Maybe this has jaded my view, but I'd rather have "key" players fight when the time is right then have to dress some goon for 3 minutes of ice time so he can spend the rest in the box.

I didn't like ANY fo Peters' fights after his first year. But that's a different story.

I could do without the staged fights. Easily. But I'll tell you, for a lousy team the years the Sabres had May, Ray, Barnaby, and Boughner were some of the most entertaining years in Sabres' history. And nothing got the fans into a game quite like a pissed off Larry Playfair. I wouldn't mind a good dose of that kind of entertainment coming back.

[thetrump]

weave, on 29 July 2010 - 01:29 PM, said:

I didn't like ANY fo Peters' fights after his first year. But that's a different story.

I could do without the staged fights. Easily. But I'll tell you, for a lousy team the years the Sabres had May, Ray, Barnaby, and Boughner were some of the most entertaining years in Sabres' history. And nothing got the fans into a game quite like a pissed off Larry Playfair. I wouldn't mind a good dose of that kind of entertainment coming back.

<Don Cherry> Get rid of the instigator! </Don Cherry>

[Palladius]

gdameo, on 29 July 2010 - 11:43 AM, said:

this is exactly my point

Why do you want Goose or Rivet to fight them? They play at least 15 minutes a game and if they get hurt - it's a loss for us. So should they fight the fighter that play 5 minutes?

If there is a scenario in which a call to brawl is required, these are the guys who should be stepping up to the plate. If they get hurt doing so, well, that happens sometimes and it's a risk you run, but no greater a risk than having a meathead taking up a roster spot to get 3 minutes of ice time and 15 minutes in penalties a night.

Your example of Lucic in Boston is the same as Goose or Rivet. He's an integral part of their team as well as being a physical enforcer when the bell rings, and their team would be poorer for it if he were to be hurt in the process. But that is where you need to find your enforcers nowadays. Guys who can actually do something with 15 minutes of ice time other than give the 3 lines in front of them a rest or take a stupid penalty.

[Puck Podcast]

Having a heavyweight is great for the fans but it doesn't do much to help the team win, especially in the playoffs which is where the Sabres should be looking to improve. What a goon can do, though, is give the smaller players more room on the ice because the opponent will know that if they take a run at one of the Sabres there's at least one player on Buffalo's bench who will take a run at one of their star players. Right now I don't see that element on the Sabres. But at the same time the Red Wings of recent years have been goon free and they've done just fine so it can work both ways.

Ideally, as many of you have already said, you get players that can fight in addition to doing something else well but those players are highly coveted and hard to come by.

[sabresfan10]

PP took the words out of my mouth. With all the circus midgets on our team, a HW could go a long way. It won't be the other teams HW's that run the Ennis' and Roy's of the world, but rather it would be the agitators and hitters...they can easily be scared of a guy with some screws loose getting ready for retribution - knowing it's his role to deliver it.

A little bit 'o' crazy goes a long way. And if you don't think players get scared/intimidated, you're sadly mistaken. Ask Rob Ray about the time he was chased all over the ice by Bob Probert and Ray couldn't get away from him fast enough.

[Disengage]

You know what would be better than a heavyweight? An effective power play.

[sabresfan10]

Disengage, on 29 July 2010 - 07:00 PM, said:

You know what would be better than a heavyweight? An effective power play.

Depends who you ask. I'd rather keep the same PP and have a true heavyweight enforcer myself.

[Awiniganov1271]

sabresfan10, on 29 July 2010 - 07:04 PM, said:

Depends who you ask. I'd rather keep the same PP and have a true heavyweight enforcer myself.

So you'd rather lose more games just so you could say "Our guy punched your guy more?"

What an odd outlook for a sports team.... id rather win games

[sabresfan10]

Replacing a 4th liner with a true fighter isn't going to change your powerplay. AND, I'll also say that as a season ticket holder, last season's division championship team was quite boring at times. A fighter would give you something to get the blood flowing in that arena on any given night. So if you ask me, which is more fun, fighting or winning, I'd say both are fun. At least during a loss, something would make you feel like you didn't just waste a lot of time and money to hear the same crap from Lindy after the game about showing up early in the game, getting pucks to the net, winning the little battles...

[TheChimp]

Awiniganov1271, on 29 July 2010 - 05:28 PM, said:

So you'd rather lose more games just so you could say "Our guy punched your guy more?"

What an odd outlook for a sports team.... id rather win games

Our PP stunk last season and we still won the division. If Goose and Rivet didn't lose all their fights and get hurt in the process, it might have been a more entertaining season, would you concede that?

[weave]

Disengage, on 29 July 2010 - 07:00 PM, said:

You know what would be better than a heavyweight? An effective power play.

You can have both.



Just sayin'.....