Any Sabres fan paying attention knew going into this season that we would
be
a pale version of previous teams, that we would have a hard time making
the
playoffs. So sitting here on March 13, I am not surprised that we are on
the
outside looking in. Take a look at the stats: We've scored as many or more
goals as any playoff team, but we haven't been able to score enough to
compensate for our defense. Yeah, players have been hurt, but other teams
have this problem, too. It is hard to imagine that losing two players
(Drury
and Briere) would impact the team so much. And I don't think that explains
everything. Go back to last year's performances in the playoffs. We barely
got by the Islanders, who played a tough, gritty defensive game. We barely
got by the Rangers, who deserved to win the series. Jaeger scoffed at us,
called us undeserving. Then we were shown up for what we were by the
Senators. Somewhere during the playoffs, we lost our heart. Game 3 of the
conference finals was the fatal blow. We never recovered. In my opinion,
our
system can generate success in the regular season, but not in the
playoffs.
I think we need a more defense-oriented system in which we can win games
by
scoring an average of 3 goals a game. Players like Gaustad are valued in
such a system. I don't think we have enough toughness through four lines.
I
don't think we have a real checking line. And by all means, get rid of
Thibault.
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