Who are our best forwards? Here's one way to look at it.

Gaustad/Kaleta/Ellis:
+16

Rest of forwards:
-30

Who are our best defensemen?

Myers/Tallinder:
+10

Rest of defensemen:
-20

Quite a disparity...I'm particularly disturbed by our top two forward lines being a combined -25, and the Rivet/Butler pairing being a -13. Not good enough.

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Oh lord, it's hard to be humble, when you're perfect in every way. I can't wait to look in the mirror, 'cause I get better looking each day. To know me is to love me, I must be a hell of a man. Oh lord, it's hard to be humble, but I'm doin' the best that I can.

It's obviously Vanek's fault.

Connolly -6
Roy -4
Vanek -3
Pominville -2
MacArthur -9
Stafford -1
Myers +3

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HOCKEY IS BACK!

Markus, when did you steal Squanto's username?

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Oh lord, it's hard to be humble, when you're perfect in every way. I can't wait to look in the mirror, 'cause I get better looking each day. To know me is to love me, I must be a hell of a man. Oh lord, it's hard to be humble, but I'm doin' the best that I can.

Not surprised at all by Butler and Rivet -Rivet has taken a step back (Or a couple steps back) in his defensive play, and he's dragging Butler down with him.

I am really surprised by the top 6 forwards being a -25. Makes sense though -none of them have been able to score 5-5.

Ya, Rivet has dropped off defensively, but some of the plays in the last couple of games I've seen from Butler had nothing to do with Rivet. But agreed overall, these 2 have to get back to where they were the first 10 games of the season.

As for the top 2 lines. It really hasn't surprised me, the same as last season. We have trouble scoring and capatilizing. Plus the back checking shows up some games, others it dissappears. Very perplexing considering the beginning of the season. I'm starting to think ETC's name is starting to creep in. I think there may be a curse on Buffalo's teams.
I am curious though, has anyone noticed a shift in gameplan these last couple of weeks? I would imagine alot of what we see on the +/- column is a direct reflection of the last 2 weeks worth of games.

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Lord Stanley's Cup is what its all about.
Mr. Pegula, your destiny awaits you sir.

True. Butler has been playing badly the last couple games, but for the most part, he's been the better of the two on that pairing.

boy did mac arthur fall fast from that hot start of his....guess it was just a facade.....

and butler/rivet combo is just ugly....not sure if you can put all the blame on rivet for butler....he (butler) hasn't exactly impressed me this year....

oh yeah...and get butler off the damn power play !!! the dream is over guys, butler will never be an offensive defenseman....

time for darcy to start makin' some moves

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"It is more about them than it is about the team...Cannot play with them, cannot win with them, cannot coach with them. Can't do it. I want winners. I want people that want to win." - Mike Singletary

Tyler Myers - Future captain of the Buffalo Sabres, and future Norris Trophy Winner

Manning the machine gun on the Tyler Myers Bandwagon - just in case any teams have an idea of prying him away from us (3 GM's shot already)

Connolly/Roy - 2 goals in the last 47 playoff games

I don't understand why he took Butler away from Myers on the PP.

Those two kept the play going for an entire PP sometimes and the puck never got past them.

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According to Markus

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just call me Brad

Twitter @BUrbanowicz13

I agree with Butler making some obviously bad, rookie mistakes. MacArthur has been horrible lately and the main reason (IMO), he's been trying too hard to make those pretty plays. He has tried several times in the last few games to make across ice passes and they either get picked off or the pass goes behind the intended receiver. He, like most of the forwards, have to stop looking for highlight film plays and just get back to basics. The way the first few weeks of the season was....

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Have you been reading Garth's blog, ETC?

http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog/GARTH/HELL-WEEK/6/24477

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Wheelhouse

One telling stat: Rivet has just 11 hits on the season. That's two fewer hits than Lydman has, and Loods has only played 6 games to Rivet's 20. Rivet also has a paltry 13 blocked shots.

By comparison, Butler has 18 hits and leads the team in blocked shots with 24. Now, Butler has had his poor moments, but overall he has been a much more active and effective player than Rivet, who seems to have gotten real old real fast this season.

Also, the number of battles for the puck that Rivet has lost in his own zone is staggering. I wish they kept a stat on that, because his numbers would be atrocious.

Plus, he has dropped the gloves a total of once all season, so it's not like he's showing leadership that way, either. All of his stats are way down, and his play at both ends of the rink have declined noticeably since last season, when he played just 64 games due to injury.

Time to give the C to Gaustad, and an A to Kaleta.

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Oh lord, it's hard to be humble, when you're perfect in every way. I can't wait to look in the mirror, 'cause I get better looking each day. To know me is to love me, I must be a hell of a man. Oh lord, it's hard to be humble, but I'm doin' the best that I can.

I'd love to see Goose wearing the C.

Give him the power to tear everyone on that squad a new asshole should he deem it necessary.

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Wheelhouse

I think he must have been reading ME!

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Oh lord, it's hard to be humble, when you're perfect in every way. I can't wait to look in the mirror, 'cause I get better looking each day. To know me is to love me, I must be a hell of a man. Oh lord, it's hard to be humble, but I'm doin' the best that I can.

I don't knowwww! He posted this last night at 8PM!!

Just busting on you. But you and Garth may be a little bit more similar than you think.

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Wheelhouse

But; but the standings show we're really playing great!

Awaken from the slumber boys; Miller can't carry your lazy asses the whole way!

And no surprise on MacArthur; a few people knew he would drop off in production like he always does.

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"I'll rap you with my cane; you pencil necked geek!!"

-Bowler, imitating Freddy Blassie, at the very first M & G.

Can I just point something out?

MacArthur doesn't look horrible out there. He still drives to the net and moves his feet.

I think the main reason for his drop in production is Connolly's and Roy's unwillingness to put the puck on net.

I mean, Clark wasn't going to maintain a point per game pace folks. He's not that prolific of a scorer.

But I still think we're seeing more out of him than we did last year, and I do think he'll continue to score goals. They just need to get back to driving hard to the net and making shit happen.

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Wheelhouse

C to Goose, A to Grier, take away Hecht's A and give it to Rivet.

Hmmm...and who would one of those people be, pray tell?

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Oh lord, it's hard to be humble, when you're perfect in every way. I can't wait to look in the mirror, 'cause I get better looking each day. To know me is to love me, I must be a hell of a man. Oh lord, it's hard to be humble, but I'm doin' the best that I can.