I totally forgot about Goose, no I wouldn't sit Goose for Mair at all.

But if Connolly isn't ready, I's move Kennedy with Hecht and Pominville, Ennis with Vanek and Roy, and then Goose with Torres and Stafford, maybe for that third line?

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Yeah, no thanks to Mair > Goose. Gaustad is our best faceoff guy, and no offense to Mair.....he's just better player all around.

Also, NO WAY MATT ELLIS OVER TORRES........Just for fun, and I know they play a different style and Ellis plays his role well,....Goose, Grier and Kaleta will do that just fine too. Here's the just for fun part.


GP G A PTS +/-
Matt Ellis 72 3 10 13 -1

Tyler Ennis 10 3 6 9 1


Same goals and only 4 less points in 62 fewer games......Ellis is a role player and his role is to not play in the playoffs

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"I can't really hear what Jeremy says, because I got my two Stanley Cup Rings plugging my ears...." -Patrick Roy in reference to Jeremy Roenick's trash talking

I think 1980 is the closest to the best.

Hecht-Timmay-Pommers
Vanek-Roy-Helen
Ennis-Goose-God
Kennedy-Mair-Pattymouth

Ellis 13th forward(interchange with Mair for less aggressive opponent).

Flip flop lines 1 and 2 for game 2(meaning line 2 is line 1) if the chemistry seems good. The guys I would juggle would be all the RW'ers, and Kennedy and Ennis.

Wait, forgot Torres. Did we need him lol. None of these lines lack grit, and Torres has played no better than any of these guys. He's a bigger body than Ennis or Kennedy, but I'm not sold that he will be more effective. I guess we have him if the situation dictates. Let's go for the skilled win in game 1, and Raffi can rest a bit.

Yeah I forgot about Torres, maybe because he only has 5 assists with a minus 3 rating. I don't care about what he's done in the past, which only amounted to one good post-season. Right now he's about useless. I'm not opposed to putting him on the 4th line for Ellis though.

Hecht-Connolly-Pominville
Vanek-Roy-Stafford or Kennedy-Roy-Vanek
Kennedy/Ennis-Gaustad-Grier
Ellis/Torres-Mair-Kaleta

Ennis - Connolly - Pommers
Kennedy - Roy - Vanek
Torres - Goose - Stafford
Grier - Ellis/Mair - Kaleta

I think Torres plays, but he's on a short leash.

The two players we need healthy as soon as the first puck drops are Connolly and Hecht.

Connolly can shred through the banged up Boston defense and carrying the puck into the zone against the Bruins will play well against the banging against the boards on the dump and chase they will cling to to save them a short trip into the playoffs.

Hecht...I think we all saw in the last game against the Bruins how weak were were up the middle with the German. The Bruins skated through center and into our zone almost at will.

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If your having goal problems, I feel bad for ya son....we got 99 problems but Vanek ain't one!

Luckily, Connolly should be back before or at the same time Hecht returns, so Hecht shouldn't have to worry about filling in at center.

OK I got crucified for this when his injury happened, but is it OK for me to now say Connolly has been out WAAAAAY too long for just a bruised foot? Yes, I know it's painful. But really, I've bruised my foot so badly I thought it was broken before, and yeah, it hurts. Yeah, you try to keep off it for a while. But damn, how long does it take? Plus he plays a sport where your feet are generally immobilized right? I haven't put on an ice skate in a while, but if I remember right, most of the motion and turns and things are generated by the ankles, not the feet. So again, why has it taken so long for him to be able to put on a skate?

He tried to play on it for four games and made it worse. I'm sure after that the staff just wanted to make sure he was healthy for when it matters most. There's nothing to stress about.

What 1980 said. He knew he was able to play but it still smarted him and he aggravated it. I'm sure the team just made him a healthy scratch to end the season to make sure he's 100%.

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mechaphil

Also depends on where he bruised his foot and how much, or if there is swelling involved.

Remember their skates are custom molded to fit their feet without any injury or swelling involved so it could fit weird in his skate still.

But I'd rather have a 100% healthy Connolly in the playoffs then risk him getting hurt even more in the last 8 games of the season when we had the division already locked up.

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Connolly got the green light for game 1
http://sabres.nhl.com/club/podcastplaye ... &iid=22077

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Hold my beer and watch this...