I believe its a good thing that Vanek is not on on the Penalty Kill. I much rather have one of our gritty guys like goose or grier laying out to block shots then having one of our top scorers! It would seem rather pointless having Vanek get tired out on an almost purely defensive two min when he is known scoring

Plus you cannot blame Vanek for not being on the penalty kill you should blame the team as a whole for getting a penalty in the first place

His approach shots and bunker play have also been shit, along with his inability to adjust to oily lanes. Plus he has a crappy pickoff move to first!!

What a bum.

Did you see Vanek cheating that cost us the overtime goal against Nashville? What would you call that, exactly?

Vanek back checks. I know, because I've seen it. He works pretty hard. But he has his defensive fuck ups too, and I'm sick of people saying that because he back checks, he's a reliable forward on defense.

Any time someone questions one tiny facet of Vanek's game, they have 30 people here jumping down their fucking throat. It's bull shit.

The guy isn't some untouchable godsend to hockey. He has his flaws, and DHF was pointing one of them out.

He's not Kovalev status when it comes to defense, but when I line up the forwards on our team who I'd want out in the last minute of a game with a 1 goal lead, Vanek is near the bottom.

Lock down defense has been proven time and time again to be an important factor in a cup winning team, and I would personally hope that the captain of the Sabres would reflect that in his play. Vanek's not that kind of player.

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Wheelhouse

Vanek is not a defensive liability are you kidding me? His job is to score goals and create offense, and he isn't a defensive forward, but he still backchecks and plays responsibly for the most part.

I think Vanek's biggest issue is sometimes he loses confidence and hesitates to shoot.

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"Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Hockey Night in Buffalo

So your qualification for a captain would be defensive ability? Then explain these captain choices around the league, since they clearly are all wrong.

Jarome Iginla
Jonathan Toews
Rick Nash
Dustin Brown
Brian Gionta
Daniel Alfredsson
Sidney Crosby
Vincent Lecavalier
Henrik Sedin
Alexander Ovechkin

EDIT: Let's be totally honest here. I've been just as critical of unreasonable defenses of Vanek as I have of unreasonable defense of Miller. Neither are perfect players. However, calling Vanek a 'defensive liability' is absurd. He was -11 in his first year, but has hovered near even every year since his +47 season.

In a purely defensive scenario, there's no reason to ever have your best OFFENSIVE players on the ice. Using such an example to try and indict Vanek's defensive abilities doesn't make sense.

Oh for fuck's sake, not this again

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mechaphil

Toews shouldn't be on that list. He is a good 2-way player.

I agree on everything else. I think people overrate the role of the letter "C" on the ice. A captain is important, but a team won't play worse lock down defense just because the letter "C" is on the bench.

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yeah, but did you see that pick-six he had against india in that cricket match last week? and his flawless triple lindy in the NBA finals last year.

vanek is a complete player whose main focus is offense. he cheated that cost us a goal in OT against nashville? that sucks, but it happens. 1 mistake doesnt negate his transition into a very dangerous 2 way player. vanek isnt the best player in the league, but ya know what? he earns his annual salary (i hate using salary in discussions) with scoring, and hes also one of the better players without the puck.. in both zones.

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THE ONLY WAY TO JUDGE A GOALIE IS SAVE PERCENTAGE!



hijack this thread, because its silly.

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Triple Lindy reference earns you:

I remember an interview (long ago) with Ruff where he said that he wants Vanek to take off a little early when they get posession in the D-zone. It's just a matter of doing it at the right time and not doing it too early.

They want Vanek to seek and find rush opportunities, that's why he always sits when they get a bench minor. If they have a 1-0 or a 2-1 at the end of a pp they want Vanek on the rush.

Vanek's job is to provide offense while not being a liability and I think he improved his defensive play and back-checking over the years to be that player.

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Vanek is a winger, you know who the very first people out of the zone need to be, THE WINGERS, followed by a Center, and d-men.

Breakout's in hockey explained.

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iginla, towes, and gionta are all pretty decent defensively, and for a lot of his career, alfie was, too.

Even if you drop off those 3, even though I'd debate Iginla a little bit, what about the rest?

There's a lot of guys who have C's on their chest that wouldn't be on the ice in the last minute up by 1. Why is Vanek held to a different standard?

buffalo's identity is different than most teams. ruff, foligno, ramsay, lafontaine, peca, barnes, briere, drury...all those guys are gritty players than played two ways.

except briere.


i'm not adding any real vanek commentary, i was just responding to your list.

But...but...all those players mix it up all the time, especially Nash, Sedin, and Gionta. Hell the red wings named Lidstrom captain almost exclusively due to his fighting ability...

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Proud LGBTQQ Individual

Vanek IS a proven 40 goal scorer. He can score plenty of goals, so we hold him up to that. Maybe not 40, but we expect high 20s, low 30s, even mid 30s.

The Nick Lidstrom comment is a hyperbole. I meant he's expecting too much defensive play from Vanek.

What I'm saying is, Vanek's defensive play is fine, and not a key problem on this team.

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"Counting all the assholes in the room, I'm definitely not alone!" ~ Michael Poulsen, Volbeat, Still Standing.

I blame Vanek for every goal scored against us.

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Also Vanek fought Laraque. Your argument is invalid.

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Proud LGBTQQ Individual

He did? Oh shit. Dude's got some balls.

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"Counting all the assholes in the room, I'm definitely not alone!" ~ Michael Poulsen, Volbeat, Still Standing.