Sabresfansince1980 wrote:
I just got done watching The Buffalo News video with Vogl, Harrington, and jackass discussing the Sabres off-season needs. I don't know why I bother, but I did and now I must cleanse myself with a new topic to slam them.
They said what we all know, that they need a top center and an impact d-man. However, it was actually Harrington that went so far as to say that Derek Roy would be a 3rd center on any Cup contending team. Therefore, Buffalo needs two top centers so that Roy can go back to where he should be - a 3rd line center.
I don't even need to take a glance at team stats pages to know that there aren't any 3rd line centers with 70+ pts a year. If there ever were (and I'm sure it's happened) that team was pretty lucky for a season, but it doesn't mean they also won the Cup.
Anyway, stats don't matter. The bigger point is that it's borderline retarded to think we need to find two centers better than Roy in order to put him down to 3rd line. Roy could be a #1 on many teams, but ideally would be a #2 for a Cup team with a very good offense. I suppose now that Connolly is probably gone, the TBN goons are already trying to make Roy their 1st line whipping boy. Great job losers.
First of all, the whole "FIRST LINE" this "THRID LINE" that and "SECOND LINE" whatever talk is beyond annoying. It's everywhere, all the time, all everybody wants to talk about is who is on what line yada yada. But most people have overlooked exactly WHAT that actually means.
The order of which a coach rolls out his lines MEANS NEXT TO NOTHING. What matters (especially in a seven game series) most is WHO WILL BE DEFENDING WHICH LINE. A teams hottest line is for all intents and purposes their number one line, regardless of how much even strength ice time it ends up with or in what order they are rolled out in. If the opponent is trying to match up their top defense tandem against your line, then guess the fuck what? You're on the top line.
Roy not only draws opponents top defense men, but he generates offense consistently against them.
Another consideration are the checking lines, some coaches will put out their best checking line against the opponents 2nd best line. But in the case of the Sabres, a lot of times Roy's line is facing the best defense AND the top checking line. And still he gets his points and cleans up his own end pretty well too.
Is Roy an elite #1 center? No, not quite, not in my opinion. But he's DAMN GOOD.