replace gerbe with someone who can add some snarl and offense, if possible. because lets face it, gerbe does neither. "but irony! he plays hard!" sweet. give him his participation trophy and replace him.

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Wow no Gerbe love.

for what? hes a small, skilled forward, and the skill doesnt show up on the scoreboard. 25 points in 62 games isnt bad if you can play with size and grit. but hes too small to effectively be a 3rd/4th liner, and he doesnt score effectively enough to be a top 6 player. guess what? i dont care how hard you play, hes a wasted roster spot most nights. and hes got a terrible shot. .066% career shooting percentage.

chances are, down the line, hes going to be buried in the AHL because of it. he plays hard. and thats great. alot harder then most of the guys on this team. and hes still not a difference maker because hes simply not good enough to be a scorer, and hes simply not big enough to effectively play gritty. so its a wasted roster spot.

oh, and if he comes back and plays great next year, 20 goals, whatever, feel free, no, feel encouraged to bump this post and make me eat crow. because ill gladly be wrong.

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I feel like if Gerbe played with some talent and depth he could be ok. Pair him with some speed.

It seems the smaller guys (gerbe, ennis, etc.) play hard but are not blessed by god with their bodies and the big guys (Stafford, Vanek, Boyes) don't play physical enough to warrant their size.

There's a huge difference between "can" and "do." It's great that they took Philly to 7 games. And lost in the first round.

Can they play physical? Yeah. Do they do it on a consistent enough basis? Absolutely not. This conversation continues to come up because this team continues to underachieve, and they continue to lack snarl.

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Wheelhouse

He took a step back this year. So did nearly every single offensive player on this roster.

You know what isn't shown on a stat sheet? The % of 1 on 1 battles he wins. That's a pretty important one in the game of hockey. He's not untouchable, but there are definitely other parts of this roster I'd be more inclined to move before him. He's definitely not part of this team's biggest issue.

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Wheelhouse

he took a step back because the talent simply isnt there. there are players who need to be moved because they dont play as well as they can, but gerbe.. well, this is pretty much it. a perimeter player with a weak shot and cant play physical and be effective because he was born a little person.

this is the highest level of hockey in the world. rewarding him work ethic alone is a waste of a roster spot.

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Time will tell. I expect much better out of him next season. I don't think he'll have any trouble reaching the 20 goal plateau.

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Wheelhouse

He's a 30 point player. It's what he scored last year (roughly) and this year he had if we round up 30.

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

better hope half are empty netters. hes got a terrible shot.

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Guess you never saw him play college hockey.

22 of his 44 goals in Portland weren't empty netters, either.

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Wheelhouse

College hockey and AHL are not the NHL. The NHL is obviously not for Gerbe to excel in.

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

i scored 7 goals in 8 games in roller hockey once when i took a break from playing goal. i better call the sabres.

you know who excels in the AHL? denis hamel. know who didnt excel in the NHL? denis hamel.

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Don't call the Sabres. Roller hockey players make terrible ice hockey players.

Not sure why you like bringing up Denis Hamel every time this discussion is brought up. He has 31 points in 192 NHL games played. Gerbe had 31 points in 64 games played in his rookie season.

The point of me bringing up his goal scoring stats from college and the AHL are not to say that he should be able to do it in the NHL too. But don't sit there and say he has a weak shot, because it's not true. He's got a great wrist shot. Hell, he's been a regular selection for the shootout.

He struggled this season, as most sophomores do, and as this whole team did. But the talent is there for much better production; especially when he starts playing with centers who can get him the puck, something Paul Gaustad was never very good at.

Of course, it's worthless to discuss this with you, because your issues with Gerbe run deeper than his abilities, seeing how you were essentially calling him a prick before he even skated in his first game as a Sabre.

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Wheelhouse

probably because he was a prick to me personally. in person. as in real life. ive let that go, but its become more and more obvious that gerbes role as a scoring forward is virtually void. he doesnt score. if he has a great shot, his career shooting percentage would be higher then less than 7%. so, if hes got a great shot, like you proclaim, then he cant get into good scoring areas to utilize his great shot. so its moot at any rate, because he doesnt score.

but thats ok, because he plays hard! and i respect the effort, because not alot of players can bring it every shift. but at what point do you say "to hell with effort, we have to win and find players who help the team win." how often can you say gerbe has a major effect on a game? its extremely rare (though its happened).. this isnt t-ball where everybody gets a trophy and a pat on the back for playing. this isnt a "good sports are always winners" PSA. its the NHL. and gerbe is a marginal player, at best.

the sabres have a ton of holes on the roster, and sadly, gerbe is a big one (no pun, but LOL for me anyways).. you wanna improve the roster, gerbes roll on the team is a spot that needs improving. i dont see any way gerbe can be an asset to a team thats goal is to win the stanley cup.

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I'm not insinuating they can't improve. I'm simply saying that they're not a huge bunch of pussies. On the physicality meter, they're someone in the middle, not all the way towards 'My Little Pony'.

And Denis Hamel was a find hockey player until his knee was turned into shredded wheat.

Look at the Flyers now. They are a lot less assholish without Richards, Carter, and Pronger. Only Hartnell is left. They have a skilled team in the mode of Laviolette's Hurricanes. If it weren't for hating Laviolette and the old Flyers, I'd freakin' love that team. I actually DO love them right now for exposing the Penguins as a bunch of punk pussies.

Anyway, they play hard but don't have a lot of size and gooniness to their game. They look like Buffalo did last year against them, except they have the skill to score goals and put games away. I concede that Pitts defense and Fluery have taken a rain check on these playoffs, but still it shows that skill matters the most. If Buffalo had two more forwards that could create and/or bury chances we wouldn't be talking about this.

Didnt Gerbe have a concussion this year because I would say theres a select few people who come back from that in top form. This year was a bust for him as the entire org except Ennis at center. Give the guy a break.

I would just like to point to the current playoff series going on right now. Say against the flyers...Do we at all times have 5 skaters on the ice that can protect themselves and ball up? I'd say less than half the time.

Even with how bitchy Crosby acted in game 3, he still went after Hartnell, Schenn and Giroux in that game.

Not going to lie, players like Vanek would have already taken a seat on the bench, watching the rest of the team getting their asses handed to them. And we all know that's true.

But as for as the game goes, and not between the whistles, I still think we lack that punch, at least during the regular season, that we've needed for awhile.

The Flyers still have a ton of size and the willingness to man up. When your "average guy" on the team is Wayne Simmonds, you're doing pretty well.

The point is a skilled player like Giroux are able to ball up when need be. Besides Foligno, I can't think of a lot of players on our team that have both elements to their games.