BINGO

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mechaphil

Anybody who said "same old same old" during our brief losing streak want to eat crow yet?

Even without Gaustad in the lineup, I saw a motivated team ready to recapture first place on Wednesday night.

That's something we didn't have last year.

Meanwhile, Boston has a chance to leapfrog back last night, and they got wrecked.

I'm liking this team more every day.

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Wheelhouse

For those people who were decrying the loss of Grier in the summer of '06, you should feel prophetic.

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mechaphil

Grier has always been one of my favorite players, even before he was traded to the Sabres. I remember watching him play and always saying that I wish that the Sabres had Grier.

Darcy Regier answered by pulling the trigger for once.

Anyways, my point is that when we lost Grier, I was fairly upset. It wasn't the way he departed, it was why he departed. It's a quote that has stayed with me for the past two seasons, and seems to resonate with me now that we are doing so well with him again. Paraphrasing, he pretty much said that he didn't see Buffalo in it to win it, and damn was he right. This team lacked passion, drive, grit, you name it. We didn't have it. We had a bunch of uninspired players who made us disappointed night in and night out.

Now that we have Grier back, what does that say about our team? He saw that desire to win again. That had to be his greatest influence in him signing here over the offseason (or, for some reason, no teams wanted him, which I don't understand. Why would you NOT want Grier?) Anyways, when I saw we signed Grier, I couldn't have been any happier.

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Girgensons for captain. Team Keep Nick DesLauriers forever.

@TJLuckman550

If Grier is as important as many believe to this team because of his character, (and this is true to a large extent I believe); then it's a poor indictment of the rest of the teams collective character.

This needs to be addressed.

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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.

I'm not sure if it's as much character as it is guidance and calm collectiveness.

Lets not forget that Roy was believed to be one of the biggest problems with the attitude on this team, yet this season, he seems to be one of the few guys moving when others seem on auto pilot.

Grier is as much of an ass kicker as he is a parent.

You saw Roy bash the puck on the boards in frustration tonight.

Grier's presence prevents that frustration from setting in, as he gives these young guys the reassurance they need.

I also think Gaustad has accelerated in that area this season, but unfortunately that doesn't help us right now.

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Wheelhouse

Those would be the marks of strong character.

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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.

Some players just aren't cut out to be leaders and need the guidance even when they are guys in the league. Some don't want to have all that pressure on them, and with Grier those guys don't have to worry about their teammates problems, they can worry more about themselves and play a better game, especially when you have guys like Goose, Rivet, and Grier beating you down and picking you up.

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I see it as less on the character side and more on the maturity side.

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Wheelhouse