The guys on WGR550 gave Darcy Regier a lot of shit about needing a super star player, outside of a goaltender, to win a Stanley Cup. Darcy disagreed with him, and said that having a super star goaltender can be enough.

So, I decided to go over Stanley Cup winners and see who was right.

When the NJ Devil's won the cup in 03, Patrick Elias was their leading scorer with 57 points over 81 games.

They had four 50 point players, three 40 point players, one 30 point player, and three 20 point players (Gionta was in the 20 point category, but he only played 53 games. The rest identified played nearly full seasons.)

They only scored 213 goals during the season.

They had two star defenseman in Scott Stevens and Scott Niedermayer, and a star goaltender in Brodeur.

Contributions during the playoffs were balanced all the way down.

02-03 Devils Stats

Looking back through 20 years of playoffs, this was the only team that I found comparable to the mold the Sabres are currently built.

This is a telling sign that reveals what it is the Sabres need to be a contender.

Big pieces to the Devil's puzzle in 03, and how they compare to the Sabres are listed below (in order of points contributions during their playoff run, outside of Miller/brodeur.)

Brodeur. Miller. Check.
Neidermayer. Myers. Check.
Stevens. ????? Lacking.
Langenbrunner. Vanek. Check.
Madden. Roy. Check.
Friesen. Pominville. Check.
Elias. ?????? Lacking.
Pandolfo. Stafford. Check.
Gomez. Connolly. Check.

This is doable for Buffalo. If Darcy can trade one of our UFA defenseman for a talented forward, we've got the Elias mold filled.

Then, trade one of our forwards with potential value, plus prospects/picks for a solid physical defenseman, and the Stevens mold is filled.

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Wheelhouse

Good piece of work, and a good post.

I still think it's premature to compare a rookie who's never seen the playoffs to a veteran of several playoffs, who was a stand out for many years. It is a bit unfair to Myers.

Miller has not proven to be the workhorse that Brodeur has been, either.

Still, I get your point, and I'm not saying you're way off either. Just a little presumptious perhaps.

Hope you're spot on 100% though!!

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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.

if a certian player didnt have his foot in the crease, we may have won the cup in 99 on haseks back

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PSA: I am an overly sarcastic person. If you take me at my word, then i will most likely anger and offend you.

i dont blame hull for that. not one bit. it was up to the officals to uphold that rule, and they failed to do so. hull saw the puck, and whacked it in. not his bad.

i agree with you adam, but the devils had something the sabres dont: an airtight defense. if the sabres defense improves, then ohhhh boy.

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Agree with all of your posts.

I agree it's unfair to Myers. But my main thought in posting this was that our top six is locked up until next season, so we have a chance to tweak the lineup this year, and have another shot at it next year with a season under Tyler Franchise's belt.

I think Miller elevates his game the way Brodeur does in the playoffs.

Lets not forget that many of these players weren't vets at that point either. That was almost 8 years ago.

Many of these players seem like big name guys, but before they had won a cup, they were nobodies, just like the Sabres.

Just something to think about.

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Wheelhouse

Elias is clutcher than a standard transmission car. He makes Drury look like Joe Thornton, Alex Rodriguez and Bill Buckner combined.

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Proud LGBTQQ Individual

There's that swagger I was talking about.

Definitely one of the Sabres' missing pieces.

But a player like Drury would be just fine.

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Wheelhouse

mookie wilson would have been safe at first anyways. buckner didnt lose that game for em.

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Were the Devils a bunch of soft pussies that heavily relied on their goaltender, and consistently took periods off?

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"Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid." ~ Han Solo


We truly are not worthy of Miller!

That could be hours of debate.

There is a certain combination of words in your post that I actually don't mind.

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Spot on. This team is a bunch of pussies. Especially considering the Devils never did and never do rely on Broduer to help them. Thank you for adding so much to this discussion.

I think Connolly can be Elias. He's up to 55 points in 60 games (on pace for 75 pts). Unfortunately the two years in the playoffs he did not seem to contribute as much. However, the others have not had top line minutes in the playoffs just yet, so that's all a big wild card, because anyone can be a hero in the playoffs. For all we know, Stafford may be our guy if he's still here. I think some of the parallels are there. As we seem to mutually agree on, trades need to be made, maybe a Ray Whitney or an Alex Frolov. Not sure what D-men are on the market, but getting a guy who can help on the PP would not hurt. If they team plays more games like they did on Saturday (a complete, team game) down the stretch and in the playoffs, they may turn a few heads.

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Rest in Peace Nani. 10/3/10

Gerbacity



"Grier coming in over the line. He leaves it to Gaustad. The shot. THEY SCOOOREE!! RING UP ANOTHER ONE FOR THE GOOSE!!! HONK IF YA HEAR THE GOOSE!! 3-0 BUFFALO!"

The devils didn't rely on brodeur at times? REALLY?

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Wheelhouse

Broduer's numbers for those playoffs:

1.65 GAA
.934 Sv%
7 Shutouts

Yeah, the Devils didn't rely on him at all........

/sarcasm

I was using sarcasm myself...

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Rest in Peace Nani. 10/3/10

Gerbacity



"Grier coming in over the line. He leaves it to Gaustad. The shot. THEY SCOOOREE!! RING UP ANOTHER ONE FOR THE GOOSE!!! HONK IF YA HEAR THE GOOSE!! 3-0 BUFFALO!"

I'm clearly not the only one who missed it then.

It's all good.

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Rest in Peace Nani. 10/3/10

Gerbacity



"Grier coming in over the line. He leaves it to Gaustad. The shot. THEY SCOOOREE!! RING UP ANOTHER ONE FOR THE GOOSE!!! HONK IF YA HEAR THE GOOSE!! 3-0 BUFFALO!"

Now I see it.

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Wheelhouse

Right, the "between the lockouts era" as its known was heavy on the "clutch and grab" hockey. I hated it. You didn't need to score much to win. Scoring really didn't suffer, but the style of play of dull and boring. It has reverted back that way to some extent, not a whole lot though, fast skating and mad skills still play a vital role in today's post lockout NHL and I love it, hockey was meant to be played this way.

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Lord Stanley's Cup is what its all about.
Mr. Pegula, your destiny awaits you sir.

Connollys best hockey of his career (so far) came at the 05/06 playoffs, before his concussion against Ottawa. 11 points in 8 games.