by Ryan
Usually we have a links post every so often, but with the site still doing improper things I thought I’d just do a post with random thoughts instead of links.
- One of the best feelings in the world is taping up a new stick. Even if you will never play a serious game of hockey in your life, the stick you use is the one thing you control all on your own. You may not have talent and the ability to ever get anywhere with it, but what you do with your stick is truly personal.
I’m not exactly a blowtorch guy, but I love taping it just the way I like it. Maybe you remove all the stickers and make it as light as possible, or maybe you just put a single line on the blade like Bobby Orr and, more recently, Dany Heatley. Still, the vast differences in style from stick to stick is one of the little things that make hockey so unique.
If getting a stick just right is one of the finer things in life, scoring that first goal with it is up there as well. That doesn’t happen as often for me, but that’s what hockey is all about.
- Quite the contrary to that feeling, one of the worst feelings in the world is when you know your actions directly influenced terrible consequences for someone you care about. Everyone has experienced this helpless moment of terror, and I never seem to handle this situation very well. The good news is that you always learn from it, and hopefully the moment passes quickly.
Still, sometimes you have to say oh, well, what the hell, and fly into that mountain.
- It’s been a few days since the Cup has been handed out, and I’m still a bit shocked by how unlike the Red Wings the team from Detroit was. Even in game six, the attitude I saw and called “poise” was a patience the team just couldn’t afford. It’s an interesting turn of events for sure, but one I certainly wasn’t expecting.
- I’ve been trying to gauge the general mood of Sabres fans at the moment, but that’s been difficult to say the least. I think after the NHL Awards the mood will become more apparent because change is imminent, but I have no idea how much the average Sabres fan wants to see get done in Montreal. That’s a question I’d like to get answered, because I know I’m sure hoping for some big moves.
- I think on the whole this hockey season has produced a lot more good than bad. It’s not often the league can look at a season and claim legitimate progress in this decade, let alone seeing it’s superstar win a Cup amid (relatively) great ratings. No one looks at the season as a “fan” of the NHL, but there was a lot to take away from this one.
I can obviously only speak for myself but I think that the one thing that will drive me crazy more than anything else is if they maybe make “a” trade or acquire “a” player (emphasis on the singular). Everyone is still hung up on the Pens and Wings, but I think a more interesting team to look at is Carolina. They still have the same core they took to the cup and it served them well this year. Their lineup didn’t change all that much from last year, when they were out, aside from firing their coach and reacquiring Erik Cole. They still have the same “core” of guys that the Sabres are so fond of discussing.
With that having been said, my gut feeling is that the Sabres should either make a ton of moves or make none (aside from the obvious probable non-renewals of Teppo and Max). I think if they trade one of their valuable assets for a comparable asset from another team, or sign a “role player” checking forward who can be bought at a reasonable price, it would be the worst thing that can happen. It will be, to me, spinning our wheels. If one trade or acquisition is made, it should be the “right” one, or a “big” one much like the Canes reacquiring Cole. Cole is a good player, but he was just another guy in Edmonton whereas I think he’s an integral part of the formula in Carolina. I’m not saying the Sabres should get on the “reacquire one of the players we lost” bandwagon. Maybe that they should just, if they only make one trade, find one player who will make things work here better than they have.