Those of us at DGWU Sports have been ridiculously busy lately, hence not a whole lot of content. The Yachtsman has been juggling his time between organizing some potentially awesome possibilities at his real job and his obsession for Jeremy Lin and the New York Knickerbockers, all the while hedging his bets on a Sabres comeback and blowing them off almost entirely. The Barrister has spent this week preparing for, and taking the Massachuesetts Bar exam, with intermittent periods of heavy drinking and tweeting while intoxicated. His passion for the Sabres is a continuing fluctuation. The Apologist has promised us a post about Dracy's trade deadline moves all week, but last I heard he was kidnapped by a Columbian named Caesar, who is none too thrilled with Aps moving in on his territory, selling knock off Linsanity t-shirts in Stuyvesant Town. Me? Work has been brutal and I'll be tied up all weekend with my engagement party, but I felt the need to make a few quick comments about the Buffalo Sabres as of late. So you know what that means....IT'S MAIL IT IN TIME!!!!
HOWEVER, with all these amazing Ryan Miller stats being thrown around, I'm going to get greedy and give you two stats that don't get mentioned, that the New Yorker in me can't resist bringing up: Zero playoff series wins in the last four years, and Zero Stanley Cups in his career. Yeah, yeah, I know we can blame any number of other coaches and players for this, but still. He needs that hardware for me to give him a total pass. I'm greedy. I want to win. I don't want a goalie to make excuses, I want a goalie to make plays. I firmly believe Miller can do that, but it is going to take a lot more than this hot streak to get me 100% back on the bandwagon. I'm at about 80% right now.
-With that being said, this team needs to score some fucking goals! I feel like every time Miller finally gets "on", the rest of the team shits the bed, and vice-versa. I'm happy that Roy and Stafford finally showed up this season, but where the Hell is Thomas Vanek? Our untradeable asset has been barely visible over the last couple of months. Everyone knows he is capable of great things, but it'd be nice to see him excel at the same time his goalie is peaking. We need your help Thomas Vanek! You're our only hope!
-Back to Stafford and Roy real quick. No matter what they do for the rest of this season, I'm done with them. I'm sick and tired of this play hard for two or three months out of the year shit. SHOW UP FOR THE WHOLE GODDAMN SEASON, PLEASE! Are there even any Roy or Staff apologists still out there? Captain Softy and Mr. Contract Year can lead us to the playoffs, but I will still hate them fooooooorrrreeeeeeeevvvvveeeeeeeeeerrrrrr.
-Speaking of Gaustad. Is anyone actually upset about him being traded for a first round pick? Honestly? How could ANYBODY knock that trade? I can't believe Darcy pulled that off. He wins face-offs and does nothing else for this team. He is an average skater who could be solid as a fourth line center on the Penguins or Red Wings. That's about it. I was always on the fence about his talent, but after his failure to do anything except shove Lucic and say "heeeeey, stoooooooop it" after he almost murdered Miller, I was over it. Enjoy Nashville, pussy.
-A reminder to the Apologist that he once uttered the phrase, "I would absolutely trade Miller before Enroth". Then again, I long for the days of Mika Noronen.
-I brought this up on the last CrapTastiCast, but I absolutely adore Jason Pominville as captain. I think he is hands-down the best player on the team this year, and it was great choice. Trouble motivating the team you say? How about asking Lindy Ruff about that? Pominville has delivered on every level this season, and it is probably a year or two too late. Not that anybody knew this. The absolutely awful Craig River experiment and "bunch of A's" method held this team up from establishing real leaders. Can't wait to see how Pominville plays with his new Coach, next year. (I know where you live, Lindy)
-How long until Lindy ruins Hodgson? He has crushed Vanek's confidence in the past, destroyed Luke Adam after he had one of the hottest starts on the team, and I heard he frequently Skypes into the Amerks locker room to tell them how worthless they all are. I bet you eats their souls somehow and uses the power to convince Terry and Darcy he still deserves a job. Also, none of this is probably true.
-Finally, a few words about my love, Matt Ellis. I have a lot of fun talking up Matt, and I truly love him for his hard work and drive to be successful despite having almost no natural talent, but I hope people realize that I do know he is better suited as a healthy scratch or call-up that gets 25-30 games a season. However, as long as he is in the line-up, I don't think he brings anything negative. I love McCormick too, but he has been gaaaaaaaarbage for a guy who displayed some offensive skill last year. I say Matty gets that last spot until Luke Adam learns to not hate himself any longer.
Follow me on twitter @TheScizz and check out my debut post on Matthew Stewart's new website The Daily Torch.