Rising Stars
I didn’t exactly understand the logic of Lindy Ruff putting Raffi Torres with Adam Mair and Matt Ellis in his first game back from injury. There has been a lot of pressure on Torres to perform since his trade from Colombus. If you want to get an offensive player going, you shouldn’t be putting him on the 4th line. Well, that’s why I’m not coaching the Sabres. Torres finally made an impact for the Sabres; getting three assists and actually making Adam Mair look good. I kid, Adam. I need just another well played game by Torres to get him out of the Dominic Moore model. But hey, at least he’s not Bob Corkum.
2nd Rising Star: Tim Kennedy
You want to talk about a rise and fall and a rise for this season, it’s Tim Kennedy. Timmy is kind of the epitome of what the Sabres season has been like. Kennedy played exceptionally well the first two months of the season, but really hit a rookie wall around January. I think the biggest problem for Kennedy was that Lindy Ruff was treating him as if he was going to be a shutdown center by playing him with Grier and Hecht. I don’t think Kennedy’s all around game suits well with playing on a line with a bunch of grinders.
Kennedy has offensive talent. We definitely saw it in the beginning of the season and by playing with the third and fourth liners, it kind of dragged his production down. This may sound remedial, but playing with talented players will help your offensive game out. He looks really aggressive out there, and looks to have found a niche with Roy and Stafford. I kind of wish Ruff would do this more with some of his younger talent.
3rd Rising Star: Darcy Regier
I know Darcy and I haven’t exactly seen eye to eye, and having Christmas dinner together is out of the question. However, I’m definitely digging these rookies. Tyler Ennis, Tyler Myers, Tim Kennedy and Nathan Gerbe have made such huge strides during their time in Buffalo. You can tell that Gerbe and Ennis have a complete understanding of what it takes to play in Ruff’s system. You have to give credit to the coaching staff in Portland for making these kids play in Ruff’s system. Hell, they’ve looked better than some of the vets on this team.
r night, you’d think that Stafford would try and put his best foot forward and pick-up the slack with Vanek and Connolly out of the line-up. Now, with the emergence of Ennis and Gerbe, I think it’s safe to say that Stafford is on audition for the rest of the regular season to keep his job.
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