One Fan's Perspective

“Test not a desperate man”

Romeo, Romeo and Juliet, Act V scene iii

The actions of Kevin Lowe, Edmonton Oilers General Manager, have caused a stir in the hockey world. Going after Restricted Free Agent Thomas Vanek with a huge offer that Buffalo Sabres General Manager Darcy Regier later matched, showed what kind of pressure Lowe is under to make his team better.

Unfortunately, the ramifications of the Vanek signing could cause unintended consequences and all because Lowe is upset that no one will play for him and his storied Oiler franchise.

The consequences are simple. Players who are now Restricted Free Agents can instruct their representation to look for outside deals that would force the negotiations to sky rocket. Players that were set in value for one level of payment, now can entertain the possibility of looking for a higher pay scale for the upcoming year. It seems that if Lowe is going to fall, he plans to take the rest of the GMs with him.

There are some players that will be worth the pay increase. Ray Emery plans to take the cash strapped Ottawa Senators to arbitration, but there may be others whose value have now become inflated.

Is Vanek worth the money? The third year player, first round draft pick of the Buffalo Sabres had these numbers last year: 84 points with 43 goals and 41 assists, so quite possibly he was. Lowe definitely thought Vanek would have made a significant impact for his club. However, should we expect the same scenario for other players in Vanek’s position?

Take for instance defenseman Keith Ballard. The third year Phoenix Coyote is currently a Restricted Free Agent and an offer was tended to him last week. There have been no reports of him accepting the offer or signing it.

Can other players and organizations suffer through the inflation that Kevin Lowe caused with the Vanek signing? Or was this just an isolated incident?

I would like to think that the Kevin Lowe situation was just limited to him and his desperate attempts to save his neck, but I would not be surprised to see far reaching effects with other Restricted Free Agents and with other GMs that might consider tyring the same thing that Lowe did.

Desperate people will make irrational decisions so that, in their minds, they can make their lives better. But these decisions come with disastrous consequences.

Just ask Romeo.

Tags: Buffalo Sabres, Edmonton Oilers, Hockey, NHL, Restricted Free Agents, Thomas Vanek by pbcoyotes
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Mike Comrie has a fractured foot that he suffered in the game against the Anaheim Ducks on Friday night. He finished the game on Friday, went through the warm-up on Saturday night and could not go. He will most likely need surgery.

Based on the performance of the Coyotes goaltenders, the trade rumors seem not to go away. According to the CBC Satellite Hotstove segment on Saturday night, the Coyotes have been talking to the San Jose Sharks about a trade involving their goaltender Evgeni Nabokov. However, the price for Nabokov will be steep – they want Ed Jovanovski in return. I’m not sure that I’d be willing to part with Jovanovski.

Martin Biron has only seen two games in his back up capacity in Buffalo. He didn’t complain during the playoff run last year as Ryan Miller got hot, and he is not complaining now, but is disappointed that he has not seen much action. He tried to initiate a trade through his agent, and the Detroit Red Wings were interested, but the deal never materialized.

If the Sabres are willing to part with Biron, is this a goaltender that the Coyotes should also pursue? If so, what would be the price and should they pay it? The Sabres are already a strong team, what would they need to make them stronger? Draft picks could be one possibility or prospects already in the system, but mortgaging the future for a pressing need is a line that after crossing is difficult to come back.

Tough decisions.

Tags: Buffalo Sabres, Hockey, NHL, Phoenix Coyotes, San Jose Sharks by pbcoyotes
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The Buffalo Sabres are the real deal. I don’t know if they are playing with revenge on their minds from the game 7 loss against the Carolina Hurricanes last season, or they have just improved their team so much that right now no one can stop them.

Both the Hurricanes and Sabres played well where in spurts the Sabres didn’t skate (especially at the beginning of the first period), and the Hurricanes made costly penalties (especially at the end), but statistically, except for the one statistic that matters, the teams were evenly matched.

Maxim Afinogenov, Daniel Breire, Brian Campbell, Jason Pominville, and Jaroslav Spacek all lit the lamp for the Sabres. When the Sabres skate and operate as a five man unit up and down the ice it creates excitement for the fans and it’s truly the way I like watching the game of hockey. The Sabres are aggressive, risky, and focused on winning the game. After starting off slowly during the first peirod, they kicked it up a notch, and by the second period, the team flew across the ice with ruthless aggression where the Hurricanes had to keep up.

When the Sabres began to push, the Hurricanes pushed back and at one point in the contest each club traded goals until the pivotal moment late in the game where Afinogenov scored the game winning goal. Spacek scored his second goal of the season with about 5 minutes remaining to put the Sabres ahead by two.

Even though the Hurricanes were down by two, there was no quit in them. After commiting two penalties late in the 3rd period by Hurricanes Ray Whitney for hooking and by Rod Brind’Amour for holding the stick, they scored short handed – a play that I can’t remember seeing before Friday night.

Erik Cole and Mike Commodore broke free of the Sabres two man advantage and rushed up the ice to put one behind Ryan Miller bringing the Hurricanes within a goal with 30 seconds to go.

In the final 3 seconds, the Hurricanes tried to hit Ray Whitney in front of the Sabres net, but it was too little too late.

A Sabres fan held a sign high in the crowd that read, “The Sabres are Scary Good!”

By winning seven straight – I would completely agree.

Tags: Buffalo Sabres, Carolina Hurricanes, Hockey, NHL by pbcoyotes
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