Will the rash of injuries sink the Sabres?
By Rick Anderson
The Sabres are dropping like flies! Now the number is up to 6 Sabres injured
in 5 games. Ales Kotalik and Daniel Paille have joined the Sabres M*A*S*H*
infirmary . Kotalik was injured Saturday as he suffered what was deemed a sprained MCL in his right knee after
Saturday night's shootout loss to the Boston Bruins. He joins the 4 others who
have gotten injured in the three games before Saturday's contest. Kotalik may be
out until near the end of the regular season, along with Tim Connolly, and Maxim
Afinogenov. And then it got even more ridiculous as Paille became the 6th player
down in 5 days on Tuesday when the Sabres beat the Flyers 6-3. The fans used to count the number of goals they would
want when the Sabres were scoring a lot in a game. If the Sabres had 5, they
fans would count to 5 and then say "we want 6!" The Sabres lost to the Bruins 4-3 in a wild shootout which featured 16
shooters (8 per team) before the Bruins finally got one past Sabres goalie Ryan
Miller. "I twisted it and heard a little crack," explained Kotalik.
"It's an MCL sprain, but I'm not sure about the grade. Hopefully, it will
be good in a couple weeks, and I won't miss much. But we don't know." "I know it's not an easy injury," reflected Kotalik, who had a
similar injury during the lockout when he played in Europe. "I missed a lot
of time in the lockout. I hope it's not going to be that bad and I'll be back as
soon as possible to help the team. It's a frustrating situation we're at. To be
down another pair of legs is frustrating. But there's nothing you can do." If this injury streak continues, in a week, the Sabres won't have any
regulars in the lineup. In fact, there aren't enough players on the Sabres AHL
Rochester Amerks team to fill the roster. This situation is now officially just as bad as what happened to the Sabres
in the playoffs last season. Remember the anguish that the Sabres and their fans
felt when the loss of Jay McKee to an infection in his leg left the Sabres
without 5 defensemen for game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals against the
Carolina Hurricanes? Without their top blocking defenseman, the Sabres succumbed
to their fate and the Canes advanced to the Stanley Cup finals and eventually
won the Cup. The Sabres fans are pulling their hair out with each and every injury
recently. Many fans went bald last spring when they lost 5 defensemen along with
Tim Connolly. Now with 5 players out of the starting lineup in 4 games, the fans
are pushing the panic or trade buttons right now. However, this is a perfect
opportunity for the youngsters who want to strut their stuff in the NHL and
prove that they belong. Shootout at the HBC Corral This was a goalie duel of the century! It reminded one of two great pitchers
going head-to-head in a no hit game being pitched by both hurlers. This battle
however was on the ice and Ryan Miller stared down Tim Thomas, save for save. It
wasn't until the 16th shooter, Petr Tenkrat snuck a puck past Miller, who had
his glove extended and he thought that he had it stopped. Instead, the puck
trickled along his pads and over the goal line. "I thought I could change his mind and throw an early poke check,"
said Miller after the game. "I think he shot as a last resort because I
took his space away. I don't know how it went in ... still. It must have dropped
down and rolled." The Sabres had come back from a 2 goal deficit late in the second period,
capitalizing on a couple 5-on-3 powerplays to tie it 3-3. The third period was
scoreless as both Thomas and Miller put on goaltending clinics from the third
period on through the overtime and the extended shootout session. Salary cap issues hurt Sabres The Buffalo Sabres find themselves in a quandary with the salary cap in the
light of all the injured players who won't be ready until near the end of the
regular season. If players such as Tim Connolly, Maxim Afinogenov and now Ales
Kotalik were medically evaluated to be finished for the regular season, then the
Sabres would be able to deduct their salary cap figures to acquire players to
fill the holes. Regier addressed the tricky CBA rules governing the bringing back injured
players after the regular season ended to skirt the salary cap. "Based on all the medical we have, all the other players will return by
the end of the season," explained Regier. "If you went and bought
different players, even though you could fill with their money, the [injured]
players would be ineligible to come back. Only Paul Gaustad’s money can be used on acquiring another player via
trade. "The only thing we're definite about right now is Paul Gaustad,"
Regier indicated.
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Now they could do the opposite...."1,2,3,4,5,6 we DON'T
want 7!"
Another game, another player on the shelf. This makes 6 in 5 games. The Sabres
are at the point of being over the shock of it and are even making jokes about
it like what Daniel Briere said "We're lucky we only lost one guy tonight,
so it's not bad at all."
The Ottawa Senators may be doing some headhunting Thursday night when they
invade HSBC Arena. With still a chance to catch the first place Sabres, the Sens
may pin their hopes of overtaking the Sabres on inflicting some more injuries.
The Sabres who called up Drew Stafford along with Clarke MacArthur are running
on fumes as they are being stretched thin by the rash of injuries. When Stafford
went to the dressing room with an apparent injury just minutes after Kotalik
left, the Sabres fans didn't know what was next. Thankfully, Stafford was able
to return and play the rest of the game. The same wasn’t true for Kotalik.
Darcy Regier on the MSG broadcast between periods said that the team will
probably stand pat and not make any big moves at the trade deadline.
Just what are the Sabres going to do to fill the squad with at least adequate
NHL players? They don't have any players to trade to help the team out until the
wounded get back into the lineup. The only course would be to start trading away
all their upcoming draft choices.
Now the Sabres have 6 players out again. Tim Connolly is the only constant
between the two injury scenarios. He was hurt before anyone else was injured
last season, and Connolly is still trying to recover from his second major
concussion. The Sabres are short 4 forwards and 1 defenseman with the Kotalik
injury.
The Sabres are short on players both on the ice and as trade material and Regier
will have to perform some magic with smoke and mirrors to keep the Sabres from
sinking in the standings.
Watching the two goalies stonewall the shooters, people must have been thinking
it was going to go on all night. However, as fate would have it, the Bruins won
their second shootout victory over the Sabres this season and it kept the
injured-ridden Sabres from extending their winning streak to 5.
Under the NHL CBA rules, if a player has any chance of returning before the
regular season ends, the team won't be able to fill that hole with a trade if
they go over the salary cap figure in the process. In the playoffs, there isn't
a salary cap, so teams could skirt the system and keep injured players out until
the playoffs just to get more depth on the team.
With the Sabres down 6 players (5 injured in 4 games), the Sabres find
themselves wedged against a rock and a hard place.
"You have to go by the medicals. If you say (certain players will be out
until the playoffs) based on the medicals right now, you'd be lying."
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