| Cory Sternin. 9th October, 2006 - 5:03 pm
 35 seasons have come and past. Vezina winners and 50 goal-scorers came and went. In 26 post-season expeditions, Buffalo has made it to the Stanley Cup Finals a paltry two times, and have yet to take a cup home yet. But Sabres fans are hoping that 36 is a charm, and that with a team built around young, up-and-coming stars in center Daniel Briere and goalie Ryan Miller, a championship-caliber team is amongst them. But even with all the success of last year's campaign in which Buffalo was essentially 19 minutes away from making their third trip to the Finals, they may not even be the best team in their division.
This season, Buffalo will finally have a sense they have not felt in some time, and that's being a favorite. When experts looked at the Sabres roster last summer, they were quick to take shots at weaknesses and not even consider Buffalo playoff-caliber. But with stellar goaltending from Ryan Miller, a balanced offensive attack which produced 16 players with at least 40 points (the most in the NHL), an impressive unit of defensemen, great special teams, and the late emergence of Daniel Briere the team found themselves this close to getting to the Stanley Cup Finals. This year, with key losses on both the defensive and offensive sides of things from the losses of Mike Grier, Jay McKee, and J.P. Dumont, there will certainly be players that need to step up.
On offense, Daniel Briere and Chris Drury are an impressive 1-2 center combo, with impressive speed on the wingers in Maxim Afinigenov, Jason Pominville, and Tomas Vanek. Once again there is no offensive superstar that can carry this team, although Chris Drury, even at 31, continues to improve and Daniel Briere racked up 58 points in just 48 injury depleted games as well as having amazing performances in the post-season. Pominville and Vanek are sure to build upon last season's surprising success, but the key will be Maxim Afinigenov. It's been his year to break out for a while now, and he just can't keep relying on out-skating everybody. If he can't start lighting the lamp, it would not be surprising for me to see head coach Lindy Ruff drop him back a line or two. Overall, the unit is decent with loads of potential, and could turn into one of the elite squads in the league.
Defensively, the Sabres have the guys that can get the job done, and had four of them not missed significant time in the Eastern Conference Finals, they just might have had a chance to make it into the Finals. Jay McKee will defintely be missed. McKee, who led the league in blocked shots, chased money in St. Louis, but will not go unreplaced. Enter Jaroslav Spacek, who does a great job eating up minutes and will give the Sabres a much-improved offensive attack from the point. Toni Lydman is another ice-time-eater who should build on epic defensive performances against the Flyers and Senators. Also in the mix are Henrik Tallinder (who's injury may have hurt the Sabres Cup chances more than McKee), Brian Campbell (who absolutely decked R.J. Umberger), and Dmitri Kalinin (who has the potential to be a Top 4 defensemen). If the Sabres remain the conference's best penalty killer, it's safe to say the defense did its job.
You can't help but like the goaltending situation the Sabres have now. Ryan Miller is likely the best U.S.-born goalie playing the game right now, and looks to have a spectacular season with possible consideration for a Vezina. While this may seem like a stretch, if the right things happen, Miller has the tools to earn it. Backing up Miller is Martin Biron, who didn't play too poorly when he got the chance, but due to Miller's explosion, didn't get proper playing time down the stretch. Biron will give Miller his rest, but once the Sabres are comfortable with Miller playing more often, will have the luxury of expending Biron to fill a possible gap created by injury. Regardless of Biron's situation, the Sabres appear to have one of the top goal-tending units in the NHL.
As a whole, it's hard to judge whether the Sabres are due for a drop-off or bound for a Cup appearance. I'm fairly confident that due to much superior goal-tending, Buffalo can hold off the Senators (the top contender for the division crown) to win the Northeast Division, and have a very good chance to go to the Eastern Conference Championship once more. But from there, it's simply too challenging to determine if Buffalo would make it to the Finals or not.
Here's to hoping Buffalo can get that first cup. |
