Patrick Kaleta delivers a gentle love-tap to Brad Richards.
Patrick Kaleta attempted to decapitate Brad Richards over the weekend with a shove from behind into the boards. Amazingly Richards didn’t die. He did lie on the ice for several minutes not moving his arms and wearing an agonized facial expression. While Kaleta apologists continue to insist this was a FIFA-style dive, anyone who’s ever had a stinger is offering up a hearty bird-flip at that suggestion.
Patrick Kaleta has a history of being a menace, and not in a delightful way like Mr. Wilson’s cartoon neighbour. He’s a menace in a different way, the kind of way that often leaves opponents writhing on the ice in pain (he’s been suspended by the NHL multiple times).
On Sunday night, Kaleta decided to cross the line yet again. This time his victim was New York Rangers’ centre Brad Richards.
(Mike Stobe, Getty Images)
When the Buffalo Sabres traded away Derek Roy, they created a massive hole in their lineup. As maligned as he was in Buffalo, Roy was still the closest thing the Sabres had to a first-line centre. He was second in ice time among Buffalo forwards behind Jason Pominville and played in all situations. The issue was that he didn’t perform like a first-line centre during the 2011-12 season, finishing with the lowest point-per-game rate of his career since his rookie season.
With just 44 points to go along with previous disappointments, Roy didn’t leave many missing him in Buffalo. In some ways, he was seen as a symbol of the soft Sabres that did little in response to Milan Lucic running over Ryan Miller. That he was traded for Steve Ott, a rough-and-tumble forward known more for his physical play than his offensive prowess, shows the attempt at a culture shift for the Sabres.
While ostensibly a winger, Ott was the Stars’ best faceoff man, taking over 1000 draws in 2011-12. Where the Sabres failed with Ville Leino, they’ll be trying again with Ott. What he isn’t, however, is a first line centre.
The Sabres seem to be well-aware of this issue, turning to youth to fill the void. The Sabres drafted two talented centres in the first round of the 2012 draft in Mikhail Grigorenko and Zemgus Girgensons, acquired Cody Hodgson from the Vancouver Canucks, and will look to Tyler Ennis to play a larger role. The first-line spot appears to be Hodgson’s to lose – The Hockey News, NHL.com, and various fan blogs all have Hodgson pencilled in already – but Ennis still has a shot, as does Grigorenko, who might make the team as an 18-year-old.
There is one young centre, however, who seems to have been forgotten: Luke Adam.
Pic from YellMagazine.com
Mud half-way up my calf. Rain soaked clothes. Legs filled with lactic acid from some ill-advised soccer-based sprinting the day before. Death metal ripping through a mild-hangover. Not a typical Sunday for this guy. A typical Sunday is more like this: coffee, walk dog, watch TV, rinse, repeat.
However, when the opportunity to interview Buffalo Sabres Super Fans Rob and Paul from legendary metal band Cannibal Corpse came up, how could I say no? The last time Metal Blade Records lined me up with a music/sports interview, it ended up being the highlight of my (very) long and (moderately) illustrious reporting career – talking football with Oderus Urungus of GWAR. (Parental Warning: fake schlong hits reporter in leg, hilarity ensues – watch here).
Here’s drummer Paul Mazurkiewicz and guitarist Rob Barrett on their muted expectations for the Sabres, the season and sticking it to Milan Lucic. Read the rest of this entry »
AP photo
The Buffalo Sabres are a team with very deep pockets, an owner willing to reach way into them, and obvious roster problems.
For one thing, they only scored 218 goals last season, 16th in the league, and were 18th in the league in terms of goals against at 230. Both are within just six goals of league average. Their power play was 17th at 17.05 percent. Their penalty kill was 19th at 81.71 percent.
So what that says, basically, is that the Sabres are a substandard team in many major aspects of the sport of hockey, which is troubling considering their salary commitments last season (nearly $65.5 million). They need help in all areas.
And this summer they’ve been able to shed a bunch of salary by letting Brad Boyes and Jochen Hecht walk, they’ve seen their cap number fall to about $61.55 million, even as they took on a bit of commitment in offloading Derek Roy for Steve Ott and Adam Pardy (a net addition of about $950,000). And that’s after signing Kevin Porter on a two-way deal and John Scott on a one-way despite the fact that neither will necessarily add anything to the team. Read the rest of this entry »
Guess which guy Kaleta is...
Patrick Kaleta is, to put it mildly, a bit of a punk on the ice. He draws a boat-load of penalties, takes his fair share, and just generally plays the Max Lapierre role for the Buffalo Sabres.
So, I’m not sure if this is going to piss off the rest of the Northeastern Division or not (maybe they want him around to have more chances to hit him?), but Kaleta has signed a deal with the Sabres.
Jo Innes, Ryan Lambert, Daniel Wagner, Cam Charron, Ellen Etchingham, Jake Goldsbie, Darren Kritzer
