I’ll be relieved when the trade deadline is over. Part of me loves this period of “Anything can happen! Drew Stafford and the corpse of Jochen Hecht for Rick Nash!” but another part of me hates how we all react to moves that haven’t even happened. The other day Nick Cotsonika tweeted that the Sabres are trying to re-sign Paul Gaustad, and the next thing anyone realized the entire sports conversation had veered into “PAUL GAUSTAD?! WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?” In and of itself there’s nothing wrong with a conversation about Goose, but this one was had almost exclusively in angry, frustrated tones, and the entire premise was based on one tweet which is in opposition to all the other information we’ve heard about this topic.
The whole thing left me feeling icky. Not to mention conflicted about Goose (who I love).
But all of that is really neither here nor there.
The real reason I’m looking forward to the trade deadline being over is that I want to root for the Sabres again. I’ve been a bit conflicted about them because I want Darcy to sell at the deadline, and the best way for Darcy to be convinced to sell is if they lose a lot. So, they need to lose, at least through the deadline.
After the deadline is a different story.
Like everyone else in the world, I have no idea what’s up with this team. Are they terrible? Are they mediocre? Has there been any hint of future greatness in this revolting season? Nobody knows.
The one thing I’ve really decided about the 2011/12 Buffalo Sabres is that they’re not a lottery pick team. I don’t think they’ve got what it takes to hang onto a top five pick. There are still too many games in the season, and the Sabres are finally healthy. Injuries don’t excuse all of the losing this season, but they certainly excuse some of the losing. The Sabres are NOT as bad as their record, and to expect them to keep overachieving in the “suckiness” category is a good way to land myself in the loony bin. The second the trade deadline is past, I’m right back on the irrationally-pray-for-a-miracle-run-to-the-playoffs train.
The Sabres are going to end the season somewhere between 8th-11th place in the East. I’ve made my peace with this, and I’m comfortable admitting that I hope they end in 8th.
As far as the trade deadline goes, I’ve still got my fingers crossed that Darcy has a few addition-by-subtraction maneuvers up his sleeve. If Tuesday arrives and nothing of significance has changed, I’ll grab a pitchfork and lead the charge, but I’m going to do my very best to save my outrage until then. I’m going to try to dwell on the fun part of the trade deadline- the gleeful, goofy, ridiculous, and delightful hope that Darcy can somehow turn Drew Stafford into Dustin Brown, and then the Sabres storm to the finish line.
A heroic run to eighth place sounds good to me.
I’m at the (dis)advantage of being outside the Sabres media blitz, but I don’t get all the hoopla about trading Goose. Seems to me that I’d love to keep him. By all means, ship Stafford to the first remotely reasonable offer. Put Roy on the block (not because he’s been bad but because we could get some nice draft picks for him). But Goose? Are we seriously talking about the one guy that can consistently win face-offs, year after year?
Matt, the thinking with Goose is that he’s exactly the kind of gritty dude that contenders want to add at the deadline, therefore he’d bring in second round pick, or something. I’m kind of with you though. Every team needs a Goose, and if you take Goose off the team you create a hole that will need to be filled this summer. If you take Roy or Stafford off the team, you still have Ville Leino. :P
Well, if he just broke his hand in that fight I guess the trade speculation will stop.