JohnnyDrama21

As I posted I picked Kings, Wild and Rangers.  Got them all.  Welcome aboard my fellow Sabres faithful!!  Good to see a Sabres fan here.  Die Hard here.  Since their birth in 1970.  Known on local airwaves as Buffalo Rick.   We are on the same side!!!

Always nice to see another Sabres fan. I didn't come around until the Mogilny/Lafontaine days as a kid, but I've been here since (for better and a lot worse).

Welcome to the forum!

Thanks! Also: *sigh* go Blackhawks.

Well, there is a bit of "defending" to be had - but not about the contract or his play. And it wasn't one decent season, it was one PPG playoff and then a 19/53 season.

 

Leino was the third wheel on the Briere/Hartnell second line for the Flyers. Briere was still a fairly effective player (34 goals, 68 points) and Hartnell ate up space (24 goals, 49 points). Leino got lost in the shuffle and took advantage (19 goals, 53 points.

 

He's a complimentary player - not a force in and of himself. He was signed as a second line winger and Ruff decided in his infinite wisdom to force this square peg into the round hole that was the first line center job in Buffalo. A ridiculous decision that anyone could have seen was a disaster waiting to happen - Leino had never played center before at any level. And it was.

 

When that blew up, Ruff put him into his infamous doghouse and relegated him to 3/4 line with muckers and grinders that virtually nobody could score with. When he didn't live up to the contract that the team itself offered him it suddenly became the player's fault.

 

Did he underperform? Yes. Is he a great player? No. Was it his fault Regier gave him that contract? Was it his fault Ruff played him out of position? Was it his fault his complimentary skills didn't make the 3/4 line in Buffalo immediately better?

 

IMO, no.

 

If some damn fool comes up and offers ridiculous money and a player signs it, it's not his fault.

 

Maybe taking a guy who was just making $825K and giving him a HUGE raise and a long term contract commitment based upon one season of work isn't the best idea in the world?

I made a similar argument at the end of last season, but it's hard to defend him after no goals this season. Then again, I don't think he could possibly succeed in Buffalo at this point and could be okay in another city.

Welcome.

Should be a great game as long as the refs call the game correctly, this series should have been over in Minny.

There have been a few questionable calls both ways, to say the least.

I would be torn between MacKinnon and a stud defenseman like Pietrangelo or Doughty. Forwards just seem to come along more often.

Rags, Avs and Kings all advance. Rags/Pens, Hawks/Avs should be awesome.

It'll be a fun one simply because the Avs seem to come alive at home. I'm sure it won't be lacking in excitement, either.