- Offizieller Beitrag
ZitatAROUND THE RINKS - The fallout from the Sabres’ opening-round loss to the Boston Bruins has landed mostly on the shoulders of Tim Connolly and Drew Stafford, two of their more talented but soft players. Even if the Toronto Maple Leafs are trying to change things, the NHL’s Northeast Division doesn’t exactly hearken back to the days of the Big Bad Bruins or Broad Street Bullies. If Connolly does need a change of address, would the Sabres ever consider swapping him for his clone, Matt Stajan, most recently of the Calgary Flames and a new $14-million contract? No chance, right. As for Stafford, old friend Jim Matheson has been trying to get him traded to Edmonton for years, so that he could play on the same team that employed his uncle, equipment manager Barrie Stafford, for all those years. Stafford was removed from his old job during the Oilers’ house cleaning so Edmonton probably isn’t a likely destination for him. Still, what if Stafford is the Eastern Conference equivalent of Peter Mueller, a player who couldn’t make it work in Phoenix, but blossomed after the trade to Colorado (20 points in 15 games; Mueller had only 17 in 54 for the Coyotes). All around the league this past year, there were success stories revolving around players that took advantage of a change in scenery, either to smarten up, or just turn the page on a situation that wasn’t working, or both (see Guillaume Latendresse, Benoit Pouliot and to some extent, even Wojtek Wolski and Teddy Purcell). The Sabres accomplished a lot this year with very little beyond goaltender Ryan Miller and future Calder Trophy winner Tyler Myers, but just because it didn’t work out for a player there doesn’t mean it can’t happen for him elsewhere. Sometimes, a lateral move is better than no move at all.
Quelle: theglobeandmail.com