Don’t worry, hockey fans; you’re not hearing things.
That haunting voice, the one that you hear mumbling “Here we go again” over and over? It’s real. Very real.
The summer excitement surrounding the Rochester Americans was terrific. The cautious but targeted free-agent signings were, for the most part, solid. Who can argue with a former two-time All-Star goaltender (Drew MacIntyre) and a point-a-game centerman (Paul Szczechura) and the local hockey product who will score at least 30 goals?
Festivities on opening night, with more than 50 alumni from around the continent (and even Slovakia), were unprecedented.
Here’s hoping the Buffalo Sabres don’t let it all fall apart; the goodwill, the rebirth, the return to relevance of Amerk hockey.
Already the diehards are getting concerned. They should be, too. The casual fans, they’re just seeing loss after loss. It’s five in a row — and there’s not much reason to think there’s a big turnaround on the horizon.
The Amerks have played 10 games and have a truly ugly 3-7 record. OK, if you want to pretty it up and pretend those overtime and shootout losses are only pseudo losses, go ahead; then they’re 3-4-2-1. But don’t be foolish and do that. Those extra-time losses were all to divisional opponents, so the lost points hurt a lot.
Sabres general manager Darcy Regier has never been known for jumping the gun. If he ran track, he could never, ever, be guilty of a false start. I’m thinking that when he’s stopped at a red light and it turns green, drivers behind him end up honking to urge him to go. Patience is indeed a virtue. Knee-jerk panic rarely is prudent.
As for extreme patience — it isn’t always a bad thing, either. For daycare workers.
However, for an NHL team trying to rebuild development hockey in a former AHL stronghold, it’s a horrible characteristic.
The fans here have seen too much losing. Too much reliance on kids who aren’t ready to lead or carry the burden. Too much of the parent team (the Florida Panthers) being unwilling, unable or incapable (especially last season) of addressing immediate needs.
The Amerks sorely lack scoring. They average just 2.6 goals a game. Take away the seven goals scored against Grand Rapids on Oct. 16 — when Griffins goalie Jordan Pearce couldn’t have stopped the Oatka Creek with the Hoover Dam — and the per-game average plummets to an anemic 1.9 (28th worst in the league).
The Amerks have no sniper. They have no playmaking center. They really don’t have any offensive threat up the middle. Can you imagine if the Sabres needed to recall a center who can score a little?
The power play, where puck skill is on display, went 0-for-16 in the past four games and is 2-for-23 in the past six games (6-for-39 for the season).
Remember the 1999-2000 and ’03-04 Amerk teams with Domenic Pittis AND Chris Taylor. Wow, what a luxury that was. Two dynamic, All-Star caliber centermen. Seemed to be OK for the prospects too; Jason Pominville, Paul Gaustad and Derek Roy performed well in supporting, not leading, roles. It didn’t hurt goalie Ryan Miller to know he had scoring support, either.
In their proper roles, the forwards would be much productive. But when guys who weren’t meant to be scorers and playmakers are forced to change their games, it never works.
Would you ask Thomas Vanek to be a figher? Then no one should be expecting Travis Turnbull or Mark Voakes to fill the net or make Henrik Sedin-like passes.
And to think all will magically turn around when Szczechura and Michael Ryan return from injury would be foolish. They’ll make a difference, no doubt. But not a night-and-day turnaround.
The time to do something is now, whether it’s moving unhappy defenseman Shaone Morrisonn or another defenseman who isn’t in the future plans.
The Sabres are back, and for that hockey fans in Rochester are thankful. But they better not expect fans to buy tickets to watch the same old hockey they were burdened with for most of the past six years.