2007-02-16 11:09:01 · 16 answers · asked by matt m 1 in Sports ➔ Hockey
It certainly wont help. Anytime a team loses a top 6 forward it hurts the team but the Sabres have depth so they can overcome a loss easier than some. It will create opportunities for others to step up and that could be beneficial during the playoff run. But replacing a scorer is never easy.
2007-02-16 11:16:06 · answer #1 · answered by viphockey4 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I agree with Andy. The Sabres have so much depth in their system, and they proved it last year during the regular season, that they can fight through these injuries. It will be a little tougher without those guys for awhile, but it's not like we lost Briere and Drury at the same time. Max is a great player, but he's not the only person capable of scoring, and honestly he hasn't been playing very well for the past couple of weeks. So maybe this break will be good for him to refocus. And just wait until the playoffs come, we'll have all the guys back(except Gaustad) and probably Connolly. Connolly's return will be a huge boost and make the Sabres even more unstoppable!
2007-02-17 00:46:25 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Not at all. I'm sick of Barry Melrose on ESPN saying all this stuff about how the Sabres have no depth. Isn't a "hockey annalist" supposed to know what hes talking about? The Sabres have so much depth and so many young players that will step up. Their farm team (The Rochester Amerks) are one of the best teams in the AHL. The injury to Afinegenov, and the injuries to Gaustad, Spacek, and Novotny, will not affect the Sabres.
2007-02-16 15:16:45 · answer #3 · answered by yanks4ever3 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Sabres are bringing up Stafford and MacArthur. Stafford has proven that he is a decent player, capable of filling in more than adequately when needed. I haven't seen MacArthur play, so I can't judge him yet. But after last year, it's not too far of a stretch to say the Sabres can handle injuries to forwards better than defensemen, and a new star may emrge.
2007-02-16 17:10:10 · answer #4 · answered by Kaotik29 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Nope, not at all, we'll be all right. The only thing they'll be missing is a dumbass trying to go end-to-end at least twice a game, and only being succesful once a month. Dont get me wrong, it's pure magic when it works, but a waste of time most of the time. Personally, as a real Sabres fan, I'm sick of all the fake fans on Afinegenov's jock, he's not an all-star for a reason.
2007-02-16 15:50:34 · answer #5 · answered by manley_jeremy 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Max had been pretty quiet for a while. I think teams started playing angles when he had the puck rather than chasing him and either giving up a scoring chance or taking a bad penalty.
He's an exciting player and losing him does hurt, but the Sabres have a lot of talent at forward. Drury and Briere are bigger game-breakers than Max anyway.
2007-02-17 09:50:30 · answer #6 · answered by Patrick 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think that the loss of Afinogenov will affect the Sabres play and his ability to score goals almost at will will be sorely missed, but I think that as long as no one else gets hurt (besides the people that already are) that they will be fine in the stretch run.
GO SABRES!!!!
FIRE BETTMAN!!!!
2007-02-20 10:54:02 · answer #7 · answered by Cody D 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
As much as I hate to say it, being a Sabres Fan, Yes it will. Look at last year's playoffs for example, they were going great, and then an injury or 2 and they're out of it. For once, i hope i'm wrong
2007-02-16 23:59:03 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
They might have been able to overcome the loss of JUST Afinogenov, but they also just lost Novotny, Gaustad and Spacek, plus Connolly's been out forever. Afinogenov is probably the biggest loss out of those guys, but all together it's just really bad.
Just like last year when they were missing something like 4 of their top 6 defensemen...and they ALMOST got to the finals. If they'd had even just 1 or 2 of those injured D healthy, no way Carolina wins the Cup.
2007-02-16 12:00:40 · answer #9 · answered by rinkrat 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Nope. We have enough forwards that can do the damage just as good as max can. It's not like max is the ONLY player that scores. As long as our defense meaning Henrik Tallinder, stays healthy, we will be fine. It's annoying how everyone is freaking out about max getting injured. We still have pommers, vanek, briere, drury just to name a FEW that can score. Plus we have a great defensive line with hank and lyd.
Plus its better now than later.
for the guy with that STUPID dallas icon.
max broke his wrist and is out for at least 6 weeks.
2007-02-16 12:21:48 · answer #10 · answered by padraig♥ 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋