Just when it seems like the entire population of Western New York and Southern Ontario christens Mike Peca as the Anti Christ, leave it to me to assume the role of Devil's Advocate.
For those who have been sleeping under a rock, or have been desensitized by a flying can of tuna at Tops, Mike Peca and agent Don Meehan have taken an aggressive approach at the bargaining table in the ongoing negotiation process in efforts to congregate a new contract for the 26 year-old restricted free agent.
The difference between management's inclination of Peca's worth and the $4 million Peca believes he is worth is as wide as an Alexei Zhitnik slapshot.
My opinion of Peca's worth? While he's not worth the $4 million he claims to be, the less-than-$2.5 million that management has offered Peca is a slap in the face for all his contributions. A three-year, $10 million deal where Peca would receive more money in his second and third years after Hasek supposedly retires sounds feasible.
Statistically speaking, Peca is a 25 goal, 50 point player. Nothing spectacular, but Peca brings more to the table than just goals and assists. In essence, Peca's the ideal complete package that any team around the NHL would kill to have bless their roster.
Centering the checking line, it's Peca duty to shut down the top forward lines of the Sabres opponents in the playoffs. He did a number on Yashin, Allison, and even Sundin to a lesser extent in the ‘99 playoffs. Without Peca's role in shutting down the opposing team's top lines, it's to my belief that the Sabres wouldn't have advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals that year. If Peca is no longer with the Sabres due to contract disputes, will Brown, Gratton, Rasmussen, or whoever gets the duty to shut down the opposing team's top line be as effective as Peca?
The hit department would also take a toll with Peca's loss. Rasmussen, McKee, Warrener, Gratton, and Varada can all lay the lumber, but when Peca's at his best he's easily the Sabres number one hit man. Zhitnik's the only Sabre who can make as good of open ice hits but doesn't make them as often as Peca; And despite his smallish 5'11, 180 frame, Peca can also lay the lumber against the boards as good as anyone.
A former Selke winner, Peca's two-way game can only be contested by Curtis Brown on a Sabres team which stresses backchecking, which is testament to how effective Peca is on both ends of the rink.
Basically Peca can do it all. He's the team captain, locker room leader, can chip in for 25 goals and 50 points a season, is a force on both ends of the rink, is a dangerous hitter, shuts down the opposing team's star forwards, and is there when you need him in the crucial final weeks of the season and in the playoffs. What more could you ask of the guy?
Peca did have a sub-par first half to last season, but that alone shouldn't depreciate his worth to such an extent that we forget the value he brings to this hockey club. When he wasn't injured or suspended, Peca in the second half of last season rebounded to the level of play that he showed in the ‘99 playoffs. While Lindy Ruff was juggling the other three lines, Peca's checking line with Varada and Tsyplakov was the most consistent line the Sabres had to offer.
A bad start to last season by Peca should be overlooked by Peca's impact to the Sabres in the final stages of last season and past playoffs. Fact is, Peca has been there when the Sabres needed him to step up the most. He was there in the 1997, 1998, and 1999 playoffs shutting down the opposing team's top lines and making an impact all over the ice. Last year, despite his disappointing start, Peca rebounded to lead the way in the second half of the season in the Sabres victorious quest in beating out Carolina for the final playoff position when he wasn't injured or suspended.
Now where does Peca fall into the NHL salary structure. I've heard comparisons between Peca and Lehtinen's $2.4 million, but that is an unfair comparison because not only does Peca play at a center position, but also doesn't benefit from having Modano and Hull as linemates to inflate his statistics. A more accurate comparison would be comparing Peca to Bobby Holik, who made $2.5 million last season. Holik's one of the better checking line centers in the NHL, but is one notch below Peca. Holik's linemates in New Jersey of McKay and Brylin is silimar to what Peca has to work with in Varada and Tsyplakov. Both are checking line centermen, and while Holik's numbers are slightly (meaning approximately 5-10 points) higher, Peca's overall game is slightly better than Holik's. Weighing in that Lou Lamoriello conducts business in negotiations even more strictly than Darcy Regier does here in Buffalo, $3 million (if not a tad bit more) for Peca should be within the salary structure that Darcy has intended to work under.
Like everyone else, I wish that Peca and management would settle on terms by opening night. But Peca's in a similar position as the Buffalo public school teachers where he's being offered less money than his services demand, and until John Rigas takes at least $3 - 3.5 million out of his billion dollar savings account at HSBC (I assume that's where he saves his money) and #27 is restored in the Sabres lineup, I don't see the Sabres making any serious pitches for the Stanley Cup in Dominik Hasek's final season.
The Sabres prospects, like a year ago, were manhandled on opening night of the Kitchener prospects tournament by the Rangers prospects, this time by a convincing score of 5-1.
From the opening faceoff, the Rangers controlled the pace of the game. They easily out-shot the Sabres and if there was a time of possession count it would easily be in the Rangers favor.
With Noronen now in Rochester, the Sabres had Ghysalain Rousseau in goal. He was not impressive at all. His rebound control needs a lot of fine tuning and he gave up extremely weak goals on Bembridge and Lundmark's second goal. Rousseau did get better as the game went along, but don't expect him to give Biron or Noronen a run for the future starting position in Buffalo based on his performance the other night. Holmquist was by far the better goalie and expect him to split time in Hartford with J-F Labbe, last year's Calder Cup standout.
Although this doesn't excuse his poor goaltending, Rousseau didn't get much help from his defense. All throughout the game the pressure was in the Buffalo end, giving Rousseau steady work throughout the game. A defensive zone giveaway by Ryan Courtney led to the Rangers first goal. Poor defense out in front by Dan Growden allowed Dietrich to find Rembridge (with an "R" - the Rangers website has his name starting with a "B" for some reason) open in the edge of the crease for a tap in that Rousseau was ill-ready for, giving the Rangers their second tally of the night. A pretty passing play by this same Rangers line of Dietrich, Gusakov, and Rembridge gave the Rangers an early 3-0 lead and before the Sabres could finally get on the board it was already 4-0 Rangers thanks to a soft goal by Lundmark, his second of the night. Norm Milley, the star of the game for the Sabres, made a single-handed effort to give the Sabres their only tally of the night but in the third period that was off-set by Bisine Down extending the Rangers lead to 5-1 off of an odd-man rush. All I have to say is thank God the only defenseman that's been drafted by the Sabres is Kinch, because the others just flat out sucked (and there's no other adjective I can think of to more accurately describe the likes of Growden, Evans, Bealch, and Parent).
Here's a run-down of the Sabres roster (provided by the program that only cost $1 Canadian):
Milan Bartovic (#75, RW) - Like in last year's tournament, Bartovic shows above-average offensive instincts. He drove to the net a few times, made a good set-up pass to DeCecco halfway through the game, and is an effective forechecker. He did over-handle the puck at times and didn't get the ice time he did a year ago, but still showed some promise.
Jeff Bealch (#84, D) - Didn't impress me too much by his defensive coverage. The defensive tandem of Growden and Bealch was broken up before they even got to become acquainted with one another because of poor defensive-zone coverage and later on in the game, Bealch was beaten clean by a streaking Rembridge on a 1-on-1 situation. Listed at 6'5, he's got the size but his positioning needs a bit of work.
Vasily Bizyayev (#69, LW) - Like Maxim Afinogenov, this kid has some tremendous offensive upside but also some defensive liabilities. He's handy in the offensive zone in the tight corners as he's extremely tough to knock off the puck, has a good set of hands and passing skills, is better in the corners in the offensive zone than you might expect for a finesse player (better than Satan or Afinogenov were at this stage in their careers), and has stand-out offensive upside. Potential blue chipper if he can play a better two-way game. The only player who I can think of who was floating more than Bizyayev was Pavel Brendl for the Rangers. He needs to use his good set of wheels to hustle back on the backchecking effort. And like Sabres fans have been accustomed of seeing from Maxim Afinogenov last season, he coughed up the puck at his own blueline. At times he also seemed a bit intimidated physically, especially in the early shifts of the game.
Craig Brunel (#58, RW) - No fights this time for Brunel, and since he didn't get much ice time the only time he stood-out was making a good pass in the neutral zone in the second period. Besides that, he was pretty much invisible.
Ryan Courtney (#23, LW) - Wore the "C" for the Sabres and had some good shifts, but while he showed to make quick passes, some of them were sloppy. This included getting an assist on Lundmark's opening goal. He also ran the Holmquist and should've got an interference call, but the only time the refs assessed any penalties was for fighting majors.
Bret DeCecco (#38, RW) - Was mostly invisible. He doesn't have any size advantage listed at 5'10, 189 so he needs to make up for this with his offensive skills that got him 55 points in 51 games last season for the Seattle T-Birds of the WHL. Only one scoring chance halfway through the game, courtesy of a good set-up pass by Bartovic, stood out in my mind.
Gerard DiCaire (#21, D) - Didn't play.
Brennan Evans (#65, D) - He's got good size, makes a good outlet pass out of the zone, and a heavy shot from the point, but didn't impress me with his defensive play. Was paired up with Mike Parent for most of the night and those two were not on the same page. He has the size and above-average tools, but needs to work on his positioning.
Paul Gaustad (#60, C/LW) - Watch out Hamel, because this kid could be Rob Ray's future replacement. Besides Norm Milley, Gaustad stood out the most on the ice. A physical force! He made a physical impact on the opening shifts, makes bone-crushing hits driving his 6'3 frame into any player who has the misfortune of getting in his way, and won the fight he got involved with. He has little offensive upside and doesn't have the fastest set of wheels, but you have to like the effort this kid put out and I'm sure Regier, Ruff, Luce, and whoever else was in attendance took notice.
Dan Growden (#70, D) - Worst player on the ice, hands down. I mean this guy plain sucks. He just stood there like a statue on the Rangers second goal, is awful in 1-on-1 situations, has a tendency to fan on the puck, and generally looked lost out there. Expect him to take a one-way flight to the nearest ECHL city after playing in Windsor, because he surely isn't being signed by the Sabres to play in Rochester.
Seneque Hyacinthe (#47, LW) - Like a year ago, Hyacinthe stood out. He's the type of player who gives his all every shift and can play physical. I wouldn't put him along the lines of Brashear, Laraque, or Worrell but can easily be compared to JLGP when Ruff put him at LW. While he's listed at LW by the program, Seneque was taking faceoffs at center and was surprisingly good on the draw. I like his effort and hitting, which should make a good impression with the Sabres.
Matthew Kinch (#28, D) - First off, when looking at the program and seeing that he's listed at 6'1 I tend to think that's a generous height estimate. He's no 6'1. Besides being beat 1-on-1 down the left side, Kinch has good positioning which he has to be since he's not a physical force. He's easily outmuscled around the net by opposing teams forwards and if he cracks the Sabres roster in a few years expect him to be a Lady Byng candidate. He has zero physical presence whatsoever and needs to be stronger when trying to outmuscle forwards in possession of the puck, or at least learn how to pokecheck to knock the puck away from them.
Jaroslav Kristek (#59, RW) - Got injured along the offensive zone boards early in the first period. No word on his status. All I know is that they're probably still calling for the Sabres team doctor to attend to Kristek's needs over the loud speaker at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium
Sean McMorrow (#6, D) - Saw hardly any ice time, but looking at the program and seeing him listed at 6'4 combined with his penalty minutes with the Kitchener Rangers he might be worth getting a good look at, especially with the way guys like Growden, Evans, Parent and Bealch played.
Norm Milley (#50, RW) - By far the best player the Sabres have in his camp. The way he sees the ice is incredible, much like Pat LaFontaine when he was here. It's no wonder where his 100 points in the OHL comes from, and I'm convinced that those numbers are no fluke either. He scored the Sabres only goal on a sole effort, set up Bizyayev with a centering pass for another quality scoring chance that Biz couldn't finish, split the defense on a rush, and seemed to be the only player on the Sabres roster capable of establishing a neutral zone transitional game with the way he saw the ice and made swift passes. He's got great offensive instincts in both the neutral and offensive zone, and maybe should even be moved to center where he can serve as a playmaking pivot with his soft set of hands and tremendous vision. He even got into a fight late in the game, capping off the best performance any Sabre player gave that night.
Karel Mosovsky (#82, LW) - He's got good size listed at 6'3 and isn't afraid to use it. He's got a quick shot from out in front, made a good drop pass that was fanned on, and has decent offensive instincts, but needs to get better in his own end. His defensive awareness was lacking against the Rangers. For instance, he let a Rangers skater skate right by him and to the net in the Sabres zone as Karel gave no effort whatsover to even try knocking him off the puck or at least getting in his tracks.
Mike Parent (#54, D) - Listed at 6'5, he has the size but skates like Jeff Kugel. His skating ability and agility isn't even existent and he (like many of his teammates) was also beaten 1-on-1 through the course of the game. You might as well have a 6'5 bright orange pylon in Parent's place and most wouldn't notice the difference.
Andrew Peters (#68, LW) - Didn't play. With how many fights he tends to get into, I was anticipating seeing him get into some more fights in this tourney, but even without Peters there were plenty of fights late in the game once when the game got out of hand on the scoreboard.
Tim Preston (#33, LW) - Like last year, Preston was one of the better Sabres players. He was all over the ice, played well in both ends, and got involved with the play. Is an asset without the puck and through hard work maybe Peters could be a future role player with the Sabres.
Brad Self (#22, C) - He's only 5'10, 165 but does have decent offensive instincts. Likes to join the rush and drives to the net. He's listed at center but he's better off on the wing where he can join the centerman on odd-man rushes which I feel is his biggest asset from what I saw.
Luc Theoret (#52, D) - Didn't dress. And like DiCaire, the Sabres could've used him on defense against the Rangers.
Mike Zigomanis (#15, C) - At times he shined, at other times he was invisible. He naturally excelled on faceoffs, had a few scoring chances, and made a PERFECT set-up pass to Milley on a 2-on-1 rush that was turned aside by Holmquist, but didn't make the offensive impact that I expected him to. Maybe I'm just spoiled by his numbers in the OHL and last year's performance in Kitchener, but for someone who during an interview with Empire said that he wanted to show how much he's improved since last year really didn't stand out as much as I'd like him to. He also made a sloppy play in his own end, turning over the puck around his own blueline. Expect Ziggy to get better as the tournament goes on like he did a year ago.
Ghysalin Rousseau (#1, G) - Didn't impress me at all. His rebound control needs a lot of work, he was late closing his pads on the Rangers second goal, gave up an extremely weak goal on Lundmark's second goal of the night, and on the Rangers final goal of the night Rousseau was beaten clean on a slapshot. Where's Noronen when you need him?
There's my recap of the Sabres/Rangers game in Kitchener. Looks like the Sabres won't look much better than a year ago when they went 1-2 in this tournament as they got off to a similar start against the Rangers.
