tonytalkssports My Take on Sports, particularly the Yankees, Maple Leafs and Browns

Miller/Lucic Incident Haunts Sabres

Two years ago, Boston's Milan Lucic ran over Buffalo Sabres goalie Ryan Miller and there was no response from the Sabres. From that point on, the mantra from the Sabre high command was that they needed to get tougher. So Darcy Reiger went out and got Steve Ott and John Scott. These two, along with resident punk Patrick Kaleta, would form a threesome that would ensure that the Sabres would not be pushed around anymore. It was really comical last year when watching a Sabres game as whenever anyone got close to Miller, they were ready to punish the so-called intruder.

As resident Sabre gasbag Rob Ray would continually say, the Sabres were going to be tough to play against. Well, how did that plan work out for Reiger & Company? Out of the playoffs and a major rebuild on the horizon. I bring this all up because it explains what happened last Sunday at the Air Canada Center. The facts are as follows: Corey Tropp challenged James Devane to a fight. Devane, who is bigger, was the winner as he broke Tropp's jaw and dropping the Sabre to the ice in a pool of blood. Buffalo Coach Ron Rolston sends resident goon, John Scott out on to the ice to "send a message". Those are not my words, they were Scott's. Scott tells Maple Leafs star Phil Kessel that it looks like "they were going to have to go" and "it didn't matter who was out there he was going to take them on." Scott drops the gloves and goes at Kessel and a melee ensues.

Scott is sent out on the ice because the Sabres have to show the NHL that they are tough and they will take everyone to task if they get out of line. While there is nothing wrong with standing up for one's teammate, Scott's actions were out of line. If he wanted to stand up for Tropp, he should have waited for Devane to get out of the penalty box and then confronted him. Of course, one could not expect the cement head Scott to figure this out but what about Rolston? Maybe he has his marching orders that the Sabres aren't taking any crap from anyone and damn the torpedoes full steam ahead.

Living in Western New York, I have heard all of the nonsense being spewed by the local gasbags about how Kessel viciously attacked poor John Scott with his stick. How Tropp was jumped by the bigger Devane. But the one guy who got it right was Bucky Gleason of the Buffalo News. Gleason starts out correctly by pointing out, "the entire altercation - the whole thing - could have been avoided if Sabres coach Ron Rolston used a shred of common sense. He didn't have to take Scott off of the ice. He needed to make sure Scott didn't do anything moronic on the ice."

The most telling point Gleason says in his article goes to my point: "You can only conclude that Rolston intended to send a message - in an exhibition game, no less. In fact, Rolston did send a message. He showed that he's just as clueless as a few others in the organization. Scott was hired in the first place to address a lack of toughness when really, their pressing need was competitive toughness."

The local boneheads here don't want to hear it but Rolston and Scott were the cause of Sunday's embarrassment and Reiger needs to realize that having goons running around the ice acting like street thugs will not win hockey games. In fact, it will continue to perpetuate the perception that many have which is that the Sabres are a bush league organization.