Gaustad's Injury is More Costly Than 22 Points and A Center

The news of Paul Gaustad being sidelined for the remainder of the season could be the worst news the Buffalo Sabres have had since Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals last May. That was the game defenseman Henrik Tallinder broke his arm in Carolina's final rush to tie the game. Gaustad collided with Dany Heatly late in the Ottawa game last week and a simple skate blade cut turned out to be a severed tendon.

After having sidelined Tim Connolly and Dmitri Kalinin to injuries, the playoffs plus/minus leader was now lost for whatever was left of the season. Soon Buffalo lost Jay McKee and veteran Teppo Numminen. Buffalo went on to lose in heartbreaking fashion to Carolina in seven games and watched them bring the Stanley Cup home.

Gaustad, a sophomore in the NHL, was nearly at his career high in goals, assists, and points (9+15 = 24), and with 28 games left to play, it was a sure thing the body bruising center would improve on his highly successful freshman campaign of 2005-06. His statistics for this season, through 54 games - 9+11 = 22.

Gaustad's status is final. Sabres GM Darcy Regier stated on Saturday that even a trip deep into the playoffs would not provide the necessary recovery time needed to rebound from such a devastating injury.

The Niagara Gazette reported that "Paul Gaustad’s contributions to the Buffalo Sabres this season have certainly been meaningful, but not irreplaceable." I disagree to the tenth power. Gaustad is one of the two players that Buffalo really needs to really be the team they are. The other is obviously clutch and hard working Chris Drury. The players who don't really have a name... just grit, and work ethic. That's the essence of Sabres hockey. All the playoff teams since Lindy Ruff took over in 1998 have been that way. A couple stars, a good goalie (in Hasek's case, great) and a bunch of guys that work their tails off between sixty and sixty-five minutes a game (five minute overtime).

Gaustad isn't flashy, his hands aren't incredible, but the 24 year old plays with as much heart and intensity as an 18 year old at a college tryout. Game in and game out the "Goose" leaves everything on the ice. He is what a teammate is through and through. I can't count how many times he's rushed over to throw a punch after a cheap penalty or ran someone into the boards because they were playing dirty. I have seen him sprint the full length of the ice on numerous occasions to get opponents away from his line mates or his goalie (whether it's Martin Biron or Ryan Miller).

He was also a playmaker. Gaustad would often get matched up against the opponents' top line and more times than not, shut them down. Often, he would help his line accomplish this by laying out devastating hits on their biggest threat, making the player think twice about trying anything around him. His size (at 6'4" and 230 pounds) coupled with his intensity and intimidation factor made him an imposing figure on the ice even though he only averaged about sixteen minutes per game.

After about a quarter of the season, the Goose was moved from the Sabres checking line (line mates Adam Mair and an assortment of rookies) to the defensive minded second line with Jochen Hecht and an assortment of others and seemed to thrive there. Other than Buffalo's three week slump, they performed magnificently, keeping opponents' top line under two goals a game. Gaustad also leads the Sabres in hits (105) and is third among Buffalo forwards in blocked shots (31), runner up to Chris Drury and Jason Pominville (49). Drury sees 5.5 more minutes on ice per game and Pominville 3.5 more than Gaustad.

Will the Sabres be over to overcome his loss? No. Will they still win? Yes. By that I mean without another PLAYer like Gaustad, the injury isn't overcome. There aren't any players on the trading block that are the same kind of player, so Buffalo can't even look to unload Biron (even if they wanted to) to a team that's out of contention for a similar player. The play of rookies such as Jiri Novotny, Drew Stafford, Daniel Paille, and Nathan Paetsch has gotten better as the season goes on, and for Buffalo to keep winning, it needs to, because they are the players that will be platoon-replacing Gaustad.

Look forward to Gaustad coming back with a vengeance and a fire under his tail in the 2007-08 season. But until them, look for him to continue to be a huge part of the off-ice team and trying to help the young replacements the best he can. In the words of Rick Jeanneret, "If you're out on the street and you see Paul, give the Goose a honk!"

Connolly Skates Hard and Talks To Reporters

Tim Connolly skated hard for the first time since he suffered a concussion late last April in Game 2 of the ECSF vs. Ottawa. Connolly (a Syracuse, NY native) has suffered a concussion in each of the last three years, but when on the ice, his puck skills and quickness are often unrivaled. Defensively lacking, he really doesn't have the potential to be a first line center. With good defensive pairs and legit back checking wings though, Connolly can be devastating as he showed in the 2006 playoffs, scoring 11 points (4+7) in just eight games.

He led Buffalo playoff scoring for thirteen games, even only playing for seven and about a half of them. Connolly could be ready as early as late March or early April, but will definitely be back for the playoffs.

Connolly would help relieve some of the Gaustad loss because of his offensive presence. Opposing defenders would have to sit back a bit, because of Connolly's excellence in one-on-one situations. This will keep the opposing forwards a bit on their heels, knowing they had less support.