Comments on: Highlights from the Blackhawks Press Conference

By: Goon Squad

Goon Squad — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 05:36:10 +0000

Chalk it all up to live and learn.
If Buff wasn’t in the box, it would have been someone else.
There are 19 other guys on the team that are capable of scoring ya know…

By: HHH

HHH — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 03:49:15 +0000

Ok, and the 3rd period of tonight’s Hawks/Preds game illustrates what I, and I think Cakes, was trying to say. Buff loses his stick and charges a Pred, hitting him from behind on the boards. DIRTY HIT, and the resulting boarding call, and rightly so. So, down by one, should Buff have done such a stupid thing? Nope. It served no purpose and it hurt the team.

By: HHH

HHH — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 02:35:51 +0000

Wow, you assign much more pre-meditation than I think actually exists in Buff’s brain (or Q’s for that matter). Like I said, I see no strategic advantage to agitating the opposing net-minder.

By: Goon Squad

Goon Squad — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 02:10:58 +0000

What works on some may not work on others.
He’s gotta test the waters and find his limits in those situations. That is essentially the only way to know for sure.
Right?
Do you honestly think the coach is so hands off that he has no control over what his team is doing on the ice? Really?
And I’m not saying that he is purposely going to the box, but in doing so, it has helped the special teams, has it not?
Remember all of those short handed goals we got a few games ago?
Practice makes perfect.
Now remember, Pickles, I was the first to point out Buff’s lack of participation and lagging production.
Now that I’ve seen his new style of antics, I understand it all better.
I played the game long enough to know when a new assignment has been handed out to someone, and this is obviously the case here.
Who knows, this may have been sent down from the top to give the illusion that Buff has more depth for ’shopping’ reasons…

By: HHH

HHH — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 00:32:07 +0000

Coach Q is reputed for his hands-off style so he may not get too involved in that kind of stuff. However, since Buff has agitated goalies now several times, perhaps he has been pulled aside and talked to about it. If he hasn't been, he should be. After all, what is the strategic benefit of instigating with the goalie? In the Canucks and Ducks game, his agitating did not help the team win and in fact was a detriment thanks to the penalties. Colin Fraser and Ben Eager are our enforcers, and occasionally Troy Brouwer, not Buff for all the reasons Cakes and I mentioned. So again, what Buff is doing is self-serving. His time in the box doesn't help the team. And are you seriously arguing that it's good for Buff to commit penalties so the penalty-kill unit can get some practice? Really?? Again, what strategic purpose does Buff face-washing a goalie serve???

By: Cakes

Cakes — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 23:25:17 +0000

Well said. He essentially looks like an insecure bully out there, willing to pick on people and push them around until they have had enough and start to push back, then he backs off and looks for help from teammates. Maybe that is why he is so often seen taking cheap shots at goalies?? … He knows a goaltender isn’t going to drop the gloves. He looks all bold and confident when he roughs up a goalie, but as soon as 2 or 3 guys come to their goalies defense, he looks terrified and from what I have witnessed, he can’t even look his opposition in the face when they get in his. He’s looking up or down or away…regardless, he looks terrified, and should be.

His role on the team needs to be clearly defined to him by the coaching staff, and then he needs to fulfill that role. Right now he just seems to be “out there”.

By: Goon Squad

Goon Squad — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 22:55:26 +0000

So, do you think that Buff kept these antics up AGAINST coach Q’s wishes?
C’mon now.
He’s being encouraged to refine his new found talent, and like you said, it takes some time to do.
Until Bur gets his ass back in the line up, Buff is the chosen one.
Did you two stop to think that maybe while he is working on this new position that maybe he doesn’t have the mental capacity to add his other talents and responsibilities in?
I’m gonna lay my trust in the coach and assume that he knows what he’s doing.
Who the hell am I to second guess him?
And who is Buff gonna drop the gloves with?
The chumps don’t seem to fuck around when he’s on the ice, and if he goes out of his way to get at someone, that bullshit instigator rule comes into play and the team gets double the punishment.
I’ll take his average 6 minutes in the box per game, (rough guess) over a 10 minute misconduct or possibly a suspension because he started a fight that wasn’t needed.
Until someone is willing to approach him in that manner, I think he should keep on with what he’s doing.
Maybe you could even go so far as to think that he’s made our PK stronger from it. (wishful thinking, I know)
Look at it this way, if he’s gotten OUR attention for it, just imagine the focus the opposing teams are gonna have on him…

By: HHH

HHH — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 18:49:25 +0000

I think you misunderstand. Most of this is constructive criticism. Hopefully we haven’t said anything about Buff that his coaches haven’t also said. The rest, what you perceive as “ill wishes,” is frustration, at least on my part. As I said, he has cost his team and because we love the team he should be called out for his actions. That’s why I’m frustrated with him. As I’ve said twice now, his trash-talking the goalies is selfish because it serves no other purpose than to make him to feel better, like a personal vendetta. In the games he chose to do that in, the team could not afford the resulting penalties.

And as for finding his role, yes, hopefully he will in time. If not, well, you know what will happen. Funny how when I say the same thing about Brian Campbell, nobody argues with me. But say that about someone people like, even when it’s an apt criticism, and people get upset. Well, wasn’t it you who said this is a business? In a business, how long do you allow poor performance to continue? I have my favorite players too and it hurts to see them go if/when they do (ask me again about Matt Walker), but even given that, I would never argue against being critical of an ongoing poor performer.

Cakes was kind of trying to say this too I think. Being an enforcer — if that’s what Buff was trying to do, and I don’t think that was what he was trying to do — takes some finesse. We all love Adam Burish so much because he’s brilliant at it. He knows when to hold ‘em, knows when to fold ‘em, knows when to instigate, and knows when to skate away. Buff isn’t doing that. And as Cakes also mentioned, Buff isn’t even dropping the gloves. And even that would be excusable if he was instigating with the goal-tender because he wanted to start a fight to light a fire under the team. Since he doesn’t go on to drop the gloves and fight, he can’t even be credited with being a cheerleader for his team. So, I stand by my original thinking on Buff and my original criticisms. But try to remember, they’re constructive criticisms. I think Cakes would agree that we want Buff to get better; we’re not just randomly criticizing Buff because we’re bored or we like to argue. Buff needs to improve, and we’re no different than the coaches in the sense that we want him to knock off the behavior that is hurting the team.

By: Goon Squad

Goon Squad — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 17:39:41 +0000

He deserves praise from us fans, not ill wishes and cheap shots from the goalies.
There isn’t anyone else on the team capable of doing what he does in front of the oppositions net.
I appreciate what he does in the crease, being that I have been on both sides of the fence in these situations.
Cut him a break here. He’s still learning his ‘new role’.
Homer in Detroit has it down to a science, but it took him years to do it and he had to endure a ton of abuse.
Buff is much bigger, harder to move and less likely to be intimidated, plus he’s capable of knocking someone out if they were to get outta hand while he’s performing his duties.
The extra shit talking may need to be worked on a little, and perhaps his timing when it comes to putting on the brakes, but he’ll get there in due time.
Just try to be patient.
Who knows, maybe this ain’t the job for him, maybe it is, but until they can find someone else to do it, it’s our job as his fans to be supportive while they figure these things out.

Ask yourselves this: would you rather he was doing this FOR us, or AGAINST us?

By: HHH

HHH — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 03:03:07 +0000

Thank you Cakes! Exactly. You’re so right…about all of that.

Yes, Buff absolutely should be screening with that big body. And if he isn’t going to be enforcer, then he needs to stop trash talking and cheap shotting the opposing goal-tender. Like I said, it’s just selfish. It leaves the Hawks a man short with the penalties and is just unnecessary. And yes, I’ve been saying for a while that Buff’s bad skating has cost us. In one instance in particular, I forget who the Hawks were playing, Buff went chasing after someone on the breakaway, tripped, and as a result did not get there in time and the opponent scored on Huet. Stuff like that.

The truth is, I’m not really certain exactly what Buff’s good at, but he needs to shut his mouth and stop with the goal-tender instigating. It’s a wussy move. And I don’t blame Giguere or Wiz one bit for taking a swing at Buff. He deserved it. I think he deserves it a lot.