Kaleta on Coach's Corner
Patrick Kaleta certainly has made the big time. The kid from Angola was a hot topic on Hockey Night in Canada. Don Cherry talked extensively about the "rat." If Cherry is talking about you, you're making an impact.
Here's the link.
---John Vogl
I say let Kaleta run wild... Lets get some Funky town in there also. I am sure with maturity and experience, Kaleta will fight but that is not the point. The point is he has a specific role right now.
I say bring in one more hard hitter/Ray-Barnaby type. Let them run wild and run the oppenents into the boards hard...
They need to bring back the 98-99 Sabres style of play..Send them home bruised, battered and bloodied.
Posted by: Texas Longhorn | March 17, 2008 at 10:18 PM
Why all this hoopla about Kaleta. He plays on the 4 th line and is lucky to get 7 minutes of icetime. His job is to go out there and hit anything that moves and provide energy, because hits people (cleanly) and gets under there skin he is also supposed to be an enforcer to. Trust me if he is dirty and not respected he will get his eventually, but as a Sabre fan we should enjoy what he brings to the game and not make him something he is not. People want to fight him because they are pissed that this small guy just rocked them with a solid legal hit. Just because you are physical it means you must be an enforcer to.I do not get why everyone is so upset. Keep on hitting KALETA.
Posted by: ZAP | March 17, 2008 at 05:13 PM
I called Kaleta a "dirty little agitator", but that is the only time I use that word. It was meant as an adjective, not an adverb.
I call Kaleta cowardly and chicken, not dirty. That is my problem with him. I like the hitting, but it has zero value if he isn't respected. Once the league knows his tricks, there won't be retaliation penalties, but someone will make sure to injure him if he doesn't accept responsibility for his actions.
Matt Barnaby was called up at the age of 19 for 2 games and fought in both of those games. Matt Barnaby was smaller than Kaleta when he first came into the league.
By his 37th game in the NHL, this is the list of players Matt Barnaby fought. For the 16 year olds here, this won't mean a thing, but for anyone who watched hockey back then, try telling me Kaleta is anywhere near the man Barnaby was.
Chris Gratton
Adam Burt
Lyle Odelien
Bob Bassen
Mario Roberge
Mike Peluso
Brent Hughes x2
Barnaby had to weigh 165lbs soaking wet, and would take on guys 200lbs+.....Barnaby was a rat, but he paid for it and earned his trash talking minutes.
This city is so starved for passion on the Sabres that they will take it at any costs. Like I have said before, I LOVE his style.....but someone like Rob Ray should go kick his @$$ in the tunnel and tell him to take his licks. He has no mentor on this team since Peters clinches and jabs in his "fights" and Mair will try to catch you before you drop your gloves and come left handed. Tootoo did some filmstudy and wrecked him that night. Pratt is the only guy who will put himself on the line.
I hope it is just Ruff playing his usual games and that Kaleta is a better person than that, because I want to like him. It is once again just another example of a passive and questionable culture with the team.
Posted by: Tom | March 17, 2008 at 02:29 PM
Tom - clarify one thing. You use Barnaby as an example of a guy who would drop the gloves, but how many times did he fake dropping them to draw a penalty? It seemed to me he did that more often than he fought.
As for Kaleta being dirty, I've seen one borderline hit. It was on Markov a couple weeks ago. Everything else has just been a hard body check with his stick and elbows down. I have no problem with his style of play.
Posted by: Hambone Johnson | March 17, 2008 at 01:36 PM
Tom - you may be right that Kaleta may not be that much of a "fighter", but he's still pretty young and doesn't exactly have the same linemates as Ray & May.
But please stop your "disgust" over him being "dirty". First of all, his hits are all pretty clean and tough.
Secondly, you're also the same guy who wrote on another board that you'd give up Stafford to have Darcy Tucker on your team.
Tucker may fight, but I've never known anyone to call him "clean."
Posted by: ElmaGolf | March 17, 2008 at 01:13 PM
Kaleta's cowardly actions negate any positives he brings to the team. Yes, he is spunky and hits...I love it. Yes, he can get into opposing players' heads and draws penalties...great. But when you dish out the amount of hits that he does, yet fail to drop the gloves when confronted....you are chicken. Not only has he failed to drop the gloves, but he pretends to drop them in order to get someone else to do so....chicken X 2. On top of that, Adam Mair has to come in and protect Kaleta....from what? This is the same team that sits on their thumbs when their goalie is run.
How many fights has Kaleta been in this year? The answer is 1. He fought Sean Avery, and once Kaleta was losing the fight, he grabbed Avery and attempted to piledrive his head into the ice in order to stop the fight. Chicken x 10. Maybe someone from the News can put that Youtube footage on the blog.
Posted by: Tom | March 17, 2008 at 11:12 AM
Kaleta is not a dirty player. He is a hard-nosed hitter, certainly, but dirty? No, he does not hit with his elbows or his stick. All the hits are clean, and the opposing teams should know it is coming. He hits everything in sight, the way hockey once was played. I love his game and the edge he brings to the rink every night.
Posted by: W | March 17, 2008 at 10:06 AM
This is a No Brainer: Scratch Vanek or Max...Very simple!!!!
Posted by: george | March 17, 2008 at 09:40 AM
I cant believe you guys are calling him chicken. When the team is down he is the only one that plays with high energy all the time regardless of the score. Plus he gets the other team in the penalty box because he gets into the other teams heads. He has been very exciting to watch and I would love to see him continue to play. The ones who call him chicken, lets see you try it.
Posted by: MS | March 17, 2008 at 09:09 AM
The question that will surround Kaleta in the next few days is if Connolly is ready to play, does Kaleta get the scratch? I hate to think of him being scratched but I fail to see who else would be......???....
Who do you think they should scratch if Connolly is back?
Posted by: Bster | March 17, 2008 at 12:02 AM
Kaleta does have energy and I love to see him hit..hit cleanly. If Lindy is giving him orders to not drop the gloves in order to draw penalties, which it looks like may be happening, then Ruff is the chicken$#!*, much like Ron Wilson called him.
Kaleta is going to end up injured if these tactics continue. He is a small guy, but plays tough...I love that, because this team has close to zero of that attitude....but it is worthless if he is not man enough to defend himself. Trust me, one of these days somebody is going to take the key to the city of Angola that Kaleta skates around with, and unlock his colon with it. Maybe Picasso's will send some chicken wings to his room when it happens.
Posted by: Tom | March 16, 2008 at 08:58 PM
My, the whining that goes on here is really pretty incredible.
Anywho, Kaleta rules. I'm happy for the guy and I'm glad he's on our team. I don't care about you whiners who are trying to compare him to previous Sabres; the kid has energy and heart and he can hit and I think he's a great addition to the team because of that.
Posted by: Dave | March 16, 2008 at 07:41 PM
Brian, I'm sensing that you expect the Sabres to not make the playoffs. Or maybe I'm reading too much into things.
(The Caps have been pretty average against the SE division so far this season - 11-10-3 by my count - so while they definitely have a chance to sneak in, I wouldn't consider them a sure thing.)
Posted by: Heather B. | March 16, 2008 at 07:34 PM
Why are so many people, writers, etc. talking about the Sabres now as if all these problems have been solved and everything is coming together?
THEY WON 2 GAMES IN A ROW!!!
You'd think they were on a 20-game winning streak!
Fact is, they beat Carolina, which didn't surprise me, but then they beat a newly devastated Toronto team--having lost their top 2 scorers in the past 2 days.
DOES ANYBODY consider these things when they're speaking in such glowing terms of the teams *superb* offensive rebirth?
If you watched the Toronto game, you wouldn't come away thinking those 7 goals were hotly contested---to put it mildly.
Posted by: Jay | March 16, 2008 at 07:11 PM
Wanna see who gets the 8th spot?
Take a gander at the remainder of Washington's schedule.
Boston will hold on and Florida will make a play for it. But when all is said and done, 6,7 & 8 will be Rangers, Washington & Boston.
Sabres?
April 5th will be the final game of the season, as they head for summer earning only 87 points.
Posted by: Brian | March 16, 2008 at 06:43 PM
I forgot how much of a blowhole Cherry was. Thanks Vogl.
Posted by: Zach | March 16, 2008 at 05:30 PM
This team is sad.
Tee fans who have deluded themselves into thinking there is a playoff run somewhere in here, are pathetic.
Posted by: Brian | March 16, 2008 at 05:02 PM
Sounds like Tom is jealous that no one sticks up for him.
Posted by: Stanley Cupless | March 16, 2008 at 04:11 PM
Tom, do you like having powerplays? thats why he wont fight most of the time. watch a game or two. (even though our pp is horrible.)
Posted by: jake | March 16, 2008 at 03:56 PM
Clean hits are a legitimate part of a hockey game. Fighting is not even though the NHL encourages it.
Posted by: Don H | March 16, 2008 at 02:59 PM
What do we call Adam Mair, "the cheese"?
I find Kaleta's game offensive. If you are going to be a dirty little agitator, you should stick up for yourself. When Matt Barnaby came into the league, he played the same style as Kaleta. The difference was, he was willing to stick up for himself against all comers. Barnaby probably lost 18 of his first 20 fights, but I respect him for being a man and dealing with his own issues. We now have Adam Mair acting like Kaleta is Gretzky whenever they are on the ice together. Instead of protecting Ryan Miller the multiple times he has been run, or maybe jumping George Larouque after he possibly ended Paetch's career, Mair is worried about his little buddy...how sweet.
Someday someone is going to get Kaleta into the same position Ray Emery had Marty Biron in last year. The difference is, they are not going to show mercy. I wonder is the Sabres store would take my order for a "36" jersey with the name "Chicken$*!#" on the back.
Posted by: Tom | March 16, 2008 at 02:33 PM