Vanek back for game vs. Stars, but won't rejoin Pominville line

[Fitzpatrick'sbeard]

Thomas Vanek will be back in the Sabres' lineup tonight against the Dallas Stars after missing three games with an upper-body injury. Paul Gaustad, who sat out yesterday for maintenance, will also play. So that means Jochen Hecht is the only regular on the sidelines.

"[Vanek] has had a history of coming off stretches where he's been hurt, he's come back and he's gone pretty good," said coach Lindy Ruff. "We're hoping he can take off now that he's had a few games off."

Ruff said he can't see changing the lines from Wednesday's 6-0 win over Boston, so that means Ville Leino will stay with Derek Roy and Jason Pominville. Vanek likely displaces Nathan Gerbe and goes in with Tyler Ennis and Drew Stafford rather than rejoining Pominville, which had been one of the NHL's top 1-2 combos for the season's first three months.

http://blogs.buffalonews.com/sabres/2012/02/vanek-back.html

[SkateZilla]

Re: Vanek back for game vs. Stars, but won't rejoin Pominville line

Gragnani Scratched is music to my ears...

Luke Adam should be put back where he was in the first few weeks of the season..

they had him playing with McCormick of all people....

[Crisis]

Re: Vanek back for game vs. Stars, but won't rejoin Pominville line

adam doesn't deserve time with the top lines

[OpIv37]

Re: Vanek back for game vs. Stars, but won't rejoin Pominville line

adam doesn't deserve time with the top lines

yeah he really cooled off after a hot start.

[Mski]

Re: Vanek back for game vs. Stars, but won't rejoin Pominville line

yeah he really cooled off after a hot start.

he didnt cool off until after he was removed from between pomm and vanek.... then again most of the year anyone not on the line with those two has really stunk

[OpIv37]

Re: Vanek back for game vs. Stars, but won't rejoin Pominville line

he didnt cool off until after he was removed from between pomm and vanek.... then again most of the year anyone not on the line with those two has really stunk

it's a little bit of both.

He was pulled off the line because his play had declined, then of course it declined even further when he had to play with the rest of the clowns on this team instead of Vanek and Poms.

[SkateZilla]

Re: Vanek back for game vs. Stars, but won't rejoin Pominville line

He's still young, so send him to rochester and let him develop more..

[PTI]

Re: Vanek back for game vs. Stars, but won't rejoin Pominville line

Gragnani Scratched is music to my ears...

Luke Adam should be put back where he was in the first few weeks of the season..

they had him playing with McCormick of all people....

I have been on this for at least 6 weeks now. Adam was good on that line.

[Crisis]

Re: Vanek back for game vs. Stars, but won't rejoin Pominville line

Vanek/Poms have produced with whoever is at center with them, Adam didn't look out of place the first few weeks of the season but let's be honest... his play has been embarrassingly bad since then.

He makes a lot of rookie mistakes (to be expected), but there's also times when he can barely stay on his skates. He has a lot of lapses in his own zone and he's just not consistent enough to be a top 6 player at this point in time. Hell, I'd even be for him getting sent down to Rochester for a bit if we had more centers.