COMMENTARY
Gerbe has a fighting chance to succeed this time
Nathan Gerbe had a lump on the side of his head. His face was covered with red scuff marks and scratches. This is not the sort of image you post on Facebook. But you know what? He was thrilled about it.
"I feel good," Gerbe said before Wednesday's 3-1 loss to Ottawa. "My face took a bit of beating, so I guess that was a good test of whether I'm ready or not."
The Sabres felt he was ready. One night earlier, Gerbe had played for the Portland Pirates in HSBC Arena. After watching him score a goal and get involved in a nasty fracas with the River Rats, management decided to keep him in Buffalo for Wednesday's home game.
With Thomas Vanek out, they needed someone who could score goals and give the team a competitive lift. So they decided to give the 5-foot-6 rookie his second shot at the NHL. This time, Gerbe seems determined to make the most of it.
Gerbe admits he wasn't ready for his earlier six-game stint with the Sabres. He was too quiet, too quick too defer, too much in of awe of his surroundings. He didn't score, and he lacked the agitator's edge that defines him as a hockey player. So maybe it wasn't a coincidence that Gerbe got into that brawl with Albany here Tuesday. Maybe he was getting his feisty side ready for another call-up.
"Yeah, I have to be," Gerbe said. "I can't back down one bit. I'm going to take a lot of hits, and also I'm going to be giving a lot of hits and getting under people's skin. So things aren't going to change for me."
The Sabres don't mind his feisty nature. But it's his offensive skills they really needed. Gerbe is a goal-scorer whose laserlike shot belies his diminutive stature. And with Vanek on the shelf in a tight playoff push, they could use an offensive jolt.
"We're just trying to replace Thomas's offense with someone who has gone pretty well offensively this year," said coach Lindy Ruff.
Those are ambitious words. Vanek is a potential 50-goal scorer, an All-Star. Most coaches would use the handy cliche that says no one player can replace a star. But Ruff says very little that doesn't have an underlying motive. This isn't a case of giving the franchise's top prospect a look. The Sabres need Gerbe to produce. They have confidence in him. Gerbe isn't lacking for confidence. You don't get this far in pro hockey, at his size, without enormous heart and self-belief. His first time up, he played like someone who didn't expect to be there. Now Ruff is telling him, you belong. Go prove it.
"Offensively, I didn't do what I could," said Gerbe, who has one assist in seven games after being held scoreless Wednesday. "I felt I could be more of a threat, and I didn't do that. Even defensively, I thought I could be harder and block more shots. I think I played nervous and scared to make a mistake. I can't do that this time around."
He'll play his game this time. He'll take the shot when it's there, rather than pass it off to a teammate. He will yap at opponents. He will agitate, as he did Tuesday when he got involved with three players near the Albany bench late in the first period.
Gerbe had a couple of River Rats swinging at him from the bench. Then he wound up at the bottom of a pile on the ice, with 6-2, 210-pound Tim Conboy pounding him in the head and face before his Pirates teammates extricated him from the mugging.
He got a game misconduct — a blessing, perhaps, since he had to come back the next night. He was asked if it was his first such brawl.
"Oh, no," he said with a laugh. "I've been involved in quite a few. That's part of my game. I'm an agitator, and I get some teams fired up. Sometimes tempers flare and things happen."
Someone asked if his fellow agitator, Patrick Kaleta, would follow him around against the Senators.
"I hope someone is helping me out," Gerbe said. "I don't need five guys beating me up. These guys are bigger and tougher [in the NHL], so my face would be a little more beat up than this."
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