Memo to scouts from Boston, Anaheim, Ottawa and Philly who were on their way to Buffalo to scout Chris Stewart tonight vs. the LA Kings. Turn around and go home or drive to another rink to watch another game because Stewart has been scratched from tonight's lineup.
Lets go ahead and conclude that Chris Stewart's days with the Buffalo Sabres are very uncertain right now. Are his days numbered in Buffalo? It would appear that way.
With trade rumors continuing to swirl around the power forward, he's been the topic of many conversations for the past month.
Before joining the Sabres last March as part of the Ryan Miller-Steve Ott trade, Stewart spent his entire NHL career in the Western Conference with Colorado and St. Louis. The LA Kings are very familiar with Stewart, having gone to war against him for years. Benching him against a heavy opponent like the Stanley Cup Champion Kings doesn't make sense to me. I'd have played him tonight, benched the struggling Cody Hodgson (1G, 1A in 26 games played), and then sat Stewart against the Calgary Flames on Thursday.
Ted Nolan doesn't care what I think.
The coach wants to see more of this version of Chris Stewart who pounded Milan Lucic in the face on October 30.
The 6'2" 235 lb. Sabres power forward hasn't been impressive lately so Ted Nolan has decided to park him on press row to get a glimpse of the game from 150 feet above the ice surface.
Knowing Stewart, his pride must be smarting right now. He's been making strides of late to turn his game around. After a slow start, he's begun to make play a more physical game. He's been using his size and speed to win loose pucks and has been involved fd=down low on the cycle in the o-zone.
Nolan said this morning that he wants more from Stewart. The head coach wants less "soft" play from Stewart and more aggression.
“All players have to play to the best of their ability,” Nolan said this morning. “If not, there’s somebody else that will take their place.”
“He needs to play the way he can,” Nolan said. “He’s a big, powerful forward. Powerful forwards can’t be playing a soft game. You play a soft game, it doesn’t fit into their makeup. So we need him playing the way he can, similar to Marcus Foligno. We sat him earlier this year. So hopefully it’ll be a good message to him to sit back and watch and see what he’s missing.”
Nolan parked Stewart and Marcus Foligno in the third period of the 5-0 blanking in Tampa last week.
Patrick Kaleta will take Stewart's place in the lineup
Nolan said after this morning's skate that he hasn’t spoken to Stewart about the benching.
According to reports, Stewart took extra skating after practice this morning and when he left the ice surface, he took an alternative route to the Buffalo locker room, so as to avoid the assembled media. Stewart was probably doing himself a favor by dodging the questions about his benching. Better to say nothing than to throw verbal gas on the raging fire is always a best practice. A member of the Buffalo training staff was seen delivering Stewart's gear to his locker on a cart.
More to come...
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