Gorges tunes out noise, losing
BUFFALO Defenceman Josh Gorges has seen the other side.
Six times in his 606-game NHL career his teams have qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs. Twice, as a member of the Montreal Canadiens, Gorges has been in a conference final.
So, this concept of playing for a cellar-dweller like the Buffalo Sabres, whose hopes and dreams are pinned to a lottery pick — and subsequent picks — in the 2015 NHL entry draft, is foreign. And not particularly tasteful.
“Our mindset can’t be on, ‘Well, next year we’re going to have this guy and that guy,’ ” Gorges said, before his 30th place Sabres faced the 26th place Ottawa Senators Tuesday.
“At times, that is part of the problem,” said Gorges, 30, a leader of a young team in transition. “We don’t focus on the task at hand that’s right in front of us.”
The topic of the Sabres being rescued at this summer’s entry draft (the Connor McDavid sweepstakes etc.) was met with a long pause from the always thoughtful Gorges.
“We’ ll worry about that and cross that bridge when the time comes,” the Kelowna, B.C. native said. “My focus as a player cannot be on what management is going to do four, five months from now. I’ve got to focus on getting ready [for games], and getting my teammates ready.”
About that — the Sabres run of ineptitude has been startling, even given the low expectations for them. Until they beat the Canadiens on Feb. 3 (they are undefeated in four meetings with the Habs!), the Sabres had peeled off 14 straight losses. In six of their past 10 games they have registered 20 shots or less, including 10 against the New York Islanders Sunday.
When he was traded to Buffalo last summer, Gorges had no idea how grim this first season would be.
“I don’ t think you ever come into a season thinking that the position we’re in right now is going to happen,” he said. “You expect to be right in the thick of things … so when you get to this point and are in the position we’re in, it’s challenging because it’s something you can’t really prepare yourself for.”
Despite the myriad pre-season predictions that the Sabres would finish last in 2014-15, Gorges said “you don’t know what it’s like until you’re in the middle of it.”
As a mentor to such promising young defencemen as Tyler Myers, Nikita Zadorov and Rasmus Ristolainen, Gorges said the challenge is greater than he anticipated, because of all the losing. (Buffalo entered the game with a record of 1635-3.) Defeats in great clumps take a lot out of everyone, veterans included, he said.
“The biggest thing that has to change is the mentality,” Gorges said. “I think the way things have gone here the last couple of years, you can have great players, but if you’re infected with a losing attitude, acceptance of losing, it doesn’t matter how many good players you have. You’re not going to have success.”
Gorges said he tries to lead by example and act like a professional, even as he’s learning about a league that is changing each season.