none of us truly know his off ice conditioning habits.
also, ruff would be vocal about vanek if he wasnt conditioning properly off ice, like he was with spacek last year. this year, ruff commented on spaceks change in conditioning. also, correct me if im wrong, but towards the beginning of the season, i heard vanek is about 5lbs lighter than his playing weight last year.
as far as his effort is concerned on the ice, i have NO problems with his effort. he is in a vicious slump, and he needs to get out of it. but, he is consistently giving 100% effort on his shifts, not something i can say for everyone on this team right now. he is breathing heavy because he is probably the hardest back checking forward we have, and he is working his ass off.
the opportunities WILL start dropping. this guy got to the nhl as a finisher. he didnt just forget how to finish plays, nor did he just lose his talent. he will end up going on a tear and put up some goals real quick.
typical buffalo sky is falling mentality. are they winning now? no. are they in the playoffs if the season ended today? no. BUT!!! we are only a couple of points out of a playoff spot, and we have another half of the season to hit the reset button. plus, i have really liked the efforts against nj and ottawa the last two games.