NHL.com is gearing up for the regular season covering 30 teams in 30 days.
On August 16, they took a look at the Buffalo Sabres.
In their overview, they touched upon the tumultuous 2013 lockout shortened season with the departures of long time coach Lindy Ruff as well as veterans Robyn Regehr, Jordan Leopold and homegrown captain Jason Pominville.
Author Davis Harper points that GM Darcy Regier iced the youngest roster in the league at the trade deadline as the aforementioned three vets were traded for picks and prospects. And he rightfully gives Regier his due for landing a first-rounder and second-rounder for Pominville, two seconds for Regehr and a second for Leopold. Regier also landed two very good prospects--C, Johan Larsson and G, Matthew Hackett in the Pominville trade to Minnesota.
The purge of the Regier's "core," or as Team President Ted Black calls them--"the Rochester Guys"--is in full-force with only two homegrown "core" players remaining--F, Thomas Vanek and G, Ryan Miller.
In looking at the team, which presently stands as the third youngest in the league according to NHL Numbers.com, the Buffalo Sabres are putting the charge of the youngins in the hands of head coach Ron Rolston.
Rolston had been part of an extremely successful US National Team Development Program from 2004-11 and was credited with being, "Perhaps the most decorated coach in NTDP history, Rolston-led teams have never missed the championship game in either of the major NTDP tournaments--the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge and International Ice Hockey Federation World Under-18 Championship. In the 4 IIHF U-18 Championships that his teams competed in, they brought home 3 golds and a silver medal."
"The first professor at the University of Sabres" hits the real world full-time this season with what will probably be the youngest team in the NHL.
As a teacher, he will have the benefit of a full training camp with which to teach and evaluate. And with such a young group of players, he will have the opportunity to mold them into players that fit the new identity of the Buffalo Sabres.
That identity was defined early when new owner Terry Pegula stated at his first presser in 2011 that he wanted "not only statistically good players, but winners, gritty players."
At the 2012 Draft Assistant GM/Head Amateur Scout Kevin Devine hearkened "bigger, stronger, faster."
Leading up to the draft this season we heard Pegula on WGR saying that he likes "players who will not be outworked."
In an interview with GR a few days later, Regier acknowledged (finally?) that "the game is getting bigger and you [need] to have people who are willing to compete and you [need] to have size in your lineup." he said. "There's a shift in that general direction over what we saw coming out of the [2004-05] lockout."
At the 2013 NHL Draft, Devine asked the question, "Do you want to get tougher to play against?" as hulking defenseman Nikita Zadorov kept falling to them at #16. The answer was a resounding yes. They did not hesitate picking the hard-hitting d-man.
Devine himself was a gritty, two-way forward in his pro hockey career and his picks, especially this year, are laden with those traits.
As the team moves forward this season, it will be up to Rolston to mold this group of young players into the team envisioned by the Sabres hierarchy.
After taking over for Ruff last season, Rolston proceeded to stabilize an ugly situation in Buffalo. The team he inherited was a sieve on defense and their effort was inconsistent at best.
His attention to detail and focus upon fundamentals pulled the team up from the depths of the Eastern Conference. Although it wasn't quite enough to get them in to the playoffs, the team ended up a very respectable 15-11-5 during his tenure.
Said Regier of taking the "interim" moniker off of Rolston's title, "seeing Ron's interaction with the team, both as a teacher and a motivator ... for me personally, it became more and more evident that he was a very good fit not only for the present but for the future."
As the team heads into the 2013/14 season, the future is now for Rolston and his charges.
Just how, or even if, his teachings and motivation will result in wins at the NHL-level is to be determined. The Sabres have two big question marks heading into the season in Vanek and Miller who should be looked at as keys to immediate success on the ice.
Without one or both, there could be much more darkness before the dawn.
As Harper concludes, "the overhauled Sabres enter their first full season, [the] future remains uncertain, but the plan is fully in motion."
Which is fine.
The rebuild is on. Let's get the suffering over and done with.
No comments:
Post a Comment