Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com
New Sabres defenseman Zach Bogosian finally hit the ice last night. It had been four days since Buffalo GM Tim Murray pulled off a blockbuster trade with his counterpart in Winnipeg, Kevin Cheveldayoff, and five days since the Sabres last played a game.
Bogosian wasn't one of "the" names in the trade as Evander Kane and Tyler Myers grabbed top-billing on the marquis, but the former 3rd-overall pick in the 2008 NHL Draft isn't anything to sneeze at. It was said in varying analyses of the trade that the Sabres were getting a smooth-skating, all-around, defensive-defenseman who's game is augmented by hard hits. And that's pretty much what was on display last night by #47.
Sam Page of si.com delved into the dichotomy of styles for Myers and Bogosian writing that the latter lacked a "a single superstar-quality tool." In summary he wrote that both are different types of defensemen with the same flaws. "Given the choice between two athletic players with poor defensive awareness," concluded Page, "I’ll take the more explosive skater (Myers) every time."
There's a perfect juxtaposition of what Page, as well as many others, were talking about as Myers and Bogosian displayed their wares for their new teams this past week.
In Myers' second game in a Jets uniform, he displayed a confidence not seen since his rookie season as he used his size and speed to gather a puck in the neutral zone and skate powerfully to the net. If Myers can balance his 6'8" frame properly and if he drives with a sense of purpose, he's a beast to move off the puck.
As for Bogosian, his debut with the Sabres was punctuated hits. Lots of hits. Bone-jarring hits. Which can be both good and bad, depending on the timing.
In his article, Page noted one sequence where Bogosian, with the Jets, "throws two needless body checks" writing that Bogosian, like other defensemen, end up "chasing hits that leave them out of position." Last night, though, was a good example of Bogosian laying the body at the right time as he laid out 11 hits and was not on the ice for either goal against in his 24+ minutes of ice-time.
It wasn't all "unicorns and rainbows," for Bogosian in his Sabres debut, to borrow a recently used phase from Murray, as he was still acclimating himself to his surroundings and was still rusty from a long layoff. He didn't have any of his shots get through and he was caught deep on a Tyler Ennis turnover when the Sabres had a 5-on-3 man advantage. But other than that he had a strong showing that earned him the game's second star.
Although the upside for a 24 yr. old defenseman who came into the league "fully proportioned" seems to be little, there are things he does right now that will get even better with time.
Bogosian's passing, especially out of his zone, is very strong. He's able to get the puck out of the zone quickly and accurately which is something that has been hampering Buffalo all season. Last night he made a three-line pass to Ennis that would have sprung him on a breakaway had the linesman not made a mistake whistling the play off sides.
The powerplay looked much better last night with Bogosian at the point on the first unit. Although they didn't score there was a confidence rarely seen this season and it trickled down to the second unit as defenseman Nikita Zadorov blasted a cross-ice feed from Rasmus Ristolainen for his third of the season while they were on the powerplay.
Whether it was the "Bogo-effect" or head coach Ted Nolan telling his troops to just go out there and play, the Sabres looked more at ease and were playing to their individual strengths most of the game. Ennis was pulling off some dandy moves all game. Ristolainen showed his speed and savvy as he took the puck late in the game and weaved his through traffic around and behind the Flyers defense to get a decent shot on net. Zadorov was fearlessly jumping into the play all game while captain Brian Gionta may have played his best game to date in a Buffalo uniform.
Everybody and their mother wants to analyze Wednesday's blockbuster trade and jump to conclusions as to which side "won" the deal, but in the process there's too often a rush to judgment on the players involved. It will take years for the truth to come out as to which player(s) had the most impact. Murray and Cheveldayoff, for all intents and purposes, pulled off a hockey trade. They got what they wanted and gave up what they needed to. With Kane out until next season, the focus for Sabres fans will be on Bogosian and what he brings to the table.
Last night he had a definitive presence on the ice. The "first impression" I was left with was that of a hard-hitting, positionally sound, crease-clearing defensive-defenseman with a sure outlet pass and speed to join the rush. His shot from the point, although not getting through, was respected by the defense and his teammates seemed to have more jam to their game.
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At his young age and with the long learning curve for defenseman in general, there's still more room for growth and development. Although he may be butting up against his ceiling right now, Bogosian seems to have the attitude that he'll try to push that ceiling a little higher.
It's an attitude that the Sabres have needed for a while.
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