Sabres could really be singing the blues on Black Friday

Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com


After hitting the .500 mark with a victory at Florida vs. the Panthers, the Sabres, according to Sabres PR Buffalo at 8-8-0 were off to their best 16-game start since beginning 10-6-0 in 2011-12 and are at .500 for the first time since the end of the lockout-shortened 2013 season.

Then they met some of the big-dogs of the Western Conference. The stretch began with an OT loss vs. the San Jose' Sharks before the Sabres alternated between the conference-leading Dallas Stars and 2nd-seed St. Louis Blues to finish both of those two-game season series in a six-game span (0-3-1.) The Nashville Predators came to town on Wednesday and pulled out 3-1 victory on First Niagara Center Ice. Of note, the Preds had been shout out the three previous games, a franchise-record 227:39 minutes without a goal before Mike "Mr. Underwood" Fisher broke the drought.

All-in-all the Sabres head into tonight's matchup with the Carolina Hurricanes on an 0-4-2 winless skid.

The 'Canes aren't exactly the Dallas Stars, as they're 6th in the Atlantic Division and 12th in the Eastern Conference, but they present a formidable foe for Buffalo. Sabres PR has 4-6-0 in their last 10 meetings with Carolina, 5-5-0 at home. Many Sabres fans may have forgotten, but on the third-last game of the 2014-15 season, with the Sabres in a battle for last place, Buffalo defeated Carolina 4-3 at home. Goalie Anders Lindback made 49 saves for Buffalo while Tyler Ennis and Brian Gionta each had a goal and an assist.

Fans were finally able to breathe easy as the Sabres lost to the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-2 four days later assuring a 30th place finish for the Sabres and a shot at either Connor McDavid or Jack Eichel in the 2015 NHL Draft.


**********

Catching up with long-time Amerks broadcaster, Don Stevens

Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com


When you bring three top-six players into the forward ranks for an organization like the Buffalo Sabres did from February to June this year, lost in the immediacy of the affect it will have on the big club is the benefits trickle right on down to the farm club.

 

Evander Kane (acquired via a trade with the Winnipeg Jets,) Jack Eichel (drafted 2^nd overall, 2015) and Ryan O’Reilly (acquired from the Colorado Avalanche the day of the 2015 NHL Draft) immediately added legitimacy to the top-six forward ranks for Buffalo. And with those three joining Tyler Ennis, Zemgus Girgensons and Matt Moulson in the top-six mix, the rest of the forwards dropped down into place to the point where solid bottom-six players were squeezed out and ended up in the AHL playing for the Rochester Americans. It’s something not lost on long-time Amerks broadcaster Don Stevens.

 

When asked by phone if there was a totally different feel for the Americans this year as opposed to last year, Stevens pointed out that the 2014-15 Amerks started out very well and that there was a good feeling about the team. He said if there's a at this stage of the season it's “not necessarily with the team, it’s with the organization,” and how they added depth.

 

“The depth is so much better than before,” said Stevens, “[Last year] you knew you were going to be losing some players [to call-ups and injuries] and that you would be having trouble replacing the talent-level of those players.

 

“This year [Buffalo’s] talent-level increased with so many more quality-type players to pick from here in Rochester now, and then Rochester has some players that could play [for the Amerks] that have been sent to Elmira (Buffalo’s ECHL affiliation.) There’s a lot more depth, a lot more positive aspect to the [situation] should there be injuries."

Ramp-up to the 2015 NHL Draft Pt. 4--Size, grit and knuckles at LW

Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com


Unlike the right wingers in the system where there's plenty of talent and depth in the pipeline, the Buffalo Sabres are very thin at left wing in the talent department, at least near-future. There's size and grit, edginess and some speed, but overall the left side pale's in comparison to their counterparts on the right.

That being said, going into next season the Sabres have themselves a bonafide top-line LW in Evander Kane which is something they don't have on the right side. The former Atlanta Thrasher/Winnipeg Jet under contract for three more seasons. Buffalo also has a top six left-winger in three-time, 30-goal scorer Matt Moulson who signed to a five-year, free agent contract with the club in July, 2014. Those two sit atop the depth chart on the left side followed and are followed by 23 yr. old Marcus Foligno (2009, 104th-overall) and Nicolas Deslauriers, a converted defenseman who came to Buffalo in the Brayden McNabb to LA Kings swap.

When you add in centers who can play the left side, like Zemgus Girgensons, Johan Larsson and others, they're solid at left wing on the big club, but the depth and talent-level in the pipeline is another story. It's an area that should get some attention come draft time.