A Boston Bruins/St. Louis Blues SCF--uggh. C'est la vie

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 5-22-2019


We're not sure how much worse the 2019 Stanley Cup Final could be for hockey fans in Sabreland when you look at the matchup this year. The Boston Bruins and St. Louis Blues in the Finals is pretty much a worst-case scenario for the Sabres but it is what it is and from a National Hockey League perspective, and it should prove to be a good series despite possibly not being ideal for the league. Although it does offer up this historical starting point.

One of the most iconic photos in the history of sports came in 1970 when Boston's Bobby Orr scored the Cup-clinching goal in overtime against the St. Louis Blues. Orr is horizontal to the ice about three feet up, courtesy of a Noel Picard trip, with arms raised in a joyous goal celebration as he flew through the air.

An aside to that courtesy of The Hockey News' Luke Fox. The person who took that photo, Ray Lussier, had shifted to that area of the rink during the intermission. Legend has it that he found that open spot after the previous photographer vacated it to hit the beer stand. With the overtime lasting a mere 40 seconds said photographer came bad to his spot with Boston Garden in a frenzy and the game over.

This was the third time the Blues were in the Stanley Cup Final and the third time they got swept (the other two by the Montreal Canadiens.) St. Louis was part of the NHL's 1967 expansion that saw the league double with the addition of six teams. They were part of the Western Division made up exclusively of expansion teams while the East was made up of the Original Six. They really had no chance against the juggernaut's of the Original Six but they're in the Blues are in the history books as reaching the Stanley Cup Finals in the first three seasons of their existence.

An NHL playoff final four worth loathing in Sabreland?

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 5-9-2019


It's not fun for Buffalo to have the longest playoff drought in the NHL especially when the Carolina Hurricanes, the previous holder of that dubious distinction, is in the Eastern Conference Final. Nor is it a joy seeing a long-time rival like the Boston Bruins face off against the 'Canes in the East. If you think that's tough, add in two teams out west battling in the Conference Finals who each traded for a player that was once thought to be part of the future top-six in Buffalo and Western New York hockey fans might be a little salty. The San Jose Sharks traded for winger Evander Kane and the St. Louis Blues traded for center Ryan O'Reilly and both team will battle it out for a spot in the Stanley Cup Finals.

Such is the world of the Buffalo Sabres and a playoff drought of eight seasons.

What may be lost in all the Buffaloathing over those four teams left standing is that this has been a helluva playoffs for the league. Both conference champions were ousted and all four division winners left in the first round, something that's never happened in the NHL before and the President's Trophy-winning Tampa Bay Lightning were swept out of the playoffs, which is also a first. In addition the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins got the broom as the NY Islanders, led by former Sabre (and a supposed key for Buffalo going forward,) swept them in four games.

In a nod to parity, getting hot at the right time and coaching, half the of the second round was made up of all four wild card team with Carolina taking the next step. Into the third round we see the Blues (No. 1,) Hurricanes (No. 3,) and Bruins (No. 4) as three of the hottest teams in the league since January 1st while the Sharks came in at No. 8. And while the League is still predicated on speed these days, the Islanders made it to Round-2 with a staunch defensive system under head coach Barry Trotz and the Blues with coach Craig Berube played lockdown hockey to take the next step. Despite plenty of speed and one of the best top-lines in the league, Boston head coach Bruce Cassidy had his club playing a modern, tempered version of Bruins, bad-boy hockey and when they got the lead, which was often in the second round, they tightened up their defense and relied upon goalie Tukka Rask to come up big.

Of the coaching search, Kane, O'Reilly and Lehner

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 4-18-2019


All's quiet on the Buffalo Sabres coaching front right now after Todd McLellan and Alain Vigneault were hired by the Los Angeles Kings and Philadelphia Flyers, respectively. Of the two, only McLellan was a consideration by the Sabres as he came in for an interview while his son was in the NCAA Frozen Four being held in Buffalo. Nothing came of it as reports suggest that the Sabres didn't even make him an offer.

If you're a fan like myself who is interested in seeing Buffalo hire a veteran hockey coach, pickins is mighty slim and none seem very appealing with a list that includes Mike Yeo, Todd Richards and Michel Therrien, among others. Former Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff's name has come up for whatever reason in Sabreland, mostly nostalgia, but it's a ship that's sailed even though I'd pick him over any of the "retreads" available on the coaching market right now.

It's not a good situation for the Sabres be in as they just finished a disastrous two-year stint with a rookie head coach and, barring any unforeseen firings of 2019 NHL playoff coaches, right now that's about the only thing left on the market. Toronto Marlies head coach Sheldon Keefe seems to be the front-runner for a NHL job while back-to-back NCAA Champion head coach Scott Sandelin of Minnesota-Duluth might be the other hot rookie candidate. Rochester Americans head coach Chris Taylor's name is always mentioned but as of now there have been no reports of the team contacting him about the position, and there's a possibility he may not be interested in the job at this time. Also, Sweden national coach Rickard Gronborg's name is getting hot for a head coaching position in the NHL and the Sabres have been said to be interested in him dating back to last season.

It's quite the pickle general manager Jason Botterill has himself in right now and barring an unforeseen veteran coach hitting the market soon, we're in a situation where we could see another head coach go down the drain over the next few years and in the process the Sabres might be looking for another GM.

Considering the circumstances the Sabres find themselves in right now, the ideal situation in this bloggers eyes would be for any potential rookie head coach, if that's what it comes down to, to be surrounded by veteran assistants who command the respect of the players.

Buffalo Sabres 2018-19 Individual Stats Leaders--Final

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 4-8-2019


In the 2017 off season and into the 2017-18 season, debate raged in Sabreland over whether they should re-sign left wing Evander Kane, who was a pending free agent that year. Kane was a lightning rod for debate in Buffalo with an on-ice/off-ice dichotomy splitting the Sabres faithful in half. It really didn't matter because in the end the word on the street was that ownership didn't want to re-sign him. Buffalo traded Kane to the San Jose Sharks at the 2018 trade deadline and it was a good enough fit for both player and team for him to sign a 7yr/$49 million extension with the Sharks.

One of the big questions during the debate was how do you replace a player that averaged 24 goals in two full seasons and scored another 20 goals in 61 games before being traded? The view on one side was that scoring wingers were easy to come by while on the other view centered around good players in general being hard to come by. As it turned out, Sabres general manager Jason Botterill was able to make it work by trading for Carolina Hurricanes winger Jeff Skinner, who effectively replaced Kane in the goal-scoring department with the first 40-goal season for a Sabres player in 10 years. At least for one year.

Acquiring good players usually comes with a catch. It might be the price paid in free agency, or in terms of trade pieces, or the cap-hit involved in acquiring said player or it might be unknowns concerning his locker room presence and/or off-ice drama. In Skinner's case it was none of the above, but his catch was that he played last season on an expiring contract on a reasonable $5.7 million cap-hit. 

Notes

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 3-18-2019


The losing streak is over

Buffalo's shootout win over the St. Louis Blues yesterday ended a 0-6-1 losing streak. With the win, the Sabres may have averted NHL ignominy as they were on track to be the first team in the history of the league to have both a 10-game winning streak and a 10-game losing streak in the same season. Although they still have 10 games to play, if they put an effort like they did against the Blues, the odds of them losing their final 10 games are long.


Of course...

Despite saving themselves from the NHL-first mentioned above, this Buffalo team was the first team since 1929 to get shut out three games in a row in two consecutive seasons and they will be the second team in NHL history to have a 10-game winning streak and miss the playoffs. The Philadelphia Flyers were the first team to do so back in the 2016-17 season. Philadelphia took a 9-10-3 a record into late November then proceeded to reel off 10 in a row. From thence their fall was marked by wild swings winning streaks of four and three games, along with a three-game point-streak balanced by a five-game losing streak and three, three-game losing streaks. This edition of the Sabres had no such bi-polar streaks as they haven't won two in row since Dec. 11. Buffalo had managed to throw in a win to break up losses and totaled three, three-game losing streaks prior to the seven-gamer they just ended.


What does this say for head coach Phil Housley?

If Housley's team could have played the way they played last night for through the better part of those post winning streak doldrums, this conversation wouldn't even have come up as they'd probably be pretty close to the playoff bubble. This group of Sabres seemed to lose interest on many occasions and couldn't overcome negative puck-luck when they really needed to. There are many calling for his head with some, like this blogger, who thought pulling the plug on the Housley-era should have been done during the losing streak. Then again, who knows what owners Terry and Kim Pegula along with GM Jason Botterill are thinking. Regardless of a difficult transition between the on-ice philosophy of Botterill and his predecessor and despite Housley getting shorted on the personnel he had to work with, the above embarrassments don't bode well for the second year coach.

Two streaks down, one still going. Plus, Ryan O'Reilly's return to Buffalo

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 3-17-2019


In one fell swoop, Jeff Skinner's goal just over two minutes into the first period at Carolina last night ended his personal goal-drought of 13 games and simultaneously ended Buffalo's three-game goal-drought. The Sabres hadn't lit the lamp since the 7:20 mark of the third period in Chicago on March 7 and were shutout three consecutive games--a total of 199 minutes 58 seconds--before Skinner's goal against his former Hurricanes team.

It was the second consecutive season that Buffalo was shut out three games in a row and as Mike Harrington of the Buffalo news pointed out, the Sabres were the first team since 1929 to have that dubious distinction. How that sits with ownership is yet to be determined but they can't be very happy with that in terms of head coach Phil Housley.

The Sabres are pretty easy to chart these days as most games go like this:

--come out with some energy and put shots on net, sometimes they, score other times they don't
--get on their heels as the opposition amps up the pressure
--fall behind
--ramp up the energy, put some shots on net, sometimes they, score other times they don't
--fall behind enough to where the opposition begins locking things down
--a late third-period push has them bringing intense pressure, sometimes they score, other times they don't
--lose

Sabres and Amerks return to action post-Christmas with (far) different results

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 12-28-2018


Both the Rochester Americans and Buffalo Sabres had to travel after spending the Christmas break away from the ice. Rochester took a four-hour bus ride to Cleveland the day after Christmas where the Monsters (CLB) awaited them while the Sabres jumped on a plane for a two-hour flight to St. Louis to take on the Blues last night. Both left in the morning and played that night.

The Amerks faced off against the Monsters for the third time in less than two weeks in what's being promoted as the Great Lakes Rivalry Series. A restructuring of AHL divisions this off-season moved the two teams on the shore of Lake Erie. who are only 200 miles apart, into the North Division meaning the teams will play each other eight times a year. Rochester and Cleveland hadn't played each other since 2014-15 when the Amerks and the Cleveland team known as the Lake Erie Monsters battled it out in the Western Conference.

Rochester was 3-0 this season vs. Cleveland heading into Wednesday's matchup at Quicken Loans Arena as the Amerks won in November and won a home-and-home in mid-December. Earlier in the season the two teams were battling near the top of the standings but the Monsters faultered until just prior to the break when they won three games in a row. Rochester, on the other hand, had lost three in a row so something had to give and it was Cleveland. The Amerks scored goals on three of six powerplay opportunities en route to a 4-0 win.

Despite the long bus ride and the weight of a three-game losing streak weighing on them the entire break, the Amerks found their legs, skated a full 60 minute and took it to a sluggish Monsters club. Amerks coach Chris Taylor had three lines working and though they only scored one 5v5 goal, their work drew penalties leading to the three powerplay goals. Props to the penalty kill as well as one of the league's worst PK units snuffed out all four Cleveland powerplay opportunities.

In St. Louis, things were a bit different.

Digesting the Ryan O'Reilly deal

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 7-2-2018


Former Buffalo Sabres GM Darcy Regier was a thief when it came to the return he got for his players. Tim Murray was a drunken sailor in respect to what he sent away to get his players. in the two years between the two when the Sabres were in rebuild-mode, the assets Regier got from trading is core group were thrown around by Murray and essentially wasted as none of the big three players Murray wanted to fast track his rebuild with are on the team are on the team. Jason Botterill came in as GM last season and in 14 months stopped the madness and began replenishing the cupboards that were left barren by his predecessor.

Murray's acquisitions of Evander Kane, Robin Lehner and Ryan O'Reilly cost the Sabres two first-round picks, a second rounder, three young prospects (Brendan Lemieux, J.T. Compher and Nikita Zadorov) and two older prospects (Joel Armia and Mikhail Grigorenko) in various deals. He also completely emptied the organization in pursuit of the top-overall picks in two consecutive drafts. The two years after Murray and the Sabres tanked for Jack Eichel, his teams in Buffalo and Rochester were still left barren, he was fired and Botterill was brought in last May to clean up the mess.

Botterill took two of Murray's 'Big Three' and brought home some assets. At the 2018 trade deadline he traded Kane to the San Jose Sharks for what would end up being a 2019 first round pick, prospect Danny O'Regan and either a 2019 fourth-rounder or 2020 third round pick (at the discretion of the Sharks.) Last night he traded O'Reilly to the St. Louis Blues for a 2019 lottery protected first round pick, a 2021 second, big forward prospect Tage Thompson and two veteran forwards in Patrick Berglund and Vladimir Sobotka. Of the eight futures Murray traded away to get his trio, Botterill was able to receive six in return.

Which isn't bad considering the place Botterill was in. Everyone knew Kane, a pending UFA, was a goner by the trade deadline and an O'Reilly trade was becoming more and more a foregone conclusion with each passing day. Yet both were valued enough by their new teams for them to send a decent amount of assets Buffalo's way to land them. Did Botterill fleece his trade-partner? Not even close. But he did what he could with what he had and for the situation he was in.

Quantity over quality seems to be the theme of this trade with the picks, namely the first-rounder, being the highlights of the trade. The Sabres now have three first round picks at the 2019 NHL Draft which is strangely familiar to what the team had in 2015. Much to the dismay of some in Sabreland Murray traded two of those picks (Nos. 21 and 25) in separated deals for young vets. Three years later it seems as if the consensus is that they should be trading one of their 2019 first rounders for immediate help.

There were thoughts that Botterill could land a top prospect, hopefully a left-winger, in the O'Reilly trade but when that didn't happen and because of it there seems to be a movement that would like to see a package, including a first-rounder, sent to another team for a top prospect. Which probably won't happen (although many thought the O'Reilly to St. Louis trade was finished.)

Thompson is a former first round pick (2016, 26th overall) but in his brief foray into the NHL, hasn't shown much. After leaving school (UConn) early, the 6'5" 205 lb. Thompson played for the Blues AHL affiliate for 16 games then made the big club last season out of camp. He ended up playing 41 games for St. Louis scoring nine points (3+6.) However, he had more success at the AHL-level scoring 18 points (8+10) for the San Antonio Rampage.

"What we see with Tage," said Botterill in a conference call with the media last night, "is a kid that has a great shot, great size, a really good reach on the ice. We think he's going to be a really good player that will step into our lineup and grow with our young centermen." Botterill would add later, "we really like his hockey sense and he has a bit of a shooter's mentality."

Berglund and Sobotka were interesting acquisitions by Buffalo in that their combined cap-hit of $7.350 million is just shy of O'Reilly's $7.5 million AAV. Berglund has four more years left on his deal while Sobotka has two. O'Reilly is a top-two center on most clubs in the league and will fall right into place in St. Louis.

On the same conference call Botterill framed the acquisition of the two veteran forwards as "getting NHL forwards that come in and [provide] more internal competition for our group, which is very important." The versatile Berglund will probably be somewhere in the top-nine  for Buffalo and if he ends up at center he may be able to help ease the burden of 19 yr. old center Casey Mittelstadt who's right behind Eichel on the depth chart at center. Sobotka can anchor the fourth line in an energy role. Either player can play center or wing.

Although it's not a huge haul for Buffalo talent-wise, perhaps Botterill learned a lesson from the Kane deal. It was rumored that a couple of first-rounders were on the table for Kane in December but Botterill waited. At the trade deadline the Sharks were only team to put forth a viable offer for the talented powerforward and Botterill had to take it. Had he not re-signed with the Sharks, that first-rounder Buffalo got would have turned into a second round pick.

Both St. Louis and the Montreal Canadiens were said to be in on O'Reilly but the Blues came through, and did so prior to 12:01 am today meaning that they took on O'Reilly's $7.5 million bonus for this season. Botterill said that if it went past that deadline and the Sabres had to pick up the bonus, "the asking price was certainly going to be a lot different." In doing that, Botterill put together a package that might not have been the most enticing to Sabres fans, but it got Blues GM Doug Armstrong to consummate the deal. "[Picking up the bonus] certainly played a role in making sure the deal was done" he said.

Botterill played it cool when it came to the goings-on in Buffalo's locker room, of which O'Reilly was rumored to be somewhat of a problem. He wiggled around that notion saying that he and his management group felt that they "had to change the dynamic."
"Bottom line," he continued, "there's a lot of great people in that locker room,  but when you finish 31st you must look to make changes."

Eichel was drafted as a franchise center and ever since that day the Sabres were looked at as his team. Most feel that O'Reilly never subscribed to that philosophy, something that may have caused some friction in the locker room. With him being traded, that's now in the past. The Sabres will move forward with a very young core featuring Eichel, Mittelstadt and Sam Reinhart up front and will be anchored by 2018 first-overall pick Rasmus Dahlin on the back end.

With O'Reilly now gone, Botterill's stamp is firmly on this team. Opinions will vary as to how good of a job he's done to this point but in 14 months he's been able to lay a foundation with his vision of what kind of team he wants and he may have moved out pieces that never fit his idea of the type of character he wants in his players.

Three years ago Tim Murray went out with the old and in with the new, as in young vets and two second-overall picks. Botterill flushed Murray's ideals away and starts anew with a very talented group of youngins cutting their teeth in new positions. He did what he had to do, now we'll see where it all leads.

Dahlin week? Nah. Let's play, Finish the Ryan O'Reilly Deal

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 6-18-2018


Just how much Rasmus Dahlin can one take? Apparently a lot more than one might think.

The Buffalo Sabres have the No. 1 pick in the NHL Entry Draft this Friday in Dallas, and the excitement over selecting a potential franchise defenseman has reached a fever pitch. All Dahlin, all the time is the mantra, as if everyone wants to say they were on top of it if/when the Swede helps lead the Sabres to the promised land.

There's nothing wrong with loving the fact that Dahlin is a special player and the Sabres were lucky enough to win the lottery for the first-overall pick, even if Steve Kourianos of The Draft Analyst rated left wing Alexei Svechnikov as the No. 1 prospect in this year's draft. Like lunaion commented last night, "wow, I thought this would finally be the year where 'that guy' didn't exist."

Me too.

However, as much as we love the prospect of drafting Dahlin, and we very much do, what kind of say would it be if we didn't discuss Ryan O'Reilly. After all, one can never get enough O'Reilly chatter.

Buffalo's No. 2 center was very unhappy with the way things went this past season letting out some revealing things at locker cleanout and we're still wondering whether it was actually a veiled plea for the Sabres to trade him. Phrases O'Reilly used that day included having "lost his love for the game at times" and the team being "stuck in the midset of losing," both of which were like bright neon billboards advertising just how messed up the locker room was last season.

Locker room division and dissention, which reportedly had been present since the middle of the 2016-17 season leading to the prior coach and GM getting fired, may have been the biggest reason that the team finished with a woeful 25-45-12 while playing some of the worst hockey Buffalo has ever seen. There were other factors but as the saying goes, "a house divided against itself will not stand."

Sabres GM Jason Botterill was visibly ticked at the end of season presser and had this to say about his team moving forward, "When you finish where we were, you have to look at everything. That means looking at even changing up some of our core players."

That lead us to the names of three players that constitute the core outside of the untouchable Jack Eichel--O'Reilly, Sam Reinhart and Rasmus Ristolainen.

A case can and has been made for each of those three to be traded and to be kept but the name that's continually been in the rumor mill is that of O'Reilly's. The 28 yr. old is a veteran still in the middle of his prime and plays a position that's coveted in the NHL. Plus there's an added bonus of him being a top-six center which, as we know in Buffalo are very hard to come by, leading to a number of teams actively in the hunt for a top-six center because of their relative scarcity.

Why would the Sabres trade away a commodity like that when they're so difficult to come by? By the looks of it, O'Reilly seems as if he's ready to move on and the Sabres seem as if they might be ready to move on from him, for the right price. That makes for a pretty smoky situation in terms of the fire that's said to be burning beneath all these rumors. Buffalo doesn't need to trade O'Reilly but if some team comes along with a great offer, than he'll probably be on the move.

What is a proper offer? Depends upon the buyer's perception of O'Reilly. He's generally thought of as a top-six center with some of the belief that he's a legit No. 1. His production has been very consistent throughout the years, he plays in all situations, is one of the best faceoff men in the business and he's worn a letter in Colorado and Buffalo. On the downside, his production lately has relied too much on powerplay points while his leadership qualities might be overstated.

Which leads us to the teams who might be interested in him and what they might be willing to offer up for him in a trade. As of now there have been a few teams with interest

We'll begin with a trade proposal offered up by Sportsnet.

To St. Louis - Ryan O'Reilly
To Buffalo - 2018 1st (Winnipeg's), Robert Thomas, Vince Dunn

We liked it somewhat, but fixed it:

To St. Louis--O'Reilly, rights to RFA goalie Robin Lehner
To Buffalo--2018 1st (WPG,) Klim Klostin, Jake Allen

Got it.

Have fun.

To Montreal--O'Reilly, 2019 2nd
To Buffalo--Jonathan Drouin, Max Pacioretty and a 2018 second rounder


To NY Rangers--O'Reilly
To Buffalo--Chris Kreider, Libor Hajek and a 2018 first rounder (TBL)


To NY Islanders--O'Reilly, 2019 2nd
To Buffalo--2018 12th-overall, David Quennville, Linus Soderstrom

Onward to the off season but a quick note on the Caps. Plus, Ryan O'Reilly

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 6-8-2018


Interesting note on the Washington Capitals roster from last night. Steve Kourianos, founder of TheDraftAnalyst, noted that the Caps had 12 first round picks on their roster. Here are their draft slots, the year they were drafted:

Alexander Ovechkin-1st-overall, 2004
Niklas Backstrom-4th, 2006
John Carlson-27th, 2008
Evgeni Kuznetsov-26th, 2010
Tom Wilson-16th, 2012
Andre Burakovsky-23rd, 2013
Jakub Vrana-13th, 2014
Brooks Orpik-18th, 2000 (PIT)
TJ Oshie-24th, 2005 (STL)
Matt Niskanen-28th, 2005 (DAL)
Lars Eller-13th, 2007 (STL)
Brett Connolly-6th, 2010 (TBL)

As shown, seven of those players were drafted by Washington with only two Caps players being drafted top-four or higher and only three total drafted top-six or higher.

All 12 of those players were on Washington's playoff roster last year. That Caps team lost a seven-game series to their nemesis, the Pittsburgh Penguins, in round two. Nine of that group were on Washington in the 2015-16 playoffs when they lost in the second round to...the Penguins, in six games. Those not on the roster that post season were--Eller (MTL,) Connolly (BOS) and Vrana who was with Washington's AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears.

In 2014-15, Oshie was with the St. Louis Blues meaning that eight of Washington's 12 core skaters drafted in the first round have been with the team the past four seasons. Until last night when they defeated the Vegas Golden Knights to win the Stanley Cup, the Caps had lost in the second round three years running with this core.

Head coach Barry Trotz spent 15 seasons with the Nashville Predators before the Caps hired him in 2014 and he'd never gotten past the second round until this year. He was on the ice with the NHL Network talking about the quest. "You know, I've been chasing this thing for a long time and I have a lot of people I've known who've won Stanley Cups and have done a lot of things," he said. "You need a little bit of luck, you need a great group (of players,) you need to be playing well."

The Caps trailed in every series this year, but kept coming back. And that includes dropping the first two games to the Columbus Blue Jackets in the first round at home. However, they were able to win Game-3 in double overtime and Trotz had a sense something good was about to happen. "After we got that first win under our belts," he said, "I knew this team was going deep (in the playoffs.) I knew we were going to get to the Final, I knew we were going to kill some demons."

This was a different Washington Capitals team than were accustomed to seeing and it was a different Alexander Ovechkin as well. "The Great Eight" had been labeled me-first type player who choked in the playoffs and was never thought of to have enough leadership capabilities to lead his team to the promised land. But he did it, and did so by playing the best two-way hockey of his career while also scoring 15 goals in the playoffs which tied him with his individual nemsis, Sidney Crosby, for the most playoff goals in the last 20 years.

So what does this all mean?

Props to Caps management who stuck with a core group despite many playoff failures and to their scouting staffs who found their own prospects at the amateur level and added pieces at the pro level. In the age of analytics, coaching still matters, as does leadership and luck, amongst many other factors, is always in the mix.

Finally, hats off to the Golden Knights who went on an incredible run, but in the end, talent usually wins out, and that was the case here.

Onward to the off season.


*****

The Buffalo Sabres had 10 first round picks on their full-time roster this season and finished dead last:

Zemgus Girgensons---14th, 2012
Rasmus Ristolainen--8th, 2013
Sam Reinhart--2nd, 2014
Jack Eichel--2nd-overall, 2015
Benoit Pouliot--4th, 2005
Kyle Okposo--6th, 2006
Zach Bogosian--3rd, 2008 (ATL)
Evander Kane--4th, 2009 (ATL)
Jacob Josefson--20th, 2009 (NJD)
Nathan Beaulieu--17th, 2011 (MTL)

Of that grouping above, Kane was traded at the trade deadline, Josefson has already signed to play overseas and it's not expected that Pouliot will be re-signed and of the remaining, only Eichel is sure to be a franchise cornerstone moving forward.

Not listed was Casey Mittelstadt a 2017 eighth-overall pick who spent one year in college and played in six games for the Sabres last season. It's a bit early to call him a cornerstone but his play in those games has pretty much placed him on the untouchable list while simultaneously putting center Ryan O'Reilly firmly in the rumor mill this summer.

And, of course, the Sabres have the first selection overall in the 2018 NHL Draft and unless a catastrophe happens, they will be selecting defenseman Rasmus Dahlin whom is looked to as another franchise cornerstone.


Eichel, Dahlin, Mittelstadt. Three first rounders that look to move this Sabres franchise forward near term.


*****

The end of the Stanley Cup playoffs means the beginning of the off season and first thing up is the NHL Draft.

Buffalo won the draft lottery and will select first overall. Carolina made a huge jump and will be selecting second while the Montreal Canadiens are selecting third. It's expected that the Hurricanes will select Andrei Svechnikov while the Habs are expected to take Filip Zadina.

Both players are extremely talented wingers whom the 'Canes and Canadiens would be hard pressed to pass on. And, oddly enough, both teams could really use a center, of which there are few and far between in the first round.

Which brings us to O'Reilly.

Rumors are running rampant that O'Reilly will be moved either because the team wants to move him or he wants to move on from the team. Carolina and Montreal top the list of possible destinations while teams like the St. Louis Blues and Vancouver Canucks are also said to be interested.

What's also to be determined is the price a team is willing to pay for O'Reilly, who is a top-six center with a $7.5 million cap-hit. He's been consistent throughout his career and arguments can be made from all sides as to what his true value is.

As always, it's up to the buyer and he'll be worth what someone is willing to pay for him.

O'Reilly's World. A brief history and the parallels between Colorado and Buffalo

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 5-14-2018


Buffalo Sabres center Ryan O'Reilly has not had a quiet career, per se. It seems to have started in Colorado after the Avalanche named 19 yr. old winger Gabriel Landeskog team captain over him in September, 2012. Although being passed up didn't yield any outright consternation on O'Reilly's part, it was rumored that the slight gnawed at him and ever since, it seemed as if he was skating on borrowed time.

Half that 2012-13 NHL season was lost to an owners lockout and O'Reilly, like many other NHL players, came back from playing overseas ready to play a 48 game schedule, but was without a contract. He remained in a contract dispute until February 28 when Calgary Flames general manager Jay Feaster sent an ill-advised offer sheet O'Reilly's way which he promptly signed. The 2 yr./$10 million deal which was well above what the Avalanche were prepared to pay and it forced them into a "shotgun marriage," as Adrian Dater of the Denver Post put it..

Because of that offer sheet, in two years Colorado would be looking at a qualifying offer for their restricted free agent of at least $6.5 million (his salary in 2013-14) to retain his rights. At the end of that contract, with trade winds swirling, the Avalanche took O'Reilly to arbitration, something uncommon for a team to do, and the two sides settled on a 2yr./$12 million deal. At the end of the deal O'Reilly was slated for unrestricted free agency.

Does Rasmus Dahlin change the Sabres' off-season equation?

Published by hockeybuzz.com. 5-4-2018


Heading into last week's NHL Draft Lottery, hockey insider Elliotte Friedman had a definitive take on what the last place Buffalo Sabres would be doing this off season. Prior to the pingpong balls falling Buffalo's way, it was expected that second-year GM Jason Botterill would overhaul his roster and here's what Friedman had to say, “I think they’re looking at tearing that team down right to the studs. And you know what? If they get Dahlin that makes it easier for them to do.”

Unlike the previous off season when he overhauled mostly the bottom portion of the lineup to the tune of nine different faces in the opening night lineup, an angry Botterill indicated that a continued overhaul may include some core players. "When you finish where we were," he said to the gathered media at his end of season presser, "you have to look at everything. That means looking at even changing up some of our core players."

Speculation as to who he meant immediately began swirling around Sabreland with those waves rippling through much of the NHL.

Impressions of, and questions concerning--C, Ryan O'Reilly

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 4-14-2018


Center--Ryan O'Reilly
DOB: February 7, 1991 (age, 27)
Draft: 2009, 2nd round (33rd-overall,) COL
How acquired: Trade with Colorado at the NHL Entry Draft, June 26, 2015
Last contract signed: 2015--7yr./$52.5M
Final year of contract: 2022-23   

2017-18- Stats:  81 games played | 24 goals | 37 assists | 61 points | -23 | 20:49 ATOI

Buffalo Career Stats:  224 games | 65 goals | 111 assists | 176 points | -40 | 21:19 ATOI

Plenty of questions for Jason Botterill when he hits the podium tomorrow.

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 4-10-2018


Buffalo Sabres GM Jason Botterill should have a ton of tough questions to answer about his team at his year-end press conference. A dismal season like the Sabres just went through took it's toll on a number of players and a lot of emotions came out yesterday as the players talked to the gathered media during locker cleanout day. Not only did they clean out their lockers, but some also cleaned out some pretty deep thoughts that lay deep in the recesses of their minds.

The big bombshell came from Ryan O'Reilly when he said there were times he lost his love for the game. That quote and others from him created a firestorm. On the one hand, his brutal honesty was refreshing but on the other, he was roundly chastised him for feeling that way.

O'Reilly accused the team of "being OK with losing."

"It's crept into all of our games. Yeah, it's disappointing. It's sad," he said. "I feel throughout the year I've lost the love of the game multiple times and just need to get back to it because it's eating myself up and eats the other guys up too."

WGR550 radio host Howard Simon offered up a rebuttal and rebuke of the Sabres second-leading scorer and assistant captain, with an opinion piece entitled "O'Reilly needs to suck it up, add him to the list of Sabres problems."

"You are supposed to be one of the leaders of this team," wrote Simon of O'Reilly. "I can’t have one of my team leaders moping around and feeling sorry about the sad state of affairs that is the Sabres franchise.

"No one wants to be on a losing team. I’d imagine coming to the rink these last two seasons hasn’t been much fun for anyone associated with the team, but that’s when you dig a little deeper and find a way to persevere. More so for a player of O’Reilly’s stature since many in the locker room could end up following his lead.

"But as the saying goes, when the going gets tough the tough get going."

To his credit, Simon did not bring up O'Reilly's salary and he did include the positives that the 27 yr. old brings to the table. However, the cliché's were flowing in his piece.

There were a ton of things wrong with the on-ice product starting at the top with an inexperienced head coach and stretching all the way to goaltending, but the overriding theme seems to be the lack of a professional mindset, of bringing it every day, not just on game day, or should we say, occasionally on game day.

Scott Wilson was with the Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins in 2017. Botterill was an AGM with the Pens that year and he traded for Wilson early this season. Both have seen what it takes for a team to take it to that level and the theme of Wilson's interview yesterday centered around the proper mindset.

"We made some strides in the right direction in certain games and playing good teams," he said, "but the (proper) mindset is bringing that every time you're in the hockey rink, not just on the ice either."

Forward Evan Rodrigues played 48 games for the Sabres in the back portion of the season. The second year pro was injured in the preseason and spent eight games with Rochester before being recalled for good and he also mentioned mindset. "When we were committed to doing the right things and playing on the right side of the puck and doing the little things right," he said, "we were successful. And when we played those good teams, we kind of knew we had to do that.

"When we had the right mindset to do those things, I think that's when we won a lot of our games. We just have to find a way to make sure we're bringing that day-in, day-out."

"I think just overall our mindset's got to change," said Jason Pominville, who's on his second tour with in Buffalo. The former Sabres captain struggled to find the best way to put it when he continued by saying, "It's become kind of noticeable, when you lose and you lose so much over the course of three/four years, guys that have been here a while have been accustomed to that.

"I know everyone wants to wing, no one wants to lose, but you kind of have those habits where it becomes acceptable (to lose) almost without realizing it."

The losing aspect of the equation has been brought up numerous times over the course of the season and it's probably best to remember that ownership and management set their team on this course with consecutive tank seasons. Granted, after a season and a half of mostly positives with the team looking like it was headed in the right direction, the losing element pulled this club back into the abyss.

"Nobody's gonna be happy with a losing record or losing night in, night out," said Wilson citing that sometimes negativity rolls through the team. The way to break that cycle, he believes, may center around "just being positive, and coming together (as a team)."

Defenseman Zach Bogosian has played 10 years in the league and never made the post season. The 27 yr. old has never played a healthy season in Buffalo and underwent surgery after only 18 games this year. Bogosian said that he wasn't around the locker room that much this past season but still brought it back to pulling out as a team.

"When your in a losing environment where we were losing quite a bit, it's tough to pull yourself out. As a group we have to do it together."

Wilson echoed those thought when he was asked if they need to learn how to win. "I think it's a big confidence thing," he said. "A lot of guys struggled with confidence issues in this locker room, but we showed signs of good things.

"I think the winning aspect comes when you're rolling as a team and not playing as individuals."

There really are no saviors in a team sport like hockey. You have your great ones, legends who's skill and drive can carry much of the weight, but it's still up to the supporting cast to do their part. For evidence of that, look no further than this year's Edmonton Oilers lead by Connor McDavid, a player who is considered one of the best in the game at only 21 yrs. old. After an playoff adrenaline rush last season, the Oilers fell back to 23rd in the league despite McDavid leading the league with 108 points.

If it's not true in Edmonton, it isn't true in Buffalo either. Eichel was selected second overall behind McDavid in the 2015 NHL Draft. Although he's not quite at McDavid's level, his speed and skill package is up there with some of the best in the league. Eichel has been with the Sabres for three seasons and he hasn't tasted much success on a team basis despite leading Buffalo in scoring the last two seasons and finishing second his rookie season.

After his locker cleanout interview, many consider him to be the next captain of the Buffalo Sabres as he stood there answering all questions in a most mature, thoughtful and respectful way. He knows there are problems with mindset and consistency that have negatively affected the team. It's time to change that and he said it will begin with him.

"What we've been doing as a team hasn't been working," he said. "All you can really do is focus on yourself and changing yourself and I think that's what helps change the culture, change the team. It starts every day at practice, your work ethic, coming to work ready to compete, ready to get better.

"When you look at the good teams, they bring it every night."

Perhaps that drive was there early on a team basis, but with every loss in October, any fire and positivity this group had to begin the season ended up in a downward spiral as their poor start got worse and their playoff hopes ended early. "When you put yourself out of it a lot sooner than you'd like," said Eichel, "it's tough.

"We need to find a way to have a good start, come out in October and not be behind the 8-ball."

That's where Botterill comes into play. He's heard where his players heads have been this season and he knows he needs to add talent. Last off season he focused on the Rochester Americans in order to incubate his prospects in a positive environment. It's working as the team is in the playoffs for the first time in three years.

Of course, it's a lot more difficult doing that in the NHL. Establishing a leadership pecking order may help that and if that's the case, Eichel will probably be atop. Adding talent will help immensely while adding character and mental toughness may also be of supreme importance. They'll also need to bring in a goaltender to work the crease either as a backup to Linus Ullmark or as a starter until he can get himself anchored in NHL play.

Botterill will also need to take a good look at his coaching staff. Although Phil Housley's job as head coach looks safe for now, he may need more of a veteran presence from his assistants.

Tomorrow may be the most important end of season presser in Buffalo and Botterill will have plenty of hard questions to answer about his team. What he says will carry a lot of weight but it will be what he does in the off season that will really set the tone.

It was a long season for everyone, Botterill included, but it's over and time to move on.

The Sabres future got a little brighter yesterday.

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 3-18-2018


Perhaps it might be best to qualify that statement by saying that the near-term future of the Buffalo Sabres might be tied to how well their top two centers mesh beginning now and into next season.

Jack Eichel was back on the ice for the Sabres after missing over a month. The third-year pro was having another good season--22 goals and 31 assists in 55 games--until he was felled by a high-ankle sprain. In Eichel's absence center Ryan O'Reilly upped his game to 15 points (4+11) and was a plus-4 in those 16 games.

Eichel and O'Reilly are two very different hockey players. One is a highly fast, skilled, offensive-minded superstar in the making who was picked second-overall and came from the NCAA D-1 Men's hockey ranks. The other has definitive offensive skills is strong on the puck, great on the faceoff dot and is known for a consistent, two-way game. A simplistic view would have the former in Eichel in a top-line scoring role with the latter, O'Reilly, doing what he does anchoring the second line in a two-way role.

After Eichel's rookie season, things seemed headed in that direction. However, internal discord cast a pall over their particular roles on the team, which included who was the better fit for the vacant captaincy. The season went down hill, there were rumors of sides being taken, and it eventually lead to the firing of head coach Dan Bylsma.

This season has been a disaster under rookie coach Phil Housley, although there are some signs of light at the end of the tunnel. Yet, with the captaincy still open, definitive roles still haven't been fully defined. There's no doubt that when Eichel was drafted the Sabres were considered his team, but as of yet he hasn't shown the maturity of his counterpart in O'Reilly. And for his part, although he may fully believe, and justifiably so, that he does have leadership qualities that Eichel lacks, O'Reilly's overall maturity level should be tied to how he handles playing second fiddle.

The team needs to iron this out this off season and one would hope that both players can move on in their respective roles. The center position is extremely important and Buffalo has a legit one-two punch down the middle, which is something we haven't seen here since Chris Drury and Daniel Briere were co-captains for the Sabres. Having a legit top-two center combo was the reason for Buffalo's tank in 2014-15 and then GM Tim Murray's trade for O'Reilly at the 2015 NHL Draft.

Yesterday afternoon Eichel was on the ice and everything was back to normal as the team faced off against the Chicago Blackhawks. He dazzled with his speed and stickwork, which is something that O'Reilly mentioned after the game. O'Reilly scored a gritty goal on the powerplay by muscling in an Eichel rebound that was sitting in the blue paint and he was also forced a turnover with Buffalo ahead 4-3 and fed Sam Reinhart for the easy empty-netter.

There's an old saying, "check your egos in at the door," which is a simple way of saying that the team comes first. If the team wants one player or the other as their captain, or even if they want to go the co-captain route, something that this blogger doesn't mind at all, then let it be. But it needs to be done this off season.


*****

Forward Evan Rodrigues has been back in the lineup for two games and Housley has used him as a third-line center. Rodrigues is best known for riding shotgun on Eichel's wing at Boston University but the organization had been using him a lot at center throughout most of his time in Rochester and Buffalo. Housley had used him on the wing with thoughts of keeping him there, but it sure looks like Rodrigues could be a No. 3 center behind Eichel and O'Reilly.

In his last four games at center, two games each on either side if his injury, Rodrigues has five points (2+3) playing with the likes of Kyle Okposo, Scott Wilson, Jason Pominville, Benoit Pouliot, Zemgus Girgensons and Nicolas Baptiste.


*****

Speaking of Baptiste, the 22 yr.old rookie showed some nice stickwork yesterday when he connected on two tip-ins for his third an fourth goals of the season.

Baptiste was selected with the 69th pick in the 2013 NHL Draft and one of the first things that Murray did after taking over as Buffalo's GM in January 2014 was to sign him to his three-year entry-level deal. That deal will finish at season's end and with him being out of waiver exemptions next season, he'll either be with the Sabres or somewhere else.

At 6'1" 205 lbs., Baptiste has NHL size and he also has plenty of speed to play at today's fast pace. What has gone mostly unnoticed while he's been paying his dues at the AHL level for the last three seasons, is his hands. Baptiste has an array of shots he uses to score from anywhere on the ice and yesterday he showed deft hand-eye coordination on those two tips.

What he hasn't been able to figure out at the NHL level, at least on a consistent basis, is the how and where he'll be able to score with those skills.

Although he shouldn't be christened as the next top-six winger on Buffalo, Baptiste seems to be progressing well while getting consistent minutes. With the Amerks virtually a lock for the playoffs and the Sabres being able to take a good long look at some of their prospects with an eye towards next season, Baptiste is one of those players who can almost secure a spot in the top-nine if he continues with good habits and develops some consistency.


*****

The Minnesota Golden Gophers only needed one of six NCAA D-1 teams to win their title game to make the tournament. Unfortunately for the college, "victories by Boston University (Hockey East), Princeton (ECAC), Air Force (Atlantic Hockey), Michigan Tech (WCHA), Denver (NCHC) and Notre Dame (Big Ten) for automatic spots dropped the Gophers to No. 13," according to Randy Johnson of the Star Tribune.

What's bad for the college may be good for the Buffalo Sabres and/or Rochester Americans.

The Sabres selected center Casey Mittelstadt with the eighth-overall pick in last year's draft and the Minnesota freshman had a very solid campaign for the Gophers with 30 points (11+19) in 34 games. In addition to that success, Mittelstadt was also named MVP of this year's World Junior Championship which was held in Buffalo.

The World Juniors was particularly intriguing as the 19 yr. old scored four goals and added seven assists for the bronze medal winning USA team while on his way to MVP honors, but what might really have stood out was his work in adverse conditions during the outdoor game against rival Team Canada.

With the US down 3-1 in the third period and Mittelstadt already with a primary assist, the Minnesota native used deft work in snow to set up two more goals as Team USA tied the game before winning it in the shootout. Here are the highlights via USA HOCKEY:





There's a lot of discontent in Minnesota as the Gophers were left out of the tournament. According to Johnson's article, "the future of coach Don Lucia will be a hot topic. The Gophers have missed the NCAA tournament in two of the past three years and haven't won an NCAA game since the 2014 national semifinals. Lucia has one year left on his contract, and athletic director Mark Coyle last week wouldn't say whether Lucia would be back."

A turnover in the coaching staff could have an adverse affect on Mittlestadt's future at Minnesota and could be what puts him in the NHL as soon as this season.

It's something to keep an eye on and for Sabres fans, something definitely to look forward to.

Sabres find a formula (and PP) in win against the NHL's best team.

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 2-14-2018


For those of us who remember, Games 2 & 3 of the Buffalo Sabres season were utter disasters. A new coach with a different philosophy and a remade defense tried to go stride for stride with two fast, talented teams early in the season and it didn't work out very well.  In trying to match the pace of the NY Islanders, and especially the NJ Devils, the Sabres got buried like a mudder on a fast track against a Kentucky Derby favorite.

From then on it's been a season of discontent and misery as this edition of the Buffalo Sabres has vainly tried to find themselves. They have a coach in Phil Housley who wanted an uptempo game, but had only a few players who could actually play that way. He had players who could push the pace but with the rest a step or so behind, often times we were witness to disjointed play and ugly results.

The Sabres are starting to find themselves, and maybe Housley himself has finally figured out how to pull the proper levers at the right time. Buffalo laid out a gameplan last night against the league's best team, the Tampa Bay Lightning, and came out on top at home. It was a dogged effort but not without adversity as the calls were not going there way through much of the early portion of the game. Despite that they were able to overcome, even when self-inflicted minor penalties seconds apart gave the league's second-best powerplay heading into the game a 5-on-3 for 1:53.

Buffalo made it through that and ended up with a 5-3 win over the Lightning much to the delight of a sparse crowd at KeyBank Center.

There was no way Buffalo was going to run stride for stride with Tampa so instead of feeding their transition with attempts to carry the puck into the Lighting zone, the Sabres played a game of dump and chase. They got the puck in deep, got on the forecheck, and even when there was a change of possession, Tampa still had 200' of ice to cross to get to the Sabres net.

It worked.

Buffalo jumped out early on Nicolas Baptiste's second goal of the season at the 6:25 mark of the first period. Baptiste and Zemgus Girgensons kicked it into overdrive before using a nice give and go along the half-wall to spring Baptiste. The 22 yr. old, who was just called up from Rochester on Sunday, cut to the front of the net and went five-hole for the goal.

Baptiste especially, but Girgensons as well, added a ton of speed to the fourth line and it showed on that goal.

Third line winger Scott Wilson would also get in on the scoring for the Sabres. The sequence started with the Evan Rodrigues line as they sustained some heavy pressure in the offensive zone. Tampa was force to dump it up ice but the Sabres came through the neutral zone with speed and established the forecheck again. Jason Pominville got it out to the left point where defenseman Victor Antipin swung it to the right. D-partner Casey Nelson sent it to the net where Wilson was there for the redirect.

That goal put Buffalo back on top 3-2 and was a nice answer to a fluke goal that saw Buffalo goalie Chad Johnson miscommunicate with Antipin and an ill-advised clear in front of his own net went directly to Tampa's Vadislav Namestinkov who deposited into a wide open net.

Secondary scoring has been non-existent for the most part this season for Buffalo so having two in one game was a pleasant surprise, as was how well the powerplay looked without Jack Eichel.

Eichel went down with a high-ankle sprain against the Boston Bruins on Saturday night and with a back-to-back against the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday, there was no time to work somebody in. Evander Kane filled in against the Avalanche and it was a mess going 1/5 with their only goal being scored 5-on-3.

Housley moved Rodrigues into Eichel's spot and it looked as if the first powerplay unit never missed a beat, save for Eichel's blistering shot from the circle.

Ryan O'Reilly and Sam Reinhart have been the two principles on the powerplay all season and once again they were the driving force in Buffalo going 2/3 with the man advantage last night. Reinhart scored off of an O'Reilly rebound while O'Reilly scored his own while pouncing a wide shot off the stick of Kyle Okposo.

O'Reilly has been a beast these last two games without Eichel. He had a goal and two primary assists in the 5-4 loss to Colorado and duplicated that last night against the Lightning. Those six points hurtled him past Kane and into second place on the Sabres in scoring. But probably more important is that those points are the product of the Ryan O'Reilly former GM Tim Murray fell in love with before trading for him.

Since coming to Buffalo in a trade at the 2015 NHL Draft, he's either lead the team in scoring (60 points in 2015-16) or has been second (55 points last season.) Those six points the last two games puts him on a pace for right around 60 points again and dependent upon when Eichel gets back in the lineup, O'Reilly could end up leading the team in scoring again.

But that's not the whole story with him. The points are a product of how determined his play has been. Unfortunately for him and the Sabres, he's been inconsistent in that department. O'Reilly has always had the capacity to take over a game and that's why Murray wasn't hesitant in giving him a long-term contract with a $7.5 million cap-hit. He's a beast on the faceoff dot but hasn't dominated the game as much as that cap-hit would indicate he could.

Why, is the big question with him, but when we see him in games like this, and when we see a player like Eichel taking over games on a more often, the Sabres with those two at center should have a much better record these past two seasons than 50-67-22 over the last two season. Sure, their defense hasn't been the greatest and goaltending, specifically this season, has been erratic, but with those two there really is no reason why they should be bottom-five in scoring two years running.

Last night was the fourth game in a row the Sabres have scored four or more goals and they went 3-1-0 in the process. The last time Buffalo scored four more goals per game for a four-game stretch was November 27-December 15, 2015. They went 3-0-1 with a shootout loss.

It's great to see smiles on the faces of Sabres' players post game and it was downright thrilling to hear the chants of "Let's Go Buffalo!" throughout KeyBank Center last night. Although sparse, the crowd last night was clearly appreciative of what the Sabres were doing and showed that they were into the game early as they vociferously booed some bad calls against their team.

For far too long the Sabres players have wanted to put on a show for the home crowd and often times it's resulted in ugly losses. Last night they kept it simple, as if playing a road game. Low and behold they scored some goals, got the crowd into it and skated away with the 'W'.

Not a bad formula.

Life without Jack Eichel on the ice has begun. And it was pretty rough.

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 2-12-2018


The score said Colorado Avalanche-5, Buffalo Sabres-4 but the game wasn't as close as the score might indicate. The Sabres managed to get into the third period down 3-2 but allowed two goals against in 7:03 and found themselves down 5-2. Ryan O'Reilly's powerplay goal at the 12:14 mark made it a two-goal deficit and Evander Kane scored with 2:52 left and goalie Robin Lehner pulled for the extra attacker. Buffalo applied the pressure but managed only two shots on goal and the time ticked away to 0:00.

Buffalo did what it always seems to do at home, get off to a sluggish start, fall behind, get their legs and (sometimes) make a game out of it. Last night was brutal in that respect as Colorado caught them napping :43 seconds into the game as the defense pairing of Rasmus Ristolainen and Nathan Beaulieu somehow let an Avalanche player get behind them. Former Sabre Nikita Zadorov sent a pass from behind is goal line to the Sabres blue line where Colin Wilson took it and found a streaking Alex Kerfoot who beat Lehner.

That was the beginning of a difficult night for that defense duo, especially Ristolainen. The hulking Finn was on the ice for seven of the nine goals overall, including all five against, and was pinned to the bench five-on-five early in the second and didn't hit the ice at full strength until the Avalanche scored their fifth goal at the 7:03 mark of the third period. It was that kind of night for him. Much to his credit, he faced the cameras afterwards and solemnly stated to the gathered media, "Obviously, I've got to play better."

Head coach Phil Housley was asked by the media what he thought might be the problem with Ristolainen, who had been playing extremely well through much of 2018. "I think it could be preparation, maybe confidence. I just don't see him as sharp in his game right now, going back to the All-Star break and I think he's got to refocus and get his game back."

Since the All-Star break the 6'4" 216 Ristolainen has one goal and two assists in seven games and is a minus-4, which includes his minus-3 rating last night. In the six game's prior to last night's 23:48 of ice-time, Ristolainen never logged under 27 minutes. When Jake McCabe went down early in the Anaheim game on February 6, he was on the ice for 32:39 in the overtime loss.

Ristolainen looked physically worn last night which probably affected the mental aspect of his game. Both Housley and former head coach Dan Bylsma have mentioned repeatedly that they'd like to pare back Ristolainen's minutes to the low-mid 20 area, yet neither have done it for more than a game or two.

There was plenty of blame to be thrown around last night, most notably forward Johan Larsson who took a bone-headed penalty that lead to a powerplay goal and a 4-2 Colorado lead. And for an encore, Larsson was a train wreck in his own end and turned over the puck which lead to the fifth and eventual game-winner for the Avalanche. And for as much as Lehner was left out to dry, he seemed disinterested at times, almost as if he knew what kind of night it would be after the 'Lanche scored :43 into the game.

This was the Sabres first game without Jack Eichel, who's out 4-6 weeks with a high-ankle sprain. Although the team gutted out a win at Boston after Eichel went down, they fell apart in this one. They were a disaster 5v5 and disjointed on the powerplay giving up a shorthanded goal (on a whiff by Ristolainen at the point) only managing a powerplay goal at 5-on-3. Other than the stellar play of O'Reilly who tried to carry the team on his back (23:48 TOI, one goal, two primary assists, plus-2,) the highlight of the evening for special teams was the penalty kill.

Although the PK unit did allow a goal against (in five opportunities,) they also scored two short-handed goals. Benoit Pouliot was the beneficiary of some dogged work and determination by O'Reilly and poked in a rebound laying in the crease. The other shortie was scored by rookie defenseman Casey Nelson who took a chance and scored when he corralled his own rebound, circled the net and bounced it in off of an Avalanche defender. It was his first NHL goal as his pumped up reaction would indicate.

Sure, it was a bad game last night, but credit to the Sabres for somehow clawing back into the game and not giving up. They lost their leading scorer in Eichel (22 goals, 31 assists, 51 points) and their most deadly weapon on the powerplay. Eichel and his linemates, whoever they've been throughout the season, have always been a threat 5v5 and having that element out of the lineup made it difficult on the rest.

The Sabres were on the second game of a back-to-back with travel in between and didn't have a morning skate yesterday. There's no scheduled practice today and save for a morning skate tomorrow, they'll essentially be winging it again at home against a deadly Tampa Bay Lightning team tomorrow night.

Good luck with that.

Sabres and Amerks on divergent paths at the Christmas break.

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 12-24-2017


Last night was pretty much a microcosm of two teams on two different paths. The Buffalo Sabres, fresh off of a solid 4-2 win at home vs. the Philadelphia Flyers travelled to Carolina to take on the Hurricanes in the second of a back-to-back. Meanwhile, the Rochester Americans were in Laval, Quebec for a back-to-back in their second consecutive game against the Rocket (MON.) The Amerks took the first game in overtime after tying the game late in the third period.

What we saw last night in Carolina was simply one of the uglier games of the season for the Sabres as they dropped a 4-2 decision in a game that wasn't nearly as close as the score might indicate. The avalanche started early as the Hurricanes scored a mere :33 seconds into the game. They controlled the faceoff and the entire play up until Sebastian Aho scored from the slot against an obviously confused and unprepared Sabres team.

It was a harbinger of things to come, beginning with the faceoff win as Carolina would finish the game winning an astounding 75% (45/60) of the draws taken. If Buffalo fans were wondering what Ryan O'Reilly, the league's faceoff leader at 61.9%, was doing, he was on a plane back to Buffalo to witness the birth of his first child, a boy.

Congratulations and best wishes to O'Reilly and his fiancé,  Dayna Douros.

While O'Reilly was witnessing the wonders of his first child coming into the world, Buffalo head coach Phil Housley moved fourth-line center Johan Larsson up into O'Reilly's spot between Evander Kane and Kyle Okposo. Larsson lost the opening draw then proceeded to get blown past by Jordan Staal who got the puck into the zone where it wouldn't leave until the referee was ready to drop it at center ice with the' Canes up 1-0.

The Sabres looked grossly undermanned without O'Reilly in the lineup last night. Buffalo has some good complimentary players, like Okposo and Kane, but other than Jack Eichel, O'Reilly's the only one who can take over a game, or at least a good portion of it. That is, when he's on his game, which hasn't been too often this season.

In a situation like that, without one of their top forwards, the Sabres needed some big saves and although Chad Johnson did have a couple, he needed to be much better. However, it looks as if he doesn't have it in him this season. Johnson had won 22 games with the Sabres during the 2015-16 season and 18 games with the Calgary Flames last season and he's presently sitting on one win, which came on October 15 against the Anaheim Ducks.

Regardless of what's in front of him skater-wise, Johnson is just letting in too many goals. He has given up six goals once, five goals three times, the four-goal game last night and three goals twice. The Sabres lost in overtime in two of those five-goal against games. He has a 1-6-3 record with a 3.78 goals-against average and a .881 save percentage.

Heading into the Christmas break, which starts today, the Sabres are in 30th place with a 9-20-7 record, a minus-42 goal differential and have won back-to-back games only once this season.

Conversely, the Rochester Americans pulled off back-to-back wins against the Rocket to go into the break on a four-game win streak. The Amerks have gotten points in 21 of their last 23 games (15-6-2) and with the win last night tied the Toronto Marlies (TOR) for first place in the AHL's Eastern Conference.

Goalie Linus Ullmark is tied for the league-lead in wins (14) while sporting a 2.46 GAA and .924 Sv% while facing the most shots in the league (674) and the Amerks also have the rookie points-leader in C.J. Smith who's seventh overall in the league with 30 points (10+20.)

It's not surprising that the Amerks are doing well. Buffalo GM Jason Botterill began rebuilding Rochester at the July 1 start to free agency and his assistant GM, Randy Sexton continued by adding upper-level AHL vets into the mix. Players like forwards Kevin Porter, Seth Griffith and Sahir Gill along with defensemen Zach Redmond and Stuart Percy are a big part of a veteran leadership group guiding that's won in the past and in the process, younger prospects like Smith, defenseman Brendan Guhle, forward Alexander Nylander and even Ullmark, are learning what it takes to win from players who've been there.

Learning to win is something that the Sabres haven't been able to grasp yet, as indicated by their record, but Botterill seems intent upon laying the groundwork for future success by making Rochester a winning environment, seemingly at the expense of the parent club. One highly doubts that he foresaw his NHL club as being this bad, for a number of reasons, but he's resisted the temptation to graduate players like Smith, Guhle and Ullmark until they have the proper seasoning in Rochester.

The Sabres will be off until Wednesday, as mandated by the collective bargaining agreement, when they touch down in Brooklyn to take on the NY Islanders that night. After that they head to New Jersey to take on the Devils before playing in the 10th  annual Winter Classic at Citi Field in Queens, NY to kick off the 2018 calendar year.

Rochester also returns to action on December 27 to face the Laval Rocket once again, this time in the friendly confines of Blue Cross Arena. After that it's a back-to-back beginning Friday at Toronto of Friday and another home date with the Rocket on Saturday.

Some hockey happiness in Western New York last night

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 12-23-2017


Both the Buffalo Sabres and Rochester Americans got wins last night bringing Western New York some holiday cheer. The Sabres beat the Philadelphia Flyers 4-2 in their last home game until January 9, 2018 and the Amerks beat the Laval Rocket (MTL) 3-2 in overtime to continue a roll they've been on for a month. Add in that Sabres prospect Casey Mittelstadt scored a goal and added an assist in Team USA's final tune up before the World Junior Championships that begin in Buffalo on Decemeber 26, and it was a pretty good night for hockey fans in Sabreland.

The Sabres have been struggling as of late in a number of ways, mostly centered around scoring goals. Although not as bad as a stretch earlier in the season, Buffalo was having trouble scoring lately, especially with Robin Lehner in net. In his six starts prior to last night he allowed an average of just over two goals/game on a .940 save percentage yet he was only 2-2-2 through that stretch as the team only averaged two goals per game.

Last night they were having trouble with Flyers goalie Brian Elliott until Ryan O'Reilly squeezed a shot in from below the goal line. It was just  a little lucky, but it was the type of goal they needed at the time. Just over seven minutes later Evander Kane put the Sabres up 2-0 as he tipped in a Josh Gorges shot from the point. Kyle Okposo got the secondary assist on that one but the whole sequence was set up by O'Reilly through his work from behind the net.

From there it was a matter of hanging on for dear life. The Flyers went on the powerplay late in the third as Buffalo defensemen Rasmus Ristolainen was called for delay of game with 3:58 left in the third period. Philadelphia pulled Elliot for the extra attacker and scored with just 12 seconds left on the penalty to make it 2-1. Jack Eichel scored an empty-netter to make it 3-1 but the Flyers closed the gap again with :32 seconds left. But Eichel scored his second empty net goal with :0.6 seconds left on the clock.

It was the first time in Sabres history that one player scored two empty net goals in a game.

That was a good win for the Sabres who were in desperate need of one. Even though they'd remained rather loose through their recent three-game skid (0-2-1,) winning is a good thing, especially the way they did it. Despite being frustrated throughout the game they kept to the game-plan, like coach Phil Housley had been imploring them to do, and eventually broke through.

"I give credit to our guys because we've been in that position before where nothing is going in and, 'Here we go again,'" Housley said to the gathered media afterward. "But they stuck with it. We kept telling them to just keep throwing pucks to the net, it's going to happen.

"Finally, we broke through. We didn't get away from what we were talking about."

Housley juggled his lines for last night's game and inserted Gorges into the lineup in place of rookie Victor Antipin. And it worked.

Buffalo is in Carolina tonight to take on the Hurricanes before the Christmas break in the third and final meeting between the two teams this season. Carolina has beaten the Sabres twice, 3-1 and 5-4 in overtime.

Meanwhile, the Amerks continued their roll with a 3-2 overtime win in Laval, Quebec against the Rockets. Kyle Criscuolo, who scored two goals, tied the score at 2-2 with 1:40 left in the third period while Nick Baptiste scored the game-winner in overtime.

Rochester is has now gained points in 13 of their last 14 games (9-1-4) and are two points behind the Toronto Marlies (TOR) in the AHL's Eastern Conference.

Here are the highlights courtesy the Laval Rocket:




And here's the USA/Sweden highlights courtesy USA Hockey:

One line at a time. (Beniot Pouliot)

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 11-3-2017


The Buffalo Sabres started out the season with one forward line rolling and the rest non-existent. The line of Jack Eichel centering left wing Evander Kane and right wing Jason Pominville did all the scoring in the first four games. Granted some of the goals were scored on the powerplay, and Kane was a beast with three shorthanded goals, but after four games, Kane and Pominville each had four of the Sabres nine total goals and Eichel had the other while also getting the primary assist on four of those goals.

Zemgus Girgensons would finally break that trend with a goal in the first period at Los Angeles in Buffalo's fifth game of the season yet Eichel would account for the Sabres only other goal that night with assists from, who else, Kane and Pominville.

Is it any wonder the team started the season 0-4-1?

Sabres head coach Phil Housley had a bear of a time trying to figure out how to get his other scorers going. Housley's line juggling included a number of combinations, some of which had Pominville changing lines and Sam Reinhart moving from center back to wing, a position he played most of the past two seasons. In Anaheim, Housley came up with an interesting trio as he moved Reinhart and center Ryan O'Reilly to the wings on either side of Girgensons.

However, call-up Justin Bailey to ignite Buffalo's secondary scoring as he scored his first goal of the season just 1:26 into the game against the Ducks. Bailey took advantage of some extended zone-time created by the Girgensons' line, barreled to the net on a change and buried a rebound near the paint. Reinhart would score his first goal of the season late in the second period and Johan Larsson would add an empty-netter in the third period for his first as well.

It was the first time all season, the Eichel line would be held off the scoresheet and ironically the Sabres got their first win of the season.

It wasn't long after that game that O'Reilly began to turn things around, mostly on the powerplay to start, but after landing only one assist through the first five games, he went on a point streak. Beginning in Anaheim he collected six points (3+3) in four games and after being shut out in the next two, he's was good for four points (1+3) in his last two games. O'Reilly sits fourth on the team in scoring with 11 points.

Housley bounced new Sabre Benoit Pouliot around much of this season after he began the season on the second line with O'Reilly and Okposo. It took him nine games to net his first goal of but after a two-goal performance last night, Pouliot has now four goals (plus an assist) in his last five games.

Perhaps no Buffalo forward has gone through a tougher stretch than Kyle Okposo. It was so bad that at one point for Okposo that Housley benched him for all but one shift in the third period against the Vancouver Canucks. However, Okposo would come back with a very strong game against the Boston Bruins the next night and even though he didn't score a goal, it was widely considered his best game of the year. "Kyle was fantastic," said Housley post-game, "moving his feet, winning a lot of puck battles."

Although still goal-less through his first nine games, that Boston game punched Okposo's ticket back into the top-six, first on the Eichel/Kane line then back to a more familiar position as O'Reilly's right wing. Okposo had an assist against the San Jose' Sharks last Saturday and netted his first goal of the season at Arizona last night as he scored with  0.9 seconds left in the first period to tie the score. Okposo added an assist to finish with two points and was a plus-2. O'Reilly had three assists and was also a plus-2 while the game's first star, Pouliot, had two goals and an assist and was also a plus-

It took a number of games but Buffalo's top-six is back to where they began the season with lines of Eichel-Kane-Pominville and O'Reilly-Pouliot-Okposo. If Housley can keep those lines mostly intact, while getting production from them, perhaps he can turn his attention more to the bottom-six in the hopes that he can get them moving a little more. Reinhart has shown signs of life in his role as a third-line center (although he still might be better off on the wing) and his winger Seth Griffith scored his second goal of the season last night as well.

The Sabres as a whole have been playing much better of late and are beginning to make a dent in the win column. They're 4-3-1 since that five-game losing streak to start the season and it looks as if they've evolved into a two-line team. Although two scoring lines is enough to beat a team like the Coyotes, who have only one win on the season, as the game against a very deep Columbus Blue Jackets club revealed, they'll need much more than that to compete with the better teams in the league.

That said, Buffalo seems to be headed in the proper direction and they look to be getting on track, at least up front, one line at a time.