Published by hockeybuzz.com, 1-5-2017
For Team USA and Buffalo Sabres fans, it was about as bad as it gets yesterday as the Americans got swamped 4-2 in their IIHF World Junior Championships semi-final game versus Team Sweden, and in the main bought, the Sabres got smoked by the Minnesota Wild 6-2. And in both instances it wasn't as close as the score indicated.
After a lackluster performance by both teams in the first period Team Sweden seemed to find their legs with a powerplay goal with 6:30 left in the second. It was one of four penalties Team USA took through the first two periods. The Swedes would add to their lead early in the third then had to kill a penalty less than a minute later.
No worries, Team USA would pull of a perfect imitation of an early season Sabres game (at the NY Islanders) and proceed to give up two shorthanded goals on the same powerplay. At 4-0 with just over 11 minutes to play in the third period, the game was over.
The U.S. had a golden opportunity to tie the game late in the first period after Sweden got caught on a poor line change. Casey Mittelstadt lead a 3-on-0 break with less than a minute to play in the period but was stifled by Swedish goalie Filip Gustavsson, a second-round pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins (2016, 55th-overall.) And to add insult to injury, USA's Kieffer Bellows (2016, 9th, NYI) was called for goalie interference.
Mittelstadt, who's tied for the tournament lead with 10 points (4+6) told the gathered media post-game, "To be honest I didn't even really know it was a 3-on-0. Someone was yelling 'Go' so I just kind of went and I didn't finish there and that's what it comes down to."
Gustavsson said he was focused solely on Mittelstadt the whole time. "It was more like calling his bluff there that he wasn't going to pass or give it to someone else," he said.
Team USA takes on Team Czech today at 4pm in the bronze medal game. As the defending champs, the Americans could be setup for another let down playing in the consolation game, but if they want to medal, they'll need to be on their game.
Although the Czechs got bombed 7-2 to Team Canada, they're hell-bent on bringing home a medal. Winger Filip Zadina, who scored both Czech goals last night and considered a top-five prospect in this year's draft, had this to say via ESPN's Chris Peters twitter feed, "I was glad to play well, but I’m so sad because we lost. My goals mean nothing. We will do anything tomorrow, we will die on the ice to bring a medal back to Czech Republic."
Zadina's seven goals is tied for the tournament lead with Bellows and Canada's Drake Batherson (2017, 121st, OTT,) who had the hat trick for Canada last night.
*****
All is not lost for Sabres fans as Team Sweden has two Buffalo prospects going for gold today.
Forward Marcus Davidsson (2017, 37th) has been solid in his fourth-line support role for Sweden and continued last night breaking up an American rush at the blueline and feeding his team mate for Sweden's fourth goal. Davidsson has a goal and two assists and is a plus-1 for the tournament.
Buffalo's first round pick in the 2016 NHL Draft, Alexander Nylander (8th-overall,) continued to put up points with the primary assist on Sweden's first goal of the game last night. With Sweden on the powerplay, Nylander grabbed the puck on the right half-wall and sent a sharp, cross-ice pass to Elias Pettersson (2017, 5th, VAN) who ripped it home.
Nylander is tied for 10th in the tournament in scoring with seven points on one goal and six assists.
Lest we forget him, Buffalo d-prospect Vojtech Budik (2016, 130th) is also on the Czech team fighting Team USA for the bronze medal. Although he and his fellow countrymen were run over by a dominant Canadian team, the 6'1" 193 lb. Budik enters today's final matchup with five assists and a plus-3 rating. Despite the route, Budik had an assist an even rating in 16:17 of ice-time against Team Canada last night.
*****
If you thought a 4-0 deficit was a bummer last night, the Buffalo Sabres were down 6-0 at the Minnesota Wild before they scored two meaningless goals in the third period.
To say it was ugly would be an understatement. Minnesota jumped on the Sabres early with two goals in the first 2:15 of play. They added another goal on a five-minute powerplay in the first period then added three more in the second period. Sam Reinhart scored early in the third period and Evander Kane scored with 1:01 left for the 6-2 final score.
For all the talk that there would be no post-Winter Classic hangover, it's exactly what happened. to put it in perspective, if Team USA was a half-step behind Team Sweden at the WJC, the Sabres were a full step behind the Wild. They couldn't fight out of a wet paper bag early on last night and if there was any hope of a comeback after quickly falling behind 2-0, the five-minute major and game-misconduct handed out to Sabres defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen at the 10:16 mark of the first period pretty much shattered any hopes of that.
Ristolainen got his shoulder high on a check to Miko Koivu at the Sabres blueline. Initially the refs called a two-minute interference penalty but after a conference, and maybe because Koivu was bleeding rather profusely around his mouth, the major and game-misconduct was assessed.
Sabres bench-boss Phil Housley did his best to distribute the minutes amongst his rear-guard but when Zach Bogosian is over 25 minutes of ice-time, Nathan Beaulieu's over 20 minutes and Justin Falk is logging 19:55, it doesn't make for the best of situations.
No word yet on any further disciplinary action against Ristolainen, so it looks like he'll be in the lineup tonight.
The Sabres head into Winnipeg to face the Jets tonight for their 41st game, or the halfway point of the season. Buffalo's 10 wins are tied with Arizona for the fewest in the league and their 29 points is only four more than the last place Coyotes. An abysmal October and November lead to a December of hope where they played much better but could only win one of five overtime games leading to a 4-5-4 record for the month.
Buffalo continued on with that theme on January 1, 2018 as the lost in overtime to the NY Rangers in the Winter Classic, but last night's debacle sent them back to their woes of earlier in the season. The Sabres haven't been trounced this bad since back-to-back games against the Pittsburgh Penguins December 1 and 2. They had a dog of a game against the Carolina Hurricanes just prior to the Christmas break, but at worst trailed by three goals en route to a 4-2 defeat.
The Sabres beat Winnipeg last season in both meetings, 3-1 in Winnipeg on October 30 and 4-3 at home last January 7 and are on a four-game win streak vs. the Jets. However, according to Sabres PR, Buffalo is only 5-5-0 in their last 10 vs. Winnipeg, 3-6-1 on the road and they're facing a Jets team that has only one regulation loss in their last eight games (5-2-1) and are 14-3-1 on the season.
A couple of quick notes, Reinhart's goal vs. the Wild was his second in as many games while Kane' goal was his first in five games and tied him with Jack Eichel atop the Sabres leaderboard with 35 points (16+19)
Also of note, defenseman Taylor Fedun is healthy again and was sent to Rochester. Fedun began the season in Rochester and played seven games in Buffalo before being felled by a lower-body injury. He returns to an Amerks team that's only two points behind the Eastern Conference-leading Toronto Marlies.
Showing posts with label 2018 IIHF World Junior Championships. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2018 IIHF World Junior Championships. Show all posts
Saturday, January 6, 2018
Friday, January 5, 2018
Mittelstadt/USA vs. Dahlin/Sweden at WJC. Sabres in Minnesota tonight
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 1-4-2017
The last time the IIHF World Junior Championships were held in Buffalo, NY, Russia defeated Canada for the gold medal and the U.S. defeated Sweden 4-2 for the bronze. Since then the Americans and Swedes have met twice in the medal rounds--in 2013 the U.S. beat Sweden for the gold medal in Ufa, Russia and in 2016 Team USA once again came out on top as they took home the bronze by thumping Team Sweden 8-3.
It's 2018, we're back in Buffalo and once again there is a U.S./Sweden matchup, this time for the opportunity to play in the gold-medal game.
Team Sweden, a favorite heading into the tournament, is the only remaining team to go undefeated in the preliminary round (3 wins and a shootout win vs. Russia) and is the top seed. Team USA has only one blemish on their record, a 3-2 loss vs. Slovakia the night before they were to play Team Canada in the tournament's first-ever outdoor game.
Today's matchup between the U.S. and Sweden at 4 pm is a faceoff between two strong teams and two of the tournaments top players--Casey Mittelstadt (USA) and Rasmus Dahlin (Sweden.)
Mittelstadt is very familiar to Buffalo Sabres fans as he was the team's first round pick (8th-overall) in the 2017 NHL Draft. The 6'0" 203 lb. center, who plays for the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers in NCAA D-I men's hockey, is leading the tournament in scoring with 10 points (4+6) in five games. He's also responsible for the goal of the tournament thus far (at the 1:18 mark of this USA Hockey video):
Sabres fans have been thrilled with Mittelstadt's play thus far. Not only has he scored the points, but many of them have been meaningful. The goal above tied the score at 2-2 with just over three minutes to play in the third period and in the game vs. Canada the next afternoon, Mittelstadt made two beautiful setups to help the Americans come back from a 3-1 deficit and eventually defeat Canada 4-3 in the shootout (he was inches away from a shootout goal that would have won the game.)
On the other side, defenseman Dahlin is the consensus first overall pick in the upcoming NHL Draft--defenseman. The smooth-skating, extremely poised 6'2" 183 lb. Dahlin has looked like a man amongst boys out there in the U-20 tournament, and he should be as he's spent the last two seasons in Sweden's top hockey league playing and succeeding against men.
With the Buffalo Sabres presently in 30th place in the league, many in Sabreland have visions of Dahlin in the Blue and Gold with some lottery luck.
Forgotten in the largeness of those two players are two other Sabres prospects playing for Sweden--forwards Alexander Nylander (2016, 8th) and Marcus Davidsson (2017, 37th.)
There hasn't been much fanfare with Davidsson as he was taken in the second round and very little is known about him as he plays a game far from the limelight. In is 2017 Sabres draft review, Kris Baker of sabresprospects.com/Sabres.com called him "hard-working, two-way forward who is excellent in the corners and in front of the net."
After yesterday's games, Baker had this to say about the 6'1" 198 lb. forward at Sabres.com, "The role Davidsson is playing for Sweden in this tournament is exactly the role he'll be expected to play when he arrives in North America. He's committed to the work in front of him on every shift, and in that regard he has proven himself quite well leading up to the semifinal round."
Nylander has been a bit of a different story. Like Ken Campbell of The Hockey News writes, "It’s far too early to write off Alex Nylander. But right about now might be a good time to start wondering a little about him."
Buffalo's first pick in the 2016 draft is on loan from the Rochester Americans of the American Hockey League in part because of his struggles making the transition to the pro game. Last year the 6'0" 176 lb. winger had a difficult time for the Amerks as he scored 10 goals and added 18 assists in 65 games while charting a minus-24 plus/minus rating for a 26th place team. He suffered a groin injury early in the off season that kept him of the ice until mid-November and started the season in Rochester.
It's safe to say that it took a while for him to get up to speed after being off the ice for so long, but he had some difficulties leading up to the decision to let him play in the WJC scoring in only one of his last eight games (1+1.) The thought process that may have been involved in the loan was for him to regain his form against his peers but to date, it hasn't panned out as expected. Campbell points out that Nylander was "very, very quite" in Sweden's 3-2 quarterfinal win over Slovakia and quoted him as saying post-game, "I had a really bad game, which is unacceptable. I have to step it up a lot more next game. I’ve got to play a lot better. I wasn’t moving my feet and create more plays and use the stuff I’m good at, trying to get shots at the net and working hard. I’ve got to work harder.”
To those who scouted Nylander, it's not too much of a surprise. There were quite a few who called him the most skilled player in the draft but as Kyle Woodlief of the Redline Report wrote post-draft, "[he] spends too much time on the perimeter and if he's not scoring, he's not helping."
This isn't the only game featuring Sabres prospects. In the nightcap, Sabres d-prospect Vojtech Budik and the Czech's will face off against Team Canada at 8pm. Baker said of Budik's game against Finland in the quarterfinals "[he] did a nice job throughout the contest using his size and long reach to break up plays and chip pucks off the boards" and "proved to be a calming influence in his 26:09 of action to help the Czechs reach the semifinals for the first time since 2005."
*****
The Buffalo Sabres will be in action tonight against the Minnesota Wild for the first time since dropping the 10th annual Winter Classic in overtime on New Year's Day. Coach Phil Housley said yesterday that, based upon the way his team practiced, he didn't think they'd suffer from a post Winter Classic hangover. And they better be sharp as the Wild have been hot at home. As Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News pointed out, Minnesota is 10-1-1 in their last 12 starts at XCel Energy Center and are 13-4-2 overall.
For their part, the Sabres are coming off of their most successful month of the season. However, as their 4-3-5 December record might indicate, it hasn't been that great of a season so far. Some have called it a stealth tank while others attribute their 30th place standing to an abysmal start complete with injuries and the look of a team finding out about themselves individually and finding their way around the way the NHL is being played these days as a team.
The Sabres have been playing their best hockey of the season lately and as mentioned after the 3-2 overtime loss to the NY Rangers in the Winter Classic, for maybe the first time this year they're looking like a group that's actually playing like a team.
Should they continue to progress like they have as of late, they could end up a bit higher in the overall standings and have a much less chance of winning the draft lottery and selecting Dahlin or even in the top-three. And for those entertaining playoff thoughts, the Sabres are presently 15 points out of a playoff spot with eight teams to jump. Although not impossible, it is highly improbable that they make a run like that.
Some of the focus tonight includes the return of defenseman Marco Scandella and forward Jason Pominville to Minnesota, the team that traded them to the Buffalo Sabres in the off season. Outside of that, it's a Buffalo team that looks as if it's turned the corner and is on an upward swing (however slow it may be) and a Minnesota team that's one point away from the second wild card spot in the Western Conference.
The Sabres lost to the Wild 5-4 back in November dropping them to 3-6-1 in their last 10 vs. Minnesota. In a weird quirk, Buffalo is 7-3-0 in their last 10 on the road in the series.
Housley seems to have found some good combinations for his top-nine up front and his top-four on defense and according to yesterday's practice he'll continue that formula with these projected lines and d-pairings:
Girgensons-Eichel-Reinhart
Kane-O'Reilly-Okposo
Pouliot-Rodrigues-Pominville
Larsson-Josefson-Nolan
Scandella-Ristolainen
McCabe-Bogosian
Falk-Beaulieu
Robin Lehner will probably get the nod in net.
Of note: Housley was the head coach in 2013 when Team USA defeated Team Sweden in the WJC gold medal game and Sabres defenseman Jake McCabe was the captain of that team.
*****
The Rochester Americans are off until tomorrow night when they begin a back-to-back home set vs. the Bridgeport Sound Tigers (NYI) and the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (PHI) on Saturday.
The last time the IIHF World Junior Championships were held in Buffalo, NY, Russia defeated Canada for the gold medal and the U.S. defeated Sweden 4-2 for the bronze. Since then the Americans and Swedes have met twice in the medal rounds--in 2013 the U.S. beat Sweden for the gold medal in Ufa, Russia and in 2016 Team USA once again came out on top as they took home the bronze by thumping Team Sweden 8-3.
It's 2018, we're back in Buffalo and once again there is a U.S./Sweden matchup, this time for the opportunity to play in the gold-medal game.
Team Sweden, a favorite heading into the tournament, is the only remaining team to go undefeated in the preliminary round (3 wins and a shootout win vs. Russia) and is the top seed. Team USA has only one blemish on their record, a 3-2 loss vs. Slovakia the night before they were to play Team Canada in the tournament's first-ever outdoor game.
Today's matchup between the U.S. and Sweden at 4 pm is a faceoff between two strong teams and two of the tournaments top players--Casey Mittelstadt (USA) and Rasmus Dahlin (Sweden.)
Mittelstadt is very familiar to Buffalo Sabres fans as he was the team's first round pick (8th-overall) in the 2017 NHL Draft. The 6'0" 203 lb. center, who plays for the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers in NCAA D-I men's hockey, is leading the tournament in scoring with 10 points (4+6) in five games. He's also responsible for the goal of the tournament thus far (at the 1:18 mark of this USA Hockey video):
Sabres fans have been thrilled with Mittelstadt's play thus far. Not only has he scored the points, but many of them have been meaningful. The goal above tied the score at 2-2 with just over three minutes to play in the third period and in the game vs. Canada the next afternoon, Mittelstadt made two beautiful setups to help the Americans come back from a 3-1 deficit and eventually defeat Canada 4-3 in the shootout (he was inches away from a shootout goal that would have won the game.)
On the other side, defenseman Dahlin is the consensus first overall pick in the upcoming NHL Draft--defenseman. The smooth-skating, extremely poised 6'2" 183 lb. Dahlin has looked like a man amongst boys out there in the U-20 tournament, and he should be as he's spent the last two seasons in Sweden's top hockey league playing and succeeding against men.
With the Buffalo Sabres presently in 30th place in the league, many in Sabreland have visions of Dahlin in the Blue and Gold with some lottery luck.
Forgotten in the largeness of those two players are two other Sabres prospects playing for Sweden--forwards Alexander Nylander (2016, 8th) and Marcus Davidsson (2017, 37th.)
There hasn't been much fanfare with Davidsson as he was taken in the second round and very little is known about him as he plays a game far from the limelight. In is 2017 Sabres draft review, Kris Baker of sabresprospects.com/Sabres.com called him "hard-working, two-way forward who is excellent in the corners and in front of the net."
After yesterday's games, Baker had this to say about the 6'1" 198 lb. forward at Sabres.com, "The role Davidsson is playing for Sweden in this tournament is exactly the role he'll be expected to play when he arrives in North America. He's committed to the work in front of him on every shift, and in that regard he has proven himself quite well leading up to the semifinal round."
Nylander has been a bit of a different story. Like Ken Campbell of The Hockey News writes, "It’s far too early to write off Alex Nylander. But right about now might be a good time to start wondering a little about him."
Buffalo's first pick in the 2016 draft is on loan from the Rochester Americans of the American Hockey League in part because of his struggles making the transition to the pro game. Last year the 6'0" 176 lb. winger had a difficult time for the Amerks as he scored 10 goals and added 18 assists in 65 games while charting a minus-24 plus/minus rating for a 26th place team. He suffered a groin injury early in the off season that kept him of the ice until mid-November and started the season in Rochester.
It's safe to say that it took a while for him to get up to speed after being off the ice for so long, but he had some difficulties leading up to the decision to let him play in the WJC scoring in only one of his last eight games (1+1.) The thought process that may have been involved in the loan was for him to regain his form against his peers but to date, it hasn't panned out as expected. Campbell points out that Nylander was "very, very quite" in Sweden's 3-2 quarterfinal win over Slovakia and quoted him as saying post-game, "I had a really bad game, which is unacceptable. I have to step it up a lot more next game. I’ve got to play a lot better. I wasn’t moving my feet and create more plays and use the stuff I’m good at, trying to get shots at the net and working hard. I’ve got to work harder.”
To those who scouted Nylander, it's not too much of a surprise. There were quite a few who called him the most skilled player in the draft but as Kyle Woodlief of the Redline Report wrote post-draft, "[he] spends too much time on the perimeter and if he's not scoring, he's not helping."
This isn't the only game featuring Sabres prospects. In the nightcap, Sabres d-prospect Vojtech Budik and the Czech's will face off against Team Canada at 8pm. Baker said of Budik's game against Finland in the quarterfinals "[he] did a nice job throughout the contest using his size and long reach to break up plays and chip pucks off the boards" and "proved to be a calming influence in his 26:09 of action to help the Czechs reach the semifinals for the first time since 2005."
*****
The Buffalo Sabres will be in action tonight against the Minnesota Wild for the first time since dropping the 10th annual Winter Classic in overtime on New Year's Day. Coach Phil Housley said yesterday that, based upon the way his team practiced, he didn't think they'd suffer from a post Winter Classic hangover. And they better be sharp as the Wild have been hot at home. As Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News pointed out, Minnesota is 10-1-1 in their last 12 starts at XCel Energy Center and are 13-4-2 overall.
For their part, the Sabres are coming off of their most successful month of the season. However, as their 4-3-5 December record might indicate, it hasn't been that great of a season so far. Some have called it a stealth tank while others attribute their 30th place standing to an abysmal start complete with injuries and the look of a team finding out about themselves individually and finding their way around the way the NHL is being played these days as a team.
The Sabres have been playing their best hockey of the season lately and as mentioned after the 3-2 overtime loss to the NY Rangers in the Winter Classic, for maybe the first time this year they're looking like a group that's actually playing like a team.
Should they continue to progress like they have as of late, they could end up a bit higher in the overall standings and have a much less chance of winning the draft lottery and selecting Dahlin or even in the top-three. And for those entertaining playoff thoughts, the Sabres are presently 15 points out of a playoff spot with eight teams to jump. Although not impossible, it is highly improbable that they make a run like that.
Some of the focus tonight includes the return of defenseman Marco Scandella and forward Jason Pominville to Minnesota, the team that traded them to the Buffalo Sabres in the off season. Outside of that, it's a Buffalo team that looks as if it's turned the corner and is on an upward swing (however slow it may be) and a Minnesota team that's one point away from the second wild card spot in the Western Conference.
The Sabres lost to the Wild 5-4 back in November dropping them to 3-6-1 in their last 10 vs. Minnesota. In a weird quirk, Buffalo is 7-3-0 in their last 10 on the road in the series.
Housley seems to have found some good combinations for his top-nine up front and his top-four on defense and according to yesterday's practice he'll continue that formula with these projected lines and d-pairings:
Girgensons-Eichel-Reinhart
Kane-O'Reilly-Okposo
Pouliot-Rodrigues-Pominville
Larsson-Josefson-Nolan
Scandella-Ristolainen
McCabe-Bogosian
Falk-Beaulieu
Robin Lehner will probably get the nod in net.
Of note: Housley was the head coach in 2013 when Team USA defeated Team Sweden in the WJC gold medal game and Sabres defenseman Jake McCabe was the captain of that team.
*****
The Rochester Americans are off until tomorrow night when they begin a back-to-back home set vs. the Bridgeport Sound Tigers (NYI) and the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (PHI) on Saturday.
Thursday, January 4, 2018
Highlights and notes from a busy weekend for Western New Yorker sports fans.
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 1-2-2018
Is there anything better than Buffalo Bills defensive tackle Kyle Williams having his moment in the sun?
The 12 yr. Bills vet had been a beacon of professionalism throughout Buffalo's long, 17-year playoff drought which finally ended on New Years Eve with a Buffalo win and a Cincinnati Bengals upset of the Baltimore Ravens. In a game the Bills had to win on the final day of the 2017 NFL season, Williams was given the ball on a first and goal at the one, scored his first career touchdown then proceeded to lead one of the best touchdown celebrations we've seen all season:
(video from Highlight Haven)
After the Bills beat the Miami Dolphins to finish the regular season 9-7, it was off to the locker room for some scoreboard watching and this reaction (plus some additional cheering from Bills fans) after Bengals scored the game-winning touchdown on a fourth and 12 with :44 seconds left in the fourth quarter:
We're two days removed from that glorious finish but it's still goosebumps-worthy video to watch.
*****
How do you top that?
The Buffalo Sabres had an opportunity to at least keep the celebration rolling with a New Year's Day outdoor clash against the NY Rangers in the 10th annual NHL Winter Classic, but unfortunately they came up just short in a 3-2 overtime loss.
Whether it was the 20 degree temperature at game-time, the gusty wind, a military flyover or the overall enormity of the lone NHL game of the day being played at Citi Field in The Big Apple before 41,000+ fans the Sabres found themselves in a hole. After falling behind 2-0 in the first period the Sabres clawed their way back with goals early in the second and third periods to take the game to overtime. But it ended when they allowed a powerplay goal to the Rangers in overtime.
Some notes on that game:
--We've heard plenty about the outdoor game losing it's luster, but for a fan whose team is actually playing, it doesn't. It was a helluva event and an extremely well played game that could've went either way.
--The Winter Classic sweaters designed by Adidas were outstanding for both the Sabres and the Rangers.
--"Doc" Emerick is considered to be one of the best announcers in the game. And rightfully so. His knowledge of the game and the players playing is top-notch and he can roll with the game as good as anybody. However, with all due respect to him, his play-by-play does not allow the game to breathe. Emerick is a wordsmith who's constant barrage of words and phrases describing nearly every name and nearly every moment. At times it comes off as if he's more interested in displaying his knowledge than calling the game. His calls are great for radio, but seemingly smothers the television audience.
--I was finally left with the impression that this group of Sabres players is finally looking like a team. Too bad it tool 38 1/2 games for it to be so. The holes are still there in the lineup, and they still have plenty to learn, but these players are finally developing some chemistry amongst themselves, which is great moving forward. Unfortunately, that might not last long as the next big NHL moment is the trade deadline and it's expected that some Sabres will be on the move.
--The "Ref-cam" was very cool in this game getting us as close to the action as possible. But where was it when Buffalo's Evander Kane got whacked in the face by an rough high stick? Kane tumbled to the ice and lay there while gathering his faculties. Oddly enough there was no gathering of officials which sometimes happens in the NHL. After he go up you could see blood pouring from the bridge of hid nose and when they showed a profile shot there was a huge lump forming. It was an egregious non-call and you have to wonder: did the ref not see it, or did they just bury the tape from the "Ref-cam?
--Rasmus Ristolainen has goals in consecutive games and has been looking strong in the process. He played 26:00 yesterday had a goal and an assist and was a plus-1. In a curious move, Ristolainen was on the ice for only one shift (:33) in overtime last night.
--That was one of a few head-scratchers from Sabres head coach Phil Housley with the big one being, why was fourth-line center Jacob Josefson on the ice in overtime? Not sure what Housley was thinking on that one, but Josefson wouldn't you want to play your best players as much as possible in the five-minute overtime session?
--Kyle Okposo assisted on both Buffalo goals yesterday and was hard on the puck all game. It looks as if he's recovered from his off-season health issues. He would have been a better pick than Josefson. Benoit Pouliot has the speed to play in overtime. He would have been better. For as much as the players get hammered for their poor start to the season, Housley's been making rookie mistakes all season long.
--Housley also had Marco Scandella on the ice with the Rangers on the powerplay in overtime. Ristolainen had plenty of time to rest and is the team's best defenseman. Why was he not on the ice?
--The powerplay looked better, but on the whole, it still isn't anywhere close to where it should be.
The Sabres have a back-to-back on the road at Minnesota on Thursday and Winnipeg on Friday.
*****
Western New York hockey fans can still see action as the 2018 IIHF World Junior Championships are being held downtown.
The elimination games begin today and five Sabres prospects will be playing:
12pm--G, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Finland take on D, Vojtech Budik and the Czechs
6pm--Forwards Alexander Nylander and Marcus Davidson lead Team Sweden against Slovakia
8pm--C, Casey Mittelstadt and Team USA are up against Russia
Mittelstadt and the Americans got this weekend rolling with a tough come-from-behind win over Canada on Friday in the first outdoor game in WJC history. On a cold, blustery evening at New Era Field, home of the Buffalo Bills, Mittelstadt set up two US third period goals to tie the score at 3-3 with Team USA eventually winning in the shootout.
Mittelstadt has been the unquestioned star pf the event thus far while leading the tournament in scoring with nine points (4+5) in four games.
*****
That win on Friday was the first of four big wins for WNY sports fans over the weekend.
On Saturday the Sabres beat the Metropolitan Division leading New Jersey Devils in overtime on Ristolainen's first goal of the season and the surging Rochester Americans took over first place in the AHL's Eastern Conference with a 2-0 shutout win in Toronto against the Marlies. And, of course, the Bills finally ended their 17-year playoff drought on Sunday.
Is there anything better than Buffalo Bills defensive tackle Kyle Williams having his moment in the sun?
The 12 yr. Bills vet had been a beacon of professionalism throughout Buffalo's long, 17-year playoff drought which finally ended on New Years Eve with a Buffalo win and a Cincinnati Bengals upset of the Baltimore Ravens. In a game the Bills had to win on the final day of the 2017 NFL season, Williams was given the ball on a first and goal at the one, scored his first career touchdown then proceeded to lead one of the best touchdown celebrations we've seen all season:
(video from Highlight Haven)
After the Bills beat the Miami Dolphins to finish the regular season 9-7, it was off to the locker room for some scoreboard watching and this reaction (plus some additional cheering from Bills fans) after Bengals scored the game-winning touchdown on a fourth and 12 with :44 seconds left in the fourth quarter:
We're two days removed from that glorious finish but it's still goosebumps-worthy video to watch.
*****
How do you top that?
The Buffalo Sabres had an opportunity to at least keep the celebration rolling with a New Year's Day outdoor clash against the NY Rangers in the 10th annual NHL Winter Classic, but unfortunately they came up just short in a 3-2 overtime loss.
Whether it was the 20 degree temperature at game-time, the gusty wind, a military flyover or the overall enormity of the lone NHL game of the day being played at Citi Field in The Big Apple before 41,000+ fans the Sabres found themselves in a hole. After falling behind 2-0 in the first period the Sabres clawed their way back with goals early in the second and third periods to take the game to overtime. But it ended when they allowed a powerplay goal to the Rangers in overtime.
Some notes on that game:
--We've heard plenty about the outdoor game losing it's luster, but for a fan whose team is actually playing, it doesn't. It was a helluva event and an extremely well played game that could've went either way.
--The Winter Classic sweaters designed by Adidas were outstanding for both the Sabres and the Rangers.
--"Doc" Emerick is considered to be one of the best announcers in the game. And rightfully so. His knowledge of the game and the players playing is top-notch and he can roll with the game as good as anybody. However, with all due respect to him, his play-by-play does not allow the game to breathe. Emerick is a wordsmith who's constant barrage of words and phrases describing nearly every name and nearly every moment. At times it comes off as if he's more interested in displaying his knowledge than calling the game. His calls are great for radio, but seemingly smothers the television audience.
--I was finally left with the impression that this group of Sabres players is finally looking like a team. Too bad it tool 38 1/2 games for it to be so. The holes are still there in the lineup, and they still have plenty to learn, but these players are finally developing some chemistry amongst themselves, which is great moving forward. Unfortunately, that might not last long as the next big NHL moment is the trade deadline and it's expected that some Sabres will be on the move.
--The "Ref-cam" was very cool in this game getting us as close to the action as possible. But where was it when Buffalo's Evander Kane got whacked in the face by an rough high stick? Kane tumbled to the ice and lay there while gathering his faculties. Oddly enough there was no gathering of officials which sometimes happens in the NHL. After he go up you could see blood pouring from the bridge of hid nose and when they showed a profile shot there was a huge lump forming. It was an egregious non-call and you have to wonder: did the ref not see it, or did they just bury the tape from the "Ref-cam?
--Rasmus Ristolainen has goals in consecutive games and has been looking strong in the process. He played 26:00 yesterday had a goal and an assist and was a plus-1. In a curious move, Ristolainen was on the ice for only one shift (:33) in overtime last night.
--That was one of a few head-scratchers from Sabres head coach Phil Housley with the big one being, why was fourth-line center Jacob Josefson on the ice in overtime? Not sure what Housley was thinking on that one, but Josefson wouldn't you want to play your best players as much as possible in the five-minute overtime session?
--Kyle Okposo assisted on both Buffalo goals yesterday and was hard on the puck all game. It looks as if he's recovered from his off-season health issues. He would have been a better pick than Josefson. Benoit Pouliot has the speed to play in overtime. He would have been better. For as much as the players get hammered for their poor start to the season, Housley's been making rookie mistakes all season long.
--Housley also had Marco Scandella on the ice with the Rangers on the powerplay in overtime. Ristolainen had plenty of time to rest and is the team's best defenseman. Why was he not on the ice?
--The powerplay looked better, but on the whole, it still isn't anywhere close to where it should be.
The Sabres have a back-to-back on the road at Minnesota on Thursday and Winnipeg on Friday.
*****
Western New York hockey fans can still see action as the 2018 IIHF World Junior Championships are being held downtown.
The elimination games begin today and five Sabres prospects will be playing:
12pm--G, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Finland take on D, Vojtech Budik and the Czechs
6pm--Forwards Alexander Nylander and Marcus Davidson lead Team Sweden against Slovakia
8pm--C, Casey Mittelstadt and Team USA are up against Russia
Mittelstadt and the Americans got this weekend rolling with a tough come-from-behind win over Canada on Friday in the first outdoor game in WJC history. On a cold, blustery evening at New Era Field, home of the Buffalo Bills, Mittelstadt set up two US third period goals to tie the score at 3-3 with Team USA eventually winning in the shootout.
Mittelstadt has been the unquestioned star pf the event thus far while leading the tournament in scoring with nine points (4+5) in four games.
*****
That win on Friday was the first of four big wins for WNY sports fans over the weekend.
On Saturday the Sabres beat the Metropolitan Division leading New Jersey Devils in overtime on Ristolainen's first goal of the season and the surging Rochester Americans took over first place in the AHL's Eastern Conference with a 2-0 shutout win in Toronto against the Marlies. And, of course, the Bills finally ended their 17-year playoff drought on Sunday.
Saturday, December 30, 2017
Matchup Friday: CAN/USA; RCH/TOR; BUF/NJD. Mittlestadt, plus
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 12-29-2017
Western New York hockey fans have a full slate of games beginning at 3pm today with Casey Mittelstadt and Team USA taking on Team Canada at New Era Field. In the evening the Rochester Americans are at Toronto to take on the Marlies (TOR) and the Buffalo Sabres travel to New Jersey to face off against the Devils Both of those games are 7pm starts.
USA vs. Canada
Perhaps Team USA got caught looking ahead last night and when you add in that they faced a non-descript Slovakian goalie in Roman Durny who probably had a career game while stopping 43 of 45 Team USA shots, it had all the makings for a classic trap game.
The turnaround is all that great for the Americans either as their 8pm start had them playing well into the night and they'll be back on the ice for a 3pm puckdrop today. Reports from New Era Field, home of the NFL's Buffalo Bills, has rough conditions with temperatures in the teens, and an even colder wind-chill. They're also saying the ice will be less than ideal.
Team Canada has been flying on the ice through their first two games outscoring their first two opponents (Finland and Slovakia) by a combined 10-2 score. Having ice conditions as they're expected to be may slow them down a bit. Team USA needs to recover from the loss last night as another loss will make it very difficult to defend their gold medal-winning run last year.
This is the first-ever outdoor game in IIHF World Junior Championships history. Early indications are that they expect 40,000+ fans for the game, which would be the largest in the tournament's history.
Rochester Americans vs. Toronto Marlies
Right now, the Amerks and Marlies are tied atop the AHL's North Division with 44 points each.
Rochester is a pleasant surprise this season after finishing 26th-overall the previous two seasons. The Amerks have a new coaching staff and a revamped lineup that has been on a tear lately. They lost for only the fourth time in regulation dating back to the end of a three-game skid on October 25. In that 27-game span Rochester is 17-4-6.
This is the second meeting between the two North Division rivals. Toronto won the first game 3-2 in Rochester to end the Amerks 10-game point-streak.
Linus Ullmark, who is tied for the AHL lead in wins (14) looks to get the start in net while Garrett Sparks and his second-best 1.85 goals-against average will be in net for Toronto after Calvin Pickard was called up to the Maple Leafs.
Buffalo Sabres vs. New Jersey Devils
The last time these to teams met would be a game the Sabres would like to forget. Buffalo had been dispatched by the NY Islanders two days prior and returned home to get spanked by the Devils. It was a game where the Sabres tried to run with New Jersey but it turned into a battle between the thoroughbred Devils and the wanna-be race horse Sabres.
Things have change for the Sabres since then, mostly in the style of play as they pulled back the reigns and are playing a much more conservative game. Because of that, they're in games more often these days, and have been playing much better, but their league-low 2.16 goals/game and their 9-20-8 record is an indication that they still have a ways to go. The young and fast Devils sit atop an extremely tough Metropolitan Division with a 22-9-5 record.
Buffalo is 1-7-2 in their last 10 vs. New Jersey, 3-4-3 on the road and hopefully put that dismal October performance against the Devils far away where they'll never see it again. New Jersey won their first meeting with Buffalo by a 6-2 score.
The Sabres are on Game-3 of seven games away from KeyBank Center. By all standards, it's actually a seven-game road trip save for the fact that their game against the NY Rangers in the 10th Winter Classic has been dubbed a home-game in spite of the fact that they're playing in at Citi Field in NY City.
Go figure.
Casey Mittelstadt
If you haven't seen it by now, go to the 1:20 of this video provided by USA Hockey and check out Casey Mittelstadt game-tying goal for Team USA vs. Slovakia.
Gotta love the Bobby Orr-type ending.
Mittelstadt has been outstanding for the Americans this year as he leads the tournament with three goals.
Slovakians to watch
Team Slovakia won beat the Americans last night on the strength of the aforementioned goaltending of Durny, and he's not even their best goalie.
Slovakia's No. 1 goalie is David Hrenak and although he and his mates got crushed by Team Canada, the 6'2" 192 lb. netminder kept it from being worse as he faced 52 shots on goal.
Hrenak plays for St. Cloud State, the top ranked team in NCAA Men's D-I hockey where he leads the college ranks with a 1.40 goals-against average and a .962 save percentage while being a back-up. Sabres scouts should be very aware of the 2018 draft eligible Hrenak two Sabres prospects, F, Judd Peterson (2012, 204th-overall) and D, Will Borgen (2015, 92nd) both play for the Huskies.
Another Slovakian player who may have already gotten noticed by Sabres scouts is forward Filip Krivosik who scored their first two goals last night. Krivosik, a 6'4" 190 lb. forward plays for LeKi Lempaala of the second-tier Finnish League, Mestis. Also on that team is Sabres goalie prospect Ukka-Pekka Luukkonen (2017, 54th.)
The game-winning goal was scored by Samuel Bucek, a 6'3" 194 lb. forward who plays for the Chicago Steel of the United States Hockey League. It's Bucek's second season in the USHL and he has 18 points (7+11) in 20 games for the Steel. The moves he put on the entire USA team and his follow through for the winner was impressive.
Western New York hockey fans have a full slate of games beginning at 3pm today with Casey Mittelstadt and Team USA taking on Team Canada at New Era Field. In the evening the Rochester Americans are at Toronto to take on the Marlies (TOR) and the Buffalo Sabres travel to New Jersey to face off against the Devils Both of those games are 7pm starts.
USA vs. Canada
Perhaps Team USA got caught looking ahead last night and when you add in that they faced a non-descript Slovakian goalie in Roman Durny who probably had a career game while stopping 43 of 45 Team USA shots, it had all the makings for a classic trap game.
The turnaround is all that great for the Americans either as their 8pm start had them playing well into the night and they'll be back on the ice for a 3pm puckdrop today. Reports from New Era Field, home of the NFL's Buffalo Bills, has rough conditions with temperatures in the teens, and an even colder wind-chill. They're also saying the ice will be less than ideal.
Team Canada has been flying on the ice through their first two games outscoring their first two opponents (Finland and Slovakia) by a combined 10-2 score. Having ice conditions as they're expected to be may slow them down a bit. Team USA needs to recover from the loss last night as another loss will make it very difficult to defend their gold medal-winning run last year.
This is the first-ever outdoor game in IIHF World Junior Championships history. Early indications are that they expect 40,000+ fans for the game, which would be the largest in the tournament's history.
Rochester Americans vs. Toronto Marlies
Right now, the Amerks and Marlies are tied atop the AHL's North Division with 44 points each.
Rochester is a pleasant surprise this season after finishing 26th-overall the previous two seasons. The Amerks have a new coaching staff and a revamped lineup that has been on a tear lately. They lost for only the fourth time in regulation dating back to the end of a three-game skid on October 25. In that 27-game span Rochester is 17-4-6.
This is the second meeting between the two North Division rivals. Toronto won the first game 3-2 in Rochester to end the Amerks 10-game point-streak.
Linus Ullmark, who is tied for the AHL lead in wins (14) looks to get the start in net while Garrett Sparks and his second-best 1.85 goals-against average will be in net for Toronto after Calvin Pickard was called up to the Maple Leafs.
Buffalo Sabres vs. New Jersey Devils
The last time these to teams met would be a game the Sabres would like to forget. Buffalo had been dispatched by the NY Islanders two days prior and returned home to get spanked by the Devils. It was a game where the Sabres tried to run with New Jersey but it turned into a battle between the thoroughbred Devils and the wanna-be race horse Sabres.
Things have change for the Sabres since then, mostly in the style of play as they pulled back the reigns and are playing a much more conservative game. Because of that, they're in games more often these days, and have been playing much better, but their league-low 2.16 goals/game and their 9-20-8 record is an indication that they still have a ways to go. The young and fast Devils sit atop an extremely tough Metropolitan Division with a 22-9-5 record.
Buffalo is 1-7-2 in their last 10 vs. New Jersey, 3-4-3 on the road and hopefully put that dismal October performance against the Devils far away where they'll never see it again. New Jersey won their first meeting with Buffalo by a 6-2 score.
The Sabres are on Game-3 of seven games away from KeyBank Center. By all standards, it's actually a seven-game road trip save for the fact that their game against the NY Rangers in the 10th Winter Classic has been dubbed a home-game in spite of the fact that they're playing in at Citi Field in NY City.
Go figure.
Casey Mittelstadt
If you haven't seen it by now, go to the 1:20 of this video provided by USA Hockey and check out Casey Mittelstadt game-tying goal for Team USA vs. Slovakia.
Gotta love the Bobby Orr-type ending.
Mittelstadt has been outstanding for the Americans this year as he leads the tournament with three goals.
Slovakians to watch
Team Slovakia won beat the Americans last night on the strength of the aforementioned goaltending of Durny, and he's not even their best goalie.
Slovakia's No. 1 goalie is David Hrenak and although he and his mates got crushed by Team Canada, the 6'2" 192 lb. netminder kept it from being worse as he faced 52 shots on goal.
Hrenak plays for St. Cloud State, the top ranked team in NCAA Men's D-I hockey where he leads the college ranks with a 1.40 goals-against average and a .962 save percentage while being a back-up. Sabres scouts should be very aware of the 2018 draft eligible Hrenak two Sabres prospects, F, Judd Peterson (2012, 204th-overall) and D, Will Borgen (2015, 92nd) both play for the Huskies.
Another Slovakian player who may have already gotten noticed by Sabres scouts is forward Filip Krivosik who scored their first two goals last night. Krivosik, a 6'4" 190 lb. forward plays for LeKi Lempaala of the second-tier Finnish League, Mestis. Also on that team is Sabres goalie prospect Ukka-Pekka Luukkonen (2017, 54th.)
The game-winning goal was scored by Samuel Bucek, a 6'3" 194 lb. forward who plays for the Chicago Steel of the United States Hockey League. It's Bucek's second season in the USHL and he has 18 points (7+11) in 20 games for the Steel. The moves he put on the entire USA team and his follow through for the winner was impressive.
Mittelstadt, Eichel & Ullmark serve up WNY sweep yesterday
Had this trio of games taken place last month, the results probably would have been different. One can't say what Team USA may have looked like playing in much better conditions outdoors against Team Canada, but odds are the Buffalo Sabres would not have made it out of New Jersey with a 'W'. The Rochester Americans have been playing some excellent hockey as of late, but they lost their only meeting versus Toronto Marlies (TOR) who, up until last night, were leading the AHL's Eastern Conference.
Western New York sports fans haven't had a whole helluva lot to cheer for the past few years as the Sabres have been in a rut with the Amerks right down there with them. Add in the NFL's Buffalo Bills current 17-year playoff drought, the longest in the four major North American sports and it makes for some pretty rough sledding for WNY sports fans.
But yesterday was a good day for hockey those fans. No, make that a great day for not only the present, but for the future as well. All three teams--Team USA, the Sabres and the Amerks--won yesterday. USA and the Sabres won in dramatic fashion while the Amerks pitched a perfect road-game to overtake the Marlies for the Eastern Conference lead. And if that wasn't good enough for you the future of the Buffalo Sabres--Casey Mittelstadt, Jack Eichel and Linus Ullmark--all lead their team's to victory.
Casey Mittelstadt
He's a 6'0" 203 lb. center from Edina, Minnesota who opted to play his senior season at Eden Prairie High School (MIN) prior to the 2017 NHL Draft, which was a somewhat unusual path. And it's good for the Sabres that he did. Mittelstadt scored 64 points (21+43) in 25 games for the Eagles in his final high school season. He started out that hockey season playing for the Green Bay Gamblers of the USHL scoring 21 points (8+13) in 16 games and after his Eagles were ousted in the semifinals of the state tournament, he rejoined the Gamblers and added another nine points (5+4) in 14 games.
It was a season that placed him top-10 in pre-draft rankings with Central Scouting ranking him as the third best North American skater behind only Nico Hischier and Patrick Nolan who went first and second overall, respectively, in the 2017 NHL Draft. Most thought he was a top-five pick but he slipped to Buffalo and they swooped in to nab him with the eighth-overall selection.
Mittelstadt is in his freshman season with the Minnesota Golden Gophers and has 17 points (5+12) in 19 games. Division-1 hockey features older players, stiffer completion and systems, like the one he faced recently at Ohio State, that are lockdown and defensive. Every inch of ice Mittelstadt has gotten at the D-I level has been earned and although 17 points in 19 games doesn't give the aire of dominance, the work he did prepared him well for a tournament like this against his peers.
Mittlestadt scored three goals in the first two games of the 2018 IIHF World Junior Championships being held in Buffalo, NY, including a highlight reel goal on Thursday night, and then he followed that up by continuing to prove that he's been the best player at the tournament so far. In a crucial game that the U.S. needed to win, against the rival Canadians, Mittelstadt came through by assisting on every goal including two primary assists that brought the team back from a 3-1 deficit.
After the game yesterday at New Era Field where conditions were difficult with frigid temperatures and abundant snow through a good portion of the game, Mittelstadt talked about relying on facets of his game other than scoring when things proved difficult. And make no mistake, it was difficult for every player on the ice yesterday.
"Even during the year, that's the first thing I go to if I feel I'm not playing well," he said, via Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News. "I go back to stick-handling and my vision. That's the biggest key for me, to make sure that I'm always fine-tuning it."
And that he did as seen on his two primary assists beginning at the 2:22 mark of the highlight video below (courtesy USA Hockey.) Mittelstadt almost had a fairy tale ending to the game but just missed on a shootout attempt that could've have won it, but regardless, for the second game in a row he was name Team USA's player of the game.
That he was able to not only rise to the occasion in difficult conditions, but do so against a fierce rival like Team Canada, in front of the largest crowd to see an IIHF WJC game, no-less, has got the Buffalo fan-base excited. The 4-3 shootout win is being called an instant classic and Mittelstadt's MVP performance has them looking towards the future with a big smile as those talents are not that far away from hitting the NHL.
Jack Eichel
Although Eichel's future with the Sabres became the present in 2015, the same year he was drafted second overall by Buffalo, his "franchise status" has been delayed. He came to the NHL riding a media-fueled "McEichel" wave as he and top-pick Connor McDavid were ready to take the league by storm. But Eichel struggled through large portions of his first two NHL seasons.
We've seen bursts of his incredible skating and skill-level in the past but Eichel had neither the consistency of McDavid nor did he lead his team to the playoffs like McDavid did last season. Instead of his Sabres team moving forward after a solid 2015-16 season, they went backwards and Eichel rumored to be in a power struggle with then coach Dan Bylsma.
Bylsma was fired at the end of the season and was replaced by rookie head coach Phil Housley.
What ensued to begin this season was an on-ice embarrassment that rivaled that of the tank years. The Sabres plunged to the bottom of the league after a rough start and have remained close to last ever since. The month of November was a particularly abysmal month and ended with the team in a rut as the won only once in a 10-game span (1-7-2) to finish the month.
It continued into December with an embarrassing 4-0 shutout loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins at home followed by an equally embarrassing loss to the Pens in Pittsburgh the next night, all of this with NHL cameras beginning to roll for the "Road to the Winter Classic Series." Eichel was visibly shaken after that first Pittsburgh loss, according to reports from the locker room, and was seen in a one-on-one with team President Russ Brandon. What Brandon said has never been divulged but the follow-up 5-1 loss to the Pens didn't bode well.
Eichel had been playing some pretty good hockey prior to that but the team's struggles had been weighing him down and eventually something clicked. He hit for a goal and an assist in leading the Sabres to victory in Colorado following the back-to-back embarrassments against the Pens, and continued to play a strong, hard-skating 200' game thereafter, although his stat-line might say otherwise.
The virtues of playing a full game in overdrive would finally pay off vs. the Carolina Hurricanes as Eichel scored his first career hat trick and completely dominated regulation. After a tough game against Boston he proceeded to hit for seven points (4+3) in his next four games, including his two goals last night, and carried his team to a 2-1-1 record in the process.
With his Sabres' team down 3-1 late in the second period to the Metropolitan-leading New Jersey Devils last night, Eichel tipped Jake McCabe's shot from the point with 1:55 left and the Sabres went into the third period down only one goal. He then proceeded to score the game-tying goal on the powerplay ala Alexander Ovechkin with a blast from the right circle. Just listen to call from Sabres broadcast legend Rick Jeanneret (courtesy NHL):
What we're seeing of the future is Eichel emerging as a leader through his play. Despite all of the struggles this team has faced all season, he and his teammates, seemed to have fully bought into Houlsey's system and they're slowly trying to turn that into wins. Although the record still isn't there, and they still have many holes to fill, this edition of the Sabres is playing much better hockey and they're slowly building confidence in themselves and the team with Eichel leading the charge.
Last night's win over the Devils wasn't just some run-of-the-mill win. They beat the second-best team in the Eastern Conference, on the road in front of a packed house while being outplayed in the second period as they only had three shots on goal (yet scored on two of them.) The Sabres broke a six--game overtime skid and even got the game-wining goal from a defenseman as Rasmus Ristolainen scored his first goal of the season.
But the driving force behind their 4-3-4 run has been Eichel who's looking more and more like their future captain.
Linus Ullmark
The Rochester Americans are the top team in the AHL's Eastern Conference. Rochster got to that point after a tremendous run that saw them go 17-4-6 since late October and cap it off with a 2-0 shutout win vs. the Marlies in Toronto last night. With the win, Rochester's 20-7-6 record and .697 win-percentage barely edges out the Marlies .667 win-percentage.
Not bad for a team that finished in 26th place the last two seasons and in 28th the year before that.
The Amerks have a lot of things clicking for them centered around a team that was put together with veterans who've won in the past. Although Rochester doesn't have a ton of homegrown prospects in the ranks, the ones they have are really shining.
Free-agent forward C.J.Smith (2017, UMass-Lowell) is having a banner rookie season. His 30 points (10+20) leads all rookies, by far, and places him tied for 10th in the league. And fellow rookie defenseman Brendan Guhle has upped his game with 17 points (6+11) on the season while playing on the top pairing in all situations.
But the backbone of the team is goalie Ullmark.
This is Ullmark's third pro season after coming over from MODO of the Swedish Elite League. Buffalo's 6th-round pick (163rd-overall) in the 2012 NHL Draft split his rookie season between the Sabres and the Amerks when Buffalo goalie Robin Lehner went down with a high-ankle sprain in October, 2015. Ullmark looked solid during his time in the NHL but stayed in Rochester to hone his game.
Last season Ullmark was named the Amerks team MVP after facing the most shots in the AHL(1,678) and compiling a 26-27-2 record with a 2.87 goals-against average and a .919 save-percentage. When it came to the Amerks last season if Ullmark wasn't in net, the team didn't have much of a chance of winning as the rest of the goalies went a combined 6-14-1.
Ullmark learned a lot last season, first and foremost about having to carry a heavy workload as a starter, but also about giving his team a chance to win no matter how many goals were scored against him and that carried over to this season.
This year he once again leads the league in shots-against (721,) yet is fourth in Sv% (.926,) seventh in goals-against (2.33) and is tied for the league lead in wins with 15.
Ullmark was named the AHL Player of the week leading up to the Christmas break after going 2-0-0 with 1.46 GAA and a .956 Sv% and stopping 65 of 68 shots in those two games. He followed that up with a first star performance last night stopping all 22 shots he faced.
To their credit, the Sabres organization made a conscious decision to keep Ullmark in Rochester for one more year of seasoning and for his part, he embraced that role. As the team waddled through some early difficulties and began to find ways to win, or to a least gain a point, Ullmark was in there giving them a chance to win.
Since giving up six goals in a November 22 game vs. the Syracuse Crunch (TBL,) the 24 yr, old has been outstanding. In his last 11 games he has the one shutout (last night,) has allowed two or less goals in eight games and has not allowed more than three goals. Ullmark has faced 284 shots and allowed 19 goals (.933 Sv%) with the Ameks going 7-2-2 in his those games.
If yesterday was any indication of what this franchise has in store for the future, things are looking much brighter in Sabreland. We've all seen Eichel's game-changing play and the fact that Mittelstadt has risen to the top amongst his peers is a strong indication that he could have a major impact at the NHL-level. Ullmark is a tribute to the process of letting players fully develop and along with him in the AHL are players like Smith and Guhle who are learning the pro game and the Sabres systems that are in place.
The Western New York sweep with Team USA, the Sabres and Amerks all winning was a great day for hockey fans in Sabreland and it's one that should be savored as we look towards the future.
Western New York sports fans haven't had a whole helluva lot to cheer for the past few years as the Sabres have been in a rut with the Amerks right down there with them. Add in the NFL's Buffalo Bills current 17-year playoff drought, the longest in the four major North American sports and it makes for some pretty rough sledding for WNY sports fans.
But yesterday was a good day for hockey those fans. No, make that a great day for not only the present, but for the future as well. All three teams--Team USA, the Sabres and the Amerks--won yesterday. USA and the Sabres won in dramatic fashion while the Amerks pitched a perfect road-game to overtake the Marlies for the Eastern Conference lead. And if that wasn't good enough for you the future of the Buffalo Sabres--Casey Mittelstadt, Jack Eichel and Linus Ullmark--all lead their team's to victory.
Casey Mittelstadt
He's a 6'0" 203 lb. center from Edina, Minnesota who opted to play his senior season at Eden Prairie High School (MIN) prior to the 2017 NHL Draft, which was a somewhat unusual path. And it's good for the Sabres that he did. Mittelstadt scored 64 points (21+43) in 25 games for the Eagles in his final high school season. He started out that hockey season playing for the Green Bay Gamblers of the USHL scoring 21 points (8+13) in 16 games and after his Eagles were ousted in the semifinals of the state tournament, he rejoined the Gamblers and added another nine points (5+4) in 14 games.
It was a season that placed him top-10 in pre-draft rankings with Central Scouting ranking him as the third best North American skater behind only Nico Hischier and Patrick Nolan who went first and second overall, respectively, in the 2017 NHL Draft. Most thought he was a top-five pick but he slipped to Buffalo and they swooped in to nab him with the eighth-overall selection.
Mittelstadt is in his freshman season with the Minnesota Golden Gophers and has 17 points (5+12) in 19 games. Division-1 hockey features older players, stiffer completion and systems, like the one he faced recently at Ohio State, that are lockdown and defensive. Every inch of ice Mittelstadt has gotten at the D-I level has been earned and although 17 points in 19 games doesn't give the aire of dominance, the work he did prepared him well for a tournament like this against his peers.
Mittlestadt scored three goals in the first two games of the 2018 IIHF World Junior Championships being held in Buffalo, NY, including a highlight reel goal on Thursday night, and then he followed that up by continuing to prove that he's been the best player at the tournament so far. In a crucial game that the U.S. needed to win, against the rival Canadians, Mittelstadt came through by assisting on every goal including two primary assists that brought the team back from a 3-1 deficit.
After the game yesterday at New Era Field where conditions were difficult with frigid temperatures and abundant snow through a good portion of the game, Mittelstadt talked about relying on facets of his game other than scoring when things proved difficult. And make no mistake, it was difficult for every player on the ice yesterday.
"Even during the year, that's the first thing I go to if I feel I'm not playing well," he said, via Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News. "I go back to stick-handling and my vision. That's the biggest key for me, to make sure that I'm always fine-tuning it."
And that he did as seen on his two primary assists beginning at the 2:22 mark of the highlight video below (courtesy USA Hockey.) Mittelstadt almost had a fairy tale ending to the game but just missed on a shootout attempt that could've have won it, but regardless, for the second game in a row he was name Team USA's player of the game.
That he was able to not only rise to the occasion in difficult conditions, but do so against a fierce rival like Team Canada, in front of the largest crowd to see an IIHF WJC game, no-less, has got the Buffalo fan-base excited. The 4-3 shootout win is being called an instant classic and Mittelstadt's MVP performance has them looking towards the future with a big smile as those talents are not that far away from hitting the NHL.
Jack Eichel
Although Eichel's future with the Sabres became the present in 2015, the same year he was drafted second overall by Buffalo, his "franchise status" has been delayed. He came to the NHL riding a media-fueled "McEichel" wave as he and top-pick Connor McDavid were ready to take the league by storm. But Eichel struggled through large portions of his first two NHL seasons.
We've seen bursts of his incredible skating and skill-level in the past but Eichel had neither the consistency of McDavid nor did he lead his team to the playoffs like McDavid did last season. Instead of his Sabres team moving forward after a solid 2015-16 season, they went backwards and Eichel rumored to be in a power struggle with then coach Dan Bylsma.
Bylsma was fired at the end of the season and was replaced by rookie head coach Phil Housley.
What ensued to begin this season was an on-ice embarrassment that rivaled that of the tank years. The Sabres plunged to the bottom of the league after a rough start and have remained close to last ever since. The month of November was a particularly abysmal month and ended with the team in a rut as the won only once in a 10-game span (1-7-2) to finish the month.
It continued into December with an embarrassing 4-0 shutout loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins at home followed by an equally embarrassing loss to the Pens in Pittsburgh the next night, all of this with NHL cameras beginning to roll for the "Road to the Winter Classic Series." Eichel was visibly shaken after that first Pittsburgh loss, according to reports from the locker room, and was seen in a one-on-one with team President Russ Brandon. What Brandon said has never been divulged but the follow-up 5-1 loss to the Pens didn't bode well.
Eichel had been playing some pretty good hockey prior to that but the team's struggles had been weighing him down and eventually something clicked. He hit for a goal and an assist in leading the Sabres to victory in Colorado following the back-to-back embarrassments against the Pens, and continued to play a strong, hard-skating 200' game thereafter, although his stat-line might say otherwise.
The virtues of playing a full game in overdrive would finally pay off vs. the Carolina Hurricanes as Eichel scored his first career hat trick and completely dominated regulation. After a tough game against Boston he proceeded to hit for seven points (4+3) in his next four games, including his two goals last night, and carried his team to a 2-1-1 record in the process.
With his Sabres' team down 3-1 late in the second period to the Metropolitan-leading New Jersey Devils last night, Eichel tipped Jake McCabe's shot from the point with 1:55 left and the Sabres went into the third period down only one goal. He then proceeded to score the game-tying goal on the powerplay ala Alexander Ovechkin with a blast from the right circle. Just listen to call from Sabres broadcast legend Rick Jeanneret (courtesy NHL):
What we're seeing of the future is Eichel emerging as a leader through his play. Despite all of the struggles this team has faced all season, he and his teammates, seemed to have fully bought into Houlsey's system and they're slowly trying to turn that into wins. Although the record still isn't there, and they still have many holes to fill, this edition of the Sabres is playing much better hockey and they're slowly building confidence in themselves and the team with Eichel leading the charge.
Last night's win over the Devils wasn't just some run-of-the-mill win. They beat the second-best team in the Eastern Conference, on the road in front of a packed house while being outplayed in the second period as they only had three shots on goal (yet scored on two of them.) The Sabres broke a six--game overtime skid and even got the game-wining goal from a defenseman as Rasmus Ristolainen scored his first goal of the season.
But the driving force behind their 4-3-4 run has been Eichel who's looking more and more like their future captain.
Linus Ullmark
The Rochester Americans are the top team in the AHL's Eastern Conference. Rochster got to that point after a tremendous run that saw them go 17-4-6 since late October and cap it off with a 2-0 shutout win vs. the Marlies in Toronto last night. With the win, Rochester's 20-7-6 record and .697 win-percentage barely edges out the Marlies .667 win-percentage.
Not bad for a team that finished in 26th place the last two seasons and in 28th the year before that.
The Amerks have a lot of things clicking for them centered around a team that was put together with veterans who've won in the past. Although Rochester doesn't have a ton of homegrown prospects in the ranks, the ones they have are really shining.
Free-agent forward C.J.Smith (2017, UMass-Lowell) is having a banner rookie season. His 30 points (10+20) leads all rookies, by far, and places him tied for 10th in the league. And fellow rookie defenseman Brendan Guhle has upped his game with 17 points (6+11) on the season while playing on the top pairing in all situations.
But the backbone of the team is goalie Ullmark.
This is Ullmark's third pro season after coming over from MODO of the Swedish Elite League. Buffalo's 6th-round pick (163rd-overall) in the 2012 NHL Draft split his rookie season between the Sabres and the Amerks when Buffalo goalie Robin Lehner went down with a high-ankle sprain in October, 2015. Ullmark looked solid during his time in the NHL but stayed in Rochester to hone his game.
Last season Ullmark was named the Amerks team MVP after facing the most shots in the AHL(1,678) and compiling a 26-27-2 record with a 2.87 goals-against average and a .919 save-percentage. When it came to the Amerks last season if Ullmark wasn't in net, the team didn't have much of a chance of winning as the rest of the goalies went a combined 6-14-1.
Ullmark learned a lot last season, first and foremost about having to carry a heavy workload as a starter, but also about giving his team a chance to win no matter how many goals were scored against him and that carried over to this season.
This year he once again leads the league in shots-against (721,) yet is fourth in Sv% (.926,) seventh in goals-against (2.33) and is tied for the league lead in wins with 15.
Ullmark was named the AHL Player of the week leading up to the Christmas break after going 2-0-0 with 1.46 GAA and a .956 Sv% and stopping 65 of 68 shots in those two games. He followed that up with a first star performance last night stopping all 22 shots he faced.
To their credit, the Sabres organization made a conscious decision to keep Ullmark in Rochester for one more year of seasoning and for his part, he embraced that role. As the team waddled through some early difficulties and began to find ways to win, or to a least gain a point, Ullmark was in there giving them a chance to win.
Since giving up six goals in a November 22 game vs. the Syracuse Crunch (TBL,) the 24 yr, old has been outstanding. In his last 11 games he has the one shutout (last night,) has allowed two or less goals in eight games and has not allowed more than three goals. Ullmark has faced 284 shots and allowed 19 goals (.933 Sv%) with the Ameks going 7-2-2 in his those games.
If yesterday was any indication of what this franchise has in store for the future, things are looking much brighter in Sabreland. We've all seen Eichel's game-changing play and the fact that Mittelstadt has risen to the top amongst his peers is a strong indication that he could have a major impact at the NHL-level. Ullmark is a tribute to the process of letting players fully develop and along with him in the AHL are players like Smith and Guhle who are learning the pro game and the Sabres systems that are in place.
The Western New York sweep with Team USA, the Sabres and Amerks all winning was a great day for hockey fans in Sabreland and it's one that should be savored as we look towards the future.
Wednesday, December 27, 2017
2018 IIHF World Junior Championships open today in Buffalo
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 12-26-2017
The 2018 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships kick off at today at KeyBank Center with a noon puck-drop between the Czech Republic and a Russian team that has medaled in the last seven tournaments. Team Russia won the gold the last time the tournament was held in Buffalo (2011) and followed up with three silver and three bronze medals during their streak.
Unlike 2011 when the WJC games were held at HSBC Arena in downtown Buffalo and Dwyer Arena on the campus of Niagara University in Lewiston, NY, all the games this time round will be downtown. Buffalo Sabres owners Terry and Kim Pegula built HarborCenter on a once vacant lot adjacent to the arena now named KeyBank Center for the express purpose of making downtown a hockey destination for events both big and small.
The Sabres have five prospects playing in the tournament that runs through January 5 beginning with defenseman Vojtech Budik taking the ice with the Czech Republic to open the tournament at 12-noon. The 6'1" 185 lb. Budik will wear #19.
At 2pm Team Sweden will take on Belarus at HarborCenter. Sweden has two Sabres prospects on the team, forwards Alexander Nylander and Marcus Davidsson.
The 19 yr. old Nylander was the eighth-overall selection in the 2016 NHL Draft, which was held in Buffalo. In his prior two WJC appearances for Sweden the 6'0" 190 lb. winger totaled 21 points (9+12) in 14 games. He will be wearing #19. Davidsson was selected in the second round of the 2017 NHL Draft (37th-overall) and will be wearing #10. This will be his first WJC.
Sabres goalie prospect Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Team Finland face off against tournament favorite Team Canada at 4 pm on the KeyCenter ice. The 6'4" 196 lb Luukkonen (wearing #1) has been putting up solid numbers for LeKi in Finland's second-tier professional league, Mestis.
In the final game of the day, Team USA takes on Denmark at 8 pm. Buffalo's 2017 first round pick Casey Mittelstadt, who was selected eighth-overall, will try to help lead the Americans to back-to-back gold medals. Since 2010 Team USA has won three golds and added two bronze medals. Mittelstadt is wearing a number very familiar to Sabres fans, #11.
There are other 2018 draft-eligible players to keep an eye on as well, most notably defenseman Rasmus Dahlin who plays for Sweden. Dahlin is expected to be the top overall pick in the upcoming draft and Kris Baker of sabresprospects.com/sabres.com writes in his WJC preview "fans that appreciate speedy end-to-end rushes and slick puck skills will certainly be enamored with Dahlin whenever the puck comes to him."
Sabres fans certainly have been paying attention to Dahlin most of this season as the team has been near the bottom of the league all year, and they will now have the opportunity to seem him up close beginning today as he, Nylander and Davidsson will begin in the small, HarborCenter setting.
Another player of interest for the 2018 draft is Team Russia forward Andrei Svechnikov who is rated very high in the pre-draft rankings. "At 6-foot-3 and 184 pounds, Svechnikov has the size and reach that National Hockey League scouts crave," wrote Baker, "but it's the speed and soft hands packed into the ideal frame that will see him among the first forwards taken in the June draft."
Baker also gives a shoutout to Czech forward Filip Zadina, whom he describes as "a high-end shooter."
"Zadina has been impressive in his first foray into North American hockey, compiling 24 goals and 46 points in his first 32 games," wrote Baker. "His mix of size and offensive dominance will likely see him become a top-10 pick come June."
For a link to the Baker article, click here.
For an easy to read Buffalo WJC schedule, click here.
The 2018 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships kick off at today at KeyBank Center with a noon puck-drop between the Czech Republic and a Russian team that has medaled in the last seven tournaments. Team Russia won the gold the last time the tournament was held in Buffalo (2011) and followed up with three silver and three bronze medals during their streak.
Unlike 2011 when the WJC games were held at HSBC Arena in downtown Buffalo and Dwyer Arena on the campus of Niagara University in Lewiston, NY, all the games this time round will be downtown. Buffalo Sabres owners Terry and Kim Pegula built HarborCenter on a once vacant lot adjacent to the arena now named KeyBank Center for the express purpose of making downtown a hockey destination for events both big and small.
The Sabres have five prospects playing in the tournament that runs through January 5 beginning with defenseman Vojtech Budik taking the ice with the Czech Republic to open the tournament at 12-noon. The 6'1" 185 lb. Budik will wear #19.
At 2pm Team Sweden will take on Belarus at HarborCenter. Sweden has two Sabres prospects on the team, forwards Alexander Nylander and Marcus Davidsson.
The 19 yr. old Nylander was the eighth-overall selection in the 2016 NHL Draft, which was held in Buffalo. In his prior two WJC appearances for Sweden the 6'0" 190 lb. winger totaled 21 points (9+12) in 14 games. He will be wearing #19. Davidsson was selected in the second round of the 2017 NHL Draft (37th-overall) and will be wearing #10. This will be his first WJC.
Sabres goalie prospect Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Team Finland face off against tournament favorite Team Canada at 4 pm on the KeyCenter ice. The 6'4" 196 lb Luukkonen (wearing #1) has been putting up solid numbers for LeKi in Finland's second-tier professional league, Mestis.
In the final game of the day, Team USA takes on Denmark at 8 pm. Buffalo's 2017 first round pick Casey Mittelstadt, who was selected eighth-overall, will try to help lead the Americans to back-to-back gold medals. Since 2010 Team USA has won three golds and added two bronze medals. Mittelstadt is wearing a number very familiar to Sabres fans, #11.
There are other 2018 draft-eligible players to keep an eye on as well, most notably defenseman Rasmus Dahlin who plays for Sweden. Dahlin is expected to be the top overall pick in the upcoming draft and Kris Baker of sabresprospects.com/sabres.com writes in his WJC preview "fans that appreciate speedy end-to-end rushes and slick puck skills will certainly be enamored with Dahlin whenever the puck comes to him."
Sabres fans certainly have been paying attention to Dahlin most of this season as the team has been near the bottom of the league all year, and they will now have the opportunity to seem him up close beginning today as he, Nylander and Davidsson will begin in the small, HarborCenter setting.
Another player of interest for the 2018 draft is Team Russia forward Andrei Svechnikov who is rated very high in the pre-draft rankings. "At 6-foot-3 and 184 pounds, Svechnikov has the size and reach that National Hockey League scouts crave," wrote Baker, "but it's the speed and soft hands packed into the ideal frame that will see him among the first forwards taken in the June draft."
Baker also gives a shoutout to Czech forward Filip Zadina, whom he describes as "a high-end shooter."
"Zadina has been impressive in his first foray into North American hockey, compiling 24 goals and 46 points in his first 32 games," wrote Baker. "His mix of size and offensive dominance will likely see him become a top-10 pick come June."
For a link to the Baker article, click here.
For an easy to read Buffalo WJC schedule, click here.
Saturday, December 23, 2017
Sabres finish off three-game homestand tonight before yeilding to 2018 WJC
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 12-22-2017
The Buffalo Sabres will close out a three-game homestand tonight against the Philadelphia Flyers, a team they faced off against just over a week ago. In that game, Buffalo was looking to extend their points-streak to five games for the first time since 2012 but were throttled 2-1 in that game. Ryan O'Reilly scored just 1:29 into the game, but Flyers goalie Brian Elliott shut the door on them the rest of the way.
This is the second of three meetings between the Sabres and the Flyers this year and the conclusion of the series will take place on January 7 at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. The Sabres are 4-5-1 in their last 10 versus the Flyers, an identical 4-5-1 in their last 10 meetings in Buffalo. Last year the Sabres went 1-1-1 vs the Flyers losing the first meeting in the shootout after blowing a three-goal third period lead (all on the powerplay,) winning the next one 4-1 (at home,) then getting blown out 6-3 at home to conclude the season series.
The Sabres come into this game on a three-game losing streak that began with that 2-1 loss at Philly. They lost 5-4 in overtime against the Carolina Hurricanes the following night, then got shut out 3-0 by the Boston Bruins on Tuesday. Head coach Phil Housley changed his lines after the 'Canes game, even though his team scored four goals, and they came up empty in the shutout loss vs. the Bruins. And he's at it again.
According to reports from the morning skate, Housley moved Sam Reinhart and Zemgus Girgensons, both of whom were on the fourth line against Boston, up to the top line with Jack Eichel. Evander Kane moved from the Eichel line to the O'Reilly line meaning Benoit Pouliot is back in the bottom six. Rookie Evan Rodrigues gets the night in the press box in favor of Scott Wilson.
These were the lines at the skate:
Kane - O'Reilly - Okposo
Girgensons - Eichel - Reinhart
Pouliot - Josefson - Pominville
Nolan - Larsson - Wilson
Housley also juggled his defense a bit by sitting Victor Antipin who'd been getting his groove on as of late, in favor of Josh Gorges. These were the defense pairings this morning:
Scandella-Ristolainen
McCabe-Bogosian
Georges-Beaulieu
Robin Lehner looks to get the nod in net tonight.
Speaking of Lehner, he's been a veritable wall as of late. In his last six games he's faced 217 shots and allowed only 13 goals (.940 save percentage.) He's given up three goals twice in that span--vs. Chicago and St. Louis consecutively--and faced 96 shots in those two games for a .937 Sv%. The Sabres forwards haven't given him a lot of love during that stretch as they managed to score only 12 goals, which is right about where their lowly 2.12 goals/game average is at right now, and Lehner left the crease with a 2-2-2 record.
After tonight the Sabres hit the road for the next seven games although one of them, the Winter Classic, is treated as a home game despite the fact that they player the NY Rangers at City Field in...New York City.
Go figure.
*****
While the Sabres are on the road, the city of Buffalo will be hosting the World Junior Championship for the first time since 2011. Housley was an assistant coach for the Bronze Medal winning USA team that year and he would coach Team USA to the gold medal two years later in Ufa, Russia.
The Sabres look to have five prospects participating in the 2018 WJC:
USA--C, Casey Mittelstadt, (2017, 8th-overall)
SWE--LW, Alexander Nylander (2016, 8th)
SWE--C, Marcus Davidsson (2017, 37th)
FIN--G, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (2017, 54th)
CZE--D, Vojtech Budik (2016, 130th)
Mittelstadt is in his freshman year at the University of Minnesota and has 17 points (5+12) in 19 games for the 10th-ranked Golden Gophers. Davidsson is playing in the top league in Sweden and the 19 yr. old has nine points (2+7) in 23 games. The 18 yr. old Luukkonen has spent most of his season on loan to LeKi in Mestis, Finland's second highest league. Budick skates with the Prince Albert Raiders of the CHL's Western Hockey League where the defenseman has 11 points (2+9) and a plus-1 rating in 32 games.
The Sabres announced earlier this week that they're loaning Nylander to Team Sweden. Buffalo's 2016 first-round pick has been struggling in the AHL and was injured this summer. The loan is good for Sweden and they added a strong piece to a team that's a favorite to medal and it should be good for him. With those struggles in Rochester with the Americans, confidence could be waning and putting him in a tournament that he's very familiar with while playing against his peers, could help him get back on track.
The WJC is always a big thing for hockey fans as these are the stars of the future all in one tournament. Plus there's a continued rivalry between the US and Canada which will be heightened a bit this season as they take their preliminary round matchup outdoors. On December 29, the two teams will hook up at New Era Field in Orchard Park, NY, home of the NFL's Buffalo Bills.
The World Junior Championships run from December 26-January 5 with the other games being held at KeyBank Center, home of the Buffalo Sabres, and the adjacent HarborCenter.
The Buffalo Sabres will close out a three-game homestand tonight against the Philadelphia Flyers, a team they faced off against just over a week ago. In that game, Buffalo was looking to extend their points-streak to five games for the first time since 2012 but were throttled 2-1 in that game. Ryan O'Reilly scored just 1:29 into the game, but Flyers goalie Brian Elliott shut the door on them the rest of the way.
This is the second of three meetings between the Sabres and the Flyers this year and the conclusion of the series will take place on January 7 at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. The Sabres are 4-5-1 in their last 10 versus the Flyers, an identical 4-5-1 in their last 10 meetings in Buffalo. Last year the Sabres went 1-1-1 vs the Flyers losing the first meeting in the shootout after blowing a three-goal third period lead (all on the powerplay,) winning the next one 4-1 (at home,) then getting blown out 6-3 at home to conclude the season series.
The Sabres come into this game on a three-game losing streak that began with that 2-1 loss at Philly. They lost 5-4 in overtime against the Carolina Hurricanes the following night, then got shut out 3-0 by the Boston Bruins on Tuesday. Head coach Phil Housley changed his lines after the 'Canes game, even though his team scored four goals, and they came up empty in the shutout loss vs. the Bruins. And he's at it again.
According to reports from the morning skate, Housley moved Sam Reinhart and Zemgus Girgensons, both of whom were on the fourth line against Boston, up to the top line with Jack Eichel. Evander Kane moved from the Eichel line to the O'Reilly line meaning Benoit Pouliot is back in the bottom six. Rookie Evan Rodrigues gets the night in the press box in favor of Scott Wilson.
These were the lines at the skate:
Kane - O'Reilly - Okposo
Girgensons - Eichel - Reinhart
Pouliot - Josefson - Pominville
Nolan - Larsson - Wilson
Housley also juggled his defense a bit by sitting Victor Antipin who'd been getting his groove on as of late, in favor of Josh Gorges. These were the defense pairings this morning:
Scandella-Ristolainen
McCabe-Bogosian
Georges-Beaulieu
Robin Lehner looks to get the nod in net tonight.
Speaking of Lehner, he's been a veritable wall as of late. In his last six games he's faced 217 shots and allowed only 13 goals (.940 save percentage.) He's given up three goals twice in that span--vs. Chicago and St. Louis consecutively--and faced 96 shots in those two games for a .937 Sv%. The Sabres forwards haven't given him a lot of love during that stretch as they managed to score only 12 goals, which is right about where their lowly 2.12 goals/game average is at right now, and Lehner left the crease with a 2-2-2 record.
After tonight the Sabres hit the road for the next seven games although one of them, the Winter Classic, is treated as a home game despite the fact that they player the NY Rangers at City Field in...New York City.
Go figure.
*****
While the Sabres are on the road, the city of Buffalo will be hosting the World Junior Championship for the first time since 2011. Housley was an assistant coach for the Bronze Medal winning USA team that year and he would coach Team USA to the gold medal two years later in Ufa, Russia.
The Sabres look to have five prospects participating in the 2018 WJC:
USA--C, Casey Mittelstadt, (2017, 8th-overall)
SWE--LW, Alexander Nylander (2016, 8th)
SWE--C, Marcus Davidsson (2017, 37th)
FIN--G, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (2017, 54th)
CZE--D, Vojtech Budik (2016, 130th)
Mittelstadt is in his freshman year at the University of Minnesota and has 17 points (5+12) in 19 games for the 10th-ranked Golden Gophers. Davidsson is playing in the top league in Sweden and the 19 yr. old has nine points (2+7) in 23 games. The 18 yr. old Luukkonen has spent most of his season on loan to LeKi in Mestis, Finland's second highest league. Budick skates with the Prince Albert Raiders of the CHL's Western Hockey League where the defenseman has 11 points (2+9) and a plus-1 rating in 32 games.
The Sabres announced earlier this week that they're loaning Nylander to Team Sweden. Buffalo's 2016 first-round pick has been struggling in the AHL and was injured this summer. The loan is good for Sweden and they added a strong piece to a team that's a favorite to medal and it should be good for him. With those struggles in Rochester with the Americans, confidence could be waning and putting him in a tournament that he's very familiar with while playing against his peers, could help him get back on track.
The WJC is always a big thing for hockey fans as these are the stars of the future all in one tournament. Plus there's a continued rivalry between the US and Canada which will be heightened a bit this season as they take their preliminary round matchup outdoors. On December 29, the two teams will hook up at New Era Field in Orchard Park, NY, home of the NFL's Buffalo Bills.
The World Junior Championships run from December 26-January 5 with the other games being held at KeyBank Center, home of the Buffalo Sabres, and the adjacent HarborCenter.
Monday, July 31, 2017
Four Sabres prospects at 2017 World Junior Summer Showcase
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 7-29-2017
The Buffalo Sabres have a solid presence in Plymouth, Michigan as four players will take their first steps at trying to make their 2018 World Junior teams. Casey Mittelstadt (USA,) Cliff Pu (CAN,) Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (FIN) and Marcus Davidsson (SWE) begin play today in the 2017 World Junior Summer Showcase held in Plymouth, Michigan. The event runs through August 5.
Yesterday all teams held practices with a split USA team scrimmaging each other and the tournament will begin today in earnest as USA White takes on Finland at 1 p.m. For a full schedule see below.
The first game has plenty of intrigue for Sabres fans as two 2017 draft picks go head to head to kick things off with Mittelstadt (USA White) taking on Luukkonen (FIN.) Mittelstadt was selected eight-overall after falling to the Sabres while Luukkonen was taken by Buffalo in the second round at No. 54. Both had an extremely good development camp in Buffalo earlier this month as Mittelstadt lead Team White to the French Connection 3-on-3 Championship while Luukkonen showed off an impressive skill-set even stopping a sneaky Mittelstadt from in tight very early in the tournament.
In the second game today Davidsson and Sweden will take on USA Team Blue at 4:10 p.m. Davidsson was also a second rounder (37th) in 2017. Davidsson didn't make the 2017 World Juniors but Kris Baker of Sabresprospects.com/Sabres.com said that after spending a year playing professional hockey against men, Davidsson will be "a shoe-in" to make Team Sweden in 2018.
Pu is the elder statesman of the bunch. The 2016 third round pick of Buffalo (69th) is 19 and will be entering his fourth year at London with the OHL's Knights. Baker points out that even though Pu had an outstanding year in London (35 goals and 51 assists in 63 games, the Canadian squad is loaded with talent up-front and he may not be a shoe-in for the Team Canada when the 2018 WJC hits Buffalo in late December. That said, a strong Summer Showcase will go a long way in convincing Hockey Canada that they need to find a place for him.
Swedish defenseman Rasmus Dahlin heads a list of 2018 draft eligible players that includes, according to NHL.com's "forwards Brady Tkachuk and Oliver Wahlstrom, and defenseman Quinton Hughes for the U.S., Sweden center Isac Lundestrom and Finland forward Jesse Ylonen."
Both the US and Canada will combine their split squads for the final games.
Below is the full schedule of events from USAHockey.com:
\
The Buffalo Sabres have a solid presence in Plymouth, Michigan as four players will take their first steps at trying to make their 2018 World Junior teams. Casey Mittelstadt (USA,) Cliff Pu (CAN,) Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (FIN) and Marcus Davidsson (SWE) begin play today in the 2017 World Junior Summer Showcase held in Plymouth, Michigan. The event runs through August 5.
Yesterday all teams held practices with a split USA team scrimmaging each other and the tournament will begin today in earnest as USA White takes on Finland at 1 p.m. For a full schedule see below.
The first game has plenty of intrigue for Sabres fans as two 2017 draft picks go head to head to kick things off with Mittelstadt (USA White) taking on Luukkonen (FIN.) Mittelstadt was selected eight-overall after falling to the Sabres while Luukkonen was taken by Buffalo in the second round at No. 54. Both had an extremely good development camp in Buffalo earlier this month as Mittelstadt lead Team White to the French Connection 3-on-3 Championship while Luukkonen showed off an impressive skill-set even stopping a sneaky Mittelstadt from in tight very early in the tournament.
In the second game today Davidsson and Sweden will take on USA Team Blue at 4:10 p.m. Davidsson was also a second rounder (37th) in 2017. Davidsson didn't make the 2017 World Juniors but Kris Baker of Sabresprospects.com/Sabres.com said that after spending a year playing professional hockey against men, Davidsson will be "a shoe-in" to make Team Sweden in 2018.
Pu is the elder statesman of the bunch. The 2016 third round pick of Buffalo (69th) is 19 and will be entering his fourth year at London with the OHL's Knights. Baker points out that even though Pu had an outstanding year in London (35 goals and 51 assists in 63 games, the Canadian squad is loaded with talent up-front and he may not be a shoe-in for the Team Canada when the 2018 WJC hits Buffalo in late December. That said, a strong Summer Showcase will go a long way in convincing Hockey Canada that they need to find a place for him.
Swedish defenseman Rasmus Dahlin heads a list of 2018 draft eligible players that includes, according to NHL.com's "forwards Brady Tkachuk and Oliver Wahlstrom, and defenseman Quinton Hughes for the U.S., Sweden center Isac Lundestrom and Finland forward Jesse Ylonen."
Both the US and Canada will combine their split squads for the final games.
Below is the full schedule of events from USAHockey.com:
| Saturday, July 29 | Finland Practice | 8:15-8:45 a.m. |
| USA Blue Practice (Olympic Rink) | 9:00-9:30 a.m. | |
| Sweden Practice | 9:00-9:30 a.m. | |
| USA White vs. Finland | 1:00 p.m. | |
| USA Blue vs. Sweden | 4:10 p.m | |
| Sunday, July 30 | Finland Practice | 8:15-8:45 a.m. |
| USA White Practice (Olympic Rink) | 9:00-9:30 a.m. | |
| Sweden Practice | 9:00-9:30 a.m. | |
| Canada Practice | 10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m | |
| USA Blue vs. Finland | 1:00 p.m. | |
| USA White vs. Sweden | 4:10 p.m. | |
| Monday, July 31 | USA Blue Practice | 9:30-10:30 a.m. |
| USA White Practice | 10:45-11:45 a.m. | |
| Canada Practice (Olympic Rink) | 11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. | |
| Finland Practice | 12:00-1:15 p.m. | |
| Sweden Practice | 1:30-2:45 p.m. | |
| Tuesday, August 1 | Canada Red Practice | 9:00-9:30 a.m. |
| Canada White Practice | 9:45-10:15 a.m. | |
| Finland Practice (Olympic Rink) | 12:00-1:30 pm. | |
| Sweden Practice (Olympic Rink) | 1:45-3:00 p.m. | |
| Canada Red vs. USA White | 4:08 p.m. | |
| Canada White vs. USA Blue | 7:18 p.m. | |
| Wednesday, August 2 | Finland Practice | 8:15-8:45 a.m. |
| USA Practice (Olympic Rink) | 9:00-9:30 a.m. | |
| Sweden Practice | 9:00-9:30 a.m. | |
| Canada Practice (Olympic Rink) | 10:00-11:15 a.m. | |
| Canada vs. Finland | 1:08 p.m. | |
| USA vs. Sweden | 4:18 p.m. | |
| Thursday, August 3 | Canada Practice (Olympic Rink) | 8:00-11:00 a.m. |
| Finland Practice | 10:00-11:15 a.m. | |
| Sweden Practice | 11:30 a.m. - 12:45 p.m. | |
| Canada Practice | 1:00-3:30 p.m. | |
| Friday, August 4 | USA Practice | 9:00-9:30 a.m. |
| Finland Practice (Olympic Rink) | 9:00-9:30 a.m. | |
| Canada Practice | 9:45-11:00 a.m. | |
| Sweden vs. Canada | 1:08 p.m. | |
| Finland vs. USA | 4:18 p.m. | |
| Saturday, August 5 | Sweden Practice | 9:00-9:30 a.m. |
| Finland Practice (Olympic Rink) | 9:00-9:30 a.m. | |
| USA Practice | 10:00-10:30 a.m. | |
| Canada Practice | 10:45-11:45 a.m. | |
| Sweden vs. Finland | 4:08 p.m. | |
| USA vs. Canada | 7:18 p.m. |
\
Sunday, December 6, 2015
Visions of 2007 plus, looking ahead to 2018
Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com
The Buffalo Sabres are on a bit of a tear lately having won three of four games while scoring 17 goals in the process and for fans it's pretty awesome. With growing pains still on the horizon, it's not without mild trepidation, mind you, but with the Sabres having scored four or more goals in four consecutive games for the first time since November, 2007 fans have the right to be a bit giddy. Especially after the team tested historic post-Original Six lows for goals in the previous two seasons.
Most fans remember the "Ferrari Sabres" of the 2006-07 season when the team lead the league in goals scored (298) averaging a league-high 3.63 per game, a number no team has come close to matching since. It was the year when they could never be counted out no matter how many goals they might be down in a game. The '06/'07 Sabres had team-speed, snipers and players with a nose for the net and this team has similar traits.
It also should be remembered that the '06/7 Sabres fell short in the overall team-grit department. The previous season had a nice mix of speed, skill and grit but the salary cap caused the team to make some tough decisions and much of their sandpaper ended up walking. As it stands right now, the team we're watching emerge from two seasons as the doormat of the NHL is looking like a hybrid of those first two post-2004 lockout teams, which is a pretty exciting proposition.
And they're young too.
Which leads me to thinking where some of the players will be on New Year's Day, 2018.
The Buffalo Sabres are on a bit of a tear lately having won three of four games while scoring 17 goals in the process and for fans it's pretty awesome. With growing pains still on the horizon, it's not without mild trepidation, mind you, but with the Sabres having scored four or more goals in four consecutive games for the first time since November, 2007 fans have the right to be a bit giddy. Especially after the team tested historic post-Original Six lows for goals in the previous two seasons.
Most fans remember the "Ferrari Sabres" of the 2006-07 season when the team lead the league in goals scored (298) averaging a league-high 3.63 per game, a number no team has come close to matching since. It was the year when they could never be counted out no matter how many goals they might be down in a game. The '06/'07 Sabres had team-speed, snipers and players with a nose for the net and this team has similar traits.
It also should be remembered that the '06/7 Sabres fell short in the overall team-grit department. The previous season had a nice mix of speed, skill and grit but the salary cap caused the team to make some tough decisions and much of their sandpaper ended up walking. As it stands right now, the team we're watching emerge from two seasons as the doormat of the NHL is looking like a hybrid of those first two post-2004 lockout teams, which is a pretty exciting proposition.
And they're young too.
Which leads me to thinking where some of the players will be on New Year's Day, 2018.
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