"Holy flashbacks, Bettman!" this bad trip keeps recurring

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 1-27-2019


First off, I'm not Canadian and the sanctity of hockey as well it's birthplace, however real or imagined, is not woven into the very fabric of my being from birth. I like hockey, a lot, and as a kid before our almost daily street hockey games we'd start out with sticks high singing the Canadian national anthem. However you won't find me praying on a Sabres hockey rug in the direction of the "Centre of the Hockey Universe" while clutching a copy of Ken Dryden's, The Game. Hockey is an awesome sport that I've followed since I was a kid and I've generally enjoyed the tremendous advances they've made in nearly every aspect of the game.

Yet, I hold these truths to be self-evident, that after decades of trying to make serious in-roads into the American sports fan's consciousness, hockey remains a very Canadian, very regional sport for the most part.

The NHL has done well to slowly build a rock-solid fan-base, which is admirable, and for years, especially the past 25 years under NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, the league has been trying for a bigger footprint on the American sports scene. Mainly he's tried to do it through expansion into non-traditional hockey markets as well as making for a faster, more exciting product through various rule changes, most notably the recent elimination of the red line. And every once and while Bettman would throw some gimmicks into the mix, like the infamous "glowing puck" of the mid-latter 1990's.

Sabres at the All-Star break--where they are and where they might be headed

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 1-24-2019


At 54 points on the season, the Buffalo Sabres find themselves in the playoff mix and to those who didn't get caught up in the 10-game winning streak or lose their minds as the Sabres went 7-12-4 post streak, this is pretty much where many thought they might be. It's not some Pollyanna Phil-like reach for positivity to point out that the team is by far better than they were last season, and better than the they were in 2016-17 at this point in the season. Consider:

--Last season they finished with 62 points and so far this year the Sabres have 54 on a 24-18-6 record. At this point in the '16-'17 season,  Buffalo had 49 points on a 20-19-9 record.
--With 32 games remaining, their 24 wins is one away from last season and nine away from the year before when they had 33 and finished with 78 points. The pace the Sabres are on right now is that of a 41-win season and 92 total points.

That's a fact Jack, Eichel is back. Plus, the "rockstar" (and All-Star) returns home

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 1-11-2019


Buffalo captain Jack Eichel looks to be back in the lineup as word from the rink in Carolina has him taking line-rushes with the team. Eichel was out with an upperbody injury suffered prior to their December 31 game vs. the NY Islanders. The Sabres leading scorer took the ice against the Islanders but only played a couple of minutes before leaving the game. Eichel missed three games full games and his team went 2-1-0 in his absence.

The cool part about Eichel being out and not having it be a total disaster is that we found out who on the team was ready to step up in his absence and one of those players earned a look on Eichel's line for tonight's game against the Hurricanes.

Tage Thompson started out the season slow and was a healthy scratch but received individual attention from the coaching staff and took it all in. Since getting back into the lineup he's slowly ramped up his game and was consistently one of the best Buffalo Sabres on the ice in Eichel's absence. Head coach Phil Housley ended up moving Thompson to right wing in a top-six role and the 6'6" 205 lb. winger responded with 11 shots, a goal, an assist and a plus-1 rating.

Thompson will join the Sabres leading scorer in Eichel (49 points) and their leading goal-scorer in Jeff Skinner.