Broadcaster Don Stevens talks of Amerks, Sabres management, and prospects

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 5-5-2017



The Rochester Americans still felt the effects of the 2013-15 Buffalo Sabres talent purge as much of the talent and depth they expected to have last October was soon whisked away to Buffalo when Sabres' players succumbed to injury.

Such is the existence of an AHL team, when something happens to the big club, they reach down to the affiliate to fill their needs.

It was a rough year for the Sabres and one of the nails in the coffin of their 2016-17 season was lack of depth and/or a failure by management to bolster the roster with an outside transaction while stricken with a rash of injuries. Buffalo was rocked by injuries to key players up-front while at the same time injuries to the defense-corps were either depleting the lineup or inhibiting defensemen from doing their job properly. There was a point in time back in November when the Sabres started six players either scheduled to start the season in Rochester or had been recent call-ups from the Amerks, for three consecutive games bookended by another handful of games where five of those players started for the Sabres.

"Rochester West," was how long-time Amerks broadcaster Don Stevens described it. The Voice of the Rochester Americans chatted with me a couple weeks ago acknowledging that the job of the AHL club was as an NHL feeder and developer of talent but lamented the lack of depth in Rochester.

Stevens and I were in the midst of an interview on April 20 the day it was announced that the Sabres had just fired their GM and head coach. Looking from an Amerks perspective, Stevens saw it a s positive move in the right direction for the franchise. "They weren't building properly from this stage (the AHL) up," he told me, "or even below this stage (in the ECHL with the Elmira Jackals.) We need to have depth in the organization below this stage.

"You could see what happened when we'd lose a player or two players all of a sudden we'd go in the tank."

Such was the handiwork of former GM Tim Murray and what both I and Stevens couldn't understand is why the Sabres didn't bring in any outside help when they really needed it. The Sabres were running with around 45 of the allowable 50 pro contracts all season long and it was a head scratcher as to why those slots weren't used bolster depth. Stevens said at one point "nearly half the roster was first-year players or players on amateur tryout contracts." He said "one game they counted eight players on ATO's" and it's something that stuck in his craw.

Without delving into specifics Stevens said "there are certain reasons why [the firings] was a good move for the organization" and that the contract thing, along with the lack of depth, were parts of it.

All's not gloom and doom in the Saberland, however. There was continuity from Buffalo to Rochester on the ice as the players called up from Rochester fit seamlessly into the Sabres style of play. Many looked as if they belonged even if they couldn't maintain that higher level of play and contribute, beyond a handful of games. However, they did show why they were drafted and that they could at least hold their own at the NHL-level.

Here's some of those players who look to be the future of the Sabres and what Stevens had to say about them:


G, Linus Ullmark--The second-year pro was thrown into the fire early in the 2015-16 season when Sabres' starting goalie Robin Lehner went down in the first game of the season. This past season he was the undisputed No. 1 goalie for Rochester. His stat-line isn't great, but neither was the team in front of him as he faced a league-high 1,678 shots against. "He was just fantastic," said Stevens of Ullmark. "He kept us in 75-80% of the games while being drastically outshout all season long. He was just outstanding. He was hung out to dry many nights and he'd just keep us in the games."

Ullmark, said Stevens, "had a tremendous attitude this year. Win or lose he was cheerful, very supportive, friendly and worked well with the guys. They loved him and voted him the team MVP."

RW, Alex Nylander--At 18 yrs. old, Nylander was the youngest player in the AHL who Stevens said needs to grow physically. "He's not terribly short and he's not small," said Stevens, "but physically he's got to get stronger and bigger. I think he lacks confidence and part of it is because he's still somewhat of a boy playing against men."

When Nylander came up for a short end-of-season stint with Buffalo I told Stevens he looked like a waif compared to those he was playing against but that eventually he started to figure out how to maneuver himself around the NHL'ers without getting killed. "That's what I'm talking about," replied Stevens, "confidence. He's so worried about not getting killed, sometimes he's not doing the things he needs to do and stays away from the physical contact." Stevens said Nylander has the skills saying "he looks like he'll be a good one," but that bulking up is the first step on the way to more confidence which will bring out his skills.

D, Brady Austin--It was the second time Stevens used the word confidence when talking specifically about a player. When Austin came up to the Sabres late in the season it looked like a token call-up based upon the numbers he put up in Rochester. But he turned some heads while in Buffalo.

Austin skates extremely well for a stay-at-home d-man clocking in a 6'3" and 227 lbs. "He's not so flashy in that he makes himself standout," said Stevens, "he just plays the game solid, is there game-in, game-out. The thing is he has the ability to do the flash. You'll see him on occasion take a rush and you're sitting there with your mouth open and you can't believe he just did that. He has that ability but I don't think he has the confidence yet."

RW, Nick Baptiste and Justin Bailey--Baptiste, a second-year pro has the size (6'1", 206 lbs) and the speed to have an impact at the NHL-level and has developed well through 121 games at the AHL-level. Last season he made great strides scoring 25 goals in 59 games for the Amerks, which Stevens acknowledged but he also pointed out that both he and fellow RW Justin Bailey, who's also fast and skilled and has an NHL frame, are having certain problems in one area.

Both are very fast skaters but on occasion their skill can't keep up with their skating. "They overskate their game," said Stevens, "and they have a little bit of trouble with puck control and puck movement. They both were getting better at it, but they still need to work on that."

D, Casey Nelson--Sometimes you just can't mince words. Nelson was terrible for Buffalo in his first eight games with the club this season and it took him a while to regain his footing in Rochester. But he finished strong to the point where Stevens thought Nelson should have been acknowledged as the most improved player on the Amerks. "The last four or five weeks of the season he came on strong," said Stevens. "I think he needs another year here. He's not all that big and he's got to gain some strength, but he looks like he could be a good prospect."

LW, Evan Rodrigues--Rodrigues, like Nelson, is an undrafted college free agent signed by Buffalo. He struggled in his first pro season, made an impression in two games played for the Sabres and was back at it this past season in Rochester. Although the numbers weren't there early in the season, Rodrigues, according to Stevens, "played very well. He finished strong his first season and picked up right where he left off this year. He got the call to Buffalo and played even better.

"Overall," continued Stevens, "I think he had an outstanding year and certainly has made a case for him to win a full-time job [in Buffalo.]"

One thing about Stevens is that he's a firm believer in having players play in the AHL for their proper development. There are exceptions like the Jack Eichel's of the hockey world, but most of the others stand to benefit from playing at the lower levels where there's more room to make mistakes and the spotlight is much dimmer. Stevens said that about all the prospects including defenseman Brendan Guhle, who looks to be in a strong position to be a part of the defense-corps for the Sabres.

Stevens will have another group of Amerks players to watch next season as change is sure to come, at least from a player standpoint, but he is hoping that Amerks players like Cole Schneider, who's already voiced his readiness to come back, Tim Kennedy and Justin Vaive will return as cornerstones for next year's team. He also mentioned that he'd like to see head coach Dan Lambert return saying, "I'd love to see him back. I thought he and his coaches did an excellent job with what they put up with." But it's the AHL, and you're at the mercy of the parent club and things rarely work out the way you planned them.

Will...

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 3-22-2017


With the shade slowly being drawn on Buffalo's hockey season and fans in Sabreland looking forward to an off season of moves that can hopefully get them into the playoffs next season, there are still a handful of games to be followed. Individual and team development form a thematic for the remainder of the season so here are some questions for the Sabres after they finished a back-to-back with a win at Detroit and a loss vs. Pittsburgh.

Will...

--the Sabres be able to match or exceed their 81 point total from last season?
Lest we forget, Buffalo went from 54 points in 2014-15 to 81 points last season which is significant regardless of how bad the team was. Expectations were for a modest to playoff contending point increase but they head into the final eight games of the season on an 80-point pace. Buffalo has games remaining against Toronto Maple Leafs (2,) Florida Panthers (2,) Columbus Blue Jackets, NY Islanders, Montreal Canadiens, and Tampa Bay Lightning.

--the Buffalo be able to play the role of spoiler?
The Sabres play three teams in the hunt for the final Eastern Conference wild card slot--Toronto, NY Islanders and Tampa Bay--with the Leafs in the driver's seat. Of the three, no doubt the Sabres would like to do the most damage to Toronto as there's a strong rivalry brewing. Hail to the Leafs, however, as head coach Mike Babcock has his talented, young group playing some impressive hockey when it counts including wins against foes from the east in Detroit, Philadelphia, Carolina, Tampa Bay and Boston as well as taking the Chicago Blackhawks to overtime before losing.

--Rasmus Ristolainen face suspension for his hit last night?
"The Angry Finn" as Sabres coach Dan Bylsma calls Ristolainen, had Pittsburgh Penguins forward Jake Guentzel lined up and ready to demolish in the neutral zone as soon as the puck hit Guentzel's stick. However the pass was picked of by Buffalo's Zemgus Girgensons and Ristolainen hit a man without the puck. Guentzel got to his skates bloodied and woozy while Ristolainen was hit with a five minute for interference and a game misconduct. Personally I thought he backed off as he turned to his back-side just before the collision. A game at most.

--Evander Kane be able to get on track before the end of the season.
From December 3 to March 11 Kane was on fire scoring all of his 25 goals but he's been goal-less in his last five. Much of it has to do with the March 2 injury to Kyle Okposo and Kane's consequent move off of Jack Eichel's line. In the 10 games after Okposo hit the injured list, Kane has only two goals both of them coming on the powerplay. The Eichel-effect no doubt.

--the loss of Okposo get the attention it deserves?
As a poster pointed out in one of our threads, not enough attention is being paid to the loss of Okposo who was at or near the top in Sabres scoring all season. Since he's been sidelined the Buffalo is 3-6-1.

--rookie defenseman Brady Austin continue to impress?
He was called up two games ago after Taylor Fedun (who was pretty impressive) and Cody Franson hit the injured list. Austin is a big guy at 6'4" 230 and was having a largely forgettable season with Rochester before being called up. He played a solid game against a quick Detroit Red Wings team and played another solid game against a faster and more talented Pittsburgh club. Austin skates well for his size and is fairly nimble, able to turn his hips like a man much smaller than him. Although expectations are tempered, he's exceeded what I thought he could bring to the table.

--Jack Eichel learn from Sidney Crosby and the like?
I love "Jack Flash" and think his skill-level and skating are off the charts but his desire and will doesn't seem to be at the level of Crosby. At least not on a consistent basis. When Crosby scores that scowl is his celebration of defeating the many who are draped all over him the entire game. Eichel shows that desire but there's still room for growth in that area.

Catching up with Don Stevens and the Rochester Americans Pt. 2

Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com


With plenty of new players and new systems in place, it's not surprising the whole Rochester Americans team is trying to figure out things out. Nor is it surprising that they're somewhat streaky. In a piece penned by Kevin Oklobzija who covers the Amerks for the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, he called the team the"ultimate in consistent inconsistency."

"The pattern of wins and losses on the Amerks schedule since Halloween," wrote Oklobzija, "is win three, lose four, win one, lose one, win three, lose three, win two, and now going into Friday's home game against the Hartford Wolf Pack it's lose one."

Rochester smoked the Wolf Pack that night 7-1 with seven different Amerks scoring goals. Four of the goals came from defensemen as Matt Donovan, Bobby Sanguinetti, Chad Ruhwedel, and Jerome Leduc scored consecutively to put the Amerks up 4-0. Justin Bailey, Jason Akeson and Jean Dupuy skated the team to a 7-0 lead with all but Dupuy scoring either their second or third goals of the season.

No Amerks player has really stood out in the goals-scoring department as scoring has been by committee to this point in the season. Veteran Phil Varone leads the team with nine goals and the next closest is Jason Akeson with six.

Akeson, who was signed by GM Tim Murray in the off season, is having a solid campaign. He's a former Philadelphia Flyers free agent signee (2011) who had been with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms of the AHL and scored at least 50 points in every season for the team before coming to Rochester. The 25 yr. old native of Orleans, Ontario brings speed and playmaking ability to the team. "He's also pretty good at sticking his nose in," said long-time Amerks broadcaster Don Stevens. "He's not the biggest guy, but he plays over his size."

With the offense starting to perk up a sketchy defense may just be beginning to solidify as well. Overall their numbers are pretty weak as Rochester has given up 94 goals through 28 games or 3.35 goals allowed per game. But in another case of the Christmas break coming at the wrong time, they've only given up two goals in their last two games. Take out the poor performance against Utica where they allowed five goals and in the other four surrounding it they've allowed five goals in four games (1.25 gaa.)

Stevens looks upon the defense and sees a very good one comprised of solid pairings. There's a mix of veteran players featuring Sanguinetti, Donovan and Colby Robak coupled with some younger players like Ruhwedel and Leduc plus 22 yr. old Brady Austin who's coming along nicely in his second pro season.

Austin is a big, powerful d-man chiming in at 6'4" and 225 lbs. A seventh round pick (193rd) in 2012, Austin spent time skating with former Sabres defenseman Nikita Zadorov when they were a pair with the London Knights of the OHL. "He's probably our only stay-at-home defenseman, which seems to be his game," said Stevens of Austin. "Although, when he wants to, there will be times when he'll surprise you and just blow right through the defense, bust in on goal and have great scoring opportunities."

After an extremely slow start, the defense is starting to come together, especially on the penalty kill. Stevens pointed out that they haven't allowed a powerplay goal in the last five games. That in-turn has helped the goaltending stabilize as well.

Whether it's the defense learning new systems or the forwards missing their assignments or the goaltenders letting in a softie or two at the wrong time, there's been plenty of inconsistency in net. It was a big reason for the aforementioned "consistent inconsistency."

"We're getting outstanding games from both (goalies) [Nathan] Lieuwen and [Andrey] Makarov," said Stevens, "and then there's nights when it just isn't working very well. We'll go two or three games maybe giving up a goal (or so) a game and then all of a sudden we're giving up four or five goals a game. The biggest thing is that the goaltending has been inconsistent."

It should be noted that before he left for the Buffalo Sabres as a call-up, goaltender Linus Ullmark was 1-2 with a 2.72 goals against average and a .932 save percentage. In two of the three games he was simply outstanding in net even though he came out with a 1-1 record. The time Ullmark has spent with Buffalo while Robin Lehner recovers is invaluable and should serve him and the Amerks well when he's returned to Rochester.

Markarov is 6-5-1 to this point in the season with a 2.95 gaa and a .911 sv % while Lieuwen is 7-5-0 with a 3.31 gaa and a .902 sv %.

The big thing for the Amerks right now is continuing to play at a fast pace. Speed is the name of the game and that's what the organization wants as a platform for success at both the AHL and NHL levels.

With 30 years invested in the broadcast booth for the Amerks, Stevens has seen styles of play come and go and although he's still old-school and somewhat misses the hard, physical game, he see's the speed game as pretty exciting. "That's what the game is now," he said. "For a while it was finesse, and then it was defense and [the trap], then it was size, then smaller players with speed. But I think it's coming down the game right now being all about speed."

GM Murray brought in fast players for a speed game and Rochester head coach Randy Cunneyworth wants his team to play that way and now the Amerks, according to Stevens, "learned to use their speed," said Stevens. "It seems like they're playing a whole lot faster now. It's really starting to pay off."


Merry Christmas everybody.

Ramp-up to the 2015 NHL Draft Pt. 2--The d-pipeline

Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com


With the emergence of Tampa Bay's Victor Hedman and his dominant performance thus far in the Stanley Cup playoffs, the defenseman seems to be taking center stage in the NHL. And it's not just a matter of Hedman being matched up against a really good team with some top-notch players. The  6'6" 232 lb. native of Sweden has been at the fore of shutting down elite talent in the Chicago's Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane and his play has overshadowed the Blackhawk's two-time Norris Trophy winner Duncan Keith who, up until this series with the Lightning, was in serious consideration for the Conn Smythe Trophy as this year's playoff MVP.

Perhaps were seeing a new era in the NHL where the defenseman is King of the Hill. Both Hedman and Keith are the complete package--two-way skill, speed and smarts--although the scary part about Hedman is that he does it five inches taller and 40 lbs. heavier than Keith. Not to be dismissed in the series either is Hawks d-man Brent Seabrook, a big, strong all-around d-man with offensive acumen and a bit of a bite to his game.

"Maybe it's not our tournament"

Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com


That understated quote from Buffalo Sabres prospect Nikita Zadorov pretty much sums it up. It wasn't their tournament at all, in any aspect.

The Buffalo Sabres prospects went 0-3-1 at the Traverse City Tournament and finished in last place. They were outscored 17-6 overall and scored only one goal in three of the four games even though they collectively outshot their opponents by a 134-90 margin. A statistical anomaly had the Sabres scoring their only multi-goal game vs. the Dallas Stars in the only game they were outshot (29-24.)

Numbers are a funny thing as it began in the first game vs. the Carolina Hurricanes. The Sabres puck possession numbers were strong and they outshout the 'Canes 35-20 yet lost 6-1. Goaltender Andrey Makarov had a real rough outing allowing 6 goals on only 20 shots. Reports from the rink had him letting in a couple of softies, but he was also a victim of a very poor penalty kill.

Sabres ink Baptiste, Austin plus intro to hockeybuzz

Reposted from hockeybuzz with permission.



Greetings, y'all.

It's been a long time.

I'd like to start out by saying thanks to EK for the opportunity and to Eric for taking the time to read my blogs and for his assistance in this process.

This is a gig was unexpected but one that certainly is welcomed and appreciated.

To all my buzzard buds--homie, sip, indy, ray, 89, cab and others--I kinda missed you all.

And special thanks to Cisco for his awesomeness. We're all lucky to have his solid contributions as both a fan and a ref. My friend, I hope we can get together once again for some frosty adult beverages and maybe a sip or two of some tastiness from Scotland.

Anyhow.

The powers that be liked what I've written about the Buffalo Sabres over the years and asked if I would do the same for hockeybuzz. And I obliged.

Hopefully I can keep it rolling.

Sabres d-prospect Brady Austin is big and mobile

The final segment of our Erie/London trilogy belongs to largely unknown Sabres d-prospect Brady Austin.

He's largely unknown because he was taken in the 7th round of the 2012 draft. Not much is expected of a 193rd pick especially when a site like Hockey's Future has a twitter-length talent analysis that keys on "size and muscle."

To my surprise, Austin is much more mobile than originally thought.