Published by hockeybuzz.com, 3-4-2019
Had we been shown the scheduled date of tonight's matchup between the Edmonton Oilers and Buffalo Sabres four years ago, we' have perceived it in a different light. Two franchise centers were atop the 2015 NHL Draft that season and it set off a mad scramble between two teams to finish in last place to secure at least one of them as lottery system guaranteed that the last place team could drop no further than one spot.
The Sabres did finish in last place but were jumped by the Oilers via the draft lottery. Edmonton selected a transformative player in Connor McDavid with the first pick in the draft while Buffalo walked away with the "consolation prize" of franchise center Jack Eichel, who was taken second-overall. The two players will be forever linked far beyond the "McEichel" moniker placed upon that draft and are still linked in that both their organizations have floundered since selecting them.
Showing posts with label McEichel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label McEichel. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 5, 2019
Wednesday, January 16, 2019
Sabres in western Canada for a three-game road-trip, plus McEichel and CJ Smith
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 1-14-2019
A lot of times when a team is in a funk the overriding theme on a far-reaching road trip like this is that it will be a good bonding experience. Without any local distractions, it's just the team and their opponents and a lot of time to focus solely on the task at hand.
Buffalo begins a three-game, western Canada swing tonight with a visit to Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta to take on the Oilers. After that it's a stop in Calgary to face the Flames before they head to the Pacific coast to take on the Vancouver Canucks which will ultimately take them 2,700 miles from home and hopefully even further away from the struggles they've endured lately.
The Sabres have been brilliant versus the Pacific Division this season going 9-2-1 and haven't lost in regulation since the Anaheim Ducks walloped them 5-1 on October 18. For those following, it was after that game that Buffalo bench boss Phil Housley mixed up his forward lines. He moved Jeff Skinner back to Jack Eichel's left wing, which was where he started the season, and moved 35 yr. old Jason Pominville to that duo's right. Kyle Okposo remained on rookie Casey Mittelstadt's right wing while fourth-line center Evan Rodrigues was moved to up to the left on that line. The bottom-six featured Conor Sheary/Vladimir Sobotka/Sam Reinhart along with Zemgus Girgensons/Johan Larsson/Patrick Berglund.
A lot of times when a team is in a funk the overriding theme on a far-reaching road trip like this is that it will be a good bonding experience. Without any local distractions, it's just the team and their opponents and a lot of time to focus solely on the task at hand.
Buffalo begins a three-game, western Canada swing tonight with a visit to Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta to take on the Oilers. After that it's a stop in Calgary to face the Flames before they head to the Pacific coast to take on the Vancouver Canucks which will ultimately take them 2,700 miles from home and hopefully even further away from the struggles they've endured lately.
The Sabres have been brilliant versus the Pacific Division this season going 9-2-1 and haven't lost in regulation since the Anaheim Ducks walloped them 5-1 on October 18. For those following, it was after that game that Buffalo bench boss Phil Housley mixed up his forward lines. He moved Jeff Skinner back to Jack Eichel's left wing, which was where he started the season, and moved 35 yr. old Jason Pominville to that duo's right. Kyle Okposo remained on rookie Casey Mittelstadt's right wing while fourth-line center Evan Rodrigues was moved to up to the left on that line. The bottom-six featured Conor Sheary/Vladimir Sobotka/Sam Reinhart along with Zemgus Girgensons/Johan Larsson/Patrick Berglund.
Thursday, March 22, 2018
Arizona at Buffalo. Ahhhh, the memories. Plus, Jack on not wanting to shut it down.
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 3-21-2018
It's deja vu all over again only this time, unlike in 2015, these two teams won't be battling it out for last place to secure a top-two pick. If you don't know it by now, here's a brief recap of what it was like to be a Buffalo Sabres fan during the 2014-15 season.
The focus on tanking began back in 1983-83 when the Pittsburgh Penguins did so to select Mario Lemieux at the top of the '84 NHL Draft (see video below from TSN entitled "Playing to Lose.") The NHL instituted a lottery system for non-playoff teams in 1995 and it went through a couple different adjustments through the years. For the 2014-15 season, any non-playoff team could win the lottery but the last place team could fall no further than the second overall pick in the draft.
The 2015 NHL Draft was called the Connor McDavid Sweepstakes as McDavid represented a prospect not seen since the likes of Lemieux and Sidney Crosby. However, U.S. born prospect Jack Eichel was also in the mix and was widely seen as the "consolation prize" should the team with the worst record not win the lottery and often times when discussing the draft, the term "McEichel" was used as a way of bringing the two prominent names in the draft together.
Both the Sabres and the Arizona Coyotes seemed to be the front-runners for last place that season and in an epic battle of "tank warfare" both teams used the 2015 NHL traded deadline as a way to dump every ounce of remaining NHL/AHL talent from their team to try and secure a last place finish (read my piece on that trade deadline here.)
On March 26, 2015 the Coyotes came to Buffalo in the "Battle for the Basement." The game featured Buffalo fans decked out in their Sabres regalia cheering the visiting 'Yotes with the sparse crowd saving their loudest cheer for Arizona's Sam Gagner who won the game in overtime. Said Sabres defenseman Mike Weber about his team cheering on the opposition, ""I don't even know what to say. It's extremely frustrating for us. I've never been a part of something like that where the away team comes into a home building and [the fans] are cheering for them."
It took to the second to last game of the season for the Sabres to secure last place (with a local radio station buying the jersey of the Columbus Blue Jackets players who scored the tank-securing goal.)
Buffalo finished in last place. Arizona finished 29th and the Edmonton Oilers finished 28th. After the lottery was completed, Edmonton won the rights to select McDavid first-overall, Buffalo got the "consolation prize" in Eichel and the Coyotes picked...(bet many can't name who they picked without looking it up)...Dylan Strome.
To many the Sabres won when they lost while to others they were always losers for losing. Regardless of which side you were on, it tapped into our core being as Sabres/hockey fans and left a mental scar on all of us moving forward.
The Sabres lot in the hockey world was supposed to change after that draft, yet after a short ride to the upper portions of the bottom third, they fell backwards last season and are now exactly where they were three years ago--in last place. As for the Coyotes, they're in 29th place one point ahead of the Sabres after finishing 28th last season and in 24th, one spot behind the Sabres the prior season.
Buffalo and Arizona meet tonight and although the standings are pretty much the same, much is different when it comes to the 2018 NHL Draft.. In response to the events that happened in 2015, the NHL changed it's lottery rules so that now every non-playoff team will have a shot at the top-three picks in the draft with the last-place team possibly drafting as low as fourth-overall. And this year there is one franchise-altering player at the top of the draft (not two.)
Unlike the 2014-15 Sabres, this Buffalo team is nowhere near as bereft of talent and have actually been playing some real good hockey as of late, even in losses (see Nashville Predators game on Monday.) Instead of borderline NHL'ers and career AHL'ers occupying roster spots, this team is lead by Eichel and some upper-level players with talented youngins being put into the mix. Prior to the overtime loss to Arizona in 2015 the Sabres had one win in their prior 13 games (1-10-2) while this edition is 6-6-1 in their previous 13.
If there is a "Tank-nation" out there in Sabreland, they're subdued. Could there be some cheers from Sabres fans when (if) Arizona scores tonight? Possibly. But it will be no where near where it was nearly three years ago when Sabres fans were blatantly open about the tank job and feeling damn proud of it.
It's not most pleasant of memories, but it happened.
*****
Reports from the rink have these lines and d-pairingsat the morning skate:
Wilson-O’Reilly-Reinhart
Bailey-Eichel-Okposo
Nolan-Rodrigues-Baptiste
Pouliot-Larsson-Pominville
Scandella-Ristolainen
Beaulieu-Nelson
Guhle-Falk
Also, it looks as if Chad Johnson will get the nod in net for Buffalo.
*****
Eichel spoke to the media yesterday concerning the opinion of many fans who wanted him shut down for the rest of the season. The 21 yr. old suffered his second consecutive high-ankle sprain (on different ankles) and was back in the lineup on Saturday. His response, via Bill Hoppe of the Olean Times:
“It’s a pretty simple answer, to be honest with you, I’m playing because I’m a hockey player. It’s kind of ridiculous for somebody to think we’re out of the playoffs and we don’t have an opportunity to really do anything with our season that I would just pack my year in. It’s not who I am as a person, it’s not who I’ve ever been, it’s not who I am as a hockey player.
“At the end of the day, I love to play hockey. Whether we’re in first place or last place in the league, it doesn’t matter to me. I like to put my equipment on, go out there and play hockey. That’s why I’m playing. I love to play and I have a lot of fun doing it. It’s what I look most forward to in my day. There’s not really quite a feeling like it, so I enjoy it every day.
“I’m a competitor, I want to be out there competing. I want to play, so that’s why I’m playing. There should be a lot more questions asked if I decided I did want to pack it in, end my season.
“I looked at my rehab process as if I was coming back to compete to try to get to the playoffs. Obviously, that’s not the case, but I try to put myself in the best position to come back and impact this team in a positive way. That’s all part of us building a culture out there. We should all want to be out there every night. I think that that’s important.”
It's deja vu all over again only this time, unlike in 2015, these two teams won't be battling it out for last place to secure a top-two pick. If you don't know it by now, here's a brief recap of what it was like to be a Buffalo Sabres fan during the 2014-15 season.
The focus on tanking began back in 1983-83 when the Pittsburgh Penguins did so to select Mario Lemieux at the top of the '84 NHL Draft (see video below from TSN entitled "Playing to Lose.") The NHL instituted a lottery system for non-playoff teams in 1995 and it went through a couple different adjustments through the years. For the 2014-15 season, any non-playoff team could win the lottery but the last place team could fall no further than the second overall pick in the draft.
The 2015 NHL Draft was called the Connor McDavid Sweepstakes as McDavid represented a prospect not seen since the likes of Lemieux and Sidney Crosby. However, U.S. born prospect Jack Eichel was also in the mix and was widely seen as the "consolation prize" should the team with the worst record not win the lottery and often times when discussing the draft, the term "McEichel" was used as a way of bringing the two prominent names in the draft together.
Both the Sabres and the Arizona Coyotes seemed to be the front-runners for last place that season and in an epic battle of "tank warfare" both teams used the 2015 NHL traded deadline as a way to dump every ounce of remaining NHL/AHL talent from their team to try and secure a last place finish (read my piece on that trade deadline here.)
On March 26, 2015 the Coyotes came to Buffalo in the "Battle for the Basement." The game featured Buffalo fans decked out in their Sabres regalia cheering the visiting 'Yotes with the sparse crowd saving their loudest cheer for Arizona's Sam Gagner who won the game in overtime. Said Sabres defenseman Mike Weber about his team cheering on the opposition, ""I don't even know what to say. It's extremely frustrating for us. I've never been a part of something like that where the away team comes into a home building and [the fans] are cheering for them."
It took to the second to last game of the season for the Sabres to secure last place (with a local radio station buying the jersey of the Columbus Blue Jackets players who scored the tank-securing goal.)
Buffalo finished in last place. Arizona finished 29th and the Edmonton Oilers finished 28th. After the lottery was completed, Edmonton won the rights to select McDavid first-overall, Buffalo got the "consolation prize" in Eichel and the Coyotes picked...(bet many can't name who they picked without looking it up)...Dylan Strome.
To many the Sabres won when they lost while to others they were always losers for losing. Regardless of which side you were on, it tapped into our core being as Sabres/hockey fans and left a mental scar on all of us moving forward.
The Sabres lot in the hockey world was supposed to change after that draft, yet after a short ride to the upper portions of the bottom third, they fell backwards last season and are now exactly where they were three years ago--in last place. As for the Coyotes, they're in 29th place one point ahead of the Sabres after finishing 28th last season and in 24th, one spot behind the Sabres the prior season.
Buffalo and Arizona meet tonight and although the standings are pretty much the same, much is different when it comes to the 2018 NHL Draft.. In response to the events that happened in 2015, the NHL changed it's lottery rules so that now every non-playoff team will have a shot at the top-three picks in the draft with the last-place team possibly drafting as low as fourth-overall. And this year there is one franchise-altering player at the top of the draft (not two.)
Unlike the 2014-15 Sabres, this Buffalo team is nowhere near as bereft of talent and have actually been playing some real good hockey as of late, even in losses (see Nashville Predators game on Monday.) Instead of borderline NHL'ers and career AHL'ers occupying roster spots, this team is lead by Eichel and some upper-level players with talented youngins being put into the mix. Prior to the overtime loss to Arizona in 2015 the Sabres had one win in their prior 13 games (1-10-2) while this edition is 6-6-1 in their previous 13.
If there is a "Tank-nation" out there in Sabreland, they're subdued. Could there be some cheers from Sabres fans when (if) Arizona scores tonight? Possibly. But it will be no where near where it was nearly three years ago when Sabres fans were blatantly open about the tank job and feeling damn proud of it.
It's not most pleasant of memories, but it happened.
*****
Reports from the rink have these lines and d-pairingsat the morning skate:
Wilson-O’Reilly-Reinhart
Bailey-Eichel-Okposo
Nolan-Rodrigues-Baptiste
Pouliot-Larsson-Pominville
Scandella-Ristolainen
Beaulieu-Nelson
Guhle-Falk
Also, it looks as if Chad Johnson will get the nod in net for Buffalo.
*****
Eichel spoke to the media yesterday concerning the opinion of many fans who wanted him shut down for the rest of the season. The 21 yr. old suffered his second consecutive high-ankle sprain (on different ankles) and was back in the lineup on Saturday. His response, via Bill Hoppe of the Olean Times:
“It’s a pretty simple answer, to be honest with you, I’m playing because I’m a hockey player. It’s kind of ridiculous for somebody to think we’re out of the playoffs and we don’t have an opportunity to really do anything with our season that I would just pack my year in. It’s not who I am as a person, it’s not who I’ve ever been, it’s not who I am as a hockey player.
“At the end of the day, I love to play hockey. Whether we’re in first place or last place in the league, it doesn’t matter to me. I like to put my equipment on, go out there and play hockey. That’s why I’m playing. I love to play and I have a lot of fun doing it. It’s what I look most forward to in my day. There’s not really quite a feeling like it, so I enjoy it every day.
“I’m a competitor, I want to be out there competing. I want to play, so that’s why I’m playing. There should be a lot more questions asked if I decided I did want to pack it in, end my season.
“I looked at my rehab process as if I was coming back to compete to try to get to the playoffs. Obviously, that’s not the case, but I try to put myself in the best position to come back and impact this team in a positive way. That’s all part of us building a culture out there. We should all want to be out there every night. I think that that’s important.”
Wednesday, January 24, 2018
Sabres power past Edmonton. Is this the new reality?
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 1-24-2018
With their 5-0 blowout win in Edmonton last night against the Oilers, the Buffalo Sabres have now won two in a row and three of their last five games but maybe more importantly, they look like a real good hockey team right now.
The Oilers, Calgary Flames and Columbus Blue Jackets, Buffalo's victims during this spurt, probably took the league's 30th place team for granted, which can happen. Edmonton's Milan Lucic (via the Edmonton Journal) voiced that opinion post-game to the local media last night. “It was pretty clear. I don’t think we had enough respect for that hockey team. That’s what happens when you aren’t ready to play the other team, no matter who they are or where they are in the standings."
Buffalo pounded the Oilers with the brunt of their offense coming via the powerplay. In a battle of inept special teams heading into the game, the Sabres 30th-ranked powerplay (14% conversion rate) faced off against the NHL's worst penalty kill (72.7% kill rate) and what transpired wasn't fair in the special teams department. Buffalo scored on their first three powerplay opportunities (moving them to 26th in the league at 15.6%) causing Oilers head coach Todd McClellan to call his penalty killing units "horrendous" in his post-game presser.
Buffalo was playing in the second game of a back-to-back while the Oilers hadn't played since extending their winning streak to three games with a win over the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday. Edmonton was certainly well rested (and perhaps a tad complacent) while the Sabres were coming off of a hard-fought, 2-1 overtime win at Calgary the night before and coming into the game Buffalo was only 2-6-2 in the second half of back-to-backs.
The consecutive wins (sadly) matched their lone previous two-game win "streak" which occurred October 12 and 24. Buffalo scored five goals for only the third time this season (5-4 win at Boston; 5-4 win at Arizona) and had plenty of their key players get in on the scoring. Center Ryan O'Reilly scored a pair of goals and he's been heating up again with eight points (4+4) in his last seven games. Sam Reinhart, who'd been invisible for much of the first half of the season, scored a goal and added two assists giving him six points (2+4) in his last four games. Defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen extended his points-streak to four games with two assists and now has five points (1+4) during his streak.
And then there's Jack Eichel.
The 21 yr. old scored the overtime winner in Calgary on Monday and followed that up with a one-goal/four-point performance last night. Eichel is on a seven-game point streak with five goals and eight assists bringing his season totals to 49 points (20+29,) which ties him for 17th in the NHL in scoring.
At least for last night, Eichel clearly overshadowed his 2015 draft counterpart, Connor McDavid, who was selected first overall that year. With those points, Eichel has now surpassed McDavid in Buffalo/Edmonton matchups brining his totals to eight points (3+5) in five games since the "McEichel" draft while McDavid remained at two goals and two assists in five games against Buffalo. Both missed one game in the series. Since McDavid and Eichel were drafted, the teams have met six times. Buffalo's record is 4-1-1 in those games.
With his goal last night, Eichel hit the 20-goal mark last night for the third consecutive season to start his career. An interesting note from John Vogl of The Buffalo News, only three other Sabres players have done that--Gilbert Perreault, Rick Martin and Thomas Vanek.
Think about that for a second.
The sheer joy, and some would add in relief as well, of beating Calgary in overtime carried over into last night's win and reports from the Sabres dressing room have the players upbeat and feeling more confident. "That was fun," said left wing Zemgus Girgensons to the Buffalo media at Rogers Place. Girgensons scored his fourth goal of the season off the rush when a pass from Kyle Okposo on a two-on-one glanced off of his skate and into the net to make the score 3-0.
Buffalo coach Phil Housley pointed to the embarrassing 7-1 loss at the hands of the Dallas Stars on Saturday as a jumping off point for their two games of success. "I think we learned a lot of what we need to do as a team in our checking and our play without the puck," Housley said to the media in Edmonton. "I think the guys are really enjoying that. They're getting opportunities because of it. We're getting the puck on our stick because of that. We're drawing penalties."
And winning, which is a lot of fun.
For the last two games, this has been a different Sabres team, but as we've seen way too often, they've been unable to sustain that on a consistent basis. Which leads us to the real question, Is this a different team, or did they just catch some lightning for a couple of games?
Reinhart, who has been playing his best hockey of the season lately, put the Edmonton win and the team's 13-26-9 record into perspective. "We know where we're at" he said to the media, "and it's not just one game that's going to do anything at this point. We need to be consistent. All we can do is take it day-by-day, and this was another step for us."
With their 5-0 blowout win in Edmonton last night against the Oilers, the Buffalo Sabres have now won two in a row and three of their last five games but maybe more importantly, they look like a real good hockey team right now.
The Oilers, Calgary Flames and Columbus Blue Jackets, Buffalo's victims during this spurt, probably took the league's 30th place team for granted, which can happen. Edmonton's Milan Lucic (via the Edmonton Journal) voiced that opinion post-game to the local media last night. “It was pretty clear. I don’t think we had enough respect for that hockey team. That’s what happens when you aren’t ready to play the other team, no matter who they are or where they are in the standings."
Buffalo pounded the Oilers with the brunt of their offense coming via the powerplay. In a battle of inept special teams heading into the game, the Sabres 30th-ranked powerplay (14% conversion rate) faced off against the NHL's worst penalty kill (72.7% kill rate) and what transpired wasn't fair in the special teams department. Buffalo scored on their first three powerplay opportunities (moving them to 26th in the league at 15.6%) causing Oilers head coach Todd McClellan to call his penalty killing units "horrendous" in his post-game presser.
Buffalo was playing in the second game of a back-to-back while the Oilers hadn't played since extending their winning streak to three games with a win over the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday. Edmonton was certainly well rested (and perhaps a tad complacent) while the Sabres were coming off of a hard-fought, 2-1 overtime win at Calgary the night before and coming into the game Buffalo was only 2-6-2 in the second half of back-to-backs.
The consecutive wins (sadly) matched their lone previous two-game win "streak" which occurred October 12 and 24. Buffalo scored five goals for only the third time this season (5-4 win at Boston; 5-4 win at Arizona) and had plenty of their key players get in on the scoring. Center Ryan O'Reilly scored a pair of goals and he's been heating up again with eight points (4+4) in his last seven games. Sam Reinhart, who'd been invisible for much of the first half of the season, scored a goal and added two assists giving him six points (2+4) in his last four games. Defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen extended his points-streak to four games with two assists and now has five points (1+4) during his streak.
And then there's Jack Eichel.
The 21 yr. old scored the overtime winner in Calgary on Monday and followed that up with a one-goal/four-point performance last night. Eichel is on a seven-game point streak with five goals and eight assists bringing his season totals to 49 points (20+29,) which ties him for 17th in the NHL in scoring.
At least for last night, Eichel clearly overshadowed his 2015 draft counterpart, Connor McDavid, who was selected first overall that year. With those points, Eichel has now surpassed McDavid in Buffalo/Edmonton matchups brining his totals to eight points (3+5) in five games since the "McEichel" draft while McDavid remained at two goals and two assists in five games against Buffalo. Both missed one game in the series. Since McDavid and Eichel were drafted, the teams have met six times. Buffalo's record is 4-1-1 in those games.
With his goal last night, Eichel hit the 20-goal mark last night for the third consecutive season to start his career. An interesting note from John Vogl of The Buffalo News, only three other Sabres players have done that--Gilbert Perreault, Rick Martin and Thomas Vanek.
Think about that for a second.
The sheer joy, and some would add in relief as well, of beating Calgary in overtime carried over into last night's win and reports from the Sabres dressing room have the players upbeat and feeling more confident. "That was fun," said left wing Zemgus Girgensons to the Buffalo media at Rogers Place. Girgensons scored his fourth goal of the season off the rush when a pass from Kyle Okposo on a two-on-one glanced off of his skate and into the net to make the score 3-0.
Buffalo coach Phil Housley pointed to the embarrassing 7-1 loss at the hands of the Dallas Stars on Saturday as a jumping off point for their two games of success. "I think we learned a lot of what we need to do as a team in our checking and our play without the puck," Housley said to the media in Edmonton. "I think the guys are really enjoying that. They're getting opportunities because of it. We're getting the puck on our stick because of that. We're drawing penalties."
And winning, which is a lot of fun.
For the last two games, this has been a different Sabres team, but as we've seen way too often, they've been unable to sustain that on a consistent basis. Which leads us to the real question, Is this a different team, or did they just catch some lightning for a couple of games?
Reinhart, who has been playing his best hockey of the season lately, put the Edmonton win and the team's 13-26-9 record into perspective. "We know where we're at" he said to the media, "and it's not just one game that's going to do anything at this point. We need to be consistent. All we can do is take it day-by-day, and this was another step for us."
Sunday, November 26, 2017
Thoughts on the MIN game, "McEichel-3" tonight and Risto's back.
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 11-24-2017
A belated Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. Hope you all enjoyed warmth, happiness and great food amongst family and friends yesterday with a bow to the heavens for the blessings bestowed upon us.
The Buffalo Sabres take on the Edmonton Oilers tonight at KeyBank Center and enter the game reeling on a seven-game winless streak (0-5-2.) But before we get to Connor McDavid and the Oilers coming to town, some notes on Buffalo's 5-4 loss to the Minnesota Wild on Thanksgiving Eve.
Everyone from the coach to the players to the media were beside themselves after the Sabres pulled their usual stunts en route to the loss. Buffalo scored first and looked great in the process before giving up three unanswered goals in a span of 5:27. Twice they would answer another Wild goal, coming to within one goal with just over six minutes left but could they not tie the game.
Afterwards, bottom-six forward and two-time Stanley Cup winner Jordan Nolan, called out his team mates for not holding each other accountable using his examples from his time in Los Angeles playing for the Kings. Head coach Phil Housley channeled his inner John Tortorella with short, terse answers at his post-game presser and veteran forward Jason Pominville was visibly upset while fielding questions.
WGR550 radio's Paul Hamilton was as irate as we've heard him all season in his post-game thoughts. Hamilton, who's been GR's Sabres beat reporter for years, took the players to task for their play and called for action in the form of waiving players while also saying that maybe they should consider benching a player no one would expect to be benched. That last remark seemingly referred to Jack Eichel without calling him out by name.
Interesting to note that every player was available post-game for an interview with the media having their pick of the litter when they walked in. It was something Hamilton said he hadn't seen since Chris Drury was co-captain of the Sabres. It's also interesting to note that they went to Pominville after interviewing Nolan.
Nolan was an easy one as he just scored his first two goals of the season and was a beast out there. But why Pominville, a former player who doesn't wear a letter? "If I have seen him madder," said Hamilton of Pominville, "I don't know when it was. He just had steam coming out of his ears. He was extremely upset."
Pominville was indeed emotionally upset to the point where it looked as if he might break down in his quivering. This is the same Pominville that captained GM Darcy Regier's core to the exact same play we witnessed for years before it was blown up. "This is what he left," continued Hamilton, "and it's no better than when he left as far as the attitudes in there and what goes on."
Yet, the 34 yr. old came into the game with a nine-game goal-drought (extended to 10 against the Wild) and a seven-game pointless streak. He was originally credited with Buffalo's first goal but received the primary assist when the goal was given to Eichel. He was also credited with two of his four shots on goal in that sequence and all of his shots within the first 8:04 of the game. After that he was invisible.
There was plenty of blame to throw around at most players after the game, and Housley rightfully took his players to task for "not following the game-plan for 60 minutes, not being on the same page, taking things into their own hands and [poor] decisions and choices at the wrong time of the game." Yet his decision to start back-up goalie Chad Johnson was questionable at best and blew up in his face as Johnson allowed three goals on 13 shots in the first period before being pulled to begin the second period.
The first goal Johnson let in as weak a goal as you'll ever see and he couldn't rise to the challenge on the second one with his defenseman covering the pass on a 2-on-1. The 31 yr. old goalie, whom GM Jason Botterill signed to provide quality as a back-up, went into the Wild game with a 1-4-2 record, a 3.36 GAA and a .892 Sv%.
When asked why Johnson got the nod over starter Robin Lehner giving him two of the last three starts, Housley's short response was, "we're losing games so we have to make some decisions and we decided to go with Chad."
End of press conference.
The coaching staff is also responsible for a Sabres powerplay that has plummeted from No. 1 last season to 30th in the league as of today. On Wednesday a powerplay could've either added to their momentum or swung it in their favor but they were disjointed on all three. Conversely, the Wild scored on two of three powerplay opportunities which made a big difference in a one-goal game.
"Jason Botterill has a problem on his hands," noted an agitated Hamilton, while also stating that it's the middle of the season and it would be difficult to fix at this point. Then again, Botterill seems intent upon letting this thing burn to the ground in Buffalo while simultaneously cultivating a winning culture in Rochester.
Which isn't such a bad idea.
Botterill looks like he has more problems than he bargained for and he's willing to let them figure it out on their own, short-term consequences be damned.
The Sabres play an Edmonton Oilers team tonight that's been struggling so far this season but are coming off a 6-2 win at Detroit on Wednesday.
The Oilers and Sabres have met four times since the "McEichel Sweepstakes" known as the 2015 NHL Draft with Buffalo going 2-1-1 thus far. Edmonton took the first post-draft matchup minus McDavid, 4-2 and in "McEichel-1" they beat the Sabres in overtime 2-1 as McDavid scored both goals. Last season the Sabres crushed Edmonton 6-2 without Jack Eichel and in "McEichel-2" Buffalo won 4-3 in overtime.
McDavid has four points (2+2) in three games versus the Sabres while Eichel has two points (1+1) in three games as well with the 2015 first-overall pick outscoring the 2015 second-overall pick four points to one in head-to-head action.
*****
According to reports from the rink, here are the Sabres lines at the skate:
Kane-Eichel-Pominville
Pouliot-O'Reilly-Reinhart
Nolan-Josefson-Okposo
Girgensons-Larsson-Criscuolo
Of note: The Josefson line was listed as the fourth line during the morning skate on Wednesday but played third-line minutes and looked very good in the process as Nolan scored those two goals and Josefson got his first point (an assists) as a Buffalo Sabre. Kyle Okposo failed to hit the scoresheet but like his linemates was a plus-1 on the night.
*****
It looks as if Rasmus Ristolainen will be back in action tonight for the Sabres. Ristolainen was felled by an upper-body injury for nine games. During that time the Sabres are 1-6-2 and have presently lost four in a row and are winless in their last seven.
The d-pairings are reported as being:
Ristolainen-Scandella
McCabe-Antipin
Beaulieu-Falk
Perhaps Jake McCabe should have gotten some attention last night after the game. The 24 yr. old played one of his best games of the season with a nice primary assist after joining the rush and three pretty solid hits on the night. He also was well aware of his d-partner, Victor Antipin, in their own zone and provided an outlet on numerous occasions when Antipin was in trouble. He also looked genuinely ticked off at the plight of his team during the game.
It looks as if Housley's going back to Lehner for tonight.
*****
Two final notes.
Props to the fans at KeyBank Center on Wednesday as they avoided booing en masse during portions of the game although there was one lunkhead that seemingly tried to get a chorus of boos going on a number of occasions.
And it's time for the goal-song to go the way of the "turd burger" third jersey they had a couple years back. Both of them might have been good ideas in the eyes (and ears) of those in positions of power at the time, but both were/are lame at best. One's been tossed away and the other should follow soon.
A belated Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. Hope you all enjoyed warmth, happiness and great food amongst family and friends yesterday with a bow to the heavens for the blessings bestowed upon us.
The Buffalo Sabres take on the Edmonton Oilers tonight at KeyBank Center and enter the game reeling on a seven-game winless streak (0-5-2.) But before we get to Connor McDavid and the Oilers coming to town, some notes on Buffalo's 5-4 loss to the Minnesota Wild on Thanksgiving Eve.
Everyone from the coach to the players to the media were beside themselves after the Sabres pulled their usual stunts en route to the loss. Buffalo scored first and looked great in the process before giving up three unanswered goals in a span of 5:27. Twice they would answer another Wild goal, coming to within one goal with just over six minutes left but could they not tie the game.
Afterwards, bottom-six forward and two-time Stanley Cup winner Jordan Nolan, called out his team mates for not holding each other accountable using his examples from his time in Los Angeles playing for the Kings. Head coach Phil Housley channeled his inner John Tortorella with short, terse answers at his post-game presser and veteran forward Jason Pominville was visibly upset while fielding questions.
WGR550 radio's Paul Hamilton was as irate as we've heard him all season in his post-game thoughts. Hamilton, who's been GR's Sabres beat reporter for years, took the players to task for their play and called for action in the form of waiving players while also saying that maybe they should consider benching a player no one would expect to be benched. That last remark seemingly referred to Jack Eichel without calling him out by name.
Interesting to note that every player was available post-game for an interview with the media having their pick of the litter when they walked in. It was something Hamilton said he hadn't seen since Chris Drury was co-captain of the Sabres. It's also interesting to note that they went to Pominville after interviewing Nolan.
Nolan was an easy one as he just scored his first two goals of the season and was a beast out there. But why Pominville, a former player who doesn't wear a letter? "If I have seen him madder," said Hamilton of Pominville, "I don't know when it was. He just had steam coming out of his ears. He was extremely upset."
Pominville was indeed emotionally upset to the point where it looked as if he might break down in his quivering. This is the same Pominville that captained GM Darcy Regier's core to the exact same play we witnessed for years before it was blown up. "This is what he left," continued Hamilton, "and it's no better than when he left as far as the attitudes in there and what goes on."
Yet, the 34 yr. old came into the game with a nine-game goal-drought (extended to 10 against the Wild) and a seven-game pointless streak. He was originally credited with Buffalo's first goal but received the primary assist when the goal was given to Eichel. He was also credited with two of his four shots on goal in that sequence and all of his shots within the first 8:04 of the game. After that he was invisible.
There was plenty of blame to throw around at most players after the game, and Housley rightfully took his players to task for "not following the game-plan for 60 minutes, not being on the same page, taking things into their own hands and [poor] decisions and choices at the wrong time of the game." Yet his decision to start back-up goalie Chad Johnson was questionable at best and blew up in his face as Johnson allowed three goals on 13 shots in the first period before being pulled to begin the second period.
The first goal Johnson let in as weak a goal as you'll ever see and he couldn't rise to the challenge on the second one with his defenseman covering the pass on a 2-on-1. The 31 yr. old goalie, whom GM Jason Botterill signed to provide quality as a back-up, went into the Wild game with a 1-4-2 record, a 3.36 GAA and a .892 Sv%.
When asked why Johnson got the nod over starter Robin Lehner giving him two of the last three starts, Housley's short response was, "we're losing games so we have to make some decisions and we decided to go with Chad."
End of press conference.
The coaching staff is also responsible for a Sabres powerplay that has plummeted from No. 1 last season to 30th in the league as of today. On Wednesday a powerplay could've either added to their momentum or swung it in their favor but they were disjointed on all three. Conversely, the Wild scored on two of three powerplay opportunities which made a big difference in a one-goal game.
"Jason Botterill has a problem on his hands," noted an agitated Hamilton, while also stating that it's the middle of the season and it would be difficult to fix at this point. Then again, Botterill seems intent upon letting this thing burn to the ground in Buffalo while simultaneously cultivating a winning culture in Rochester.
Which isn't such a bad idea.
Botterill looks like he has more problems than he bargained for and he's willing to let them figure it out on their own, short-term consequences be damned.
The Sabres play an Edmonton Oilers team tonight that's been struggling so far this season but are coming off a 6-2 win at Detroit on Wednesday.
The Oilers and Sabres have met four times since the "McEichel Sweepstakes" known as the 2015 NHL Draft with Buffalo going 2-1-1 thus far. Edmonton took the first post-draft matchup minus McDavid, 4-2 and in "McEichel-1" they beat the Sabres in overtime 2-1 as McDavid scored both goals. Last season the Sabres crushed Edmonton 6-2 without Jack Eichel and in "McEichel-2" Buffalo won 4-3 in overtime.
McDavid has four points (2+2) in three games versus the Sabres while Eichel has two points (1+1) in three games as well with the 2015 first-overall pick outscoring the 2015 second-overall pick four points to one in head-to-head action.
*****
According to reports from the rink, here are the Sabres lines at the skate:
Kane-Eichel-Pominville
Pouliot-O'Reilly-Reinhart
Nolan-Josefson-Okposo
Girgensons-Larsson-Criscuolo
Of note: The Josefson line was listed as the fourth line during the morning skate on Wednesday but played third-line minutes and looked very good in the process as Nolan scored those two goals and Josefson got his first point (an assists) as a Buffalo Sabre. Kyle Okposo failed to hit the scoresheet but like his linemates was a plus-1 on the night.
*****
It looks as if Rasmus Ristolainen will be back in action tonight for the Sabres. Ristolainen was felled by an upper-body injury for nine games. During that time the Sabres are 1-6-2 and have presently lost four in a row and are winless in their last seven.
The d-pairings are reported as being:
Ristolainen-Scandella
McCabe-Antipin
Beaulieu-Falk
Perhaps Jake McCabe should have gotten some attention last night after the game. The 24 yr. old played one of his best games of the season with a nice primary assist after joining the rush and three pretty solid hits on the night. He also was well aware of his d-partner, Victor Antipin, in their own zone and provided an outlet on numerous occasions when Antipin was in trouble. He also looked genuinely ticked off at the plight of his team during the game.
It looks as if Housley's going back to Lehner for tonight.
*****
Two final notes.
Props to the fans at KeyBank Center on Wednesday as they avoided booing en masse during portions of the game although there was one lunkhead that seemingly tried to get a chorus of boos going on a number of occasions.
And it's time for the goal-song to go the way of the "turd burger" third jersey they had a couple years back. Both of them might have been good ideas in the eyes (and ears) of those in positions of power at the time, but both were/are lame at best. One's been tossed away and the other should follow soon.
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