Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com
Sabres beat writer Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News has been railing against a perceived be tank-job by the Buffalo organization for quite some time. Back on January 31st he penned an article, Sabres are disgusting, all right, that aptly and bluntly captured his dismay .At the time Harrington was not amused by the Sabres road to the top of the 2015 NHL Draft. He wrote of the Edmonton Oilers having "a lot of road trips" the rest of the season while the Arizona Coyotes, he wrote, "have a lot of trades to make" if they were thinking of overtaking the Sabres for last place.
Buffalo had just finished an 0-fer January and was on a franchise record 14-game losing streak. "Hockey folks are laughing at the product the Sabres have put on the ice," he wrote, "but much worse they're laughing at the organization itself and that's not how it's supposed to be going."
Sabres GM Tim Murray was sitting on his hands during this debacle leaving head coach Ted Nolan with very little on the ice and even less to say post-game save for "these are the 20 guys we have," and "we've got what we got." Harrington was so disgusted that it only took him a one paragraph lead-in before he wrote, "I think it's safe to call right now. The Buffalo Sabres are the worst team in the NHL by a lot at this point. They're going to finish 30th and get Connor McDavid or Jack Eichel.
"You may call it mission accomplished. But the mission doesn't need to be an open disgrace."
Showing posts with label Michal Neuvirth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Michal Neuvirth. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 4, 2015
Friday, February 27, 2015
Hodgson scores, Sabres win, Girgensons/Ennis hurt
Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com
Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Anton Forsberg did something against the Buffalo Sabres that a goalie hasn't done since December 13, 2014--allowed a goal by Sabres forward, Cody Hodgson.
When Hodgson's incredibly weak backhand dribbled across the goal line, it ended a 27-game drought for the much-maligned forward who finally he caught himself a break. “Everyone has been saying to throw pucks on net and I’ve been doing it the last few games, shooting from some bad angles,” said a clearly relieved Hodgson. “I was fortunate to get that one.”
To say that Forsberg had a tough night would be like saying Hodgson went through a bit of a dry-spell during his goal-drought or that Buffalo just needs some tweaking to rise from the bottom of the league. The Sabres only needed 14 shots to put four goals past the 22 yr. old netminder. The 2011, seventh round pick of Columbus (188th overall) is in his rookie season after coming over from Sweden this year. He should be plying his trade in Sprinfield with their AHL team but he was forced into duty as backup to Curtis McEllhiney who took over for injured starter Sergei Bobrovsky.
Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Anton Forsberg did something against the Buffalo Sabres that a goalie hasn't done since December 13, 2014--allowed a goal by Sabres forward, Cody Hodgson.
When Hodgson's incredibly weak backhand dribbled across the goal line, it ended a 27-game drought for the much-maligned forward who finally he caught himself a break. “Everyone has been saying to throw pucks on net and I’ve been doing it the last few games, shooting from some bad angles,” said a clearly relieved Hodgson. “I was fortunate to get that one.”
To say that Forsberg had a tough night would be like saying Hodgson went through a bit of a dry-spell during his goal-drought or that Buffalo just needs some tweaking to rise from the bottom of the league. The Sabres only needed 14 shots to put four goals past the 22 yr. old netminder. The 2011, seventh round pick of Columbus (188th overall) is in his rookie season after coming over from Sweden this year. He should be plying his trade in Sprinfield with their AHL team but he was forced into duty as backup to Curtis McEllhiney who took over for injured starter Sergei Bobrovsky.
Saturday, February 21, 2015
Sabres goaltending situation might get interesting.
Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com
It's no secret that Buffalo forward Chris Stewart's name is being thrown around in trade talks. Of the Sabres eight soon-to-be unrestricted free agents, Stewart is the only one that is being looked at as an impact player above a depth role.
Every other UFA asset in the organization is of the depth variety. Up-front there's Torrey Mitchell and Matt Ellis while on the back-end there's Andre Benoit, Andrej Meszaros and Tyson Strachan. But the Sabres have two goalies in Buffalo right now who are pending UFA's in Michal Neuvirth and recently acquired Anders Lindback, and the former could very well be in play in the next week and a half.
Neuvirth, along with defenseman Rusty Klesla (who never played a game for Buffalo,) came from the Washington Capitals in exchange for goalie Jaroslav Halak and a 2015 3rd round draft pick. Halak was a part of the Ryan Miller to St. Louis Blues deal less than a week before. Neuvirth is a former 2nd round pick (2006, 34th overall) and at 6'1" 190 lbs. has a decent enough frame to just fit the mold of what Sabres GM Tim Murray is looking for in his goaltenders.
As of right now, Neuvirth sits atop the food chain in net for Buffalo.
It's no secret that Buffalo forward Chris Stewart's name is being thrown around in trade talks. Of the Sabres eight soon-to-be unrestricted free agents, Stewart is the only one that is being looked at as an impact player above a depth role.
Every other UFA asset in the organization is of the depth variety. Up-front there's Torrey Mitchell and Matt Ellis while on the back-end there's Andre Benoit, Andrej Meszaros and Tyson Strachan. But the Sabres have two goalies in Buffalo right now who are pending UFA's in Michal Neuvirth and recently acquired Anders Lindback, and the former could very well be in play in the next week and a half.
Neuvirth, along with defenseman Rusty Klesla (who never played a game for Buffalo,) came from the Washington Capitals in exchange for goalie Jaroslav Halak and a 2015 3rd round draft pick. Halak was a part of the Ryan Miller to St. Louis Blues deal less than a week before. Neuvirth is a former 2nd round pick (2006, 34th overall) and at 6'1" 190 lbs. has a decent enough frame to just fit the mold of what Sabres GM Tim Murray is looking for in his goaltenders.
As of right now, Neuvirth sits atop the food chain in net for Buffalo.
Thursday, November 27, 2014
Some orgainzational movement
Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com
It's been a few days since the Buffalo Sabres extended their win streak to three game, but the down-time hasn't gone by without a little intrigue.
On Sunday the team sent goalie Nathan Lieuwen back to Rochester as the injured Michal Neuvirth has progressed quicker than expected. Neuvirth will be backing up Jhonas Enroth on Wednesday when the Sabres take on the visiting Winnipeg Jets at the First Niagara Center.
Neuvirth suffered a bruised knee against San Jose' last Tuesday and as luck would have it, the Sabres only had one other game on the schedule, a Saturday tilt at Washington. Enroth was stellar in net vs. San Jose' in relief and again on Saturday giving up only one goal in each contest while facing a total of 64 shots in five periods of play.
It's been a few days since the Buffalo Sabres extended their win streak to three game, but the down-time hasn't gone by without a little intrigue.
On Sunday the team sent goalie Nathan Lieuwen back to Rochester as the injured Michal Neuvirth has progressed quicker than expected. Neuvirth will be backing up Jhonas Enroth on Wednesday when the Sabres take on the visiting Winnipeg Jets at the First Niagara Center.
Neuvirth suffered a bruised knee against San Jose' last Tuesday and as luck would have it, the Sabres only had one other game on the schedule, a Saturday tilt at Washington. Enroth was stellar in net vs. San Jose' in relief and again on Saturday giving up only one goal in each contest while facing a total of 64 shots in five periods of play.
Thursday, October 30, 2014
From Reinhart to Neuvirth to the Leafs and more
Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com
Tonight will mark forward Sam Reinhart's eighth game with Buffalo and at the end of his next game played, the Sabres will need to decide whether or not they wish to keep him with the club for a 10th, thus "burning" a year on his entry-level contract.
Reinhart hasn't really done enough to this point to warrant keeping him on the Sabres as the team looks destined to struggle for the rest of the season. The team is at 2-7-0 on the year thus far and have scored a league-worst 1.11 goals per game. Were he pitching in more offensively, perhaps things would be different but Reinhart it took him seven games to register his first NHL point, a secondary assist in San Jose' on Saturday.
Tonight Reinhart will be between Nic Deslauriers and Cody McCormick on the fourth line again. Deslauriers scored a goal on a feed from McCormick after Reinhart worked the puck to him and the rookie feels as if they may have some chemistry. “I’ve felt with Deslauries and McCormick we’ve had some success and it was nice we finally buried one." he said, and for the kid a weight was lifted “Yes I think so, it’s always a relief, it’s a little later than I would’ve wanted, we had some success and it was just a matter of time.”
It's a tough situation when deciding Reinhart's fate. There's been marked game-to-game improvement even while playing only 10+ minutes per game and the kid has a definite feel for the game. But, he's still a kid and the decision that needs to be made is whether he's better off playing over 20 minutes a game in junior or 10 minutes a game with the Sabres.
We'll know the answer on Saturday before the team gets ready to face the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Tonight will mark forward Sam Reinhart's eighth game with Buffalo and at the end of his next game played, the Sabres will need to decide whether or not they wish to keep him with the club for a 10th, thus "burning" a year on his entry-level contract.
Reinhart hasn't really done enough to this point to warrant keeping him on the Sabres as the team looks destined to struggle for the rest of the season. The team is at 2-7-0 on the year thus far and have scored a league-worst 1.11 goals per game. Were he pitching in more offensively, perhaps things would be different but Reinhart it took him seven games to register his first NHL point, a secondary assist in San Jose' on Saturday.
Tonight Reinhart will be between Nic Deslauriers and Cody McCormick on the fourth line again. Deslauriers scored a goal on a feed from McCormick after Reinhart worked the puck to him and the rookie feels as if they may have some chemistry. “I’ve felt with Deslauries and McCormick we’ve had some success and it was nice we finally buried one." he said, and for the kid a weight was lifted “Yes I think so, it’s always a relief, it’s a little later than I would’ve wanted, we had some success and it was just a matter of time.”
It's a tough situation when deciding Reinhart's fate. There's been marked game-to-game improvement even while playing only 10+ minutes per game and the kid has a definite feel for the game. But, he's still a kid and the decision that needs to be made is whether he's better off playing over 20 minutes a game in junior or 10 minutes a game with the Sabres.
We'll know the answer on Saturday before the team gets ready to face the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Friday, September 26, 2014
Building the 2014-15 Buffalo Sabres roster--The goalies
Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com
Sabres goaltender Jhonas Enroth made sure he let the coaching staff know that he's ready for the challenge that lies before him. Enroth shut out the Carolina Hurricanes in his first preseason action. He tracked the puck well, moved well and had the puck sticking to him throughout the night. It should also serve notice to Michal Neuvirth, the Sabres other goalie, that he better bring his A-game.
Enroth is a 2006 draft pick, chosen in the second round with the 46th pick overall. He and Mike Weber (57th) are the only two players to make it from that Buffalo draft class.
It's been a long road for Enroth to get to this point. After getting drafted he spent two more years in his native Sweden then began his North American pro career with the Portland Pirates, who were then the AHL affiliate of Buffalo. In 58 games that season he went 26-23-6 with a 2.75 gaa and a .910 sv%. The Pirates made it into the playoffs that year but were bounced in the first round.
The following year he would get better lowering his goals against average to 2.37 and upping his save percentage to .919 while finishing 20-17-2. The Pirates would make the Calder Cup playoffs once again and, once again, get bounced in the first round.
Sabres goaltender Jhonas Enroth made sure he let the coaching staff know that he's ready for the challenge that lies before him. Enroth shut out the Carolina Hurricanes in his first preseason action. He tracked the puck well, moved well and had the puck sticking to him throughout the night. It should also serve notice to Michal Neuvirth, the Sabres other goalie, that he better bring his A-game.
Enroth is a 2006 draft pick, chosen in the second round with the 46th pick overall. He and Mike Weber (57th) are the only two players to make it from that Buffalo draft class.
It's been a long road for Enroth to get to this point. After getting drafted he spent two more years in his native Sweden then began his North American pro career with the Portland Pirates, who were then the AHL affiliate of Buffalo. In 58 games that season he went 26-23-6 with a 2.75 gaa and a .910 sv%. The Pirates made it into the playoffs that year but were bounced in the first round.
The following year he would get better lowering his goals against average to 2.37 and upping his save percentage to .919 while finishing 20-17-2. The Pirates would make the Calder Cup playoffs once again and, once again, get bounced in the first round.
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
Should the Sabres draft a goaltender in 2014?
Absolutely.
Where in the draft should they take one?
That's a little tricky.
The Sabres' goalie pipeline is set up nicely right now. Although they don't have the luxury of a young prospect like St. Louis' Jake Allen (2008, #34 overall) that could step in and be a #1 in the very near future, Buffalo does have quality amidst the quantity while the ages and contact status' of the pipeline stretch to seven years. (Of note, Allen, the 2014 AHL Outstanding Goaltender and his Chicago Wolves travel to Rochester on Friday to face off against the Amerks in the first round of the Calder Cup playoffs.)
Where in the draft should they take one?
That's a little tricky.
The Sabres' goalie pipeline is set up nicely right now. Although they don't have the luxury of a young prospect like St. Louis' Jake Allen (2008, #34 overall) that could step in and be a #1 in the very near future, Buffalo does have quality amidst the quantity while the ages and contact status' of the pipeline stretch to seven years. (Of note, Allen, the 2014 AHL Outstanding Goaltender and his Chicago Wolves travel to Rochester on Friday to face off against the Amerks in the first round of the Calder Cup playoffs.)
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