Of Zach Bogosian and Mike Babcock

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 4-24-2019


Zach Bogosian underwent hip surgery and will be out 5-6 months, according to the Buffalo Sabres. The rugged, 28 yr. old defenseman just finished his 11th season in the NHL and his 65 games played matched the most he's played since 2011-12. In the seven seasons in between Bogosian has played in 288 of a possible 574 NHL games, or just a hair under 50%.

That's not a good percentage by any stretch of the imagination.

In addition to his 65 games, the 6'3" 225 lb. Bogosian also had a solid 2018-19 campaign with 22 points (3+19) while skating an average of 21:38/game. He anchored the Sabres penalty kill and was also paired with rookie d-man Rasmus Dahlin for large chunks of the season as his mentor. Bogosian had opted for hip surgery in the middle of the 2017-18 season after playing in only 18 games. His recovery went well but he still started out this past season on the injured list and missed the first five games and bookended the season by missing the last seven games.

Borgen & Mittelstadt = good news in a bad season + @Leafs tonight

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 3-26-2018


Officers at the Peace Bridge can rest a little easier today because the Buffalo Sabres announced the signings of college players Will Borgen and Casey Mittelstadt. Borgen a junior defenseman out of St. Cloud State was signed yesterday to an amateur tryout contract  for Rochester plus the Sabres signed him to his three-year entry deal that begins next season. Mittelstadt just finished his freshman season at Minnesota and signed a three-year entry-level deal with the Sabres and he's expected to join the club this week, according to a tweet from TSN's Bob McKenzie.

The Sabres as a whole have been drafting and signing college players for a while most notably over the past couple years when which includes the selection of Mittelstadt eighth-overall in the 2017 NHL Draft and the signings of two prominent college free agents-D, Casey Nelson (2016) and F, C.J. Smith (2017.) But fans in Buffalo were still anxious about Borgen and Mittelstadt as they'd seen a couple of college players walk away from the team.

Forward Jimmy Vesey wasn't a Buffalo draft pick, but former GM Tim Murray took a gamble and sent a third round pick to Nashville for the exclusive negotiating rights to Vesey. The Predators got their third round pick back and the Sabres ended up losing out on the deal when Vesey signed with the NY Rangers.

A bigger blow to the collective Sabreland psyche came when goalie Cal Petersen, a 2013 fifth round pick (129th overall,) played out his college career and signed with the LA Kings. Petersen, who looks like he could become a legitimate NHL starter was a prospect whom the Sabres invested a draft pick and development time on and in opting for the Kings, he sent a knife right through a fan-base where many were already dealing with an inferiority complex.

Fear of rejectgion permeated much of twitterland when it came to Mittelstadt and Borgen, but all those fears can be put to rest as the two put pen to paper.

Borgen, who's probably ticketed for a year or so of development in Rochester next season will step into a situation where the Amerks are getting ready for the playoffs. It was a great signing for Rochester and the Amerks in that his entry-level deal won't kick in until next season.

As for Mittelstadt, he has the look of a player that could very well fit right into the NHL right now, and he'll get his shot sometime through the final six games of the season, which will burn a year off his entry-level deal. He will not be eligible to play for the Amerks this season.

Somehow I feel that Sabres GM Jason Botterill won't lose sleep over that. It's been an atrocious season for the Sabres so it's nice to have both Borgen and Mittelstadt in the fold.


*****

Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News was in Toronto yesterday while the Sabres had a day off and he tweeted this from Leafs coach Mike Babcock about the Sabres/Leafs game tonight, "there's not team they'd rather beat than us," said the coach.

Which is true, or at least it should be for every Sabres player. In a lost season there is very little to play for so going up against a rival should get the blood pumping. If it doesn't, there something seriously wrong.

This is the third meeting between Buffalo and Toronto this season. The Sabres won the first meeting on March 5 by a 5-3 score with goalie Chad Johnson in net then dropped the second one 10 days later, 5-2, with Robin Lehner in net. Both of those games were played in Buffalo.

The Leafs are one of the hottest teams in the league right now, at least when it comes to playing at home. Toronto is on a club-record 13-game home winning streak and with 45 wins on the season have tied the franchise record for most wins in a season.

Buffalo is coming off of a 5-1 blowout loss in NY against the Rangers on Saturday night, have lost four in a row and five of their last six.

According to reports from the rink, this looks to be the Sabres lineup tonight against Toronto:

Wilson-ROR-Okposo
Girgensons-Eichel-Pominville
Nolan-Larsson-Reinhart
Pouliot-ERod-Baptist

Guhle-Ristolainen
Scandella-Nelson
Beaulieu-Falk


Rookie goaltender Linus Ullmark looks to be getting the start for Buffalo.


*****

Not to be forgotten, 2012 seventh-round pick (204th) Judd Peterson, a teammate of Borgen's at St. Cloud State, signed an ATO with Rochester and will be eligible for the playoffs. The 24 yr. old forward scored  65 points (37+28) in 151 college games.

Because...it's the Leafs

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 3-15-2018


With 13 games left in a lost season there's really not a lot to play for when it comes to the Buffalo Sabres. Sure you'll hear things like playing for pride, for a spot on the team or another contract next season whether it's with the Sabres or some other NHL team and those are all pretty good motivators. On Saturday the Sabres got a visit from the Las Vegas Golden Knights on a designated 'Kids Day' and foraged some redemption after getting blown out on the previous two Kids Days. They lost to Vegas 2-1 in the shootout.

But tonight is a little different. All the aforementioned motivators may come into effect for the players as individuals, but when you're facing the Toronto Maple Leafs, there isn't much more of a motivating factor for the team as a whole then facing a rival that's about 100 miles away.

Tonight's matchup at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, NY represents the second of four matchups between the two clubs all of which will have taken place between March 5 and April 2. Buffalo won the first one 5-3 with star Jack Eichel on the sidelines and backup goalie Chad Johnson in net. They came out strong with two goals in the first 3:43 of the game, allowed Toronto to tie it up then scored three unanswered goals to put the game out of reach.

It was the kind of game that those of us in Sabreland like to see, especially against Toronto when half (or more) of the KeyBank Center crowd is decked out in the Blue and White of Leafs Nation.

Proximity, of course, can help fuel a rivalry as does a history with said team and both of those come into play. However, if that isn't enough to get the blood pumping, the condescension flowing down towards Buffalo from the self-proclaimed Center of the Hockey Universe should get the job done.

Those watching that Buffalo/Toronto game live or on NBCSN missed out on the disdain that those perched high upon Mount Maple Leaf really have for the Buffalo Sabres. Prior to the game, TSN4 studio host James Duthie introduced "Sabres/Leafs month" by stating, "There have been a lot of painful nights for the Buffalo Sabres this season but this one will hurt a little bit extra, even if they win because they'll have to look across and look at [Leafs head coach] Mike Babcock, the coach they wanted, the coach they thought they had.

"They have to look at the Leafs, a team that won the lottery when they needed to unlike the Sabres who lost the [Connor] McDavid lottery and they have to look at the team that put the 'build' in in rebuild, unlike the Sabres who have just been stuck in the basement."

Some hard truths no doubt, but Duthie makes sure he twists that knife a little harder and deeper by saying that, "if the Leafs had played better on the road [in the games before Buffalo,] and if they'd maybe won the outdoor game [prior to this game] then maybe you could call this a trap game against lowwwwly Buffalo."

The hockey world thanks you for allowing us in your presence, Mr. Duthie.

Simple fact is, things went awry in Buffalo with their rebuild. Say what you want, but it just didn't go as planned. However, even as bad as it's been, perhaps a semblance of respect should be given to a "lowwwly" Sabres team that is now 8-2-0 vs. the Leafs at home and is 6-4-0 against the Leafs since Babcock took over the reigns beginning with the 2015-16 season.

Toronto has been locked into third in the Atlantic Division for some time and with 14 points separating them and the fourth place Florida Panthers, it looks as if they'll make the playoffs for the second season in a row.

Buffalo is in last place...again...but it doesn't mean that they can't make life difficult for their neighbors to the North.


From the Sabres, today's game-day skate had this lineup:

Wilson-O’Reilly-Reinhart
Pouliot-Larsson-Pominville
Girgensons-Rodrigues-Baptiste
Nolan-Josefson-Bailey

Gorges-Ristolainen
Guhle-Nelson
Beaulieu-Antipin

Reports from the rink have Robin Lehner starting in goal for Buffalo.

It's little stanley cup time for the Sabres against the Toronto Maple Leafs

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 3-5-2018


Sure, playing in "little stanley cup" games in a lost season is a bit of a knock on this edition of the Buffalo Sabres, but then again there's not much really to get pumped up about when the team you're following is second-to-last in the league with a 20-34-11 record. And for the Sabres players, or what's left of them, when you've been bearing the burden of a disastrous season for well over two and a half months, it's hard to get up for any of the final 18 games of the season.

But, Toronto is coming to town and if players and fans were to find any life, perhaps a game against the Maple Leafs will be enough to get the blood pumping.

For those who say the Sabres have no rivalry with any team because their record over the past five seasons or so doesn't warrant it, that may be true to an extent. But this is the Maple Leafs and even though the distance between the two franchises is much farther away than the 100 or so miles up the QEW that separates the two cities, there's a rivalry embedded within that cares little for records.

The Leafs, of course, represent the self-described "Center of the Hockey Universe" with the modern version of "Hockey's Holy Trinity" perched high on their thrones atop Mount Maple Leaf. As for the Sabres, their the mutt that generally gets kicked around when something needs kicking.

And so be it.

Leafs team president Brendan Shanahan has done a remarkable job guiding the club out of the wasteland, GM Lou Lamoriello has done some nice work in following Shanahan's plan and coach Mike Babcock is...well...Mike Babcock. And thanks to him the Sabres and their ownership have some bulletin board material to look at.

Babcock was asked by a Toronto writer about the difference in the two teams' rebuilds. Gut-punch answer to #Sabreshttps://twitter.com/hashtag/Sabres?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Sabres> fans. pic.twitter.com/vVjA5XKU5O&mdash">https://t.co/vVjA5XKU5O">pic.twitter.com/vVjA5XKU5O— Mike Harrington (@ByMHarrington) March">https://twitter.com/ByMHarrington/status/970391934417227777?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 4, 2018

Sure, Mike, those in Sabreland get it and we also get that you shunned Buffalo for Toronto which was expected. After all you did call the Leafs, "Canada's team" at your presser. Word has it that you were enamored with Toronto when you chose them and also weren't very pleased with the way the Sabres were doing things. Then again, the Sabres had just lost the draft lottery and the rights to Connor McDavid, but I wonder if you'd have dismissed your wife's preference for Toronto over Buffalo had the pingpong balls went in the Sabres' favor that year?

We also get the tweet from Mr. Harrington of The Buffalo News carrying that quote. Harrington has and continues to be adamantly opposed to anything and everything concerning Buffalo's tank job and won't miss an opportunity to let people know what he or other people think about it.

Fact is, the lottery did work out for the Maple Leafs and when you put Auston Matthews atop a good collection of forward talent with a future Hall of Fame coach behind the bench, good things happen. And when things don't work out exactly as planned and your GM miscalculates badly...well...you get the present Buffalo Sabres.

Yet, it's not the players fault in all of this. It's not Sam Reinhart's fault, nor is it Jack Eichel's, Ryan O'Reilly's, Robin Lehner's, Kyle Okposo's or any one else. This is the team that former GM Tim Murray and present GM Jason Botterill put together and the one that's coached by Botterill's pick, Phil Housley.

Next year the Sabres will start again with an influx of new players and another year of trying to get it right.

But that's next year and the team still has 17 games to play with four of them against their QEW rival, the Toronto Maple Leafs. This will, oddly enough, be the first meeting of the season between the two clubs so there should be plenty of energy. The Leafs are locked into a playoff spot and always have a large contingent of fans follow them south to Buffalo making for a very raucous evening at KeyBank Center.

When the two teams meet tonight, ironically, the focal points of Babcock's barb concerning the draft--Eichel and Matthews--will not play as both are out with injuries. That leaves all the other draft picks and moves the teams have made over the past few years left to battle it out.

Buffalo players should take pride in this game even without Babcock's slight against the organization and, ultimately, the players who seemed to be looked upon as grubby little street urchins in the eyes of Leaf Nation. It's a chance to beat back the ostentatious invasion of the Leafs and their fans.

In a lost season with 17 games to go there really isn't much to play for accept these "little stanley cup" battles between the patricians of Mount Maple Leaf and the plebeians of Buffalo, this time with the words of Babcock to an adoring local media of how the Sabres and their organization suck.

Have at it boys.

Leafs/Sabres, Round 4.

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 3-25-2017


Much has been made of "the tale of two rebuilds" in cities 100 miles apart. The Buffalo Sabres began theirs a bit earlier than the Toronto Maple Leafs and also augmented it with young vets to help speed up the process while the Leafs are a team full of rookies. Much has also been made about their respective head coaches--Buffalo's Dan Bylsma and Toronto's Mike Babcock as well as the latter spurning a Sabres serenade and leaving them at the alter before heading to Toronto.

There's also the irony of the Sabres finishing last two consecutive seasons only to pick second in the NHL Draft due to losing the lottery while Florida (2014) and Edmonton (2015) lucked into the right to draft first. The real crusher was that Edmonton leapfrogged Buffalo and the Arizona Coyotes to select once in a generation player, Connor McDavid. That's not a slight against Jack Eichel, whom the Sabres did select that year and who is looking like he'll be right up there with the elite in this league, it's was simply a matter of Buffalo playing second fiddle once again.

And to top it all off, the Maple Leafs finished last in 2015-16, won the lottery and in-turn won the right to select phenom Auston Matthews which they ended up doing, right on the Sabres home turf as the 2016 NHL Draft was held in Buffalo that year. Salt meet wound.

That said, both the Sabres and the Leafs had been gathering talent for a few years and came into this season on a similar trajectory--the playoffs were a possibility, not anywhere near given.

As it stands right now the Leafs sit third in the Atlantic Division, poised to make the playoffs with nine games left in the regular season. The Sabres are 13 points behind the Toronto in the standings and are out of the playoffs for all intents and purposes. While Toronto was busy icing as many as seven rookies on a consistent basis, the Sabres relied heavily on young vets intermingling with young players.

And while some will point to coaching as the big difference between the 30-32-12 Sabres and 35-23-15 Leafs, and there certainly is an argument to be made, when Bylsma was with Pittsburgh he went 5-2-1 against Babcock's Red Wings who were in the Western Conference at the time. Since the two manned their spots behind their respective benches two years ago, Bylsma's Sabres won three of four against Toronto last season while Babcock's Leafs have gone 2-1 against Buffalo so far this year. Lest we forget, Bylsma lead the Penguins to a 4-3 Stanley Cup series win over Babcock's Red Wings in the only time those two teams met in the playoffs.

There's a lot to be said for everything mentioned above but the biggest difference between these two clubs this season might not be a first-overall pick, talent or coaching, all of which may be contributing factors, but more so injuries, and/or lack thereof on the part of the Sabres and Leafs, respectively.

If you look at the top players on the Sabres many of them have missed double-digit games due to injury and they had some big ones at the beginning of the season. Eichel missed the first 21, Evander Kane missed 11 after getting injured in the opener while defenseman Dmitry Kulikov was in and out of the lineup nursing a sore tailbone/back after landing in an open bench door against, ironically, Toronto in the preseason.

Ryan O'Reilly had a bum back from the World Cup of Hockey and just when he was getting to feel healthier he went in for an emergency appendectomy on Christmas Day. Johan Larsson was lost for the season on New Year's Eve and just when the Sabres were positioning themselves for a run, leading scorer Kyle Okposo went down with a rib injury. And that's not even counting the Sabres having to tap into Canadian Junior for an emergency recall of Brendan Guhle because of multiple injuries to their starting defense-corps.

Injuries aren't an excuse but they do have a way of testing the depth of an organization and what we've found out is that the Sabres, despite having top-notch talent in the upper reaches of their roster, don't have the depth to overcome the injuries they incurred.

The Leafs, on the other hand, have been almost injury free when it comes to the top end of their roster. Scroll down their statistical leader board and you'll find that of their top-12 leading scorers, eight have played every game and another has missed only one game. Of the remaining three, defenseman Morgan Reilly (11th on the team in scoring) missed the most games at six.

Toronto has remained extremely healthy this season and no doubt it's contributed to the hugely successful season they're having so far. There's no dismissing the job Babcock has done as he's simply one of the best coaches in the league. Nor will we dismiss the talent they've amassed while rebuilding which includes players like Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander among others. But continuity has allowed this group of Leafs to play their style without interruption all season. It's how they went from constantly blowing third period leads early in the season to now winning those games. It has them peaking at the right time as they've won three in a row and seven of nine while catapulting into third in the division and on the precipice of a playoff berth for only the second time since the 2003-04 season.

Buffalo on the other hand is in spoiler-mode as their season effectively ended during a 2-7-2 post-bye week swoon. The Sabres began righting the ship with consecutive wins on the road at Anaheim and Detroit but then dropped a home game to Pittsburgh on Tuesday.

Top defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen will begin serving the first of this three-game suspension tonight after body-checking the Penguins Jake Guentzel into neverland. However, the Sabres will be welcoming back three players from longer-term injury--Will Carrier (24 games,) Okposo (10 games,) and Kulikov (nine)--and will also have Justin Falk (four games) back in the lineup. Rookie defenseman Brady Austin and his 6'4" 230 lb. frame will also be in the lineup as he was recalled from Rochester. It will be Austin's third game in a row in Buffalo.

With Ristolainen out, Buffalo's first powerplay unit was tweaked and Bylsma will be going with five forwards--Eichel, Kane, Okposo, O'Reilly and Sam Reinhart. Bylsma said the onus of being the "defensive" forward in this group will fall on the shoulders of (what a surprise) O'Reilly.

"You need to have a special guy on top to be able to do it, a guy who's comfortable there, responsible there," Bylsma told the gathered media at KeyBank Center. "You're flipping the switch a little bit when you're standing back on the point as a skill guy versus being a defenseman standing there. For some players it's a little bit of an island, it's a new experience and a little bit of an island, but Ryan's been there."

According to Jourdan LaBarber of sabres.com, here's the projected forward group for Buffalo:

Tyler Ennis, O'Reilly, Okposo
Marcus Foligno, Eichel, Reinhart
Kane, Evan Rodrigues, Brian Gionta
Carrier, Zemgus Girgensons, Matt Moulson

The six defenseman will be Kulikov, Falk, Austin, Jake McCabe, Josh Gorges, Zach Bogosian.

Robin Lehner gets the nod in net for Buffalo.

Game time is 7 p.m.

Sabres/Leafs Round-3, which Sabres team will show up?

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 2-11-2017


Your guess is as good as mine as to which Sabres team will show up tonight. In fact I'm not even sure the team that shows up early in the game will be the same one that finishes it. Buffalo has have a few strong 60 minute games and quite a few clunkers as well, but mostly the team has been Jekyll and Hyde from game to game, period to period.

The result is a team that has 54 points on the season and is left to bounce around the bottom of the conference with just enough points to keep them from the cellar but not enough to move them up the standings.

With 61 points on the season the Toronto Leafs are presently third in the Atlantic Division and have done a couple of things the Sabres have yet to do--go on an extended points-streak and control their own destiny within the division and conference.

The Leafs won five in a row in late December/early January, stretched it to points in seven straight and points in 10 of 11 games. The Sabres longest points-streak this season is four games and because of it Buffalo watched as Toronto climbed up the standings and into their present playoff position. They're also 12-4-2 in the division, 17-9-5 in the conference and  have beaten Buffalo both times this season.

Winning even one of the games against the Leafs in regulation would have closed the gap by a significant margin as the Toronto would now be at 59 points while the Sabres would be at 56. That, of course, is coming from the perspective of the hunter with the two head coaches viewing the significance of the game a bit differently as well. Most would consider a divisional matchup a "four-point game" or in the very least a regulation outcome being a four point swing, as laid out above, but Toronto head coach Mike Babcock views it simply as two points.

"They say it’s a four-pointer," Babcock told the gathered Toronto media yesterday after practice.
"I have been in the league a long time, (points) only go up two at a time. I know that. We just keep trying to get our two each night."

Bylsma looked at it a bit differently, "They’re four-point games, still working on that math …,” Bylsma said. “You got a chance to grab two and prevent them from getting two. That’s something we really haven’t done a good job of within our division."

Which is correct. In fact they've struggled against the conference as a whole and it's one of the reasons why they're near the bottom of both the Eastern Conference as well as their own Atlantic Division. The Sabres are only 12-17-8 in the East, 7-10-3 in the Atlantic. Against the West, they're 10-5-2. Buffalo has only have three games against east teams this month and all three are within the division. They beat Ottawa 4-0 in Buffalo last Saturday, play the Leafs tonight, then play at Ottawa again on Valentine's Day.

The Sabres are presently doing what they've been doing all season, treading water with a 2-2-1 record for the month of February. They'll head into Air Canada Centre tonight with decent 5-4-1 record in their last 10 and they're 9-7-2 in the 2017 calendar year thus far.

Injuries continue to play a role in Buffalo's overall 22-22-10 record and they'll be without three regulars once again tonight. Head coach Dan Bylsma said that defenseman Cody Franson will be out of the lineup as he took a shot off the foot against Anaheim and was in a walking boot. Franson will join fellow d-man Zach Bogosian who will miss his fifth game with a rib injury. Buffalo will also be without center Zemgus Girgensons will miss his second in a row with what Bylsma termed as a mid-body injury.

The Sabres lost third-line center Johan Larsson for the year back in December and all of a sudden they're incredibly thin down the middle. With Girgensons out, Bylsma moved Sam Reinhart away from Jack Eichel's wing to center the third line while Derek Grant, who was waived and claimed twice within a month, is back at fourth-line center. Bylsma has used both Justin Faulk and Taylor Fedun in place of the injured Bogosian but now both will be in the lineup after having Franson go down.

Buffalo has been incredibly inconsistent this season, for a number of reasons, but when they're on their game you'll see plenty of support from everyone in every zone, something Ryan O'Reilly touched upon yesterday after practice as he was asked what his message for the team was. "We've got to make each other look good, take ourselves out of the equation," he said to the media yesterday, before turning that response in on himself.

"For example, it's like myself," he continued. "If I'm tracking the puck hard and making it easy for the defense to have a good gap, it makes them look good, it makes them feel good. And that's the stuff we can build around."

The Leafs have been slowed as of late going 2-2-2 since the All-Star break and are 4-3-3 in their last 10 games. Toronto, like Buffalo, has been allowing a ton of shots, something which Babcock was asked about yesterday and he gave this rather anti-analytics reply. “Someone next game, this is what I would like you to do,” he said. “When the shot (actually) hits the net, I would like you to mark it down," before admitting that the shots against stat has some value.

“You want to keep the shots down the best you possibly can, but I also think scoring chances are important," he continued. "When we do a good job like we have the last two games, and be on the inside and check real well, I think it really helps the goaltending. Some nights you give up not very many shots but you give up back-door opportunities, and that’s hard on the goalie. The other thing is shots from the outside, if you’re inside, aren’t as big a deal.”

Toronto has given up the third-most shot on goal against in the league at 32.6 SA/GM to this point while Buffalo has given up the most at 34.0 and it's something also on the mind of Bylsma. When asked what he needs from his team right now, Bylsma delved into a Sabres club that's been giving up way too many scoring chances. Although they managed to win some pretty special games prior to the All-Star break and recently as well, "we've given up an average of 20-21 scoring chances over that stretch," said the coach, "and that's really got to come down.

"The Ottawa game where we won 4-0 was a 14-scoring chance game," he continued, "that's really where we've been lacking, getting those scoring chances under 15 pre game. At this point in time the games we're playing we're giving up too many scoring chances and a lot of times it means we're coming from behind."

There have been a myriad of scenarios in the 10 games Bylsma mentioned with the Sabres both leading and trailing while also scoring in bunches and giving up goals in bunches. They've gotten good goaltending most of the time but they've also had a little trouble in net. Some days the forwards are good and the defense is a mess while others it's the opposite.

With that in mind, it's probably best to go into tonight with no preconceived notions and just let the game unfold as it may because now one knows which Sabres team will show up.



Thanks to Terry Koshen of the Toronto Sun for the Babcock quotes.

*****

It was sad hearing of the passing of Detroit Red Wings (and Tigers) owner Mike Illitch yesterday. Much respect and condolences.

Buffalo Sabres/Toronto Maple Leafs preview

Published by hockeybuzz.com. 11-3-2016


The headline reads, Maple Leafs head to Buffalo confident better luck is coming, and the opening paragraphs describe a litany of things the Toronto Maple Leafs have done to get off the schneid in Buffalo. Sportsnet's Chris Johnston penned the article and he aptly sums up the leafs troubles when traveling 60 miles south to Buffalo, "[the Leafs] still haven’t found any success at a building that has seen more names (three) than Toronto victories (two) since February 2009."

Think about it.

That's seven-plus years of futility in Buffalo against a Sabres team that was mired in mediocrity for years before they decided to pull the plug on the whole thing and go through a scorched-earth rebuild. Even in Buffalo's back-to-back, basement-dwelling seasons, names like Zac Dalpe, Cody Hodgson, Matt Ellis and Ville Lieno were hitting the scoresheet against Toronto while sending the Leafs to an 0-3-1 record in Buffalo.

Leafs benchboss Mike Babcock, who shunned the Sabres head coaching job for Toronto, knows nothing of their lengthy bought with futility 90 miles south down the QEW, although he did get a taste of it last year as his team went 0-1-1 at the former First Niagara Center. Babcock has himself a bevy of young, talented forwards at his disposal right now and is looking to the future, “I just know that Buffalo and us are teams that perceive ourselves to be in transition and getting better. We’re going to be battling with them for a lot of years to come," he said in the Johnston article

That is true.

I'm not sure where Leafs nation has their team on the rebuild timeline, but in Sabreland this is considered year-two of the build portion of the program and the Sabres are beginning to gain traction. Buffalo heads into tonight's contest vs. their neighbors to the north on a three-game winning streak, with two of those wins coming on the road in the middle of the continent. And that's despite being without forwards Jack Eichel and Evander Kane, two top-six, 20-goal scorers last season who finished first and fourth, respectively in goals for the team.

The Bylsma-Sabres/Babcock-Leafs season series concludes tonight at Buffalo

Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com


A little over seven years ago, the Pittsburgh Penguins fired head coach Michel Therrien and promoted Dan Bylsma to coach the team on an interim basis. GM Ray Shero made the decision with the Penguins out of a playoff spot and said at the time, "I didn't like the direction in which the team was headed."

That direction had Pittsburgh five points out of a playoff spot and floundering the season after taking the Detroit Red Wings to Game-6 of the 2007-08 Stanley Cup Finals. They still had plenty of star-power and some very talented players, but the magic was gone. Bylsma's approach to coaching in that situation would be very simple. He had a highly-skilled, very fast team at his disposal and he wanted them to use those talents aggressively, "We need to force teams to deal with the quality of players we have at every position," he said at the time.

Dave Molinari, covered the press conference for the Pittsburgh Post Gazette and even felt compelled to include a phonetic pronunciation of Bylsma's name, (BYL-zmuh.) In a rather short article that  included the above quotes he concluded, "Whether that name becomes one of the most celebrated in franchise history, or nothing more than a footnote, will be determined by how the next two months play out."

Clunk! Was the sound the Sabres made last night. Eichel out with flu

Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com


Although there weren't very many of them this season, the performance the Buffalo Sabres put on last night at Air Canada Center in Toronto was a stinker. The Sabres could do nothing against the Maple Leafs after scoring on the powerplay four and a half minutes into the game and they eventually lost 4-1. Three of Toronto's four unanswered goals came in the third period as Buffalo suffered numerous defensive breakdowns and were generally sloppy all over the ice.

Then they lost their composure, most notably defenseman Zach Bogosian and the final nail in the coffin came with three and a half minutes to go when Toronto's Milan Michalek toe-dragged his way around a sprawling Carlo Coaliacovo and finished off a 2-on-1 by himself. Four Sabres were caught deep in the Toronto zone as they pressed to get the game to within one goal.

Buffalo had may have had legitimate reasons for playing a clunker like that. They're coming down the stretch after a trying season where they're better than last year's club, but still far away from challenging for a playoff spot and the wear and tear from the season may be taking it's toll. Toronto came into the game having won three of their last five games and unlike the Sabres, had a day off between games. Buffalo was playing the second game of a back-to-back and their third game in four nights.

Plus they were without, star rookie, Jack Eichel.

Did you ask yourself this question last night, Sabres fans...

Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com


...who's going to step up?

Prior to pulling out a 4-3 SO victory at Toronto last night, the Buffalo Sabres were going through a stinker at Air Canada Center and embarrassment was in the offing. The Sabres found themselves down 3-1 well into the third period before those who were expected to step up, did so.

In a "it's deja vu all over again" moment, the Toronto Maple Leafs jumped on the Sabres a mere :25 seconds into the game as undrafted rookie Nikita Soshnikov fed a streaking Leo Kamarov for the game's first goal. We won't ask the question as to why Sabres d-man Rasmus Ristolainen forgot Hockey 101 on a two-on-one break--cut off the pass, especially when there's a backcheck coming on the shooter--it happened and Buffalo had to play catch-up.

It was the second time this month that the Sabres got burned that quickly. The Sabres kicked off March with "McEichel-I" at First Niagara Center and Connor McDavid connected just :22 seconds into that game. The hullaballoo surrounding that goal was that Jack Eichel wasn't on the ice for the opening face off against McDavid, the franchise center picked on spot ahead of him in the draft last year. Eichel and linemates Sam Reinhart and Evander Kane weren't on the ice to start that game. Neither were Ristolainen and Josh Gorges, Buffalo's top defense pairing. But that group of five were on the ice for the Kamarov goal.

With the hometown fans in a tizzy, the Leafs extended their lead to 2-0 when former Sabre Brad Boyes banked one in off of Jake McCabe's skate and the Sabres found themselves in a hole headed into the first intermission.

The end of the Babcock saga. Plus, reactions to reactions

Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com


You could lay out 50 million reasons why it didn't work out between Mike Babcock and the Buffalo Sabres. A contact worth $50 million over eight years was reportedly offered by Sabres owner Terry Pegula and their GM, Tim Murray, and it was something Babcock's team took back up the QEW to Toronto Maple Leafs President Brendan Shanahan. The Leafs ponied up and Babcock is now the head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The process is done, and for a lot of people, there's a bit "Thank God" that can be placed a the end of that sentence.

Interesting to see the reactions from various sources out there, but all of them pretty much mention the Buffalo Sabres as the "jilted lover" in all of this. Which is fine, because the Pegula and Co. pretty much gave Babcock all they could offer him and in the end he chose the Queen of Hockey over the Queen City. "When you think about the Toronto Maple Leafs -- the most iconic franchise, in my view, in the world -- I think that that had an appeal to Mike Babcock that other markets just couldn't match," said TSN's Craig Button on  ctv news.ca. 

“I wanted to coach the Toronto Maple Leafs," was what Babcock ultimately said about his final decision.

The final word on Mike Babcock until....

Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com


...his presser in Buffalo introducing him as the next Buffalo Sabres head coach.

Purely speculative? Yes.

Optimistic? Very.

A reach? Maybe.

Here's the deal.

The Detroit Red Wings ain't what they used to be. Back in the day, before the salary cap was introduced, the perennial Cup-contending Wings had it all. They had money, Hall-of-Famers and a reputation for being the place a free agent could go for a legitimate shot at the Stanley Cup. Although Wings owner Mike Illitch had (and has) the wherewithal to compete financially with the Toronto's and NY Ranger's of the league, he rarely had to do it on financial terms. Players like Chris Chelios, Brendan Shanahan, Luc Robitaille, Brett Hull and Dominik Hasek (to name a few) would gladly play for less money to get their name on the Stanley Cup.

But times have changed.

"Relationships and geography have always played a role in where a free agent will sign," wrote Puckdaddy's Greg Wyshynski last July 2nd, "but it’s now become overriding factors since the money’s become equal. Predicting the next home for a free agent used to be as easy as predicting who could give him a max contract; now it comes down to whether his father’s cousin’s son’s sister’s friend’s former roommate is the assistant general manager."

On Mike Babcock and a possible Johnson/Bird-type rivalry with McDavid/Eichel

Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com


Although I won't say that I wasted 25 minutes of my life watching TSN's Darren Dreger interview Detroit Red Wings GM Ken Holland and his coach (as of now) Mike Babcock. But I will say that I could have waited for the highlights and have gotten as much from it.

Yes, one construct a myriad of opinions trying to read between the lines or focus upon body language and other forms of non-verbal communications, but why bother?

It's well known that Babcock likes being a part of the Detroit Red Wings family. It's also been made known that his wife likes where they are right now. We also know that the team is going through a transitionary period where the old guard is nearing the end of the line and the young turks are expected to step into those roles by carrying the weight of the franchise.

That's the Detroit Red Wings way.

One would be better off going to the roulette wheel and plunking a stack on red or black--as in Detroit or Buffalo--when it comes to where he'll end up. Sure there's the aught and double aught of the green spaces to take away the true 50/50 odds, but in this blogger's opinion, it's either sticking with the Wings or guiding a young Sabres squad.

Much respect for Dreger and the work he does for TSN. Thanks to his interview we now know that Babcock will be making his decision by May 20th instead of the 25th.

Jack Eichel and Dylan Larkin crank it up for Team USA

Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com


Detroit Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock, who looks to be taking his coaching talents elsewhere in the very near future, said he was going to the Czech Republic to "see Dylan Larkin play." The 18 yr. old Larkin was drafted 15th-overall by Detroit in the 2015 NHL Draft and is one of two 18 yr. olds selected by Team USA to compete in the 2015 IIHF World Championships. The other 18 one is probable 2015 2nd-overall pick by the Buffalo Sabres, Jack Eichel.

The reason that Babcock had emphasized seeing Larkin is to help determine whether he'll be an heir apparent to the Wings aging stars like Pavel Datsyuk, who will be 37 this year. After dropping Game-7 to the Tampa Bay Lightning in this year's playoffs, a disappointed Babcock said, "“Our team’s not as good as it was (back when they won the Stanley Cup.) It’s very evident." Which is to be expected.

But one of the traits of his back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals teams from 2008-09 was the passing of the torch from the likes of Steve Yzerman and Niklas Lidstrom to Niklas Kronwall,  Henrik Zetterberg and Datsyuk. It's questionable as to whether or not he sees that on his club. “Three of our best players are 34, 35, 37" said Babcock referring to their ages, respectively, this year.

“We’ve got lots of good young players, no question about it, and ideally we’ve got some good ones coming,” Babcock said. “But who’s going to replace Pav? I don’t think Pav’s going anywhere right way. But I mean, that’s what you’ve got to do. In the end, you’ve got to have big-time players up the middle and on the back to be successful. So those are questions in our organization that we work towards, drafting good and developing good, but we've been winning too much. That’s the facts.”

That's why he wanted to see Larkin at the Worlds, to find out if he is the answer to the question of "who's going to replace Datsyuk."

"If you build it..." Plus some other news and notes.

Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com


Detroit Red Wings coach Mike Babcock had a very busy Mother's Day yesterday. After, presumably, taking care of his wife Maureen, the mother of their three children, Babcock was busy getting a feel for potential coaching destinations.

First up was Toronto.

According to Elliot Friedman of sportsnet, "No one’s giving a straight answer about it, but there was an interesting private plane in Detroit yesterday." It's assumed that the "interesting private plane" had Maple Leafs GM Brendan Shanahan on board and that they did a little more than their one season together back in 2005-06. Tornoto's set to begin a massive rebuild and because they are the self-proclaimed "Center of the Hockey Universe" they jumped right into the fray and got to the head of the line.

Jack Eichel nets first IIHF goal. Reports of Babcock/Buffalo meeting

Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com


A few days ago, Helene St. James was on WGR's Mike Schopp and the Bulldog quoting current Detroit Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock as saying the he was headed to the IIHF World Hockey Championships "to see Dylan Larkin." Larkin is a 18 yr. old Wings prospect who had an impressive freshman season at Michigan scoring 47 points (15 + 32) in 35 games. The Wolverine powerforward was selected by Detroit with the 15th-overall pick in the 2014 NHL Draft.

Larkin's game has been progressing nicely as he adapts to playing against highly skilled men at the tournament. "I'm impressed by how he plays the game as a young player who is making great strides," Team USA head coach Todd Richards said. "For me as a coach, the more you watch him, the more you trust him. He's a great skater, has speed and is a committed two-way player, who plays a 200-foot game."

Those are some pretty important attributes for any player, but especially one who's being looked upon as a possible successor to one of the great two-way players over the last 10 years or so in Detroit's Pavel Datsyuk.

The cost for Mike Babcock, a third round pick, plus a big contract

Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com


The #1 free agent set to hit the market July 1st is free to talk with teams about his future. Detroit Red Wings GM Ken Holland has granted permission to his coach Mike Babcock to test the market.

Babcock made the request saying, ""I just felt, after 10 years, the opportunity was out there. I'm going to ride this process out." But he also stressed that it's nothing more than exploratory and was quoted as saying. "People can read it into it what they want. There is no decision made at all. We really like it here. My family loves Detroit. It's way easier for my family to stay here, 100% easier. My kids are all going away, but they still want to come back to Detroit on Thanksgiving. They want to come back to Detroit in the summer to work out. So it's way easier for them."

That's the family side of the man who many consider the top coach in the NHL. He's said time and time again that his family is one of he top priorities in his life and even went as far to say that his wife Maureen, not Holland, is the boss. With that said, her opinion will carry a ton of weight in his decision. "In talking to him this afternoon," said longtime Wings beat writer Helene St. James on WGR's Mike Schopp and the Bulldog Show yesterday, "I get the impression his wife would like to stay here (in Detroit.)

Buffalo hopeless in the Mike Babcock race? Plus, JT Compher back for Michigan

Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com


That the Detroit Red Wings are one of the best organizations in sports is a given. Twenty-four straight playoff appearances--with four Stanley Cups thrown in for good measure--is a testament to that. But, should head coach Mike Babcock leave it will have an impact on the team in the near term, even if highly regarded Grand Rapids head coach Jeff Blashill were to assume the reigns.

And that's the pressing question for a number of teams at this point in the season, is Babcock leaving?

The Buffalo Sabres, they of the two consecutive 30th-place finishes, are in the market for a head coach. The team is one of many who will be ready to back up the Brinks truck to Babcock's door for his services. Never mind that there are other well qualified coaching candidates on the market, they want Babcock setting up residence in Amherst, NY--the same neighborhood that houses Hall of Fame head coach Scotty Bowman, who happened to have won three of the aforementioned Stanley Cups Detroit brought home between 1997 and 2002.

Cassidy fired plus, 10,000-1 odds against Mike Babcock landing in Buffalo

Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com


When Buffalo Sabres president Ted Black sent a magazine along with invoices to season ticket holders entitled “Buffalo Sabres 2015-16: The Next Chapter,” perhaps it should actually be taken as the first chapter in a new book. After the firing of Rochester Americans head coach Chadd Cassidy yesterday, nearly everything left over from the previous regime is gone including it's identity, or what was described as it's identity.

As of this moment there are still some key personnel in the front office who are holdovers from the Darcy Regier-era like assistant GM, Mark Jakubowski and Director of Player Personnel, Kevin Devine. A number of scouts like Jon Christiano, Toby O'Brien and Yuri Khymlev are still on board. Player development coach Randy Cunneyworth is still around and the young players GM Tim Murray wants to build with at this time--including Tyler Ennis, Zemgus Girgensons, and Rasmus Ristolainen--have survived a roster purge over the course of two trade deadlines and one off season.

But the two coaches in the organization for the 2014-15 season, didn't make it through. From an historically objective standpoint, the numbers will show that Ted Nolan's 30th place Sabres team had a 23-51-8 record while the Amerks finished 27th in the AHL with a 29-41-6 record. What history won't reveal fully through those numbers is the maelstrom of the Sabres scorched-earth rebuild that was going on during this time period. Kudos to both Nolan and Cassidy for their work during this hellacious time.