Published by hockeybuzz.com, 6-17-2018
Buffalo Sabres general manager Jason Botterill is ramping up as he, like his fellow GM's, have a very busy couple of weeks ahead. The NHL is set to announce the 2018-19 salary cap sometime this week and the 2018 NHL Draft takes place Friday and Saturday which is quickly followed by the "interview period" next Sunday as teams may begin talking with unrestricted free agents.
On Monday June 25 teams must tender qualifying offers to their restricted free agents then the following day another "interview period" begins with RFA's being allowed to talk offer sheets with other teams. The buyout window closes on Saturday, June 30 and July 1 heralds the beginning of free agency where unrestricted free agents are free to sign with any team.
While we were busy with the 2018 Mock Draft, Botterill did get things rolling with some moves and some Sabres-related chatter this past week. Time to play a little catch-up with thoughts on Sabres-related moves.
Botterill talks with WGR550's Paul Hamilton on a few subjects.
--The GM implied that there probably wouldn't be any changes to a coaching staff on a last place team that was wretched at times, mostly at home where Botterill was said to take out his frustrations on tables, doors and an unsuspecting taco bar. However, the status quo shouldn't be completely comfortable in their positions as Botterill left some wiggle room.
"Right now we feel comfortable with our guys," he told Hamilton. "We continue to talk with Phil [Housley] from that standpoint, but right now our staff is the same as it was.”
Last month Alexander Nilsson, who covers hockey in Sweden and follows the Sabres tweeted the following, "Sabres is interested in bringing in Sweden men's national team head coach Rikard Grönborg according to Sportbladet. Carolina also interested. Unknown in which capacity. Grönborg has one more year on his contract with the Swedish Ice Hockey Association."
Grönborg just finished coaching Team Sweden to their second consecutive IIHF World Hockey Championship and the dual Swedish/U.S. citizen isn't opposed to moving back to the States.
With Buffalo projected to draft Swedish defenseman Rasmus Dahlin first overall on Friday and with their recent signing of SHL Defenseman of the Year, Lawrence Pilut, it makes sense that they'd be interested in the former St. Cloud State defenseman, but in what capacity?
Changes should be made to coaching staff after the terrible season the team just went through, and with all due respect to assistant coach Chris Hajt, that defense was a mess as he looked way in over his head. But bringing in Grönborg this season as an assistant might put too much pressure on Housley, who's entering his sophomore season as a head coach.
Until Grönborg signs somewhere else, it's a name to keep an eye on, possibly as head coach in Buffalo should Housley not make adequate year over year progress.
--For those looking for the team to buyout ugly contracts, Botterill was pretty firm in his statement to Hamilton. "I don’t see us having any buyouts this year," he said. "Obviously things could always change over the next little bit here, but from our standpoint, just the way some of our contracts are structured, we don’t want to have cap hits beyond this year, so we see it being more beneficial to ride the year out and go from there.”
That means Matt Moulson and his $5 million contract are on the books for one more (probable AHL) season. It also means that Zach Bogosian and the two years remaining on his $5.14 AAV contract are here for at least this season and players like Zemgus Girgensons and Johan Larsson will be playing out the remainder of their deals this season. Barring trades, of course.
And that's the way it should be this year. The Sabres don't need the cap room so why bother?
--Botterill also brought up a name that we thought was a one-and-done in Buffal0--defenseman Victor Antipin.
Last we saw of Antipin on the ice was him literally laying there after being plastered into the boards by Nashville's Scotty Hartnell in a boarding play that went unpunished. Antipin was stretchered off the ice, missed the final four games and it was thought he was back to Mother Russia to play in the KHL.
Not so fast.
"In our conversations with his agent and in our conversations with him," said Botterill, "he wants to play in North America again next year. Because of his past resume, there will always be that option in the KHL, but it’s my understanding, he hasn’t signed there.”
Perhaps he'll have another opportunity, maybe even with the Sabres. Or at least in Rochester. Too bad his one-year free agent deal had an option to head to the KHL should he be sent to the AHL. He needed time to adjust to the North American game. It would be worth taking a shot on him as long as he starts in Rochester.
Hudson Fasching trade
Former GM Tim Murray's first trade for the Sabres (and his first as a general manager) sent defenseman Brayden McNabb, forward Jonathan Parker and two second round picks to the LA Kings for forwards Hudson Fasching and Nic Deslauriers, whom he described as "heavies."
It turned into a bad trade for the Sabres as neither Deslauriers, who was traded to Montreal this past season, nor Fasching, who was just traded to the Arizona Coytoes, are with the club.
McNabb played a top six role for the Kings before he fell down the depth chart and was left unprotected by Los Angeles in the 2017 expansion draft. The Vegas Golden Knights snatched him up and he played top-pairing minutes for the 2018 Stanley Cup runner-up. The two second round picks Buffalo gave up in the trade were the two second rounders the Kings had previously traded to the Sabres for defenseman Robyn Regehr. In 2014 defenseman Alex Lintumiemi was selected 60th-overall in the draft and has spent the last two seasons with the Ontario Reign, LA's AHL affiliate. Defenseman Eric Cernak was selected in 2015 (43rd-overall) by the Kings and his rights were traded to Tampa Bay in the Ben Bishop trade on February 26, 2017.
Fasching was a forward that ended up in the wrong conference at the wrong time. The Kings won the Cup in 2014, their second in three seasons, with strong goaltending and a very Western Conference, heavy-style team and Murray was locked into that style when he made the trade. Also at the time of the trade the Sabres prospect pool was heavier on defense than it was on forwards, so he pulled the trigger.
Regardless of the circumstances and thought process involved, it was a bust for the Sabres. Even though McNabb is usually overrated by many Sabres fans because of the terrible seasons Buffalo has had, because of the hate directed towards Murray and/or maybe because everyone traded away is looked at as upper-echelon simply because Buffalo never can do anything right, they lost this one. Even if the other parts of the trade never make it to the NHL.
Coming back from the 'Yotes in the trade are the rights to BU defenseman Brandon Hickey and unrestricted free agent Mike Sislo.
“We would’ve been qualifying [Fasching]," said Botterill to Hamilton, "but with players like Justin Bailey, Nick Baptiste, bringing in Danny O’Regan, bringing in Andrew Oglevie, we felt we had an abundance at right wing and we’ve looked to try to bring in more defensemen and continue to work with them.
“We’re very excited about young players such as Brendan Guhle and having players such as Casey Fitzgerald within the organization and we plan to bring more players into that too, so that’s why we signed a player like Lawrence Pilut and with Brandon, we bring in a player whose skating is an asset and we’re looking forward to working with them the next few years.”
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen signs entry-level deal
The Sabres announced on Thursday that goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen signed his entry-level deal. The 6'4" 198 lb. native of Espoo, Finland was a part of Botterill's first draft class last year and was selected in the second round (54th overall.)
Luukkonen's contract is a three-year deal worth as much as $2.775 million which may slide next year should he stay in Finland, which is likely.
Buffalo has a really thin goalie pool right now with Linus Ullmark (2012, 163rd) getting the call to Buffalo full-time this season and Jonas Johansson (2014, 61st) as the only goalies in the system drafted by the Sabres.
Ideally Buffalo would have a third rounder this year to use on a goalie but they'll need to make due with a fourth-rounder. Perhaps any trade concerning Ryan O'Reilly will include an additional second or third rounder that they can use to add a goaltender to the system.
Ryan O'Reilly
Yup, it wouldn't be a blog with out a ROR mention.
The Montreal Canadiens, who seem to be the hottest destination for the top-six center and they made a trade this week sending Alex Galchenyuk to the Arizona Coyotes for Max Domi. It's a trade that really has nothing to do with O'Reilly as the Canadiens still need a top center, but it was worth mentioning.
Domi scored nine goals last season for the 'Yotes, four of them empty netters. For a little perspective, Girgensons had seven goals, zero empty-netters.
Happy Father's Day to all the Dad's out there. I'm very thankful for my children who are the best a father could hope for.
Showing posts with label Victor Antipin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Victor Antipin. Show all posts
Monday, June 18, 2018
Thursday, May 17, 2018
Victor Antipin out, Lawrence Pilut officially in for Sabres
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 5-16-2018
KHL defenseman Victor Antipin was a coveted free agent last season. Former Buffalo Sabres GM Tim Murray started the process of landing Antipin before he was fired and his successor, Jason Botterill, finished the job by signing him to a 1 yr. contract with a base salary of $925K. Also involved was a reported stipulation that Antipin play in the NHL with Buffalo or he could return to Russia.
Antipin got his contract and his wish and played the 2017-18 season for the Sabres. Unfortunately for him, things did not go all that well. Buffalo was disaster from the get-go and Antipin found out just how difficult the NHL could be, especially on a last place team that was a train wreck. In all the 5'11" 175 lb. mobile defenseman played in 47 games scattered throughout the season with zero goals and 10 assists. He also got plastered into the boards by Nashville Predators forward Scotty Hartnell in an unpenalized boarding and left the ice on a stretcher which is how his season and NHL career ended.
He was asked about that hit at locker cleanout and said "he didn't remember." Antipin was also asked what he thought of his first NHL season to which he replied, "it was tough." In the measured English of a person just learning the language, Antipin said, "sometimes good play, sometimes no good, but it was a good experience."
KHL defenseman Victor Antipin was a coveted free agent last season. Former Buffalo Sabres GM Tim Murray started the process of landing Antipin before he was fired and his successor, Jason Botterill, finished the job by signing him to a 1 yr. contract with a base salary of $925K. Also involved was a reported stipulation that Antipin play in the NHL with Buffalo or he could return to Russia.
Antipin got his contract and his wish and played the 2017-18 season for the Sabres. Unfortunately for him, things did not go all that well. Buffalo was disaster from the get-go and Antipin found out just how difficult the NHL could be, especially on a last place team that was a train wreck. In all the 5'11" 175 lb. mobile defenseman played in 47 games scattered throughout the season with zero goals and 10 assists. He also got plastered into the boards by Nashville Predators forward Scotty Hartnell in an unpenalized boarding and left the ice on a stretcher which is how his season and NHL career ended.
He was asked about that hit at locker cleanout and said "he didn't remember." Antipin was also asked what he thought of his first NHL season to which he replied, "it was tough." In the measured English of a person just learning the language, Antipin said, "sometimes good play, sometimes no good, but it was a good experience."
Sunday, May 6, 2018
Impressions of, and questions concerning--D, Victor Antipin
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 5-5-2018
Defenseman--Victor Antipin
DOB: December 9,1992 (Age, 25)
Draft: N/A
How acquired: FA, May 25, 2017
Last contract signed: May 25, 2017, 1 yr./$1.775 million
Final year of contract: 2017-18
2017-18 Stats: 47 games played | 0 goals | 10 assists | -9 | 15:17 ATOI
Buffalo Career Stats: 47 games | 0 goals | 10 assists | -9 | 15:17 ATOI
Defenseman--Victor Antipin
DOB: December 9,1992 (Age, 25)
Draft: N/A
How acquired: FA, May 25, 2017
Last contract signed: May 25, 2017, 1 yr./$1.775 million
Final year of contract: 2017-18
2017-18 Stats: 47 games played | 0 goals | 10 assists | -9 | 15:17 ATOI
Buffalo Career Stats: 47 games | 0 goals | 10 assists | -9 | 15:17 ATOI
Friday, March 9, 2018
Can the Sabres get "geared up" for an out of conference game against the Flames?
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 3-7-2018
Buffalo Sabres head coach Phil Housley did his weekly radio thing this morning on WGR550. GR host Howard Simon brought up the point that the Sabres have been playing very well against their Atlantic Division foes as of late, which is true. Since a loss to the Florida Panthers on February 1, Buffalo has gone 6-1-1 which includes two wins each against the division-leading Tampa Bay Lightning and the second place Boston Bruins as well as a win on Monday against the division's third place team, the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Housley was asked by the host if he's seen anything differently from his group when it comes to playing the top teams in the division. "I think the preparation by our guys has been really good," said the coach, "and they know that they have to come to play." Which is a curious response in that what the hell were they doing the other 60 or so games? Chllin' like Bob Dylan thinking that they don't "have to come and play?"
"We want to have that same preparation every game," continued the coach, "but it just seems as of late in these last 15 games, we've seen a lot of Boston and Tampa and now Toronto and they're getting geared up. It's a divisional opponents, they have rivalries that in the past have been physical, intense games.
"I just think they're on their mark and ready to play [in those divisional games] and it's a great challenge for us, and if you're not ready to play, you're going to get embarrassed."
Like the 14 times this season they've lost games by three or more goals.
Tonight the Calgary Flames come to town. They're in the Western Conference so is the motivation there for this group to "gear up?"
The Flames are having a pretty good season and right now they're five points out of a wild card spot with three teams to jump. Present Sabres backup goalie Chad Johnson, who will get the start tonight, played for Calgary last season and posted good numbers in his 36 appearances for the Flames. Perhaps the team will come to play for him.
Buffalo defeated the Flames in Calgary back in January 2-1. The overtime win came with Johnson in net and kicked off a very successful three-game western Canada sweep where they defeated the Flames, Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks by a combined 11-1 score. Sabres starter Robin Lehner posted back-to-back shutouts in the other two games.
Overall the Sabres are 5-3-2 in their last 10 games against Calgary, according to Sabres PR, and a very sound 9-0-1 at home.
Perhaps they can get "geared up" in an effort to keep that going.
Individually there are some Sabres players who'd like to keep things rolling. Sam Reinhart has 23 points (9+14) in his last 22 games. Linemate Ryan O'Reilly has 12 points (3+9) in his last 11 games and has a four-game point streak going. Defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen seems to have found his game with six points (1+5) in his last six games and 24 points over his last 29.
As for Johnson, at one point in the season he couldn't stop a beach ball but lately he is 6-2-0 in his last nine appearances with a .933 save percentage and a 2.05 goals-against average in those contests. (All numbers courtesy Sabres PR.)
Johnson is also on a three-game winning streak with all of those wins coming against the top three teams in the Atlantic (Tampa, Boston, Toronto) and has won five of his last six starts. In those five wins he's allowed 10 goals on 154 shots for a .935 save % while the team in front of him scored 20 goals.
Here's the lineup as seen by those at the morning skate:
Girgensons-O'Reilly-Reinhart
Wilson-Larsson-Pominville
Nolan-Josefson-Okposo
Baptiste-Pouliot-Griffith
Scandella-Ristolainen
Guhle-Nelson
Beaulieu-Antipin
*****
Housley was also asked about defenseman Victor Antipin and what he's seen of him so far this season. The coach mentioned that the Russian rookie has been adjusting to the North American game, most notably "players being on top of you right away and not having that extra time with the puck."
You see that with a lot of players, most of whom have been groomed in North America, in that they just can't seem to figure out that there's very little time to make a decision in the NHL. How they handle that and what kind of fast puck decisions they make are a good indication as to what kind of success they'll have at the NHL-level.
Antipin is looking more and more comforatable with every game played. Although there was the #FreeAntipin movement early in the season, his play had a number of holes in it which warranted some time watching from the pressbox. If he continues to progress, Sabres fans will hopefully get to see some of what he did in Russia which was find that soft spot in the offensive zone for a scoring opportunity.
*****
Antipin's partner is Nathan Beaulieu a defenseman who has driven many nuts over the course of his first season in Buffalo.
If one were to go back and review every one of his games this season, in nearly every game a Beaulieu turnover will either lead to a golden opportunity or goal against. Yet, his skating is fluid and top-notch, which is something that will continue hooking people for years to come.
The Sabres aren't good enough to overcome Beaulieu's brain-fart(s)/game right now and no team should ever be subjected to that. But if they could ever become a team that has the goaltending and/or goal-scoring to overcome his mistakes, when he's on his game Beauliue's kinda fun to watch. Got an little edge to his game too.
Buffalo Sabres head coach Phil Housley did his weekly radio thing this morning on WGR550. GR host Howard Simon brought up the point that the Sabres have been playing very well against their Atlantic Division foes as of late, which is true. Since a loss to the Florida Panthers on February 1, Buffalo has gone 6-1-1 which includes two wins each against the division-leading Tampa Bay Lightning and the second place Boston Bruins as well as a win on Monday against the division's third place team, the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Housley was asked by the host if he's seen anything differently from his group when it comes to playing the top teams in the division. "I think the preparation by our guys has been really good," said the coach, "and they know that they have to come to play." Which is a curious response in that what the hell were they doing the other 60 or so games? Chllin' like Bob Dylan thinking that they don't "have to come and play?"
"We want to have that same preparation every game," continued the coach, "but it just seems as of late in these last 15 games, we've seen a lot of Boston and Tampa and now Toronto and they're getting geared up. It's a divisional opponents, they have rivalries that in the past have been physical, intense games.
"I just think they're on their mark and ready to play [in those divisional games] and it's a great challenge for us, and if you're not ready to play, you're going to get embarrassed."
Like the 14 times this season they've lost games by three or more goals.
Tonight the Calgary Flames come to town. They're in the Western Conference so is the motivation there for this group to "gear up?"
The Flames are having a pretty good season and right now they're five points out of a wild card spot with three teams to jump. Present Sabres backup goalie Chad Johnson, who will get the start tonight, played for Calgary last season and posted good numbers in his 36 appearances for the Flames. Perhaps the team will come to play for him.
Buffalo defeated the Flames in Calgary back in January 2-1. The overtime win came with Johnson in net and kicked off a very successful three-game western Canada sweep where they defeated the Flames, Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks by a combined 11-1 score. Sabres starter Robin Lehner posted back-to-back shutouts in the other two games.
Overall the Sabres are 5-3-2 in their last 10 games against Calgary, according to Sabres PR, and a very sound 9-0-1 at home.
Perhaps they can get "geared up" in an effort to keep that going.
Individually there are some Sabres players who'd like to keep things rolling. Sam Reinhart has 23 points (9+14) in his last 22 games. Linemate Ryan O'Reilly has 12 points (3+9) in his last 11 games and has a four-game point streak going. Defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen seems to have found his game with six points (1+5) in his last six games and 24 points over his last 29.
As for Johnson, at one point in the season he couldn't stop a beach ball but lately he is 6-2-0 in his last nine appearances with a .933 save percentage and a 2.05 goals-against average in those contests. (All numbers courtesy Sabres PR.)
Johnson is also on a three-game winning streak with all of those wins coming against the top three teams in the Atlantic (Tampa, Boston, Toronto) and has won five of his last six starts. In those five wins he's allowed 10 goals on 154 shots for a .935 save % while the team in front of him scored 20 goals.
Here's the lineup as seen by those at the morning skate:
Girgensons-O'Reilly-Reinhart
Wilson-Larsson-Pominville
Nolan-Josefson-Okposo
Baptiste-Pouliot-Griffith
Scandella-Ristolainen
Guhle-Nelson
Beaulieu-Antipin
*****
Housley was also asked about defenseman Victor Antipin and what he's seen of him so far this season. The coach mentioned that the Russian rookie has been adjusting to the North American game, most notably "players being on top of you right away and not having that extra time with the puck."
You see that with a lot of players, most of whom have been groomed in North America, in that they just can't seem to figure out that there's very little time to make a decision in the NHL. How they handle that and what kind of fast puck decisions they make are a good indication as to what kind of success they'll have at the NHL-level.
Antipin is looking more and more comforatable with every game played. Although there was the #FreeAntipin movement early in the season, his play had a number of holes in it which warranted some time watching from the pressbox. If he continues to progress, Sabres fans will hopefully get to see some of what he did in Russia which was find that soft spot in the offensive zone for a scoring opportunity.
*****
Antipin's partner is Nathan Beaulieu a defenseman who has driven many nuts over the course of his first season in Buffalo.
If one were to go back and review every one of his games this season, in nearly every game a Beaulieu turnover will either lead to a golden opportunity or goal against. Yet, his skating is fluid and top-notch, which is something that will continue hooking people for years to come.
The Sabres aren't good enough to overcome Beaulieu's brain-fart(s)/game right now and no team should ever be subjected to that. But if they could ever become a team that has the goaltending and/or goal-scoring to overcome his mistakes, when he's on his game Beauliue's kinda fun to watch. Got an little edge to his game too.
Wednesday, January 24, 2018
Riding a perfect road win into Edmonton. Plus, Ethan plays Jack on Xbox.
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 1-23-2018
For one game it looked as if Buffalo Sabres coach Phil Housley's message got through to his players. After a thoroughly embarrassing 7-1 loss at the hands of the Dallas Stars on Saturday afternoon, Housley was said to have put his players through a hard skate on Sunday while also drastically changing up his lines in an effort to shake his team out of their malaise. A western Canada swing lie ahead for Buffalo with three games in four nights before the All-Star break.
Housley's lines were as follows:
Zemgus Girgensons-Jack Eichel-Kyle Okposo
Scott Wilson-Ryan O'Reilly-Sam Reinhart
Evander Kane-Johan Larsson-Jason Pominville
Jordan Nolan-Evan Rodrigues-Nicolas Baptiste
The result was a 2-1 overtime win for the Sabres on the road in Calgary while attempting one more shot than the Flames (63-62) and matching them shot for shot on goal (33.)
Scattered about the talent within the top-nine for the Calgary game were three players known to be hard on the puck. Girgensons, Wilson and Larsson's skills lie more in their dogged pursuit of the puck than scoring goals (7 goals in 104 games combined) and each of them seemed quite content getting their noses dirty for the skilled players on their respective lines.
Girgensons and Wilson seemed to up the compete-level on their lines which resulted in Wilson scoring a goal that tied the game only :24 seconds after Calgary took a 1-0 lead. He and his linemates went in on a hard forecheck and when the puck squirted out to him in the high slot, Wilson wasted no time sending it home.
As for Girgensons, he was added to a pairing of Eichel and Okposo, two players that have been clicking as of late. With his role clearly defined as creating havoc in the offensive zone and getting the puck to his linemates, it was a situation that worked out well for all of them. From the get-go Eichel and especially Okposo, were getting loads of scoring chances but were continually stymied by a tough goalie in veteran Mike Smith.
Girgensons continued to do the dirty work for his linemates and with only :32 seconds left in the third period and the score tied 1-1, he drew a holding penalty while battling in front of the net. That powerplay carried into overtime where Eichel sent a blistering slapshot shortside to beat Smith a mere only one second after the man-advantage ended.
Props to Housley for that one as he kept his big guns--Eichel, O'Reilly, Okposo and defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen--on the ice for the entire 4-on-3 powerplay in overtime.
The Sabres played a hard, tough game that included plenty of hits and a determined effort to win puck battles and commit to a strong back check.
All would have been for naught, however, had goalie Chad Johnsons not come up with some big saves at crucial moments. Johnson, who's not been very good this season, did his skaters a solid by keeping the score tied until they could win it in overtime. It was only his second win of the season and first one since a 3-1 road win in Anaheim on October 15, a span of 10 starts.
Of course, all the good will that came from last night's team win will prove meaningless unless they can put together another strong effort against another fast team in the Edmonton Oilers.
This will be the second and final regular season meeting between the two clubs. The first one came in Buffalo the day after Thanksgiving with the Sabres in the throes of an 0-5-2 slump. Goalie Robin Lehner lead the charge that night by stopping 29 of 30 Edmonton shots while the Sabres got goals from Jacob Josefson, Eichel and Okposo (empty-net.) In Sabreland, Lehner pulled off the 'Ryan Miller Shutout' by allowing the Oilers only goal with :20 seconds left in the game.
Edmonton's Connor McDavid was held off the scoresheet by Buffalo in the first meeting of the season and finished the game with a minus-2 rating in 22:13 of ice-time. Eichel had the goal and was a plus-2 in 17:10 of ice-time.
Since McDavid and Eichel were taken first and second overall, respectively, in the 2015 NHL Draft, Edmonton and Buffalo have met five times with both McDavid and Eichel missing one game each in the series. The Sabres are 3-1-1 so far against Edmonton in the McEichel-era. McDavid has four points (2+2) in his four games while Eichel has three (2+1) in his four. Edmonton won the first-ever meeting at home 4-2 minus McDavid in 2015 while the Sabres beat the Oilers 6-2 last year in Edmonton minus Eichel.
*****
With Johnson getting the start last night in the first game of a back-to-back, Lehner will probably be in net tonight against Edmonton. Lehner's numbers have been terrible as of late as he's been pulled in three of his last five starts, is 0-4-0, has allowed 19 goals on 114 shots (.833 save percentage) and a 5.50 goals-against average. Although it's not all on him, when he's failed to make a big save at an important time, this team seems to fall apart.
*****
Defenseman Nathan Beaulieu suffered a possible concussion, according to reports, only minutes into last night's game. Beaulieu was clipped by Flames forward Curtis Lazar clipped him behind the Buffalo net. Beaulieu didn't take kindly and dropped the gloves with a very willing Lazar who got a couple quick shots in during the short bout and ended up slamming Beaulieu's head into the ice.
With Beaulieu out tonight and defenseman Josh Gorges suffering an illness, we could see the return of rookie Victor Antipin to the Sabres blueline. Antipin had a long bout with a tough flu that was bookended by healthy scratches that have kept him off the ice since December 19, a span of 13 games.
Buffalo did call up Matt Tennyson from the Rochester Americans today and it's possible that he gets the start over Antipin. Most in Sabreland want to see more of Antipin, especially with the season lost already. Tennyson has played in 14 games for the Sabres this season with zero points and a minus-8 plus/minus rating.
Antipin has played in 24 games with four assists and a minus-3 rating.
*****
Grab yourselves a box of Kleenex when watching this Beyond the Blue and Gold video.
A young hockey-loving Sabres fan named Ethan Georger has had a difficult childhood dealing with a terrible disease that caused him to have two open heart surgeries before he turned seven years old. Through the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Ethan, who loves playing X-box hockey, got the opportunity to play the video game against his favorite player--the Sabres' Jack Eichel.
And from there, we'll let the video, courtesy of the Buffalo Sabres, speak for itself:
For one game it looked as if Buffalo Sabres coach Phil Housley's message got through to his players. After a thoroughly embarrassing 7-1 loss at the hands of the Dallas Stars on Saturday afternoon, Housley was said to have put his players through a hard skate on Sunday while also drastically changing up his lines in an effort to shake his team out of their malaise. A western Canada swing lie ahead for Buffalo with three games in four nights before the All-Star break.
Housley's lines were as follows:
Zemgus Girgensons-Jack Eichel-Kyle Okposo
Scott Wilson-Ryan O'Reilly-Sam Reinhart
Evander Kane-Johan Larsson-Jason Pominville
Jordan Nolan-Evan Rodrigues-Nicolas Baptiste
The result was a 2-1 overtime win for the Sabres on the road in Calgary while attempting one more shot than the Flames (63-62) and matching them shot for shot on goal (33.)
Scattered about the talent within the top-nine for the Calgary game were three players known to be hard on the puck. Girgensons, Wilson and Larsson's skills lie more in their dogged pursuit of the puck than scoring goals (7 goals in 104 games combined) and each of them seemed quite content getting their noses dirty for the skilled players on their respective lines.
Girgensons and Wilson seemed to up the compete-level on their lines which resulted in Wilson scoring a goal that tied the game only :24 seconds after Calgary took a 1-0 lead. He and his linemates went in on a hard forecheck and when the puck squirted out to him in the high slot, Wilson wasted no time sending it home.
As for Girgensons, he was added to a pairing of Eichel and Okposo, two players that have been clicking as of late. With his role clearly defined as creating havoc in the offensive zone and getting the puck to his linemates, it was a situation that worked out well for all of them. From the get-go Eichel and especially Okposo, were getting loads of scoring chances but were continually stymied by a tough goalie in veteran Mike Smith.
Girgensons continued to do the dirty work for his linemates and with only :32 seconds left in the third period and the score tied 1-1, he drew a holding penalty while battling in front of the net. That powerplay carried into overtime where Eichel sent a blistering slapshot shortside to beat Smith a mere only one second after the man-advantage ended.
Props to Housley for that one as he kept his big guns--Eichel, O'Reilly, Okposo and defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen--on the ice for the entire 4-on-3 powerplay in overtime.
The Sabres played a hard, tough game that included plenty of hits and a determined effort to win puck battles and commit to a strong back check.
All would have been for naught, however, had goalie Chad Johnsons not come up with some big saves at crucial moments. Johnson, who's not been very good this season, did his skaters a solid by keeping the score tied until they could win it in overtime. It was only his second win of the season and first one since a 3-1 road win in Anaheim on October 15, a span of 10 starts.
Of course, all the good will that came from last night's team win will prove meaningless unless they can put together another strong effort against another fast team in the Edmonton Oilers.
This will be the second and final regular season meeting between the two clubs. The first one came in Buffalo the day after Thanksgiving with the Sabres in the throes of an 0-5-2 slump. Goalie Robin Lehner lead the charge that night by stopping 29 of 30 Edmonton shots while the Sabres got goals from Jacob Josefson, Eichel and Okposo (empty-net.) In Sabreland, Lehner pulled off the 'Ryan Miller Shutout' by allowing the Oilers only goal with :20 seconds left in the game.
Edmonton's Connor McDavid was held off the scoresheet by Buffalo in the first meeting of the season and finished the game with a minus-2 rating in 22:13 of ice-time. Eichel had the goal and was a plus-2 in 17:10 of ice-time.
Since McDavid and Eichel were taken first and second overall, respectively, in the 2015 NHL Draft, Edmonton and Buffalo have met five times with both McDavid and Eichel missing one game each in the series. The Sabres are 3-1-1 so far against Edmonton in the McEichel-era. McDavid has four points (2+2) in his four games while Eichel has three (2+1) in his four. Edmonton won the first-ever meeting at home 4-2 minus McDavid in 2015 while the Sabres beat the Oilers 6-2 last year in Edmonton minus Eichel.
*****
With Johnson getting the start last night in the first game of a back-to-back, Lehner will probably be in net tonight against Edmonton. Lehner's numbers have been terrible as of late as he's been pulled in three of his last five starts, is 0-4-0, has allowed 19 goals on 114 shots (.833 save percentage) and a 5.50 goals-against average. Although it's not all on him, when he's failed to make a big save at an important time, this team seems to fall apart.
*****
Defenseman Nathan Beaulieu suffered a possible concussion, according to reports, only minutes into last night's game. Beaulieu was clipped by Flames forward Curtis Lazar clipped him behind the Buffalo net. Beaulieu didn't take kindly and dropped the gloves with a very willing Lazar who got a couple quick shots in during the short bout and ended up slamming Beaulieu's head into the ice.
With Beaulieu out tonight and defenseman Josh Gorges suffering an illness, we could see the return of rookie Victor Antipin to the Sabres blueline. Antipin had a long bout with a tough flu that was bookended by healthy scratches that have kept him off the ice since December 19, a span of 13 games.
Buffalo did call up Matt Tennyson from the Rochester Americans today and it's possible that he gets the start over Antipin. Most in Sabreland want to see more of Antipin, especially with the season lost already. Tennyson has played in 14 games for the Sabres this season with zero points and a minus-8 plus/minus rating.
Antipin has played in 24 games with four assists and a minus-3 rating.
*****
Grab yourselves a box of Kleenex when watching this Beyond the Blue and Gold video.
A young hockey-loving Sabres fan named Ethan Georger has had a difficult childhood dealing with a terrible disease that caused him to have two open heart surgeries before he turned seven years old. Through the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Ethan, who loves playing X-box hockey, got the opportunity to play the video game against his favorite player--the Sabres' Jack Eichel.
And from there, we'll let the video, courtesy of the Buffalo Sabres, speak for itself:
Wednesday, January 10, 2018
On Myers, Antipin, Guhle, Lehner and Kane. Winnipeg at Buffalo tonight.
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 1-9-2017
Defenseman Tyler Myers was selected by the Buffalo Sabres 12th-overall in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. And here's a little side story to how that selection came to be.
The Los Angeles Kings had the 12th pick in the draft that year, the Sabres had the 13th. Both were looking for defensemen and the two best-rated defensemen on the board sat there when it came to the Kings at No.12--Colten Teubert and Myers. Buffalo GM Darcy Regier proposed a trade to Kings GM Dean Lombardi as he and his scouting staff wanted Myers.
Lombardi had his choice as well but in order for him to sign off on the trade so the Sabres wouldn't take his guy, he proposed they write the name of the player they wanted on a napkin at the draft table. When they turned the napkins over, Regier wrote Myers, Lombardi wrote Teubert and the deal was done. Buffalo traded their pick, No.13 overall and a 2009 3rd-round pick to Los Angeles to move up a spot and picked Myers.
After the draft, Myers would spend one more season in junior where he helped lead the Kelowna Rockets to the WHL Championship while winning the WHL Finals Most Valuable Player award . On the way to that championship, the Rockets would defeat the Vancouver Giants in the conference finals who were lead by Evander Kane. The two would eventually be the two primary pieces of a blockbuster deal between Myers' Sabres and Kane's Winnipeg Jets on February 11, 2015.
The blockbuster trade between the Sabres and the Jets for Myers, who won the 2010 Calder Trophy as Rookie of the Year, and Kane also involved Buffalo's Drew Stafford, forward prospect Joel Armia (2011, 16th) and Brendan Lemieux (2014, 31st) plus a conditional first round pick (via the St. Louis Blues in the Ryan Miller trade) that turned into Jack Roslovic (2015, 25th.) The Jets sent defenseman Zach Bogosian and goalie prospect Jason Kasdorf to the Sabres.
Kane and Bogosian, Stafford (who's now with the New Jersey Devils) and Armia have already played their former clubs while Myers and Lemieux have not. But that will change for Myers tonight. After missing the first two meetings at Buffalo because of injury, he'll be in the lineup tonight for the first time since that trade went down nearly three years ago.
Meyers won the 2010 Calder Trophy as the NHL's Rookie of the year. He played 365 games for the Sabres scoring 45 goals and adding 106 assist for 151 points.
Teubert was traded by the Kings to the Edmonton Oilers in 2011 and played 24 games for them registering one assist. He played one more season in North America with Edmonton's Oklahoma City Barons AHL affiliate before heading overseas.
A little side note on that 2008 draft. While the Sabres and Kings were making a deal and taking their d-men, two picks later, the Ottawa Senators selected two-time Norris Trophy-winning defenseman Erik Karlsson with the 15th-overall selection.
*****
Speaking of defensemen, Buffalo rookie rear-guard Victor Antipin was on the ice for the pregame skate after missing over a week because of a tough bout with the flu. Sabres head coach Phil Housley said yesterday that Antipin had lost a lot of wait and that it would take time for him to regain his strength.
"Sometimes it hits different people different ways, and it seemed to hit him pretty hard," Housley told the gathered media yesterday. "He's just got to work his way back in. He lost a lot of weight. He was ill, and those things don't happen overnight. He's going to take some time to gain some muscle and some strength back."
*****
Antipin's illness created an opening for rookie defenseman Brendan Guhle who, according to Housley, has been playing some "terrific hockey" for the Rochester Americans this season. The 19 yr. old Guhle, who was selected in the second round (51st) at the 2015 NHL Draft has 20 points (7+13) for the Amerks and leads the team in shot with 91.
When asked about Guhle and his shots, something the Sabres have been lacking from their blueliners this season, Housley lit up and smiled. "I think he's just earned his way up," before mentioning Guhle's mobility as well as "his stick detail" on defense.
There have been plenty of opportunities to call Guhle up, but the Sabres opted for other d-men instead allowing him to develop. Housley called this a good opportunity "to see what he brings to practice," but by the looks of it, Guhle will be making his first Sabres appearance of the season tonight.
*****
Robin Lehner took a shot to the neck in Philadelphia. He crumbled to the ice, lay their briefly then got up, shook it off and finished the game. The team listed him as day-to-day and summoned goalie Linus Ullmark to come up so that Lehner could have a maintenance day.
According to reports from the rink this morning, Lehner was on the ice and will probably be in net tonight.
As for Ullmark, he got a good taste of practice with the club and may get sent to Rochester for their game tomorrow night in Bellville against the Senators (OTT.)
*****
Trade rumors have been surrounding Kane for years now. At first it was to move him because of off-ice troubles but now it's due to his impending free agency and status as possibly the top rental player available this season.
Kane has said before that he understands this is a business and ironically is having a career year in Buffalo. After 42 games he's second on the team in scoring, one point behind Jack Eichel. His hot start had him atop the Sabres leaderboard for most of the season, but things have cooled for him lately. He broke a seven-game scoring slump two days ago with a late goal against Minnesota, but he also said that he's been getting the opportunities.
"I think in my last few games I've had some Grade A scoring opportunities," said Kane via John Vogl of The Buffalo News. "I just haven't finished. That unfortunately happens throughout the course of a season but you try and rectify that as soon as possible."
No better time than tonight against his former team. Winnipeg has been on a roll lately with only one regulation loss in their last 10 games (7-2-1) which includes a 4-3 victory over the Sabres four days ago in Winnipeg. Vogl also points out that when the Jets play the same team within a week, they're a perfect 6-0 so far with a 28-5 scoring edge.
Tonight's projected lineup for Buffalo:
Girgensons-Eichel-Okposo
Kane-O'Reilly-Pominville
Wilson-Rodrigues-Reinhart
Larson-Josefson-Nolan
Scandella-Ristolainen
Beaulieu-Bogosian
Guhle-McCabe
Benoit Pouliot is the healthy scratch up front or the second time in three games while Josh Gorges and Justin Falk watch Guhle's season debut from the pressbox.
Defenseman Tyler Myers was selected by the Buffalo Sabres 12th-overall in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. And here's a little side story to how that selection came to be.
The Los Angeles Kings had the 12th pick in the draft that year, the Sabres had the 13th. Both were looking for defensemen and the two best-rated defensemen on the board sat there when it came to the Kings at No.12--Colten Teubert and Myers. Buffalo GM Darcy Regier proposed a trade to Kings GM Dean Lombardi as he and his scouting staff wanted Myers.
Lombardi had his choice as well but in order for him to sign off on the trade so the Sabres wouldn't take his guy, he proposed they write the name of the player they wanted on a napkin at the draft table. When they turned the napkins over, Regier wrote Myers, Lombardi wrote Teubert and the deal was done. Buffalo traded their pick, No.13 overall and a 2009 3rd-round pick to Los Angeles to move up a spot and picked Myers.
After the draft, Myers would spend one more season in junior where he helped lead the Kelowna Rockets to the WHL Championship while winning the WHL Finals Most Valuable Player award . On the way to that championship, the Rockets would defeat the Vancouver Giants in the conference finals who were lead by Evander Kane. The two would eventually be the two primary pieces of a blockbuster deal between Myers' Sabres and Kane's Winnipeg Jets on February 11, 2015.
The blockbuster trade between the Sabres and the Jets for Myers, who won the 2010 Calder Trophy as Rookie of the Year, and Kane also involved Buffalo's Drew Stafford, forward prospect Joel Armia (2011, 16th) and Brendan Lemieux (2014, 31st) plus a conditional first round pick (via the St. Louis Blues in the Ryan Miller trade) that turned into Jack Roslovic (2015, 25th.) The Jets sent defenseman Zach Bogosian and goalie prospect Jason Kasdorf to the Sabres.
Kane and Bogosian, Stafford (who's now with the New Jersey Devils) and Armia have already played their former clubs while Myers and Lemieux have not. But that will change for Myers tonight. After missing the first two meetings at Buffalo because of injury, he'll be in the lineup tonight for the first time since that trade went down nearly three years ago.
Meyers won the 2010 Calder Trophy as the NHL's Rookie of the year. He played 365 games for the Sabres scoring 45 goals and adding 106 assist for 151 points.
Teubert was traded by the Kings to the Edmonton Oilers in 2011 and played 24 games for them registering one assist. He played one more season in North America with Edmonton's Oklahoma City Barons AHL affiliate before heading overseas.
A little side note on that 2008 draft. While the Sabres and Kings were making a deal and taking their d-men, two picks later, the Ottawa Senators selected two-time Norris Trophy-winning defenseman Erik Karlsson with the 15th-overall selection.
*****
Speaking of defensemen, Buffalo rookie rear-guard Victor Antipin was on the ice for the pregame skate after missing over a week because of a tough bout with the flu. Sabres head coach Phil Housley said yesterday that Antipin had lost a lot of wait and that it would take time for him to regain his strength.
"Sometimes it hits different people different ways, and it seemed to hit him pretty hard," Housley told the gathered media yesterday. "He's just got to work his way back in. He lost a lot of weight. He was ill, and those things don't happen overnight. He's going to take some time to gain some muscle and some strength back."
*****
Antipin's illness created an opening for rookie defenseman Brendan Guhle who, according to Housley, has been playing some "terrific hockey" for the Rochester Americans this season. The 19 yr. old Guhle, who was selected in the second round (51st) at the 2015 NHL Draft has 20 points (7+13) for the Amerks and leads the team in shot with 91.
When asked about Guhle and his shots, something the Sabres have been lacking from their blueliners this season, Housley lit up and smiled. "I think he's just earned his way up," before mentioning Guhle's mobility as well as "his stick detail" on defense.
There have been plenty of opportunities to call Guhle up, but the Sabres opted for other d-men instead allowing him to develop. Housley called this a good opportunity "to see what he brings to practice," but by the looks of it, Guhle will be making his first Sabres appearance of the season tonight.
*****
Robin Lehner took a shot to the neck in Philadelphia. He crumbled to the ice, lay their briefly then got up, shook it off and finished the game. The team listed him as day-to-day and summoned goalie Linus Ullmark to come up so that Lehner could have a maintenance day.
According to reports from the rink this morning, Lehner was on the ice and will probably be in net tonight.
As for Ullmark, he got a good taste of practice with the club and may get sent to Rochester for their game tomorrow night in Bellville against the Senators (OTT.)
*****
Trade rumors have been surrounding Kane for years now. At first it was to move him because of off-ice troubles but now it's due to his impending free agency and status as possibly the top rental player available this season.
Kane has said before that he understands this is a business and ironically is having a career year in Buffalo. After 42 games he's second on the team in scoring, one point behind Jack Eichel. His hot start had him atop the Sabres leaderboard for most of the season, but things have cooled for him lately. He broke a seven-game scoring slump two days ago with a late goal against Minnesota, but he also said that he's been getting the opportunities.
"I think in my last few games I've had some Grade A scoring opportunities," said Kane via John Vogl of The Buffalo News. "I just haven't finished. That unfortunately happens throughout the course of a season but you try and rectify that as soon as possible."
No better time than tonight against his former team. Winnipeg has been on a roll lately with only one regulation loss in their last 10 games (7-2-1) which includes a 4-3 victory over the Sabres four days ago in Winnipeg. Vogl also points out that when the Jets play the same team within a week, they're a perfect 6-0 so far with a 28-5 scoring edge.
Tonight's projected lineup for Buffalo:
Girgensons-Eichel-Okposo
Kane-O'Reilly-Pominville
Wilson-Rodrigues-Reinhart
Larson-Josefson-Nolan
Scandella-Ristolainen
Beaulieu-Bogosian
Guhle-McCabe
Benoit Pouliot is the healthy scratch up front or the second time in three games while Josh Gorges and Justin Falk watch Guhle's season debut from the pressbox.
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