Sabres/Bills team president Kim Pegula, "I'm still learning." Sabres still sinking.

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 3-27-2019

While Buffalo Sabres and Bills owners Terry and Kim Pegula were in Arizona at the NFL owners meetings yesterday evening, their hockey team was busy getting embarrassed and shut out by the Ottawa Senators, the worst team in the NHL. Although Kim's thought-process while facing the Buffalo media in Arizona may have centered around being team president of the Bills, she's also team president of the Sabres.

Regardless of which professional team her thoughts were ultimately emanating from, Kim Pegula, who had no team president experience when she took over the mantle of both professional clubs, admitted to learning on the job. Which is great for her. But while she's busy "learning" about being a team president, her hockey team is busy cementing their place in the annals of NHL ignominy for having one of the worst falls in league history--from first-overall to bottom-five in a span of 51 games.

"It takes a while to just understand the organization and people behind it and how we want things to be done, how we want things to be structured," she told the Buffalo media. "I've been talking to a lot of other clubs around the league, 'how are you doing things?' And so for me it was part of the learning process….and it's just part of the whole progression of how we want things to be and how we want to make our own mark."

Two streaks down, one still going. Plus, Ryan O'Reilly's return to Buffalo

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 3-17-2019


In one fell swoop, Jeff Skinner's goal just over two minutes into the first period at Carolina last night ended his personal goal-drought of 13 games and simultaneously ended Buffalo's three-game goal-drought. The Sabres hadn't lit the lamp since the 7:20 mark of the third period in Chicago on March 7 and were shutout three consecutive games--a total of 199 minutes 58 seconds--before Skinner's goal against his former Hurricanes team.

It was the second consecutive season that Buffalo was shut out three games in a row and as Mike Harrington of the Buffalo news pointed out, the Sabres were the first team since 1929 to have that dubious distinction. How that sits with ownership is yet to be determined but they can't be very happy with that in terms of head coach Phil Housley.

The Sabres are pretty easy to chart these days as most games go like this:

--come out with some energy and put shots on net, sometimes they, score other times they don't
--get on their heels as the opposition amps up the pressure
--fall behind
--ramp up the energy, put some shots on net, sometimes they, score other times they don't
--fall behind enough to where the opposition begins locking things down
--a late third-period push has them bringing intense pressure, sometimes they score, other times they don't
--lose

Although the streak is lost, the Sabres may have gained a rival

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 11-30-2018



Had you been at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida last night without any indication the time of year it was, the atmosphere and the game played between the Lightning and the Buffalo Sabres might have told you it was April or May and that the two teams on the ice were battling in the playoffs. The streaking Sabres began a three-game Southern road-trip sitting atop the entire NHL with a 10-game winning streak in tow and the opportunity to set the franchise mark with a win in Tampa. The Lightning, who've been one of the best teams the Eastern conference for three of the last four seasons had turf to defend against the upstart Sabres and were looking to reclaim their spot at the top.

What ensued was a great battle in a playoff-like atmosphere between two teams vying for supremacy not only in the conference, but in the entire league.

The Sabres came into the game as the top team in the NHL and the first team ever to have finished in last place the prior season and be atop of the league after 25 games. The 10-game win streak they were on served notice that they were saying goodbye to doormat-status and they were out to prove further that they belonged in the same class as the heavyweights of the league. Buffalo went toe-to-toe with Tampa but came out on the losing end of a 5-4 score and dropped to third in the Atlantic division, one point behind the Lightning.

Skinner w/the OT winner as (now) NHL-leading Sabres win-streak hits 10

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 11-28-2018


Just how much fun are the Buffalo Sabres having right now? Maybe this goal by defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen is a good indication.





And just how into it are the fans? Listen to the roar as Buffalo's Jeff Skinner scores the game-winner in overtime of the 3-2 win over the San Jose Sharks.





Ten games, 10 wins, three in regulation, four in overtime, three in the shootout and a Buffalo Sabres team that once again sits atop the NHL standings.

KeyBank should be rockin' as Sabres reach for a piece of franchise history

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 11-27-2018



Buffalo Sabres head coach Phil Housley has said that he and his team aren't thinking about the winning streak, preferring to focus their energies on the task at hand. It's a pretty good philosophy as you only play one game at a time and looking ahead will only get you in trouble. But while he and his Sabres are focused upon tonight's matchup against the San Jose Sharks, for those who still may not have heard, Buffalo is on a nine-game winning streak with the opportunity tonight to match two Sabres teams for the longest winning streak in franchise history.

With some of the talent that's run through Buffalo since they came into the league beginning with the 1970-71 season, it's a bit of a surprise to think that the Sabres have had a double-digit win-streak only twice in their 48 yr. history. The first time was 1983-84 when a 19 yr. old Housley was in his the sophomore season of his Hockey Hall of Fame career. It was the year the Edmonton Oilers finally dethroned the NY Islanders and their four consecutive Stanley Cups before they went on their own run winning four of the next five Cups. Speed and skill was the name of the game and the Sabres were in transition being led by 33 yr. old veteran, and Hockey Hall of Famer, Gilbert Perreault and his 90 points (31+59,) followed by 20 year old Dave Andreychuk (38 goals, 80 points) who was also in his sophomore season and would eventually join Perreault and Housley in the Hall of Fame.

Housley was third on that team in scoring that year with 77 points (31+46.)

It's not a dream, 9-game winning streak propels Sabres to top spot in NHL

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 11-25-2018


There's a nice symmetry to the Buffalo Sabres nine-game winning streak as they've won three in regulation, three in overtime and three in the shootout. In addition to that, nine different Buffalo players have scored the game-winning/game-deciding goal during the streak.

Last night in Detroit it was Sam Reinhart's turn. But it almost never happened as his giveaway in the neutral zone with only :17 seconds left led to a golden opportunity for the Red Wings that was snuffed out by the quick glove-hand of Sabres goalie Linus Ullmark. After the whistle one could see Reinhart in a gesture of thanks then saying some words that might have included, "I owe you one."

Seven rounds into the shootout both goalies had allowed one goal each and Reinhart skated to center ice with a chance to win it. He roofed a nifty backhand from in tight past Detroit Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard for the 3-2 shootout win and the call from Sabres play-by-play man Dan Dunleavy said it all, "Say hello to your first place Buffalo Sabres."

Prior to this winning streak Buffalo sat fifth in the Atlantic division with a 7-6-2 record good for 16 points and had just come off of a 3-1 loss in New York where they were stonewalled by Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist. All-in-all their place in the standings at the time wasn't bad considering where they came from the prior year and the difficulties they had coming out of the gate this year.

Plenty of anticipation at KeyBank Center tonight as the Sabres host Philly

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 11-21-2018


When was the last time there was this much excitement for a Buffalo Sabres home game outside of opening night? It's been a while and even the excitement of hockey season may have been based more upon potential than actualities. Especially in Buffalo these last seven seasons.

It's been said time and time again that in the NHL you pretty much know what kind of team you have by Thanksgiving and when the Sabres hit the KeyBank Center ice tonight to take on the Philadelphia Flyers, the team that Sabreland will be cheering for sits fourth in the Eastern conference with a 13-6-2 record and is riding a six-game winning streak.

That's the record. But, what kind of team is Buffalo?

A resilient one, we know that much. During this streak, their longest since 2010, the Sabres have overcome third period deficits in five of those six games and four of those wins have come in overtime or the shootout. They've erased a two-goal deficit with less than three minutes to play in one game and overcame a three-goal hole against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday night.

They're also a team that's been getting solid goaltending. The overall goalies stats won't invoke visions of Dominik Hasek, but what Carter Hutton (and Linus Ullmark for a game) has been able to do is keep his team in the game (sometimes with Hasek-like incredible saves) while the skaters in front of him found their legs. Very few of the 16 goals allowed during this streak have been due to goaltender miscues as there have been breakdowns and mistakes up and down the lineup.

Ooh, aah, Sabres on the warpath!

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 11-20-2018


Six games. Six one-goal wins. Two in overtime, two in the shootout.

Just who are these guys?

That's what Saberland is waking up to this morning after another thriller, this one in a 5-4 overtime win in Pittsburgh.

There should be nothing but respect for a Pittsburgh Penguins organization that has won three of the last 10 Stanley Cups and even though they're in a very unusual position at the bottom of the Eastern conference, and played last night's game against the Sabres without superstar Sidney Crosby, they still have firepower and have the heart of champions.

Such was on display last night through the first 25 minutes as Pittsburgh staked their claim to a 4-1 lead over Buffalo with equal parts desperation, ferocity, skating and skill. It was something the Sabres have seen often, especially when playing in Pittsburgh, however, what we haven't seen from Buffalo is the intestinal fortitude to come back from a blitzkrieg like that.

But we're seeing it now.

Three goals down? No problem. Defenseman Zach Bogosian makes it 4-2 mid-way through the second period and with less than two minutes to go in the frame and another defenseman, Casey Nelson, cuts the lead to one goal with his first of the season. Just past the midway point of the third period Casey Mittelstadt wired a wicked wrister top-shelf to tie the score at 4-4. This one's worth another look (via NHL.com):

Then, in overtime, it was time for Captain Jack (via NHL.com):

It was the fifth time during this six-game winning streak that the Sabres overcame a third period deficit to win the game.

For as much as Sabres head coach Phil Housley wants his team to come out of the gate faster, it hasn't happened. Actually, what he's gotten has been just the opposite as Buffalo goalies look like ducks in a shooting gallery through the first two periods. During this six-game stretch Buffalo's opponents have outshot them 85-57 in the first period with four of those teams registering 15 shots or more. Somehow Buffalo has managed to come out even over those six games as both they and their opponents have scored seven goals apiece.

There's a similar shot deficit in the second period (77-54) and their goal differential is worse as they've been outscored 8-4 over that span.

However what is happening, much to the delight of the team and it's fans, is that the Sabres are owning the third period. During this six-game win-streak Buffalo has outshot their opponents by a collective 71-46 margin in the final stanza and have outscored them 7-1. The Sabres haven't given up a third period goal in the last four games and to stretch it a bit further, Buffalo hasn't allowed a goal past the 7:10-mark of the second period in those four games.

Sabres goalie Carter Hutton faced a 40-shot onslaught last night with 31 of them coming in the first two periods. Like he's done throughout this streak, Hutton single-handedly kept Buffalo in the game last night despite giving up four goals. Over his four starts and a third period relief appearance at Montreal, Hutton has faced a total of 140 shots through 17 periods of play and has allowed nine goals for a rather remarkable .936 save-percentage.

Hutton, and to an extent backup Linus Ullmark, have kept the Sabres in games they had no business being in and they've also allowed Buffalo's skaters to make their mistakes while getting into the flow of the game. Both Hutton and Ullmark (who allowed two goals on 29 shots in a win at Minnesota) were rewarded with some remarkable clutch play and goal-scoring by the team in front of them.

It's something we haven't seen in Buffalo since Chris Drury and Daniel Briere co-captained the "Ferrari Sabres" back 2006-07 when they fearlessly pushed the puck up ice while goalie Ryan Miller held the fort stopping odd-man rushes on a nightly basis. That season just happens to be the last time the Sabres had a winning streak over six games. The eventual President's Trophy winning Sabres started out that season with 10-game winning streak which matched a franchise high and also tied an NHL record for most wins in a row to start the season.

Buffalo takes on the Philadelphia Flyers tomorrow night at KeyBank Center but until then enjoy some of the sights and sounds from that 2006-07 season mikeak21 on YouTube:

Sabres continue tough stretch in Pittsburgh tonight

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 11-19-2018


The last time the Buffalo Sabres had a six-game winning streak was the 2009-10 season when they finished December with two wins and opened up 2010 by winning four in a row beginning with a come-from-behind win over the Atlanta Thrashers on New Years Day. For a flashback, take in the highlights below via NHL.com.

Buffalo won the division that season, had a Vezina-winner in goalie Ryan Miller and a Calder-winner Tyler Myers on defense but they couldn't get by the Boston Bruins in the first round of the playoffs. Half-way through the following season Terry Pegula finalized a deal to buy the team and it sparked a late-season surge to a wild-card playoff spot. They were eliminated by the Philadelphia Flyers in seven games.

From there it was all downhill.

While the Sabres were in decline, Jason Botterill was in Pittsburgh helping build a Penguins team that revolved around two highly paid superstars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Pittsburgh had broken a long playoff drought in 2009 but were struggling to regain their Stanley Cup Finals form and Botterill was instrumental in their back-to-back Cup wins in 2016 and 2017.

The Sabres and Penguins are intertwined beginning with owner Terry Pegula's strong ties to Pittsburgh. When he bought the team in 2011 names like Ted Black and Ken Sawyer, who were a part of the Penguins front office prior to the drafting of Crosby first-overall in 2005, represented a big part of his inner circle for a number of years. And Botterill had played in the Sabres organization before starting his front office career in Pittsburgh. Pegula had hired him in May, 2017 and in a show of respect for just how much he meant to the Penguins, Botterill was invited on the ice as Pittsburgh celebrated their second consecutive Stanley Cup while being the Sabres GM.

Pegula and the Sabres, lead by Black, also adopted the Penguins preferred choice for rebuilding their franchise which centered around securing consecutive high draft picks via losing seasons, otherwise known as tanking. And perhaps it was even a game against the Penguins that moved Pegula to go all-in on that philosophy.

After the Flyers playoff loss, Pegula entered his first full season as owner by ripping off the financial chains that the Sabres were under. He and then GM Darcy Regier went on a spending spree trying to lure and/or secure talent for their club. Armed with a playoff team bolstered by his off season acquisitions, Pegula sat in the Consol Energy Center owner's box for his first appearance in Pittsburgh as the Sabres owner. His team embarrassed him in an 8-3 loss and he sarcastically stated post-game, "that was some goaltending, huh?"

It was the first game of a franchise-record 12-game losing streak on the road for the Sabres, one of a few marks Pegula's Sabres would set for futility over the course of the next seven seasons.

The tank was on and it began with the trade of "Rochester Guy," Paul Gaustad at the 2012 trade deadline. In the following years one-by-one "La Core" would be dismantled--Derek Roy, Jason Pominville, Thomas Vanek and Miller would all be scattered in the wind while Regier and Black were preparing the fan base for "suffering."

It's been over six years since the process began and it finally looks as if Buffalo's tank/rebuild is beginning to take hold.

The Sabres are playing their best hockey in years and although it's not elite-level hockey, they've managed a five-game winning streak despite being outplayed for large stretches. Tonight they head to PPG Arena in Pittsburgh to take on a Penguins team that's reeling. The Pens are in the very unusual spot of dead last in the Eastern conference with a 7-8-3 record and they'll most likely be without Crosby, who's out with an upper-body injury.

It's a very winnable game for Buffalo but nothing should be taken for granted as the Sabres are just 1-7-2 in their last 10 games against the Pens, 2-6-2 on the road plus their in a stretch where they'll have played six games in 12 nights, four of them on the road.

And it doesn't get any easier as after tonight, Buffalo will play three games in four nights beginning on Wednesday with a home game vs. the Flyers.

It's been a long time since there's been this much positivity running through Sabreland. Like, eight years or so:

A look back at the 2017-18 Buffalo Sabres season--April

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 8-19-2018


The Buffalo Sabres finished off the month of March with an impressive 7-4 win over the Nashville Predators but perhaps they thought the season was over. As the calendar turned to April only four games remained in a season that had started bad and never got much better and they ended the season on a four-game losing streak.

By game 79 the Sabres were at the bottom of the league three points behind the Ottawa Senators and the only question remained was, who would finish last. After opening the month with a 5-2 loss at Toronto, Buffalo headed home to face the Senators in a battle for the basement. The Sabres proceeded to lose that one 4-2 and their fate was sealed. For the third time in five seasons the Buffalo Sabres would finish in last place although this one, unlike the other two, wasn't choreographed.

General Manager Jason Botterill wasn't all that happy with the results either. Throughout the season there were signs of frustration and at a Saturday matinee in February against the Los Angeles Kings he took those frustrations out on a taco bar at KeyBank Center. He was seething at the end of season presser as the mess he had on his hands was much worse than he'd anticipated.

The biggest thing for him was trying to change a losing culture. One of the leaders of his Sabres last year was center Ryan O'Reilly who confessed at locker cleanout day that he "lost his love for the game multiple times" during the season and that he felt the team was "stuck in this mindset of being OK with losing."

At his end of season presser Botterill just laid it out to the gathered media. "Right now we have a losing culture," he said. "We haven't won here and it's up to [head coach] Phil [Housley] and I to change that."

One of the biggest problems with perpetual losing is the development of younger player and Botterill used Casey Mittelstadt as an example. The 19 yr. old first round pick (2017, eighth-overall) had just signed with the Sabres out of the University of Minnesota and acquitted himself quite well in the six games he played for Buffalo. Mittelstadt scored his first NHL goal and added four assists but it was the culture around him that concerned Botterill.

"Everyone talks about NHL experience, how valuable NHL experience is," he said at the presser. "But it goes both ways. It was great that Casey Mittelstadt got his first National Hockey League goal. That's a positive experience. But, off the top of my head, I think he lost five out of six games since he was up here. There are things about NHL experience that he has to change and make sure that he doesn't fall into that trap."

That trap was an unforeseen season that somewhat rivaled the tank years. Some numbers:

NHL finish/points (League-leader/points)

--2017-18: 31st/62...(NSH/117)
--2014-15: 30th/54...(NYR/113)
--2013-14: 30th/52...(BOS/117)

Goals for

--2017-18: 2.41 (31st)...(TBL, 3.54)
--2014-15: 1.87 (30th)...(TBL, 3.16)
--2013-14: 1.83 (30th)...(ANA, 3.21)

Goals-against

--2017-18: 3.39 (29th)...(LAK, 2.46)
--2014-15: 3.28 (29th)...(MTL, 2.24)
--2013-14: 2.96 (25th)...(LAK, 2.05)


Goal Differential

--2017-18: -81 (31st)...(TBL, +60)
--2014-15 -113 (30th)...(NYR, +60)
--2013-14: -91 (30th)...(BOS, +84)


Yes, it was ugly, but as we saw with Mittelstadt and the series of events that lead him to signing in Buffalo, there was light at the end of the tunnel. That light got a lot brighter on April 28, 2018.

 

Although Botterill never came out and said who he was going to pick with the No. 1 selection of the 2018 NHL Draft, there was no doubt that Swedish defenseman Rasmus Dahlin would be the choice.

At the end of the day, an incredibly dreadful season produced the best odds to win the lottery and after missing out on the first overall selection two times prior the Sabres got to the top. Botterill left the season with a sour taste in his mouth but by the end of the month had a lot to look forward to as his young core was getting stronger with Mittelstadt and Dahlin joining second-overall picks Jack Eichel (2015) and Sam Reinhart (2014) plus defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen (2013, eighth) as the future of the team.

Sabres will need to be sharp to land an NHL-caliber goalie propect

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 6-20-2018


The Buffalo Sabres have the No. 1 overall pick in this year's NHL Entry Draft and they have the top pick No. 32, which starts the second round. It's with almost 100% certainty that they'll select defenseman Rasmus Dahlin with the top pick and you could say that it's with nearly a 100% certainty that they'll take a skater with their second pick.

Barring any changes Buffalo will be waiting until pick No. 94 at the top of the fourth round to make their selection. The Sabres traded away their third round pick (No. 63) this year to the Minnesota Wild in a trade that also sent Marcus Foligno and Tyler Ennis to the Wild for Marco Scandella and Jason Pominville. Buffalo also received Minnesota's fourth-rounder this year (No. 117) as a part of the deal.

Being so high in the draft while not having a third-rounder means the Buffalo does not have a pick in a prime area to take one of the better goalies in the draft.

Thoughts on where to draft goaltenders has changed throughout the years. Rick DiPietro was the No. 1 pick in the 2000 NHL Draft and the only other goalie picked first was Marc-Andre Fleury (2002.) Kari Lehtonen was taken second-ovearll in 2001 and Carey Price  fifth-overall in 2005. There were four goalies taken in the first round in 2006 and after that the most selected in the first round was two which happened three times (2008, 2010, 2012.)

Jack Campbell was selected 11th overall in 2010 and represents the highest slot amongst goalies taken since 2006 when Jonathan Bernier was also selected at No. 11. From 2007-17 there have been only eight goalies taken in the first round and in the last five years it's happened only twice.

With the game changing more towards speed and offense, teams are focusing on the skaters much more in the first round while waiting until the second or third rounds to snag a goalie prospect. There have been 71 goalies taken in the second and third rounds since 2007 with the highest total being nine in 2012. The next highest number was eight in 2016 and on five other occasions, seven goalies were taken in those rounds.

The Sabres philosophy on where to draft goalies has also changed. The success of Ryan Miller, who was drafted fifth-overall (138) in 1999 gave GM Darcy Regier a reason to wait until the latter rounds to pick a goalie. Only Jonas Enroth (2006, 46th) was selected with a pick higher than the fourth round. Enroth played in 152 NHL games. Regier drafted six other goalies before he was fired in 2013 with the highest being Ghyslain Rousseau in the fourth round (2000, 111th) and of that group, only Linus Ullmark (2012, 163rd) has hit double digits in NHL games played.

Of note, the Sabres also drafted Cal Petersen in the fifth round (129th) of the 2013 draft but he signed with the LA Kings.

Tim Murray actually broke the trend of drafting goalies late in the draft for Buffalo when he selected Jonas Johansson with the 61st pick in the 2014 draft. He would not select another goalie in the following two drafts and was fired in 2017.

After taking over the reigns as GM last season, Jason Botterill selected Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (whom the team just signed to an entry-level deal) with the 54th pick. He was the second goalie off the board and was one of seven total selected in the second and third rounds.

Right now, the Sabres prospect pool in net consists of Ullmark, who will be with the Sabres in a not yet fully defined role, Johansson who will be in Rochester in a not yet fully defined role and Luukkonen, who's expected to spend at least one year (probably two) in his native Finland playing at the pro-level there. There's nobody from the system to man the net in Cincinnati this year and no one between the 22 yr. old Johansson and the 19 yr. old Luukkonen.

The Sabres will once again be looking for outside help in net and for the foreseeable future will need to ride with a very thin prospect pool. Having them without a pick in a prime area at the draft to land a goalie prospect will extend that thin pool out another year.

Regardless of that fact, neither Buffalo nor any other team, has their goalie positions at all three levels filled by homegrown picks. Botterill will once again be in the market for an AHL goalie and will need to find two for the ECHL. And by the looks of it, he'll probably be looking to fill an open spot in Buffalo should they move on from Robin Lehner.

If the Sabres draft a goaltender and they hope that he at the very least fills the pipeline at the minor league level, they'll need to be pretty sharp. On average, seven goalies have been taken prior to round four over the last 11 years.

Kris Baker of the Athletic Buffalo, called this crop of goalies "average at best" in his draft preview. Baker has been following the draft and Sabres prospects for over a decade through his site sabresprospects.com for over a decade and was tapped by the Athletic to do the same for them.

Baker might be reaching a bit when he lists Czech goaltending prospect Jakub Skarek as a possibility for Buffalo at pick 94 this year. Skarek, who's ranked highly at a number of sites, has the size at 6'3" 192 lbs. that fits the way the NHL is trending and, according to Baker, "checks a lot of boxes for a solid goaltending prospect."

Skarek "[has the] ability to cover a lot of net when dropping to make a butterfly save," continued Baker, "[has] high goalie IQ that allows him to read and anticipate, and extremely sharp reflexes."

After that Baker sees Djurgarden IF goalie Olof Lindbom as a possibility with Buffalo's second fourth-rounder at No. 117. Lindbom also has size (6'2" 185 lbs.) and has a strong lower body that allows him to use "powerful pushes with both legs that get him post-to-post with ease."

It should be noted that the goalie rankings are pretty much all over the place this year outside of a couple of names leading the pack. QMJHL products Oliver Rodrigue and Kevin Mandolese are ranked as the top two goalies by International Scouting Services while NHL's Central Scouting has both of them atop their rankings of North American Goalies. (CSS has Skarek ranked No. 2 amongst European goalies.)

Ryan Jankowski was hired by Botterill last July to head the amateur scouting department and he'll have his work cut out for him past pick-32. The goalies in that sweet spot of the second and third rounds will be gone (barring a trade) and he'll be left with a lower graded pool of "average at best" goalie prospects to choose from.

On the flip side, however, of all the positions in the crap shoot that is the NHL Draft, goaltender is the toughest one to try and figure out. First and foremost goalies are a rare breed spending nearly all of their time alone in net with their thoughts and second, they have the longest incubation period. A lot can happen between a goalie being drafted at 18 and being ready for regular pro duty in their early 20's.

The certainty with which the Sabres will draft Dahlin at the top of the draft is the complete opposite of drafting a goalie, especially in the latter rounds. Jankowski and company will need to be pretty sharp to nail the latter.

Sabres back at it today for another Kid's Day (uggh).

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 2-19-2018


The Buffalo Sabres are paying four players not to play hockey for them anymore and by the looks of their last game, are paying some of their roster players to skate in the Blue and Gold but not really play for them either.

One player seems to be saving himself for an expected new team via trade and another one's apathy may be construed as pouting. The Sabres may have leader who's probably banged up, but still only seems to lead on occasion, a scorer that isn't scoring (and has the worst plus/minus on the team,) an agitator who's playing like he's been neutered, and a large group of players that fluctuate between playing up to their potential and falling prey to the crap show their caught up in. At times this group puts it all together and shines like in a couple of recent games against top teams. More often than not for this collection of Sabres players, the individual inconsistencies are too many and too broad to come out with a victory on many nights and certainly not in the afternoon where Buffalo is 0-5-1 in day games. At their worst they form a black hole on the ice that sucks in the entire soul of the franchise into it leaving the Knox Brothers looking down and asking themselves, "What the hell has happened to our beloved Sabres?"

I get the inconsistencies of a long season with at team short on talent and a rookie coach that doesn't seem to be NHL-ready quite yet. I get that the GM wanted to take a good, long look at the players and the team during an evaluation period as he plots his course for the future. And I can even get on board with players having off games and/or just not having it in them on certain nights, after all it's an 82-game season spanning over six months and the NHL grind can be brutal.

But what we saw on display Saturday afternoon is unacceptable. It was a piss-poor performance on any normal game day much less during a promotion called Kid's Day, where the future fans of the Blue and Gold come together to watch their hometown heroes. What those in attendance on Saturday witnessed was the Sabres going through the motions for 40 minutes against the Los Angeles Kings, what they heard was a reported "loud thud" coming from where GM Jason Botterill sits during games and they responded with a chorus of boos as the Sabres left the ice down 4-0 after the second period.

It was the fourth such Kid's Day promotion and the third clunker this group delivered. Buffalo is 0-4-0 during those games and have been outscored by a combined 20-7. In four losses during Kid's Day (out of 42 total losses when you add in OT/SO,) that minus-13 makes up nearly 25% of their league-worst minus-54 goal differential.

This is how you cultivate the future fan base?

Nothing has come out Pegula Sports and Entertainment as of late, but it's safe to say that the owners Terry and Kim Pegula, as well as team president Russ Brandon aren't too thrilled with what's transpired with this team this year, especially on Kid's Day. Then again, the Pegulas are no angels either as they're plan of diving to the bottom for a top pick has gone awry. Regardless of whether you're for it or against it, the tank did happen and Sabreland is left to deal with the after affects.

If you're into karma, this drudgery is an appropriate karmic response to the tank. If you're into seven-year karmic cycles then this era is a part of that as well.

Oddly enough, yesterday was the seventh anniversary of Terry Pegula purchasing the Buffalo Sabres and the Sabres outside of the playoffs for the seventh full season since Pegula took over ownership of the team. That would have the previous cycle begin in 2004-05 when there was a lockout with the Sabres making the Eastern Conference Finals the two years after. However, the next five years would see them make the playoffs twice, getting bounced in the first round both times.

The cycle before that began with the Darcy Regier/Lindy Ruff era under the Rigas family who jettisoning GM John Muckler and reigning Jack Adams Award winner,Ted Nolan. That era began with the team making the conference finals and Stanley Cup Finals in consecutive years under Regier and Ruff before things unraveled to the point where their Hall of Fame goalie and team captain both demanded trades. In the 2002-03 season of that cycle, owner John Rigas was indicted by the feds for fraud in summer 2002, the NHL took over day-to-day operations thereafter, the team went bankrupt in January, 2003, they were bought by B. Thomas Golisano in March while heading into rebuild mode.

Muckler took over the Sabres GM slot to begin the prior seven-year cycle in 1990-91. His big move came the following year when he traded for Hall of Famer Pat LaFontaine. The team made the playoffs in six of those seven seasons but made it out of the first round only two times.

To say that it's been tumultuous over the last 21 years in Sabreland is an understatement, but regardless of that, we're still in the here and now and it hasn't been pretty.

Defenseman Marco Scandella told the gathered media post-game on Saturday that they had a good team, something which raised the eyebrows of many. Scandella's right, to an extent, in that there are good teams and a lot of parity and sometimes little things can be the difference between winning an losing. For as bad as Buffalo's record is they've lost 11 games in overtime or shootout and have been on the losing side of a one-goal game another nine times which means that they've lost 20 one-goal games out of 59 total. Add in another nine occasions where they were within a goal late in the game only to give up an empty netter (or two) and over half of their games have been losses where they were within one goal of a win or a point.

But those games took effort, and what we saw on Saturday was a complete lack of effort on the part of the Sabres through the first two periods. It's something we've seen on far too many occasions this season with three of them coming during a Kid's Day matinee.

Lo and behold, it's President's Day today, the kids are out of school and there's another Kid's Day promotion at KeyBank Center. The Washington Capitals are in town and presumably in a foul mood. The Caps got trounced 7-1 in Chicago on Saturday night and were jumped by the Pittsburgh Penguins atop the Metropolitan Division.

This is the time of year that features many teams that are either in playoff mode or are beginning to gear up for that. The Kings are a perfect example as they came into Buffalo just outside of a playoff spot and were determined to leave with two points. The Sabres didn't come close to matching that intensity and it showed. The Caps just got surpassed by the Penguins and have the Philadelphia Flyers and New Jersey Devils nippin' at their heels. Washington is on the last game of a four-game road trip which has seen them go 1-1-1 so far.

It's safe to say that they'll be ready to play.

Many would be appalled if the Sabres came out flat today like they did against the Kings on Saturday, yet it's safe to say that most would not be surprised as this team has done so on many occasions. But to do so at home in front of thousands of kids, twice in a row, is truly unacceptable.


*****

The Sabres announced that Rochester goalie Linus Ullmark has been recalled. Reports have starter Robin Lehner day-to-day with a lower body injury, possibly from kicking the crap out of everything around him after his team mates hung him out to dry yet again.

Lehner himself isn't without fault for the shortcomings of this team this season as he's had awful games on more than one occasion, but more often than not his teammates have given him little either in goal-support and/or tenacity and/or competence in the defensive zone.

Ullmark has been holding the fort in Rochester and once again looks as if he'll be named team MVP. He's faced the second-most shots in the AHL (1118,) is seventh in the league in save percentage (.924) and wins (18) and has the 11th best goals-against average (2.43) while appearing in the third most games (36.)

The 6'4" 221 lb. native of Lugnvik, Sweden has appeared in one game for the Sabres this season allowing one goal on 45 shots (.978 sv%) in a 3-1 Buffalo victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets just prior to the Sabres bye-week in January. In all Ullmark has 9-11-2 NHL record with a 2.55 GAA and .918 sv%.


*****

The Sabres will be wearing their Winter Classic jerseys for the third time this season and they will be giving away Classic-inspired jersey towels at the gate today. Buffalo is 1-0-1 while wearing those.


*****

Game-time is 3 pm.


*****

Housley told the gathered media today that Chad Johnson will get the start in net and that Nicolas Baptiste will be back in the lineup.

The projected lineup from Joe Yerdon of sabres.com looks to be:

Kane-O'Reilly-Reinhart
Pouliot-Rodrigues-Okposo
Wilson-Larsson-Pominville
Girgensons-Josefson-Baptiste

Scandella-Nelson
Ristolainen-Beaulieu
Falk-Antipin

The "Big, Bad Bruins" are bad (ass) in a different way.

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 2-10-2018


There's a clip of Sabres defenseman Jim Schoenfeld blasting Boston Bruins forward Wayne Cashman through the boards at the old Memorial Auditorium followed by the two engaging in a fight right where the Zamboni enters the ice. The clip in and of itself is great but thanks to werqa123, we get to see it with some context as the Sabres overcame an early 2-0 deficit to beat the Bruins 7-3 on December 12, 1972 (fight @ :54-mark):





"Rookie defenseman and sometime rock singer Jim Schoenfeld was a commanding figure on the ice," said Sabres play-by-play man Ted Darling in the voice over, "taking on the Bruins single-handily, one by one." In addition to Cashman, Schoenfeld dropped the gloves with Bobby Orr, who was a pretty tough customer, and Carol Vadnais, an able and very willing pugilist.

That was the price the Sabres had to pay to earn respect back then. These were "Big, Bad Bruins" of the early '70's, the defending Stanley Cup Champions with two Cups in the last three years. The Sabres were a fledgling franchise, a mere two years into their existence with, some good players, most notably Gilbert Perreault, who were trying to gain the respect of teams in the league. Safe to say that they pretty much started on that road with that game.

The Bruins were a tough lot back then and you know it's true when a Hall of Fame defenseman known for his skating and offensive prowess, is a willing pugilist. That willingness to mix it up is still true today, even though both the Bruins and the league itself is far removed from the Slapshot 70's.

It took Boston 39 years to win the Stanley Cup again and they did so with many of the same traits they had back in the 70's which included playing a rugged, in-your-face style backed by top-notch goaltending. Boston has struggled a bit since their last 2011 Cup victory and rebooted their club on the fly after a Finals loss to Chicago in 2013.

Backed once again by solid goaltending, Boston a talented, mobile defense and a quick, tenacious, skilled group of forwards that go full bore much in the gritty Bruins tradition, but without all the fanfare that went along with the fights. They finally found their stride this season hand have rolled to an 18-1-4 record that has them knocking on the door of the league's best record. They've won four in a row and are 9-1-0 in their last 10.

That's what's in store for the Sabres tonight when they face off at 7 pm in Boston.

Buffalo is coming off of a 4-3 win at home against a desperate NY Islanders team that's on the precipice of a playoff spot. After jumping out to a 3-0 lead, the Sabres allowed three unanswered goals before Sam Reinhart, the game's first star, scored the game-winner with less than five minutes to go in regulation.

The win finally got the franchise to 1000 home wins after being stuck on 999 during a four-game losing streak (0-3-1.)

Buffalo is 2-6-2 in their last 10 vs. the Bruins, 4-4-2 on the road. It's the third of four meetings between the two clubs this season. Buffalo won the first one in Boston back in October as they over came a 4-1 deficit with three unanswered goals in regulation before Ryan O'Reilly won it for them in overtime. Boston rolled into Buffalo in December and proceeded to shut the Sabres out 3-0 which included two empty net goals with less than two minutes to go in regulation.

Boston goalie Tuuka Rask is on fire with a 19-0-2 in his last 21 games, according to Fox Sports, and has yielded either one or two goals in each of his last seven starts, something that doesn't bode well for a Sabres team that's scoring a league-low 2.30 goals/game. Rask is 13-5-1 all-time against the Sabres, according to Fox, with a 2.06 goals-against average and .934 save percentage.

Sabres' forward Zemgus Girgensons was not the morning skate, according to reports from TD Garden. Buffalo coach Phil Housley told the gathered media Girgensons "was feeling a bit under the weather" and that he'd be a game-time decision.

In his stead was Scott Wilson while defenseman Justin Falk was in for Josh Gorges skating alongside rookie Victor Antipin. Every thing else remained the same at the morning skate save for Chad Johnson manning the net tonight instead of starter Robin Lehner.

Notes while enjoying Buffalo's 1000th home win...finally

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 2-9-2018


Well, this edition of the Buffalo Sabres finally did it. After losing the first four games (0-3-1) of their five-game homestand, the Sabres 4-3 win over the NY Islanders finally got them to 1000 home wins for the franchise. And they did so while wearing their 2018 Winter Classic sweaters, which brings us to our first note on last night's game.


***

While growing up as a kid, the home team always wore white, for me it was like the good cowboy wore the white hat while the bad cowboy wore black. Simple enough. But the NHL got a stick up their butt and changed it. Why they did it is up for debate, as some think it had to do with finances and/or the use of a third sweater at home. Personally I never liked the idea, but the NHL stuck with it and beginning in 2003-04 the home team wore the dark sweaters.

Last night the Sabres thread here was full of comments in favor of the Sabres making the white Winter Classic their home sweater, and I couldn't agree more. In order to do that, the NHL would need to change their tune concerning the home colors. It's the opinion here that they never should have switched and I'd hazard to guess that a large majority of fans feel they should switch back.

Perhaps it's time.


*****

From the game:

--Sam Reinhart's roll continued last night as he had a 1-goal, 2-assist stat-line for his second multi-point night in a row. For some reason the light went on this calendar year and after an extremely poor 2017 portion of the season (5+6 in 39 games,) Reinhart has scored 15 points (6+9) in 15 games since the beginning of 2018. You could say it's mainly because he's on Jack Eichel's line, which is true, although Reinhart had been there before and didn't get the job done. We might also point to a powerplay that looks like it's back to their No.1 form from last season, and no doubt he's contributed there (3+4) which also helps his stats. But somewhere along the line Reinhart got a kick in the ass and he's playing his best hockey of the season. Perhaps he realizes that it's a contract year and as a restricted free agent, he has no real say in what his next contract will be.

--How many times have we heard recent Sabres coaches say that they need to pare back defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen's ice-time? Often, and present coach Phil Housley said it again before last night's game while indicating that Ristolainen, ideally, should be in the 23-24 minute range. Ristolainen, in part because of a weak performance the previous game, was dropped down to the second pairing last night, yet when it came down to it, Ristolainen skated a game-high 27:37 and a game-high 21:30 at even strength. In the third period he skated nine shifts for a total of 10:39 most of it (8:33) at even strength. Just sayin'.

--Defenseman Casey Nelson played a solid game on the top pairing with 21:47 of ice-time, a secondary assist on Eichel's game-opening goal and he finished with an even rating. The 25 yr. old has made great strides in his development since being signed as a free agent in 2015. Nelson and Scandella had the difficult task of manning up against the Islanders John Tavares for much of the game and did a standup job. Said Housley to the gathered media post game about Nelson, "I thought he was one of  our better defensemen. He kept the game simple. There's nothing flashy about his game but he get's the job done."

--Housley changed up his lines for yesterday putting forward Evan Rodrigues with Eichel and Reinhart, and boy did that line look good. The trio combined for three goals, four assists and were a combined plus-5. With his goal and assist, Rodrigues increased his career totals to eight goals and nine assists in 57 NHL games. A free agent signee out of Boston University had tore up the NCAA along with fellow Terrier Eichel in 2014-15 and many had wondered how long it would take for a coach to put them on the same line. Although it has happened in the past, it will be interesting to see if they can build upon what they were able to accomplish last night.

--Housley is a rookie coach and he's made many questionable decisions with the lineup and the powerplay as well as in-game decisions this season, something that hasn't helped this 15-29-10 team. His early preference of forcing Reinhart to play center when he clearly was ineffective there probably set the player and the team back. Rodrigues is another forward he (along with, possibly, GM Jason Botterill) tried to force into a center's role. Rodrigues had played, and succeeded at, center in Rochester but was having a difficult time in Buffalo. Reinhart and Rodrigues had separately played on Eichel's wing before bringing a different skill-set to the line and both have shown the ability to play off of Eichel. Which is a good thing.

--Speaking of the franchise center, No. 15 had a two-point night last night. He scored the opener and sent a bank-shot off the back wall on a designed play to get the secondary assist on the game-winner. After a four-game scoring lull, Eichel has managed four points in his last two games (2+2) bringing his season total to 22 goals and 31 assists in 54 games. His 53 points tie him for 18th in the league while his 19 even-strength goals tie him for ninth. Too bad the Sabres powerplay was so atrocious for the first half of the season.

--There's a movement in Sabreland that wants to see Eichel as "Captain Jack," and he definitely looks as if he's ready to take over as team captain. From the moment he was drafted as the face of the franchise, it was going to be his team. What we've seen from him lately on the ice and what we've heard from him in interviews, is sure seems like he's matured to the point where that 'C' should be sewn on his sweater and it will happen next season. I just wish it was the Winter Classic home white sweater beginning next season.

Sabres singin' the KeyBank blues as St. Louis comes to town

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 2-3-2018


The Buffalo Sabres have been simply abysmal at home this season. There's no other way to put it. Not only are they a paltry 6-14-3 so far at KeyBank Center, they've been blown out in four of those games by a combined 24-7 score. The Sabres have lost their last three at home, and are 1-4-0 at KeyBank Center since the calendar turned to 2018.

It's not a very good situation to be as eight of their remaining 13 games in February are at home and they just can't seem to get it right in front of their fans.

Tonight's matchup against the St. Louis Blues will be the third game of a five-game homestand and comes against a team that they're 1-7-2 against in their last 10 (2-8-0 at home.) St. Louis sits third in the Central Division and have won five of their last seven games. The two teams met back in December with the Blues coming out on to 3-2 in overtime.

Buffalo will be without forward Johan Larsson who was suspended two games for a crosscheck that rode up the shoulder and into the face of Florida Panthers forward Vincent Trochek. Even though he'd never faced disciplinary action before, the NHL's Department of Player Safety laid a suspension on him. Here's the video and explanation from the NHL:

 

 

"My intention was not to cross-check him in the head," Larsson told the gathered media in KeyBank Center yesterday. "I was trying to go for cross-checking him in the shoulder, chest, and the stick got up in his face."

 

And as for the verdict handed down, Larson said today, "I was kind of surprised I got two games. The guy didn't get hurt or anything. I was a little surprised, but you can't do anything."

 

He will not appeal the ruling.

 

With Larsson missing, it looks like forward Evan Rodrigues looks to get the not at center on the third line. Rodrigues, who has seven points (2g + 5a) in 22 games with Buffalo this year, was a healthy scratch against Florida.

 

Defenseman Nathan Beaulieu has been out of the lineup since going to the ice hard in Calgary after a fight with Flames forward Curtis Lazar. He could be back in the lineup tonight. Meanwhile, defenseman Casey Nelson has been drawing praise from Sabres Phil Housley. "I really like the way Casey's playing," said the coach to the media yesterday. "I think he moves the puck really well, he's defending really well, his gaps are really tight. That's why he remains in the lineup. It's always nice to have a right-hand shot as well.
"You look at his shots from the point, he finds ways to get pucks through to the net. He's uncanny in that way."

For posterity's sake, a list of Sabres home records dating back to their bankruptcy season:

2017-18:  6-14-3
2016-17:  20-15-6
2015-16:  16-19-6
2014-15:  14-22-5
2013-14:  13-21-7
2012-13:  11-10-3 (NHL lockout shortened season)
2011-12:  21-12-8
2010-11:  21-16-4 (the last time the Sabres made the playoffs)
2009-10:  25-10-6 (finished 1st in Northeast Division)
2008-09:  23-15-3
2007-08:  20-15-6
2006-07:  28-10-3 (President's Trophy, Eastern Conference Finals)
2005-06:  27-11-3 (Eastern Conference Finals)
2004-05:  NHL Lockout
2003-04:  21-13-4-3 (owner Tom Golisano's first year)
2002-03:  18-16-5-2 (bankruptcy, team run by the NHL)


 

 

 

 

 

Down to the bottom with Calgary up tonight.

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 1-22-2018


The Buffalo Sabres 7-1 loss on Saturday coupled with the Arizona Coyotes 5-2 win puts both teams at 31 points, right at the bottom of the 31-team league. All is not lost for Sabres fans, however, as Buffalo still has two games in hand over Arizona, but it's still a sad state of affairs. How ironic that the two teams who barreled to the bottom of the league in 2014-15 for a shot at drafting either Connor McDavid or Jack Eichel that year find themselves back where it started.

Both teams lost out on McDavid, who went to the Edmonton Oilers, a team that sunk to the bottom of the league after making it to the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals. The Oilers made it to the playoffs last season for the first time since, but they're also struggling this season with 45 points in 47 games (24th in the league.)

Buffalo heads into tonight's matchup against the Calgary Flames (9 pm EST) on yet another skid as they've been able to pull out a win only once this calendar year (1-6-1.) Losing is one thing, but the way they've been losing is even worse as three of those regulation losses were blowouts. To date their -59 goal differential is worst in the league and they're on pace for a -105 which isn't far off of the -113 of the 2014-15 tank season.

These parallels between the tank years and this edition of the Buffalo Sabres is a rather ugly one considering that this team has way more talent, but still can't seem to get it right. The horrors of the 2014-15 season could be captured in a franchise worst 14-game losing streak that included an 0-fer in January (0-12-0) while icing a team that had little or no talent.

What does that say for this edition?

Not much. A long series of events that's being tied directly to "terrible ownership," as Bucky Gleason of the Buffalo News wrote yesterday, has brought this team to this level. The Sabres have not made the playoffs in any of Terry Pegula's seven full seasons as owner of the Sabres and it's like everything Pegula has done has backfired:

--In 2011 he took off the financial constraints of the previous owners and went after what they thought were prized free agents. They'll be paying Ville Leino $1.2 million for the next two seasons not to play and Christian Erhoff $857K per year through 2028-28.

--In 2013 Pegula grudgingly fired Ruff, whom he famously said "Ain't goin' nowhere" at his inaugural presser. The Sabres are on their fourth coach since then and a fifth one might not be that far off.

--Beginning with the 2013-14 season, the Sabres went into tank-mode as a rebuild model. Both that season and the next they finished last in the league but the NHL Draft Lottery left them with second-overall picks both times.

--In Fall, 2013 Pegula hired Sabres legend and Hockey Hall of Famer Pat LaFontaine to lead the hockey department. Five months later, a presumed philosophical chasm caused him to leave the organization.

--In January 2014 Pegula hired a long-time scout and former assistant general manager to be the GM in Buffalo. Tim Murray took over as a first-time GM and proceeded to dismantle the team in a scorched-earth rebuild with the focus upon landing at the top of the draft.

--After a rather successful 2015-16 campaign things deteriorated the following season with Pegula firing both Murray and his head coach of two seasons, Dan Bylsma.

--Pegula hired a rookie GM in Jason Botterill last spring. Botterill hired a rookie head coach in Phil Houlsey who ended up hiring a rookie defensive assistant in Chris Hajt. Botterill and Housley both played for the Sabres, with the latter having a long and productive career, while Hajt is the son of quite possibly the Sabres' best defensive-defenseman of all time, Bill Hajt.

Add it all up, and it leads us to this point, in the past two-plus seasons where the Sabres were supposed to be pulling out of the rebuild and into respectability with a franchise center in the fold (courtesy of the 2015 draft,) Buffalo has posted a 79-99-32 record good for 190 points. Only three teams were worse than the Sabres during that span--Arizona at 76-109-17 (169 points); Vancouver, 79-104-18 (176 points) and Colorado 87-111-11 (185 points.)

So where has it all lead us?

To a lot of finger pointing directed at Pegula for being a control freak, to the tank for a ill-conceived rebuild model (not to mention bad karma,) to Murray for wasting a wealth of picks on players built for an NHL that's seemingly becoming antiquated and to the players themselves as they soured on Bylsma only a year-and-a-half into his tenure. With their performance as of late, it looks as if they've soured on Housley only 40 some-odd games into his tenure.

"Country-club setting" is once again creeping into the vernacular and when senior Sabre Jason Pominville, a favorite of the local press, was asked by the gathered media about it yesterday he replied, ""As unfortunate as you say it, it's probably a little bit the case," he said. "You play on teams that haven't had success, and it's acceptable. But that's what has to change. Efforts like this aren't acceptable. Practices have to be a compete level that you need."

Pominville was described in that piece as a player "once part of a winning culture in Buffalo," and sure enough he was. The last time the Sabres won a playoff series was back in 2007 second of consecutive back-to-back Eastern Conference Finals appearances. Pominville was a young player in a support role then and when he was in a leadership role from 2007-08 to February, 2013 when he was traded, his teams made the playoffs twice and were bounced in the first round both times.

Yet it was Pominville who was a part of Regier's "Core" that might be dubbed, "The Original Sabres Country-clubbers" and looking to him for any insight and/or answers doesn't really jibe. That group had many of the same attributes as this one does.

The Sabres start at three-game road trip tonight in Calgary after a brutal 7-1 loss at home to the Dallas Stars and a supposed very hard skate directed by Housley as a way of getting his club motivated again.

To further shake things up Housley went with these forward lines at practice yesterday, according to those at HarborCenter:

Girgensons-Eichel-Okposo
Wilson-O'Reilly-Reinhart
Kane-Larsson-Pominville
Nolan-Rodirgues-Baptiste

Nothing changed on the defense pairings.

Robin Lehner will probably be in net tonight and has been struggling. Amy Moritz of the Buffalo News points out that Lehner has been pulled in three of his last five starts, is 0-4-0 with a 5.50 goals-against average (19 goals on 114 shots) and has a .833 save percentage. It might have been worse but backup Chad Johnson was tagged with the 'L' in a 7-4 loss vs. Winnipeg at home that wasn't as close as the score might indicate.

Happy 4th. Stuff to ponder while smashing your burger.

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 7-4-2017


It was a frenetic two weeks for Sabres GM Jason Botterill and Co. between the time Buffalo needed to submit their finalized expansion protected list on June 17. From there he had to wait out the process as the Las Vegas Golden Knights decided what they would do and it left him only a few days to get ready for the NHL Entry Draft that weekend. A week later was the start of NHL Free Agency.

During that two-week span players came and players went and when all was said and done, the Sabres will be entering the 2017-18 season with Zemgus Girgensons and Rasmus Ristolainen as their  who was drafted 14th-overall in 2012, as their longest-tenured Sabres player (by age and draft year.)

That fact was made possible by the departures of young vets Tyler Ennis and Marcus Foligno in a trade with Minnesota. On June 30, prior to the July opening of free agency, Botterill sent Ennis (2008, 26th-overall) and Foligno (2009, 104th) plus a third round pick to the Wild for defenseman Marco Scandella, former Sabre Jason Pominville (2001, 55th) and a fourth round pick.

Pominville was Buffalo's captain at the time of his trade to the Wild back on April 3, 2013 and with Ennis and Foligno gone, no one on that team is with the club any more. The Pominville trade to Minnesota (plus a fourth round pick) netted the Sabres Johan Larsson (who is still on the team,) Matt Hackett, a 2013 first round pick (Nikita Zadorov, 16th) and a 2014 second round pick (Vaclav Karabacek, 49th.)

As the roster stands right now, other than Girgensons, the Sabres have only four homegrown picks presently on it:

D, Jake McCabe (2012, 44th)
D, Rasmus Ristolainen (2013, 8th)
F, Sam Reinhart (2014, 2nd)
C, Jack Eichel, (2015, 2nd)

Barring any other moves, the overhaul of the Sabres in the Terry Pegula era is complete. It now spans three GM's (Darcy Regier, Tim Murray, Botterill,) five head coaches (Lindy Ruff, Ron Rolston, Ted Nolan, Dan Bylsma and Phil Housley, who was hired prior to the Ennis trade) plus one President of Hockey Operations in Pat LaFontaine.

Perhaps we jumped the gun a little bit thinking that the Sabres were well on their way at any point between the hiring of LaFontaine and shortly after the 2015 NHL Draft. Regardless of where anyone stood at any of those points, looking at what's left from Pominville's last game and his return the overall change is pretty stark.


*****

Buffalo's draft situation over the course of the last five years represents a team that bottomed out, yet found itself still spinning it's wheels.

In 2013, as the deconstruction of Regier's "Core" gained steam with the trade of Pominville, the Sabres finished 23rd in the league and selected eighth-overall. The following two seasons were dedicated to bottoming out which resulted in 30th place finishes and consecutive second-overall picks thanks to unlucky lottery results. The Sabres began their climb back to respectability in 2015-16 by finishing 23rd again and drafted eighth overall once again.

Buffalo entered last season with expectations that they could build upon the positives from the prior one. A multitude of reasons had them take a step back and finish 26th overall and under a new lottery system, they'd once again fall prey to the unlucky bounce of the pingpong balls and drop from fifth in the draft to eighth.

Prior to the 2013 draft, the Sabres had never drafted eighth-overall, and now they've done so in three of the last five years.

Also of note, this stretch of five consecutive top-10 picks is the longest in franchise history. The Sabres drafted top-10 three times in a row from their inaugural draft in 1970 to 1972. After that they'd drafted top-10 in consecutive seasons only twice:  1982-83 and 1986-87.


*****

Buffalo Sabres Development Camp begins this weekend with the schedule looking like this:

Sat., July 8: 2 to 3:30 p.m. and 4 to 5:30 p.m.
Sun., July 9: 10 to 11:15 a.m. and 2 to 3:15 p.m.
Mon., July 10: 10:30 to 11:45 a.m. and1:45 to 3:00 p.m.
Tue., July 11: French Connection Tournament: 9:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.

Not on tap is the Blue and Gold Scrimmage, which was a fan favorite. Who can forger over 17,000 fans showing up on a Friday in July to watch Jack Eichel, Sam Reinhart and Co. go at it back in 2015.

Perhaps it's more of a business-like approach this year. The French Connection Tournament is an intra-squad 3-on-3 tournament with multiple teams playing games in rapid-fire succession on half-sheets of ice. For fans it's not super exciting but the Sabres organization uses it as a tool to gauge where prospects and players are on their developmental curves.

All on-ice sessions will be held at HarborCenter and will be free and open to the public.



Have a Happy 4th, y'all. Keep it safe.

As the Sabres turn--a Disco Dan/Jack Flash conundrum?

Published by bockeybuzz.com, 4-19-2017


The old adage in Hollywood is "there's no such thing as bad press." Well, the Buffalo Sabres are certainly going to test that. It wasn't bad enough that they were chasited relentlessly for "the tank," and that this year their season went caput while two contemporary teams made the playoffs, now the team needs to deal with internal issues between a marquis player and the coach. Oh, and the backdrop has the Sabres missing the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season while the NHL's Buffalo Bills just finished a 17th season outside the playoffs.

This may be a job for Sean Spicer.

Buffalo Sabres GM Tim Murray scheduled to meet with ownership today, there's a question as to what kind of remarks he'll be packing in his briefcase when he opens it up for Terry and Kim Pegula. Murray finished his end-of-season interviews with the players and hit the podium for the presser with question marks all over the place. He began by taking full responsibility for what he called "a very disappointing season" but distributed some of the blame to coaches and players. It was the second season Buffalo missed the playoffs with this core group of players and the second with coach Dan Bylsma on the bench.

Bylsma had the team Murray built at his disposal and finished with a worse record than the previous season. A shored up forward ranks and a full season of health from goaltender Robin Lehner wasn't enough to offset a weak defense, undermanned bottom-six and a number of long-term injuries to key players. Among the injured was franchise center Jack Eichel who missed the first 21 games of the 2016-17 season. However, the biggest problem may have had less to do with the above and more to do with rumors that Bylsma lost control of the room somewhere along the way.

There had been reports of a disconnect between players and coach in Buffalo for a number of months culminating with a report from WGR550 radio today that Eichel won't sign a contract extension if Bylsma is retained as head coach. From WGR's Paul Hamilton, "Inside sources have told me that Eichel has no desire to sign a contract extension this summer if Bylsma remains the coach."

Eichel was drafted second-overall in 2015 after the Sabres and is the future of the franchise. He was the last player Murray talked with during last week's exit interviews and when the GM talked to the press a few hours later, he never gave an endorsement of Bylsma as the head coach moving forward. "He's my coach today," said Murray at the time before qualifying it later saying that things could change.

That change could be as early as today after Murray is finished meeting with the Pegula's.

Peter Fish, Eichel's agent, called the report "ridiculous" via John Vogl of the Buffalo News. “I don’t know where anyone is getting these reports, but they are ridiculous in a word,” Fish told Vogl. “Jack, he left Buffalo, he thought he had a real good meeting with coach Bylsma and a real good meeting with Murray. When he got home to Boston, he was genuinely excited with the thoughts that maybe they’re just a few players away from getting into the playoffs."

Not being in the playoffs might be a particular thorn in Eichel's side this season as he watches his contemporaries--Connor McDavid (2015, first-overall, EDM) and Auston Matthews (2016, first-overall, TOR)--battling it out in the post-season for the first time in their careers. The 20 yr. old Eichel has a competitive spirit and hatred to lose not seen in Buffalo since "The Dominator," Dominik Hasek ruled the crease, the last time the Sabres made it to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1999.

"He's an extremely, extremely, competitive kid who hates to lose, he just hates it," Fish said. "He's just sitting there at the podium after a long season, World Cup, ankle injury, he missed the playoffs and he's got microphones in his face. Yes, his frustration level is there, but it's his frustration. He didn't get the team to the playoffs and he's frustrated and he wants to do better."

For some reason known only to those inside of the locker room, supposedly Eichel and a band of younger players tuned Bylsma out at some point. Veteran players were more apt to publicly say that they're professionals and they showed it on the ice by strictly adhering to Bylsma's system, but the big knock against Bylsma being rumored was that his system was too rigid and that his devotion to X's and O's created a disconnect that didn't resonate with the younger players, especially a talent like Eichel.

It's the second time that this has happened in Bylsma's two coaching stints.

Bylsma took over the Pittsburgh Penguins mid-season in 2009 and coached the team to the Stanley Cup that season. From thence came a decline and a gradual disconnect between Bylsma and his star players.

Here's what Chris Peters of cbssport.com wrote and thanks to our very own I'm That Guy, who posted the link and the following quote in the last thread:

"There are a lot of reports and rumors swirling that Pittsburgh Penguins coach Dan Bylsma’s days with the club are numbered and will get his walking papers any day now. One of the reasons, as reported by Rob Rossi of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review was that there was a disconnect between the team and its head coach, most notably between captain Sidney Crosby and Bylsma.

More from Rossi:

Crosby and Malkin felt they needed one another this season when they grew frustrated with Bylsma, the sources said.

Crosby and Malkin grew disenchanted with perceived harsh criticism they received from Bylsma during meetings, the sources said. They and other veteran players were unhappy with Bylsma's numerous meetings and long practices and the decreasing sense of fun within the Penguins' environment, the sources said.

Ownership believed Bylsma lost the dressing room this season, specifically the support of Crosby and Malkin, the sources said."

About the only thing missing from recent reports of disconnect in Buffalo was the "sense of fun" part. But anyone who watched this team through the last few months of the season could tell that this group of players lumbered through games often times with minimal passion.

Right now the Sabres have themselves a soap opera on their hands and it's sure to get noticed throughout the hockey world. Is it bad press? We shall see as there's a number of ways one could look at the situation.

Simply put, if the Sabres have any doubts about where this team will end up with Bylsma in charge, they need to pull the plug now. Murray is probably of the same thought as a disenchanted face of the franchise and/or a slow start to next season putting them in jeopardy of missing the playoffs again will probably mean a pink slip heading his way.

These are the days of our lives in Sabreland.

Gearing up for the Bruins today

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 12-03-2016


Wake up you slumberous Sabre waifs, game time is 1:00 pm today and it's against the hated Boston Bruins in a rivalry that dates back to the Sabres inception--the high-flying Buffalo Sabres vs. the Big, Bad Boston Bruins. And it could be a tad contentious to say the least.

One of my earlier memories is this gem featuring Jim "Schony" Schoenfeld vs. Wayne Cashman at the Aud. To put it into perspective, in 1972 when this incident occurred the Bruins were coming off of two Stanley Cups in the previous three seasons and being in the same division as the Sabres, they weren't about to give the fledgling franchise one inch. Intimidation ruled back then, and the Bruins were the best at it at the time.

But the Sabres wouldn't back down and Schony was the point man in defense of the crest. The fiery red head was a fifth overall pick of Buffalo's that summer and would have non of what the Bruins were dishing out and when Cashman flew into the Buffalo zone to negate an icing call, Schoenfeld checked him through the boards.

Here's the rest compliments of Dan Conroy:




Although it was a lot of fun to watch, those days of dropping the gloves in an instant are long gone and for a while, so was the Sarbes/Bruins rivalry. It takes two for a rivalry and unfortunately for Sabres fans Buffalo hasn't been up to the task. In their last 10 meetings Buffalo is only 2-4-4 and only 3-5-2 in their last 10 at home.

Boston still holds the hammer as proven by a 4-0 win in their first meeting of the season at TD Garden on November 7. The Sabres had won four of the last five prior to the trip to Boston but were thoroughly outclassed. It was a loss that would begin a 3-5-2 tumble to the bottom of the division prior to the return of Jack Eichel.

Jack's back, however, and for the first time this season he'll be facing his hometown Bruins.

In Eichel's first game ever against former favorite team last December, the North Chelmsford native poked the bear to the tune of two goals and two assists in the Sabres 6-3 win in Boston. Eichel and Ryan O'Reilly spurred the Sabres come from behind win scoring four of Buffalo's five unanswered goals. After that game, however, the B's have shut Eichel down. In three meetings after that Eichel had zero points and was a minus-5.

Gearing up for the game today:

--Defenseman Brendan Guhle has been recalled from the Prince George Cougars on an emergency basis. Quick. Do you know where Prince George is on the map? It's north of Vancouver just a few hundred miles from the Pacific Ocean. Guhle had been with the Prince Albert Raiders in Saskatchewan before a trade sent him west to Prince George. He arrived in Buffalo at 1:30 am. The Sabres were able to call up the junior player because of injuries to defensemen Zach Bogosian, Dmitry Kulikov, Josh Gorges and Casey Nelson.

--Head Coach Dan Bylsma said they recalled Guhle because he was a left-handed defenseman and because of his skating ability. The 19 yr. old Guhle impressed at camp in 2015 and was one of the last Sabres cuts this past training camp. He'll be paired with Cody Franson today. When asked by the gathered media whether there will be any restraints put on the youngin, Bylsma said "he needs to use his (skating) abilities to be effective. It would be a mistake to anchor himself behind the goal line."

--How did Guhle hear about his promotion? "Coach said I was traded to the Sabres," was how he put it to the media.

--Robin Lehner gets the start for Buffalo in net after missing his last start because of a minor hip injury. From Sabres PR, Lehner has faced Boston more times than any other NHL team. In 14 career games against the Bruins, he has logged a .923 save percentage and a 2.74 goals-against average.

Anaheim loss nets another 2016 3rd-round pick for the Sabres

Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com


The Buffalo Sabres added another 2016 draft pick to their burgeoning stable thanks to a Game-7 loss by the Anaheim Ducks at the hands of the Nashville Predators. The conditional 3rd round pick Anaheim sent to Buffalo for Jamie McGinn now stands as the Ducks failed to make it to the Western Conference Finals. Had Anaheim won two playoff rounds and McGinn played in at least 50% of their games, that 2016 third-rounder would have converted to a 2017 2nd round pick.

As it stands right now the Sabres will have 12 picks in the upcoming draft to be held in Buffalo April 24-25:

1st--presently 8th overall
2nd
3rd--BUF, ANA (McGinn trade, 2015) STL (Ryan Miller, 2014) DAL (Johnas Enroth, 2015)
4th
5th--BUF, MTL (Brian Flynn, 2015)
6th
7th--BUF, MTL (Torrey Mitchell, 2015)