Buffalo Sabres GM Tim Murray will be headed into the Olympic break--and the eventual trade deadline--with a plethora of players that playoff-bound clubs will find attractive.
Goalie Ryan Miller and scoring winger Matt Moulson are obvious candidates to fill high-profile needs like goaltending and scoring while gritty veteran Steve Ott would provide intangibles like sandpaper and leadership to go along with tangibles like faceoffs skills, hits and secodary scoring.
Showing posts with label hank tallinder. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hank tallinder. Show all posts
Friday, January 17, 2014
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
Tallinder and Weber should be thanking their lucky stars as the Sabres send four youngins down
With defenseman Mike Weber coming back from injury, the Buffalo Sabres needed to make a roster move.
Which they did. In fact they made four moves sending 18 yr. old defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen to Rochester along with 21 yr. old forward Johan Larsson.
Joining those two in Rochester will be 19 yr. old forward Mikhail Grigorenko, who is allowed to play in the minors on a 14-day conditioning stint. Afterwards he will either be with Buffalo or will be headed back to junior.
18 yr. old defenseman Nikita Zadorov was sent to his junior club, the London Knights, and it is assumed that he will be there for the rest of the season. London will be hosting the Memorial Cup this season and will be getting an automatic bid to the tournament.
New bench-boss Ted Nolan had mentioned that the team was alot younger than he thought and hinted that some changes would be made.
He also mentioned that there are some players in Rochester who's play has earned them a call-up. Although no names were mentioned, forward Luke Adam is tied for the AHL with 13 goals and defenseman Brayden McNabb has been playing a solid all-around game while rediscovering his grit.
The moves sure did make some vets happy.
Henrik Tallinder, who was benched in New Jersey last season before big-daddy Darcy Regier rescued him via tradel, thought that the youngsters had it a bit too easy making the Sabres, "It’s not about getting the spot; it’s about earning the spot,” he said.
Ole' Hank is a former 2nd round pick of the Buffalo Sabres (#48, 1997) who happened to be developing (1 yr. in Rochester) while Regier was dismantling "the hardest working team in hockey," a team that was coached at one time by Nolan.
His game has been in decline ever since the 2009/10 season, which happens to coincide with the decline of the hands-off, "new-NHL."
Tallinder is still a non-hitter (read: wuss,) is slow and at times flops around like a rookie out there.
He's lucky he's a vet. Ristolainen has similar attributes as Tallinder, but also adds a serious edge to his game. Risto has played at least as well as Hank, and were they contemporaries, Tallinder would've been waived, given the choice.
Veteran defenseman Mike Weber has been nothing short of a train wreck this season. About the only thing that saved him from having a worse plus/minus rating than his present minus-12 (third-worst in the league) is the fact that he's been injured and has missed half of the Sabres 22 games.
"You got to develop in the minors," said Weber, "You got to play junior. You got to earn the right to be here."
Yeah, I guess if you're Mike Weber you needed to.
Yet, most Sabres fans can handle an 18 yr. old Zadorov, his one goal and minus-4 rating in seven games, learning the NHL game.
He likes to hit, just like Weber.
Tallinder and Weber are lucky they're on a crappy team with so much youth, otherwise their play would've gotten them waived by now.
Nolan, though, put it all in perspective. The Sabres have always been known as a team that will take their time developing players, and it would seem as if the new regime featuring Pat LaFontaine as Director of Hockey Ops wants to get back to that.
"Whether I saw them or not," said Nolan, "I don’t think it really made much of a difference. We look at where we are with this organization and where we have to go to, and proper development is so important.”
Tallinder and Weber should be thanking their lucky stars.
Thanks to Bill Hoppe for his article
Which they did. In fact they made four moves sending 18 yr. old defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen to Rochester along with 21 yr. old forward Johan Larsson.
Joining those two in Rochester will be 19 yr. old forward Mikhail Grigorenko, who is allowed to play in the minors on a 14-day conditioning stint. Afterwards he will either be with Buffalo or will be headed back to junior.
18 yr. old defenseman Nikita Zadorov was sent to his junior club, the London Knights, and it is assumed that he will be there for the rest of the season. London will be hosting the Memorial Cup this season and will be getting an automatic bid to the tournament.
New bench-boss Ted Nolan had mentioned that the team was alot younger than he thought and hinted that some changes would be made.
He also mentioned that there are some players in Rochester who's play has earned them a call-up. Although no names were mentioned, forward Luke Adam is tied for the AHL with 13 goals and defenseman Brayden McNabb has been playing a solid all-around game while rediscovering his grit.
The moves sure did make some vets happy.
Henrik Tallinder, who was benched in New Jersey last season before big-daddy Darcy Regier rescued him via tradel, thought that the youngsters had it a bit too easy making the Sabres, "It’s not about getting the spot; it’s about earning the spot,” he said.
Ole' Hank is a former 2nd round pick of the Buffalo Sabres (#48, 1997) who happened to be developing (1 yr. in Rochester) while Regier was dismantling "the hardest working team in hockey," a team that was coached at one time by Nolan.
His game has been in decline ever since the 2009/10 season, which happens to coincide with the decline of the hands-off, "new-NHL."
Tallinder is still a non-hitter (read: wuss,) is slow and at times flops around like a rookie out there.
He's lucky he's a vet. Ristolainen has similar attributes as Tallinder, but also adds a serious edge to his game. Risto has played at least as well as Hank, and were they contemporaries, Tallinder would've been waived, given the choice.
Veteran defenseman Mike Weber has been nothing short of a train wreck this season. About the only thing that saved him from having a worse plus/minus rating than his present minus-12 (third-worst in the league) is the fact that he's been injured and has missed half of the Sabres 22 games.
"You got to develop in the minors," said Weber, "You got to play junior. You got to earn the right to be here."
Yeah, I guess if you're Mike Weber you needed to.
Yet, most Sabres fans can handle an 18 yr. old Zadorov, his one goal and minus-4 rating in seven games, learning the NHL game.
He likes to hit, just like Weber.
Tallinder and Weber are lucky they're on a crappy team with so much youth, otherwise their play would've gotten them waived by now.
Nolan, though, put it all in perspective. The Sabres have always been known as a team that will take their time developing players, and it would seem as if the new regime featuring Pat LaFontaine as Director of Hockey Ops wants to get back to that.
"Whether I saw them or not," said Nolan, "I don’t think it really made much of a difference. We look at where we are with this organization and where we have to go to, and proper development is so important.”
Tallinder and Weber should be thanking their lucky stars.
Thanks to Bill Hoppe for his article
Thursday, September 12, 2013
Notes as the Sabres ready themselves to hit the ice. Cody Hodgson extended
It's time.
Let the hockey season begin.
A few notes as the Sabres hit the ice today for the first time as the second day of training camp gets under way.
But first, the Sabres and Cody Hodgson have agreed to a contract extension. The 23 yr. old center signed a reported 6yr./$25.5M contract yesterday for a cap-hit of $4.25M.
The pros and cons of the long-term deal are many and will undoubtedly be hashed out and beaten to death for years to come. That's simply the way things work in Sabretown.
With the six-year commitment from Buffalo, Sabres GM Darcy Regier and his staff look at Hodgson as a top-six, potential top-line, center for years to come. Hodgson showed great chemistry in the offensive zone with bonafide top-line winger Thomas Vanek.
In the 68 games since coming to the Sabres from Vancouver, Hodgson has 18 goals and 24 assists for .62 pts/game.
But, on the negative side his plus/minus for Buffalo is minus-11. Which brings us the cons.
Matthew Coller of WGR wrote an extensive piece about Hodgson's defensive lapses using a boatload of advanced stats and concludes, "by all statistical measures, he was one of the worst defensive players in the NHL." He also throws in a couple of videos to stress his point.
Nothing earth-shattering. Even Canucks GM Mike Gillis openly admitted that he hid Hodgson's defensive shortcomings and anyone who has watched the Sabres for any length of time will tell you that he needs some serious work in the defensive zone. Something that's not lost on Hodgson.
One should also not dismiss Hodgson's skill and vision on the ice, though. Nor should one dismiss his realtively young age. Nor should one dismiss his commitment to an off season conditioning program which keeps him in top shape. Regier said that Hodgson has been working with Sabres skating coach Dawn Braid this summer in addition to his annual visit to Gary Roberts' camp.
The skill is there and the dedication seems to be there as well, which makes for a real solid contract, if not steal, down the road.
Hodgson is a very good player right now and seems like a pretty solid character-guy. After travelling from Vancouver to Buffalo to Rochester and back to Buffalo in a matter of 10 months, Hodgson must be pretty happy to establish some roots for the next six years.
For the Sabres, at the very least they have themselves a solid #2 center who should be good for around 60 points per season at a $4.25M cap-hit within an eventual $70-80M salary cap.
Which is a pretty good deal for all parties involved.
***
The Sabres have four players signed long-term, Hodgson, Ville Leino, Christian Ehrhoff and Tyler Myers.
Leino and Ehrhoff were signed at the start of free agency in 2011 while Myers signed an extension later in that off season.
Myers has seen his confidence and performance decline since he won the Calder Cup in 2010 when he was partnered with Henrik Tallinder (Ryan Miller won the Vezina that same year.)
Tallinder was allowed to walk in the 2010 off season (of which owner Terry Pegula was said to term the departure as "unbelievable,") which may or may not have affected Myers' play. But the team thought it would be advantageous to bring Tallinder back and made a trade with New Jersey to get him.
The tall, lanky former 2nd-round pick for Buffalo (1997) came to the defense of his former d-partner, "I think Tyler is an exceptional young man and player," Tallinder said. "When he came in his first year, I've never seen a guy that talented and that good at that age. Or very few of them, that I"ve played with at least. I think he's still young. I think you guys have been pretty hard on him too. He's going to be an exceptionally good player still. Just give him time. Let him play."
Oddly enough, Sabres head coach Ron Rolston has Myers paired with Ehrhoff to start camp while Tallinder will be with rookie defenseman Mark Pysyk.
Tallinder should prove to be a steadying force for a very young Buffalo Sabres squad and looks to be a very busy man.
In addition to helping Myers mature, he'll be mentoring Pysyk and bestowing fatherly advice on fellow Swede, goalie Jhonas Enroth.
Who knows, if he's healthy, maybe he'll even get some 2nd-pairing minutes.
***
This will be Rolston's first full season behind the bench for Buffalo and his first NHL training camp.
Among the things he mentioned:
Two of his assistants, Joe Sacco and Jerry Forton were professional acquaintances.
On Sacco who was hired July 2, Rolston emphasized his experience and success as a head coach (Jack Adams candidate with Colorado.) He talked about Sacco's work ethic, knowledge of the game and his communication skills who has been with young teams and knows how to develop them.
Rolston had known recent hire Forton for years through college connections. Forton, he said, "has a lot of character, a lot of integrity and a tremendous passion for the game. He shows a lot of grit as a person overall.
The final thing, which is probably most important, is he's an outstanding communicator and relationship-builder."
Forton will be up in the pressbox replacing Teppo Numminen.
Numminen has been up in the press box for the Sabres for two years and will now be on the bench.
Rolston said that Numminen wasn't in as prominent a position before as he will be now. "He'll be running the defensive core and he'll be working with our powerplay," said Rolston. "He in the position now where he'll be able to make a big difference for our hockey team."
Defense and powerplay? With the performance of the team in those two areas over the years, I'd say Numminen has his work cut out for him.
***
Regier took to the podium and talked about impending free agents Thomas Vanek and Ryan Miller.
Not much needs to be said. Everyone's in a holding pattern, just like the league in general when it comes to player movement.
Late July, after second-tier free agent signings, and August are usually devoid of player movement and this summer was no exception. Especially with the salary cap diving to $64M from $70M.
Regier said the trade-window was "closed right now" and that he doesn't expect much to happen on that front until the deadline approaches.
Vanek addressed the issue in his cold, business-like fashion (which isn't necessarily a bad thing.) He basically said that he was here as a Buffalo Sabre and from his standpoint he'd like to see where this rebuild goes before talking extension. And he expects the Sabers to take the same approach.
Vanek has said before that he likes to keep his options open.
As for Miller, he was a bit warmer to Buffalo and the thought of an extension, "Darcy [Regier] has to build a team and maybe he feels he wants me here," said Miller. "I'm happy to be here, I have a great connection with the city."
He reiterated that he and his agent Mike Liut never asked for a trade yet also knew that it was a possibility and said of a possible trade, "I don't know if that was the best thing for me anyway."
Regier was on WGR this morning and made it clear that the organization would welcome the opportunity to talk to both players but emphasized that the club does not have a standing offer for Vanek or Miller.
Another player that will be a free agent at season's end is forward Steve Ott. Regier said that the two sides have had some preliminary conversations.
***
The Sabres training camp roster:
Let the hockey season begin.
A few notes as the Sabres hit the ice today for the first time as the second day of training camp gets under way.
But first, the Sabres and Cody Hodgson have agreed to a contract extension. The 23 yr. old center signed a reported 6yr./$25.5M contract yesterday for a cap-hit of $4.25M.
The pros and cons of the long-term deal are many and will undoubtedly be hashed out and beaten to death for years to come. That's simply the way things work in Sabretown.
With the six-year commitment from Buffalo, Sabres GM Darcy Regier and his staff look at Hodgson as a top-six, potential top-line, center for years to come. Hodgson showed great chemistry in the offensive zone with bonafide top-line winger Thomas Vanek.
In the 68 games since coming to the Sabres from Vancouver, Hodgson has 18 goals and 24 assists for .62 pts/game.
But, on the negative side his plus/minus for Buffalo is minus-11. Which brings us the cons.
Matthew Coller of WGR wrote an extensive piece about Hodgson's defensive lapses using a boatload of advanced stats and concludes, "by all statistical measures, he was one of the worst defensive players in the NHL." He also throws in a couple of videos to stress his point.
Nothing earth-shattering. Even Canucks GM Mike Gillis openly admitted that he hid Hodgson's defensive shortcomings and anyone who has watched the Sabres for any length of time will tell you that he needs some serious work in the defensive zone. Something that's not lost on Hodgson.
One should also not dismiss Hodgson's skill and vision on the ice, though. Nor should one dismiss his realtively young age. Nor should one dismiss his commitment to an off season conditioning program which keeps him in top shape. Regier said that Hodgson has been working with Sabres skating coach Dawn Braid this summer in addition to his annual visit to Gary Roberts' camp.
The skill is there and the dedication seems to be there as well, which makes for a real solid contract, if not steal, down the road.
Hodgson is a very good player right now and seems like a pretty solid character-guy. After travelling from Vancouver to Buffalo to Rochester and back to Buffalo in a matter of 10 months, Hodgson must be pretty happy to establish some roots for the next six years.
For the Sabres, at the very least they have themselves a solid #2 center who should be good for around 60 points per season at a $4.25M cap-hit within an eventual $70-80M salary cap.
Which is a pretty good deal for all parties involved.
***
The Sabres have four players signed long-term, Hodgson, Ville Leino, Christian Ehrhoff and Tyler Myers.
Leino and Ehrhoff were signed at the start of free agency in 2011 while Myers signed an extension later in that off season.
Myers has seen his confidence and performance decline since he won the Calder Cup in 2010 when he was partnered with Henrik Tallinder (Ryan Miller won the Vezina that same year.)
Tallinder was allowed to walk in the 2010 off season (of which owner Terry Pegula was said to term the departure as "unbelievable,") which may or may not have affected Myers' play. But the team thought it would be advantageous to bring Tallinder back and made a trade with New Jersey to get him.
The tall, lanky former 2nd-round pick for Buffalo (1997) came to the defense of his former d-partner, "I think Tyler is an exceptional young man and player," Tallinder said. "When he came in his first year, I've never seen a guy that talented and that good at that age. Or very few of them, that I"ve played with at least. I think he's still young. I think you guys have been pretty hard on him too. He's going to be an exceptionally good player still. Just give him time. Let him play."
Oddly enough, Sabres head coach Ron Rolston has Myers paired with Ehrhoff to start camp while Tallinder will be with rookie defenseman Mark Pysyk.
Tallinder should prove to be a steadying force for a very young Buffalo Sabres squad and looks to be a very busy man.
In addition to helping Myers mature, he'll be mentoring Pysyk and bestowing fatherly advice on fellow Swede, goalie Jhonas Enroth.
Who knows, if he's healthy, maybe he'll even get some 2nd-pairing minutes.
***
This will be Rolston's first full season behind the bench for Buffalo and his first NHL training camp.
Among the things he mentioned:
- Forward Tyler Ennis, whom Rolston likes at center, will start the season on left wing. Mikhail Grigorenko will join Hodgson down the middle
- He and his staff will decide the captain, not the players, and they will take their time
- All players look to be healthy, including Leino who's coming off of hip surgery, save for Chad Rhuwedel. The defenseman suffered an upper-body injury at Traverse City and is day-to-day
Two of his assistants, Joe Sacco and Jerry Forton were professional acquaintances.
On Sacco who was hired July 2, Rolston emphasized his experience and success as a head coach (Jack Adams candidate with Colorado.) He talked about Sacco's work ethic, knowledge of the game and his communication skills who has been with young teams and knows how to develop them.
Rolston had known recent hire Forton for years through college connections. Forton, he said, "has a lot of character, a lot of integrity and a tremendous passion for the game. He shows a lot of grit as a person overall.
The final thing, which is probably most important, is he's an outstanding communicator and relationship-builder."
Forton will be up in the pressbox replacing Teppo Numminen.
Numminen has been up in the press box for the Sabres for two years and will now be on the bench.
Rolston said that Numminen wasn't in as prominent a position before as he will be now. "He'll be running the defensive core and he'll be working with our powerplay," said Rolston. "He in the position now where he'll be able to make a big difference for our hockey team."
Defense and powerplay? With the performance of the team in those two areas over the years, I'd say Numminen has his work cut out for him.
***
Regier took to the podium and talked about impending free agents Thomas Vanek and Ryan Miller.
Not much needs to be said. Everyone's in a holding pattern, just like the league in general when it comes to player movement.
Late July, after second-tier free agent signings, and August are usually devoid of player movement and this summer was no exception. Especially with the salary cap diving to $64M from $70M.
Regier said the trade-window was "closed right now" and that he doesn't expect much to happen on that front until the deadline approaches.
Vanek addressed the issue in his cold, business-like fashion (which isn't necessarily a bad thing.) He basically said that he was here as a Buffalo Sabre and from his standpoint he'd like to see where this rebuild goes before talking extension. And he expects the Sabers to take the same approach.
Vanek has said before that he likes to keep his options open.
As for Miller, he was a bit warmer to Buffalo and the thought of an extension, "Darcy [Regier] has to build a team and maybe he feels he wants me here," said Miller. "I'm happy to be here, I have a great connection with the city."
He reiterated that he and his agent Mike Liut never asked for a trade yet also knew that it was a possibility and said of a possible trade, "I don't know if that was the best thing for me anyway."
Regier was on WGR this morning and made it clear that the organization would welcome the opportunity to talk to both players but emphasized that the club does not have a standing offer for Vanek or Miller.
Another player that will be a free agent at season's end is forward Steve Ott. Regier said that the two sides have had some preliminary conversations.
***
The Sabres training camp roster:
BUFFALO SABRES 2013 TRAINING CAMP ROSTER
# DEFENSE POS HT WT S BIRTHPLACE DATE 12-13 TEAM GP G A PTS PIM
67 Austin, Brady D 6-3 232 L Bobcaygeon, Ontario 6-16-93 Belleville (OHL) 64 8 15 23 22
24 Bagnall, Drew D 6-3 220 L Oakbank, Manitoba 10-26-83 Houston (AHL) 47 1 5 6 88
42 Boland, Connor D 6-2 200 L Whitby, Ontario 11-29-94 Peterborough (OHL) 49 1 2 3 34
62 Crawford, Nick D 6-1 192 L Brampton, Ontario 2-23-90 Rochester (AHL) 53 5 14 19 18
10 Ehrhoff, Christian D 6-2 203 L Moers, Germany 7-6-82 Buffalo Sabres 47 5 17 22 34
34 Gauthier-Leduc, Jerome D 6-1 190 R Quebec City, Quebec 7-30-92 Rochester (AHL) 48 3 4 7 8
51 Lepkowski, Alex D 6-4 202 L West Seneca, New York 4-8-93 Barrie (OHL) 60 0 9 9 78
47 MacKenzie, Matt D 6-5 212 R New Westminster, British Columbia 10-15-91 Rochester (AHL) 30 0 4 4 66
Gwinnett (ECHL) 2 1 0 1 2
4 McBain, Jamie D 6-2 200 R Edina, Minnesota 2-25-88 Carolina Hurricanes 40 1 7 8 12
44 McNabb, Brayden D 6-5 212 L Saskatoon, Saskatchewan 1-21-90 Rochester (AHL) 62 5 31 36 50
57 Myers, Tyler D 6-8 227 R Houston, Texas 2-1-90 Buffalo Sabres 39 3 5 8 32
3 Pysyk, Mark D 6-1 193 R Sherwood Park, Alberta 1-11-92 Rochester (AHL) 57 4 14 18 20
Buffalo Sabres 19 1 4 5 0
55 Ristolainen, Rasmus D 6-4 224 R Turku, Finland 10-27-94 TPS (SM-liiga) 56 3 12 15 32
5 Ruhwedel, Chad D 5-11 182 R San Diego, California 5-7-90 UMass-Lowell (H-East) 41 7 16 23 20
Buffalo Sabres 7 0 0 0 0
52 Sulzer, Alexander D 6-1 204 L Kaufbeuren, Germany 5-30-84 Buffalo Sabres 17 3 1 4 10
20 Tallinder, Henrik D 6-4 215 L Stockholm, Sweden 1-10-79 New Jersey Devils 25 1 3 4 10
6 Weber, Mike D 6-2 199 L Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 12-16-87 Buffalo Sabres 42 1 6 7 70
61 Zadorov, Nikita D 6-5 219 L Moscow, Russia 4-15-95 London (OHL) 63 6 19 25 54
# GOALTENDER POS. HT WT C BIRTHPLACE DATE 12-13 TEAM GP W-L-OT GAA
1 Enroth, Jhonas G 5-10 166 L Stockholm, Sweden 6-25-88 Buffalo Sabres 12 4-4-1 2.60
31 Hackett, Matt G 6-2 173 L London, Ontario 3-7-90 Houston (AHL) 43 19-20-3 2.66
Rochester (AHL) 3 3-0-0 1.62
Minnesota Wild 1 0-1-0 5.08
49 Knapp, Connor G 6-5 215 L York, New York 5-1-90 Rochester (AHL) 7 1-6-0 3.34
Greenville (ECHL) 12 5-7-0 3.05
50 Lieuwen, Nathan G 6-5 192 L Abbotsford, British Columbia 8-8-91 Rochester (AHL) 4 1-2-0 2.65
Greenville (ECHL) 27 14-10-2 2.93
35 Makarov, Andrey G 6-1 193 L Kazan, Russia 4-20-93 Saskatoon (WHL) 61 37-17-5 2.62
30 Miller, Ryan G 6-2 175 L East Lansing, Michigan 7-17-80 Buffalo Sabres 40 17-17-5 2.81
General Manager: Darcy Regier
Head Coach: Ron Rolston
Asst. Coach: Joe Sacco
Asst. Coach: Teppo Numminen
Asst. Coach: Jerry Forton
Goaltending Coach: Jim Corsi
Strength & Conditioning Coach: Doug McKenney
Admin. Asst. Coach: Corey Smith
Monday, July 15, 2013
Quick hits as the dog-days of summer commence
It's July.
With the prospect camp finished, Sabres-related news will be relegated to the Ryan Miller and Thomas Vanek trade watch (see watched-pot and boiling) and a depth signing or two.
As of right now, the off-season has consisted of a widely considered strong draft and the homecoming of defenseman Henrik Tallinder.
Some quick hits on the past couple of weeks.
Most 2013 Draft mocks had the Sabres going after a forward and a defensemen with their two 1st-round picks. A couple had them picking two defensemen. Almost invariably, all of them had the Sabres landing a "puck-mover" type defensemen, a hallmark of GM Darcy Regier's team-building for years, with one of their two 1st-rounders.
Lo and behold, the Sabres, with Assistant GM/Head Scout Kevin Devine leading the charge, chose two big, strong defensemen with an edge: Rasmus Ristolainen (#8) and Nikita Zadorov (#16.) Both should not be confused with a pylon like Derian Hatcher, but they shouldn't be confused with Tallinder either.
A couple of names the Sabres passed up at No.8 were highly skilled winger Valeri Nichushkin and highly skilled center Alexander Wennberg. At No.16 they had "puck-mover" Mirco Mueller and a high-scoring winger Anthony Mantha available, but passed.
Devine said at last year's draft the Sabres wanted to get "bigger, stronger, faster." Regier said that the team needs to get bigger and needs to have players with "compete."
Sabres Owner Terry Pegula stated at his first presser that he wants "not only statistically good players, but winners, gritty players" and said that he wants "hard workers."
Most draft reviews have the Sabres scoring big in the draft, in no small part to selecting Ristolainen and Zadorov.
In Sabreland, the team scored big just for the fact that the team finally seems to be moving fully away from the "core" years.
********
Speaking of "the core."
A big part of Regier's "puck-moving" back end was the aforementioned Tallinder.
The defenseman was the second player selected (#48 overall) by the Sabres in 1997, Regier's first draft as GM of the Buffalo Sabres.
Tallinder is a pretty big d-man at 6'3" 216 lbs., but he's as soft as the day is long. He was on the ice, looking directly at Scott Gomez when the NYR center tripped up, and injured, Ryan Miller. And he did nothing.
Tallinder does have some positives.
He has a long reach and when he was paired with rookie Tyler Myers good things happened. Myer's won the Calder Trophy and Miller won the Vezina.
Most importantly, though, Tallinder has a big fan in Sabres owner Terry Pegula.
Pegula was quoted as saying that he couldn't comprehend the former regime letting the defenseman walk over contract length, and he also, according to the Buffalo News' Bucky Gleason, said that losing Tallinder and Toni Lydman in 2010 was worse than losing Drury and Briere.
First thought when I caught wind of the trade with New Jersey (for Riley Boychuk) was that Pegula had an influence on bringing Tallinder back.
*shrugs*
********
The addition of Tallinder really crowded the blueline and the Sabres now (again) have a number of NHL d-men headed into camp.
That number just increased by one as 2013 1st-round draft pick Ristolainen signed his entry-level contract last week.
Said Regier of the big Finnish defenseman, "We felt that it was important to get Rasmus under contract quickly so that we could start the development process right away. He's a very mature defenseman for his age and will have every chance to compete for a roster spot in training camp."
There was a bit of a "ta-do" with Ristolainen concerning his intentions for the upcoming season. He'd been in the Finnish Elite League and came into the prospects camp saying he had a contract with his hometown team while implying that it would be Finland or Buffalo. No Rochester.
The "ta-do" was comparisons to Russian Valeri Nichushkin who came out and said that he would either play in the NHL or the KHL. No AHL.
Buffalo passed on Nichushkin, a highly skilled winger, because of doubts about his intentions.
Regardless, the Sabres have Ristolainen under contract and according to Kevin Oklobzija of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, playing on the Amerks is an option:
Which makes for an even more crowded blueline.
********
As of right now, Myers, Christian Ehrhoff and Mike Weber are pretty much locks for the defense corps.
Tallinder and Alexander Sulzer, as vets, would probably have the inside track for two of the remaining three spots.
Mark Pysyk had a strong showing in a short stint last season while leapfrogging Brayden McNabb, who was solid in 2011-12.
Jamie McBain came over from Carolina in the Andrej Sekera deal and is expected to be a 7th d-man or in the minors.
And Chad Ruhwedel played a pretty solid game for the team last season, but could be headed to the AHL as well.
That's nine NHL'ers heading into camp. Throw in Ristolainen and there are 10 defensemen battling it out for seven spots.
Pysyk, McNabb, Ruhwedel and Ristolainen all can be sent to Rochester without clearing waivers.
McBain is another option. Although he would need to clear waivers it's possible he may clear. He had a horrendous season last year.
********
A quick look at the top remaining free agents this year and whether they should end up in Buffalo:
With the prospect camp finished, Sabres-related news will be relegated to the Ryan Miller and Thomas Vanek trade watch (see watched-pot and boiling) and a depth signing or two.
As of right now, the off-season has consisted of a widely considered strong draft and the homecoming of defenseman Henrik Tallinder.
Some quick hits on the past couple of weeks.
Most 2013 Draft mocks had the Sabres going after a forward and a defensemen with their two 1st-round picks. A couple had them picking two defensemen. Almost invariably, all of them had the Sabres landing a "puck-mover" type defensemen, a hallmark of GM Darcy Regier's team-building for years, with one of their two 1st-rounders.
Lo and behold, the Sabres, with Assistant GM/Head Scout Kevin Devine leading the charge, chose two big, strong defensemen with an edge: Rasmus Ristolainen (#8) and Nikita Zadorov (#16.) Both should not be confused with a pylon like Derian Hatcher, but they shouldn't be confused with Tallinder either.
A couple of names the Sabres passed up at No.8 were highly skilled winger Valeri Nichushkin and highly skilled center Alexander Wennberg. At No.16 they had "puck-mover" Mirco Mueller and a high-scoring winger Anthony Mantha available, but passed.
Devine said at last year's draft the Sabres wanted to get "bigger, stronger, faster." Regier said that the team needs to get bigger and needs to have players with "compete."
Sabres Owner Terry Pegula stated at his first presser that he wants "not only statistically good players, but winners, gritty players" and said that he wants "hard workers."
Most draft reviews have the Sabres scoring big in the draft, in no small part to selecting Ristolainen and Zadorov.
In Sabreland, the team scored big just for the fact that the team finally seems to be moving fully away from the "core" years.
********
Speaking of "the core."
A big part of Regier's "puck-moving" back end was the aforementioned Tallinder.
The defenseman was the second player selected (#48 overall) by the Sabres in 1997, Regier's first draft as GM of the Buffalo Sabres.
Tallinder is a pretty big d-man at 6'3" 216 lbs., but he's as soft as the day is long. He was on the ice, looking directly at Scott Gomez when the NYR center tripped up, and injured, Ryan Miller. And he did nothing.
Tallinder does have some positives.
He has a long reach and when he was paired with rookie Tyler Myers good things happened. Myer's won the Calder Trophy and Miller won the Vezina.
Most importantly, though, Tallinder has a big fan in Sabres owner Terry Pegula.
Pegula was quoted as saying that he couldn't comprehend the former regime letting the defenseman walk over contract length, and he also, according to the Buffalo News' Bucky Gleason, said that losing Tallinder and Toni Lydman in 2010 was worse than losing Drury and Briere.
First thought when I caught wind of the trade with New Jersey (for Riley Boychuk) was that Pegula had an influence on bringing Tallinder back.
*shrugs*
********
The addition of Tallinder really crowded the blueline and the Sabres now (again) have a number of NHL d-men headed into camp.
That number just increased by one as 2013 1st-round draft pick Ristolainen signed his entry-level contract last week.
Said Regier of the big Finnish defenseman, "We felt that it was important to get Rasmus under contract quickly so that we could start the development process right away. He's a very mature defenseman for his age and will have every chance to compete for a roster spot in training camp."
There was a bit of a "ta-do" with Ristolainen concerning his intentions for the upcoming season. He'd been in the Finnish Elite League and came into the prospects camp saying he had a contract with his hometown team while implying that it would be Finland or Buffalo. No Rochester.
The "ta-do" was comparisons to Russian Valeri Nichushkin who came out and said that he would either play in the NHL or the KHL. No AHL.
Buffalo passed on Nichushkin, a highly skilled winger, because of doubts about his intentions.
Regardless, the Sabres have Ristolainen under contract and according to Kevin Oklobzija of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, playing on the Amerks is an option:
"Defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen is eligible to play for the Rochester Americans, should he not earn a roster spot with the parent Buffalo Sabres during training camp.
The clarification comes this morning from Sabres assistant general manager Kevin Devine, and is presumably due to the NHL contract that the 18-year-old Ristolainen signed on Friday night."Many, though, think that Ristolainen has a good shot of making the team out of camp.
Which makes for an even more crowded blueline.
********
As of right now, Myers, Christian Ehrhoff and Mike Weber are pretty much locks for the defense corps.
Tallinder and Alexander Sulzer, as vets, would probably have the inside track for two of the remaining three spots.
Mark Pysyk had a strong showing in a short stint last season while leapfrogging Brayden McNabb, who was solid in 2011-12.
Jamie McBain came over from Carolina in the Andrej Sekera deal and is expected to be a 7th d-man or in the minors.
And Chad Ruhwedel played a pretty solid game for the team last season, but could be headed to the AHL as well.
That's nine NHL'ers heading into camp. Throw in Ristolainen and there are 10 defensemen battling it out for seven spots.
Pysyk, McNabb, Ruhwedel and Ristolainen all can be sent to Rochester without clearing waivers.
McBain is another option. Although he would need to clear waivers it's possible he may clear. He had a horrendous season last year.
********
A quick look at the top remaining free agents this year and whether they should end up in Buffalo:
- Jaromir Jagr--would be joining Tallinder in the "mentor" role. Why not? But don't get too comfy. After 50 or so games get them bags ready for a trade to a contender.
- Mikhail Grabovski--Meh. The Sabres already have a Mikhail and a multitude of second-line centers. Love his grasp of the English language, though.
- Damien Brunner--Anyone after him is obviously suffering short-term memory loss. Does Ville Leino ring a bell?
- Dustin Penner--Even if the Sabres traded his twin, Drew Stafford, do they really need a lesser version of that type of player?
- Brendan Morrow--He's 34 yrs. old, but his rambunctious style of play makes him seem older. There's a youth movement in Buffalo (minus the Tallinder trade.) Adding a vet wouldn't really be a good fit. And besides, it would seem as if he'd rather go to a contender in the twilight of his career.
- Daniel Cleary--First option would be to stay in Detroit. But that might not be feasible. As an excellent two-way winger, there could be a fit in Buffalo. Pretty sure he'll have other options.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Injuries hurt the Sabres this season, but...
GM Darcy Regier's rigid, year-long team-building philosophy hurt them more.
First off, because there was no end of year press conference, one needs to piece things together via media outlets instead of heading to Sabres.com.
And there's a lot to piece together. No need to rehash, look at the date, look at the words "year end."
Oh, and by the way, congrats to WGR, "the Home of the Buffalo Sabres," for landing the principles--Team President Ted Black, GM Darcy Regier and Head Coach Lindy Ruff. Owner Terry Pegula and his charges opted for this instead of the traditional press conference.
Sure, The Buffalo News' John Vogl had a phone conversation with Regier--Regier sees glass half full--but the lion's share went to GR. The paper's sports guys were ticked that there was no presser. Jerry Sullivan called the organization "thin-skinned" in his article, basically calling them cowards and Mike Harrington via The Sabres Edge blog used the NFL's media guidelines on end of season pressers to dis the Sabres.
Anyhow, there are some interesting things to piece together starting with injuries and how they played a role in undermining the teams' season.
Back in January with the team mired in a nearly a two month slump, Sabres fans were looking for something--anything--to be done to get the team out of it's funk.
We now know, that ownership was not looking at firing Regier and/or Ruff. WGR's Paul Hamilton put it this way at the end of the season, "It wasn't anything even discussed after this season," he wrote. "Owner Terry Pegula [was] comfortable with both men in January when they were in a free fall, he never wanted to make a change."
Hamilton did some good work in another piece by pointing out the teams' record with and without both Christian Ehrhoff and Tyler Myers throughout the season:
Hamilton has been adamant and constant in his dislike for the way Regier approaches the entire season. He points out that Regier's team-building philosophy starts with the off-season molding of the team and generally nothing gets altered until the trade deadline, a method Hamilton clearly dislikes. "I do not like the waiting," Hamilton said (3:35-mark), "I want a guy that doesn't sit there after the trade deadline and say, 'yeah, well maybe we should have made a deal earlier.'"
Regier admitted that he did have conversations during December and January, but it would seem as if there was nothing on the table to his liking.
Fine.
But did he ever considered making a deal just for the sake of making a deal to shake things up, maybe relieve some tension.
His reply (8:09-mark): "The only reason you do it is to release the tension and that could [have a good effect.] One argument would be, take someone who's not performing and bring up Marcus Foligno earlier, bring up Brayden McNabb earlier. If you want to try and use that type of thing, those are some things you find out because of injury, you find out some guys are closer [to making it in the NHL] than others."
He finished with this, "On the trade front? No."
The simple answer to the question of whether or not injuries played a major role in the demise of a once promising Sabres season is, yes. They were near the top of the league in man-games lost.
Back in November, this was their injured list at one point when they face the Washington Capitals on the 26th:
Taking their place (not including journeyman, Matt Ellis and Jochen Hecht, who returned from injury):
OK, fine. They were treading water at the time, although the clunker in Columbus two days earlier should have given them some indication that things were awry.
If you're not going to make a move then, one would think that a move would've been forthcoming after the Sabres embarrassed their owner in Pittsburgh a few weeks later. Sure they were 4-3-1 from that Washington game up until the Pens game, but they were clinging by the skin of their teeth every night for points.
And if it didn't happen then, one would think that after the Christmas roster freeze and near the end of a dismal December a move of some sort would be needed to shake the team out of it's funk.
Surely, after being embarrassed in Detroit 5-0 on January 16th, their ninth regulation road-loss in a row (with the NHL cameras there doing a spot on Nik Lidstrom, btw) something would have been done. Or after their loss in Chicago when they were embarrassed 6-2 two days later. Or after their loss in Winnipeg when they tied a franchise record 11-game road losing streak with a 4-1 loss. Or after St. Louis when they set a club record for road losses with another embarrassing performance in a 4-2 defeat.
Nope.
Steady as she goes.
Regier was set with his team which was sitting at the bottom of the Eastern Conference.
Fact is, they lost the season from Pittsburgh on Dec. 17th to St. Louis on Jan. 21. With 17 games and 34 points on the table the team went 3-12-2.
You read that correctly--3-12-2. And nothing was done.
It makes you wonder just what they were thinking about this team. The Stanley Cup aspirations trumpeted at the beginning of the year were trampled upon from Lucic/Miller in early November to Pittsburgh in December. They did have the opportunity to make a move from that night in Pittsburgh up until the trade deadline, but did not. Instead they paraded out the injury excuse.
Yeah, a valid point, but if you wanted to save the season, something needed to be done.
Regier's patience was a fault, and probably the big reason the Sabres failed to make the playoffs.
He should be thanking his team for bailing him out with an impressive late-season rally that almost got them into the playoffs and he should be thanking his lucky stars that Nashville and Vancouver helped save his job by trading with him.
Maybe he'll change his approach to team-building next season.
A quick note:
Sabres GM Darcy Regier has one more year remaining on the clandestine contract extension he signed back in 2010 with the former regime.
First off, because there was no end of year press conference, one needs to piece things together via media outlets instead of heading to Sabres.com.
And there's a lot to piece together. No need to rehash, look at the date, look at the words "year end."
Oh, and by the way, congrats to WGR, "the Home of the Buffalo Sabres," for landing the principles--Team President Ted Black, GM Darcy Regier and Head Coach Lindy Ruff. Owner Terry Pegula and his charges opted for this instead of the traditional press conference.
Sure, The Buffalo News' John Vogl had a phone conversation with Regier--Regier sees glass half full--but the lion's share went to GR. The paper's sports guys were ticked that there was no presser. Jerry Sullivan called the organization "thin-skinned" in his article, basically calling them cowards and Mike Harrington via The Sabres Edge blog used the NFL's media guidelines on end of season pressers to dis the Sabres.
Anyhow, there are some interesting things to piece together starting with injuries and how they played a role in undermining the teams' season.
Back in January with the team mired in a nearly a two month slump, Sabres fans were looking for something--anything--to be done to get the team out of it's funk.
We now know, that ownership was not looking at firing Regier and/or Ruff. WGR's Paul Hamilton put it this way at the end of the season, "It wasn't anything even discussed after this season," he wrote. "Owner Terry Pegula [was] comfortable with both men in January when they were in a free fall, he never wanted to make a change."
Hamilton did some good work in another piece by pointing out the teams' record with and without both Christian Ehrhoff and Tyler Myers throughout the season:
- With Ehrhoff Buffalo's record was 36-22-8 (.606)...without 2-9-2 (.231)
- With Myers they were 31-21-4 (.589)...without 7-10-6 (.439)
Hamilton has been adamant and constant in his dislike for the way Regier approaches the entire season. He points out that Regier's team-building philosophy starts with the off-season molding of the team and generally nothing gets altered until the trade deadline, a method Hamilton clearly dislikes. "I do not like the waiting," Hamilton said (3:35-mark), "I want a guy that doesn't sit there after the trade deadline and say, 'yeah, well maybe we should have made a deal earlier.'"
Regier admitted that he did have conversations during December and January, but it would seem as if there was nothing on the table to his liking.
Fine.
But did he ever considered making a deal just for the sake of making a deal to shake things up, maybe relieve some tension.
His reply (8:09-mark): "The only reason you do it is to release the tension and that could [have a good effect.] One argument would be, take someone who's not performing and bring up Marcus Foligno earlier, bring up Brayden McNabb earlier. If you want to try and use that type of thing, those are some things you find out because of injury, you find out some guys are closer [to making it in the NHL] than others."
He finished with this, "On the trade front? No."
The simple answer to the question of whether or not injuries played a major role in the demise of a once promising Sabres season is, yes. They were near the top of the league in man-games lost.
Back in November, this was their injured list at one point when they face the Washington Capitals on the 26th:
- Tyler Ennis (F,) Injured Reserve, 10-25-11--sprained ankle
- Ryan Miller (G,) IR, 11-14-11--concussion
- Cody McCormick (F,) IR, 11-16-11--"upper body"
- Mike Weber (D,) IR, 11-18-11--"upper body"
- Tyler Myers (D,) IR, 11-23-11--broken wrist
- Pat Kaleta (F,) day-to-day, 11-23-11--"lower body"
- Brad Boyes (F,) IR, 11-25-11--knee
- Robyn Regehr (D,) day-to-day, 11-26-11--"upper body"
- Drew Stafford (F,) day-to-day, 11-26--11--"undisclosed"
Taking their place (not including journeyman, Matt Ellis and Jochen Hecht, who returned from injury):
- Drew MacIntyre (G,) journeyman goalie--recalled11-14-11
- Corey Tropp (F,) one full AHL season--11-16-11
- TJ Brennan (D,) two full AHL seasons--11-21-11
- Zack Kassian (F,) 21 AHL games (three in 2011 post-season)--11-24-11
- Brayden McNabb (D,) 19 AHL games--11-26-11
- Paul Szczechura (F,) journeyman forward with 83 NHL and 214 AHL games in five seasons--11-26-11
- Luke Adam (C,) 21 yrs. old, second NHL season--rookie
- Jhonas Enroth (G,) 23 yrs. old, second NHL season--rookie
- Marc-Andre Gragnani (D,) 24 yrs. old, first full NHL season
- Nathan Gerbe (F,) 24 yrs. old, second full NHL season
OK, fine. They were treading water at the time, although the clunker in Columbus two days earlier should have given them some indication that things were awry.
If you're not going to make a move then, one would think that a move would've been forthcoming after the Sabres embarrassed their owner in Pittsburgh a few weeks later. Sure they were 4-3-1 from that Washington game up until the Pens game, but they were clinging by the skin of their teeth every night for points.
And if it didn't happen then, one would think that after the Christmas roster freeze and near the end of a dismal December a move of some sort would be needed to shake the team out of it's funk.
Surely, after being embarrassed in Detroit 5-0 on January 16th, their ninth regulation road-loss in a row (with the NHL cameras there doing a spot on Nik Lidstrom, btw) something would have been done. Or after their loss in Chicago when they were embarrassed 6-2 two days later. Or after their loss in Winnipeg when they tied a franchise record 11-game road losing streak with a 4-1 loss. Or after St. Louis when they set a club record for road losses with another embarrassing performance in a 4-2 defeat.
Nope.
Steady as she goes.
Regier was set with his team which was sitting at the bottom of the Eastern Conference.
Fact is, they lost the season from Pittsburgh on Dec. 17th to St. Louis on Jan. 21. With 17 games and 34 points on the table the team went 3-12-2.
You read that correctly--3-12-2. And nothing was done.
It makes you wonder just what they were thinking about this team. The Stanley Cup aspirations trumpeted at the beginning of the year were trampled upon from Lucic/Miller in early November to Pittsburgh in December. They did have the opportunity to make a move from that night in Pittsburgh up until the trade deadline, but did not. Instead they paraded out the injury excuse.
Yeah, a valid point, but if you wanted to save the season, something needed to be done.
Regier's patience was a fault, and probably the big reason the Sabres failed to make the playoffs.
He should be thanking his team for bailing him out with an impressive late-season rally that almost got them into the playoffs and he should be thanking his lucky stars that Nashville and Vancouver helped save his job by trading with him.
Maybe he'll change his approach to team-building next season.
A quick note:
Sabres GM Darcy Regier has one more year remaining on the clandestine contract extension he signed back in 2010 with the former regime.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
connolly, broken nose, out at least one week
tim connolly is out again, done in by a hard hit from the lightning's nate thompson...nothing really illegal, but the finishing hip by thompson into connolly was something that the on-ice sabres shoulda been pissed at...
jordan leopld had a bird's eye view of the play and did absolutely nothing to stick up for his fallen teammate...and it's not surprising, that's who jordan leopold is...
another puck-mover from gm darcy regier...kinda reminiscent of the departed hank tallinder and how he would stick up for his teammates...pretend like he didn't see it
connolly would come back during the game, though:
Monday, October 25, 2010
if i were a devils fan, i'd be ticked
if i was a devils fan who attended the game last night, i'd be ticked...ilya kovalchuk was a healthy scratch, martin brodeur was on the bench until johan hedberg (in his first start of the season) got the hook and the devils, outside of the first two minutes, played an incredibly listless game...
on kovalchuk: it was speculated, according to msg analyst ron duguay, that kovalchuk and devils head coach john mclean had a spat...no further information has been released but this is what mclean had to say, “That’s between him and I,” MacLean said, “That was my decision"...and he did not elaborate on the reasons for scratching the two-time 50-goal scorer...
kovalchuk is an incredible offensive player, an elite sniper in the nhl...perhaps mclean found his defensive play offensive as well...who knows, but one thing for sure, the off-season turbulence is affecting the devils, who are off to a 2-5-1 start...
brodeur was given the night off, until he was summoned half-way through the game...hedberg, who had a 12-2-2 record vs. buffalo and a gaa of 2.25, got the hook after giving up four goals on 15 shots...
the sabres played a totally different team in the devils...basically they had a pretty easy night...some notes:
--mike weber had a solid game after a rough first couple of shifts and looked real confident in his first game of the season patrolling the blueline
--it seems as if tyler myers needs to add an extra inch to his stick, and maybe he should dump the composite stick for a wood one...it's as if the puck is always half-an-inch out of reach (maybe because myers grew an inch since last season) and is bouncing off his stick more often than not...yeah, he's having a rough start, but there will come a time where the game will slow down and it will start making sense again...he's going through some changes--height, weight, opposition, d-partner...kinda like going through puberty all over again
--chris butler seems to be rounding into his'08/9 form, which is a good thing
it'll be interesting to see how these three acquit themselves throughout the season...as of now andrej sekera and butler have had the most ice-time, and of the two, buts has looked much better...it seems as if the game has slowed for him
tyler ennis has been on a line with vets rob niedermayer and mike grier...as mentioned in another blog here, it's a good thing...the gripes from sabredom have been about him wasting his talents on the third line with checkers and defensive-minded players were at a fever-pitch when this line was announced...just to remind everyone, danny gare came into the league as a scorer and spent his rookie campaign with don luce and craig ramsay, two of the best defensive forwards in the league...he had a 50-goal rookie season...
on hank tallinder: jerry sullivan of the buffalo news brings up the point that maybe tyler myers is having a poor start because of the loss of hank tallinder...the article is more about the loss of tim kennedy, but he ties in hank as well...as part of "the core" hank really didn't do much for me...yes he had a comeback year last season, and that can be attributed more to myers than anything, but he was one of the biggest wusses on the team...two instances where he failed to protect his goalie, the face of the franchise--the scott gomez (nyr) hit on ryan miller and the chris phillips (ott) hit on miller as well...totally inexcusable...
lack of compete was a hallmark of henrik tallinder when he was in buffalo...it seems as if tallinder carried it with him to new jersey as exemplified in a play where 5'6" nathan gerbe out-competes 6'4" tallinder for the puck setting up a bang-bang, derek roy to thomas vanek goal...
myers will shake his heebie-jeebies...as for hank?...so long and thanx for all the fish
on kovalchuk: it was speculated, according to msg analyst ron duguay, that kovalchuk and devils head coach john mclean had a spat...no further information has been released but this is what mclean had to say, “That’s between him and I,” MacLean said, “That was my decision"...and he did not elaborate on the reasons for scratching the two-time 50-goal scorer...
kovalchuk is an incredible offensive player, an elite sniper in the nhl...perhaps mclean found his defensive play offensive as well...who knows, but one thing for sure, the off-season turbulence is affecting the devils, who are off to a 2-5-1 start...
brodeur was given the night off, until he was summoned half-way through the game...hedberg, who had a 12-2-2 record vs. buffalo and a gaa of 2.25, got the hook after giving up four goals on 15 shots...
the sabres played a totally different team in the devils...basically they had a pretty easy night...some notes:
--mike weber had a solid game after a rough first couple of shifts and looked real confident in his first game of the season patrolling the blueline
--it seems as if tyler myers needs to add an extra inch to his stick, and maybe he should dump the composite stick for a wood one...it's as if the puck is always half-an-inch out of reach (maybe because myers grew an inch since last season) and is bouncing off his stick more often than not...yeah, he's having a rough start, but there will come a time where the game will slow down and it will start making sense again...he's going through some changes--height, weight, opposition, d-partner...kinda like going through puberty all over again
--chris butler seems to be rounding into his'08/9 form, which is a good thing
it'll be interesting to see how these three acquit themselves throughout the season...as of now andrej sekera and butler have had the most ice-time, and of the two, buts has looked much better...it seems as if the game has slowed for him
tyler ennis has been on a line with vets rob niedermayer and mike grier...as mentioned in another blog here, it's a good thing...the gripes from sabredom have been about him wasting his talents on the third line with checkers and defensive-minded players were at a fever-pitch when this line was announced...just to remind everyone, danny gare came into the league as a scorer and spent his rookie campaign with don luce and craig ramsay, two of the best defensive forwards in the league...he had a 50-goal rookie season...
on hank tallinder: jerry sullivan of the buffalo news brings up the point that maybe tyler myers is having a poor start because of the loss of hank tallinder...the article is more about the loss of tim kennedy, but he ties in hank as well...as part of "the core" hank really didn't do much for me...yes he had a comeback year last season, and that can be attributed more to myers than anything, but he was one of the biggest wusses on the team...two instances where he failed to protect his goalie, the face of the franchise--the scott gomez (nyr) hit on ryan miller and the chris phillips (ott) hit on miller as well...totally inexcusable...
lack of compete was a hallmark of henrik tallinder when he was in buffalo...it seems as if tallinder carried it with him to new jersey as exemplified in a play where 5'6" nathan gerbe out-competes 6'4" tallinder for the puck setting up a bang-bang, derek roy to thomas vanek goal...
myers will shake his heebie-jeebies...as for hank?...so long and thanx for all the fish
Monday, October 18, 2010
hank tallinder?...really!!!???
you have got to be kidding me!
who had a front row seat as ryan miller was run?
and who did absolutely nothing?
yeah, you knuckleheads, #10, hank tallinder
next thing you know, sabres fans will be moaning about the loss of tim kennedy and how his bottom-six contributions are missed...ohhhh, silly me, the whiners are already bringing that up too...absurdity reigns
VIVA LA CORE!!!
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