Plenty of questions for Jason Botterill when he hits the podium tomorrow.

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 4-10-2018


Buffalo Sabres GM Jason Botterill should have a ton of tough questions to answer about his team at his year-end press conference. A dismal season like the Sabres just went through took it's toll on a number of players and a lot of emotions came out yesterday as the players talked to the gathered media during locker cleanout day. Not only did they clean out their lockers, but some also cleaned out some pretty deep thoughts that lay deep in the recesses of their minds.

The big bombshell came from Ryan O'Reilly when he said there were times he lost his love for the game. That quote and others from him created a firestorm. On the one hand, his brutal honesty was refreshing but on the other, he was roundly chastised him for feeling that way.

O'Reilly accused the team of "being OK with losing."

"It's crept into all of our games. Yeah, it's disappointing. It's sad," he said. "I feel throughout the year I've lost the love of the game multiple times and just need to get back to it because it's eating myself up and eats the other guys up too."

WGR550 radio host Howard Simon offered up a rebuttal and rebuke of the Sabres second-leading scorer and assistant captain, with an opinion piece entitled "O'Reilly needs to suck it up, add him to the list of Sabres problems."

"You are supposed to be one of the leaders of this team," wrote Simon of O'Reilly. "I can’t have one of my team leaders moping around and feeling sorry about the sad state of affairs that is the Sabres franchise.

"No one wants to be on a losing team. I’d imagine coming to the rink these last two seasons hasn’t been much fun for anyone associated with the team, but that’s when you dig a little deeper and find a way to persevere. More so for a player of O’Reilly’s stature since many in the locker room could end up following his lead.

"But as the saying goes, when the going gets tough the tough get going."

To his credit, Simon did not bring up O'Reilly's salary and he did include the positives that the 27 yr. old brings to the table. However, the cliché's were flowing in his piece.

There were a ton of things wrong with the on-ice product starting at the top with an inexperienced head coach and stretching all the way to goaltending, but the overriding theme seems to be the lack of a professional mindset, of bringing it every day, not just on game day, or should we say, occasionally on game day.

Scott Wilson was with the Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins in 2017. Botterill was an AGM with the Pens that year and he traded for Wilson early this season. Both have seen what it takes for a team to take it to that level and the theme of Wilson's interview yesterday centered around the proper mindset.

"We made some strides in the right direction in certain games and playing good teams," he said, "but the (proper) mindset is bringing that every time you're in the hockey rink, not just on the ice either."

Forward Evan Rodrigues played 48 games for the Sabres in the back portion of the season. The second year pro was injured in the preseason and spent eight games with Rochester before being recalled for good and he also mentioned mindset. "When we were committed to doing the right things and playing on the right side of the puck and doing the little things right," he said, "we were successful. And when we played those good teams, we kind of knew we had to do that.

"When we had the right mindset to do those things, I think that's when we won a lot of our games. We just have to find a way to make sure we're bringing that day-in, day-out."

"I think just overall our mindset's got to change," said Jason Pominville, who's on his second tour with in Buffalo. The former Sabres captain struggled to find the best way to put it when he continued by saying, "It's become kind of noticeable, when you lose and you lose so much over the course of three/four years, guys that have been here a while have been accustomed to that.

"I know everyone wants to wing, no one wants to lose, but you kind of have those habits where it becomes acceptable (to lose) almost without realizing it."

The losing aspect of the equation has been brought up numerous times over the course of the season and it's probably best to remember that ownership and management set their team on this course with consecutive tank seasons. Granted, after a season and a half of mostly positives with the team looking like it was headed in the right direction, the losing element pulled this club back into the abyss.

"Nobody's gonna be happy with a losing record or losing night in, night out," said Wilson citing that sometimes negativity rolls through the team. The way to break that cycle, he believes, may center around "just being positive, and coming together (as a team)."

Defenseman Zach Bogosian has played 10 years in the league and never made the post season. The 27 yr. old has never played a healthy season in Buffalo and underwent surgery after only 18 games this year. Bogosian said that he wasn't around the locker room that much this past season but still brought it back to pulling out as a team.

"When your in a losing environment where we were losing quite a bit, it's tough to pull yourself out. As a group we have to do it together."

Wilson echoed those thought when he was asked if they need to learn how to win. "I think it's a big confidence thing," he said. "A lot of guys struggled with confidence issues in this locker room, but we showed signs of good things.

"I think the winning aspect comes when you're rolling as a team and not playing as individuals."

There really are no saviors in a team sport like hockey. You have your great ones, legends who's skill and drive can carry much of the weight, but it's still up to the supporting cast to do their part. For evidence of that, look no further than this year's Edmonton Oilers lead by Connor McDavid, a player who is considered one of the best in the game at only 21 yrs. old. After an playoff adrenaline rush last season, the Oilers fell back to 23rd in the league despite McDavid leading the league with 108 points.

If it's not true in Edmonton, it isn't true in Buffalo either. Eichel was selected second overall behind McDavid in the 2015 NHL Draft. Although he's not quite at McDavid's level, his speed and skill package is up there with some of the best in the league. Eichel has been with the Sabres for three seasons and he hasn't tasted much success on a team basis despite leading Buffalo in scoring the last two seasons and finishing second his rookie season.

After his locker cleanout interview, many consider him to be the next captain of the Buffalo Sabres as he stood there answering all questions in a most mature, thoughtful and respectful way. He knows there are problems with mindset and consistency that have negatively affected the team. It's time to change that and he said it will begin with him.

"What we've been doing as a team hasn't been working," he said. "All you can really do is focus on yourself and changing yourself and I think that's what helps change the culture, change the team. It starts every day at practice, your work ethic, coming to work ready to compete, ready to get better.

"When you look at the good teams, they bring it every night."

Perhaps that drive was there early on a team basis, but with every loss in October, any fire and positivity this group had to begin the season ended up in a downward spiral as their poor start got worse and their playoff hopes ended early. "When you put yourself out of it a lot sooner than you'd like," said Eichel, "it's tough.

"We need to find a way to have a good start, come out in October and not be behind the 8-ball."

That's where Botterill comes into play. He's heard where his players heads have been this season and he knows he needs to add talent. Last off season he focused on the Rochester Americans in order to incubate his prospects in a positive environment. It's working as the team is in the playoffs for the first time in three years.

Of course, it's a lot more difficult doing that in the NHL. Establishing a leadership pecking order may help that and if that's the case, Eichel will probably be atop. Adding talent will help immensely while adding character and mental toughness may also be of supreme importance. They'll also need to bring in a goaltender to work the crease either as a backup to Linus Ullmark or as a starter until he can get himself anchored in NHL play.

Botterill will also need to take a good look at his coaching staff. Although Phil Housley's job as head coach looks safe for now, he may need more of a veteran presence from his assistants.

Tomorrow may be the most important end of season presser in Buffalo and Botterill will have plenty of hard questions to answer about his team. What he says will carry a lot of weight but it will be what he does in the off season that will really set the tone.

It was a long season for everyone, Botterill included, but it's over and time to move on.

Some players to keep an eye on and some games to watch tonight

Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com


Yes, the saga continues tonight in Vancouver as the Canucks host the Arizona Coyotes at 10:00pm EST.

From a 'Yote's/Buffalo Sabres perspective, we all know what's at stake. A win by Arizona and it's over. A regulation loss and Howard Simon starts losing hair on his face and ears, security on the Peace Bridge goes orange and fans start gathering fuel for their Ted Nolan effigy.

Just a thought before we move on, were Nolan to get fired at anytime before the end of the season, methinks the team would rally. Whether the rally would be successful or not is another story, but as Bill Hoppe of the Olean Times' Buffalo Hockeybeat pointed out today, he's well thought of by the players as he's managed to keep things upbeat, according to Hoppe, despite the team losing 57 games (including overtime/shootout losses) to date. "Players clearly enjoy playing under Nolan," wrote Hoppe. "They mention the way he communicates, his motivational skills and the freedom he gives them."

Ted Nolan, "Agree to disagree"

Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com


Sabres head coach Ted Nolan was on WGR's Howard Simon Show for his weekly appearance. As is par for the course in the Buffalo media these days, the host and co-host spent the majority of the segment trying in many ways to get his thoughts on what's transpired over the course of the last week. Nolan was asked about the home fans cheering the opposition, the players being annoyed by it, the wins vs. Arizona and Toronto, the value of positioning amongst the bottom-dwelling teams and how he's handling it all.

Host Simon and his co-host Jeremy Whiter were sneaky, which is typical, because if one hopes to get an answer, that's the way one must be when asking a question on a touchy subject. And Nolan didn't just fall off the turnip truck. After one question thrown his way, the coach came right out and said, "That's a loaded question."

What we're witnessing, and have been witnessing, throughout this long, tedious and rather exhausting process, is a simple case of people doing their jobs. The boys on the air and in print, in essence, are speaking for many fans (or think they are) and are trying to get some information and/or sound bites. The players on the ice are doing their jobs as they're trying to win and make an impression so that they may continue their careers. Nolan and his staff are doing their jobs in trying to get the best out of each player on an individual basis while GM Tim Murray is keeping in mind the long-term best interests of the franchise.

Add it all up and you have the Sabres tenuous hold on 30th place and a fan-base getting more and more nervous with every point Buffalo gets. But "Tank-nation" needn't fret all that much as the level of competition coming up is sharply greater than what Arizona and Toronto have to offer.

Hockey's anti-fighting crusaders should let real men play "a man's game."

Sabres' captain Steve Ott was on the Howard Simon Show in his weekly slot today and he got into a discussion with Simon and Jeremy White concerning fighting and it's role in the NHL.

In case you hadn't noticed, Ott is old-school. When Simon asked if he'd ever been in a line brawl like the most recent Calgary/Vancouver scrum, Ott said he'd been in many line brawls and that it was common in Junior, "probably five or six a year."

Tipper Gore and her Parents Music Resource Center
did battle with Frank Zappa during the 80's.
The soccer-mom mentality began with
Tipper and her overbearing crusade against music.

The brawl between Calgary and Vancouver--about which much has been written including a snipe from ESPN baseball analyst Peter Gammons--has once again brought fighting in hockey to the forefront.

And not in a good way either as it would seem that more and more people, including media members, are crusading against it.

Ask anyone who'd followed hockey for the last 40-50 years and they'll tell you that what occurred in Vancouver was commonplace back then. And pretty sure that Ott would feel right at home playing the likes of the Broadstreet Bullies and the Big, Bad Bruins.

So the question posed to Ott is this, with the NHL cracking down on fighting, and less of these tough-guy, line brawls happening does Ott, having gone through junior expecting stuff like that, miss it and take solace in a kinder, gentler NHL?

Thoughts on the Carolina home and home

After a 6-3 shelling at the hands of Carolina on Thursday, it didn't take head coach Lindy Ruff long to get that choking feeling and move veteran center/winger Jochen Hecht up to the third line.

Ruff used this as his excuse/reasoning, "We tried to be a little bit harder on [Eric]Staal. We used [Steve] Ott and [Patrick] Kaleta and Hecht against him," he said. "It was the only reason. I thought we had to try to slow [him down]." Staal had the hat trick vs. the Sabres in Carolina the night before.

Of course, that meant rookie Mikhail Grigorenko, playing in his fourth of possibly five "tryout" games was demoted to the fourth line.

Grigorenko, who had been middle-of-the road, but was showing signs of progressing, turned out to be a casualty of Ruff's reliance on the "tried and true." Hecht is one of Ruff's favorite players, one that he believes he can count on in all situations.

From the moment Hecht was signed to a one year deal, everyone knew that it was only a matter of time before he climbed up the lines into a spot that was beyond his talents (that would be anything above the fourth line.) Sure enough, it was last night.

In years past, Ruff has been seen as stunting the growth of his young players either being too hard on them or putting them in a position to fail. Now, even though Grigorenko has done what's asked of him, he gets demoted to a line with fighter John Scott and little Nathan Gerbe.

At today's skate, Bill Hoppe of the Olean Times Herald thinks that Ruff may have some remorse. “It’s like burning a game,”  Ruff was quoted as saying.

Sure enough, they only have five games to decide whether the 18 yr. old center sticks or gets sent back to Jr. At 6:48 of ice time, to get a better "match up," Ruff did burn a game. And further burned his reputation of leaning on "his" guys into the brains of every Sabre fan.

Being on the third line getting 10-12 minutes a game is not a bad way to get introduced into the NHL. Doing what the coach tells you to do--focusing upon defense, even though you have mad offensive skills--should get you more ice-time, not less.

Ruff screwed up last night. Everyone in Sabreland knows it (except maybe for Terry Pegula and Darcy Regier) and I would hazard to guess that Grigorenko's a little perplexed at Ruff's decision.

Let's hope "Grigs" has the wherewithal to get past it and move forward.


************

There's a reason I dislike twitter, other than the fact that it's inane. One should never trust an initial reaction while dealing in disappointment.

After last night's loss. I wanted Lindy Ruff to be fired. I also wanted to see WGR's Paul Hamilton and Howard Simon and Chris "Bulldog" Parker canned as well. What the hell, I wanted Jeremy White and Mike Schoppsie fired too, like I always do.

It's an obvious overreaction, which is why twitter is pretty much useless, unless you want to laugh at someone.

But, here are the reasons why the aforementioned should at least be on notice:

Lindy Ruff--Relying on an old stand-by--Jochen Hecht--to get the job done. The Sabres lost 3-1. His "old standbys" have gotten him to the playoffs twice in the last five seasons, never getting the team past the first round.

Howard Simon--What a sore loser. Still. Before the 'Canes home-and-home, Simon had the audacity to belittle the organization with an article entitled 'Canes mediocre since raising the Cup. He is, of course, sure that Buffalo would have won it had they not fallen on hard times vs. Carolina back in 2006. But why bag on an organization that at the very least is not that far below the Sabres? Oh, and no comment section either.

Paul Hamilton--Sabres D-man Tyler Myers is off to a slow start--again. In an interview with Hamilton a couple of days ago, Myers had the "audacity" to laugh at a perceived lack of confidence in himself. A laugh Hamilton described as "condescending." Whoa there, pardner, nobody does that to THE Paul Hamilton. Myers has now got himself an overweight beagle annoyingly barking up a storm. Yesterday the hound almighty opened up his post-game article with, "Since I felt Tyler Myers was playing worse than he does, I figured I'd make him my focus this game." Talk about condescending. Really?  Oh, and as usual, no comment section.

Chris "Bulldog" Parker--Bulldog's been really annoying lately, especially when it comes to the Bills and specifically Ryan Fitzpatrick. The season's over, and despite a Syracuse reunion at the top two spots on the coaching staff, and a possibility of a reunion with their QB of the last three seasons, it's back to the old punching bag, Fitzpatrick, and Bulldog's article, Are we done with Fitz? Yes, Bulldog, we know you're done with Fitz as a starter. But your plan, "if [you] were the Bills--pick the best [QB] I can with the 8th pick and hope he's ready to play in September?" Really? I'm glad you're not the GM. Like the Bills don't have holes at linebacker (at least two,) CB and WR. Glad I don't listen to you and that Schoppsie guy anymore.

Mike Schoppsie--Shoulda been fired long ago. Arrogance and perceived "entertainment." This is the same guy that once had some suggestions to help Ryan Miller get out of his goaltending slump. Schoppsie's suggestions were based on his time as a goalie, in an intramural floor hockey league. This is also the same guy who said faceoffs are not as important as people make them out to be. My suggestion is that you ask the Sabres about Carolina's go-ahead goal last night. Or go ask Edmonton why Nail Yakupov was able to tie the score with 4 seconds left in the third. What a maroon.

Jeremy White--The Jim Rome wannabe shtick is old. Has been old for a while. A waffler who said that he's happy to have the NHL back, yet was willing to boycott NHL players during the lockout. Said that he'd watch AHL players play for the crest. Never went to a Rochester game during the lockout.

Like Mike Trivisonno said one time down here in Cleveland. Fire all the media.


************

Yeah, can fire 'em all, except for WGR's John Murphy.

Would like to say thank your, Mr. Murphy, for your knowledgeable and insightful journalistic approach to the Buffalo sports scene.

Oh, and thanks for letting us know that 2013 unrestricted free agent Logan Coture of San Jose' is a huge Buffalo Sports fan.

************

Back to the Sabres.

Lindy "the tinkerer" Ruff held firm to his top two lines for three games with only the top line scoring. It would seem as if he'll be changing things up a bit for the afternoon game tomorrow at Washington.

Tomorrow's skate will give us more of an insight, but making one simple move may be a good way to approach things--exchange Steve Ott for Marcus Foligno on the second line.

Having Ott replace Foligno will give Tyler Ennis and Drew Stafford the same kind of forward Foligno is, only he's more experienced, has played with star players in a top-line/top-six role and he has produced.

Plus, having Ott ready to take faceoffs will allow Ennis to "cheat" a little more knowing that he has an excellent face-off man in waiting should he get tossed. Maybe that's what Ennis was hinting at when he said,
"Maybe another big guy on my line, we could be mutual at it and cheat on draws and have them take some. I have to improve at it."

Ennis is presently 38.6% on draws. Ott is at 61.9.

Rookie Grigorenko is 57.2% on draws.

Foligno dropping down with Grigorenko and Gerbe on the third line would still give that line a power forward presence and it might even help Grigorenko.

Who knows?