Far be it for me to equate sports with a life-threatening pandemic that's sweeping the globe, but when looking at the Buffalo Sabres and how the Trump administration responded to the Covid-19 pandemic, and especially with whom in their respective roles as department leaders, there are some parallels.
Prior to the NHL suspending the 2019-20 season, the Buffalo Sabres were on their way to an NHL-long ninth consecutive season outside of the playoffs. Since Terry Pegula bought the team in 2011 they've gone through a short-lived President of Hockey Operations, are on their third team president, third general manager and sixth head coach. The overall choppy results, at best, since he took over are representative of an organization that has neither found the right people nor found the right philosophy to guide the franchise out of this mess.
Showing posts with label nhl thoughts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nhl thoughts. Show all posts
Friday, March 13, 2020
Friday, October 11, 2019
Sabres putting the "power" back in their powerplay
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 10-19-2019
Never underestimate special teams, specifically the powerplay.
Sure, there's a vocal faction the truly believes that special teams really don't matter much because most of the play is at 5v5. There's a point to be made there and we can look specifically at the Buffalo Sabres who, in the 2016-17 season had the NHL's No. 1 powerplay (24.5%) but finished 26th in the league due in large part to the seventh-worst goal production in the league and a seventh-worst goal differential (-36.)
Analytics has it's place in the world but there are things that can't be charted, such as momentum. And, of course, there's a strong vocal minority that refuse to believe momentum exists in sports, but anyone who's played organized sports outside of intramurals would have a differing opinion. Heck, even in pickup games one can sense riding a hot hand and/or the tide turning at any given moment. That said, things like momentum can't be empirically charted therefore in this Aristotelian age of statistical importance, the unquantifiable doesn't matter.
Never underestimate special teams, specifically the powerplay.
Sure, there's a vocal faction the truly believes that special teams really don't matter much because most of the play is at 5v5. There's a point to be made there and we can look specifically at the Buffalo Sabres who, in the 2016-17 season had the NHL's No. 1 powerplay (24.5%) but finished 26th in the league due in large part to the seventh-worst goal production in the league and a seventh-worst goal differential (-36.)
Analytics has it's place in the world but there are things that can't be charted, such as momentum. And, of course, there's a strong vocal minority that refuse to believe momentum exists in sports, but anyone who's played organized sports outside of intramurals would have a differing opinion. Heck, even in pickup games one can sense riding a hot hand and/or the tide turning at any given moment. That said, things like momentum can't be empirically charted therefore in this Aristotelian age of statistical importance, the unquantifiable doesn't matter.
Thursday, May 23, 2019
A Boston Bruins/St. Louis Blues SCF--uggh. C'est la vie
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 5-22-2019
We're not sure how much worse the 2019 Stanley Cup Final could be for hockey fans in Sabreland when you look at the matchup this year. The Boston Bruins and St. Louis Blues in the Finals is pretty much a worst-case scenario for the Sabres but it is what it is and from a National Hockey League perspective, and it should prove to be a good series despite possibly not being ideal for the league. Although it does offer up this historical starting point.
One of the most iconic photos in the history of sports came in 1970 when Boston's Bobby Orr scored the Cup-clinching goal in overtime against the St. Louis Blues. Orr is horizontal to the ice about three feet up, courtesy of a Noel Picard trip, with arms raised in a joyous goal celebration as he flew through the air.
An aside to that courtesy of The Hockey News' Luke Fox. The person who took that photo, Ray Lussier, had shifted to that area of the rink during the intermission. Legend has it that he found that open spot after the previous photographer vacated it to hit the beer stand. With the overtime lasting a mere 40 seconds said photographer came bad to his spot with Boston Garden in a frenzy and the game over.
This was the third time the Blues were in the Stanley Cup Final and the third time they got swept (the other two by the Montreal Canadiens.) St. Louis was part of the NHL's 1967 expansion that saw the league double with the addition of six teams. They were part of the Western Division made up exclusively of expansion teams while the East was made up of the Original Six. They really had no chance against the juggernaut's of the Original Six but they're in the Blues are in the history books as reaching the Stanley Cup Finals in the first three seasons of their existence.
We're not sure how much worse the 2019 Stanley Cup Final could be for hockey fans in Sabreland when you look at the matchup this year. The Boston Bruins and St. Louis Blues in the Finals is pretty much a worst-case scenario for the Sabres but it is what it is and from a National Hockey League perspective, and it should prove to be a good series despite possibly not being ideal for the league. Although it does offer up this historical starting point.
One of the most iconic photos in the history of sports came in 1970 when Boston's Bobby Orr scored the Cup-clinching goal in overtime against the St. Louis Blues. Orr is horizontal to the ice about three feet up, courtesy of a Noel Picard trip, with arms raised in a joyous goal celebration as he flew through the air.
An aside to that courtesy of The Hockey News' Luke Fox. The person who took that photo, Ray Lussier, had shifted to that area of the rink during the intermission. Legend has it that he found that open spot after the previous photographer vacated it to hit the beer stand. With the overtime lasting a mere 40 seconds said photographer came bad to his spot with Boston Garden in a frenzy and the game over.
This was the third time the Blues were in the Stanley Cup Final and the third time they got swept (the other two by the Montreal Canadiens.) St. Louis was part of the NHL's 1967 expansion that saw the league double with the addition of six teams. They were part of the Western Division made up exclusively of expansion teams while the East was made up of the Original Six. They really had no chance against the juggernaut's of the Original Six but they're in the Blues are in the history books as reaching the Stanley Cup Finals in the first three seasons of their existence.
Tuesday, January 29, 2019
"Holy flashbacks, Bettman!" this bad trip keeps recurring
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 1-27-2019
First off, I'm not Canadian and the sanctity of hockey as well it's birthplace, however real or imagined, is not woven into the very fabric of my being from birth. I like hockey, a lot, and as a kid before our almost daily street hockey games we'd start out with sticks high singing the Canadian national anthem. However you won't find me praying on a Sabres hockey rug in the direction of the "Centre of the Hockey Universe" while clutching a copy of Ken Dryden's, The Game. Hockey is an awesome sport that I've followed since I was a kid and I've generally enjoyed the tremendous advances they've made in nearly every aspect of the game.
Yet, I hold these truths to be self-evident, that after decades of trying to make serious in-roads into the American sports fan's consciousness, hockey remains a very Canadian, very regional sport for the most part.
The NHL has done well to slowly build a rock-solid fan-base, which is admirable, and for years, especially the past 25 years under NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, the league has been trying for a bigger footprint on the American sports scene. Mainly he's tried to do it through expansion into non-traditional hockey markets as well as making for a faster, more exciting product through various rule changes, most notably the recent elimination of the red line. And every once and while Bettman would throw some gimmicks into the mix, like the infamous "glowing puck" of the mid-latter 1990's.
First off, I'm not Canadian and the sanctity of hockey as well it's birthplace, however real or imagined, is not woven into the very fabric of my being from birth. I like hockey, a lot, and as a kid before our almost daily street hockey games we'd start out with sticks high singing the Canadian national anthem. However you won't find me praying on a Sabres hockey rug in the direction of the "Centre of the Hockey Universe" while clutching a copy of Ken Dryden's, The Game. Hockey is an awesome sport that I've followed since I was a kid and I've generally enjoyed the tremendous advances they've made in nearly every aspect of the game.
Yet, I hold these truths to be self-evident, that after decades of trying to make serious in-roads into the American sports fan's consciousness, hockey remains a very Canadian, very regional sport for the most part.
The NHL has done well to slowly build a rock-solid fan-base, which is admirable, and for years, especially the past 25 years under NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, the league has been trying for a bigger footprint on the American sports scene. Mainly he's tried to do it through expansion into non-traditional hockey markets as well as making for a faster, more exciting product through various rule changes, most notably the recent elimination of the red line. And every once and while Bettman would throw some gimmicks into the mix, like the infamous "glowing puck" of the mid-latter 1990's.
Sunday, January 27, 2019
If it ain't broke, don't fix it. NHL and NHLPA have a pretty good thing going
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 1-26-2019
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman is vociferously booed nearly every time he takes the podium in front of the general hockey public. Perhaps it's a little more tradition now than it was just after the 2004-05 NHL lockout, the first time in the history of pro sports a major league lost an entire season due to labor strife. On behalf of the owners, Bettman locked out the players for 310 days in an effort at "cost-certainty," otherwise known as a salary cap, and when all was said and done the owners prevailed and the owners got their way, the players saw a 24% rollback in salary and the fans were left to simmer in rancor for the entire length of the lockout.
There are a myriad of other reasons that fans have a strong distaste for Bettman. Canadian fans in particular saw him bastardizing their hockey roots by moving franchises (Winnipeg and Quebec) out of "the Birthplace of Hockey" and into U.S. markets and they showed particular displeasure as Bettman focused upon "non-traditional cities" for relocation and expansion. Phoenix, Florida, Atlanta (for the second time,) Nashville and Dallas (where the former Minnesota North Stars moved) were not places that invoked childhood memories of skating on frozen rinks for a game of shinny in the cold of winter.
Some didn't like his demeanor (seen as aloof) and some didn't like his height (or the Napoleonic aura he seemed to project) or that he opted to move on from ESPN post-lockout to "a television leader in action and adventure sports" known OLN, or the Outdoor Life Network for national games (OLN would become Versus and eventually NBC Sports Network.) In fact anything that a fan disliked about the game could be traced back (in their minds) to Bettman.
However, most of the vitriol sent Bettman's way was tied to work stoppages, three of which he presided over.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman is vociferously booed nearly every time he takes the podium in front of the general hockey public. Perhaps it's a little more tradition now than it was just after the 2004-05 NHL lockout, the first time in the history of pro sports a major league lost an entire season due to labor strife. On behalf of the owners, Bettman locked out the players for 310 days in an effort at "cost-certainty," otherwise known as a salary cap, and when all was said and done the owners prevailed and the owners got their way, the players saw a 24% rollback in salary and the fans were left to simmer in rancor for the entire length of the lockout.
There are a myriad of other reasons that fans have a strong distaste for Bettman. Canadian fans in particular saw him bastardizing their hockey roots by moving franchises (Winnipeg and Quebec) out of "the Birthplace of Hockey" and into U.S. markets and they showed particular displeasure as Bettman focused upon "non-traditional cities" for relocation and expansion. Phoenix, Florida, Atlanta (for the second time,) Nashville and Dallas (where the former Minnesota North Stars moved) were not places that invoked childhood memories of skating on frozen rinks for a game of shinny in the cold of winter.
Some didn't like his demeanor (seen as aloof) and some didn't like his height (or the Napoleonic aura he seemed to project) or that he opted to move on from ESPN post-lockout to "a television leader in action and adventure sports" known OLN, or the Outdoor Life Network for national games (OLN would become Versus and eventually NBC Sports Network.) In fact anything that a fan disliked about the game could be traced back (in their minds) to Bettman.
However, most of the vitriol sent Bettman's way was tied to work stoppages, three of which he presided over.
Saturday, June 9, 2018
Onward to the off season but a quick note on the Caps. Plus, Ryan O'Reilly
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 6-8-2018
Interesting note on the Washington Capitals roster from last night. Steve Kourianos, founder of TheDraftAnalyst, noted that the Caps had 12 first round picks on their roster. Here are their draft slots, the year they were drafted:
Alexander Ovechkin-1st-overall, 2004
Niklas Backstrom-4th, 2006
John Carlson-27th, 2008
Evgeni Kuznetsov-26th, 2010
Tom Wilson-16th, 2012
Andre Burakovsky-23rd, 2013
Jakub Vrana-13th, 2014
Brooks Orpik-18th, 2000 (PIT)
TJ Oshie-24th, 2005 (STL)
Matt Niskanen-28th, 2005 (DAL)
Lars Eller-13th, 2007 (STL)
Brett Connolly-6th, 2010 (TBL)
As shown, seven of those players were drafted by Washington with only two Caps players being drafted top-four or higher and only three total drafted top-six or higher.
All 12 of those players were on Washington's playoff roster last year. That Caps team lost a seven-game series to their nemesis, the Pittsburgh Penguins, in round two. Nine of that group were on Washington in the 2015-16 playoffs when they lost in the second round to...the Penguins, in six games. Those not on the roster that post season were--Eller (MTL,) Connolly (BOS) and Vrana who was with Washington's AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears.
In 2014-15, Oshie was with the St. Louis Blues meaning that eight of Washington's 12 core skaters drafted in the first round have been with the team the past four seasons. Until last night when they defeated the Vegas Golden Knights to win the Stanley Cup, the Caps had lost in the second round three years running with this core.
Head coach Barry Trotz spent 15 seasons with the Nashville Predators before the Caps hired him in 2014 and he'd never gotten past the second round until this year. He was on the ice with the NHL Network talking about the quest. "You know, I've been chasing this thing for a long time and I have a lot of people I've known who've won Stanley Cups and have done a lot of things," he said. "You need a little bit of luck, you need a great group (of players,) you need to be playing well."
The Caps trailed in every series this year, but kept coming back. And that includes dropping the first two games to the Columbus Blue Jackets in the first round at home. However, they were able to win Game-3 in double overtime and Trotz had a sense something good was about to happen. "After we got that first win under our belts," he said, "I knew this team was going deep (in the playoffs.) I knew we were going to get to the Final, I knew we were going to kill some demons."
This was a different Washington Capitals team than were accustomed to seeing and it was a different Alexander Ovechkin as well. "The Great Eight" had been labeled me-first type player who choked in the playoffs and was never thought of to have enough leadership capabilities to lead his team to the promised land. But he did it, and did so by playing the best two-way hockey of his career while also scoring 15 goals in the playoffs which tied him with his individual nemsis, Sidney Crosby, for the most playoff goals in the last 20 years.
So what does this all mean?
Props to Caps management who stuck with a core group despite many playoff failures and to their scouting staffs who found their own prospects at the amateur level and added pieces at the pro level. In the age of analytics, coaching still matters, as does leadership and luck, amongst many other factors, is always in the mix.
Finally, hats off to the Golden Knights who went on an incredible run, but in the end, talent usually wins out, and that was the case here.
Onward to the off season.
*****
The Buffalo Sabres had 10 first round picks on their full-time roster this season and finished dead last:
Zemgus Girgensons---14th, 2012
Rasmus Ristolainen--8th, 2013
Sam Reinhart--2nd, 2014
Jack Eichel--2nd-overall, 2015
Benoit Pouliot--4th, 2005
Kyle Okposo--6th, 2006
Zach Bogosian--3rd, 2008 (ATL)
Evander Kane--4th, 2009 (ATL)
Jacob Josefson--20th, 2009 (NJD)
Nathan Beaulieu--17th, 2011 (MTL)
Of that grouping above, Kane was traded at the trade deadline, Josefson has already signed to play overseas and it's not expected that Pouliot will be re-signed and of the remaining, only Eichel is sure to be a franchise cornerstone moving forward.
Not listed was Casey Mittelstadt a 2017 eighth-overall pick who spent one year in college and played in six games for the Sabres last season. It's a bit early to call him a cornerstone but his play in those games has pretty much placed him on the untouchable list while simultaneously putting center Ryan O'Reilly firmly in the rumor mill this summer.
And, of course, the Sabres have the first selection overall in the 2018 NHL Draft and unless a catastrophe happens, they will be selecting defenseman Rasmus Dahlin whom is looked to as another franchise cornerstone.
Eichel, Dahlin, Mittelstadt. Three first rounders that look to move this Sabres franchise forward near term.
*****
The end of the Stanley Cup playoffs means the beginning of the off season and first thing up is the NHL Draft.
Buffalo won the draft lottery and will select first overall. Carolina made a huge jump and will be selecting second while the Montreal Canadiens are selecting third. It's expected that the Hurricanes will select Andrei Svechnikov while the Habs are expected to take Filip Zadina.
Both players are extremely talented wingers whom the 'Canes and Canadiens would be hard pressed to pass on. And, oddly enough, both teams could really use a center, of which there are few and far between in the first round.
Which brings us to O'Reilly.
Rumors are running rampant that O'Reilly will be moved either because the team wants to move him or he wants to move on from the team. Carolina and Montreal top the list of possible destinations while teams like the St. Louis Blues and Vancouver Canucks are also said to be interested.
What's also to be determined is the price a team is willing to pay for O'Reilly, who is a top-six center with a $7.5 million cap-hit. He's been consistent throughout his career and arguments can be made from all sides as to what his true value is.
As always, it's up to the buyer and he'll be worth what someone is willing to pay for him.
Interesting note on the Washington Capitals roster from last night. Steve Kourianos, founder of TheDraftAnalyst, noted that the Caps had 12 first round picks on their roster. Here are their draft slots, the year they were drafted:
Alexander Ovechkin-1st-overall, 2004
Niklas Backstrom-4th, 2006
John Carlson-27th, 2008
Evgeni Kuznetsov-26th, 2010
Tom Wilson-16th, 2012
Andre Burakovsky-23rd, 2013
Jakub Vrana-13th, 2014
Brooks Orpik-18th, 2000 (PIT)
TJ Oshie-24th, 2005 (STL)
Matt Niskanen-28th, 2005 (DAL)
Lars Eller-13th, 2007 (STL)
Brett Connolly-6th, 2010 (TBL)
As shown, seven of those players were drafted by Washington with only two Caps players being drafted top-four or higher and only three total drafted top-six or higher.
All 12 of those players were on Washington's playoff roster last year. That Caps team lost a seven-game series to their nemesis, the Pittsburgh Penguins, in round two. Nine of that group were on Washington in the 2015-16 playoffs when they lost in the second round to...the Penguins, in six games. Those not on the roster that post season were--Eller (MTL,) Connolly (BOS) and Vrana who was with Washington's AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears.
In 2014-15, Oshie was with the St. Louis Blues meaning that eight of Washington's 12 core skaters drafted in the first round have been with the team the past four seasons. Until last night when they defeated the Vegas Golden Knights to win the Stanley Cup, the Caps had lost in the second round three years running with this core.
Head coach Barry Trotz spent 15 seasons with the Nashville Predators before the Caps hired him in 2014 and he'd never gotten past the second round until this year. He was on the ice with the NHL Network talking about the quest. "You know, I've been chasing this thing for a long time and I have a lot of people I've known who've won Stanley Cups and have done a lot of things," he said. "You need a little bit of luck, you need a great group (of players,) you need to be playing well."
The Caps trailed in every series this year, but kept coming back. And that includes dropping the first two games to the Columbus Blue Jackets in the first round at home. However, they were able to win Game-3 in double overtime and Trotz had a sense something good was about to happen. "After we got that first win under our belts," he said, "I knew this team was going deep (in the playoffs.) I knew we were going to get to the Final, I knew we were going to kill some demons."
This was a different Washington Capitals team than were accustomed to seeing and it was a different Alexander Ovechkin as well. "The Great Eight" had been labeled me-first type player who choked in the playoffs and was never thought of to have enough leadership capabilities to lead his team to the promised land. But he did it, and did so by playing the best two-way hockey of his career while also scoring 15 goals in the playoffs which tied him with his individual nemsis, Sidney Crosby, for the most playoff goals in the last 20 years.
So what does this all mean?
Props to Caps management who stuck with a core group despite many playoff failures and to their scouting staffs who found their own prospects at the amateur level and added pieces at the pro level. In the age of analytics, coaching still matters, as does leadership and luck, amongst many other factors, is always in the mix.
Finally, hats off to the Golden Knights who went on an incredible run, but in the end, talent usually wins out, and that was the case here.
Onward to the off season.
*****
The Buffalo Sabres had 10 first round picks on their full-time roster this season and finished dead last:
Zemgus Girgensons---14th, 2012
Rasmus Ristolainen--8th, 2013
Sam Reinhart--2nd, 2014
Jack Eichel--2nd-overall, 2015
Benoit Pouliot--4th, 2005
Kyle Okposo--6th, 2006
Zach Bogosian--3rd, 2008 (ATL)
Evander Kane--4th, 2009 (ATL)
Jacob Josefson--20th, 2009 (NJD)
Nathan Beaulieu--17th, 2011 (MTL)
Of that grouping above, Kane was traded at the trade deadline, Josefson has already signed to play overseas and it's not expected that Pouliot will be re-signed and of the remaining, only Eichel is sure to be a franchise cornerstone moving forward.
Not listed was Casey Mittelstadt a 2017 eighth-overall pick who spent one year in college and played in six games for the Sabres last season. It's a bit early to call him a cornerstone but his play in those games has pretty much placed him on the untouchable list while simultaneously putting center Ryan O'Reilly firmly in the rumor mill this summer.
And, of course, the Sabres have the first selection overall in the 2018 NHL Draft and unless a catastrophe happens, they will be selecting defenseman Rasmus Dahlin whom is looked to as another franchise cornerstone.
Eichel, Dahlin, Mittelstadt. Three first rounders that look to move this Sabres franchise forward near term.
*****
The end of the Stanley Cup playoffs means the beginning of the off season and first thing up is the NHL Draft.
Buffalo won the draft lottery and will select first overall. Carolina made a huge jump and will be selecting second while the Montreal Canadiens are selecting third. It's expected that the Hurricanes will select Andrei Svechnikov while the Habs are expected to take Filip Zadina.
Both players are extremely talented wingers whom the 'Canes and Canadiens would be hard pressed to pass on. And, oddly enough, both teams could really use a center, of which there are few and far between in the first round.
Which brings us to O'Reilly.
Rumors are running rampant that O'Reilly will be moved either because the team wants to move him or he wants to move on from the team. Carolina and Montreal top the list of possible destinations while teams like the St. Louis Blues and Vancouver Canucks are also said to be interested.
What's also to be determined is the price a team is willing to pay for O'Reilly, who is a top-six center with a $7.5 million cap-hit. He's been consistent throughout his career and arguments can be made from all sides as to what his true value is.
As always, it's up to the buyer and he'll be worth what someone is willing to pay for him.
Friday, June 8, 2018
The '99 Sabres and this Vegas team have a lot in common.
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 6-7-2018
Plans for a parade in Las Vegas celebrating the Golden Knights inaugural season, regardless of the outcome of the Stanley Cup Finals, have been put on hold temporarily while the series is still going on. The Clark County Commission had put the parade up for discussion without the involvement of the hockey club but did an about face saying that the planning would be lead by the team at the appropriate time.
With Vegas staring at a 3-1 deficit heading into Game-4 tonight, the odds are stacked heavily against having a victory parade with Stanley Cup in tow. They'll need to run the table on a talented Washington Capitals team that has top-end talent, is enjoying great goaltending and is coached by Barry Trotz, who's coached in over 1,500 NHL games and has over 800 wins including 39 in the playoffs.
It's been a helluva run for Vegas as they barreled through the western conference losing only three times and leaving their opponents left to wonder what the hell just hit them. The Los Angeles Kings were swept by Vegas in the first round, the Anaheim Ducks won two games in the second round and the high powered Winnipeg Jets lost their Western Conference Finals series in five games. The Capitals themselves felt the full force of the Golden Knights desert storm losing the opener of the series by a 6-4 score at T-Mobile Arena in Vegas.
All of it, including a Pacific Division championship and the league's fifth-best record (109 points,) was done by an expansion team using unprotected players from the NHL's 30 other clubs. It's the greatest run by a top-end talent-bereft team since the 1999 Buffalo Sabres did so under an endearing moniker as "The hardest working team in hockey."
Ottawa Senators coach Guy Boucher laid out what is team would face in their first matchup with the Golden Knights very early in the season. "It's very simple. They are a meat and potatoes team, that is absolutely relentless," said Boucher of Vegas back in early November via NHL.com. "That's it, that's how they get their success. This is probably the hardest working team in the league. Period."
Boucher went on to say that Knights came into the league without a lot of talent, but they had a team flush with experience where they could do what a lot of other teams couldn't--roll four lines and three defensive pairs. "They've got guys that are not only good NHLers, but guys that contribute. They're all hard working guys, and I think you can see they're on a mission."
The Golden Knights are lead by William Karlsson (CLB,) Jonathan Marchessault (FLA) and James Neal (NSH) up front and three-time Stanley Cup winning goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury (PIT) in net. Their top-pairing on defense consisted of Nate Schmidt, who was with Washington last season in a third-pairing role and was often a healthy scratch, and Brayden McNabb who struggled for minutes with the Kings before he was left unprotected and the Knights grabbed him.
This was a group dubbed 'The Golden Misfits' by rugged checking forward Ryan Reaves, a player labeled a dinosaur because of his old-school style of play who'd been cast aside by the Pittsburgh Penguins in a trade. Vegas is lead by a coach in Gerard Gallant who might be construed as the ultimate throwaway. Gallant had coached the Florida Panthers to a franchise record 103 points in 2015-16 only to be kicked to the curb the following season. Literally. Gallant was fired while the Panthers were in Carolina and he was photographed with his bags on the curb hailing a taxi. He's kind of like King Moonracer on the Island of Misfit Toys.
What Gallant is doing isn't rocket science. In an age of analytics where numbers and schematics flood the game-plan, he kept it simple while molding his misfits into a force. Gallant is a players coach who expects his team to go full bore every shift of every game with the knowledge that his goaltending had to hold the fort, which Fleury and an array of other goalies did. From the get-go there's been a trust factor between coach, skaters and goalies.
In a nutshell, Vegas is not the most talented team but they bust their butts as a teamm are motivated by their coach and have been rewarded for their hard work and determination.
Back in the late-90's the Buffalo Sabres were in the same boat. Up-front they had the talented Miroslav Satan leading the charge and had Michael "Captain Crunch" Peca as their on-ice leader. The Sabres had Jason Wooley and Alexei Zhitnik on defense and a guy named Dominik Hasek in net who's considered one of the greatest goalies of all time. Lindy Ruff was their head coach and he, like Gallant, was a players coach. Ruff's players would run through a brick wall for him and it got them to Game-6 of the Stanley Cup Finals that year. On their way to the Finals the Sabres rolled through the Eastern Conference by sweeping Ottawa then defeating the Boston Bruins in six games before closing out the East in five games over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Even taking away the exact same records heading into the Finals, the Sabres and the Golden Knights are virtually the same team in different eras. Both played to their strengths, worked hard, relied on depth and goaltending, and played their style to an extreme. The Sabres had to battle through a clutch and grab era where toughness and grit were the norm and they did so with one of the toughest teams in hockey from top to bottom. The Knights play in an era of speed and not only are they one of the fastest teams in the league, they play the game fast. Both teams were relentless in their play and made it extremely difficult for the opposition and at the root of it all for both teams was what can only be described as an onslaught from the drop of the puck.
However, the rule in sports is that talent usually prevails. In '99 Dallas was lead by four Hall of Famers in Mike Modano, Brett Hull, Joe Nieuwendyk and goalie Ed Belfour, plus a little help from a blown Game-6 call. The Washington Capitals are lead by future Hall of Famer Alexander Ovechkin and a slew of others that are considered some of the best at their positions including goalie Brayden Holtby, defenseman John Carlson and forwards TJ Oshie and Evgeny Kuznetzov.
None of this should take away from the accomplishments of either the Sabres or the Golden Knights. Nearly 20 years ago Ruff stood in front of City Hall as 20,000 Sabres fans thanked the team for a remarkable run (while also coining 'No Goal') and many more will be on hand in Vegas as they celebrate the team's historic inaugural season. Both were unexpected successes that made it far beyond anyone's expectations. What both teams lacked in talent, they more than made up for in heart. They both were lead by supreme motivators behind the bench, great goaltending and they fed off of their respective roles as underdogs.
Although the Caps still have one more win before relegating the Golden Knights to also-ran status, this Vegas team should be damn proud of what they've accomplished in their first season. An historic NHL season worthy of a parade, even without the Cup.
Plans for a parade in Las Vegas celebrating the Golden Knights inaugural season, regardless of the outcome of the Stanley Cup Finals, have been put on hold temporarily while the series is still going on. The Clark County Commission had put the parade up for discussion without the involvement of the hockey club but did an about face saying that the planning would be lead by the team at the appropriate time.
With Vegas staring at a 3-1 deficit heading into Game-4 tonight, the odds are stacked heavily against having a victory parade with Stanley Cup in tow. They'll need to run the table on a talented Washington Capitals team that has top-end talent, is enjoying great goaltending and is coached by Barry Trotz, who's coached in over 1,500 NHL games and has over 800 wins including 39 in the playoffs.
It's been a helluva run for Vegas as they barreled through the western conference losing only three times and leaving their opponents left to wonder what the hell just hit them. The Los Angeles Kings were swept by Vegas in the first round, the Anaheim Ducks won two games in the second round and the high powered Winnipeg Jets lost their Western Conference Finals series in five games. The Capitals themselves felt the full force of the Golden Knights desert storm losing the opener of the series by a 6-4 score at T-Mobile Arena in Vegas.
All of it, including a Pacific Division championship and the league's fifth-best record (109 points,) was done by an expansion team using unprotected players from the NHL's 30 other clubs. It's the greatest run by a top-end talent-bereft team since the 1999 Buffalo Sabres did so under an endearing moniker as "The hardest working team in hockey."
Ottawa Senators coach Guy Boucher laid out what is team would face in their first matchup with the Golden Knights very early in the season. "It's very simple. They are a meat and potatoes team, that is absolutely relentless," said Boucher of Vegas back in early November via NHL.com. "That's it, that's how they get their success. This is probably the hardest working team in the league. Period."
Boucher went on to say that Knights came into the league without a lot of talent, but they had a team flush with experience where they could do what a lot of other teams couldn't--roll four lines and three defensive pairs. "They've got guys that are not only good NHLers, but guys that contribute. They're all hard working guys, and I think you can see they're on a mission."
The Golden Knights are lead by William Karlsson (CLB,) Jonathan Marchessault (FLA) and James Neal (NSH) up front and three-time Stanley Cup winning goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury (PIT) in net. Their top-pairing on defense consisted of Nate Schmidt, who was with Washington last season in a third-pairing role and was often a healthy scratch, and Brayden McNabb who struggled for minutes with the Kings before he was left unprotected and the Knights grabbed him.
This was a group dubbed 'The Golden Misfits' by rugged checking forward Ryan Reaves, a player labeled a dinosaur because of his old-school style of play who'd been cast aside by the Pittsburgh Penguins in a trade. Vegas is lead by a coach in Gerard Gallant who might be construed as the ultimate throwaway. Gallant had coached the Florida Panthers to a franchise record 103 points in 2015-16 only to be kicked to the curb the following season. Literally. Gallant was fired while the Panthers were in Carolina and he was photographed with his bags on the curb hailing a taxi. He's kind of like King Moonracer on the Island of Misfit Toys.
What Gallant is doing isn't rocket science. In an age of analytics where numbers and schematics flood the game-plan, he kept it simple while molding his misfits into a force. Gallant is a players coach who expects his team to go full bore every shift of every game with the knowledge that his goaltending had to hold the fort, which Fleury and an array of other goalies did. From the get-go there's been a trust factor between coach, skaters and goalies.
In a nutshell, Vegas is not the most talented team but they bust their butts as a teamm are motivated by their coach and have been rewarded for their hard work and determination.
Back in the late-90's the Buffalo Sabres were in the same boat. Up-front they had the talented Miroslav Satan leading the charge and had Michael "Captain Crunch" Peca as their on-ice leader. The Sabres had Jason Wooley and Alexei Zhitnik on defense and a guy named Dominik Hasek in net who's considered one of the greatest goalies of all time. Lindy Ruff was their head coach and he, like Gallant, was a players coach. Ruff's players would run through a brick wall for him and it got them to Game-6 of the Stanley Cup Finals that year. On their way to the Finals the Sabres rolled through the Eastern Conference by sweeping Ottawa then defeating the Boston Bruins in six games before closing out the East in five games over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Even taking away the exact same records heading into the Finals, the Sabres and the Golden Knights are virtually the same team in different eras. Both played to their strengths, worked hard, relied on depth and goaltending, and played their style to an extreme. The Sabres had to battle through a clutch and grab era where toughness and grit were the norm and they did so with one of the toughest teams in hockey from top to bottom. The Knights play in an era of speed and not only are they one of the fastest teams in the league, they play the game fast. Both teams were relentless in their play and made it extremely difficult for the opposition and at the root of it all for both teams was what can only be described as an onslaught from the drop of the puck.
However, the rule in sports is that talent usually prevails. In '99 Dallas was lead by four Hall of Famers in Mike Modano, Brett Hull, Joe Nieuwendyk and goalie Ed Belfour, plus a little help from a blown Game-6 call. The Washington Capitals are lead by future Hall of Famer Alexander Ovechkin and a slew of others that are considered some of the best at their positions including goalie Brayden Holtby, defenseman John Carlson and forwards TJ Oshie and Evgeny Kuznetzov.
None of this should take away from the accomplishments of either the Sabres or the Golden Knights. Nearly 20 years ago Ruff stood in front of City Hall as 20,000 Sabres fans thanked the team for a remarkable run (while also coining 'No Goal') and many more will be on hand in Vegas as they celebrate the team's historic inaugural season. Both were unexpected successes that made it far beyond anyone's expectations. What both teams lacked in talent, they more than made up for in heart. They both were lead by supreme motivators behind the bench, great goaltending and they fed off of their respective roles as underdogs.
Although the Caps still have one more win before relegating the Golden Knights to also-ran status, this Vegas team should be damn proud of what they've accomplished in their first season. An historic NHL season worthy of a parade, even without the Cup.
Tuesday, May 22, 2018
On the Vegas Golden Knights
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 5-21-2018
The Buffalo Sabres and Vancouver Canucks entered the NHL for the 1970-71 season in a league that had just recently expanded from the Original Six NHL teams to twelve. Buffalo won two spins of the wheel that year as they won the rights to select first in the expansion draft and to select first -overall in the NHL Entry Draft where they selected Hall of Famer Gilbert Perreault.
Five years later the Sabres were in the Stanley Cup Final, eventually losing to the Philadelphia Flyers in a series dominated by Flyers goalie Bernie Parent, who, by the way, was selected second overall by Philadelphia from the Boston Bruins in the '67 Expansion Draft.
Buffalo has been to the Finals only one more time since 1975, losing to the Dallas Stars in 1999.
The Las Vegas Golden Knights just punched their ticket to the Stanley Cup Finals yesterday when they eliminated the Winnipeg Jets in five games. They also took down the Los Angeles Kings in the first round and San Jose Sharks in the second. Oh, and did I mention that Vegas is an expansion team?
It's an unprecedented run in the four major North American sports and not many people know what to think of it. Even with favorable expansion draft rules no one could have seen this coming for a team filled mostly with bottom-half talent. But from the beginning the Golden Knights started proving everybody wrong as they shot out of the gate to an 8-1 record. They never lost momentum throughout the season and into the playoffs and now they're four wins away from capturing the Stanley Cup, a trophy that's widely regarded has the hardest to win in sports.
Do they deserve to be in this position?
Hell yeah they do.
The Buffalo Sabres and Vancouver Canucks entered the NHL for the 1970-71 season in a league that had just recently expanded from the Original Six NHL teams to twelve. Buffalo won two spins of the wheel that year as they won the rights to select first in the expansion draft and to select first -overall in the NHL Entry Draft where they selected Hall of Famer Gilbert Perreault.
Five years later the Sabres were in the Stanley Cup Final, eventually losing to the Philadelphia Flyers in a series dominated by Flyers goalie Bernie Parent, who, by the way, was selected second overall by Philadelphia from the Boston Bruins in the '67 Expansion Draft.
Buffalo has been to the Finals only one more time since 1975, losing to the Dallas Stars in 1999.
The Las Vegas Golden Knights just punched their ticket to the Stanley Cup Finals yesterday when they eliminated the Winnipeg Jets in five games. They also took down the Los Angeles Kings in the first round and San Jose Sharks in the second. Oh, and did I mention that Vegas is an expansion team?
It's an unprecedented run in the four major North American sports and not many people know what to think of it. Even with favorable expansion draft rules no one could have seen this coming for a team filled mostly with bottom-half talent. But from the beginning the Golden Knights started proving everybody wrong as they shot out of the gate to an 8-1 record. They never lost momentum throughout the season and into the playoffs and now they're four wins away from capturing the Stanley Cup, a trophy that's widely regarded has the hardest to win in sports.
Do they deserve to be in this position?
Hell yeah they do.
Monday, February 26, 2018
Random thoughs on Olympics, Sabres, Evander Kane, Kings and Habs
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 2-25-2018
The 2018 Winter Olympics are over and here's a few things I'll walk away with:
--I'm not sure who built the Team USA men's hockey team, but whoever did could have done better. Way too many elder statesmen on the team and not enough young turks. From a Buffalo Sabre perspective one of their prospects was there, 21 yr. old defenseman Will Borgen, but didn't play and another prospect, 19 yr. old center Casey Mittelstadt should have been, but never got the call.
--Former Sabre Brian Gionta, who is 39 yrs. old, did play for the U.S. but had a very hard time keeping up. Gionta was with the Sabres last season in a third line role and was very effective. Perhaps it was his age. Or maybe it was the extra 15' width found on the Olympic ice at Pyeongchang. I know it will never happen in the NHL, but they should widen their rinks. Would give players so much room to roam
--The NHL did not allow it's players to participate in this year's Olympics which, no doubt, brought down the talent-level greatly. In particular both the U.S. and Canada were hindered by not having NHL talent at the games with Team USA getting bounced in the quarterfinals and Team Canada losing the bronze medal game. Without those players the U.S. was at a distinct disadvantage while Canada was not considered a favorite. Russia went into the Olympics as a prohibitive favorite and did in fact win the tourney.
--Steven Whyno of the Associated Press wrote today that the Russia (or Olympic Athletes of Russia, as they were known throughout the Games) matchup with Germany in the "exhilarating" gold medal game may have saved a "mostly listless tournament. Whyno writes about half-filled arenas in Korea with "tepid interest in North America." I'm sure there was still plenty of interest in North America, but the time difference may have had a lot to do with that. Hockey games were shown live either early in the morning around 7 am EST or late at night like the gold medal game which started at 11 pm EST. I don't know about anyone else, but those times are about the worst ones you can have for sparking interest.
--Those who stayed up for the men's and women's gold medal games were certainly treated to some intense hockey. The Germans took the heavily favored OAR to overtime while on the women's side, Team USA and Team Canada put on quite a show with the U.S. coming out on top in the shootout of an epic contest. The US/Canada rivalry is one of the best in sports and it showed for those willing to stay up until 2:30 am EST to watch it's thrilling conclusion.
--To the party spokesperson who inserted politics into NBC's ratings shortfall on twitter, the 15 hour time difference was huge, as indicated by the times of the men's and women's gold medal hockey games. And to the woman who defended her saying "everything is in prime time here, and live." Wrong. Even the fantastic ladies figure skating finale finished after midnight. If you wanted to watch the men's curling team win their first-ever gold medal, it finished at 1:30 am EST. I'd say those were "must see events" for a number of Olympic fans.
--Hockey fans in Buffalo now have the rest of the season to look forward to, which is akin to sticking needles in their eyes for the remainder of the season. The 18-33-11 Sabres lost 5-1 last night to the Washington Capitals as they were without their two of their top three scorers. Jack Eichel, who still leads the team despite missing the last seven games, is out since suffering a high ankle sprain and Evander Kane (third in scoring) was sat last night for precautionary measures.
--Kane was sat last night (finally, for some) because he is a pending unrestricted free agent whom the Sabres will be trading before the 3 pm trade deadline tomorrow. Buffalo has a home game this evening against the Boston Bruins who just made a trade for one of Kane's comparables. The NY Rangers, who had already traded winger Michael Grabner to the New Jersey Devils, traded winger Rick Nash today to the Bruins for a first and a seventh round pick and two players. The Rangers also ate some of Nash's salary and acquired two players that make the cap-hits a wash (about $45K difference.) Nash and Kane were the top two wingers available and one of them is gone.
--Sabres fans shouldn't fret about the market for Kane drying up just yet as all the big forward transactions have been in the Eastern Conference. Along with the Grabner/Devils and Nash/Bruins deal, Ottawa Senators center Derick Brassard was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins. That leaves the Western Conference wide open for a trade there. Kane plays a rugged north/south, Western Conference style of game to begin with so seeing him head west, if that's where he does land, wouldn't be that surprising to begin with.
--I'm still of the opinion that the Los Angeles Kings would be a great fit for Kane. They could find a spot for him in on the left side, possibly in a Phil Kessel-type role on the third line, and make a run for conference supremacy. The window is closing on the two-time Cup-winning Kings (2012, 2014) as the team is getting older and cap-space is getting tighter. Right now they're just outside a playoff spot in a with a rather large group of teams, but as we've seen in the past get them into the playoffs, especially with a goalie like Jonathan Quick, and they can go all the way.
--Kings GM Rob Blake has stated that he won't mortgage the future for a present run and so far he's done well at doing so while fortifying his team. This is a veteran team with high salaries that are winners. Their big three consist of Quick, captain Anze Kopitar and defenseman Drew Doughty. Of the three, only Doughty isn't signed beyond next season and if they're going to win, it needs to be now. This is their window and will Blake want to go for it right now would be the first question.
--The second question is, what constitutes mortgaging the future? If the Sabres receive a high pick and a mid-upper level prospect in the Kane deal, it would constitute a win for them. Any ancilliary pieces, like salary coming back (which may be necessary) and retention of salary by Buffalo (which may also be necessary, would make the price rise a little bit. If the Sabres had to eat some of Kane's salary while also taking on another $4 million for either Alec Martinez or Jake Muzzin, then so be it. But in that instance, it would be great if they could walk away with a first rounder and a defenseman like Paul LaDue, something that just might satisfy Blake.
--Buffalo shouldn't feel too bad about their dire straights this season. Sure they're on their way to a seventh consecutive season outside the playoffs. Part of it was a foregone conclusion and part of it was planned while these past two seasons were busts. But they have company in the Atlantic Division as Ottawa and the Montreal Canadiens are barreling to the bottom of the division. The Senators are look to be in full rebuild-mode while the Canadiens may end up heading in that direction.
--Montreal has a goalie in Carey Price who's signed long-term at a $10.5 million cap-hit who's been very average this season while rumors of off-ice personal troubles are said to be hanging over him. Their top defenseman, Shea Weber is out with an injury and is also signed long-term to a large $7.85 million cap hit. Big trade splash and re-sign Jonathan Drouin hasn't lived up to his $5.5 million cap hit, assistant captain Thomas Plekanec has been the subject of trade rumors and now we hear that captain Max Pacioretty wants out.
--The Canadiens were once the gold standard for NHL hockey but they're being reduced to a very expensive pile of rubble who's prized trade/re-sign might be former Sabre Nic Deslauriers.
--Having said that, word on the street is that the LA Kings have a heavy interest in Pacioretty, who like Kane, is a left winger. If that deal goes down, Buffalo GM Jason Botterill may be kicking himself for not pulling the trigger on a potential Kane deal earlier.
The 2018 Winter Olympics are over and here's a few things I'll walk away with:
--I'm not sure who built the Team USA men's hockey team, but whoever did could have done better. Way too many elder statesmen on the team and not enough young turks. From a Buffalo Sabre perspective one of their prospects was there, 21 yr. old defenseman Will Borgen, but didn't play and another prospect, 19 yr. old center Casey Mittelstadt should have been, but never got the call.
--Former Sabre Brian Gionta, who is 39 yrs. old, did play for the U.S. but had a very hard time keeping up. Gionta was with the Sabres last season in a third line role and was very effective. Perhaps it was his age. Or maybe it was the extra 15' width found on the Olympic ice at Pyeongchang. I know it will never happen in the NHL, but they should widen their rinks. Would give players so much room to roam
--The NHL did not allow it's players to participate in this year's Olympics which, no doubt, brought down the talent-level greatly. In particular both the U.S. and Canada were hindered by not having NHL talent at the games with Team USA getting bounced in the quarterfinals and Team Canada losing the bronze medal game. Without those players the U.S. was at a distinct disadvantage while Canada was not considered a favorite. Russia went into the Olympics as a prohibitive favorite and did in fact win the tourney.
--Steven Whyno of the Associated Press wrote today that the Russia (or Olympic Athletes of Russia, as they were known throughout the Games) matchup with Germany in the "exhilarating" gold medal game may have saved a "mostly listless tournament. Whyno writes about half-filled arenas in Korea with "tepid interest in North America." I'm sure there was still plenty of interest in North America, but the time difference may have had a lot to do with that. Hockey games were shown live either early in the morning around 7 am EST or late at night like the gold medal game which started at 11 pm EST. I don't know about anyone else, but those times are about the worst ones you can have for sparking interest.
--Those who stayed up for the men's and women's gold medal games were certainly treated to some intense hockey. The Germans took the heavily favored OAR to overtime while on the women's side, Team USA and Team Canada put on quite a show with the U.S. coming out on top in the shootout of an epic contest. The US/Canada rivalry is one of the best in sports and it showed for those willing to stay up until 2:30 am EST to watch it's thrilling conclusion.
--To the party spokesperson who inserted politics into NBC's ratings shortfall on twitter, the 15 hour time difference was huge, as indicated by the times of the men's and women's gold medal hockey games. And to the woman who defended her saying "everything is in prime time here, and live." Wrong. Even the fantastic ladies figure skating finale finished after midnight. If you wanted to watch the men's curling team win their first-ever gold medal, it finished at 1:30 am EST. I'd say those were "must see events" for a number of Olympic fans.
--Hockey fans in Buffalo now have the rest of the season to look forward to, which is akin to sticking needles in their eyes for the remainder of the season. The 18-33-11 Sabres lost 5-1 last night to the Washington Capitals as they were without their two of their top three scorers. Jack Eichel, who still leads the team despite missing the last seven games, is out since suffering a high ankle sprain and Evander Kane (third in scoring) was sat last night for precautionary measures.
--Kane was sat last night (finally, for some) because he is a pending unrestricted free agent whom the Sabres will be trading before the 3 pm trade deadline tomorrow. Buffalo has a home game this evening against the Boston Bruins who just made a trade for one of Kane's comparables. The NY Rangers, who had already traded winger Michael Grabner to the New Jersey Devils, traded winger Rick Nash today to the Bruins for a first and a seventh round pick and two players. The Rangers also ate some of Nash's salary and acquired two players that make the cap-hits a wash (about $45K difference.) Nash and Kane were the top two wingers available and one of them is gone.
--Sabres fans shouldn't fret about the market for Kane drying up just yet as all the big forward transactions have been in the Eastern Conference. Along with the Grabner/Devils and Nash/Bruins deal, Ottawa Senators center Derick Brassard was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins. That leaves the Western Conference wide open for a trade there. Kane plays a rugged north/south, Western Conference style of game to begin with so seeing him head west, if that's where he does land, wouldn't be that surprising to begin with.
--I'm still of the opinion that the Los Angeles Kings would be a great fit for Kane. They could find a spot for him in on the left side, possibly in a Phil Kessel-type role on the third line, and make a run for conference supremacy. The window is closing on the two-time Cup-winning Kings (2012, 2014) as the team is getting older and cap-space is getting tighter. Right now they're just outside a playoff spot in a with a rather large group of teams, but as we've seen in the past get them into the playoffs, especially with a goalie like Jonathan Quick, and they can go all the way.
--Kings GM Rob Blake has stated that he won't mortgage the future for a present run and so far he's done well at doing so while fortifying his team. This is a veteran team with high salaries that are winners. Their big three consist of Quick, captain Anze Kopitar and defenseman Drew Doughty. Of the three, only Doughty isn't signed beyond next season and if they're going to win, it needs to be now. This is their window and will Blake want to go for it right now would be the first question.
--The second question is, what constitutes mortgaging the future? If the Sabres receive a high pick and a mid-upper level prospect in the Kane deal, it would constitute a win for them. Any ancilliary pieces, like salary coming back (which may be necessary) and retention of salary by Buffalo (which may also be necessary, would make the price rise a little bit. If the Sabres had to eat some of Kane's salary while also taking on another $4 million for either Alec Martinez or Jake Muzzin, then so be it. But in that instance, it would be great if they could walk away with a first rounder and a defenseman like Paul LaDue, something that just might satisfy Blake.
--Buffalo shouldn't feel too bad about their dire straights this season. Sure they're on their way to a seventh consecutive season outside the playoffs. Part of it was a foregone conclusion and part of it was planned while these past two seasons were busts. But they have company in the Atlantic Division as Ottawa and the Montreal Canadiens are barreling to the bottom of the division. The Senators are look to be in full rebuild-mode while the Canadiens may end up heading in that direction.
--Montreal has a goalie in Carey Price who's signed long-term at a $10.5 million cap-hit who's been very average this season while rumors of off-ice personal troubles are said to be hanging over him. Their top defenseman, Shea Weber is out with an injury and is also signed long-term to a large $7.85 million cap hit. Big trade splash and re-sign Jonathan Drouin hasn't lived up to his $5.5 million cap hit, assistant captain Thomas Plekanec has been the subject of trade rumors and now we hear that captain Max Pacioretty wants out.
--The Canadiens were once the gold standard for NHL hockey but they're being reduced to a very expensive pile of rubble who's prized trade/re-sign might be former Sabre Nic Deslauriers.
--Having said that, word on the street is that the LA Kings have a heavy interest in Pacioretty, who like Kane, is a left winger. If that deal goes down, Buffalo GM Jason Botterill may be kicking himself for not pulling the trigger on a potential Kane deal earlier.
Saturday, February 17, 2018
Buffalo at Ottawa tonight with the Sabres and Sens heading in different directions
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 2-15-2018
At some point, I'm of the opinion that the Buffalo Sabres will pass the Ottawa Senators in the standings this season. I know it's not saying much as only three points separate the two teams at this juncture, but it's significant in that these are two teams at the bottom of the Eastern Conference going in different directions.
Buffalo headed into this season on the heels of a disappointing 2016-17 campaign that saw the general manger and head coach get fired. New Sabres GM Jason Botterill hired a new head coach in Phil Housley, the team tweaked their defense and Buffalo went into this season with a sense of optimism that they could take a step forward.
It didn't happen.
An 0-4-1 start lead to a 10-20-8 record for the 2017 portion of this season placing them all but mathematically out of the playoffs for the seventh consecutive season. A few years back Buffalo had decided on a scorched earth rebuild featuring two seasons in the tank. They made a huge leap in points in the 2015-16 season after drafting Jack Eichel and trading for young vets Ryan O'Reilly and Robin Lehner at the 2015 NHL Draft. But the next season they took take a step back which lead to the firings.
The Senators have spent the last 10 years mostly alternating between making the playoffs and missing them. Prior to last year's run where they came to within one game of the Stanley Cup Finals, Ottawa missed the playoffs four times and never made it out of the second round when they did. Their best season was in 2006-07 when they defeated the Sabres in the ECF then lost in the SCF to the Anaheim Ducks.
That 2007 playoff season was the last time either team was consistently good and it would seem as if Ottawa, like Buffalo a few years ago, is ready for a massive rebuild. Like the Sabres did when they realized that the team as constructed was mediocre with only a faint possibility of making any noise in the playoffs, the Senators came to the conclusion that the only way to move forward is to undertake a rebuild.
Last year's run to the ECF was an aberration in the grand scheme of things for Ottawa and despite having a bona fide superstar in defenseman Erik Karlsson, it sounds as if the Senators are ready to sink to the bottom for some high picks. "The goal is to win the Stanley Cup," said team owner Eugene Melnyk in a press release announcing the extension of GM Pierre Dorion. "Having come within one goal of last season's Stanley Cup Final, we were hopeful entering this season. Obviously, our results have challenged those expectations. What remains unchanged is the dedication that goes into evaluating every aspect of this organization."
Although the team did not mention "rebuild" the press release followed that quote with the rather lengthy euphemism stating that the Sens "will concentrate on building a foundation of sustainable success." Aka, building through the draft.
"Today's announcement reflects a renewed commitment to scouting, drafting and development," continued Melnyk. "It may require changes to our lineup. Rest assured, we will only tolerate pain with an endgame in mind: building an organization that wins - at all levels - year in and year out." With "changes to our lineup" being a code word for tanking the season.
Sabres fan know all about "pain with an endgame in mind," and oddly enough, management actually used the word "suffering" when it came to what the fans should expect during their tank. Unfortunately, that pain extended a little farther than we would have liked. Buffalo went from 30th place two years running to 23rd, back down to 26th and is now in second last place again.
Ottawa began it's rebuild by shipping veteran defenseman Dion Phaneuf on Tuesday. Ironically, the Senators trading for Phaneuf was the start of a three year "win-now" push by the organization which also saw them acquire young vets Derek Brassard, Tommy Wingels and Matt Duchene, amongst others, as they built to win while Karlsson was still under contract until the end of this season. It almost worked, but in the process they gutted their prospect pool.
With the hopes of a deep playoff run dashed, their prospect pool depleted and the team's bottom line getting worse by the day, the time to start again is now. Some are all-in on rebuilding and are ready for their team to lose for high draft picks.
"I understand that cheering for your favourite team to lose goes against every fibre of your body," wrote SBNation's Trevor Shackles today, "and it feels sickening when you are actually excited to see them do poorly in games." He continued by writing, "what’s best for the Ottawa Senators the rest of the season is if they continue to pile up the losses. I don’t see a way out of this continuous cycle they are in unless the 18-wheeler finally does fall off the cliff."
Shackles is the Sens writer for SBNation and the first reason behind him wanting his team to lose was to "net them the highest pick possible" while also adding that it will "force the organization to make some long-lasting changes that will make the team a sustainable contender."
That should sound familiar to Sabres fans as the team went through five seasons post-'07 where they either missed the playoffs or got bounced in the first round with a team that either wasn't good enough to make (or advance in) the playoffs, but weren't bad enough to get top picks in the draft.
The Sabres and Sens had enjoyed a pretty heated rivalry prior to their era's of inconsistency beginning in '07/'08 but now they find themselves at the bottom of the Eastern Conference heading in different directions.
While the Senators are barreling towards the bottom, the Sabres seem to be picking themselves up. After their atrocious start to the season and poor play that kept them at the bottom of the conference, the past few weeks have seen them start to find themselves as a team. Beginning with a three-game western Canada swing where they swept the Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks (by a combined 11-1 score,) the Sabres have managed to muster a 6-4-1 record and in the process have gained a ton of confidence.
Will this upswing be sustainable?
With this team you just don't know, especially with Eichel out 4-6 weeks with a high ankle sprain. But for those who've been watching Buffalo all season, this stretch has a welcome reprieve from the terrible hockey we've subject to for much of the season.
The Sabres head into Ottawa tonight having won three of their last four. In their three wins they've beaten the league's best team in Tampa Bay as well as the Boston Bruins, who sit second in the conference. Buffalo also beat a NY Islanders team that was in playoff desperation mode as they're dealing with the possibility that franchise center John Tavares might leave when his contract expires this off-season.
For the first time since Nov. 27-Dec. 4, 2015, the Sabres scored four or more goals in four consecutive games. Low and behold, they won three of four. The Sabres found their lost powerplay last month and continue to move up in that department. Since January 1 when the PP was at 12.4% (14/113), Buffalo has converted on 17 of 61 opportunities (27.8%) which moved them from 30th in the league to 23rd at 17.8%. In the last four games they've gone 4/15 with the man advantage (26.7%.)
WGR550's Paul Hamilton tweeted from Ottawa that the lineup looks to be the same save for defnesman Josh Gorges replacing Justin Falk which means this is what Buffalo will be icing tonight:
Pouliot-O’Reilly-Reinhart
Kane-Rodrigues-Okposo
Wilson-Larsson-Pominville
Girgensons-Josefson-Baptiste
Scandella-Nelson
Beaulieu-Ristolainen
Gorges-Antipin
Hamilton also tweeted that it looks like Lehner will be in the net for the Sabres.
In their only meeting of the season, the Sabres defeated Ottawa in Buffalo 3-2 with Lehner in net. Benoit Pouliot, Kyle Okposo and Evander Kane staked the Sabres to a 3-0 lead just past the half-way point of the second period, Ottawa would counter with two third period goals including one with less than a minute to play with their goalie pulled.
The Sabres are 7-1-2 in their last 10 against the Senators, 4-5-1 on the road, according to Sabres PR.
At some point, I'm of the opinion that the Buffalo Sabres will pass the Ottawa Senators in the standings this season. I know it's not saying much as only three points separate the two teams at this juncture, but it's significant in that these are two teams at the bottom of the Eastern Conference going in different directions.
Buffalo headed into this season on the heels of a disappointing 2016-17 campaign that saw the general manger and head coach get fired. New Sabres GM Jason Botterill hired a new head coach in Phil Housley, the team tweaked their defense and Buffalo went into this season with a sense of optimism that they could take a step forward.
It didn't happen.
An 0-4-1 start lead to a 10-20-8 record for the 2017 portion of this season placing them all but mathematically out of the playoffs for the seventh consecutive season. A few years back Buffalo had decided on a scorched earth rebuild featuring two seasons in the tank. They made a huge leap in points in the 2015-16 season after drafting Jack Eichel and trading for young vets Ryan O'Reilly and Robin Lehner at the 2015 NHL Draft. But the next season they took take a step back which lead to the firings.
The Senators have spent the last 10 years mostly alternating between making the playoffs and missing them. Prior to last year's run where they came to within one game of the Stanley Cup Finals, Ottawa missed the playoffs four times and never made it out of the second round when they did. Their best season was in 2006-07 when they defeated the Sabres in the ECF then lost in the SCF to the Anaheim Ducks.
That 2007 playoff season was the last time either team was consistently good and it would seem as if Ottawa, like Buffalo a few years ago, is ready for a massive rebuild. Like the Sabres did when they realized that the team as constructed was mediocre with only a faint possibility of making any noise in the playoffs, the Senators came to the conclusion that the only way to move forward is to undertake a rebuild.
Last year's run to the ECF was an aberration in the grand scheme of things for Ottawa and despite having a bona fide superstar in defenseman Erik Karlsson, it sounds as if the Senators are ready to sink to the bottom for some high picks. "The goal is to win the Stanley Cup," said team owner Eugene Melnyk in a press release announcing the extension of GM Pierre Dorion. "Having come within one goal of last season's Stanley Cup Final, we were hopeful entering this season. Obviously, our results have challenged those expectations. What remains unchanged is the dedication that goes into evaluating every aspect of this organization."
Although the team did not mention "rebuild" the press release followed that quote with the rather lengthy euphemism stating that the Sens "will concentrate on building a foundation of sustainable success." Aka, building through the draft.
"Today's announcement reflects a renewed commitment to scouting, drafting and development," continued Melnyk. "It may require changes to our lineup. Rest assured, we will only tolerate pain with an endgame in mind: building an organization that wins - at all levels - year in and year out." With "changes to our lineup" being a code word for tanking the season.
Sabres fan know all about "pain with an endgame in mind," and oddly enough, management actually used the word "suffering" when it came to what the fans should expect during their tank. Unfortunately, that pain extended a little farther than we would have liked. Buffalo went from 30th place two years running to 23rd, back down to 26th and is now in second last place again.
Ottawa began it's rebuild by shipping veteran defenseman Dion Phaneuf on Tuesday. Ironically, the Senators trading for Phaneuf was the start of a three year "win-now" push by the organization which also saw them acquire young vets Derek Brassard, Tommy Wingels and Matt Duchene, amongst others, as they built to win while Karlsson was still under contract until the end of this season. It almost worked, but in the process they gutted their prospect pool.
With the hopes of a deep playoff run dashed, their prospect pool depleted and the team's bottom line getting worse by the day, the time to start again is now. Some are all-in on rebuilding and are ready for their team to lose for high draft picks.
"I understand that cheering for your favourite team to lose goes against every fibre of your body," wrote SBNation's Trevor Shackles today, "and it feels sickening when you are actually excited to see them do poorly in games." He continued by writing, "what’s best for the Ottawa Senators the rest of the season is if they continue to pile up the losses. I don’t see a way out of this continuous cycle they are in unless the 18-wheeler finally does fall off the cliff."
Shackles is the Sens writer for SBNation and the first reason behind him wanting his team to lose was to "net them the highest pick possible" while also adding that it will "force the organization to make some long-lasting changes that will make the team a sustainable contender."
That should sound familiar to Sabres fans as the team went through five seasons post-'07 where they either missed the playoffs or got bounced in the first round with a team that either wasn't good enough to make (or advance in) the playoffs, but weren't bad enough to get top picks in the draft.
The Sabres and Sens had enjoyed a pretty heated rivalry prior to their era's of inconsistency beginning in '07/'08 but now they find themselves at the bottom of the Eastern Conference heading in different directions.
While the Senators are barreling towards the bottom, the Sabres seem to be picking themselves up. After their atrocious start to the season and poor play that kept them at the bottom of the conference, the past few weeks have seen them start to find themselves as a team. Beginning with a three-game western Canada swing where they swept the Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks (by a combined 11-1 score,) the Sabres have managed to muster a 6-4-1 record and in the process have gained a ton of confidence.
Will this upswing be sustainable?
With this team you just don't know, especially with Eichel out 4-6 weeks with a high ankle sprain. But for those who've been watching Buffalo all season, this stretch has a welcome reprieve from the terrible hockey we've subject to for much of the season.
The Sabres head into Ottawa tonight having won three of their last four. In their three wins they've beaten the league's best team in Tampa Bay as well as the Boston Bruins, who sit second in the conference. Buffalo also beat a NY Islanders team that was in playoff desperation mode as they're dealing with the possibility that franchise center John Tavares might leave when his contract expires this off-season.
For the first time since Nov. 27-Dec. 4, 2015, the Sabres scored four or more goals in four consecutive games. Low and behold, they won three of four. The Sabres found their lost powerplay last month and continue to move up in that department. Since January 1 when the PP was at 12.4% (14/113), Buffalo has converted on 17 of 61 opportunities (27.8%) which moved them from 30th in the league to 23rd at 17.8%. In the last four games they've gone 4/15 with the man advantage (26.7%.)
WGR550's Paul Hamilton tweeted from Ottawa that the lineup looks to be the same save for defnesman Josh Gorges replacing Justin Falk which means this is what Buffalo will be icing tonight:
Pouliot-O’Reilly-Reinhart
Kane-Rodrigues-Okposo
Wilson-Larsson-Pominville
Girgensons-Josefson-Baptiste
Scandella-Nelson
Beaulieu-Ristolainen
Gorges-Antipin
Hamilton also tweeted that it looks like Lehner will be in the net for the Sabres.
In their only meeting of the season, the Sabres defeated Ottawa in Buffalo 3-2 with Lehner in net. Benoit Pouliot, Kyle Okposo and Evander Kane staked the Sabres to a 3-0 lead just past the half-way point of the second period, Ottawa would counter with two third period goals including one with less than a minute to play with their goalie pulled.
The Sabres are 7-1-2 in their last 10 against the Senators, 4-5-1 on the road, according to Sabres PR.
Saturday, February 10, 2018
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.
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.
Monday, December 4, 2017
Elliotte Friedman says teams feel the Sabres are "open for business"
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 12-3-2017
Let's get this out of the way early. The Buffalo Sabres dropped back-to-back games to the Pittsburgh Penguins by a combined 9-1 score. The first game was an utter embarrassment as the Pens treated them as a play toy while on their way toy 4-0 win. Last night was a much better effort by the Sabres but breakdowns coupled with a lack of scoring and the lack of key saves at key moments resulted in a 5-1 defeat.
In looking at last night's game, Buffalo skated hard and fast while barreling to the net, which is exactly the way coach Phil Housley wants his team to play but they couldn't score. Goal opportunities presented themselves on a few occasions, but with a 6-17-4 hockey club the puck usually takes the worst possible bounce, or in the case of Jack Eichel last night, the smallest area of the goalie's equipment, the shaft of the stick, makes the save.
At least they were able to score a goal to end a franchise mark for goal futility. Prior to Jason Pominville's tally with 9:42 left in the third period, the Sabres were shut out three games in a row and went 232:09, which is almost four full games, without scoring a goal.
Some will say it's the hockey gods bestowing their wrath upon the Sabres for the tank of 2014-15, which is a mythological way of stating it. Although karma can be a bitch, there are other, more tangible things that have lead this team to the point where they look like a 70's era expansion team. Lack of team speed in a fast league is one thing. Lack of finish is another. Defensive breakdowns and average goaltending, at best, combine for the blueline portion of the program.
Constant change isn't helping either as this edition of the Buffalo Sabres has been compiled by three different general managers, yet, as we'll see later, more change is on the way.
During the second intermission of Hockey Night In Canada's Toronto/Vancouver telecast, NHL insider Elliotte Friedman said that "there's a sense from other teams that the Sabres are sending signals that they are open for business."
Friedman also said that teams can "ask about anybody whose name isn't Jack Eichel," but he also qualified that statement by saying that some are off limits unless the price is right. "I do think that if you're going to ask about a Rasmus Ristolainen or Marco Scandella or a Sam Reinhart," he continued, "you'd better be coming with a serious offer because I don't think Buffalo is going to trade those guys unless the offer is great.
"But I think they are prepared to listen to [offers for] everyone except their franchise player (Eichel.)"
It's something you'd expect from a last place team who has some talented players that are struggling both individually and as a team.
Sabres GM Jason Botterill inherited a dysfunctional NHL club and a poor AHL club and he's been able to turn around at one team, their Rochester Americans affiliate. As of today the Amerks are sporting a 12-5-3-2 record, good for second in the North Division and some of his prospects and younger pros are leaving their mark.
Free agent winger CJ Smith cracked the AHL's top-10 in scoring last night with a three point effort (1+2) in an Amerks 5-2 win over Wilkes Barre-Scranton (PIT) last night. Another free agent signee, Evan Rodrigues, has been hot ever since he came off of injured reserve with 10 points (5+5) in eight games. Two of Buffalo's younger prospects are also doing extremely well. Defenseman Brendan Guhle is playing all-situations minutes on the top pair and has 14 points (5+9) placing him third in the league amongst rookie defensemen while Linus Ullmark is tied for third in the league with 11 wins.
The cupboards aren't bare in Rochester, however, neither one, nor even all four, could have that much of a positive impact in Buffalo right now meaning it looks as if the rebuild continues.
With his Sabres team a wreck and the season lost for all intents and purposes, Botterill will have an opportunity to continue filling the cupboard with picks and prospects by trading away desirable players. The most valuable of them right now is Evander Kane who, ironically, is the exact type of player they need moving forward.
Kane has been at the forefront of trade rumors since June 2016 when he was involved in an incident in Buffalo at the NHL Draft. They couldn't get a bag of pucks for him last season but things have changed dramatically and right now "alot of people are talking about Evander Kane," said Friedman last night.
Since coming back from injury, and staying out of the spotlight off the ice, Kane has 40 goals and 67 points in 96 games. He has the speed to keep up with anyone in the NHL and he's also has the physicality to play a more rugged, Western Conference-style game.
Friedman asked what the price would be for a player like Kane and he said that a couple of the people he'd talked to referred to a couple of deadline deals from the two previous years. He pointed to deals for Andrew Ladd (2016) and Martin Hanzal (2017,) both of whom got a first round pick in return with Ladd being sent to the Chicago Blackhawks for an additional pick (conditional) and former first round pick Marko Dano (2013, 27th-overall, CBJ.)
"The sense is that Buffalo feels that Kane is a better player then both of those players," said Friedman, "so they're going to be aiming higher. I don't think they'll get a franchise defenseman for him but I think that's the idea of what they want to be."
Kane would be an obvious play for Botterill as he'll be an unrestricted free agent at season's end. So would defenseman Josh Gorges, forwards Benoit Pouliot, Jacob Josefson and Jordan Nolan, all of whom will also be unrestricted free agents this summer.
The tougher play for Botterill would be trying to move higher-salaried players. Kyle Okposo has a $6 million cap hit for five more seasons. He's had rough go of it in 2017-18 which may be tied to the trauma he went through late last season and into the summer. Word from some of our own here in the Sabres thread is that Botterill would need to entice a team to take on the five-plus years remaining on his contract.
Should Botterill want to move Ryan O'Reilly, any team agreeing to that is taking on $7.5 million per season until 2023. Zach Bogosian, although shorter in term, has a $5.14 million cap-hit but will only have two more seasons under contract at the end of this one. However, he's averaged just over 60 games/season the last three years.
And then there's the (seemingly) immovable object that is Matt Moulson. Odds are that he remains in the Buffalo organization for the remainder of the season only to have the final year of his $5 million AAV contract bought out. On the positive side for Botterill, Moulson's actually salary for this season is only $2 million while next season drops to $1 million. Perhaps a cost conscious team looking to stay above the cap floor could be enticed into takin him on. Then again, he has modified no-trade clause, according to cap-friendly, and can submit a 12 team no-trade list.
Open for business.
Let's get this out of the way early. The Buffalo Sabres dropped back-to-back games to the Pittsburgh Penguins by a combined 9-1 score. The first game was an utter embarrassment as the Pens treated them as a play toy while on their way toy 4-0 win. Last night was a much better effort by the Sabres but breakdowns coupled with a lack of scoring and the lack of key saves at key moments resulted in a 5-1 defeat.
In looking at last night's game, Buffalo skated hard and fast while barreling to the net, which is exactly the way coach Phil Housley wants his team to play but they couldn't score. Goal opportunities presented themselves on a few occasions, but with a 6-17-4 hockey club the puck usually takes the worst possible bounce, or in the case of Jack Eichel last night, the smallest area of the goalie's equipment, the shaft of the stick, makes the save.
At least they were able to score a goal to end a franchise mark for goal futility. Prior to Jason Pominville's tally with 9:42 left in the third period, the Sabres were shut out three games in a row and went 232:09, which is almost four full games, without scoring a goal.
Some will say it's the hockey gods bestowing their wrath upon the Sabres for the tank of 2014-15, which is a mythological way of stating it. Although karma can be a bitch, there are other, more tangible things that have lead this team to the point where they look like a 70's era expansion team. Lack of team speed in a fast league is one thing. Lack of finish is another. Defensive breakdowns and average goaltending, at best, combine for the blueline portion of the program.
Constant change isn't helping either as this edition of the Buffalo Sabres has been compiled by three different general managers, yet, as we'll see later, more change is on the way.
During the second intermission of Hockey Night In Canada's Toronto/Vancouver telecast, NHL insider Elliotte Friedman said that "there's a sense from other teams that the Sabres are sending signals that they are open for business."
Friedman also said that teams can "ask about anybody whose name isn't Jack Eichel," but he also qualified that statement by saying that some are off limits unless the price is right. "I do think that if you're going to ask about a Rasmus Ristolainen or Marco Scandella or a Sam Reinhart," he continued, "you'd better be coming with a serious offer because I don't think Buffalo is going to trade those guys unless the offer is great.
"But I think they are prepared to listen to [offers for] everyone except their franchise player (Eichel.)"
It's something you'd expect from a last place team who has some talented players that are struggling both individually and as a team.
Sabres GM Jason Botterill inherited a dysfunctional NHL club and a poor AHL club and he's been able to turn around at one team, their Rochester Americans affiliate. As of today the Amerks are sporting a 12-5-3-2 record, good for second in the North Division and some of his prospects and younger pros are leaving their mark.
Free agent winger CJ Smith cracked the AHL's top-10 in scoring last night with a three point effort (1+2) in an Amerks 5-2 win over Wilkes Barre-Scranton (PIT) last night. Another free agent signee, Evan Rodrigues, has been hot ever since he came off of injured reserve with 10 points (5+5) in eight games. Two of Buffalo's younger prospects are also doing extremely well. Defenseman Brendan Guhle is playing all-situations minutes on the top pair and has 14 points (5+9) placing him third in the league amongst rookie defensemen while Linus Ullmark is tied for third in the league with 11 wins.
The cupboards aren't bare in Rochester, however, neither one, nor even all four, could have that much of a positive impact in Buffalo right now meaning it looks as if the rebuild continues.
With his Sabres team a wreck and the season lost for all intents and purposes, Botterill will have an opportunity to continue filling the cupboard with picks and prospects by trading away desirable players. The most valuable of them right now is Evander Kane who, ironically, is the exact type of player they need moving forward.
Kane has been at the forefront of trade rumors since June 2016 when he was involved in an incident in Buffalo at the NHL Draft. They couldn't get a bag of pucks for him last season but things have changed dramatically and right now "alot of people are talking about Evander Kane," said Friedman last night.
Since coming back from injury, and staying out of the spotlight off the ice, Kane has 40 goals and 67 points in 96 games. He has the speed to keep up with anyone in the NHL and he's also has the physicality to play a more rugged, Western Conference-style game.
Friedman asked what the price would be for a player like Kane and he said that a couple of the people he'd talked to referred to a couple of deadline deals from the two previous years. He pointed to deals for Andrew Ladd (2016) and Martin Hanzal (2017,) both of whom got a first round pick in return with Ladd being sent to the Chicago Blackhawks for an additional pick (conditional) and former first round pick Marko Dano (2013, 27th-overall, CBJ.)
"The sense is that Buffalo feels that Kane is a better player then both of those players," said Friedman, "so they're going to be aiming higher. I don't think they'll get a franchise defenseman for him but I think that's the idea of what they want to be."
Kane would be an obvious play for Botterill as he'll be an unrestricted free agent at season's end. So would defenseman Josh Gorges, forwards Benoit Pouliot, Jacob Josefson and Jordan Nolan, all of whom will also be unrestricted free agents this summer.
The tougher play for Botterill would be trying to move higher-salaried players. Kyle Okposo has a $6 million cap hit for five more seasons. He's had rough go of it in 2017-18 which may be tied to the trauma he went through late last season and into the summer. Word from some of our own here in the Sabres thread is that Botterill would need to entice a team to take on the five-plus years remaining on his contract.
Should Botterill want to move Ryan O'Reilly, any team agreeing to that is taking on $7.5 million per season until 2023. Zach Bogosian, although shorter in term, has a $5.14 million cap-hit but will only have two more seasons under contract at the end of this one. However, he's averaged just over 60 games/season the last three years.
And then there's the (seemingly) immovable object that is Matt Moulson. Odds are that he remains in the Buffalo organization for the remainder of the season only to have the final year of his $5 million AAV contract bought out. On the positive side for Botterill, Moulson's actually salary for this season is only $2 million while next season drops to $1 million. Perhaps a cost conscious team looking to stay above the cap floor could be enticed into takin him on. Then again, he has modified no-trade clause, according to cap-friendly, and can submit a 12 team no-trade list.
Open for business.
Monday, August 28, 2017
The Andreas Athanasiou situation is an interesting one to keep an eye on.
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 8-25-2017
For once the Buffalo Sabres don't have drama surrounding the signing of one of their players. Sabres GM Jason Botterill got all of his restricted free agents signed, and that includes starting goaltender Robin Lehner who had filed for salary arbitration before the two sides amicably came together on a 1 yr./$4 million deal that was a $850,000 bump over his salary from last season. Lehner is in Buffalo as we speak practicing with some of his teammates yesterday, according to a tweet from WGR550 radio's Paul Hamilton.
Whether real or imagined, the Sabres had some problems either keeping their own or signing them at a reasonable rate to keep the small market team competitive. At least pre-Terry Pegula. In the six years since Pegula bought the team, things have gone in the other direction with Buffalo overpaying players, but perhaps we're finally at a spot where it's beginning to balance out.
As it stands right now, the Sabres are $6.9 million under the NHL's cap-ceiling with all of their players signed, and their 44 pro contracts are under the league's maximum of 50, according to CapFriendly. Also, as of right now, Buffalo is in the mix for free agent defenseman Will Butcher. The 2017 Hobey Baker winner has reportedly narrowed his choices to four team with only two of them being named--Buffalo and the Vegas Golden Knights.
Were he to sign with the club (which could very easily happen,) the team still has plenty of wiggle room to add at least another contract or two. Adding talent is the name of the game and one could assume that Botterill is closely watching what's happening with a number of Group-2 free agents who've yet to come to terms off of their entry-level deals.
Unsigned restricted free agent problems are the realm of other teams this August and the list incudes some impressive talent. Topping that list would be Columbus Blue Jackets center Alexander Wennberg. The 22 yr. old center is coming off of a strong campaign in his third NHL season with 59 points (13+46) in 80 games.
I reached out to hockeybuzz.com colleague Paul Berthelot, who covers the Jackets, to see about the Wennberg situation.
Berthelot says Wennberg, "who is a true center that you will not see on the wing," was the used as the team's No. 1 center after Columbus traded Ryan Johansen in the Seth Jones deal. He also speculates that Wennberg might be looking for a Jonathan Drouin-type contract somewhere in the vicinity of 6 yrs./$5.5-6 million per season.
Sam Bennett out in Calgary is also have a bit of a problem coming to terms with the Flames. Bennett was taken fourth overall in the 2014 NHL Draft and just finished his second full season with the club.
The Flames have some impressive young talent with the likes of Sean Monahan, Johnny Gadreau and Matthew Tkachuk leading their charge of the youngins and Bennett hasn't lived up to his billing as of yet. According to Mark Parkinson of MatchsticksandGasoline, "Bennett hasn’t blown anyone away with his play, yet he really isn’t a bust either. It’s like he’s in some weird middle ground. Is he a true centre? Is he a forward? When will we see that potential the Flames saw when they selected him that high in the draft."
Out in Arizona Anthony Duclair had a tough go of it in his second season with the Coyotes. The 2013 third round pick (109th overall) went from 20 goals and 44 points in 2015-16 to five goals and fifteen points last season, a drop that ended up with him being demoted to the AHL's Tucson Roadrunners.
Hockeybuzz colleague James Tanner felt that Duclair's drop in production may not have been his fault completely saying, "Last year they acquired [Radim] Vrbata and Duclair lost his job before training camp even started. Then in the first preseason game he got like ten minutes, and the same with the season opener.
"He didn't so much have a bad season last year, as his season was self-sabotaged by the coach. [Dave] Tippett just didn't play him, and older guys no longer on the team got tons more minutes and PP time."
A dreadful season like that put 5'11" 185lb. left-winger in a weak bargaining position that has him looking at a bridge deal.
The most intriguing unsigned RFA, however, seems to be Detroit Red Wings forward Andreas Athanasiou.
Detroit is in a very vulnerable position at this time of the off season. There have been huge changes in Motown which includes the loss of owner Mike Illitch earlier this year and the move to a new arena. The Red Wings lost two key components of their Cup Champion team from 2008 in coach Mike Babcock and Pavel Datsyuk and for the first time in over 25 years missed the playoffs.
What's worse for them going into the season is that they're $3 million over the cap right now. Although GM Ken Holland will get some relief once the season starts, he may need to make a decision on Athanasiou sooner rather than later. The 23 yr. old forward is supposedly entertaining an offer from the KHL.
In his AskAnsar piece at M-Live this morning, Ansar Khan addressed the situation. "I have no idea what a 23-year-old player with 27 goals and 41 points in 101 games could earn in Russia," he wrote, "but I think it would have to be substantially more than what he can get from the Red Wings (my guess is between $1.5 million and $2 million per season for two years) for Athanasiou to go overseas. I doubt that it’s worth going for slightly more money, even though it’s tax-free there."
After a fan offered up a 3yr./$9 million deal for Athanasiou, Khan replied, "I’m sure Athanasiou would jump at that deal, but I doubt the Red Wings would offer that much."
The reasoning is very simple, according to Khan. He followed that up with an appearance on the Laidlaw and Allen Hockey Report saying, "In my opinion, even if [the Wings] had plenty of cap-space, I think they'd still be in the same predicament with Athanasiou because there is a gap between what they think this 23 yr. old coming off his entry-level contract should be paid and what Athanasiou's camp thinks he's worth.
"The Red Wings have always operated under this salary structure," continued Khan, "that this player with a certain amount of experience needs to be slotted in at this level, and they feel they'd disrupt that by giving him more than they feel he should get."
Khan points straying from their structure would have a "domino effect" because next year they'll need to re-sign two young, talented players in Dylan Larkin and Anthony Mantha.
Athanasiou has a pretty good skill package. He's "an elite skater" said Khan, "and what he's got at a fairly young age is finishing ability. He can make individual plays and when he gets in tight, he knows how to finish and he's proven it despite limited ice-time and limited powerplay time."
On the downside, Athanasiou, has been called out by coach Jeff Blashill on a couple of occasions for an inconsistent effort. "He takes too many shifts off," according to Khan, "doesn't pay attention to detail as much without the puck in the defensive end and sometimes his compete-level, as far as winning battles and consistently skating hard, has caused some rifts."
It's an interesting case to watch. Athanasiou is obviously talented, albeit with his flaws, but that doesn't seem to be the sticking point as much as a clash of contract philosophies. This isn't the same Red Wings organization that every player wanted to play for under their terms. It actually reminds me of the Sabres and some of their off seasons.
Vulnerability makes the Wings/Athanasiou situation very intriguing in that we could see the first offer sheet for an rfa since the ill-fated Flames offer sheet for Ryan O'Reilly in February, 2013. Perhaps the best part about all of this is that the poaching team could go as high as $3,755,233/season and only give up a second-rounder to the Wings. Or if a team feels that Athanasiou could be a key player for their team moving forward, they could offer up a future first rounder, say in 2019, as an incentive not to try and poach him.
Do the Sabres have $3.5 million in cap-space over the next three years to use on a talent like Athanasiou? Would they feel a 2019 first-rounder for him would be worth it to avoid an offer sheet? They could do either.
It sure is nice to be on this side of the equation.
For once the Buffalo Sabres don't have drama surrounding the signing of one of their players. Sabres GM Jason Botterill got all of his restricted free agents signed, and that includes starting goaltender Robin Lehner who had filed for salary arbitration before the two sides amicably came together on a 1 yr./$4 million deal that was a $850,000 bump over his salary from last season. Lehner is in Buffalo as we speak practicing with some of his teammates yesterday, according to a tweet from WGR550 radio's Paul Hamilton.
Whether real or imagined, the Sabres had some problems either keeping their own or signing them at a reasonable rate to keep the small market team competitive. At least pre-Terry Pegula. In the six years since Pegula bought the team, things have gone in the other direction with Buffalo overpaying players, but perhaps we're finally at a spot where it's beginning to balance out.
As it stands right now, the Sabres are $6.9 million under the NHL's cap-ceiling with all of their players signed, and their 44 pro contracts are under the league's maximum of 50, according to CapFriendly. Also, as of right now, Buffalo is in the mix for free agent defenseman Will Butcher. The 2017 Hobey Baker winner has reportedly narrowed his choices to four team with only two of them being named--Buffalo and the Vegas Golden Knights.
Were he to sign with the club (which could very easily happen,) the team still has plenty of wiggle room to add at least another contract or two. Adding talent is the name of the game and one could assume that Botterill is closely watching what's happening with a number of Group-2 free agents who've yet to come to terms off of their entry-level deals.
Unsigned restricted free agent problems are the realm of other teams this August and the list incudes some impressive talent. Topping that list would be Columbus Blue Jackets center Alexander Wennberg. The 22 yr. old center is coming off of a strong campaign in his third NHL season with 59 points (13+46) in 80 games.
I reached out to hockeybuzz.com colleague Paul Berthelot, who covers the Jackets, to see about the Wennberg situation.
Berthelot says Wennberg, "who is a true center that you will not see on the wing," was the used as the team's No. 1 center after Columbus traded Ryan Johansen in the Seth Jones deal. He also speculates that Wennberg might be looking for a Jonathan Drouin-type contract somewhere in the vicinity of 6 yrs./$5.5-6 million per season.
Sam Bennett out in Calgary is also have a bit of a problem coming to terms with the Flames. Bennett was taken fourth overall in the 2014 NHL Draft and just finished his second full season with the club.
The Flames have some impressive young talent with the likes of Sean Monahan, Johnny Gadreau and Matthew Tkachuk leading their charge of the youngins and Bennett hasn't lived up to his billing as of yet. According to Mark Parkinson of MatchsticksandGasoline, "Bennett hasn’t blown anyone away with his play, yet he really isn’t a bust either. It’s like he’s in some weird middle ground. Is he a true centre? Is he a forward? When will we see that potential the Flames saw when they selected him that high in the draft."
Out in Arizona Anthony Duclair had a tough go of it in his second season with the Coyotes. The 2013 third round pick (109th overall) went from 20 goals and 44 points in 2015-16 to five goals and fifteen points last season, a drop that ended up with him being demoted to the AHL's Tucson Roadrunners.
Hockeybuzz colleague James Tanner felt that Duclair's drop in production may not have been his fault completely saying, "Last year they acquired [Radim] Vrbata and Duclair lost his job before training camp even started. Then in the first preseason game he got like ten minutes, and the same with the season opener.
"He didn't so much have a bad season last year, as his season was self-sabotaged by the coach. [Dave] Tippett just didn't play him, and older guys no longer on the team got tons more minutes and PP time."
A dreadful season like that put 5'11" 185lb. left-winger in a weak bargaining position that has him looking at a bridge deal.
The most intriguing unsigned RFA, however, seems to be Detroit Red Wings forward Andreas Athanasiou.
Detroit is in a very vulnerable position at this time of the off season. There have been huge changes in Motown which includes the loss of owner Mike Illitch earlier this year and the move to a new arena. The Red Wings lost two key components of their Cup Champion team from 2008 in coach Mike Babcock and Pavel Datsyuk and for the first time in over 25 years missed the playoffs.
What's worse for them going into the season is that they're $3 million over the cap right now. Although GM Ken Holland will get some relief once the season starts, he may need to make a decision on Athanasiou sooner rather than later. The 23 yr. old forward is supposedly entertaining an offer from the KHL.
In his AskAnsar piece at M-Live this morning, Ansar Khan addressed the situation. "I have no idea what a 23-year-old player with 27 goals and 41 points in 101 games could earn in Russia," he wrote, "but I think it would have to be substantially more than what he can get from the Red Wings (my guess is between $1.5 million and $2 million per season for two years) for Athanasiou to go overseas. I doubt that it’s worth going for slightly more money, even though it’s tax-free there."
After a fan offered up a 3yr./$9 million deal for Athanasiou, Khan replied, "I’m sure Athanasiou would jump at that deal, but I doubt the Red Wings would offer that much."
The reasoning is very simple, according to Khan. He followed that up with an appearance on the Laidlaw and Allen Hockey Report saying, "In my opinion, even if [the Wings] had plenty of cap-space, I think they'd still be in the same predicament with Athanasiou because there is a gap between what they think this 23 yr. old coming off his entry-level contract should be paid and what Athanasiou's camp thinks he's worth.
"The Red Wings have always operated under this salary structure," continued Khan, "that this player with a certain amount of experience needs to be slotted in at this level, and they feel they'd disrupt that by giving him more than they feel he should get."
Khan points straying from their structure would have a "domino effect" because next year they'll need to re-sign two young, talented players in Dylan Larkin and Anthony Mantha.
Athanasiou has a pretty good skill package. He's "an elite skater" said Khan, "and what he's got at a fairly young age is finishing ability. He can make individual plays and when he gets in tight, he knows how to finish and he's proven it despite limited ice-time and limited powerplay time."
On the downside, Athanasiou, has been called out by coach Jeff Blashill on a couple of occasions for an inconsistent effort. "He takes too many shifts off," according to Khan, "doesn't pay attention to detail as much without the puck in the defensive end and sometimes his compete-level, as far as winning battles and consistently skating hard, has caused some rifts."
It's an interesting case to watch. Athanasiou is obviously talented, albeit with his flaws, but that doesn't seem to be the sticking point as much as a clash of contract philosophies. This isn't the same Red Wings organization that every player wanted to play for under their terms. It actually reminds me of the Sabres and some of their off seasons.
Vulnerability makes the Wings/Athanasiou situation very intriguing in that we could see the first offer sheet for an rfa since the ill-fated Flames offer sheet for Ryan O'Reilly in February, 2013. Perhaps the best part about all of this is that the poaching team could go as high as $3,755,233/season and only give up a second-rounder to the Wings. Or if a team feels that Athanasiou could be a key player for their team moving forward, they could offer up a future first rounder, say in 2019, as an incentive not to try and poach him.
Do the Sabres have $3.5 million in cap-space over the next three years to use on a talent like Athanasiou? Would they feel a 2019 first-rounder for him would be worth it to avoid an offer sheet? They could do either.
It sure is nice to be on this side of the equation.
Sunday, July 23, 2017
On the NHL/Olympic thing.
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 7-21-2017
Let's start by saying that I'm a big fan of the Olympics which dates back to my youth in the 70's. I remember Tommy Smith's black fist on the medal stand and being outraged at the end of the USSR/USA basketball game in 1972 as well as being shocked at siege of Olympic Village in Munich that year. Names like Olga Korbut, Bruce Jenner, Dorothy Hamill, Mark Spitz and Teofilo Stevenson are all embedded in my brain and all because of their incredible achievements on the world stage during those years.
There were many other names and events that are etched in my brain from Carl Lewis to Greg Louganis, to the Atlanta bombing. I fondly remember the Sabres own Dominik Hasek thwarting the 1998 mighty Canadian Olympic team in the semi-final shootout which is right up there with some of my favorite Olympic moments. Tops amongst all of my memories, however, was the Miracle on Ice in 1980. I still get chills just as I did seeing it live (or what we thought was live at the time.)
Although none of this means I'm an authority on all things Olympics, it does provide a framework for where I'm about to go with this NHL/Olympic thing. The NHL announced today that they will allow players on AHL contracts to participate in the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, but as of right now they're not allowing their players to compete in South Korea. And that includes AHL'ers on two-way contracts.
North American professional athletes began participating in the Olympics beginning in 1992 with the USA "Dream Team" basketball squad. The NHL began participation in the Olympics beginning in 1998 and after five Olympics, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said at a press conference in April that the NHL players will not participate in 2018 and that they considered "the matter officially closed." According to Bettman, "the overwhelming majority of our clubs are adamantly opposed to disrupting the 2017-18 NHL season for purposes of accommodating Olympic participation by some NHL players" and he was also mentioned that the International Olympic Committee won't be picking up any of the cost, which includes travel and insurance, for any NHL players participating in the games, like they'd done in the past. And from this writer's standpoint, even if the break could be accommodated and the IOC footed the bill for players, I'd still have reservations about sending athletes to a city that's a stone's throw away from North Korea and an unbalanced leader in Kim Jong-un.
I get what the NHL Players Association said in that patriotism is a driving force behind players wanting to participate in the Olympics and I can somewhat buy into the belief that the sport will increase in popularity because the best players will create a highly competitive atmosphere. Vancouver 2010 was great hockey, and for Canadians great theater, but it's also best to keep in mind that the Games were in the birthplace of hockey with a friendly border-country as a hockey adversary.
For this NHL fan, the disruption to the season isn't worth it and for players where the NHL season already consists of too many games, a condensed schedule is brutal, especially for players who competed in the Olympics. In fact any add-on to the NHL season, which includes the World Cup, seems to put undue strain on players. However, if the NHL wants to continue with the World Cup, fine as it's not during the season. If players want to participate in the IIHF World Championships, fine as it's after the season.
Keeping NHL'ers out of the Olympics undoubtedly means lesser star power and a lesser product skills-wise, but the competitive nature of players playing for their country will not be lessened. For many of the players the Olympics represents an opportunity to reach for the gold or even immortality. Many won't ever get the chance to compete for the Stanley Cup and even less won't make into the World Cup either so this is their shot, and as we saw in 1980, sometimes great things happen.
In fact, as an old-school type of guy, I have no problem going back to the time when only amateurs were allowed to play in the Olympics. I remember the late 80's when a semi-finals basketball loss by the U.S. furthered the case for inclusion of pro's in the Olympics leading to the ridiculously dominant "Dream Team." It was great watching them but the luster faded and apathy now rules basketball at the Olympics for me. I also remember how Team USA made asses of themselves by vandalizing Olympic Village after being ousted by Hasek and the Czech Republic in 1998.
For me, the meaning just isn't there any more. The U.S. proved that it can dominate when they put their best players on the court and Canada also proved that it's still the dominant force in the game right now. I'd rather watch the NHL's regular season, with all it's stars playing a regular schedule, and augment my hockey fixation by watching unknowns compete on a world stage.
However, those days are long gone but having the NHL allow lower-level pros and the best that college and junior have to offer seems like a good way to approach the Olympic dilemma. Having said this, I'm fully aware that if sound fiscal policy dictates NHL participation at some point down the road, I'll have no problem with that either.
It's hockey, and I'll watch it.
Let's start by saying that I'm a big fan of the Olympics which dates back to my youth in the 70's. I remember Tommy Smith's black fist on the medal stand and being outraged at the end of the USSR/USA basketball game in 1972 as well as being shocked at siege of Olympic Village in Munich that year. Names like Olga Korbut, Bruce Jenner, Dorothy Hamill, Mark Spitz and Teofilo Stevenson are all embedded in my brain and all because of their incredible achievements on the world stage during those years.
There were many other names and events that are etched in my brain from Carl Lewis to Greg Louganis, to the Atlanta bombing. I fondly remember the Sabres own Dominik Hasek thwarting the 1998 mighty Canadian Olympic team in the semi-final shootout which is right up there with some of my favorite Olympic moments. Tops amongst all of my memories, however, was the Miracle on Ice in 1980. I still get chills just as I did seeing it live (or what we thought was live at the time.)
Although none of this means I'm an authority on all things Olympics, it does provide a framework for where I'm about to go with this NHL/Olympic thing. The NHL announced today that they will allow players on AHL contracts to participate in the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, but as of right now they're not allowing their players to compete in South Korea. And that includes AHL'ers on two-way contracts.
North American professional athletes began participating in the Olympics beginning in 1992 with the USA "Dream Team" basketball squad. The NHL began participation in the Olympics beginning in 1998 and after five Olympics, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said at a press conference in April that the NHL players will not participate in 2018 and that they considered "the matter officially closed." According to Bettman, "the overwhelming majority of our clubs are adamantly opposed to disrupting the 2017-18 NHL season for purposes of accommodating Olympic participation by some NHL players" and he was also mentioned that the International Olympic Committee won't be picking up any of the cost, which includes travel and insurance, for any NHL players participating in the games, like they'd done in the past. And from this writer's standpoint, even if the break could be accommodated and the IOC footed the bill for players, I'd still have reservations about sending athletes to a city that's a stone's throw away from North Korea and an unbalanced leader in Kim Jong-un.
I get what the NHL Players Association said in that patriotism is a driving force behind players wanting to participate in the Olympics and I can somewhat buy into the belief that the sport will increase in popularity because the best players will create a highly competitive atmosphere. Vancouver 2010 was great hockey, and for Canadians great theater, but it's also best to keep in mind that the Games were in the birthplace of hockey with a friendly border-country as a hockey adversary.
For this NHL fan, the disruption to the season isn't worth it and for players where the NHL season already consists of too many games, a condensed schedule is brutal, especially for players who competed in the Olympics. In fact any add-on to the NHL season, which includes the World Cup, seems to put undue strain on players. However, if the NHL wants to continue with the World Cup, fine as it's not during the season. If players want to participate in the IIHF World Championships, fine as it's after the season.
Keeping NHL'ers out of the Olympics undoubtedly means lesser star power and a lesser product skills-wise, but the competitive nature of players playing for their country will not be lessened. For many of the players the Olympics represents an opportunity to reach for the gold or even immortality. Many won't ever get the chance to compete for the Stanley Cup and even less won't make into the World Cup either so this is their shot, and as we saw in 1980, sometimes great things happen.
In fact, as an old-school type of guy, I have no problem going back to the time when only amateurs were allowed to play in the Olympics. I remember the late 80's when a semi-finals basketball loss by the U.S. furthered the case for inclusion of pro's in the Olympics leading to the ridiculously dominant "Dream Team." It was great watching them but the luster faded and apathy now rules basketball at the Olympics for me. I also remember how Team USA made asses of themselves by vandalizing Olympic Village after being ousted by Hasek and the Czech Republic in 1998.
For me, the meaning just isn't there any more. The U.S. proved that it can dominate when they put their best players on the court and Canada also proved that it's still the dominant force in the game right now. I'd rather watch the NHL's regular season, with all it's stars playing a regular schedule, and augment my hockey fixation by watching unknowns compete on a world stage.
However, those days are long gone but having the NHL allow lower-level pros and the best that college and junior have to offer seems like a good way to approach the Olympic dilemma. Having said this, I'm fully aware that if sound fiscal policy dictates NHL participation at some point down the road, I'll have no problem with that either.
It's hockey, and I'll watch it.
Wednesday, July 19, 2017
Nico signed and ready to headline 3rd annual Prospects Challenge. Plus…
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 7-16-2017
The New Jersey Devils found some serious luck when the vaulted from the fifth-overall pick in the 2017 NHL Draft all the way up to No. 1. Although the Philadelphia Flyers trounced them on the luck-scale by going from 13th-overal to No. 2, the Devils got the pick of the litter and selected center Nico Hischier from Halifax of the QMJHL with the top pick.
Hischier shot up the draft with a 38-goal, 86 point season for the Mooseheads during the regular season (57 games.) Dennis MacInnis of International Scouting Services told The New York Times prior to the draft that he'd "seen guys go from the 20s to the top 10, but I don't really recall the last time we had a guy go from 20s to contending for No. 1." With most expecting the Devils to take Nolan Patrick first overall, MacInnis has now seen something that's never happened before.
The 6'1" 176 lb. Hischier is described a "worth the price of admission," by Dan Marr, Director NHL Central Scouting. Marr continued in his predraft profile of Hischier as a player that "has a high skill level. But what's most impressive is the way he competes, his drive and work ethic. He is a player who is first on the forecheck forcing a turnover and when the play transitions, he's the first player back. He's in that category as a special player."
Sabres fans will get to see Hischier in a pro-style setting as he and the rest of New Jersey's prospects hit the HarborCenter ice in Buffalo for the 3rd Annual Prospects Challenge. The event is from Friday, September 8 to Tuesday, September 12 in a round-robin format. Buffalo takes on New Jersey in the headliner at 7 p.m. that Friday. The afternoon game pits the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Boston Bruins.
This will be the third year that New Jersey and Boston will be at the event while the Penguins are first-time participants.
*****
There are plenty of Pittsburgh ties when it comes to the Buffalo Sabres, which includes new GM Jason Botterill and new AGM, Randy Sexton so it's good that they were able to lure the Pens to Buffalo for the Challenge.
Although the Penguins won't have a Hischier attending the tournament we could see NCAA Scoring Champion Zach Aston-Reese (2017, FA) plus two 2017 draft picks in defensemen Zachary Lauzon (51st-overall) and Clayton Phillips (93rd.)
Boston, meanwhile, touts defensemen Charlie McAvoy (2016, 14th) and Jeremy Lauzon (2015, 52nd) plus 2015 75th overall pick, goalie Daniel Vladar.
Rosters should be announced early September.
*****
Our friend Kris Baker of sabresprospects.com/Sabres.com have us his projections for Buffalo's Prospect Challenge roster which includes names like Alexander Nylander, Cliff Pu, Brendan Guhle and Jonas Johansson. He's also quick to point out that players in college and overseas will be either playing games or in camp at that time of year.
Some of the Sabres' most intriguing prospects will not at the Challenge including centers Rasmus Asplund (2016, 33rd) and Casey Mittelstadt (2017, eighth) who were both forces in the recently completed Sabres Development Camp. College defensemen Will Borgen and Casey Fitzgerald will not be attending nor will goalie Ukka-Pekka Luukkonen. Luukkonen had a stellar D-Camp and his progress is one worth watching.
*****
I couldn't help but think this after reading that former Sabres bench boss Ted Nolan was headed to Poland to coach the National Team there. Nolan had two stints with the Sabres, and I have the utmost respect for what he was able to do in Buffalo. And from all accounts, he's been even better off the ice.
Nolan's style is rather simple when it comes to hockey--work hard and give it all you've got. It's a rather old notion that kind of got lost in this new world of analytics which reminded me of the beginnings of World War II when the Polish Calvary tried to fight Nazi tanks and armored vehicles while on horseback. Those were some brave and noble soldiers, but the end result wasn't very pretty.
Then again, a systematic coach like Dan Bylsma probably would've have the tanks strictly follow his plan even if it meant ending up at the bottom of lake or river while on their way to Warsaw.
*****
Dom Luszczyszyn of The Hockey News had an interesting article a couple of days ago entitled, Star power in the NHL: Which teams have it, and how much does it take to win the Cup? With superstars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin leading the Pittsburgh Penguins to the last two Stanley Cups, along with superstars Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and Duncan Keith leading the Chicago Blackhawks to three of the previous six Cups, it makes for good conversation.
Luszczszyn used a recent FiveThirtyEight NBA piece as a basis and came up with a way "to figure out how good a player needs to be to fit championship criteria." He tabbed the five top players on each of the last Cup Championship teams dating back to 2008. Using that info he established five tiers from "year-end award candidates" down to "very good players who are borderline stars in the right environment" giving him star tiers.
He then doled out points for each player landing in a certain tier and added up the top-seven players ranked by star tier to come away with a team ranking.
Like all analytics it does have quirks, like the Winnipeg Jets being ranked second overall lead by Blake Wheeler amongst the top-10 overall, but it does have the Nashville Predators (1st,) Penguins (3rd,) Washington Capitals (4th) and Blackhawks (7th) in star power.
The Buffalo Sabres come in at No. 23 in Luszczszyn's star power ranking with no player in the top "year-end awards candidates" tier but two in the next one--"elite players, among the best at their position." Jack Eichel and Ryan O'Reilly are behind the likes of Malkin, Marc Schiefele (WPG,) Joe Pavelski (SJS,) Max Pacioretty (MTL,) and Alexander Ovechkin (WSH.)
Sam Reinhart and Kyle Okposo made the final, "very good plyaers who are borderline stars in the right environment" fifth tier while Evander Kane never made it on the list.
For those interested, Connor McDavid (EDM,) Nikita Kucherov (TBL,) Crosby, Patrice Bergeron (BOS) and Brad Marchand (BOS) were the top-five players.
The New Jersey Devils found some serious luck when the vaulted from the fifth-overall pick in the 2017 NHL Draft all the way up to No. 1. Although the Philadelphia Flyers trounced them on the luck-scale by going from 13th-overal to No. 2, the Devils got the pick of the litter and selected center Nico Hischier from Halifax of the QMJHL with the top pick.
Hischier shot up the draft with a 38-goal, 86 point season for the Mooseheads during the regular season (57 games.) Dennis MacInnis of International Scouting Services told The New York Times prior to the draft that he'd "seen guys go from the 20s to the top 10, but I don't really recall the last time we had a guy go from 20s to contending for No. 1." With most expecting the Devils to take Nolan Patrick first overall, MacInnis has now seen something that's never happened before.
The 6'1" 176 lb. Hischier is described a "worth the price of admission," by Dan Marr, Director NHL Central Scouting. Marr continued in his predraft profile of Hischier as a player that "has a high skill level. But what's most impressive is the way he competes, his drive and work ethic. He is a player who is first on the forecheck forcing a turnover and when the play transitions, he's the first player back. He's in that category as a special player."
Sabres fans will get to see Hischier in a pro-style setting as he and the rest of New Jersey's prospects hit the HarborCenter ice in Buffalo for the 3rd Annual Prospects Challenge. The event is from Friday, September 8 to Tuesday, September 12 in a round-robin format. Buffalo takes on New Jersey in the headliner at 7 p.m. that Friday. The afternoon game pits the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Boston Bruins.
This will be the third year that New Jersey and Boston will be at the event while the Penguins are first-time participants.
*****
There are plenty of Pittsburgh ties when it comes to the Buffalo Sabres, which includes new GM Jason Botterill and new AGM, Randy Sexton so it's good that they were able to lure the Pens to Buffalo for the Challenge.
Although the Penguins won't have a Hischier attending the tournament we could see NCAA Scoring Champion Zach Aston-Reese (2017, FA) plus two 2017 draft picks in defensemen Zachary Lauzon (51st-overall) and Clayton Phillips (93rd.)
Boston, meanwhile, touts defensemen Charlie McAvoy (2016, 14th) and Jeremy Lauzon (2015, 52nd) plus 2015 75th overall pick, goalie Daniel Vladar.
Rosters should be announced early September.
*****
Our friend Kris Baker of sabresprospects.com/Sabres.com have us his projections for Buffalo's Prospect Challenge roster which includes names like Alexander Nylander, Cliff Pu, Brendan Guhle and Jonas Johansson. He's also quick to point out that players in college and overseas will be either playing games or in camp at that time of year.
Some of the Sabres' most intriguing prospects will not at the Challenge including centers Rasmus Asplund (2016, 33rd) and Casey Mittelstadt (2017, eighth) who were both forces in the recently completed Sabres Development Camp. College defensemen Will Borgen and Casey Fitzgerald will not be attending nor will goalie Ukka-Pekka Luukkonen. Luukkonen had a stellar D-Camp and his progress is one worth watching.
*****
I couldn't help but think this after reading that former Sabres bench boss Ted Nolan was headed to Poland to coach the National Team there. Nolan had two stints with the Sabres, and I have the utmost respect for what he was able to do in Buffalo. And from all accounts, he's been even better off the ice.
Nolan's style is rather simple when it comes to hockey--work hard and give it all you've got. It's a rather old notion that kind of got lost in this new world of analytics which reminded me of the beginnings of World War II when the Polish Calvary tried to fight Nazi tanks and armored vehicles while on horseback. Those were some brave and noble soldiers, but the end result wasn't very pretty.
Then again, a systematic coach like Dan Bylsma probably would've have the tanks strictly follow his plan even if it meant ending up at the bottom of lake or river while on their way to Warsaw.
*****
Dom Luszczyszyn of The Hockey News had an interesting article a couple of days ago entitled, Star power in the NHL: Which teams have it, and how much does it take to win the Cup? With superstars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin leading the Pittsburgh Penguins to the last two Stanley Cups, along with superstars Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and Duncan Keith leading the Chicago Blackhawks to three of the previous six Cups, it makes for good conversation.
Luszczszyn used a recent FiveThirtyEight NBA piece as a basis and came up with a way "to figure out how good a player needs to be to fit championship criteria." He tabbed the five top players on each of the last Cup Championship teams dating back to 2008. Using that info he established five tiers from "year-end award candidates" down to "very good players who are borderline stars in the right environment" giving him star tiers.
He then doled out points for each player landing in a certain tier and added up the top-seven players ranked by star tier to come away with a team ranking.
Like all analytics it does have quirks, like the Winnipeg Jets being ranked second overall lead by Blake Wheeler amongst the top-10 overall, but it does have the Nashville Predators (1st,) Penguins (3rd,) Washington Capitals (4th) and Blackhawks (7th) in star power.
The Buffalo Sabres come in at No. 23 in Luszczszyn's star power ranking with no player in the top "year-end awards candidates" tier but two in the next one--"elite players, among the best at their position." Jack Eichel and Ryan O'Reilly are behind the likes of Malkin, Marc Schiefele (WPG,) Joe Pavelski (SJS,) Max Pacioretty (MTL,) and Alexander Ovechkin (WSH.)
Sam Reinhart and Kyle Okposo made the final, "very good plyaers who are borderline stars in the right environment" fifth tier while Evander Kane never made it on the list.
For those interested, Connor McDavid (EDM,) Nikita Kucherov (TBL,) Crosby, Patrice Bergeron (BOS) and Brad Marchand (BOS) were the top-five players.
Tuesday, June 20, 2017
Golden Knights want Will Carrier? Plus Las Vegas picks from all 30 teams
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 6-19-2017
William Carrier was selected 57th overall in 2013 by the St. Louis Blues. In February, 2014 then GM Tim Murray received Carrier as a part of the Ryan Miller to Blues blockbuster trade and since then the 22 yr. old LaSalle, Quebec native has been slowly making his way to the NHL.
After finishing his junior career in 2014 with the Drummondville Voltigeurs of the QMJHL, Carrier spent two seasons in Rochester registering 20 goals and 31 assists in 119 games for the Amerks. He began last season with the AHL club (3+1 in seven games) before being called up to Buffalo in November. In 41 games for the Sabres he had five goals and three assists as he was used up an down the lineup by former head coach Dan Bylsma.
Carrier has tremendous speed for a 6'2" 212 lb. player and he loves to go full-bore into the corner. Unfortunately to this point in his very young career he's been unable to hit the scoresheet with any kind of regularity at the NHL-level but regardless of his stats with the big club last season, he still has upside. He also has that speed and tenacity which is one thing he'll always have going for him, especially with the way the NHL game is played today.
Which is why he'd be a good choice for selection by the Las Vegas Golden Knights in the expansion draft--Carrier is young, has Western Conference size, can skate, plays a north/south game and has upside.
Buffalo's protected list did not include Carrier or goalie, Linus Ullmark. Instead the Sabres chose to protect forward Tyler Ennis (amongst other forwards like Johan Larsson and Zemgus Girgensons) and starting goalie Robin Lehner. Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News framed the decision like this, "As the theory goes, [Knights GM George] McPhee made it clear he wants to pluck Ullmark, the 23-year-old slated to be Lehner's backup next season. [Sabres GM Jason] Botterill, knowing the organization is thin in goal, told McPhee he didn't want to lose Ullmark. McPhee, as he is doing with every team, simply said it will cost Botterill something.
"That something is likely Carrier."
Which is very sound reasoning.
Buffalo could've chosen to expose Ennis and his $4.6 million cap-hit over the next two seasons and/or Lehner, who's a restricted free agent. The duo would have been added to three bloated contracts in Zach Bogosian ($5.14M/three years remaining,) Matt Moulson ($5M/two years) and Josh Gorges ($3.9M/one year) and an exposed list of marginal players that included Nicolas Deslauriers, Brian Gionta, Derek Grant, Justin Kea, Cal O'Reilly, Cole Schneider, Brady Austin, Matt Bodie, Cody Franson, Dmitry Kulikov and Anders Nilsson.
In that scenario the Golden Knights may have selected Lehner, which would have put the Sabres in a bind, but he still would be the (probable) second choice amongst starting goalies behind Pittsburgh's Marc-Andre Fleury, the likely starter in Vegas next season. Washington's Philipp Grubauer, who many feel is a lock to be plucked by the Golden Knights as well, would also likely make for a better understudy to MAF than Lehner, so Lehner to Vegas would only seem to work in a draft and trade scenario. Without Lehner in the mix, Buffalo would be offering Vegas a choice between vets with a bloated contracts, younger players with limited (or no) upside, or free agents who may be available July 1 anyway. Unless both McPhee and Botterill had a strong interest in Ennis.
If Carrier is the preferred choice of McPhee, having Botterill expose the young forward put the teams on a two-way street giving the Vegas GM something to work with as well. And if the Sabres hope to further bolster their blueline via the expansion draft, there's still a possibility for them to do so, which may also be a possible reason for them to leave Carrier available to Vegas. McPhee will be able to trade drafted players to other teams and it looks as if there might be some decent defensemen for Buffalo to take a run at.
The Golden Knights will be selecting one player from every team and they must take a minimum of 14 forwards, nine defensemen and three goalies from the lists of unprotected players. Since defensemen are of the utmost importance they may choose to select two or there extra d-man for trade purposes. Here's my list of two players from each team that Las Vegas may strongly be considering, plus a goalie where applicable with and the bolded name of who the Golden Knights might choose. Of note, some teams are rumored to have deals in place, so I'll try to work around that.
--Anaheim (rumored deal to keep D, Josh Manson and D, Sami Vatanen: F, Emerson Etem, RW, Nick Sorensen
--Arizona: C, Alexander Burmistrov; F, Teemu Pulkkinen
--Boston: D, Adam McQuaid; D, Linus Arnesson
--Buffalo (rumored Vegas will take): LW, Will Carrier
--Calgary: RW, Kris Versteeg; D, Matt Barkowski
--Carolina: RW, Lee Stempniak; D, Klaus Dahlbeck
--Chicago (rumored deal with Las Vegas): C, Marcus Kruger; D, Trevor van Riemsdyk
--Colorado: F, Mikhail Grigorenko; D, Mark Barberio; G, Calvin Pickard
--Columbus (rumored deal to protect core): F, William Karlsson; F, Matt Calvert;
--Dallas: C, Cody Eakin; D, Dan Hamhuis
--Detroit: C, Riley Sheahan; D, Xavier Ouellet; G, Petr Mrazek
--Edmonton: D, Kris Russell; D, Griffin Reinhart
--Florida: C, Jonathan Marchessault; D, Jason Demers
--Los Angeles: D, Matt Greene; D, Brayden McNabb
--Minnesota: C, Eric Staal; D, Matt Dumba
--Montreal: C, Tomas Plekanec; D, Alexei Emelin
--Nashville: LW, Pontus Aberg; LW, James Neal
--New Jersey: RW, Beau Bennett; D, Ben Lovejoy
--NY Islanders: C, Ryan Strome; D, Calvin de Haan
--NY Rangers: RW, Michael Grabner; C, Oscar Lindberg
--Ottawa: RW, Bobby Ryan; D, Mark Methot
--Philadelphia: LW, Michal Raffl; RW, Matt Read
--Pittsburgh: F, Carl Hagelin; D, Ian Cole; G, Marc-Andre Fleury
--San Jose': C, Joe Thornton; LW, Mikkel Boedker
--St. Louis: LW, David Perron; RW, Dmitrij Jaskin
--Tampa Bay: D, Jake Dotchin; D, Slater Koekkoek
--Toronto: LW, Kerby Rychel; LW, Brendan Leipsic
--Vancouver: C, Brendan Gaunce; D, Luca Sbisa
--Washington: RW, TJ Oshie; D, Karl Alzner; G, Phillip Grubauer
--Winnipeg: F, Marco Dano; D, Toby Enstrom
Las Vegas has an exclusive window now through 10 a.m. on Wednesday, June 20 to sign free agents and make trades with other teams. That night their roster will be revealed at the NHL Awards ceremony.
William Carrier was selected 57th overall in 2013 by the St. Louis Blues. In February, 2014 then GM Tim Murray received Carrier as a part of the Ryan Miller to Blues blockbuster trade and since then the 22 yr. old LaSalle, Quebec native has been slowly making his way to the NHL.
After finishing his junior career in 2014 with the Drummondville Voltigeurs of the QMJHL, Carrier spent two seasons in Rochester registering 20 goals and 31 assists in 119 games for the Amerks. He began last season with the AHL club (3+1 in seven games) before being called up to Buffalo in November. In 41 games for the Sabres he had five goals and three assists as he was used up an down the lineup by former head coach Dan Bylsma.
Carrier has tremendous speed for a 6'2" 212 lb. player and he loves to go full-bore into the corner. Unfortunately to this point in his very young career he's been unable to hit the scoresheet with any kind of regularity at the NHL-level but regardless of his stats with the big club last season, he still has upside. He also has that speed and tenacity which is one thing he'll always have going for him, especially with the way the NHL game is played today.
Which is why he'd be a good choice for selection by the Las Vegas Golden Knights in the expansion draft--Carrier is young, has Western Conference size, can skate, plays a north/south game and has upside.
Buffalo's protected list did not include Carrier or goalie, Linus Ullmark. Instead the Sabres chose to protect forward Tyler Ennis (amongst other forwards like Johan Larsson and Zemgus Girgensons) and starting goalie Robin Lehner. Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News framed the decision like this, "As the theory goes, [Knights GM George] McPhee made it clear he wants to pluck Ullmark, the 23-year-old slated to be Lehner's backup next season. [Sabres GM Jason] Botterill, knowing the organization is thin in goal, told McPhee he didn't want to lose Ullmark. McPhee, as he is doing with every team, simply said it will cost Botterill something.
"That something is likely Carrier."
Which is very sound reasoning.
Buffalo could've chosen to expose Ennis and his $4.6 million cap-hit over the next two seasons and/or Lehner, who's a restricted free agent. The duo would have been added to three bloated contracts in Zach Bogosian ($5.14M/three years remaining,) Matt Moulson ($5M/two years) and Josh Gorges ($3.9M/one year) and an exposed list of marginal players that included Nicolas Deslauriers, Brian Gionta, Derek Grant, Justin Kea, Cal O'Reilly, Cole Schneider, Brady Austin, Matt Bodie, Cody Franson, Dmitry Kulikov and Anders Nilsson.
In that scenario the Golden Knights may have selected Lehner, which would have put the Sabres in a bind, but he still would be the (probable) second choice amongst starting goalies behind Pittsburgh's Marc-Andre Fleury, the likely starter in Vegas next season. Washington's Philipp Grubauer, who many feel is a lock to be plucked by the Golden Knights as well, would also likely make for a better understudy to MAF than Lehner, so Lehner to Vegas would only seem to work in a draft and trade scenario. Without Lehner in the mix, Buffalo would be offering Vegas a choice between vets with a bloated contracts, younger players with limited (or no) upside, or free agents who may be available July 1 anyway. Unless both McPhee and Botterill had a strong interest in Ennis.
If Carrier is the preferred choice of McPhee, having Botterill expose the young forward put the teams on a two-way street giving the Vegas GM something to work with as well. And if the Sabres hope to further bolster their blueline via the expansion draft, there's still a possibility for them to do so, which may also be a possible reason for them to leave Carrier available to Vegas. McPhee will be able to trade drafted players to other teams and it looks as if there might be some decent defensemen for Buffalo to take a run at.
The Golden Knights will be selecting one player from every team and they must take a minimum of 14 forwards, nine defensemen and three goalies from the lists of unprotected players. Since defensemen are of the utmost importance they may choose to select two or there extra d-man for trade purposes. Here's my list of two players from each team that Las Vegas may strongly be considering, plus a goalie where applicable with and the bolded name of who the Golden Knights might choose. Of note, some teams are rumored to have deals in place, so I'll try to work around that.
--Anaheim (rumored deal to keep D, Josh Manson and D, Sami Vatanen: F, Emerson Etem, RW, Nick Sorensen
--Arizona: C, Alexander Burmistrov; F, Teemu Pulkkinen
--Boston: D, Adam McQuaid; D, Linus Arnesson
--Buffalo (rumored Vegas will take): LW, Will Carrier
--Calgary: RW, Kris Versteeg; D, Matt Barkowski
--Carolina: RW, Lee Stempniak; D, Klaus Dahlbeck
--Chicago (rumored deal with Las Vegas): C, Marcus Kruger; D, Trevor van Riemsdyk
--Colorado: F, Mikhail Grigorenko; D, Mark Barberio; G, Calvin Pickard
--Columbus (rumored deal to protect core): F, William Karlsson; F, Matt Calvert;
--Dallas: C, Cody Eakin; D, Dan Hamhuis
--Detroit: C, Riley Sheahan; D, Xavier Ouellet; G, Petr Mrazek
--Edmonton: D, Kris Russell; D, Griffin Reinhart
--Florida: C, Jonathan Marchessault; D, Jason Demers
--Los Angeles: D, Matt Greene; D, Brayden McNabb
--Minnesota: C, Eric Staal; D, Matt Dumba
--Montreal: C, Tomas Plekanec; D, Alexei Emelin
--Nashville: LW, Pontus Aberg; LW, James Neal
--New Jersey: RW, Beau Bennett; D, Ben Lovejoy
--NY Islanders: C, Ryan Strome; D, Calvin de Haan
--NY Rangers: RW, Michael Grabner; C, Oscar Lindberg
--Ottawa: RW, Bobby Ryan; D, Mark Methot
--Philadelphia: LW, Michal Raffl; RW, Matt Read
--Pittsburgh: F, Carl Hagelin; D, Ian Cole; G, Marc-Andre Fleury
--San Jose': C, Joe Thornton; LW, Mikkel Boedker
--St. Louis: LW, David Perron; RW, Dmitrij Jaskin
--Tampa Bay: D, Jake Dotchin; D, Slater Koekkoek
--Toronto: LW, Kerby Rychel; LW, Brendan Leipsic
--Vancouver: C, Brendan Gaunce; D, Luca Sbisa
--Washington: RW, TJ Oshie; D, Karl Alzner; G, Phillip Grubauer
--Winnipeg: F, Marco Dano; D, Toby Enstrom
Las Vegas has an exclusive window now through 10 a.m. on Wednesday, June 20 to sign free agents and make trades with other teams. That night their roster will be revealed at the NHL Awards ceremony.
Wednesday, May 31, 2017
Was it indisputable? Refs and "war room" in Toronto creating controversy
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 5-30-2017
The Stanley Cup Finals got off on the wrong foot yesterday as a rather lengthy delay negated a goal by the Nashville Predators. The play in review had Nashville's Filip Forsberg accepting a pass while straddling the Pittsburgh Penguins blueline with the linesman parked right behind him, which is where he should have been as he looked for a possible offside. While straddling the line Forsberg took the pass and it seemed as if his right skate was in the air before the puck crossed the blueline. The linesman on the play did not indicate an infraction, the play continued and PK Subban lit the lamp for the first goal of the 2017 Stanley Cup playoffs. However, there was a review of the play on a coaches challenge and the goal was overturned. (to view a nice angle on the play at the blueline, NBC ProHockeyTalk has it right here.)
The NHL mandates that indisputable evidence must be presented to overturn a call. Last night officials determined that Forsberg's skate was in the air when the puck crossed the blueline therefore making him offside and thus disallowing the goal.
The only problem we should have with that call is that it's not indisputable.
Circumstantially we can assume that Forsberg's skate was up in the air through body positioning and the natural movement of a skater. But how could one say with 100% certainty that a thin, white blade with a sliver of silver against white ice as a backdrop was or was not on the ice?
You can't. Not from the camera angles we were given.
Preds coach Peter Laviolette told reporters after the game that ""The impact of that moment, and the chain of events that happened after that—the penalty kills, I think, changed the course of the game." In other words Toronto and the officials changed the course of the game as momentum clearly shifted and Nashville soon found themselves down 3-0 instead of bein up 1-0.
There were other factors in the eventual Predators loss, like the aforementioned penalty kills which involved the Pens scoring on a five-on-three and Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne being unable to corral two pucks he should have stopped. And no one could predict the outcome if the goal had counted. But, for as much as the NHL wants to get things right via replay, if 100% certainty is the rule, just like a skate in the air is a definitive offside, then keep it at that.
If the NHL and their officials don't subscribe to that notion whole-heartedly, it leaves the door open for questions about favoritism and God knows "The face of the NHL" plays for Pittsburgh not Nashville.
*****
Sabres fans know a little bit about rules and how they somehow get altered for convenience sake.
In 1999 Dallas Stars forward Brett Hull scored the Stanley Cup clinching goal by beating Buffalo's Dominik Hasek late in the third overtime of Game-6 of the Finals. However the NHL put a rule in at the start of the 1998-99 season that said if a player was in the crease when the goal was scored, the goal would be disallowed. Hull's skate was clearly in the crease when he scored which would indicate that it shouldn't have counted.
NHL officials didn't see it that way that night and a parade of experts tried to justify their conclusion invoking possession rules and a player "deemed" to have possession of the puck. What was once a simple clear rule that a player could not score a goal while in the crease all of a sudden had clauses in it.
The next season the rule was changed allowing players in the crease as long as they do not impede a goalies ability to make the stop which has also created headaches for the NHL as they're having trouble getting that right.
One final note on rules and "No Goal," the Stars were transplanted from Minnesota in 1993 as NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman's foray into "non-traditional hockey markets" was in full swing.
*****
A case for indisputable vs. circumstantial could also be made when the Sabres played the Dallas this past season.
With Buffalo down 4-3, Sam Reinhart spun a backhand to the Stars net which Kari Lehtonen stopped. But where he stopped the puck was contentious. After the play was whistled dead and players began to disperse, Lehtonen got up and the puck was sitting on end clearly over the goal line. Buffalo's Jack Eichel was right behind the net feverishly pointing at the puck over the goal line. The refs went to review, it went to Toronto, and after a very long review the call stood--no goal.
Here's the video from Sportsnet:
There's a perceived double standard in the NHL and officiating is at the root of it. It's not so much that they make mistakes, which is human, but when it goes to Toronto and they still mess it up--or in the case of the Subban, a no-goal call without 100% surety--the perception is that grey areas lead to subjectivity which leads to favoritism.
It doesn't matter if they are or are not favoring a team as it's hard to prove something like that, but perception is reality and controversy's like this doesn't help the league.
The Stanley Cup Finals got off on the wrong foot yesterday as a rather lengthy delay negated a goal by the Nashville Predators. The play in review had Nashville's Filip Forsberg accepting a pass while straddling the Pittsburgh Penguins blueline with the linesman parked right behind him, which is where he should have been as he looked for a possible offside. While straddling the line Forsberg took the pass and it seemed as if his right skate was in the air before the puck crossed the blueline. The linesman on the play did not indicate an infraction, the play continued and PK Subban lit the lamp for the first goal of the 2017 Stanley Cup playoffs. However, there was a review of the play on a coaches challenge and the goal was overturned. (to view a nice angle on the play at the blueline, NBC ProHockeyTalk has it right here.)
The NHL mandates that indisputable evidence must be presented to overturn a call. Last night officials determined that Forsberg's skate was in the air when the puck crossed the blueline therefore making him offside and thus disallowing the goal.
The only problem we should have with that call is that it's not indisputable.
Circumstantially we can assume that Forsberg's skate was up in the air through body positioning and the natural movement of a skater. But how could one say with 100% certainty that a thin, white blade with a sliver of silver against white ice as a backdrop was or was not on the ice?
You can't. Not from the camera angles we were given.
Preds coach Peter Laviolette told reporters after the game that ""The impact of that moment, and the chain of events that happened after that—the penalty kills, I think, changed the course of the game." In other words Toronto and the officials changed the course of the game as momentum clearly shifted and Nashville soon found themselves down 3-0 instead of bein up 1-0.
There were other factors in the eventual Predators loss, like the aforementioned penalty kills which involved the Pens scoring on a five-on-three and Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne being unable to corral two pucks he should have stopped. And no one could predict the outcome if the goal had counted. But, for as much as the NHL wants to get things right via replay, if 100% certainty is the rule, just like a skate in the air is a definitive offside, then keep it at that.
If the NHL and their officials don't subscribe to that notion whole-heartedly, it leaves the door open for questions about favoritism and God knows "The face of the NHL" plays for Pittsburgh not Nashville.
*****
Sabres fans know a little bit about rules and how they somehow get altered for convenience sake.
In 1999 Dallas Stars forward Brett Hull scored the Stanley Cup clinching goal by beating Buffalo's Dominik Hasek late in the third overtime of Game-6 of the Finals. However the NHL put a rule in at the start of the 1998-99 season that said if a player was in the crease when the goal was scored, the goal would be disallowed. Hull's skate was clearly in the crease when he scored which would indicate that it shouldn't have counted.
NHL officials didn't see it that way that night and a parade of experts tried to justify their conclusion invoking possession rules and a player "deemed" to have possession of the puck. What was once a simple clear rule that a player could not score a goal while in the crease all of a sudden had clauses in it.
The next season the rule was changed allowing players in the crease as long as they do not impede a goalies ability to make the stop which has also created headaches for the NHL as they're having trouble getting that right.
One final note on rules and "No Goal," the Stars were transplanted from Minnesota in 1993 as NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman's foray into "non-traditional hockey markets" was in full swing.
*****
A case for indisputable vs. circumstantial could also be made when the Sabres played the Dallas this past season.
With Buffalo down 4-3, Sam Reinhart spun a backhand to the Stars net which Kari Lehtonen stopped. But where he stopped the puck was contentious. After the play was whistled dead and players began to disperse, Lehtonen got up and the puck was sitting on end clearly over the goal line. Buffalo's Jack Eichel was right behind the net feverishly pointing at the puck over the goal line. The refs went to review, it went to Toronto, and after a very long review the call stood--no goal.
Here's the video from Sportsnet:
There's a perceived double standard in the NHL and officiating is at the root of it. It's not so much that they make mistakes, which is human, but when it goes to Toronto and they still mess it up--or in the case of the Subban, a no-goal call without 100% surety--the perception is that grey areas lead to subjectivity which leads to favoritism.
It doesn't matter if they are or are not favoring a team as it's hard to prove something like that, but perception is reality and controversy's like this doesn't help the league.
Thursday, May 25, 2017
Of captains, goalies and the coaching search in Buffalo
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 5-24-2017
New Buffalo Sabres GM Jason Botterill was on The Instigators program yesterday talking with hosts Andrew Peters and Craig Rivet. They covered many subjects over the course of the interview, but one moment really stood out to me--the future of the captaincy for the Sabres.
After talking about communication and trust between various aspects of the team, Botterill was pressed for a little more insight as to who might be a good captain for Buffalo. His response was that it would be more of a team effort saying rather emphatically, "the days of Mark Messier, the one guy leading the charge, is so long gone. It's long gone."
Messier, of course, is known as "The Captain's Captain." In the 80's he captained the Edmonton Oilers to a Stanley Cup without Wayne Gretzky and for an encore carried the weight of a 54-year NY Rangers Cup drought on his shoulders and almost single-handedly willed them to the 1994 Stanley Cup.
Botterill followed up the Messier quote by saying "there's a lot more leading by example...that it has to be a collaboration model. You may name a captain, whoever it may be named here in Buffalo," he continued, "and if there's not a good support group, it's not going to work."
Which begs the question. Is this just GM-speak as he's left with a tough decision concerning three players, who all may or may not be captain material? Or does he truly believe this?
Botterill was in the Dallas Stars organization when they won the Cup over Buffalo in 1999. The captain of that team was hard-nosed defenseman Derian Hatcher. It was a team that had stars like Mike Modano, Brett Hull, Joe Nieuwendyke and an aging, but extremely effective Eddie "The Eagle" Belfour in goal. While in the Sabres organization from 2002-04, Buffalo went from the captaincy of Stu Barnes, to a rotating captain after he was traded. And in Pittsburgh, Crosby was captain the entire time Botterill was in the front office. The Pens won two Cups and are on the verge of a back-to-back SCF appearance.
As mentioned, the Sabres have three candidates with none being a clear-cut favorite. Franchise center Jack Eichel could be the choice based upon his team-leading skills while forward Ryan O'Reilly seems to have the experience and character to wear the 'C'. Defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen has always been a mature player both physically and mentally and would be a good choice as well, but they all have their flaws too.
It's a touchy situation for Botterill as ego comes into play. It's a sad but true fact. How will Player X react to Player Y getting the captaincy? Or how would either or both react to Player Z getting the letter.
Botterill is much closer to the pulse of the NHL than any of us outsiders so a deference to his position is in order. But in hockey I'm still of the opinion that a captain defines what the organization wants from it's team and that a strong figure, one who's willing and able to carry that weight, can take the team farther than they thought they could go. Carrying the weight like Messier did in '94 might be a thing of the past, but having a leader everyone respects and follows on the ice may still be very much in vogue.
*****
Parity has proven to be more attainable in the NHL than in the NBA to which it's often compared to. But unlike basketball where NBA superstars can and almost exclusively do take over a game, NHL stars and superstars can and usually do take over games and series but have a wild card in goaltending to deal with. A hot or cold goalie can make or break a series and often times a great goaltending performance can be the great equalizer in a game or series.
It doesn't happen often, but you'll see a team get to the Stanley Cup Finals, and even win a Cup, riding a hot goaltender. We're seeing that right now as Pekka Rinne has already lead the 16th seeded Nashville Predators to the SCF representing the Western Conference while Ottawa's Craig Anderson could do the same for the Senators in the East. Yesterday they forced a Game-7 against a talented, albeit injury-challenged on defense Pittsburgh Penguins club. The Sens finished second in the Atlantic Division with 98 points while the Pens finished second in the conference with 111 points..
Bucky Gleason of the Buffalo News has a good article today talking about the rise of the Predators. He rightfully points to an organization that stuck to it's plan and after he throws a token jab at "tanking," tells of how Nashville made it to their first ever Finals appearance this year after backing into the playoffs with 94 points. He also notes that in the salary-cap era, only two teams made it to the Finals after entering the playoffs with less than a 100-point season--the 2008-09 Pittsburgh Penguins and the 2011-12 Los Angeles Kings.
The NHL is on the verge of having two sub-100 point teams make it to the Finals and it can be attributed mostly to goaltending. After a sluggish regular season, Rinne has been stellar. He started his run by allowing a mere three goals to the Chicago Blackhawks, followed that up by outdueling an equally impressive young goalie Jake Allen of the St. Louis Blues. Rinne and the Preds finished off the Anaheim Ducks in six games and he'll be heading into the SCF with a 1.70 GAA and .941 Sv% while facing the third-most shots these playoffs.
The leader in shots-against is Anderson who has faced 548 shots in 18 games these playoffs. He's sporting a very respectable 2.36 GAA and .922 Sv%. Anderson just came off of a 45 save performance against the Pens in Game-6 to help the starless Senators reach a winner-take-all game tomorrow night.
Whether he's making $7 million/per season like Rinne or $4.2 million, like Anderson, having that goaltender get hot in the playoffs makes a huge difference. Even in Pittsburgh where the Pens have superstars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, goalie Marc-Andre Fleury--a former first-overall pick who is making $5.75 million per season--is second in the playoffs in shots against and had been tremendous for the Pens. He faltered and back-up Matt Murray, the goaltending hero of last year's Cup win for Pittsburgh is working his magic once again.
What it comes down to is goaltending is the great equalizer and it's the main reason why lower seeds consistently upset higher seeds and why we may see a matchup between a No. 16 and No. 12. It's something you'll never see in the NBA.
*****
For those interested in the Sabres coaching search, Botterill mentioned on The Instigators that he'll be casting a pretty wide net and admitted, "I don't know who I want, but there are certain people I want to talk to."
TSN's Pierre LeBrun tweeted out today a handful of names that most fans are familiar with, "On Sabres' HC radar, I think, in no particular order: Krueger, Tocchet, J. Montgomery, J. Martin, Housley, Reirden, Boughner..."
Ralph Krueger has international coaching experience and had a one-season stint in Edmonton, but is now chairman of a Premier League Football club in Southampton, Hampshire, England. How his name keeps popping up is rather curious as his NHL coaching resume featured only 19 wins in 48 games during the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season.
Both Rick Tocchet (PIT) and Phil Housley (NSH) are still in the playoffs and both are considered to be favorites at this point. Jim Montgomery has had a very successful college coaching career and is coming off of a national championship with Denver. Jacques Martin started his head coaching career in 1986 and has coached almost 1300 regular season games.
Tom Reirden has ties to Botterill after a nearly four-year stint in Pittsburgh (2010-14) and spent the last three years in Washington as an assistant coach while Bob "The Boogieman" Boughner was a very successful coach for the OHL's Windsor Spitfires who won back-to-back Memorial Cups in 2009 and 2010.
Botterill is taking a methodical approach to the huge pile of work he has with Buffalo and has said that the coach will probably be in place before the NHL Draft. He spent last week getting to know his scouts while comparing notes on prospects plus the World Championships were just completed and he may be interested in overseas free agents other than defenseman Viktor Antipin who's said to be signing in Buffalo. The NHL Scouting Combine begins this weekend and runs through June 3, with Buffalo as the host city once again so he and his scouting staff will once again be focused upon prospects.
The measured approach Botterill's employing right now is perfect for the mountain of tasks at his feet right now and to his credit he knows a hasty decision does no one any good. Besides, the two front-runners are still in the playoffs and there's a chance that both may not be available for an interview until June 14, the potential last game of the SCF.
Although it doesn't give them much time between then and June 17, the day that Expansion Draft Protected Lists are due, most of the work for that may fall on Botterill anyway. At least that's what we in Sabreland are hoping.
New Buffalo Sabres GM Jason Botterill was on The Instigators program yesterday talking with hosts Andrew Peters and Craig Rivet. They covered many subjects over the course of the interview, but one moment really stood out to me--the future of the captaincy for the Sabres.
After talking about communication and trust between various aspects of the team, Botterill was pressed for a little more insight as to who might be a good captain for Buffalo. His response was that it would be more of a team effort saying rather emphatically, "the days of Mark Messier, the one guy leading the charge, is so long gone. It's long gone."
Messier, of course, is known as "The Captain's Captain." In the 80's he captained the Edmonton Oilers to a Stanley Cup without Wayne Gretzky and for an encore carried the weight of a 54-year NY Rangers Cup drought on his shoulders and almost single-handedly willed them to the 1994 Stanley Cup.
Botterill followed up the Messier quote by saying "there's a lot more leading by example...that it has to be a collaboration model. You may name a captain, whoever it may be named here in Buffalo," he continued, "and if there's not a good support group, it's not going to work."
Which begs the question. Is this just GM-speak as he's left with a tough decision concerning three players, who all may or may not be captain material? Or does he truly believe this?
Botterill was in the Dallas Stars organization when they won the Cup over Buffalo in 1999. The captain of that team was hard-nosed defenseman Derian Hatcher. It was a team that had stars like Mike Modano, Brett Hull, Joe Nieuwendyke and an aging, but extremely effective Eddie "The Eagle" Belfour in goal. While in the Sabres organization from 2002-04, Buffalo went from the captaincy of Stu Barnes, to a rotating captain after he was traded. And in Pittsburgh, Crosby was captain the entire time Botterill was in the front office. The Pens won two Cups and are on the verge of a back-to-back SCF appearance.
As mentioned, the Sabres have three candidates with none being a clear-cut favorite. Franchise center Jack Eichel could be the choice based upon his team-leading skills while forward Ryan O'Reilly seems to have the experience and character to wear the 'C'. Defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen has always been a mature player both physically and mentally and would be a good choice as well, but they all have their flaws too.
It's a touchy situation for Botterill as ego comes into play. It's a sad but true fact. How will Player X react to Player Y getting the captaincy? Or how would either or both react to Player Z getting the letter.
Botterill is much closer to the pulse of the NHL than any of us outsiders so a deference to his position is in order. But in hockey I'm still of the opinion that a captain defines what the organization wants from it's team and that a strong figure, one who's willing and able to carry that weight, can take the team farther than they thought they could go. Carrying the weight like Messier did in '94 might be a thing of the past, but having a leader everyone respects and follows on the ice may still be very much in vogue.
*****
Parity has proven to be more attainable in the NHL than in the NBA to which it's often compared to. But unlike basketball where NBA superstars can and almost exclusively do take over a game, NHL stars and superstars can and usually do take over games and series but have a wild card in goaltending to deal with. A hot or cold goalie can make or break a series and often times a great goaltending performance can be the great equalizer in a game or series.
It doesn't happen often, but you'll see a team get to the Stanley Cup Finals, and even win a Cup, riding a hot goaltender. We're seeing that right now as Pekka Rinne has already lead the 16th seeded Nashville Predators to the SCF representing the Western Conference while Ottawa's Craig Anderson could do the same for the Senators in the East. Yesterday they forced a Game-7 against a talented, albeit injury-challenged on defense Pittsburgh Penguins club. The Sens finished second in the Atlantic Division with 98 points while the Pens finished second in the conference with 111 points..
Bucky Gleason of the Buffalo News has a good article today talking about the rise of the Predators. He rightfully points to an organization that stuck to it's plan and after he throws a token jab at "tanking," tells of how Nashville made it to their first ever Finals appearance this year after backing into the playoffs with 94 points. He also notes that in the salary-cap era, only two teams made it to the Finals after entering the playoffs with less than a 100-point season--the 2008-09 Pittsburgh Penguins and the 2011-12 Los Angeles Kings.
The NHL is on the verge of having two sub-100 point teams make it to the Finals and it can be attributed mostly to goaltending. After a sluggish regular season, Rinne has been stellar. He started his run by allowing a mere three goals to the Chicago Blackhawks, followed that up by outdueling an equally impressive young goalie Jake Allen of the St. Louis Blues. Rinne and the Preds finished off the Anaheim Ducks in six games and he'll be heading into the SCF with a 1.70 GAA and .941 Sv% while facing the third-most shots these playoffs.
The leader in shots-against is Anderson who has faced 548 shots in 18 games these playoffs. He's sporting a very respectable 2.36 GAA and .922 Sv%. Anderson just came off of a 45 save performance against the Pens in Game-6 to help the starless Senators reach a winner-take-all game tomorrow night.
Whether he's making $7 million/per season like Rinne or $4.2 million, like Anderson, having that goaltender get hot in the playoffs makes a huge difference. Even in Pittsburgh where the Pens have superstars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, goalie Marc-Andre Fleury--a former first-overall pick who is making $5.75 million per season--is second in the playoffs in shots against and had been tremendous for the Pens. He faltered and back-up Matt Murray, the goaltending hero of last year's Cup win for Pittsburgh is working his magic once again.
What it comes down to is goaltending is the great equalizer and it's the main reason why lower seeds consistently upset higher seeds and why we may see a matchup between a No. 16 and No. 12. It's something you'll never see in the NBA.
*****
For those interested in the Sabres coaching search, Botterill mentioned on The Instigators that he'll be casting a pretty wide net and admitted, "I don't know who I want, but there are certain people I want to talk to."
TSN's Pierre LeBrun tweeted out today a handful of names that most fans are familiar with, "On Sabres' HC radar, I think, in no particular order: Krueger, Tocchet, J. Montgomery, J. Martin, Housley, Reirden, Boughner..."
Ralph Krueger has international coaching experience and had a one-season stint in Edmonton, but is now chairman of a Premier League Football club in Southampton, Hampshire, England. How his name keeps popping up is rather curious as his NHL coaching resume featured only 19 wins in 48 games during the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season.
Both Rick Tocchet (PIT) and Phil Housley (NSH) are still in the playoffs and both are considered to be favorites at this point. Jim Montgomery has had a very successful college coaching career and is coming off of a national championship with Denver. Jacques Martin started his head coaching career in 1986 and has coached almost 1300 regular season games.
Tom Reirden has ties to Botterill after a nearly four-year stint in Pittsburgh (2010-14) and spent the last three years in Washington as an assistant coach while Bob "The Boogieman" Boughner was a very successful coach for the OHL's Windsor Spitfires who won back-to-back Memorial Cups in 2009 and 2010.
Botterill is taking a methodical approach to the huge pile of work he has with Buffalo and has said that the coach will probably be in place before the NHL Draft. He spent last week getting to know his scouts while comparing notes on prospects plus the World Championships were just completed and he may be interested in overseas free agents other than defenseman Viktor Antipin who's said to be signing in Buffalo. The NHL Scouting Combine begins this weekend and runs through June 3, with Buffalo as the host city once again so he and his scouting staff will once again be focused upon prospects.
The measured approach Botterill's employing right now is perfect for the mountain of tasks at his feet right now and to his credit he knows a hasty decision does no one any good. Besides, the two front-runners are still in the playoffs and there's a chance that both may not be available for an interview until June 14, the potential last game of the SCF.
Although it doesn't give them much time between then and June 17, the day that Expansion Draft Protected Lists are due, most of the work for that may fall on Botterill anyway. At least that's what we in Sabreland are hoping.
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