terry pegula's mandate comes to life

the buffalo sabres returned home for practice today after being on the road for six games
and were greeted by this plaque and a new rug:

pretty simple, yet striking

addendum:

cool quotes from sabres president, ted black, on the changes and the dedication to the fan experience (from jon vogl, buffalo news):

"We really tried to work hard these last two weeks [during the sabres road-trip] because we do want to make sure that we show some actions behind our words, that the Sabres are a first-class organization and we are hockey heaven,"

"We're committed to being slug-free by the beginning of next year. The real important part of this process is we're engaging the fans. We're listening, and we're doing something."

"Terry actually coined the phrase, he said it's going to be the 'French Reconnection.' That doesn't just extend to those three special alumni. It's all players." (former sabre dominik hasek will be a guest on march 19)

http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/sabres-nhl/article363953.ece

good things come in small packages

5'5" nathan gerbe has heart and desire
to equal that of 6'8" zdneo chara

the buffalo sabres are in 7th place in the eastern conference after a win at boston last night...the gutty road perfomance--game six of seven on this road trip--saw the sabres come back from a 2-0 deficit and a 3-2 deficit to win the game in overtime...

the two smallest sabres on the team, tyler ennis and nathan gerbe were instrumental in the win--ennis with a deft touch on his goal and gerbe, who also was mixing it up physically with the edgy bruins, with an overtime, overdrive assist on brad boyes' game winner...

to the video:

tyler ennis shows his poise and touch to pull the sabres to within one

just :27 after the bruins take a 2-0 lead



nathan gerbe flicks a snapshot at tim thomas and barrels after it

sending the rebound to a wide-open brad boyes for the game winner



nathan gerbe shows some spunk and cody mccormick,

despite being dead tired at the end of a shift,

takes on boston's milan lucic



with the win the sabres are now 4-1-1 on their roadie and have come back to win versus two of the top teams in the eastern conference--the east-leading flyers on saturday and boston last night...

the sabres head to toronto tomorrow night for the final game of this roadie sitting in 7th place in the eastern conference, one game below the actual .500-mark for the season...

this from a team that started the season 3-9-2 and at one point were last in the league

williamsville ny native, david leggio, holding the fort

as the injury bug decimates the buffalo sabres line-up, the team was forced to call up two more players for yesterday's game vs. the pittsburgh penguins...luke adam (40 games--21 goals, 21 assists) and mark parrish (42gms--11g, 24a) joined mark mancari, who was third overall in the ahl in scoring (56gms--32g, 32a,) on the big club...for those counting that's 64 goals and 77 assists leaving the portland pirates...

the trio were replaced by echl center mark voakes (6' 0", 182 lbs) and former hershey bears right wing chris blight (6' 0", 190 lbs.)...

portland pirates goalie, david leggio

in net for the pirates, while pirates starter jhonas enroth remained with the sabres, was williamsville ny native, david leggio...

last night the depleted portland pirates defeated the hershey bears 3-2 in a shootout...leggio was the game's second star with a .938 sv.% and did not allow a goal in the shootout...

back in november, i did a piece on the goaltender who was trying to crack the ahl for the third time...his stats at the time:  8-1, 2.48 gaa, and a .922 sv%...

since then he has maintained his pace...year-to-date for the 6'0", 180 lb. goalie:  18-4, 2.53 gaa and a .919 sv.%...he has not lost a game in his last 10 games (one no-decision) and for the month of march he's 3-0 with a 1.95 gaa and a .943 sv.%...

this weekend, the sabres will finish their seven-game road trip in toronto on saturday night the follow up with a return to hsbc arena for a game vs. ottawa on sunday...

the portland pirates will play three in a row friday through sunday...

nice work by leggio as well as pirates coach, kevin dineen, as they hold the fort

road warrior





and you all thought the sabres were on a long road-trip...

forward brad boyes was traded to buffalo on february 27 as his st louis blues were in calgary finishing off a three-game western road trip...as of right now boyes is looking at a 10-game, coast-to-coast road trip...

in addition, lindy ruff pointed out today that he has played 11 games in 17 days beginning with buffalo...here's how it plays out:

february 18 @ buffalo
february 19 vs. anaheim
---off day---
february 21 vs. chicago
february 22 vs. colorado
---off day/travel day---
february 24 @ vancouver
february 25 @ edmonton
---off day, travel day---
february 27 @ calgary

---traded to buffalo---

---off day, travel from calgary to ny---
march 1 @ ny rangers
---off day, travel day---
march 3 @ carolina
---off day, travel day---
march 5 @ philadelphia
march 6 @ minnesota
---off day, travel day---

---the rest of the road trip---

march 8 @ pittsburgh

---off day, travel day---

march 10 @ boston

---off day, travel day---

march 12 @ toronto

march 13 vs. ottawa

---off day---

march 15 vs. carolina

when all's said and done, boyes will have played 16 games in 26 days and will have gone on back-to-back/coast-to-coast road trips totaling 10 consecutive games...he will have played five sets of back-to-backs and will have had a grand total of two days off without travel involved...

good thing he's 28 yrs. old and in his prime...

oh, and did i mention that not only did he change teams in the process, as of late he's changed positions having been placed at center due to a rash of injuries?

sabres reach 8th in the eastern conference



"twoadore"


indulged in brooklyn local 2 last night while watching the sabres continue to ramble on this road trip...the twoadore thing?...ummm...the joker and i got a good laugh, is all...

clocking in at 9%, local 2 is a big belgian strong ale...w00t!...thoroughly enjoyable, as were the sabres last night...

btw, sabres players, don't forget to tip your doorman...patty lalime is one of the best in the history of the nhl...of course, please do it surreptitiously...

take thomas vanek's overtime goal vs. washington--where he found something extra at the end of his shift--and combine that with jason pomminville's short-handed overtime winner vs. the sens in the '06 playoffs, and you have a reasonable composite of drew stafford's overtime game-winner last night...

~~~~~~~~~~ 

jhonas enroth got the win last night...have the sabres unwittingly found a transitioning formula for young goalies?

they've got enroth getting plenty of experience in portland, fly him in for his one game, then it's back to portland...it's the second time with this scenario...they did it last back in february after miller's debacle vs. the islanders (7-6 ot loss)...miller got completely away from the game, enroth got the shootout win and lalime took his usual spot on the bench opening and closing the door...

miller came back and did not allow more than three goals during a 10-game stretch and the team went 5-3-2...enroth did his part once again and we'll see what happens this time 'round...

a quick note on enroth...paul hamilton asked him how he prepared for the game, if he watched tape of the team he was about to face...enroth said he didn't watch any tape, he just went in and took the game as it came...

~~~~~~~~~~

seven of eight points on this road-trip...wins vs. philadelphia on saturday and minnesota yesterday, without thier designated #1 center, derek roy...they're without a true #2 as tim connolly seems shot and is more a bottom-six...their #1 utility-man, jochen hecht, was out with an injury...recently acquired forward, brad boyes, has been shifted from wing to center....

~~~~~~~~~~

ROB "FRIGGEN" NIEDERMAYER!!!



how does it feel?...choose a cliche', but the fact is, after 53 games without a goal, he finally broke through...can you see the relief in his face?...

http://www.wgr550.com/topic/play_window.php?audioType=Episode&audioId=5198545

do you love this team now?

of course not...i think...we've been through this movie before, had a sense that something's changed and that the sabres would play to their capabilities, if not individually, then collectively, on a consistent basis...

but...

jason pomminville "roaring" to the net
for the go-ahead/game-winning goal

two very impressive games on the road vs. carolina and east-leading philadelphia...three out of a possible four points...add in the two points that ryan miller stole vs. the ny rangers, and it's one helluva start to their seven-game road trip...

not to take away anything from the rangers and canes games, but this win vs. philly on the road was just plain impressive:

• three unanswered goals in the second period in a span of less than four minutes to erase a two-goal philly lead
• rick jeanneret saying things like "andrej sekera would not be denied! he just kept his nose to the grindstone!"..."jason pomminville roaring to the net deflects it home!"
• the pomminville goal giving buffalo the lead after the flyers tied the game on a short-handed goal
• paul gaustad venomously going after chris pronger in a prolonged scrum around the flyers net
• pomminville and shaone morrison going after kris versteeg after versteeg's post-whistle poking at ryan miller
• winning this game without a bonafide #1 or #2 center...again...still
• nhl on the fly pointing out that the sabres scored four goals by going to the net

paul gaustad seems to have re-discovered
physicality and edginess

did the flyers play their best hockey?...no...but their forecheck was there, as usual...they had the opportunity to bury the sabres and didn't get it done...

this sabers win, clearly the best of the season thus-far, was...well...very un-sabres-like...

this was a situation that they've found themselves in on many, many occasions over the past three-plus seasons...and most of the time they folded...

is it the pegula-effect?...4-0-2 since he declared that "the reason for the existence of the buffalo sabres is to win the stanley cup"

is it the roy(less)-effect?...17-8-4 with roy out of the line-up

is it the road?...10-2-2 this calender year (11-3-2 since roy's injury)

whatever it is, fans will jump behind a winner, and right now, this team is winning...

i've often stated over the last three-plus seasons that i don't have an emotional attatchment to this team...to individual players?...yes...but as a team they don't come close to any of my favorites over their existence...

right now, they deserve all the respect in the world for what they've accomplished thus-far this calender year...big props for yesterday's win in philly while in the heat of a playoff race and for keeping their composure in the face of in-game adversity...

do i love this team?...mmmmmm...probably not...but i do like the edge they've been playing with...i do like the fact that they don't seem as fragile as they have in the past...and who wouldn't like the outcome from yesterday's game at philadelphia?

maybe this team, as it's presently constructed, is growing on me a bit...sure, because of the outcome, but moreso because of the way they're playing

patty k looks up from the net after getting leveled
tyler ennis scored on that play

who gets the start today vs. philly?

the hated philadelphia flyers today and "mum's the word" on who'll be in net...we do know one thing, patrick lalime will NOT be in net this weekend, pretty damn sure he will not see the crease again as a buffalo sabre, barring anything extraordinary happening...

jhonas enroth has been called up and it looks as if the pattern will be this for the rest of the year:  he'll get plenty of playing time in portland, will respond to the sabres logo shining in the sky (ala batman,) come in and play his one game then head back to portland...

one would think that enroth will get the call today vs. the flyers...ryan miller has been stellar since the 7-6 loss to the islanders, save for last game vs. the canes...a sharper miller would've stopped the ot game-winner by jamie mcbain...even though plenty went wrong with the sabres' skaters on that play, a goal like that should be a huge red-flag for lindy ruff, and probably is a sign that miller needs the game off...

the fly-boys have lost two in a row a 4-1 loss to the ottawa sens on the road and a loss to the surging toronto maple leafs at home...the leafs have gotten points in their last nine games (6-0-3) and are right there on the playoff-bubble one point behind the sabres having played two more games than buffalo...

interesting playoff-bubble note...while all eyes have been on the canes, rangers sabres and now leafs, the nj devils are on an absolutely torrid pace right now...after snapping a four game losing streak to start the new calender year the devils are 19-2-2...yeah, you read that right 40 points out of a possible 46...yet, to show you how pathetic this team was in the first half of the season, they are still nine points out of a playoff spot with two games in hand...jacques lemaire...what more can you say except, it's a good thing the sabres didn't play them at all during that span...

gotta hope that the sabres can snag a point today...maybe enroth, if he is in fact getting the start, can work some magic...sometimes that happens, a clear favorite gets up-ended by a rookie goalie...


edit:  word from wgr--ryan miller gets the start...and...mike weber is up in the pressbox for today's game