Buffalo wins 6th game of the season

Unfortunately (or fortunately if you're looking for a top-2 pick in the 2014 draft) it has taken the team nearly two months and 27 games to achieve that feat.

And two of those wins have come against arch rival Toronto, including the 3-2 OT decision last night.

Matt D'Agostini in his first game as
a Buffalo Sabre.
(photo Bill Wippert, Getty Images)

The Sabres welcomed waiver pickup Matt D'Agostini to the lineup last night and he played a real strong game.

Although he didn't hit the scoresheet he was a plus-1 in 15:39 of ice-time and made a key play with less than a minute to go in the third period.

With the game tied at two and the Sabres on the powerplay, D'Agostini hauled ass on the back-check and flung himself at James van Riemsdyk who was going in all alone on Ryan Miller.

D'Agostini took out van Riemsdyk on the play but the ref who was right on the play ruled that D'Agostini had touched the puck first nullifying any penalty.

After seeing many questionable calls against the team the past few games (at least) Miller was pretty happy that the team finally got a (non) call go their way, "It came around," said Miller. "[D'Agostini] got back hard and he [forced] the ref to make a decision. The ref decided he got the puck."

Miller said that this game may have been the best game the team has played all season. And he's probably right.

After a somewhat slow first period, the Sabres skated like a real hockey team, took checks, dished out checks and maintained composure throughout the game.

Interim coach Ted Nolan had been ticked at the number of penalties the team has had over the course of his short tenure and has been imploring his team to play more disciplined.

The result this game was only one penalty to Henrik Tallinder for a stupid high-stick early in the third period. The Leaves got only one shot on goal during the ensuing power play.

No parade to the box allowed the team to roll their lines and they looked good.

D'Agostini was on a line with Steve Ott and Ville Leino. That line was very strong and it may have been Leino's best game yet.

Zemgus Girgensons was with Tyler Ennis and Luke Adam. That line provided a strong forecheck and ample opportunities for Adam who finally got a goal. He was the recipient of a fortuitous bounce that left him with a gaping net. He blasted it home.

Enforcer John Scott may have finally found himself a home. No, not in the penalty box tending to his knuckles but in front of the net in the offensive zone. And he looked ecstatic.

As soon as the puck was secured in the zone by his teammates, Scott would head to the front of the net. And with some better shots from the point, they may have scored. It looked as if he may have even tipped a shot.

Scott played a real strong game (relatively speaking.) The guy plays hard and he really wants to play. He knows his skill level is what it is and kudos to Nolan for getting the most out of that very limited skill set.

The top-line of Cody Hodgson centering Matt Moulson and Drew Stafford took the brunt of the Leaves checking unit. They worked hard. In fact, for the second game in a row Stafford has been a bull. We've seen him use his body in the past, sporadically, but it would seem as if Nolan's got him finally playing the game the way he can--as a power forward.

Staff logged 22 minutes of ice-time last night and most of it was quality.

As for Moulson, he now has goals in two straight games after going 11 without. As has been mentioned here before, the guy can finish. The Sabres should seriously entertain re-signing him long-term even at an inflated salary.

And finally, Ted Nolan has been doing an outstanding job thus far.

His coaching hasn't translated into wins yet because the team is devoid of depth and talent, as evidenced by scoring no more than one goal in the previous four losses.

The more he gets a feel for individual players, the more he's finding ways to put them in a position to succeed.

The team is getting better and it seems as if they're starting to see light at the end of the tunnel.

Sure, it took them 27 games to win six, but if they keep playing the way they did last night, that win total will increase significantly in less games.


**********

One of areas that Nolan and Director of Hockey Ops, Pat LaFontaine need to direct their attention to is upgrading personnel. And although they might not be able to add sheer talent from outside the organization at this point, they can add players who play a certain style.

D'Agostini appealed to Nolan and LaFontaine because of certain attributes like speed and defensive awareness, both of which were on display last night. And he seems to think the game very well.

After D'Agostini made that defensive play to eliminate van Riemsdyk's opportunity late, he provided the screen that allowed Christian Ehrhoff to win the game off a shot from the point in OT.

In somewhat of a shot at the previous regime, Nolan was asked if it surprised him that D'Agostini made those plays, "You know," he said, "players that come from the St. Louis' and Pittsburgh's (both teams that D'Agostini played for, most recently Pittsburgh) know how to play the game right."

Little by little, one by one, the Sabres are starting to "play the game right."

News and notes

Terry Pegula bought the Buffalo Sabres from Tom Golisano for roughly $180m back in February, 2011.

Every year Forbes magazine comes out with it's NHL franchise valuations.

Last year the Buffalo Sabres franchise was #22 on Forbes list with an estimated value of  $175m or basically what the new owner had paid for them. Interesting to note that the Toronto Maple Leaves became the first NHL franchise to be valued at $1B that year. (for more info and a link to the 2012 Forbes piece, click here.)

Well, the boys and girls at Forbes are at it again and this year the Sabres came in...22nd once again.

But...

This time the estimated value of the Buffalo Sabres has grown to $250m, or a 43% year-over-year increase in valuation. (for a breakdown click here.)

Said the magazine about the Sabres, "The Sabres failure to make the playoffs for the second consecutive season did not stop owner Terrence Pegula—who bought the team in early 2011—from jacking up ticket prices. Following the 2011-12 season, the Sabres increased non-premium seat prices by 26% and instituted a 4% price hike before the 2013-14 season. To be fair, the Sabres are still in the bottom half of the NHL in average ticket price. Pegula is also financing a multimillion dollar renovation to all 80 suites at First Niagara Center."

Good for Pegula. 

The old adage is "you need to spend money to make money," and there's no question he's spent some money.

Let's hope that he takes heart to another old adage, "it's not what you spend, but how you spend it." (See Leino contract.)


**********

Mikail Grigorenko approaches Nolan and LaFontaine

Director of Hockey Ops Pat LaFontaine and his interim head coach Ted Nolan have been in charge for five games and the team's record is 1-4. After winning the first one against Toronto, they're back to their losing ways having scored a grand total of five goals during their four-game losing streak.

As shown above, the financial side of the organization is doing well as they've just added 43% to the team's valuation but getting the on-ice product up to snuff is a monumental task for LaFontaine having just been handed a shit sandwich.

Nolan is in charge of evaluating the players and soon the chaff will be separated from the wheat.

This process just went full gear as the team sent three youngin's to their respective leagues:  Nikita Zadorov went to his junior team while Rasmus Ristoalinen and Johan Larsson were sent to Rochester.

A fourth, Mikhail Grigorenko, was slated for a "conditioning assignment" to Rochester but the NHL rejected it.

Grigorenko is too good for junior and has had trouble adjusting to the NHL game. Unfortunately because of an agreement between the NHL and Canadian Juniors, at 19 years of age, Grigorenko is not allowed to be on an AHL team.

So he was stuck.

Grigorenko had fallen out of favor with the previous regime and had seen spotty ice-time hovering around the 10 mins/game mark. He had a two goal game in Anaheim, then played 9:33 in the Sabres SO win in Los Angeles.

When the new regime took over, he was parked on the bench, then designated for the "conditioning assignment" then found himself on the bench once again when the NHL nixed that.

Finally he'd had enough and approached LaFontaine and Nolan saying, "You never saw me play."

And he was right.

He was rewarded with a regular shift with two young players, Zemgus Girgensons and Luke Adam.

Although they haven't hit the scoresheet, Nolan likes what he's seen of Grigorenko during those two games, "So I like what I saw," said the interim coach, "and we’ll continue to evaluate.”

"Since we put him with Girgensons and Adam, they seem to be age group where they feel comfortable with one another. So I like what I saw, and we’ll continue to evaluate.”

“He’s competing. He’s trying,” Nolan said. “As long as you compete and you try, you got to like it.”

From this layman's eyes, "Grigo" seems to be improving and his confidence is growing. Although his skating needs a lot of work, one cannot deny his skill-level.


**********

Sabres prospects are doing quite well thus far

WGR is sporadic in it's coverage of the youngins, but Howard Simon came up with a pretty good article about a pretty good draft class--2013--that's off to a rukus start this season.

Rightfully so, Simon credits Kris Baker and sabresprospects.com when the GR jock goes "Inside the numbers" for a look into the 2013 draft class.

He points to JT Compher, a freshman at Michigan, as having a real good start to his college career:  2g, 6a in 10 games including a shorty.

Compher's compete-level is way up there and he has the skills to go along with it. He was taken 35th overall with the pick that Carolina gave up in the Andrej Sekera trade.

But there are two picks who are of to flying starts.

One of them, seventh rounder Eric Locke has eight goals and 22 points in 15 games. Locke was mentioned by Baker as someone to watch.

The other is Nicholas Baptise, picked 69th overall.

Baptiste is on a tear with 17 goals and 13 assists in 23 games.

Baker, who does a weekly prospect report for sabres.com, just did a piece on Baptiste and his drive to make Canada's World Junior team, and put together a video of all Baptiste's shifts during a tilt with Russia in the Subway Super Series.

Both Locke and Baptiste lead all the Sabres prospects in points/game (for a full list of stats, visit Baker's prospect stat page.)


**********

And finally...

The Sabres wore their third jersey's for the first time this season and they didn't look bad.

Brian Stubits of cbssportsline, uses "Turd" jersey to open his piece on the debut of the Sabres rather confusing jersey.

There's way too much going on with different colors on the front and back as well as an introduction of gray to the color scheme.

But one thing I did come away with was the Buffalo in the crest. With it being white, it glowed.

A little light in the midst of a pretty dark season thus far.

The Buffalo Sabres (snicker, snicker) to unveil their third jerseys today

If their 5-18-1 record wasn't bad enough, the Sabres hit the ice today at 5pm in their new third jerseys: 

The general consensus?  Awful.

But, that goes with the general theme of the way things have gone for the team this season:

• Their awful record has them at the bottom of the league with 11 points
• Their coaching was awful, Ron Rolston was fired
• Ryan Miller's record is awful, 4-13-0
• They have no player above zero in the plus/minus column, which is awful
• 19 yr. old forward Mikhail Grigorenko is in no man's land
• Their farm team, the Rochester Americans, just dropped two to one of the worst teams in the league
• They interviewed a GM candidate, Jim Benning, who had an awful drafting record as Sabres Head Amateur Scout
• Having to write about this team and this season is awful, it's barely worth it save for posterity

And so it goes.

Can you imagine Steve Ott stepping on the ice whit that sweater, and having the "C" sewn on it, facing a Detroit team with a classic winged-wheel on theirs? Can you imagine the barbs that will be tossed the Sabres' way?

That's just plain cruel.

At some point in time, history will reveal a bottoming out point. I'm not sure if it will be anytime soon or even if it will come this season, but it will come.

Eventually.

Owner Terry Pegula and his new Director of Hockey Ops, Pat LaFontaine will see to it. They don't seem as if they'll stand around and fiddle while Rome burns. They both have a competitive fire in them. And so does interim head coach Ted Nolan.

Right now they're searching. Searching for a proper foundation of veterans with which to rebuild upon.

The Sabres have sent down an number of rookies, including a couple of teenagers, to get them some playing time and to keep them away from the blood-letting that's to come. Said Nolan, "We’ve got a lot of young talent here, and we’ve got to make sure they mature at the right pace.

It's all on the vets shoulders right now, no excuses, and the Sabres brass are of the mind-set that it's either sink or swim for the guys on the ice.

This evening's contest with the Detroit Red Wings provides a "golden" opportunity for a reprieve from the torment that is Buffalo Sabres hockey. Then again, Detroit is 10-1-1 in their last 12 vs. Buffalo.

Overall, the Red Wings are 10-7-7 this season but are on a slide having gone 2-3-5 in their last ten games, and according to Jon Vogl of the Buffalo News they will be without Pavel Datsyuk which doesn't help them (although it will be offset by the return of Sabre-killer Daniel Alfredsson.)

Also, according to Vogl, they will be without Todd "Big Bert" Bertuzzi while defenseman Danny DeKeyser is still out with a shoulder injury.

Detroit is 11th in the conference in goal differential (-9) and 22nd in the league in plus/minus (-8) which is very un-Redwing like.

Add it all up and the Sabres have an opportunity to pull one out this evening having to pull on those ugly sweaters.

But, then again...they may not have hit rock bottom yet.

The party's over in Buffalo

It only took interim head coach Ted Nolan four games to witness what most Sabres fans have been witnessing for four years:  There are too many veteran players who've had it too easy and have been taking things for granted.

The legacy of former GM Darcy Regier's "core" is that of mediocrity and a laissez-faire attitude. Former coach Lindy Ruff somehow managed to get the most out of a core group consisting of mostly prima donna's.

But Nolan has seen enough.

“The gloves are officially off,” he said after last night's 4-1 loss at Philadelphia. "We have to change some things, and the players are either going to do it or it’s going to be a very, very long year. And they might not be here.”

Bill Hoppe of the Olean Times Herald believes that Nolan just threw a shot across the bow of the SS Slacker saying that "Nolan's strong words mean the Sabres will start making moves."

"Bet on it," he concludes, "In the next week or so, the hapless Buffalo Sabres will trade or waive at least one underachieving veteran."

And it's about time.

Only one "core" player remains from the group team president Ted Black dubbed, "The Rochester Guys." And that's goalie Ryan Miller.

Miller is the only one left standing because he's the only one who brought, and still brings, compete every game.

Unfortunately, he'll probably be traded by the trade deadline. And he probably should be. For his own sake and for his willingness to ride this sinking ship until management throws him a lifeboat.

The group that followed "the core" has really picked up some bad habits and it would seem as if that's the group that Nolan is directing his consternation at.

That grouping is lead by Drew Stafford, one year short of a "Rochester Guy" and Ville Leino, a player who represents the perils of free agency.

Although Stafford is about as inconsistent as they come, he does show signs of life and has actually put up goals and points during his career in Buffalo. He will become an unrestricted free agent at the end of next season and could probably fetch something at the 2015 trade deadline.

Leino, on the other hand, just simply isn't doing it.

Hoppe points out that he has a mere two points in 11 games, has six shots all season and was dropped all the way down to the fourth line. "Leino," writes Hoppe, "is untradeable given his six-year, $27 million contract. He’s almost certainly getting bought out this offseason. Perhaps the Sabres will just cut their losses now."

Not only does Nolan have a problem with inconsistencies and slacking, he also has a problem with stupidity, as in dumb penalties.

Last night they had seven minor penalties and Nolan was none too thrilled with that, “Penalties are going to stop (or) people who are doing it are not going to be in the lineup. It’s plain and simple as that.”

Leino had a dumb slashing penalty last night. Myers was called for cross-checking a Flyer by the Sabres net (a weak call at best) and he was whistled for tripping Brayden Schenn.

Both Cody McCormick and Henrik Tallinder shot the puck over the glass in the first period, while Cody Hodgson and Mike Weber were called for holding and tripping, respectively.

Nolan should slap his own hand as well. While short-handed the Sabres were whistled for too many men on the ice.

All of this has been going on for years and it was quite the party whilst momma Regier was in charge.

But the party's over.

If Nolan is true to his words, chips will be flying as veterans who've had it too good for too long get the axe.

And that's a good thing.

Two possible GM candidates for Buffalo who haven't gotten much (if any) press

For obvious reasons, two assistant GM's with ties to Buffalo are at the forefront of the Sabres quest for a General Manager.

Jason Botterill is a 37 yr. old assistant GM in Pittsburgh and has his name on the Stanley Cup. Botterill is a former first-round pick (#20 overall, Dallas, 1994) and played in 88 NHL games including 36 games for the Sabres between 2002-2004.

His forte' is cap management and, according to Amy Moritz of the Buffalo News, player development.

Jim Benning was hired away from the Sabres by Boston in 2006 after spending 12 years in the Sabres amateur scouting department--the last eight as director of amateur scouting.

Benning was responsible for input into the drafting of former GM Darcy Regier's core from 1998-2006.

The suave' Rick Dudley
during his playing days.

His strength is "player evaluations at all levels."

Another GM candidate who's name has been thrown around left and right is Montreal AGM, Rick Dudley. "Duds" was drafted by the Sabres and played in 279 games in six seasons for Buffalo.

He also coached the Sabres from 1989-1991 compiling a 85-72-31 record in 168 games. His teams made the playoffs in both his full seasons, getting bounced in the first round each time.

Duds has an impressive resume' as an executive including helping a turnaround in Ottawa for the 1998-99 season. He was also the driving force behind the building of two Stanley Cup Champions:  Tampa Bay, 2003 and Chicago, 2010.

Two other names who may be on Director Pat LaFontaine's radar are Toronto AGM Claude Loiselle and Philadelphia AGM, Ron Hextall.

Loiselle started his career as a scout for Anaheim before taking an AGM position in 2010 with the Maple Leaves under former GM Brian Burke.

He was a pretty tough customer during his 13 years as an NHL player, including two-handing Philadelphia's Bobby Clarke. He's also said to be a tough contract negotiator.

For more on him, click here.

Ron Hextall was one of the toughest competitors in the NHL. He played 13 seasons in the league winning the Vezina in his rookie year (1986-87) and winning the Conn Smythe that same year for a Flyers team that lost in seven games to the Edmonton Oilers in the Finals.

Hextall was also the first goaltender to score a goal into an empty net and the first one to do so in the playoffs as well.

He was an sonofabitch in net as well collecting over 100 penalty minutes in each of his first three seasons.

In 2006 he was named Vice President and Assistant GM in Los Angeles. He has his name engraved on the Cup for the 2012 Los Angeles Kings.

Hextall is presently Assistant GM/Director of Hockey Ops in Philadelphia under GM Paul Holmgren.

Upon hearing the news that the Buffalo Sabres had cleaned house and were in the market for a GM, Hextall was approached by Rob Parent of the Delaware County Daily Times about the opening.

Hextall was quoted as saying that he's 'at peace right now with where he's at,' but also revealed that he still has a fire deep down to be a GM.

'I still want to be a general manager,' he said. 'I’ll say that until I either become one or I decide that the dream’s over.'

Parent brought up the open GM position in Buffalo saying "it might be the job of choice for an assistant GM with a championship resume'."

To which Hextall replied, 'I really haven’t given it any thought. I have no plans yet to go anywhere else. If anybody calls I’ll look at it and talk to Homer.'

Hextall has worked his way up the ranks since retiring from hockey in 1999. He started scouting for Philadelphia that same year and was named Director of Professional Player Personnel three years later before moving to Los Angeles in 2006.

Hextall, Loiselle and Dudley all played the game with a serious edge. And if the Sabres heirarchy truly want a team that is "tougher to play against," and if a team is said to be a mirror image of their GM, than one of these three is the answer.

And with interim coach Ted Nolan weilding the wrecking ball on Regier's 16 year experiment, one of those three will probably fit right in with the plan LaFontaine has.

Does Buffalo really want Jim Benning as GM?

Former Sabres Director of Amateur Scouting, Jim Benning, will be interviewing with Pat LaFontaine for the GM opening in Buffalo. He was granted permission by the Boston Bruins, his present employer.

Benning has been with the Bruins since the July 2006 when he was hired as director of player personnel. One year later he was named Assistant GM under Peter Chiarelli.

Before that, Benning was with the Sabres organization for 12 seasons. From 1994-1998 he was a scout for the club. The final eight seasons he was Buffalo's head scout under former GM Darcy Regier.

While Regier was busy dismantling "the hardest working team in hockey," Benning was the voice in Regier's ear concerning the drafting of the players that were to form "the core"--Regier's "vaunted" group of players that folded after the new-NHL went away.

From 1999-2006 Benning was responsible for some gems outside the first round and into the latter rounds like Ryan Miller (#138) in 1999, Derek Roy (#32) and Jason Pominville (#55) in 2001, Dennis Wideman (#241) in 2002 and Andrej Sekera (#72) in 2004.

All of those players, core players, save for Miller are gone. And Miller looks to be on the way out as well.

The Sabres are headed into the next two drafts with a bevy of first and second-rounders (trading Miller and/or Matt Moulson and/or any other player will probably add to that total.)

As head scout for Regier, Benning was responsible for guiding the Sabres draft. Here's a list of players selected in the first two rounds for Buffalo under Benning's stewardship:

• 1999--Barret Heitsen (#20,) Milan Bartovic (#35,) Doug Janik (#55,) Mike Zigomanis (#64)
• 2000--Artem Kryukov (#15,) Girard Dicaire (#48)
• 2001--Jiri Novotny (#22,) Roy, Chris Thorburn (#50,) Pominville
• 2002--Keith Ballard (#11,) Daniel Paille (#20)
• 2003--Thomas Vanek (#5,) Branislav Fabry (#65)
• 2004--Drew Stafford (#13,) Michael Funk (#43)
• 2005--Marek Zagrapan (#13,) Phillip Gogula (#48)
• 2006--Dennis Persson (#24,) Jonas Enroth (#46,) Mike Weber (#57)

Of that group only Stafford, Enroth and Weber remain.

If you were wondering why the Sabres are 5-17-1 right now and in full rebuild mode, take a look at that group.

The core that former GM Darcy Regier and his head amateur scout Jim Benning built is gone after years of vanilla, middling play.

So, just to get this straight, the departed GM Regier, brainchild of "the core," leaves the Sabres with a ton of draft picks for that failed group, and now they're interviewing the guy responsible for the amateur draft legwork to possibly rebuild the team?

I don't get it.

Tallinder and Weber should be thanking their lucky stars as the Sabres send four youngins down

With defenseman Mike Weber coming back from injury, the Buffalo Sabres needed to make a roster move.

Which they did. In fact they made four moves sending 18 yr. old defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen to Rochester along with 21 yr. old forward Johan Larsson.

Joining those two in Rochester will be 19 yr. old forward Mikhail Grigorenko, who is allowed to play in the minors on a 14-day conditioning stint. Afterwards he will either be with Buffalo or will be headed back to junior.

18 yr. old defenseman Nikita Zadorov was sent to his junior club, the London Knights, and it is assumed that he will be there for the rest of the season. London will be hosting the Memorial Cup this season and will be getting an automatic bid to the tournament.

New bench-boss Ted Nolan had mentioned that the team was alot younger than he thought and hinted that some changes would be made.

He also mentioned that there are some players in Rochester who's play has earned them a call-up. Although no names were mentioned, forward Luke Adam is tied for the AHL with 13 goals and defenseman Brayden McNabb has been playing a solid all-around game while rediscovering his grit.

The moves sure did make some vets happy.

Henrik Tallinder, who was benched in New Jersey last season before big-daddy Darcy Regier rescued him via tradel, thought that the youngsters had it a bit too easy making the Sabres, "It’s not about getting the spot; it’s about earning the spot,” he said.

Ole' Hank is a former 2nd round pick of the Buffalo Sabres (#48, 1997) who happened to be developing (1 yr. in Rochester) while Regier was dismantling "the hardest working team in hockey," a team that was coached at one time by Nolan.

His game has been in decline ever since the 2009/10 season, which happens to coincide with the decline of the hands-off, "new-NHL."

Tallinder is still a non-hitter (read:  wuss,) is slow and at times flops around like a rookie out there.

He's lucky he's a vet. Ristolainen has similar attributes as Tallinder, but also adds a serious edge to his game. Risto has played at least as well as Hank, and were they contemporaries, Tallinder would've been waived, given the choice.

Veteran defenseman Mike Weber has been nothing short of a train wreck this season. About the only thing that saved him from having a worse plus/minus rating than his present minus-12 (third-worst in the league) is the fact that he's been injured and has missed half of the Sabres 22 games.

"You got to develop in the minors," said Weber, "You got to play junior. You got to earn the right to be here."

Yeah, I guess if you're Mike Weber you needed to.

Yet, most Sabres fans can handle an 18 yr. old Zadorov, his one goal and minus-4 rating in seven games, learning the NHL game.

He likes to hit, just like Weber.

Tallinder and Weber are lucky they're on a crappy team with so much youth, otherwise their play would've gotten them waived by now.

Nolan, though, put it all in perspective. The Sabres have always been known as a team that will take their time developing players, and it would seem as if the new regime featuring Pat LaFontaine as Director of Hockey Ops wants to get back to that.

"Whether I saw them or not," said Nolan, "I don’t think it really made much of a difference. We look at where we are with this organization and where we have to go to, and proper development is so important.”

Tallinder and Weber should be thanking their lucky stars.


Thanks to Bill Hoppe for his article