Published by hockeybuzz.com, 10-12-2017
Do you know the way to San Jose'?
Sure. And as the Buffalo Sabres get ready to hit the Shark Tank, aka the SAP Center in San Jose, California, the game against the Sharks couldn't have come at a better time. It does seem a little strange writing that. This Sabres team is reeling from back-to-back blow-out losses, but despite that, recent games against the Sharks, who are just over a year removed from a Stanley Cup Final appearance, have almost invariably turned in Buffalo's favor.
According to Sabres PR the Sabres are 8-1-1 in their last 10 meetings vs. the Sharks which includes back-to-back season sweeps when the team was in the tank from 2013-15, and overall Buffalo has a 27-7-6 record against San Jose'. Things are a bit different at the Shark Tank as the Sabres are only 6-3-1 in their last 10 visits to northern California.
The Sharks finished outside of the playoffs last season, the first time that's happened post '04-05 lockout, and they're off to an 0-2 start this season. San Jose' suffered both of their losses on home ice to Philadelphia (5-3) and to So. Cal rival Los Angeles (3-1.) Although there's no panic in the Bay area yet there's some concern and players like alternate captain Logan Couture told the local press that "there should be some sense of urgency" and that "we need to be better."
Sounds eerily familiar to what we've been hearing from Sabres' players after they stunk up the joint on Columbus Day. It was Buffalo's second loss in regulation, the second game in a row they gave up six goals and it was the third time in a row that they allowed a momentum changing shorthanded goal.
The Sabres were extremely sloppy in both those losses to the NY Islanders (6-3) and the New Jersey Devils (6-2) with Evander Kane summing it up like this, "we have a big trip out west we need to be ready for because if we play like that, [the score's] going to be 10-0."
In an effort to play an up-tempo game and manufacture shots, the Sabres are forgetting the defensive zone and are getting caught cheating up ice. While in the offensive zone the effort isn't there to win battles, especially on the powerplay. And when they the momentum shifts, they're swallowed up in the tsunami.
Buffalo coach Phil Housley mixed things up a bit in the forward group and according to media reports from San Jose, the lines from yesterday's practice are intact save for one surprise. Multiple tweets report that Kyle Okposo is not out there for the morning skate and is being replaced in the lineup by Matt Moulson.
Here are the lines as reported:
Kane-O'Reilly-Moulson
Girgensons-Eichel-Pominville
Pouliot-Larsson-Reinhart
Nolan-Josefson-Griffith
On defense:
Scandella-Ristolainen
McCabe-Gorges
Beaulieu-Tennyson
Goalie Robin Lehner took a shot to the face mask off the stick of Zemgus Girgensons at practice yesterday. He got stitched up and was back on the ice. Chad Johnson got the start against New Jersey on Monday and didn't fare well so it's safe to assume that Lehner will be back in net against the Sharks.
Tonight begins a four-game West Coast road trip for the Sabres. After this they head south to take on Los Angeles Saturday and Anaheim on Sunday before they arrive in Las Vegas for their first-ever game against the expansion Golden Knights.
Game-time against the Sharks tonight is 10:30 pm EST.
Saturday, October 14, 2017
Thursday, October 12, 2017
Housley mixes things up trying to find compete and chemistry
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 10-11-2017
Buffalo Sabres had the unenviable task of hitting the morning talk show today for his first ever appearance on WGR550 as Sabres head coach. Things couldn't have gone much worse for his club in his first three games as they came away with a 0-2-1 record in a trio of games that exposed some serious flaws.
First and foremost, the Sabres have given up four shorthanded goals through three games, a total equal to that of the entire 2016-17 season. Housley told WGR hosts Howard Simon and Jeremy White that the No. 1 problem in this area comes to decisions with the puck. "When we're trying to get into position to score a goal," said the coach, " and there's a 50/50 (chance for) possession, I think we have to sense a little bit more danger and not stay in and say 'I hope (my) guy gets this puck because I'm gonna get it on the weak side and I'm going to have a glorious opportunity.' In essence it's getting turned over and now guys are getting behind us.
"We need to have a better recognition of that. We have to sense that danger."
In so many words, and where the conversation leaned towards much of the time, more compete and better decision-making seem to be a big part of the Sabres woes.
A lot of it seems to come from a Sabres club that's trying to create offense, which includes puck possession and creating shot opportunities, but are doing so the lazy way--by having someone else do the work or by cheating. When Housley dug in to the nuts and bolts of what he needs to see from his team, "We have to recongnize a few areas we need to correct," he said, "starting with our work ethic. It wasn't so much what teams were doing (to us,) it's what we were leaving them" in the form of turnovers.
After the 3-2 shootout loss to the Montreal Canadiens in the home opener, the Sabres played sloppy in every zone. That lead to turnovers which lead to a blitzkrieg of goals and the team pressing even more to try and create offense, which in-turn leads to more turnovers and more scoring opportunities coming back the other way.
It's a vicious cycle.
Fact is, turnovers happen in the NHL and bad goals against are scored, sometimes in rapid-fire succession. But the best teams gather their senses and put in the work to turn things around. It's something this edition of the Buffalo Sabres hasn't done.
"It's another thing we have to realize," said the coach about the lack of his team's resiliency. "When teams are pushing and we're under siege as a team, we've got to create our own push back and right now we're accepting too much of the push."
That has been a theme in Buffalo for a long time, actually dating back to the 2007-08 season when the Sabres iced a team of skilled players who were great while things were going well but wilted when the going got tough. About the only time they showed sustained resiliency was when Ted Nolan was coach, but with the sparse talent they iced on a nightly basis, perhaps there play was simply that of survival.
Even so, there should be a portion of that within players with skill as well. We're seeing that with the play of Evander Kane as he's been the only Sabres player to push back when the momentum was swinging away. Kane is off to a great start and twice in the past two games he's fought the opposition onslaught with an impressive individual efforts while halving a deficit.
In Brooklyn against the NY Islanders he scored two consecutive shorthanded goals as the answer to a three-goal Islanders barrage, the second of which was a strong individual effort after forcing a turnover and took on three Islanders players for a loose puck:
In Monday's matinee vs. the New Jersey Devils, he put forth a brilliant display of speed, will and skill on the powerplay as he cut the Devils lead to 2-1:
Buffalo Sabres had the unenviable task of hitting the morning talk show today for his first ever appearance on WGR550 as Sabres head coach. Things couldn't have gone much worse for his club in his first three games as they came away with a 0-2-1 record in a trio of games that exposed some serious flaws.
First and foremost, the Sabres have given up four shorthanded goals through three games, a total equal to that of the entire 2016-17 season. Housley told WGR hosts Howard Simon and Jeremy White that the No. 1 problem in this area comes to decisions with the puck. "When we're trying to get into position to score a goal," said the coach, " and there's a 50/50 (chance for) possession, I think we have to sense a little bit more danger and not stay in and say 'I hope (my) guy gets this puck because I'm gonna get it on the weak side and I'm going to have a glorious opportunity.' In essence it's getting turned over and now guys are getting behind us.
"We need to have a better recognition of that. We have to sense that danger."
In so many words, and where the conversation leaned towards much of the time, more compete and better decision-making seem to be a big part of the Sabres woes.
A lot of it seems to come from a Sabres club that's trying to create offense, which includes puck possession and creating shot opportunities, but are doing so the lazy way--by having someone else do the work or by cheating. When Housley dug in to the nuts and bolts of what he needs to see from his team, "We have to recongnize a few areas we need to correct," he said, "starting with our work ethic. It wasn't so much what teams were doing (to us,) it's what we were leaving them" in the form of turnovers.
After the 3-2 shootout loss to the Montreal Canadiens in the home opener, the Sabres played sloppy in every zone. That lead to turnovers which lead to a blitzkrieg of goals and the team pressing even more to try and create offense, which in-turn leads to more turnovers and more scoring opportunities coming back the other way.
It's a vicious cycle.
Fact is, turnovers happen in the NHL and bad goals against are scored, sometimes in rapid-fire succession. But the best teams gather their senses and put in the work to turn things around. It's something this edition of the Buffalo Sabres hasn't done.
"It's another thing we have to realize," said the coach about the lack of his team's resiliency. "When teams are pushing and we're under siege as a team, we've got to create our own push back and right now we're accepting too much of the push."
That has been a theme in Buffalo for a long time, actually dating back to the 2007-08 season when the Sabres iced a team of skilled players who were great while things were going well but wilted when the going got tough. About the only time they showed sustained resiliency was when Ted Nolan was coach, but with the sparse talent they iced on a nightly basis, perhaps there play was simply that of survival.
Even so, there should be a portion of that within players with skill as well. We're seeing that with the play of Evander Kane as he's been the only Sabres player to push back when the momentum was swinging away. Kane is off to a great start and twice in the past two games he's fought the opposition onslaught with an impressive individual efforts while halving a deficit.
In Brooklyn against the NY Islanders he scored two consecutive shorthanded goals as the answer to a three-goal Islanders barrage, the second of which was a strong individual effort after forcing a turnover and took on three Islanders players for a loose puck:
In Monday's matinee vs. the New Jersey Devils, he put forth a brilliant display of speed, will and skill on the powerplay as he cut the Devils lead to 2-1:
(Thanks to the NHL for those vids)
That's what Housley wants to see. Unfortunately he has a mishmash of players who either lack some of these traits, like skill and/or work ethic and/or smart decision-making, or they're not putting forth the effort to use said traits.
Zemgus Girgensons has all the will in the world, but his skill hasn't caught up with that yet. Nathan Beaulieu has skill and is willing to put in the work, even if it means fighting, but his decision-making has been atrocious. Veteran Jason Pominville still has skills at 34 and always seems to make the smart play, but compete isn't his strong suit. Ryan O'Reilly and Kyle Okposo are skilled players who have that work ethic and know what needs to be done and normally they make the right decisions. None of that is shining through right now. Recently inked Jack Eichel has all that, and a fierce competitiveness ta boot, but even he's been affected by a Sabres team that like misfiring engine.
Perhaps that's why Housley did some big-time juggling at practice today. According to Jourdon LaBarber of sabres.com, he moved Kane, the team's leading scorer, off of the Eichel-Pominville line and placed him on the left side of O'Reilly-Okposo, neither of whom have registered a point yet this season. Joining Eichel and Pominville, the only two players other than Kane to register goals, is the aforementioned Girgensons who will be looking to create space for his linemates by wreaking havoc in the opposition zone.
The Sam Reinhart to center experiment seems to be over with for now. Housley had moved Reinhart from top-six right wing to third line center but that changed for today's practice. Reinhart is back on the wing with Johan Larsson centering the third line and right wing Benoit Pouliot who might be best suited there.
Here are the lines from practice today:
28 Zemgus Girgensons - 15 Jack Eichel - 29 Jason Pominville
9 Evander Kane - 90 Ryan O'Reilly - 21 Kyle Okposo
67 Benoit Pouliot - 22 Johan Larsson - 23 Sam Reinhart
25 Seth Griffith - 10 Jacob Josefson - 17 Jordan Nolan
9 Evander Kane - 90 Ryan O'Reilly - 21 Kyle Okposo
67 Benoit Pouliot - 22 Johan Larsson - 23 Sam Reinhart
25 Seth Griffith - 10 Jacob Josefson - 17 Jordan Nolan
And Housley didn't stop there. He changed things up on defense as well.
Marco Scandella, who was acquired by Buffalo from the Minnesota Wild, moves up to the top-pairing which is why he was dealt for. Scandella had been on the second pairing with Matt Tennyson but now assumes his place next to Rasmus Ristolainen.
Housley still has Tennyson on the second pairing, which is a scary proposition, and is paired with Beaulieu making that pair an even scarier proposition.
Bringing up the rear on the third pairing is Jack McCabe with veteran Josh Gorges who has yet to see the ice this seasons. Gorges may be slow and lack offensive acumen, but he's a veteran that's logged tons of minutes in a shutdown role throughout his career and a little stability on the back-end at this point in time is not a bad idea.
Here's what those pairing look like:
6 Marco Scandella - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen
82 Nathan Beaulieu - 5 Matt Tennyson
4 Josh Gorges - 19 Jake McCabe
82 Nathan Beaulieu - 5 Matt Tennyson
4 Josh Gorges - 19 Jake McCabe
Matt Moulson goes back to the press box and rookie defenseman Victor Antipin will probably be up there as well giving him an opportunity to view play from afar.
Things could before the Sabres hit the ice in San Jose tomorrow to take on the Sharks, but barring anything weird happening, this is the lineup Housley looks to be going with to help get the ship righted.
Although he may not be able to find compete in some of his players, perhaps he'll find enough chemistry to make them look respectable.
Wednesday, October 11, 2017
Sabres have three days to recover from the horror that unfolded yesterday
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 10-10-2017
It was the type of scene in a movie that a parents would normally shield their children’s eyes from. The second period was more like a horror movie for the Buffalo Sabres, and a large contingent of young fans atKeyBank Center
It was the type of scene in a movie that a parents would normally shield their children’s eyes from. The second period was more like a horror movie for the Buffalo Sabres, and a large contingent of young fans at
An ugly trend has been forming for the Sabres early in the season--shorthanded goals--and it was a momentum-shifting game-changer yesterday as well. Buffalo has given up a shortie in each of it's three games this season and have given up four total, which matches the four they gave up all last season. And those unsightly occurrences are coming at the worst possible moments. In the home opener against Montreal it came midway through the third period with the Sabres clinging to a 2-1 lead. They went on to lose the game 3-2 in a shootout.
In Brooklyn vs. the NY Islanders a one-goal deficit turned into a rout as Buffalo gave up two shorthanded goals in :50 seconds on the same powerplay early in the second period. The Sabres gave up another goal just seconds after their powerplay expired and they soon found themselves down 4-0 in a matter of 1:47. They ended up losing that game 6-3.
Yesterday Buffalo cut a 2-0 deficit in half with a powerplay goal as Evander Kane scored on a brilliant hustle-play that not only notched his third goal of the season, but also drew another penalty. Twenty-one seconds into the ensuing powerplay 19-year old Jesper Bratt scored off a feed from Adam Henrique on a two-on-one break and just like that the Sabres were down 3-1.
As ugly as the shorthanded trend has been, an even uglier trend has been forming very early in the season as this Buffalo team seems to collapse when adversity strikes. In Brooklyn vs. the Islanders it was that three-goal barrage that simply overwhelmed them. Although Kane struck back with two shorties of his own to cut the lead in half, 4-2, the intestinal fortitude wasn't there to fully come back.
Against the Devils yesterday, that shorthanded goal by Bratt opened the flood gates as New Jersey tacked on three more goals in the period. Shield your eyes, kids!
In the opening three games the Sabres have been outscored by a 14-7 margin with all of their goals coming from three players. Kane has four goals, two in each of his last two games, Jason Pominville scored Buffalo's only two goals in the home opener vs. the Canadiens and Jack Eichel potted his lone goal of the season against the Islanders.
The rest of the supposed scorers on the team have done nothing so far this year:
Ryan O'Reilly--0 goals, 1 assist, minus-3
Kyle Okposo--0g, 0a, -6
Sam Reinhart--0g, 0a, -6
Rasmus Ristolainen--0g, 2a, -3
This is a fragile team right now. They're saying all the right things in the post-game, post-mortem interviews but their words are ringing hollow. Yes, Ryan O'Reilly, we know you've been "invisible" and that you're "just out there skating around." We see it. And Jack, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the Sabres are "just not doing enough" and that it's "not what anybody wants."
And yes, Nathan Beaulieu, we know that "turning the puck over [and it ending up] in the back of your net" is not a good thing.
Coach Phil Housley's face was described by a reporter as "ashen" at yesterday's post-game presser. Housley stood there searching something, anything positive to say about what just transpired and the only thing he could come up with was that they won the third period, which said reporter, Mike Harrington of The Buffalo News, aptly described as "putting lipstick on a pig."
It's safe to say that the honeymoon is over for Housley and man, that was a quick one. He needs to find some answers or it could really get ugly.
The Sabres are off today, as mandated by the Collective Bargaining Agreement which will give the coaching staff enough time to try and figure out what to do. The lines and d-pairings that Housley assembled have mostly been a disaster. Only the top line of Kane-Eichel-Pominville has scored any goals and only three of them have come at even strength with two of them being scored when with the game out of hand.
The hole on left wing has grown bigger with neither Zemgus Girgensons or Benoit Pouliot capable of skating top-six minutes although Girgensons has registered nine shots on goal to Pouliot's two. The Reinhart to center experiment seems to be floundering at best, bordering on a disaster at worst, as his stat-line is ugly, although maybe not as ugly as his one lone shot on goal through three games. And for as great a guy as Matt Moulson is, his lack of speed, even on the fourth line relegates him to a non-factor at best.
Early in the off season GM Jason Botterill went out and tried to bolster the blueline by acquiring Beaulieu and Marco Scandella. In three games we've found out that Beaulieu should not be anywhere near the top pairing and we're left to wonder why Scandella is skating next to borderline NHL defenseman Matt Tennyson on the second pairing. We were lead to believe Scandella would be on the top pairing with Ristolainen. Victor Antipin is a 24 yr. old rookie who came to North America after six seasons in the KHL. Welcome to the speed of the NHL, Victor.
And the goaltending? Sheesh. Not that they're totally to blame as the Sabres defensemen still don't know how to play a 2-on-1 break, but both Robin Lehner and Chad Johnson need to be better. Especially when the skaters are playing an aggressive style of play that can often lead to odd-man rushes coming back the other way.
On the bright side, Kane is off to a rollicking start with six points (4-2) in three games thus far and looks every bit the part of a player who loves playing the up-tempo style Buffalo is (or wants to be) playing. And...
...the penalty kill has been exceptional as they're 11-for-11 while scoring two shorthanded goals. Kudos to Housley for giving PK time to Kane and Eichel as they represent a threat headed in the other direction.
An 0-2-1 record to start the season isn't pretty, but there are still 79 games to play and no one said that this transition to a new, faster style of play would be easy. The ultimate fear of former coach Dan Bylsma, and many if not most coaches in the NHL, is that a track meet will lead to a disaster on the ice and sure enough, that's what we've been seeing these last two games. Anything and everything that could've gone wrong has for the Sabres thus far has. It's something they'll need to accept and dispose of as they prepare to leave Wednesday for a four-game West Coast swing.
"We just need to start feeling the success and getting this nasty taste out of our mouth and just trying to get some mojo going for us," defenseman Jake McCabe said to the gathered media post-game yesterday. "It's disheartening, but at the same time we're going to hit the reset button and come to work for our West Coast trip."
They'll need to find some intestinal fortitude and leadership as well, to guide them through adversity when it strikes on the ice. Up until now the only player to stand up and be counted when the chips were down is Evander Kane while the other leaders on this team are busy telling the media post-game that they're not getting the job done.
It's not like the Sabres haven't gotten pasted before. In Bylsma's first season the Sabres took a beating at the hands of Montreal as the Canadiens scored five unanswered goals beginning in the second period while en route to a 7-2 win in Buffalo. The Sabres followed that game up with a 4-3 loss to New Jersey and at that point of the season were 2-6-0.
Housley and the coaching staff will meet today and perhaps they'll get a visit from Botterill. More than likely the team will head to San Jose, the first stop on their trip, without tapping into the Rochester Americans, although winger Justin Bailey is off to a good start with two goals on six shots in the Amerks first two games. The 22 yr. old Bailey with size and speed was one of the final cuts in training camp.
Other than that Housley and Co. will be hunkered down going over tape of these first three games trying to figure out what went wrong. Hopefully no kids will be around to revisit the horror that unfolded.
Tuesday, October 10, 2017
Expletives at Sabres' practice. The Devils in town for a matinee.
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 10-9-2017
Saturday's 6-3 loss in Brooklyn against the NY Islanders was a weird one for the Buffalo Sabres in that both teams combined for four shorthanded goals. The big problem for Buffalo was that the Islanders scored both of theirs in a matter of :50 seconds in what ended up being a three-goal in 1:47 blitzkrieg. The barrage put NY up 4-0 early in the second period. It was the third shorthanded goal the Sabres have given up in two games while the NHL's #1 powerplay unit from last year is limping along scoring only one goal in nine powerplays.
"Two games, the power play's lost them both," said Buffalo's Jack Eichel to the media after the game.
"It's just our urgency," said Evander Kane.
Eichel and Kane provided all the offense against with Kane scoring two shorthanded goals himself, the second of which came on a strong individual effort while Eichel scored the other Sabres goal and set up Kane for his first shorty.
It's a situation that screams of players resting on their laurels and not putting in the effort when it comes to having the man advantage. "That's what killed us [on Saturday]," said Ryan O'Reilly at yesterday's practice. "Relaxing at certain times in the game."
Buffalo was only down 1-0 when Islanders captain John Tavares jumped on a casual pass by defenseman Nathan Beaulieu in the Buffalo zone. Beaulieu wheeled along the boards at the Sabres zone and sent a soft pass to the middle. Tavares smelled that coming and soon connect on the 236th goal of his career.
Less than a minute later on the same powerplay a soft pass by Sam Reinhart in the Islanders zone got lost in the feet of Eichel and the play went the other way. New York's Andrew Ladd picked it off and sent teammate Casey Cizikas down the left wall. Cizikas easily beat Victor Antipin on the play and blasted a drive past Buffalo goalie Robin Lehner before Beaulieu could get over.
The momentum was clearly in the Islanders favor but Buffalo coach Phil Housley didn't call a timeout and the tidal wave continued.
Buffalo still had :46 seconds left on the powerplay and they attempted to regroup without a timeout. After spending plenty of time in the Islanders zone a cross-ice pass by Kane was corralled by defenseman Matt Tennyson who tried to send a lazy dump along the boards. The Islanders Jason Chimera stole the puck and sent it the length of the ice just as the penalty ended. Josh Ho Sang gathered the puck in the Sabres corner and fed Josh Bailey who along with Chimera created a 2-on-1 in tight. Bailey buried the shot far side.
"Lackadaisical." "Soft." Lazy." It's the type of thing that a hungry team like the NY Islanders, who were embarrassed in a 5-0 loss to open the season, ate up and spit right back into the net.
Housley claimed that his team was ready for the Islanders but that they "didn't execute the game plan."
Maybe. Tavares' first goal came 1:50 into the game and if it wasn't for Lehner, the Islanders might have left the first period with another goal or two. But the Sabres did outshoot the Islanders 11-9.
Whether it was effort or execution, or lack of effort affecting execution, it carried over into practice on Sunday. Sabres assistant coach Davis Payne tired of their approach and according to the media watching, didn't mince words while voicing his displeasure.
“Let’s get (expletive) sharp!” And few seconds later, according to Bill Hoppe of the Olean Times Herald Payne "let loose", saying, “Let’s get it (expletive) going!”
The Sabres have a matinee game against the New Jersey Devils today at 3 p.m. In addition to Payne trying to spark a competitive fire in his charges Housley mixed up the lines a little bit for yesterday's practice as he swapped centers on two lines. According to Jourdon LaBarber of sabres.com, they looked like this:
9 Evander Kane - 15 Jack Eichel - 29 Jason Pominville
28 Zemgus Girgensons - 90 Ryan O'Reilly - 25 Seth Griffith
67 Benoit Pouliot - 23 Sam Reinhart - 21 Kyle Okposo
22 Johan Larsson - 10 Jacob Josefson - 26 Matt Moulson
Jordan Nolan was the extra forward.
Reinhart had an abysmal minus-5 rating against the Islanders while only taking two shots and has looked disengaged thus far to the point that it almost looks as if he's moping around. He has zero points and is a minus-6 in two games. Not sure what a player like Benoit Pouliot will do for him but having a sniper like Okposo on his wing may help.
O'Reilly has one point thus far (an assist) and is a minus-3. He and Okposo had great chemistry last season but hadn't found it yet thus far this season. They've had both Pouliot and Zemgus Girgensons on the left side with neither player hitting the scoresheet.
Kane is off to a rollicking start with four points in three games. He and Eichel are the only Buffalo players on the plus side of plus/minus while three others who've played in both games--defensemen Rasmus Ristolainen, Beaulieu and Jack McCabe--are all even. Reinhart is at the bottom followed by Okposo and minus-5.
Housley was noncommittal when it came to who'd be starting in goal for the Sabres today. Lehner is the No. 1 but was pulled in the Islanders game after giving up four goals on 16 shots. Backup Chad Johnson came on in relief at the 7:00-mark of the second period and stopped 15 of 16 shots.
The Sabres will have their hands full this afternoon as they're only 1-4-1 vs. the Devils over the past two seasons. New Jersey only outscored Buffalo 14-10 in those six games but have added some firepower in 2017 first-overall pick Nico Hischier to go along with Taylor Hall and Kyle Palmeri.
Defenseman Will Butcher, a free agent college signee whom the Sabres were in on made his NHL debut Saturday night and became the first Devil in franchise history to record three assists as a rookie. All of his points came on a Devils powerplay that went 3/4 against the Colorado Avalanche.
"I just pass the pucks and they do the rest," Butcher said to the post-game media (via Amy Moritz, The Buffalo News.) "On the power play, where those points happened, giving the puck to Hall and Palmieri with time and space, good things are always going to happen."
The Devils iced eight new faces including rookies Hischier, Butcher and Swedish import Jesper Bratt.
Today is Kids Day at KeyBank Center featuring a Party in the Plaza from 1-3 p.m. which is sure to be a blast for the kids who are off for Columbus Day.
Saturday's 6-3 loss in Brooklyn against the NY Islanders was a weird one for the Buffalo Sabres in that both teams combined for four shorthanded goals. The big problem for Buffalo was that the Islanders scored both of theirs in a matter of :50 seconds in what ended up being a three-goal in 1:47 blitzkrieg. The barrage put NY up 4-0 early in the second period. It was the third shorthanded goal the Sabres have given up in two games while the NHL's #1 powerplay unit from last year is limping along scoring only one goal in nine powerplays.
"Two games, the power play's lost them both," said Buffalo's Jack Eichel to the media after the game.
"It's just our urgency," said Evander Kane.
Eichel and Kane provided all the offense against with Kane scoring two shorthanded goals himself, the second of which came on a strong individual effort while Eichel scored the other Sabres goal and set up Kane for his first shorty.
It's a situation that screams of players resting on their laurels and not putting in the effort when it comes to having the man advantage. "That's what killed us [on Saturday]," said Ryan O'Reilly at yesterday's practice. "Relaxing at certain times in the game."
Buffalo was only down 1-0 when Islanders captain John Tavares jumped on a casual pass by defenseman Nathan Beaulieu in the Buffalo zone. Beaulieu wheeled along the boards at the Sabres zone and sent a soft pass to the middle. Tavares smelled that coming and soon connect on the 236th goal of his career.
Less than a minute later on the same powerplay a soft pass by Sam Reinhart in the Islanders zone got lost in the feet of Eichel and the play went the other way. New York's Andrew Ladd picked it off and sent teammate Casey Cizikas down the left wall. Cizikas easily beat Victor Antipin on the play and blasted a drive past Buffalo goalie Robin Lehner before Beaulieu could get over.
The momentum was clearly in the Islanders favor but Buffalo coach Phil Housley didn't call a timeout and the tidal wave continued.
Buffalo still had :46 seconds left on the powerplay and they attempted to regroup without a timeout. After spending plenty of time in the Islanders zone a cross-ice pass by Kane was corralled by defenseman Matt Tennyson who tried to send a lazy dump along the boards. The Islanders Jason Chimera stole the puck and sent it the length of the ice just as the penalty ended. Josh Ho Sang gathered the puck in the Sabres corner and fed Josh Bailey who along with Chimera created a 2-on-1 in tight. Bailey buried the shot far side.
"Lackadaisical." "Soft." Lazy." It's the type of thing that a hungry team like the NY Islanders, who were embarrassed in a 5-0 loss to open the season, ate up and spit right back into the net.
Housley claimed that his team was ready for the Islanders but that they "didn't execute the game plan."
Maybe. Tavares' first goal came 1:50 into the game and if it wasn't for Lehner, the Islanders might have left the first period with another goal or two. But the Sabres did outshoot the Islanders 11-9.
Whether it was effort or execution, or lack of effort affecting execution, it carried over into practice on Sunday. Sabres assistant coach Davis Payne tired of their approach and according to the media watching, didn't mince words while voicing his displeasure.
“Let’s get (expletive) sharp!” And few seconds later, according to Bill Hoppe of the Olean Times Herald Payne "let loose", saying, “Let’s get it (expletive) going!”
The Sabres have a matinee game against the New Jersey Devils today at 3 p.m. In addition to Payne trying to spark a competitive fire in his charges Housley mixed up the lines a little bit for yesterday's practice as he swapped centers on two lines. According to Jourdon LaBarber of sabres.com, they looked like this:
9 Evander Kane - 15 Jack Eichel - 29 Jason Pominville
28 Zemgus Girgensons - 90 Ryan O'Reilly - 25 Seth Griffith
67 Benoit Pouliot - 23 Sam Reinhart - 21 Kyle Okposo
22 Johan Larsson - 10 Jacob Josefson - 26 Matt Moulson
Jordan Nolan was the extra forward.
Reinhart had an abysmal minus-5 rating against the Islanders while only taking two shots and has looked disengaged thus far to the point that it almost looks as if he's moping around. He has zero points and is a minus-6 in two games. Not sure what a player like Benoit Pouliot will do for him but having a sniper like Okposo on his wing may help.
O'Reilly has one point thus far (an assist) and is a minus-3. He and Okposo had great chemistry last season but hadn't found it yet thus far this season. They've had both Pouliot and Zemgus Girgensons on the left side with neither player hitting the scoresheet.
Kane is off to a rollicking start with four points in three games. He and Eichel are the only Buffalo players on the plus side of plus/minus while three others who've played in both games--defensemen Rasmus Ristolainen, Beaulieu and Jack McCabe--are all even. Reinhart is at the bottom followed by Okposo and minus-5.
Housley was noncommittal when it came to who'd be starting in goal for the Sabres today. Lehner is the No. 1 but was pulled in the Islanders game after giving up four goals on 16 shots. Backup Chad Johnson came on in relief at the 7:00-mark of the second period and stopped 15 of 16 shots.
The Sabres will have their hands full this afternoon as they're only 1-4-1 vs. the Devils over the past two seasons. New Jersey only outscored Buffalo 14-10 in those six games but have added some firepower in 2017 first-overall pick Nico Hischier to go along with Taylor Hall and Kyle Palmeri.
Defenseman Will Butcher, a free agent college signee whom the Sabres were in on made his NHL debut Saturday night and became the first Devil in franchise history to record three assists as a rookie. All of his points came on a Devils powerplay that went 3/4 against the Colorado Avalanche.
"I just pass the pucks and they do the rest," Butcher said to the post-game media (via Amy Moritz, The Buffalo News.) "On the power play, where those points happened, giving the puck to Hall and Palmieri with time and space, good things are always going to happen."
The Devils iced eight new faces including rookies Hischier, Butcher and Swedish import Jesper Bratt.
Today is Kids Day at KeyBank Center featuring a Party in the Plaza from 1-3 p.m. which is sure to be a blast for the kids who are off for Columbus Day.
Sabres Brooklyn bound with Housley looking for his first win
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 10-7-2017
Phil Housley missed a chance at his first win as a head coach on Thursday. The Buffalo Sabres had the lead in the season opener but couldn't hold on for their new coach. With Buffalo up 2-1 in the third period they found themselves on the powerplay and a goal there would have been beautiful despite all the "beware a two-goal lead" banter we've heard the past few years.
Montreal's Andrew Shaw went off for interference at the 7:19-mark of the third and Buffalo sent out it's No. 1 powerplay unit. Forty-two seconds later the Canadiens tied the score on a shorthanded wraparound goal by Phillip Danault. Not to take away anything from Danault, but it was a bad play all around for Buffalo as the skaters were weak on the backcheck and goalie Robin Lehner failed to seal off the post completely.
The teams were tied at the end of regulation and, much to the dismay of Sabres fans, the game headed to the shootout after a scoreless overtime session. Why the angst? Lehner in the shootout just hasn't worked out all that well as he's allowed eight goals on the last eight shot-against. However, there was some light at the end of the long, dark skills-competition tunnel. After Buffalo's Jacob Josefson' shot was blocked by Montreal's Carey Price, former Sabre Paul Byron clanked one off the post.
It was all for naught as the Canadiens Jonathan Drouin's lone score in the shootout gave Montreal the 3-2 win.
If you looked at the Buffalo players in the shootout and wondered where recently extended Jack Eichel was, well...he may have gone fourth had it gotten that far. His 1/9 shootout history superseded the drama of the moment in the eyes of Housley.
But that was the worst of it for the new coach when it came to his first game behind the bench. Housley had his team Sabres team skating hard and fast and creating shots from all over the place. In all the Sabres put the puck on net 45 times and had the Canadiens on their heels for much of the game. They succumbed to two mistakes in regulation, one by Lehner and Co. and one by Ryan O'Reilly.
Tonight the Sabres visit Brooklyn, NY to take on John Tavares and the NY Islanders. It wasn't all that long ago that the two teams last met. On April 2, of last season the Islanders headed to Buffalo fighting for a playoff spot and came away with a 4-2 victory. New York opened it's season last night in Columbus and proceeded to get smoked 5-0 so they should be ready to avenge that stinker as they head back to Brooklyn for their home opener tonight.
There was no morning skate for the Sabres today so we can assume that all lines and d-pairings are the same as they were on Thursday with one small change in the lineup. Matt Moulson, who's $5M salary is anything but small change, will replace Jordan Nolan on the fourth line. Of the move, Housley told the gathered media yesterday that he believes Moulson "is going to fit right in."
"I think Matt is a true goal-scorer," continued Housley, "he can bury the puck and hopefully he can bring that against his old team."
Nolan was very strong in his first game as a Buffalo Sabre as his line with Jacob Josefson and Johan Larsson put a lot of pressure on the Canadiens. Housley said yesterday after practice that "those guys pay attention to detail" and that he wasn't afraid to throw them out there for the many d-zone starts they ended up taking. Nolan and Josefson were also the top-pairing on a Sabres penalty-kill unit that killed all four Buffalo penalties.
On Thursday night special teams worked for the Sabres, as in addition to the 4/4 kill they also scored on 1 of 4 powerplay opportunities, however, that shortie against hurt.
As mentioned in the Sabres season preview, it will take some time for things to click. There's a new system in place and players need to adapt not only to Housley, but to their team mates as well. Buffalo started Thursday's game with 10 new faces, a franchise record for starting the season, according to Sabres PR. Conditioning seemed to be a factor last game and will also be a factor moving forward, at least for the near future. During the final half of the third period the Canadiens were ale to reign in the fast-skating Sabres and tighten the game up.
Buffalo also began last season with a loss to Montreal at home before immediately heading out on a Western Canada road trip. The early part of this season will also feature a West Coast road trip beginning Thursday October 12. They have the Islanders tonight at Brooklyn and play Nico Hischier, Taylor Hall and the New Jersey Devils in Buffalo on Monday before they hit the road to face San Jose, Los Angeles, Anaheim and the expansion Vegas Golden Knights.
It would be nice if Housley can get his first head coaching win before then. Like, tonight.
Phil Housley missed a chance at his first win as a head coach on Thursday. The Buffalo Sabres had the lead in the season opener but couldn't hold on for their new coach. With Buffalo up 2-1 in the third period they found themselves on the powerplay and a goal there would have been beautiful despite all the "beware a two-goal lead" banter we've heard the past few years.
Montreal's Andrew Shaw went off for interference at the 7:19-mark of the third and Buffalo sent out it's No. 1 powerplay unit. Forty-two seconds later the Canadiens tied the score on a shorthanded wraparound goal by Phillip Danault. Not to take away anything from Danault, but it was a bad play all around for Buffalo as the skaters were weak on the backcheck and goalie Robin Lehner failed to seal off the post completely.
The teams were tied at the end of regulation and, much to the dismay of Sabres fans, the game headed to the shootout after a scoreless overtime session. Why the angst? Lehner in the shootout just hasn't worked out all that well as he's allowed eight goals on the last eight shot-against. However, there was some light at the end of the long, dark skills-competition tunnel. After Buffalo's Jacob Josefson' shot was blocked by Montreal's Carey Price, former Sabre Paul Byron clanked one off the post.
It was all for naught as the Canadiens Jonathan Drouin's lone score in the shootout gave Montreal the 3-2 win.
If you looked at the Buffalo players in the shootout and wondered where recently extended Jack Eichel was, well...he may have gone fourth had it gotten that far. His 1/9 shootout history superseded the drama of the moment in the eyes of Housley.
But that was the worst of it for the new coach when it came to his first game behind the bench. Housley had his team Sabres team skating hard and fast and creating shots from all over the place. In all the Sabres put the puck on net 45 times and had the Canadiens on their heels for much of the game. They succumbed to two mistakes in regulation, one by Lehner and Co. and one by Ryan O'Reilly.
Tonight the Sabres visit Brooklyn, NY to take on John Tavares and the NY Islanders. It wasn't all that long ago that the two teams last met. On April 2, of last season the Islanders headed to Buffalo fighting for a playoff spot and came away with a 4-2 victory. New York opened it's season last night in Columbus and proceeded to get smoked 5-0 so they should be ready to avenge that stinker as they head back to Brooklyn for their home opener tonight.
There was no morning skate for the Sabres today so we can assume that all lines and d-pairings are the same as they were on Thursday with one small change in the lineup. Matt Moulson, who's $5M salary is anything but small change, will replace Jordan Nolan on the fourth line. Of the move, Housley told the gathered media yesterday that he believes Moulson "is going to fit right in."
"I think Matt is a true goal-scorer," continued Housley, "he can bury the puck and hopefully he can bring that against his old team."
Nolan was very strong in his first game as a Buffalo Sabre as his line with Jacob Josefson and Johan Larsson put a lot of pressure on the Canadiens. Housley said yesterday after practice that "those guys pay attention to detail" and that he wasn't afraid to throw them out there for the many d-zone starts they ended up taking. Nolan and Josefson were also the top-pairing on a Sabres penalty-kill unit that killed all four Buffalo penalties.
On Thursday night special teams worked for the Sabres, as in addition to the 4/4 kill they also scored on 1 of 4 powerplay opportunities, however, that shortie against hurt.
As mentioned in the Sabres season preview, it will take some time for things to click. There's a new system in place and players need to adapt not only to Housley, but to their team mates as well. Buffalo started Thursday's game with 10 new faces, a franchise record for starting the season, according to Sabres PR. Conditioning seemed to be a factor last game and will also be a factor moving forward, at least for the near future. During the final half of the third period the Canadiens were ale to reign in the fast-skating Sabres and tighten the game up.
Buffalo also began last season with a loss to Montreal at home before immediately heading out on a Western Canada road trip. The early part of this season will also feature a West Coast road trip beginning Thursday October 12. They have the Islanders tonight at Brooklyn and play Nico Hischier, Taylor Hall and the New Jersey Devils in Buffalo on Monday before they hit the road to face San Jose, Los Angeles, Anaheim and the expansion Vegas Golden Knights.
It would be nice if Housley can get his first head coaching win before then. Like, tonight.
Saturday, October 7, 2017
The Amerks start anew with new faces abound and Don Stevens still at the mike
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 10-6-2017
The last time the Rochester Americans were significant in the AHL was in 2004-05 when the NHL was in a full-season lockout mode and a group dubbed "The Rochester Guys" were roaming the ice. A few years down the road Buffalo's Thomas Vanek, Derek Roy, Jason Pominville and Paul Gaustad along with goalie Ryan Miller would play lead roles for the Sabres, but for that one season together in Rochester they were all plying their trade as a group and learning a relatively new system that would serve them and the Sabres well up in Buffalo.
There was an excitement about that team as the NHL lockout allowed for some very talented players to not only all grow together at the AHL-level for a season but to also achieve a level of success as well. The Amerks were a premier AHL franchise at the time having been to the playoffs 16 consecutive years, winning the Calder Cup in 1995-96.
Also in that '04-05 group was veteran player Jason Botterill, the Sabres present general manager who was in the final season of an eight-year pro playing career.
When Botterill said goodbye to his playing days and hello to a front office position in Pittsburgh, he hooked up with a Penguins organization that had two very successful teams at both the NHL and AHL levels. And when he was hired by the Buffalo Sabres to be their general manager, he brought the same philosophy with him. “My goal is to strengthen the relationship between Rochester and Buffalo," he said at his introductory presser. "To develop an organization that is going to be successful year in and year out, you have to have that development system in place."
That was music to Rochester's ears as the franchise had been struggling ever since that '04-05 season. Their downward spiral began with the announcement that there would be a dual affiliation with the Florida Panthers beginning in '05-06. That would last for two seasons before the Sabres left Rochester and headed to Portland, Maine. When owner Terry Pegula bought the Sabres in 2011, he made it a priority to bring back the Americans which he did, beginning with the 2011-12 season. Change had been the order of the day since Pegula took over and when all was said and done, the Amerks had made the playoffs five times in those 12 seasons never making it out of the first round.
Don Stevens has been "The Voice of the Rochester Americans" for 31 seasons and he's been through good times and bad. He was very happy to hear Botterill talk about building a strong Amerks hockey club and is quite happy with how Botterill constructed the roster this season. "The veteran players he's brought in and the moves he's made are just outstanding," he told me via phone. "All the right things were said (by Botterill at the time) and so far they're proving to [be true].
Stevens also cautioned, "At this point everything looks good. It's always the case that the first week of the season, you're the best team in the league."
Botterill brought in some vets with championship pedigree to help guide the Amerks this season. Former Amerks captain Kevin Porter returns to the Amerks after spending three years away. He was with the Grand Rapids Griffins (DET) in 2014-15 and spent the last two seasons in the Pittsburgh organization with the Wilkes Barre-Scranton Penguins. Botterill is very familiar with Porter and signed him on July 1, the start of free agency.
Although he spent a majority of his time at the AHL-level while in the Penguins organization, Porter played well when called up by Pittsburgh and he also helped in the development of players. Jake Guentzel was one such player. He had a terrific 2017 post season while helping lead the Penguins to their second consecutive Stanley Cup.
"[Porter's] a player I'm very familiar with," said Botterill while recapping his July 1 signings. "[He] was a strong leader for Wilkes-Barre over the past couple of years, but also was a player, especially two years ago, that (Penguins head coach) Mike Sullivan really trusted at the National Hockey League level."
Also in the fold for Rochester is well-travelled veteran defenseman Nathan Paetsch who was also with the Amerks in '04-05. The 34 yr. old's last stop was in Grand Rapids as he helped the Griffins to the 2016-17 Calder Cup. On September 12, Rochester GM (and Buffalo AGM,) Randy Sexton brought Paetsch on board for more veteran leadership and to help develop a winning mentality. “We’re excited to welcome Nathan back to the organization as he brings a wealth of playing experience at the American Hockey League level,” said Sexton of the signing. “We’re very confident he will play a leading role in creating a successful, winning culture for our young prospects here in Rochester.”
Sexton himself was poached by Botterill from the Penguins organization and is also familiar with the Rochester Americans as he was with the Florida parent club from 2007-10 while the Amerks were the Panthers AHL affiliate. He moved to Pittsburgh in 2010 where he became the assistant director of amateur scouting for the team. "[Sexton] was the only good thing there was of that whole schlimazel with the Florida Panthers," Stevens said of the Panthers affiliation which stretched from 2005-11. "He was excellent, is a good man with great credentials and is very highly thought of."
It doesn't hurt that Sexton also has the same drive to make Rochester a winner that Botterill does. Back in July at Sabres Development Camp Sexton told the gathered media, “We are not going to rest until we restore the Americans to what I think is their rightful place among the elite teams in the American Hockey League. It will come one day at a time, it will come one person at a time. But we will be relentless in our pursuit of that success.”
The Amerks didn't stop at tapping into recent championship success as they signed another player from the '17 Calder Cup champion Griffins. Forward Kyle Criscuolo is 5'8" 165 lbs. and Botterill described him as one who"plays with a lot of pace, with a high compete [level] and can play the type of pace that Phil (Housley) wants to play."
That pace Botterill and Housley want to see has been seen in Rochester during their preseason thus far, according to Stevens. "The speed of the practices is vastly ahead of where it was last year," he said. "The pace is very good and (head coach Chris) Taylor's really got them moving." Perhaps the pace is a bit easier to pus as the Amerks, according to Stevens, are a little smaller this year and he points to a line featuring the aforementioned 5'8" Criscuolo with Steve Moses (5'9" 175 lbs.) and the biggest guy on that line, C.J. Smith who chimes in at 5'11" 185 lbs.
Rochester did add some heft on the blueline, however, as they tapped into the champion Griffins once again to land 6'1" 210 lb. Conor Allen and also added 6'2" 225 lb. defenseman Andrew MacWilliam who was with the Albany Devils (NJD) last season. Both are steady, solid rearguards who will balance the smaller, skilled puck-movers the Amerks will start with on defense.
Defenseman Taylor Fedun was waived by Buffalo and luckily for Rochester, cleared waivers. Fedun signed with Buffalo last season and re-upped with a two-year, one-way deal. Last season he and Justin Falk started out as the Amerks top-pairing but injuries soon had Falk up with the Sabres. Not long after Fedun got his call and made the most of it. He recorded four assists in his first three games with Buffalo and ended up playing 39 games for the club scoring two goals and totaling 16 points.
Stevens calls Fedun's return to the Amerks "huge" for the club, "especially offensively. He just brings a tremendous amount of skill [to the blueline]." Fedun played 29 games for the Amerks last season scoring five goals, adding 18 assists and was a plus-1. "If he does as well this year as he did last year," said Stevens, "he probably won't be here that long."
Defenseman Casey Nelson had an "impressive" preseason according to Stevens, especially in the first game where he tallied eight shots. His aggressiveness with the puck might be attributed to the new style of play that falls right into his wheel house as smart, puck-moving offensive-minded defenseman. "It's certainly one thing that the organization is trying to do as a whole [which is] trying to get the defense more involved in the offense," said Stevens, "and I think [Nelson] took that to heart."
The big name on defense for Sabres fans is that of Brendan Guhle. The 20 yr. old had two short, six-game stints with the Amerks after his junior seasons ended and he never looked out of place scoring a total of six points (2+4) in those 12 games. Guhle is athletic and very strong on his skates with seemingly effortless long strides to traverse the 200' rink.
Having him spend a full season in Rochester as a first-year pro is not a bad idea. It's the type of development Stevens has been pitching for the last three years I've been talking with him. "There's been a lot of talk that [Guhle] might make it to Buffalo this year," said Stevens, who's entering his 32nd season in the Amerks broadcast booth. "The thing is, for the organization, that process has to slow down. I think these guys need to develop more, have to see more time here (at the AHL-level) in order to get more confident so that when they make that next step they're really ready for it."
In keeping with that theme, Stevens calls the signing of Sabres back-up goalie Chad Johnson "one of the best off season moves for the organization." With the Johnson-signing the Linus Ullmark gets another season in Rochester playing top minutes and the opportunity to build on last year's Team MVP award.
That move, along with the signing of Adam Wilcox who finished the season with the Springfield Thunderbirds (FLA) with a 7-4-0 record, a 2.02 GAA and .932 Sv%, allows the entire goalie depth chart to fall in place. All No. 1's will get top minutes in their respective leagues. Robin Lehner with the Sabres, the 24 yr. old Ullmark in Rochester and 22 yr. old Jonas Johansson in Cincinnati with the Cyclones, Buffalo's new ECHL affiliate.
The Sabres have a group of prospects in Rochester, mostly in the forward group, who will also be spending valuable development time with the Amerks while getting up to speed with the new system. Justin Bailey and Nick Baptiste were thought to have the best shots of making the Sabres out of camp, but they're back with Rochester looking to continue to develop. Both showed great year-over-year improvement with the Amerks and the thought process is that proper guidance from vets like Porter, plus some time in the system at the lower level will eventually lead to success in the AHL and confidence to make an impact at the NHL-level.
We can place Hudson Fasching in that grouping as well. Fasching did make the Sabres out of camp last season but was injured early on. He was sent back to Rochester and it took a long time for him to get back to form. According to Stevens, the 6'2" 207 lb. Fasching had a great preseason.
Another player who'll need to come back from injury is Alexander Nylander. The winger was injured at Development Camp and suffered a setback at Sabres training camp. Nylander added some heft to his frame and many thought that he'd have a good shot at landing a left wing spot on the Sabres, but another year of development, especially coming off of an injury, looks to be in the cards for him.
When all's said and done, however, it will be up to head coach Chris Taylor to bring Housley's philosophy to Rochester while also taking on the binary task of icing a winning team and developing the players.
Taylor was also on that 2004-05 Amerks squad along with Botterill, Paetsch and "The Rochester Guys." He spent nine seasons in Rochester, was a captain for the Amerks, a three-time team MVP and is in the Amerks Hall of Fame. He spent five seasons as an assistant in Rochester, the last season with Wilkes Barre as an assistant and now takes over behind the bench for his first-ever coaching job in his hometown.
Botterill and Taylor go way back with the GM saying this about his new coach the day after Taylor was hired, "He was a player who was a high-end offensive player at the American Hockey League level that found a way to contribute in the National Hockey League and play National Hockey League games as a defensive player.
“Goes to show you the hockey sense he has and sort of the hockey mind.”
He also noted that he thinks Taylor is a good fit for what they're trying to do. “I felt there was a good fit there with Chris,” continued Botterill. “I think it’s going to be a scenario where he comes in, he’s extremely well organized. He’s very familiar with Rochester and will have that presence to be able to interact with the players."
"Very few players come into professional hockey and get to the NHL and play the same role that they played in junior or college," said Sexton of the Taylor hire. "Chris was living proof of that. He was a prolific scorer in junior, he was a great offensive player in the American League, but in order to get NHL games he had to play good defense. I think that in itself is a great signal to our players. Young players who recognize that quickly in their careers ascend to the NHL much quicker than the ones who fight it or don't."
"The players like him and the players have always respected him," said Stevens, "which is huge." Yet he also cautioned that the juries still out as Taylor's still a first-time head coach.
Tonight the Rochester Americans begin their 62nd AHL season against the Syracuse Crunch at Blue Cross Arena. In moving forward the team tapped into the past with Botterill, Taylor and Paetsch, they dipped into the winning culture of the Pittsburgh Penguins organization (which includes Botterill and Sexton) and also snagged a few players from the Grand Rapids Calder Cup team. It's been a rough 12 seasons for the Amerks and their glory years look to be even farther away but the mindset is there and there's a strong commitment to resuscitate the franchise with the best people they can find. If successful it will represent a major step towards bringing the entire organization closer to playoff streaks and successes instead of playoff droughts and first round failures.
Of note: Porter will wear the 'C' for the Amerks while Paetsch and Fedun will wear the 'A'.
The last time the Rochester Americans were significant in the AHL was in 2004-05 when the NHL was in a full-season lockout mode and a group dubbed "The Rochester Guys" were roaming the ice. A few years down the road Buffalo's Thomas Vanek, Derek Roy, Jason Pominville and Paul Gaustad along with goalie Ryan Miller would play lead roles for the Sabres, but for that one season together in Rochester they were all plying their trade as a group and learning a relatively new system that would serve them and the Sabres well up in Buffalo.
There was an excitement about that team as the NHL lockout allowed for some very talented players to not only all grow together at the AHL-level for a season but to also achieve a level of success as well. The Amerks were a premier AHL franchise at the time having been to the playoffs 16 consecutive years, winning the Calder Cup in 1995-96.
Also in that '04-05 group was veteran player Jason Botterill, the Sabres present general manager who was in the final season of an eight-year pro playing career.
When Botterill said goodbye to his playing days and hello to a front office position in Pittsburgh, he hooked up with a Penguins organization that had two very successful teams at both the NHL and AHL levels. And when he was hired by the Buffalo Sabres to be their general manager, he brought the same philosophy with him. “My goal is to strengthen the relationship between Rochester and Buffalo," he said at his introductory presser. "To develop an organization that is going to be successful year in and year out, you have to have that development system in place."
That was music to Rochester's ears as the franchise had been struggling ever since that '04-05 season. Their downward spiral began with the announcement that there would be a dual affiliation with the Florida Panthers beginning in '05-06. That would last for two seasons before the Sabres left Rochester and headed to Portland, Maine. When owner Terry Pegula bought the Sabres in 2011, he made it a priority to bring back the Americans which he did, beginning with the 2011-12 season. Change had been the order of the day since Pegula took over and when all was said and done, the Amerks had made the playoffs five times in those 12 seasons never making it out of the first round.
Don Stevens has been "The Voice of the Rochester Americans" for 31 seasons and he's been through good times and bad. He was very happy to hear Botterill talk about building a strong Amerks hockey club and is quite happy with how Botterill constructed the roster this season. "The veteran players he's brought in and the moves he's made are just outstanding," he told me via phone. "All the right things were said (by Botterill at the time) and so far they're proving to [be true].
Stevens also cautioned, "At this point everything looks good. It's always the case that the first week of the season, you're the best team in the league."
Botterill brought in some vets with championship pedigree to help guide the Amerks this season. Former Amerks captain Kevin Porter returns to the Amerks after spending three years away. He was with the Grand Rapids Griffins (DET) in 2014-15 and spent the last two seasons in the Pittsburgh organization with the Wilkes Barre-Scranton Penguins. Botterill is very familiar with Porter and signed him on July 1, the start of free agency.
Although he spent a majority of his time at the AHL-level while in the Penguins organization, Porter played well when called up by Pittsburgh and he also helped in the development of players. Jake Guentzel was one such player. He had a terrific 2017 post season while helping lead the Penguins to their second consecutive Stanley Cup.
"[Porter's] a player I'm very familiar with," said Botterill while recapping his July 1 signings. "[He] was a strong leader for Wilkes-Barre over the past couple of years, but also was a player, especially two years ago, that (Penguins head coach) Mike Sullivan really trusted at the National Hockey League level."
Also in the fold for Rochester is well-travelled veteran defenseman Nathan Paetsch who was also with the Amerks in '04-05. The 34 yr. old's last stop was in Grand Rapids as he helped the Griffins to the 2016-17 Calder Cup. On September 12, Rochester GM (and Buffalo AGM,) Randy Sexton brought Paetsch on board for more veteran leadership and to help develop a winning mentality. “We’re excited to welcome Nathan back to the organization as he brings a wealth of playing experience at the American Hockey League level,” said Sexton of the signing. “We’re very confident he will play a leading role in creating a successful, winning culture for our young prospects here in Rochester.”
Sexton himself was poached by Botterill from the Penguins organization and is also familiar with the Rochester Americans as he was with the Florida parent club from 2007-10 while the Amerks were the Panthers AHL affiliate. He moved to Pittsburgh in 2010 where he became the assistant director of amateur scouting for the team. "[Sexton] was the only good thing there was of that whole schlimazel with the Florida Panthers," Stevens said of the Panthers affiliation which stretched from 2005-11. "He was excellent, is a good man with great credentials and is very highly thought of."
It doesn't hurt that Sexton also has the same drive to make Rochester a winner that Botterill does. Back in July at Sabres Development Camp Sexton told the gathered media, “We are not going to rest until we restore the Americans to what I think is their rightful place among the elite teams in the American Hockey League. It will come one day at a time, it will come one person at a time. But we will be relentless in our pursuit of that success.”
The Amerks didn't stop at tapping into recent championship success as they signed another player from the '17 Calder Cup champion Griffins. Forward Kyle Criscuolo is 5'8" 165 lbs. and Botterill described him as one who"plays with a lot of pace, with a high compete [level] and can play the type of pace that Phil (Housley) wants to play."
That pace Botterill and Housley want to see has been seen in Rochester during their preseason thus far, according to Stevens. "The speed of the practices is vastly ahead of where it was last year," he said. "The pace is very good and (head coach Chris) Taylor's really got them moving." Perhaps the pace is a bit easier to pus as the Amerks, according to Stevens, are a little smaller this year and he points to a line featuring the aforementioned 5'8" Criscuolo with Steve Moses (5'9" 175 lbs.) and the biggest guy on that line, C.J. Smith who chimes in at 5'11" 185 lbs.
Rochester did add some heft on the blueline, however, as they tapped into the champion Griffins once again to land 6'1" 210 lb. Conor Allen and also added 6'2" 225 lb. defenseman Andrew MacWilliam who was with the Albany Devils (NJD) last season. Both are steady, solid rearguards who will balance the smaller, skilled puck-movers the Amerks will start with on defense.
Defenseman Taylor Fedun was waived by Buffalo and luckily for Rochester, cleared waivers. Fedun signed with Buffalo last season and re-upped with a two-year, one-way deal. Last season he and Justin Falk started out as the Amerks top-pairing but injuries soon had Falk up with the Sabres. Not long after Fedun got his call and made the most of it. He recorded four assists in his first three games with Buffalo and ended up playing 39 games for the club scoring two goals and totaling 16 points.
Stevens calls Fedun's return to the Amerks "huge" for the club, "especially offensively. He just brings a tremendous amount of skill [to the blueline]." Fedun played 29 games for the Amerks last season scoring five goals, adding 18 assists and was a plus-1. "If he does as well this year as he did last year," said Stevens, "he probably won't be here that long."
Defenseman Casey Nelson had an "impressive" preseason according to Stevens, especially in the first game where he tallied eight shots. His aggressiveness with the puck might be attributed to the new style of play that falls right into his wheel house as smart, puck-moving offensive-minded defenseman. "It's certainly one thing that the organization is trying to do as a whole [which is] trying to get the defense more involved in the offense," said Stevens, "and I think [Nelson] took that to heart."
The big name on defense for Sabres fans is that of Brendan Guhle. The 20 yr. old had two short, six-game stints with the Amerks after his junior seasons ended and he never looked out of place scoring a total of six points (2+4) in those 12 games. Guhle is athletic and very strong on his skates with seemingly effortless long strides to traverse the 200' rink.
Having him spend a full season in Rochester as a first-year pro is not a bad idea. It's the type of development Stevens has been pitching for the last three years I've been talking with him. "There's been a lot of talk that [Guhle] might make it to Buffalo this year," said Stevens, who's entering his 32nd season in the Amerks broadcast booth. "The thing is, for the organization, that process has to slow down. I think these guys need to develop more, have to see more time here (at the AHL-level) in order to get more confident so that when they make that next step they're really ready for it."
In keeping with that theme, Stevens calls the signing of Sabres back-up goalie Chad Johnson "one of the best off season moves for the organization." With the Johnson-signing the Linus Ullmark gets another season in Rochester playing top minutes and the opportunity to build on last year's Team MVP award.
That move, along with the signing of Adam Wilcox who finished the season with the Springfield Thunderbirds (FLA) with a 7-4-0 record, a 2.02 GAA and .932 Sv%, allows the entire goalie depth chart to fall in place. All No. 1's will get top minutes in their respective leagues. Robin Lehner with the Sabres, the 24 yr. old Ullmark in Rochester and 22 yr. old Jonas Johansson in Cincinnati with the Cyclones, Buffalo's new ECHL affiliate.
The Sabres have a group of prospects in Rochester, mostly in the forward group, who will also be spending valuable development time with the Amerks while getting up to speed with the new system. Justin Bailey and Nick Baptiste were thought to have the best shots of making the Sabres out of camp, but they're back with Rochester looking to continue to develop. Both showed great year-over-year improvement with the Amerks and the thought process is that proper guidance from vets like Porter, plus some time in the system at the lower level will eventually lead to success in the AHL and confidence to make an impact at the NHL-level.
We can place Hudson Fasching in that grouping as well. Fasching did make the Sabres out of camp last season but was injured early on. He was sent back to Rochester and it took a long time for him to get back to form. According to Stevens, the 6'2" 207 lb. Fasching had a great preseason.
Another player who'll need to come back from injury is Alexander Nylander. The winger was injured at Development Camp and suffered a setback at Sabres training camp. Nylander added some heft to his frame and many thought that he'd have a good shot at landing a left wing spot on the Sabres, but another year of development, especially coming off of an injury, looks to be in the cards for him.
When all's said and done, however, it will be up to head coach Chris Taylor to bring Housley's philosophy to Rochester while also taking on the binary task of icing a winning team and developing the players.
Taylor was also on that 2004-05 Amerks squad along with Botterill, Paetsch and "The Rochester Guys." He spent nine seasons in Rochester, was a captain for the Amerks, a three-time team MVP and is in the Amerks Hall of Fame. He spent five seasons as an assistant in Rochester, the last season with Wilkes Barre as an assistant and now takes over behind the bench for his first-ever coaching job in his hometown.
Botterill and Taylor go way back with the GM saying this about his new coach the day after Taylor was hired, "He was a player who was a high-end offensive player at the American Hockey League level that found a way to contribute in the National Hockey League and play National Hockey League games as a defensive player.
“Goes to show you the hockey sense he has and sort of the hockey mind.”
He also noted that he thinks Taylor is a good fit for what they're trying to do. “I felt there was a good fit there with Chris,” continued Botterill. “I think it’s going to be a scenario where he comes in, he’s extremely well organized. He’s very familiar with Rochester and will have that presence to be able to interact with the players."
"Very few players come into professional hockey and get to the NHL and play the same role that they played in junior or college," said Sexton of the Taylor hire. "Chris was living proof of that. He was a prolific scorer in junior, he was a great offensive player in the American League, but in order to get NHL games he had to play good defense. I think that in itself is a great signal to our players. Young players who recognize that quickly in their careers ascend to the NHL much quicker than the ones who fight it or don't."
"The players like him and the players have always respected him," said Stevens, "which is huge." Yet he also cautioned that the juries still out as Taylor's still a first-time head coach.
Tonight the Rochester Americans begin their 62nd AHL season against the Syracuse Crunch at Blue Cross Arena. In moving forward the team tapped into the past with Botterill, Taylor and Paetsch, they dipped into the winning culture of the Pittsburgh Penguins organization (which includes Botterill and Sexton) and also snagged a few players from the Grand Rapids Calder Cup team. It's been a rough 12 seasons for the Amerks and their glory years look to be even farther away but the mindset is there and there's a strong commitment to resuscitate the franchise with the best people they can find. If successful it will represent a major step towards bringing the entire organization closer to playoff streaks and successes instead of playoff droughts and first round failures.
Of note: Porter will wear the 'C' for the Amerks while Paetsch and Fedun will wear the 'A'.
Buffalo Sabres 2017-18 Season Preview
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 10-5-2017
We're beginning year-three into the now officially designated Jack Eichel-era for the Buffalo Sabres. We all knew that after the Sabres took Eichel second-overall in the 2015 NHL Draft that this would be his team and it became official when he signed an 8yr./$80 million contract extension on Tuesday.
Eichel is now a Buffalo Sabre for the next nine years and he's pretty thrilled with it. "This city means so much to me. I like to think that I mean a lot to the city as well," he told the press yesterday. "This organization has been nothing but great to me since the first day I walked through the doors. They've given me every opportunity that I've wanted. The city the same way. People are good to me, they're good to my friends and family, so I have nothing but great things to say about Buffalo. I think I really owe it to them and I owe it to myself to do something special here with the group of guys we have here in the room and in the organization. It's really exciting times. It's an organization that has believed in me and I owe a lot to it."
And with that the Sabres begin anew with Eichel as their clear leader.
In diving into this year's preview, we'll take a quick look at last year. Nearly every prognosticator had the Sabres making further progress in their rise from the basement. Former head coach Dan Bylsma set the mark at 95 points which would have been a 14-point increase over the prior season.
On the positive side the pundits pointed out that the Sabres had some offensive firepower plus a full season under Bylsma's system while on the negative side it was pointed out that their defense was weak and that they wasn't much depth. There was also a big question-mark in goal as designated No. 1 goalie Robin Lehner had yet to prove that he could stay healthy and/or take the reigns as a full-time starter.
Almost nobody, however, thought they'd take a step backwards with a 78-point season and nobody saw the disconnect and discontent that ruled the roost in Buffalo last season. Injuries happen but the rash of injuries, including one to Eichel on the eve of the season which kept him out the first 21 games, pretty much put a nail in their coffin in October. The disaster that unfolded for the remainder of the season eventually lead to the firing of Bylsma and GM Tim Murray.
On the positive side, those firings would lead to opportunity for Buffalo as they brought in Jason Botterill, a three-time Cup-winning executive from the Pittsburgh Penguins organization, as GM and a head coach in Phil Housley who was an assistant in Nashville and coached the most dangerous defense in the playoffs last year. Bringing in Botterill represented instant credibility as he was considered one of the best GM's in waiting while the hiring of Housley brought the team up to date with the way the game is played today.
With that as a backdrop, we take a look at the team Botterill has put together and the one that Housley has to work with this season.
The Forwards
It all starts with Eichel, who's entering his third season with the Sabres. He was impressive in the 61 games he played last year scoring 57 points (24+33) and he's been getting a lot of attention from the national media as he seems poised for a breakout season. But we shouldn't forget Buffalo's other top-center, Ryan O'Reilly. He started out last season struggling with injuries and had a mid-season emergency appendectomy yet still finished second on the team in scoring behind Eichel. Plus he's still doing his after-practice sessions with any teammate willing to stay for some extra work.
In all, not much has changed in the forward group but Housley did a little juggling in an effort to try and maximize secondary scoring. Housley moved Sam Reinhart off of Eichel's right wing to center on the third line giving him strength down the middle. The move has also had an impact in a number of other ways.
First off, it created an opening at right wing next to Eichel and the Sabres don't seem to have a strong candidate to fill that role. Of the players auditioning through camp, 34 yr. old Jason Pominville, who's back in Buffalo after being a part of a trade with the Minnesota Wild looks as if he'll get first crack. Pominville has the savvy and can still skate but he may end up being a filler until they can find a match in that spot.
Having Reinhart as a third-line center also causes some juggling in the bottom-six as Johan Larsson moves from that spot down to the fourth line and with signee Jacob Josefson locked in as the center on that line, Larsson moves to wing. At time over the course of the past two seasons, Larsson has centered a two-way third line that was oft-times the best line for the team and how he adapts to the fourth line, especially on the wing will take some adjustment.
And finally, but maybe most importantly, Reinhart has some adjustments to make as well. For the last two seasons he's mostly been a fixture on Eichel's wing and the move to center has been a struggle at times this preseason. Reinhart's a very intelligent player and he should be able to adapt, but it's still a big change for him.
Evander Kane is in the final year of his contract and is on Eichel's left wing. Bylsma had used him up and down the left side these past two years and last year Kane scored 28 goals, the most he had since his 2011-12 season with the Atlanta Thrashers. It's not that much of a stretch to think he'll end up in that 25-30 goal range again, but if he and Eichel can mesh, he could hit a career-high in goals before the end of his contract meaning big bucks this off season.
Right wing Kyle Okposo will once again be with O'Reilly. Okposo is returning from a scary late-season incident where he had an adverse affect from medication being taken while recovering from a concussion. He was signed to a big free agent contract last off season and was having a decent year before this occurred. One would think it will take him a bit to get up to speed, but the chemistry between him and O'Reilly is unmistakable.
Rounding out the top-six, at least to start, is left wing Benoit Pouliot. The former first-rounder is coming off of a dismal season in Edmonton where the Oilers bought him out. This is probably the biggest hole in the Sabres forward group but if Pouliot just follows O'Reilly and Okposo's lead, the 31 yr. old could revive his career while also being a big help to the team. Pouliot's big and he skates well and had been consistently in the mid-upper teens in goal-scoring prior to last season. Opportunity awaits him in this role.
Zemgus Girgensons got first crack at landing with O'Reilly and Okposo but looks as if he'll be settling into a bottom-six/defensive role for the team. Girgensons struggled under Bylsma but Housley has shown a lot of faith in him and he looks to be starting the season on Reinhart's left wing. On the other side is Seth Griffith who worked his way into the opening night roster. Griffith, who scored in bunches at the AHL-level but has yet to transfer that to the NHL, made waves in the final preseason game and almost ended up on Eichel's wing to start the season. This is a huge opportunity for him.
Joining Josefson and Larsson on the fourth line for tonight looks to be recent waiver-claim, Jordan Nolan, the son of former Sabres coach Ted Nolan. Buffalo claimed him off of waivers and comes to the Sabres with two Stanley Cup rings, a big body and an enforcer's edge to his game which is a combination that Housley seems to like. The 33 yr. old Matt Moulson has struggled mightily with the Sabres 5v5the past two seasons but has been deft on the powerplay. With Pominville on the second-unit powerplay Moulson looks like he'll be up in the press box despite his $5 million AAV contract.
The Defense
Unlike the forward group which had movement but very little turnover, relatively speaking, the defense-corps went though a significant overhaul this off season. Botterill brought in three new players and all of them of the puck-moving variety.
Rasmus Ristolainen will once again be anchoring the Sabres blueline. The 22 yr. old will be entering his fifth season in Buffalo and the debate rages as to just what the Sabres have in him. He was a workhorse for Bylsma and finished 15th in the league in scoring amongst defensemen but the analytics community see nothing but unfavorable numbers and results.
Botterill acquired defenseman Marco Scandella from the Minnesota Wild with the intent to place him alongside Ristolainen on the top-pairing. Scandella had played a top-four role in Minnesota and Botterill thought he had more in him. Off season elective hip surgery has slowed the 27 yr. old Scandella to the point where the team kept him out of preseason games. He's a big, mobile defenseman who moves the puck well and is a key for the Sabres' defense corps.
Jake McCabe must have been thrilled with the Housley hire as he captained Team USA to the gold medal at the 2013 World Junior Championships with Housley as his coach. McCabe had been trudging along these past two seasons playing in the top-four mostly in a defensive role. He's had many more good moments than bad, even while playing top-pairing minutes, and he seems to have some untapped offensive potential lurking under the surface. Maybe not a lot, but if Housley can bring some of that out, every little bit helps.
Former GM Murray got the ball rolling on free agent KHL defenseman Victor Antipin and Botterill closed the deal. The 24 yr. old with six Russian professional seasons under his belt comes to North America with good skating ability and a keen eye for finding open ice plus the ability to finish. Plus he can man the point on the powerplay and plays the right side despite being a left-handed shot.
Another newcomer to the Sabres is Nathan Beaulieu, whom they traded a third round pick for. The former Montreal Canadian had played up and down their defense corps last season even starting out beside Shea Weber on the top-pairing, but was relegated to the bench for The Habs final playoff game last season. There's opportunity in Buffalo for Beaulieu and what he does with it is up to him.
We haven't mentioned Zach Bogosian yet simply because he probably won't be in the opening lineup because he's injured...again. The 27 yr. old Bogosian, who has 10 NHL seasons under his belt, hasn't played in over 70 games since the 2010-11 season. Bogosian is a big defenseman who can get up ice and has a cannon of a shot. This year provided the opportunity for start fresh as he really struggled under the former regime. He looked good in preseason, but have to wait until he's healed to figure out just how much of an impact Housley has on his game.
Josh Gorges is a trooper, but unfortunately for the 33 yr old, it looks as if he'll be relegated to the press box for much of this season barring an unforeseen rash of injuries. Gorges is in the final year of his contract and the rugged game he plays is getting lost in the speed with which teams now play the game.
Justin Falk followed up a surprisingly strong season last year in Buffalo with an equally impressive training camp this year. He's a big, sturdy defensive-defenseman who's been as steady as they come in a bottom-pairing role. Falk, however, suffered an injury and is on IR. What will happen when he comes back will be based upon what's happening with the defense corps but he's earned a spot on the Sabres roster.
The beneficiary of the Bogosian/Falk injuries is Matt Tennyson. The NHL/AHL tweener's eventual assignment to the Rochester Americans was put on hold with the injuries and he may even be in tonight's lineup.
The Goaltending
Whereas last year we were wondering whether or not Lehner could make the grade as a starter, this year we'll be asking the question, can he stop the puck in the shootout?
Lehner did pass the test last season by appearing in 59 games for Buffalo going 23-26-8 with a 2.76 GAA and a .920 Sv%. However, he couldn't do anything in the shootout as he faced eight shooters and never stopped a puck. Hopefully he'll be able to shake that with a new head coach. Lehner was signed a one-year, "show-me" deal in the off season and even though he said that he had nothing to prove, there is some "proving' yet to do as he needs to bring that GAA down and he needs to up his game in the shootout. It will help him in his next contract and help the team now.
Botterill brought back Chad Johnson to be a backup. Johnson had been with the Sabres in 2015-16, Lehner's first season in Buffalo, and was forced into the starters role when Lehner was felled by a high-ankle sprain in the very first game. He finished the season with a career high in games and wins while finishing with a 2.36 GAA and .920 Sv%. He went off to his hometown of Calgary to seek fame and fortune in a starting role but comes back to Buffalo in a more comfortable position as a backup knowing full well he can answer the bell as a starter if need be.
The Prediction
On July 1, 2014 the Sabres brought in three veteran players to help guide the team through the dire straights of transitioning from a bottom-dwelling team to a young team on the rise. All three of them wore letters. Captain Brian Gionta was not offered a contract this off season while assistant captains Gorges and Moulson look to be in the press box for tonight's opener.
Buffalo is on their third coach and second GM since that day and while Gorges and Moulson have been continuously with the club, only one player, Girgensons, will have played full seasons in Buffalo the past three years and is in the starting lineup tonight. Only two other players-- Reinhart and Ristolainen, both of whom spent partial seasons on the Sabres in 2014-15--were on the opening night roster three years ago along with the aforementioned.
When you consider that Girgensons, who is entering his fifth NHL season is the longest tenured Sabres player to have played for Buffalo the last four seasons, one can see the amount of turnover this team has gone through since the Sabres went all-in on the rebuild. Within that process of change came philosophical changes as well--in personnel by the GM and coaching strategies by their bench bosses.
The Sabres went from 54 points in 2014-15, the season before drafting Eichel, to 81 points the following season, which was the first under coach Bylsma. Last season didn't work very well as they finished with 78 points and they're embarking on a new direction this season.
In last year's preview the thinking here was that they could build upon the previous season to the point where defensive shortcomings would be offset by increased scoring. Having Eichel and Kane go down early in the season and having discontent resonating through the locker room the latter part of the season didn't help much either.
This year expectations are on the optimistic side once again which places the Sabres above the 87 or so points most are projecting for the club. It will take some time for Housley's system to take hold and for everyone to be on the same page, but the most important part in all of this is for Buffalo to be able to score. Their goals/game over the past three seasons looks like this:
2014-15: 1.87 (30th)
2015-16: 2.43 (25th)
2016-17: 2.43 (24th)
That's not going to get it done.
The team has a lot of talent up front and although their top-six is not complete, Eichel, O'Reilly, Okposo and Kane still have more to give in the production department. Housley moved Reinhart to the third line to ramp up secondary scoring, but what will the affect be on primary scoring and can he at least match his 42-plus points this season?
Having the defense join the rush will be huge for this club moving forward and should help the forward group. The Sabres were amongst the worst in the league in production from defensemen and whether it was talent or scheme, or more than likely a combination of both, last year was unacceptable on that front. That will change this year as Housley's hallmark is getting his defensemen involved in the offense.
All that said the Sabres only scored 12 goals in six preseason games. Sure, it's only preseason, but that may be a harbinger of early season struggles on offense.
The key early on might be on preventing goals and that will primarily lie on goaltending. With defensemen joining the rush and the team learning a new system, odd-man rushes coming back will probably be an unsightly side affect of trying to generate more offense. Can Lehner and Johnson come up big at the right time to give this team a chance?
Finally, we shouldn't overlook the importance of special teams. One of the reasons Buffalo managed 78 points last season was because they had the league's best powerplay. That powerplay success will need to continue this season and there's no reason to believe it won't, especially with a much better second unit featuring the additions of Pominville and Antipin.
With the league cracking down at least somewhat on hooks and slashes, Buffalo will need to be much better on the penalty kill which finished 25th in the league last season. Killing off penalties in crucial situations can really help swing momentum to their side or keep momentum from shifting away from them.
If they can manage all of those little things, a point here and a point there will add up as the season goes on.
While I agree that the playoffs are a bit of a longshot for the Sabres this season, they should be in the playoff mix well into March and hopefully into April as well. To do that they'll need to be on pace to finish in the 90-95 point range. That's where I had this team last year and that's what I think they have in them for the 2017-18 season.
*****
The projected lineup for tonight:
Evander Kane-Eichel-Jason Pominville
Benoit Pouliot-O'Reilly-Okposo
Zemgus Girgensons-Sam Reinhart-Seth Griffith
Johan Larsson-Jacob Josefson-Jordan Nolan
Nathan Beaulieu-Rasmus Ristolainen
Jack McCabe-Victor Antipin
Marco Scandella-Matt Tennyson
Robin Lehner
Chad Johnson
And...
You're 2017-18 Buffalo Sabres assistant captains:
We're beginning year-three into the now officially designated Jack Eichel-era for the Buffalo Sabres. We all knew that after the Sabres took Eichel second-overall in the 2015 NHL Draft that this would be his team and it became official when he signed an 8yr./$80 million contract extension on Tuesday.
Eichel is now a Buffalo Sabre for the next nine years and he's pretty thrilled with it. "This city means so much to me. I like to think that I mean a lot to the city as well," he told the press yesterday. "This organization has been nothing but great to me since the first day I walked through the doors. They've given me every opportunity that I've wanted. The city the same way. People are good to me, they're good to my friends and family, so I have nothing but great things to say about Buffalo. I think I really owe it to them and I owe it to myself to do something special here with the group of guys we have here in the room and in the organization. It's really exciting times. It's an organization that has believed in me and I owe a lot to it."
And with that the Sabres begin anew with Eichel as their clear leader.
In diving into this year's preview, we'll take a quick look at last year. Nearly every prognosticator had the Sabres making further progress in their rise from the basement. Former head coach Dan Bylsma set the mark at 95 points which would have been a 14-point increase over the prior season.
On the positive side the pundits pointed out that the Sabres had some offensive firepower plus a full season under Bylsma's system while on the negative side it was pointed out that their defense was weak and that they wasn't much depth. There was also a big question-mark in goal as designated No. 1 goalie Robin Lehner had yet to prove that he could stay healthy and/or take the reigns as a full-time starter.
Almost nobody, however, thought they'd take a step backwards with a 78-point season and nobody saw the disconnect and discontent that ruled the roost in Buffalo last season. Injuries happen but the rash of injuries, including one to Eichel on the eve of the season which kept him out the first 21 games, pretty much put a nail in their coffin in October. The disaster that unfolded for the remainder of the season eventually lead to the firing of Bylsma and GM Tim Murray.
On the positive side, those firings would lead to opportunity for Buffalo as they brought in Jason Botterill, a three-time Cup-winning executive from the Pittsburgh Penguins organization, as GM and a head coach in Phil Housley who was an assistant in Nashville and coached the most dangerous defense in the playoffs last year. Bringing in Botterill represented instant credibility as he was considered one of the best GM's in waiting while the hiring of Housley brought the team up to date with the way the game is played today.
With that as a backdrop, we take a look at the team Botterill has put together and the one that Housley has to work with this season.
The Forwards
It all starts with Eichel, who's entering his third season with the Sabres. He was impressive in the 61 games he played last year scoring 57 points (24+33) and he's been getting a lot of attention from the national media as he seems poised for a breakout season. But we shouldn't forget Buffalo's other top-center, Ryan O'Reilly. He started out last season struggling with injuries and had a mid-season emergency appendectomy yet still finished second on the team in scoring behind Eichel. Plus he's still doing his after-practice sessions with any teammate willing to stay for some extra work.
In all, not much has changed in the forward group but Housley did a little juggling in an effort to try and maximize secondary scoring. Housley moved Sam Reinhart off of Eichel's right wing to center on the third line giving him strength down the middle. The move has also had an impact in a number of other ways.
First off, it created an opening at right wing next to Eichel and the Sabres don't seem to have a strong candidate to fill that role. Of the players auditioning through camp, 34 yr. old Jason Pominville, who's back in Buffalo after being a part of a trade with the Minnesota Wild looks as if he'll get first crack. Pominville has the savvy and can still skate but he may end up being a filler until they can find a match in that spot.
Having Reinhart as a third-line center also causes some juggling in the bottom-six as Johan Larsson moves from that spot down to the fourth line and with signee Jacob Josefson locked in as the center on that line, Larsson moves to wing. At time over the course of the past two seasons, Larsson has centered a two-way third line that was oft-times the best line for the team and how he adapts to the fourth line, especially on the wing will take some adjustment.
And finally, but maybe most importantly, Reinhart has some adjustments to make as well. For the last two seasons he's mostly been a fixture on Eichel's wing and the move to center has been a struggle at times this preseason. Reinhart's a very intelligent player and he should be able to adapt, but it's still a big change for him.
Evander Kane is in the final year of his contract and is on Eichel's left wing. Bylsma had used him up and down the left side these past two years and last year Kane scored 28 goals, the most he had since his 2011-12 season with the Atlanta Thrashers. It's not that much of a stretch to think he'll end up in that 25-30 goal range again, but if he and Eichel can mesh, he could hit a career-high in goals before the end of his contract meaning big bucks this off season.
Right wing Kyle Okposo will once again be with O'Reilly. Okposo is returning from a scary late-season incident where he had an adverse affect from medication being taken while recovering from a concussion. He was signed to a big free agent contract last off season and was having a decent year before this occurred. One would think it will take him a bit to get up to speed, but the chemistry between him and O'Reilly is unmistakable.
Rounding out the top-six, at least to start, is left wing Benoit Pouliot. The former first-rounder is coming off of a dismal season in Edmonton where the Oilers bought him out. This is probably the biggest hole in the Sabres forward group but if Pouliot just follows O'Reilly and Okposo's lead, the 31 yr. old could revive his career while also being a big help to the team. Pouliot's big and he skates well and had been consistently in the mid-upper teens in goal-scoring prior to last season. Opportunity awaits him in this role.
Zemgus Girgensons got first crack at landing with O'Reilly and Okposo but looks as if he'll be settling into a bottom-six/defensive role for the team. Girgensons struggled under Bylsma but Housley has shown a lot of faith in him and he looks to be starting the season on Reinhart's left wing. On the other side is Seth Griffith who worked his way into the opening night roster. Griffith, who scored in bunches at the AHL-level but has yet to transfer that to the NHL, made waves in the final preseason game and almost ended up on Eichel's wing to start the season. This is a huge opportunity for him.
Joining Josefson and Larsson on the fourth line for tonight looks to be recent waiver-claim, Jordan Nolan, the son of former Sabres coach Ted Nolan. Buffalo claimed him off of waivers and comes to the Sabres with two Stanley Cup rings, a big body and an enforcer's edge to his game which is a combination that Housley seems to like. The 33 yr. old Matt Moulson has struggled mightily with the Sabres 5v5the past two seasons but has been deft on the powerplay. With Pominville on the second-unit powerplay Moulson looks like he'll be up in the press box despite his $5 million AAV contract.
The Defense
Unlike the forward group which had movement but very little turnover, relatively speaking, the defense-corps went though a significant overhaul this off season. Botterill brought in three new players and all of them of the puck-moving variety.
Rasmus Ristolainen will once again be anchoring the Sabres blueline. The 22 yr. old will be entering his fifth season in Buffalo and the debate rages as to just what the Sabres have in him. He was a workhorse for Bylsma and finished 15th in the league in scoring amongst defensemen but the analytics community see nothing but unfavorable numbers and results.
Botterill acquired defenseman Marco Scandella from the Minnesota Wild with the intent to place him alongside Ristolainen on the top-pairing. Scandella had played a top-four role in Minnesota and Botterill thought he had more in him. Off season elective hip surgery has slowed the 27 yr. old Scandella to the point where the team kept him out of preseason games. He's a big, mobile defenseman who moves the puck well and is a key for the Sabres' defense corps.
Jake McCabe must have been thrilled with the Housley hire as he captained Team USA to the gold medal at the 2013 World Junior Championships with Housley as his coach. McCabe had been trudging along these past two seasons playing in the top-four mostly in a defensive role. He's had many more good moments than bad, even while playing top-pairing minutes, and he seems to have some untapped offensive potential lurking under the surface. Maybe not a lot, but if Housley can bring some of that out, every little bit helps.
Former GM Murray got the ball rolling on free agent KHL defenseman Victor Antipin and Botterill closed the deal. The 24 yr. old with six Russian professional seasons under his belt comes to North America with good skating ability and a keen eye for finding open ice plus the ability to finish. Plus he can man the point on the powerplay and plays the right side despite being a left-handed shot.
Another newcomer to the Sabres is Nathan Beaulieu, whom they traded a third round pick for. The former Montreal Canadian had played up and down their defense corps last season even starting out beside Shea Weber on the top-pairing, but was relegated to the bench for The Habs final playoff game last season. There's opportunity in Buffalo for Beaulieu and what he does with it is up to him.
We haven't mentioned Zach Bogosian yet simply because he probably won't be in the opening lineup because he's injured...again. The 27 yr. old Bogosian, who has 10 NHL seasons under his belt, hasn't played in over 70 games since the 2010-11 season. Bogosian is a big defenseman who can get up ice and has a cannon of a shot. This year provided the opportunity for start fresh as he really struggled under the former regime. He looked good in preseason, but have to wait until he's healed to figure out just how much of an impact Housley has on his game.
Josh Gorges is a trooper, but unfortunately for the 33 yr old, it looks as if he'll be relegated to the press box for much of this season barring an unforeseen rash of injuries. Gorges is in the final year of his contract and the rugged game he plays is getting lost in the speed with which teams now play the game.
Justin Falk followed up a surprisingly strong season last year in Buffalo with an equally impressive training camp this year. He's a big, sturdy defensive-defenseman who's been as steady as they come in a bottom-pairing role. Falk, however, suffered an injury and is on IR. What will happen when he comes back will be based upon what's happening with the defense corps but he's earned a spot on the Sabres roster.
The beneficiary of the Bogosian/Falk injuries is Matt Tennyson. The NHL/AHL tweener's eventual assignment to the Rochester Americans was put on hold with the injuries and he may even be in tonight's lineup.
The Goaltending
Whereas last year we were wondering whether or not Lehner could make the grade as a starter, this year we'll be asking the question, can he stop the puck in the shootout?
Lehner did pass the test last season by appearing in 59 games for Buffalo going 23-26-8 with a 2.76 GAA and a .920 Sv%. However, he couldn't do anything in the shootout as he faced eight shooters and never stopped a puck. Hopefully he'll be able to shake that with a new head coach. Lehner was signed a one-year, "show-me" deal in the off season and even though he said that he had nothing to prove, there is some "proving' yet to do as he needs to bring that GAA down and he needs to up his game in the shootout. It will help him in his next contract and help the team now.
Botterill brought back Chad Johnson to be a backup. Johnson had been with the Sabres in 2015-16, Lehner's first season in Buffalo, and was forced into the starters role when Lehner was felled by a high-ankle sprain in the very first game. He finished the season with a career high in games and wins while finishing with a 2.36 GAA and .920 Sv%. He went off to his hometown of Calgary to seek fame and fortune in a starting role but comes back to Buffalo in a more comfortable position as a backup knowing full well he can answer the bell as a starter if need be.
The Prediction
On July 1, 2014 the Sabres brought in three veteran players to help guide the team through the dire straights of transitioning from a bottom-dwelling team to a young team on the rise. All three of them wore letters. Captain Brian Gionta was not offered a contract this off season while assistant captains Gorges and Moulson look to be in the press box for tonight's opener.
Buffalo is on their third coach and second GM since that day and while Gorges and Moulson have been continuously with the club, only one player, Girgensons, will have played full seasons in Buffalo the past three years and is in the starting lineup tonight. Only two other players-- Reinhart and Ristolainen, both of whom spent partial seasons on the Sabres in 2014-15--were on the opening night roster three years ago along with the aforementioned.
When you consider that Girgensons, who is entering his fifth NHL season is the longest tenured Sabres player to have played for Buffalo the last four seasons, one can see the amount of turnover this team has gone through since the Sabres went all-in on the rebuild. Within that process of change came philosophical changes as well--in personnel by the GM and coaching strategies by their bench bosses.
The Sabres went from 54 points in 2014-15, the season before drafting Eichel, to 81 points the following season, which was the first under coach Bylsma. Last season didn't work very well as they finished with 78 points and they're embarking on a new direction this season.
In last year's preview the thinking here was that they could build upon the previous season to the point where defensive shortcomings would be offset by increased scoring. Having Eichel and Kane go down early in the season and having discontent resonating through the locker room the latter part of the season didn't help much either.
This year expectations are on the optimistic side once again which places the Sabres above the 87 or so points most are projecting for the club. It will take some time for Housley's system to take hold and for everyone to be on the same page, but the most important part in all of this is for Buffalo to be able to score. Their goals/game over the past three seasons looks like this:
2014-15: 1.87 (30th)
2015-16: 2.43 (25th)
2016-17: 2.43 (24th)
That's not going to get it done.
The team has a lot of talent up front and although their top-six is not complete, Eichel, O'Reilly, Okposo and Kane still have more to give in the production department. Housley moved Reinhart to the third line to ramp up secondary scoring, but what will the affect be on primary scoring and can he at least match his 42-plus points this season?
Having the defense join the rush will be huge for this club moving forward and should help the forward group. The Sabres were amongst the worst in the league in production from defensemen and whether it was talent or scheme, or more than likely a combination of both, last year was unacceptable on that front. That will change this year as Housley's hallmark is getting his defensemen involved in the offense.
All that said the Sabres only scored 12 goals in six preseason games. Sure, it's only preseason, but that may be a harbinger of early season struggles on offense.
The key early on might be on preventing goals and that will primarily lie on goaltending. With defensemen joining the rush and the team learning a new system, odd-man rushes coming back will probably be an unsightly side affect of trying to generate more offense. Can Lehner and Johnson come up big at the right time to give this team a chance?
Finally, we shouldn't overlook the importance of special teams. One of the reasons Buffalo managed 78 points last season was because they had the league's best powerplay. That powerplay success will need to continue this season and there's no reason to believe it won't, especially with a much better second unit featuring the additions of Pominville and Antipin.
With the league cracking down at least somewhat on hooks and slashes, Buffalo will need to be much better on the penalty kill which finished 25th in the league last season. Killing off penalties in crucial situations can really help swing momentum to their side or keep momentum from shifting away from them.
If they can manage all of those little things, a point here and a point there will add up as the season goes on.
While I agree that the playoffs are a bit of a longshot for the Sabres this season, they should be in the playoff mix well into March and hopefully into April as well. To do that they'll need to be on pace to finish in the 90-95 point range. That's where I had this team last year and that's what I think they have in them for the 2017-18 season.
*****
The projected lineup for tonight:
Evander Kane-Eichel-Jason Pominville
Benoit Pouliot-O'Reilly-Okposo
Zemgus Girgensons-Sam Reinhart-Seth Griffith
Johan Larsson-Jacob Josefson-Jordan Nolan
Nathan Beaulieu-Rasmus Ristolainen
Jack McCabe-Victor Antipin
Marco Scandella-Matt Tennyson
Robin Lehner
Chad Johnson
And...
You're 2017-18 Buffalo Sabres assistant captains:
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