You Know What A 6-Year/$27M Contract In Buffalo Means?

In the case of Ville Leino? A whole lot of microscopic critiques, questions, angst and anger--the rumblings of a potential "controversy" over his signing.

Leino's numbers through eight games:  one goal, one assist, minus-3, one third period benching.

Sabres LW Tyler Ennis, who, btw, hadn't registered a point in seven games, is on a week-to-week basis after messing up his ankle at Tampa Bay. With that, two things that'll affect Leino:  a move back to the wing (where he recently said he'd like to play) and more ice-time.

Pretty sure that this is a blessing in disguise for Leino as well as Head Coach Lindy Ruff. Ruff's been in a bit of a quandary this young season as his initial line of Ennis/Leino/Drew Stafford failed to produce anything of significance.

Catch-22 Averted

Leino, is like every other hockey player, wants ice-time. And according to him, he needs ice-time. But he hasn't produced enough to warrant the minutes. In fact, after averaging around 14 minutes through the first four games, Leino got less than 10 minutes vs. Montreal and found his butt parked on the bench.

It was a one game thing as he logged 14 minutes at Florida and over 17 at Tampa Bay. Last night vs. Tampa he had nearly 16 minutes. And, although he's barely registered a blip on the score sheet, snaring an assist in those three games, at least it's a start.

Ruff has always had a philosophy that ice-time is earned. And ya better be defensively responsible too. With Leino botching defensive responsibilities, Ruff needed to figure out how to get him the ice-time he needs while adhering to his philosophies.

The injury to Ennis makes it relatively easy. Leino goes to the wing which should help his comfort level, he'll get "second-line" minutes, and, in addition, he'll be getting that coveted power play time. Ruff, for his part, can "save face" by giving Leino all of this without altering his "ice-time is earned" philosophy.

But, it's somewhat of a band-aid solution that will only work long-term if Leino starts producing now and he continues to produce when he's moved back to center with the return of Ennis.

Ice-time Isn't Leino's Only "Need"

Bill Hoppe wrote a piece for msg.com after Leino-'s stunning playoff performance for the Flyers in 2010. The Detroit Red Wings had traded Leino because, according to GM Ken Holland via the Detroit Free Press, "He hadn’t done much here. We really liked him. We felt he could be an NHL player, but when we had all those injuries and he got significant ice time, he really didn’t do anything with it.” Significant ice-time with the likes of Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg.

OK, that didn't work out. But why did it work so well in Philly? What does Leino need to produce seven goals and 14 assists in 19 playoff games?

“I need a little freedom to play my hockey and make the plays I do,” Leino told the Free Press (via the Hoppe piece.) “When you can play the way you want and play the hockey you like, and then you have success, your confidence goes up and then when the whole team is winning, your confidence just keeps growing,”

Based upon watching the Sabres' Thomas Vanek cherry-pick early in the season, I'm pretty sure that Ruff has altered his stance on in-game play and has allowed more freedom to be creative and/or use the talents available to the player. But, if you're eschewing defensive responsibilities, you better make it up on the score sheet.

As an example, Vanek has seven goals and four assists in eight games this season and is a plus-3. Leino has one goal and one assist and is a minus-3. Vanek may not be a Selke candidate, but he's making up for it by scoring.

Ice-Time, Freedom and...

Let's review:

• Leino says he needs ice-time which he'll get in Ennis' absence.
• He'll be on the wing, something he's mentioned recently, which will inherently give him less defensive responsibilities and allow him to get up-ice quicker which, in turn, should lead to more scoring/playmaking opportunities.
• Based upon plus/minus, Ruff has softened his stance a bit on skill players focusing too much on defense.
• And Leino will have the freedom to play his way out of a slow start.

Anything else?

This past February, there was an article by Stephen Whyno celebrating Leino's one-year anniversary with the Flyers. Whyno called the trade for Leino "one of the biggest heists in franchise history."

He chronicled Leino's journey a bit and asked him why he was producing now after a very slow/rough start with Philly. This is what the winger said, “The player I am, it’s not always enough to just get ice time – you need to play a lot and play with good players,” he said. “I got a chance every now and then [with the Red Wings], but I didn’t really get a good chance that I wanted.”


OK. So not only does Leino need ice-time which as of now with the Buffalo Sabres is not really warranted, and not only does he need freedom, but he also needs to "play with really good players."

(Blogger puts head in hands and sighs)

It's Early, But I've Gotten A Headache From This

Not that all of this is really a big deal right now, but Lindy Ruff definitely has some work to do. Both he and GM Darcy Regier said they could make this work and it's really early in the season not to mention really early in Leino's six year contract. But, ya gotta wonder if Leino's primadonna-like tendencies were covered during the interview process. And ya gotta wonder how Ruff will handle all of this.

Is there a solution this early in the season?

Yeah, sure. The easiest thing for Ruff to do would be to put Leino between Vanek and Jason Pominville when Ennis returns. He'll get the minutes, have the freedom and he'll have "good players" on his wings.

Problem is, Luke Adam centering Vanek and Pominville has been the only consistent threat this season. Ruff called Adam a surprise--"a factor we didn't count on"-- on the Howard Simon show yesterday (5:00-minute mark) as they delved into a discussion concerning Leino. With Adam being very young and just getting a feel for the NHL, he also needs good players surrounding him. In fact his success thus far can be directly attributed to the confidence he has playing with veteran linemates.

And who's to say that a line of Vanek, Leino, Pominville would break Leino out of his funk anyway.

(shrugs) It could be a solution, though.

So could putting Nathan Gerbe on his wing. Leino played his best hockey with former Sabre Daniel Briere so having a player with Briere-like tendencies may just be what's needed. But, who on the Sabres squad can bring to the table what Philly RW Scott Hartnel brought to the Briere/Leino line? Rugged, front-of-the-net play with a good amount of skill?

(shrugs)

If you've read this far, congrats...and thx.

It really shouldn't be that complicated. A player like Leino being signed for the dollar amount and term of his contract should be professional enough to adapt to a system and his linemates.

That being said, it's still waaaaay to early to even think of the panic-button with Leino, or the Sabres in general. Leino will need a significant period of adjustment. It's a long season and the Sabres are off to a good start this season which takes a lot of the pressure off...for now.

The Debate On NHL Fighting Will Continue...

with both pro and con sides pulling out data, studies and statistics to prove their points.

And you can bet that the names of deceased tough-guys Bob Probert and Derek Boogaard both will be thrown into the mix. Probert's family donated his brain to science and it was found that there were "signs" of brain trauma from blows to the head.

 But there's a new study out that'll go through one of those "peer evaluations" before it's published and becomes "official."

Whether it holds water or not after the peer-process remains to be seen, but it does invoke some basic common sense as a basis for the study.



Were Eric Boulton (l) and
Travis Moen (r)
to battle outside a bar
 instead of on the ice,
some serious damage
 could be done.

The gist is this:  It's hard to fight on skates, and punches thrown do not have the power of a street fight punch simply because there's not enough traction on the slick surface of the ice.

Dig. From an article on the study:



"The risk of concussion in a fight was much lower for brawling hockey players (0.39 percent) compared to the per-game risk for those who checked one another (nearly 4.5 percent)."



Even roundhouse punches to the jaw seemed to lack the power to injure. 'If you're hitting somebody outside a bar on the ground, more than 50 percent of the time that's going to break a jaw,' co-author Dr. David Milzman said. 'We saw no jaw fractures in over 1,400 fights.'"

Kinda makes sense, doesn't it?

Thanx to Puckdaddy, via Kukla for a link to the article from U.S. News and World Report's "Health Day."

http://health.usnews.com/health-news/family-health/bones-joints-and-muscles/articles/2011/10/21/hockey-fistfights-rarely-cause-injuries-study-claims

 

The Leino "Dilemma"

I guess will get this out of the way right off of the bat. Were Sabres center Ville Leino making $3M per year instead of $4.5M, fans wouldn't be so harsh, nor would they rush to judgement after only five regular season games.

On paper, in the preseason and over in Finland, Leino with Tyler Ennis on left wing seemed like a very good fit. In fact a lot of things look good on paper, and most go awry, as is the case here.

After an incredibly slow start which saw Leino score the game winner vs. Anaheim in his native country the opener, but fail to register a point in the following four games, Leino has found himself on the "fourth" line with his minutes cut extensively. Ennis who is coming off of a 20-goal/49-point season, has yet to register a point in five games.

All of this leads to Leino, the topic of conversation on WGR's Howard Simon Show today. And they turned to beat reporter Paul Hamilton for some insight.

Hamilton went back to a piece he did the day before, about how Leino said that it took him a while in Philadelphia and that "it's always different with the teams."

He also hinted, at his unease with the defensive responsibilities at the center positon and that a move back to wing might click his offense in gear. Not to mention that he feels he'd be better on the powerplay so that he'd get more minutes and get into a more offensive flow.

Wow.

All of this directed at a team coached by Lindy Ruff, a coach, as shown in the past, that doles out ice-time based upon effective play. Ruff, as well, expects at least as much passion on a backcheck as he does on the attack in the offensive zone.

So now, as Hamilton pointed out, they're in a Catch-22. Or even a chicken/egg scenario. Will Ruff allow Leino more playing time to work through it? Or will Leino heed the system and get on his horse for 60 minutes?

Somebody needs to pound it into Leino's head that Ruff's as stubborn as a mule. Get on the backcheck, move your feet and let your energy transfer from defense to offense. It works.

Right now, Ruff has Leino between Cody McCormick and fellow-underachiever, Brad Boyes. Not a recipe for success, imo.

Perhaps Ruff should consider putting Leino with Nathan Gerbe. Last year Gerbe got off to a horrendous start but ended up turning it around. Gerbe's also a guy who'll work it and be able to find an open man in the slot, a place where Leino is real strong.

Or perhaps, this whole scenario is being way overblown and it'll take a lot of time to find the right chemistry for all four lines.

Who knows? Right now the Sabres are in Florida and have a meeting with the Panthers who are off to a good start.

As for the Sabres? They are 4-1, even without Leino comfortable.

Ryan Miller Steals One In Montreal

This is not to discount what Jhonas Enroth did in the previous game by holding the fort in a 3-2 win at Pittsburgh either.

Ryan Miller snares one out of the air in his
40-save performance versus the Habs last night.

The Buffalo News' John Vogl didn't mince any words when he said that the Sabres got off to a "putrid start" versus the Habs, and Thomas Vanek put it plainly afterwards, "Millsie stole us this one, there's no other way of putting it."

The Sabres are now 4-1 on the season, ranked 8th in goals against average for the season at 2.00. And it's a tribute to their goaltending tandem.

Enroth has been playing so well in the back-up role that the calls for him to be the #1 goalie have started already, especially in light of the home loss that Buffalo suffered vs. Carolina. The stat-sheet said that Miller was average in that game, yet no one mentions how he kept the team in the game foiling a Eric Staal short-handed breakaway and a 4-on-1 deep into the third period a mere minute and thirty seconds apart.

It's all fodder for blogs and water cooler conversation. Miller is one of the best in the game who will have clunkers throughout the long NHL season. Enroth instills a sense of confidence as the team's back-up the likes of which we haven't seen since Marty Biron was in Buffalo over four years ago. Miller/Enroth could end up being the best goaltending tandem in the league this season. And after years of inadequacy (that's being very kind) from the Sabres back-ups, it's a real good feeling.

Perhaps Paul Hamilton put it best when he was on WGR's Howard Simon Show two days ago (click here, 15:50-mark,) "Why can't people just enjoy having two good goaltenders on your team and use them correctly to help you have a really good season?"

Maybe people really don't know how to enjoy themselves? Maybe they can't enjoy the fact that this is a really good hockey team that has a really good chance of not only making the playoffs, but have the goaltending, defense and overall depth to make a deep run this season.

'Nuff said.


***

One more point.

Last December, Hamilton was on WGR's Mike Schopp and the Bulldog.

The discussion was, in essence, the worth of Paul Gaustad outside his faceoff prowess. The Sabres were struggling to get to .500 hockey at the time and Gaustad's salary/production lead to the topic of faceoffs and the value of winning them.

Schopp said, "I just think it's really, dramatically overstated how important they are, very few goals are scored from the draw, that's a fact...there are a handful of goals a season that come from the faceoff."

Ironically, the next game vs. the  San Jose' Sharks, two Sabres goals were a direct result of a faceoff win, Gaustad being credited with one of them. (here's a link to a full blog on this "conversation.")

Last night, with the Sabres playing "putrid" for the better part of two periods, the Sabres were looking to escape the malaise with a 1-1 tie heading into the third period thanx to Miller and a goal by Jordan Leopold. The Candians were called for icing with six seconds left and this is what happened (pay attention, it happens really fast):





'Nuff said.

***


Last thing, I promise, Vogl also did an article on Jason Pomiville and how he's working on faceoffs. Said Gaustad, ""We want to be a puck-possession team, and it starts with faceoffs."

Here's the link to the full article:  http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/article599244.ece

Notes From the Sabres Opening Game Victory

Although the Anaheim Ducks are not the Stanley Cup team they were back in 2007, they are still a tough team to beat. They're big, mobile and skilled. And even though soon to be Hall of Fame defenseman Scott Niedermayer is retired and soon to be retired, future Hall of Famer Teemu Selanne is 41, the team is still mentioned as a contender coming out of the Western Conference.

For their part, the Buffalo Sabres are considered improved to the point where nearly all of the "experts" picked them to be a  #3-#6 seed for the playoffs this season. Some picked them to go as far as the Eastern Conference Finals, which doesn't seem to be that far of a reach at all.

Yesterday in their opener versus Anaheim in Helsinki, Finland, the Sabres kicked in the after-burners for a good portion of two periods en route to a 4-1 win.

The team jumped out to a 2-0 lead less than halfway through the first period, answered a Ducks goal in the second with a goal of their own :73 later, grabbed a three-goal lead with a little less than half the second period left and then went into a defensive mode for the remainder of the game. In fact the Sabres did not register a shot in the final period.

It's pretty impressive when a team can go full throttle for the better part of two periods, then switch to shutdown mode for the remainder of the game. Usually the latter will get a team into trouble, but Ryan Miller, his defense and a back-checking group of collapsing forwards did not yield a goal during that stretch.

The Offense and the Afterburners

The forwards on Buffalo are highly reminiscent of the 2006/07 team which Jaromir Jagr, at the time, called a "Ferrari." When they are in attack mode, they swarm the opposition with speed and quickness.

Ville Leino got his first goal as a Sabre due to a swarming forcheck, a pinching d-man and some pretty impressive hand-eye coordination (see video below.) 

The Sabres 1st-unit power play got off on the right foot
scoring two goals on four pp opportunities. Vanek,
Pominville, Stafford, Gragnani and Ehrhoff

Christian Ehrhoff was brought in to, among other things, help with the power play. Marc-Andre Gragnani was inserted into the line-up to, among other things, help with the power play. With those two on the point, Jason Pominville is now working down low. That group, along with Drew Stafford working the wall and Thomas Vanek in front of the net, scored two power play goals as the team went 2/4 with the man advantage.

The New Captain, Pominville, Nets One For "The Core"

Over the last four seasons, there have been a core group of Sabres that management and the coaching staff have put a lot of faith in to win. When Terry Pegula took over he had the opportunity to dismantle, or even tweak, that group. But, just like his retaining both Darcy Regier and Lindy Ruff, he did not.

In fact, Pegula, upper management and the coaches went the in the opposite direction, they gave "the core" even more responsibility by awarding them letters.

Pominville, who has worn a letter for years, including the rotating "C" in 2007/08, had that letter permanently sewn to his jersey. Derek Roy, who has also worn a letter for four years, continues as an alternate captain.

Two seasons ago, Paul Gaustad got the "A," and during that time the team made the playoffs. He's back in that role.

New Sabres Alternate Captain,
Drew Stafford, and his
"Stafford-Scowl."

Vanek was awarded an "A" last season when Roy was lost for the season, he retained that. And Drew Stafford, coming of of a career year and a multi-year, multi-million dollar contract extension, was chosen to be the final alternate.

Of the core as captains, Ruff said, "We talked with, obviously Darcy and management and even Terry was involved, we felt it was the right move for this group that has grown up together (see this from the Rochester Americans website We kept it to that same core, that it's their time."

Pominville, the captain, answered the Ducks lone goal with the third for the Sabres cycling in the circle down low with Vanek providing a screen. He also had a wicked shot stopped the Ducks' Jonas Hiller low, glove-side. "Pommer" continued to do what he's always done--a solid, if unspectacular game through and through. Both he and Vanek flanked rookie Luke Adam, who did not look out of place.

Robyn Regehr Does His Thing



Much will be made about the toughness Regehr brings to the table, and he showed it versus Anaheim by roughing it up with the league's toughest tough-guy, George Parros.

Regehr also did some pounding in the corners as well, which is typical of his game. For the Sabres, they haven't had Western Conference toughness in a top-pairing role and I'm sure that Miller and the rest of the team really appreciate Regehr having their backs.

But one play that really sets the tone for the season on the back-end, one that was mentioned by the media post-game, was Regehr breaking up a two-on-one by the Ducks. It was fundamental, Defense-101 as Regehr played the pass and Miller squared up to the shooter. Such a little thing like that was missing on most occasions last season, and frustrated Miller to the point that he couldn't figure out what he should do. The eventual lack of trust in his young d-men contributed to his less than stellar performance in goal.

Simple plays like that, and with Regehr leading the defense back to basics in their own zone, should contribute to a lower goals against average for the team and allow Miller to challenge more, which is something seen repeatedly, when he's on his game.

What the Opposition Media Said After the Game

Fellow Finn and Ducks Legend Teemu Selanne may
have the mural, but new Sabres forward
and Finland native, Ville Leino,
netted a goal and his Sabres' team got the win.

From Lisa Dillman of the L.A. Times, this headline:  Ducks Buffaloed in Helsinki as teams put their best Finns forward. Not much to the article and not surprising considering the game's outcome. She did lead off with this, "The celebratory homecoming for one Finn could not have gone better or more smoothly." The Finn she was referring to was the one without a mural on the wall of the Helsinki arena but of a Finn who happened to play for the Buffalo Sabres--Ville Leino.

From the Orange County Register, writer Jeff Miller lead off an after-game notes article talking about the Ducks' big line of Corey Perry, Bobby Ryan and Ryan Getzlaf getting big minutes yet getting shut out. He had this quote from Coach Randy Carlyle, "I think our big line dominated the puck control down low for good stretches but didn't score, obviously" Carlyle said. "I think the frustration level built in that group."

It's an excellent start to the season for the Buffalo Sabres, but as Ruff has said on many occasions, it's a marathon not a sprint. Except on the ice where the Sabres will be going full-throttle.

2011/12 Predictions For the Buffalo Sabres

Here's what the media pedicts for the Sabres this season.


The Hockey News:
2nd in the division, 5th in the conference--"Everyone knows the Sabres are built around Ryan Miller and that hasn’t changed... the Sabres should improve on last year’s seventh-place showing and make for an interesting team to watch in 2011-12."

Adam Proteau (the Hockey News):
2nd in the division, 5th in the conference--"Overall, there’s no disputing Buffalo now has all the components to be a serious Cup threat. But if I were a Sabres fan, I’d temper my expectations with the knowledge it might take a year or two for the team to fully gel."

Bodog Odds To Win the Cup:
Buffalo--18:1

Kevin Allen, USA Today:
 2nd in the division--"Buffalo finished seven points behind Boston last season, and the Sabres might be six points better this season. But those last couple of points are what separate very good teams from great teams."

The Canadian Press:
2nd in the division, 6th in the conference--"There are no glaring holes in this Sabres team, especially if Ryan Miller plays up to his Vezina Trophy standard of 2009-10, making them a squad to keep an eye on."

CBS Sportsline.com:
2nd in the division--"Overall, it's not a roster with many holes in it whatsoever. It will just come down to how talented the team proves to be as there are multiple players capable of 50-plus point seasons."

ESPN:
Matt Barnaby, John Buccigross, Linda Cohn, Craig Custance, Steve Levy, Pierre LeBrun--1st in the division.

Cohn, Levy--Eastern Conference Champions

Levy--Stanley Cup Champions

TSN Consensus:
2nd in the division, 6th in the conference

Darren Eliot, Sports Illustrated:
1st in the division--"The Sabres have a complete four-line, six-D compliment for the first time in ages and the goaltending to back it up."

ESPN Power Rankings, Scott Burnside:
Sabres, #10--"We have to admit that we're still not sure how all the pieces will fit together in Buffalo, but this is not your grandfather's Sabres squad, that's for sure."

CBSSportsline Power Rankings, Adam Gretz:
Sabres, #9--"Who didn't these guys sign this summer for big money? Love the addition of Robyn Regehr, while Christian Ehrhoff and Ville Leino should improve them, even if those two contracts were a bit of an overpayment and/or gamble."

Yahoo Puckdaddy:
Greg Wyshinski--1st in the division, 2nd conference
Sean Leahy--3rd in the division, 8th conference
Harrison Mooney--1st in the division, 3rd conference
Dmitry Chesnokov--outside the playoffs (4th in the division behind Boston, Montreal, Toronto)
Ryan Lambert--2nd in the division, 6th conference
Dobber--2nd in the division, 7th conference

2011/12 Season Preview, Part 4--The Prediction

"I loathe making predictions about particular series. I put no stock my own or "expert" predictions because I truly believe that the most knowledgeable piece of hockey wisdom is that the game is unpredictable and all a team can do is try to be as well-stocked and well-prepared as possible."--Bill Meltzer, versus.com
http://www.versus.com/blogs/the-daily-drop/no-upsets-would-be-an-upset/

This...

...is what we're looking at as the Sabres head into the 2011/12 season.

It would seem as if Terry Pegula, Senior Advisor Ken Sawyer and President Ted Black have the same philosophy. Pegula gave the green light to the organization to not only go after talent, but add to the coaching staff and the scouting staff--said Pegula, "there will be no financial mandates on the Buffalo Sabres hockey department."

The hockey world has been focusing on the obvious in their Sabres previews, Pegula let Darcy Regier spend to the point that they had the highest payroll in the league. But before we get to the players on the ice, it should be noted that the Sabres had some changes to the coaching staff behind Lindy Ruff.

Out was long-time Assistant Coach, Brian McCutcheon. In is Kevyn Adams, a former Stanley Cup winner with Carolina. Adams has been working with the players as a player development coach for over a year and has been said to be directly responsible for the successes of Tyler Ennis, Nathan Gerbe and Paul Gaustad. He will join Assistant Coach James Patrick behind the bench.

New to the coaching staff is former Sabres defensman and veteran of 20 NHL seasons, Teppo Numminen. Numminen will be up in the booth communicating directly with Adams during games breaking down the opposition.

Having another coach on the team means more direct interaction with the players. Said Ruff, "We've done a lot of individual work with players, and due to the size of the staff you can spend time now. You can have Teppo spend time with one or two of our defensemen. You can have James Patrick and Kevyn Adams doing the same."

Patrick, Adams and Numminen will be working with a well-stocked team this season thanks to an unprecedented off-season spending spree by Regier.

It Wasn't A "Perfect" Off-Season, But It Was Pretty Damn Solid

All the question marks concerning the Sabres heading into the 2011/12 season revolve around the center position.

Ideally, Regier could've gone out back to the #1-center tree and picked one. And they put in a good bid to hire the services of Brad Richards. But Richards, seemingly, pulled a LeBron James and made a spectacle of a foregone conclusion. In hindsight, there was little doubt he'd be headed to Broadway. Pegula and Regier were rather quick to figure it out and instituted Plan B immediately.

In comes Ville Leino.

Nobody knows what he will bring to the team, but he wants to be in that position, Ruff believes he can at least play, if not excell, there and he'll have a very deep pool of wingers with which to build some chemistry.

The team seems to be three lines deep with talent. Thomas Vanek, Jason Pominville, Drew Stafford and Brad Boyes have all reached the 30-goal mark with Vanek and Boyes scoring over 40. Sophomore Tyler Ennis reached 20 last season while Nathan Gerbe showed he's capable of a 20-goal season.

After finishing 9th in the league last season in goals/game, the team will be looking to score more with the addition of Leino and with Boyes playing a full season for the team on the wing as opposed to center.

An area that will help improve that ranking is the power play. It was also 9th last season. There will be some juggling with the major move being Pomiville down low instead of playing the point. And one of the main reasons he'll be able to move there is the acquisition of defenseman Christian Ehrhoff.

Regier Fills Holes On Defense

A Sabres strength this season could be the emergence of the defense as an even stronger two-way force.

Erhoff has a penchant for finding open ice, whether 5-on-5 or on the power play, and has a deft shot. Tyler Myers seems hell-bent upon attaking as much as he can at any given moment and with Robyn Regehr covering his back, he'll be able to do that more confidently. Add in Marc-Andre Gragnani and his puck-moving skills for a full season, and you have three puck-movers with a big scoring upside. And we haven't even touched upon Jordan Leopold and Andrej Sekera, who are no strangers to putting points up.

That's a total of five defensemen jumping into the rush and acting as a "foruth forward."

This mode of attack doesn't necessarily mean that the team will be a sieve on defense. The top-three of Myers, Regehr and Ehrhoff all are responsible in their own end. Leopold at one point last season lead the team in +/- and Gragnani looks to be pretty solid as well. Mike Weber, who culd be the odd man out early, is very solid as well.

As long as they take care of their job and cut off the back-door play, there will always be Ryan Miller to bail them out.

This year not unlike, the 2009/10 season, Miller will have some solid veteran rear guards taking care of business in their own end which will allow him to get high into the crease and do what he does best, challenge shooters.

Miller can expect a number of odd man rushes this season due to the attack-mode the team will be in on offense. We know he can stop the breakaway and we know he's able to stop the two-on-one, if his defenseman plays it like he should.

With that in mind, it shouldn't be too difficult for the Sabres to significantly improve upon their 18th goals against ranking last season. The defense also looks staunch enough to be able to lift the penalty kill from it's #13 finish last season.

The Prediction

The 2011/12 edition has the talent with which to improve in all areas this season, but what it may come down to is attitdude.

Terry Pegula has given the team it's goal. He's all-in.

Darcy Regier has gone out and filled holes.

Lindy Ruff has the team focusing on a business-like approach to the season.

Now it's up to the players.

While in Mannaheim, Germany playing on a larger ice surface, Ruff told his team to play like it was on an NHL rink. And the players obliged. That's a good sign that everyone is on the same page.

For the Sabres to take the Northeast Division crown away from the Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins, they'll need to make up seven or eight points. And that's within the realm of possibility with this group as long as they remain focused upon this, from Terry Pegula, "Winning is not a goal, it's a belief."

With that being said, I believe they will put together a real good season and expect the Sabres to finish:

1st in the Northeast
3rd in the Eastern Conference