RoosTV: Just Desert

By Chris

We're live bloggin' Sabres vs. Coyotes. Feel free to drop your thoughts in the comments as the game moves along.

9:01 We open up the Coyotes feed with a heavy metal montage. As Dave Strader informs us, the song is called "Pain." I don't think I'll be searching for it on iTunes anytime soon, but that's just me.

9:02: Panger!

9:03: And it appears Phoenix will wear their black foxtrot uniforms tonight.

9:08: Kevin Sylvester brings his insight to the broadcast. Apparently, Miller, Vanek, Connolly and Stafford are very good.

9:10 Phoenix starts out with some early heat. We're only two minutes in, but it doesn't look like the Sabres have great legs. Miller may have to be very very good tonight.

9:13: Ummm Pat Kaleta's back?

9:13: PAT KALETA'S BACK!

9:15: Connolly-Vanek-Stafford with decent pressure. Nothing spectacular, but better than any effort they've put in thus far.

9:16: Kaleta's back. We always whine here in the Roost about him not dropping the gloves and here he is, in his first game back, already making an impact. A nice fight with Carcillo.

9:20: Lots of Sabres fans in attendance. Good to see.

9:21: Spacek with your call-in Carruba Collision of the game.

9:22: Miller stops Doan on a nice break. Watching Doan in the Skills Competition last weekend is a reminder of how talented he is when he has some space.

9:23: Ellis in the box for slashing. Weak call. Let's see how the team responds.

9:27: And they kill it.

9:30 Sabres with very good pressure on a delayed penalty. This might be a successful powerplay.

9:31: Miller bails out the powerplay with an outstanding lateral save against a 2-on-1. Wooowww.

9:34: I think we're watching Gragnani's first shift of the night.

9:35: Ryan checked the stat box. Apparently he's played 2:10 but he wasn't noticeable until now.

9:37: Just throwing this out there: Hecht is making $3.8 million this season.

9:38: So Paetsch and Carcillo wanted to go, the chased each other into open ice and then the officials broke it up before anything could happen. Now they're each getting penalties. That was ridiculous.

9:42: Vanek driving hard to the net. Dropped by Hale into the crossbar. Net came flying off, looked dramatic. Not really dirty on the replay but still not entirely sportsmanlike.

9:43: Officially, Carcillo and Paetsch each got a two and a ten-minute penalty. Weak sutff.

9:44: And that's the end of the first. Be back in 15.

10:05: First period shots were 15-6 in favor of the Coyotes. Not looking much better as we're four minutes into the second.

10:07: A cluster in front of the net leads to a Connolly goal. One thing about Connolly is that he still isn't afraid to crash the net.

10:15: A very nice play by Roy as he sets up Paille. Roy goes inside-outside. We should have a video of this up later. 2-0 Sabres. Buffalo is doing just enough things right to take control of this game. A tight-checking, hard-working road game and things are working out so far.

10:16: Kotalik cranks one off the post. They're not letting up yet.

10:19: Thank you, Coyotes feed for reminding us of that debacle against Phoenix last year. Jocelyn Thibault sends his best.

10:25: And now Paetsch is able to get his licks in. It's been a while since we've seen two fights in once game. Not the best fight for Paetsch, but it's nice to see different players get their hands dirty.

10:29: Shots for the game are 17-15, Coyotes. Sabres out-shooting Phoenix 9-2 in the second so far.

10:32: Phoenix might want to try just dumping the puck in considering the Sabres are missing three of their top six defensemen. That is if they want to try and win.

10:36: The powerplay just isn't clicking. Interesting to see Gragnani playing the point.

10:37: It's nice to be able to listen to a really good announcing team too. Strader and Pang are true pros.

10:37: And that's all she wrote for the second period. If the Sabres keep chipping away like they have been, they should have two points locked up. Unfortunately, we had similar ideas about the game in Calgary.

10:59: So Connolly gets hooked in the Phoenix end and no call. Paetsch gets near a Phoenix player and the ref's arm goes up. Officials have not been pretty mediocre so far and the Sabres are on the PK again.

11:00: Kaleta on the penalty kill stirring up trouble again at center ice. It's nice having him back in the line up to stir the pot.

11:02: Another quality penalty kill for the Sabres. That's their fifth kill of the night.

11:10: Gaustad to the box for the second time tonight. He took the body though so it may not be such a bad penalty to take. We'll see how the Sabres' sixth penalty kill of the night fares.

11:13: And the PK wins another one. Miller's been fantastic so far.

11:16: We get word that Spacek's out for the game. Great. Hello Tyler Myers?

11:24: Annnnnnnd another penalty for the Sabres. Rivet's going for delay of game. I still hate that rule. Let's see if the Sabres can hang on one more time.

11:25: Lydman very strong in front of the net. With three minutes left, if Phoenix doesn't get on the board here, they can pretty much kiss this game goodbye.

11:26: And with Doan going to the box for tripping, the Coyotes give up their advantage. It'll be interesting to see when Gretzky decides to call Bryzgalov (who has been very good tonight as well) to the bench.

11:27: And there goes Bryzgalov.

11:28: Vanek definitely was looking for the empty net that entire shift.

11:29: And there's the final horn. Sabres walk away with a shut out victory. Great defense (funny because the Sabres were missing Tallinder, Sekera, Numminen and then Spacek) and timely scoring. Oh yeah...and a spectacular penalty kill.

The Sabres need to bounce back from that collapse in Calgary and they did just that. Every point is critical at this point in the season and two tonight put the Sabres within four points of the sixth-place Flyers (who lost to St. Louis tonight).

We'll have more on this game later (and that other big game tomorrow). Thanks for stopping in.

Late Night in the Desert

by Ryan

There are more important things happening in Arizona these days, so it's easy to forget that the Coyotes are sitting in the playoffs right now. No really, see for yourself. Eighth place and everything.

If you remember the last time the Sabres played in Phoenix, well, I'm sorry to hear that. The Backup Who Must Not Be Named was in and gave up a ton of goals, and the afternoon game was a snoozer for the Sabres offense. It was an all out disaster, and I'm pretty sure that was the last game Miller didn't play in until the season finale.

But much like with Buffalo, things are quite different for Phoenix. Lots of roster turnover, with Oli Jokinen picked up from Florida and joining Shane Doan as the big guns on the Coyotes. They've gotten strong goaltending from Bryzgalov, and lots of scoring from top to bottom. In fact, 14 players have at least ten points, which is pretty good balance.

I honestly haven't seen the Coyotes play much this year, so I'm not sure how things will go tonight. I do know it won't be as easy as most people expect, but hopefully the Sabres can bring the same energy tonight as they've had the first two games this week. They obviously ran out of gas on Wednesday, but the effort was there for sure.

9PM from Jobing Arena. Another late start time tonight, but hopefully they won't start skating late.

Bruce and Ralph headed to Canton

By Jon

It looks like Canton will be painted blue and red come August, as both Bruce Smith and Ralph Wilson, Jr. are headed to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

To those headed to the enshrinement: When Ralph is introduced, will you cheer?

Update: Just announced that the Bills will play in the Hall of Fame game against the Titans, who will wear throwback Oilers uniforms. Road trip!

More Videos You Should See

by Ryan

If you thought Sabres fans took the 10-0 win against Edmonton well, you should see what they did in Calgary.



The song is titled "Goal-a", set to the tune of The Kinks' "Lola". That's some pretty solid inter-Province schadenfreude right there. And while we're here, someone put that Beast Mode comic on YouTube, so here's that.

Still Better Than "The Sabres Show"

Think back to the person you were a decade ago. Now go back in time and tell that version of you that on January 31, 2009 you would watch Coyotes coach Wayne Gretzky talking about the Arizona Cardinals in the Super Bowl. How would that conversation go? Would the decade-younger you think that sometime in the next ten years you lost your damn mind?

What a strange, strange world we live in.

What to Watch

by Ryan

All I've heard about this afternoon is various cars in ditches and snow. If that's the kind of thing that keeps you inside on a Friday night, there's plenty of hockey to watch. The Sabres may not play until tomorrow night, but there's plenty of action in the Eastern Conference that's worth watching. If you don't have Center Ice, you know where to go to watch these.

Penguins/Devils, 7PM

The Devils are hot, going 8-2 in their last ten and currently sit in 2nd in the conference. Last night they left Tim Thomas looking like this:



The Penguins continue to struggle to make the postseason, but picked up a big win against the Rangers back on Wednesday. It's an important game for both teams, and it will be interesting to see if the short rest affects the Devils.

Flyers/Lightning, 7:30PM

Philadelphia sits just four points ahead of Buffalo in sixth place, so root for the Bolts tonight. The pressure is on Tampa goaltender Mike Smith, as he will carry the load for Tampa down the stretch now that Kolzig is out. Tampa doesn't have much to play for at this point, but they've been better as of late. Philly has points in seven of their last ten, and the Sabres need to see a few teams slip to make up some ground.



We're going to have posts more like this as the season moves forward. Watching the playoff race through other teams is a good way to get a feel for the playoff picture, and when the postseason comes these teams won't feel like strangers. Hopefully Buffalo will be a part of the picture by then, but we'll have plenty to root for and against until then.

Ralph and the Hall

by Ryan

Every Super Bowl weekend the Pro Football Hall of Fame reveals with candidates will be inducted the following August. Recently this has been the only enjoyment Bills fans have gotten out of Super Bowl weekend, and this year looks to be no exception. Bruce Smith, Andre Reed, and Ralph Wilson are all finalists this year, and Bruce looks to be a lock to make it on his first ballot.

But what about Ralph Wilson? The past few years it seems he makes it to this point and falls short, but is this the year Ralph finally gets in? Chris Brown sure thinks so, and wrote a pretty convincing article saying so.

As the Hall of Fame voting committee decides on the 2009 Pro Football Hall of Fame induction class this Saturday, Bills owner and founder Ralph Wilson will be one of just two finalists that was not a player. It’s certainly more difficult for non-players to gain entry, but there aren’t many NFL contributors with a credential list as long as Wilson’s.

“Even if I was not a Buffalo Bill, it’s hard not to (admire) what Mr. Wilson was able to do,” said Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly. “He’s a guy that has meant not only a lot to this organization, but a lot to the NFL.”

I think at this point it is worth noting that Brown works for the Bills, and so it will be hard to find any criticism of Ralph in this. It will also be hard not to notice the message Brown is trying to send, which says Ralph's actions throughout his life were completely selfless and with everyone else in mind.

Wilson’s contributions to the game have been well documented, but rooted in all of the decisions he’s made is an unwavering commitment to what was best for the league.

See above.

In 1962 when he decided to loan the Oakland Raiders $400 thousand to keep the team solvent, it was done to maintain an eight-team AFL. If the league shrunk to seven teams, there would be an unbalanced schedule, along with the perception that the American Football League was beginning to show cracks in their foundation.

When Boston Patriots owner Bill Sullivan called Wilson to tell him that NBC had offered a $600 thousand per team television deal, the Bills owner dismissed it. Not because he and his AFL brethren were greedy, but because he knew the NFL had just secured a TV deal that would pay their teams just over $1 million. Without a better television contract, the AFL would struggle to compete.

I wish there was a quote somewhere to back up the bold section, but unfortunately for us Ralph is locked away in a Hyperbaric chamber somewhere.

Wilson and the other AFL owners eventually secured a deal from NBC that would provide each team with $900 thousand.

As President of the AFL in 1965, the Bills founder was instrumental in initiating talks of a merger with the NFL. His main impetus behind the initiative was to ensure the survival of both leagues with player salaries becoming more and more cost prohibitive to the bottom line.

In the 1970’s Wilson was a key voice on the NFL’s Management Council and an integral negotiator in avoiding a players strike in 1977.

Wilson has also served as the Chairman of the NFL Pension Committee, Labor Committee, Super Bowl Site Committee, NFL Expansion Committee and NFL Realignment Committee.

“He’s a man in the game who came into it for the love of the game, not for the rewards financially,” said Hall of Fame coach Marv Levy. “He contributed so much to the game, he’s been on every committee and part of many of the most major changes and moves that the league has made. If anyone ever deserves (induction), it’s Ralph Wilson.”

Look at Marv coming through on the financial front. Ralph doesn't need money, he is old money! Again, there's not much you can argue with there, but it's quite the tame treatment if you think about it. Next he'll say something about how he's always looked out for the fans and didn't care about money.

The Bills founder has also been a voice for the fan as he has been staunchly opposed to franchise relocation, voting against it every time a team has appealed to the league to do so. Being the only original AFL owner still operating his club in its original city is testament to this stance, and serves as a reminder that Wilson’s interests are more heavily invested in the game’s integrity than anything else.

All of the above just means he's the last AFL owner alive, which I guess is an accomplishment. Unfortunately how long he survives will determine when the next franchise relocation will take place...

“Ralph Wilson is an owner that has kept his team in Buffalo for the last 50 years,” said Hall of Fame running back Thurman Thomas. “He’s one of the men who got football started. Lamar Hunt was a great friend of his and Mr. Wilson deserves to be enshrined with him.”

While I do agree with Thurman, I think there is a very interesting balancing act going on here between the things Ralph has done in the past and his recent actions. His legacy has taken a huge hit here in the city, and the Bills in Toronto series is a big part of that. With no contingency plan in place, it's hard to know what to think of Wilson these days.

Should he be inducted before something bad happens? Yes. However, many Bills fans would rather see a few other people inducted in before him these days. I think that says a lot about what we feel right now, and perhaps in time things will calm down to a point where Ralph's legacy can be put in its proper place.

You know, depending on where the Bills are playing by then.

Links for the Afternoon

by Ryan

- Sometime last year we openly wondered where a lot of the Empire Sports people went. We knew about Josh Mora, but yesterday Chris had big news: he found Jim Brinson! It's like an awkward high school reunion with early 90s production values...

- After the Tampa game I feared we wouldn't see any interviews during the trip to the left coast. Wrong. There's been no less than five videos posted for each game. Sadly, no Jason Pominville. Do you think Larry Quinn reads Artvoice?

- Speaking of Artvoice writers, USRT has one of the most depressing blog posts about Buffalo I've ever seen. That pile of chairs is going to haunt me forever.

- Kris Baker at Sabres Prospects has more news on Tropp, as well as part of an interview he did recently.

- I'm sure you heard by now that Money will be making the trip to the Pro Bowl next weekend. Question: if twoeightnine made a Hawaiian "Beast Mode" shirt, would you buy it?

- Niagara's hockey team will join the Atlantic Hockey, bringing the Atlantic up to twelve teams. If it means more RIT/Niagara games, I'm in.

- I forgot that Madden was doing the Super Bowl until I read this. Oh boy.

- Forsberg says he won't come back to the NHL this season. I bet he's kidding.

On Tropp

by Ryan

Since we started the blog almost two years ago, we've done goofy things with each Sabres draft class. As the blog has evolved I look back on some of the things from the first few months and cringe at times, but through our "Facebooking the Draft Class" something interesting happened: I started to care more about the players. When your team drafts high school kids to play hockey, all you get is a name for a good three years or so. By getting to know them a little better it makes me root for them a bit more, and keep up on their progress as time goes on.

So when Corey Tropp two hands Steve Kampfer last Saturday, you knew it was only a matter of time before things got out of hand. All of a sudden we're getting found through Google searches, and Michigan blogs are linking to our draft profile of Tropp. The next day it went national, and Puck Daddy picks it up on Tuesday. Yesterday Deadspin has this post regarding the incident, which includes the following sentence:

And maybe this criminal violence says something larger about the game of hockey and fans who crave it.

Now I'm still waiting to find out what that "something" is, but I'm pretty sure it's complete and utter bullshit. Obviously things are beginning to reach the "crazy people" zone, where a single event signifies just another reason for blahblahblah. When bad things happen in hockey everyone comes out of the woodwork to make a statement about the deplorable state of the game, and this was just another chance for people to stretch their legs.

Still, I think as Sabres fans there are a lot of unanswered questions. Just how much can we know about a single player through one single action? My guess was not much, and so I asked someone who knew him a bit better a lot of questions. That someone is Kris Baker, founder of SabresProspects.com. After a half dozen or so questions, here's what he had to say:

Lots of folks have been asking about Tropp over the past few days, and my standard answer is that "hockey is fast - both physically and emotionally."

I can confidently say that Tropp is not a dirty player. He'll roll up his sleeves, play the body, and bring 'em up after the whistle like an engaged player should. He had four fights in 2006-07 with Sioux Falls, but I've never seen him do anything remotely close to what happened on Saturday.

Even if there was a knee by Kampfer, you simply can't condone what he and Conboy did.

I find the bolded sentence from Sioux Falls CEO Gary Weckwerth particularly interesting:

"While Corey apologized for his actions, it's my opinion that he is a victim of other circumstances off the ice that do not reflect on Corey's true character. In his two years with our franchise Corey played the game within the rules and spirit that hockey is. He is a good person who knows he is family with the Stampede. We know what Corey is about and are saddened that the entire situation even took place. We welcome him back. We want hockey to be fun for Corey again."

It's not fair to speculate on personal, team, or family instabilities, but the bolded offers a little more color from an "evaluation" standpoint. The rest speaks consistently with everything else we've ever heard about him.

Worth adding - He was frustrated by getting mono around the time when Team USA was being put together. Not achieving that goal was a disappointment. He had a good camp over the summer, and even got tossed from one of the final scrimmages for getting in a fight. It shows that "fight or flight" personality on the ice.

Regarding the Sabres, I know they have dialogue with him during the season. While disappointed, they know that "he is he what he is" before the incident - a steady worker with a great wrister - and will give him every opportunity to turn it around in the USHL. I'm sure they advised him on his current path. Call me an optimist, but I do not believe that this deters either party long term.

All Corey can do at this point is work his way back up and let his disciplined, productive on-ice actions speak for themselves. Off ice, I think he set himself up correctly.

He's retaining his scholarship and taking MSU classes online. Going back to the USHL and not to Sarnia in the OHL allows him to remain eligible for collegiate play. He was only suspended for the rest of the year by MSU and not the CCHA, and Comley said he'd be willing to re-evaluate the situation under the right circumstances. Again, no previous incidents of over-aggression, but I'd still request counseling as part of the process of clearing his name.

That's where I'm at anyways.

He covered a lot there, but he also went on to say that, "I've read opinions that think he should be done with hockey, yet the police deemed it a non-criminal event. That seems extreme. He's 19, and he made a mistake that he'll learn from. I'd bet that nearly everyone who visits the Roost did something entirely stupid yet non-criminal when they were 19."

I think that last part is something that a lot of people are missing. Kris bookended his thoughts with two very important points in this discussion: the nature of hockey and the age of the players involved. We all know that hockey is a lightning fast game, and when you couple quick decision making with youthful error mistakes will be made. Everyone agrees that a mistake of this magnitude is unacceptable, but I don't think that means Tropp should be thrown under the bus just yet.

In a game like hockey, you simply cannot form an opinion of a player based on only a few seconds. This incident will be a first impression for many people, but one singular moment is not the whole story of a player, and certainly not the human being. When it comes down to it he's just a kid, and a kid with plenty of time to make up for a mistake like this. If I wasn't willing to give someone like Tropp a second chance I'd be forgetting about a whole mess of stupid things I did when I was younger.

I feel like I must stress that in no way am I condoning what Corey Tropp did on Saturday, and I'm sure Kris Baker isn't either. What he and I agree on is that a second chance will be given to him, and rightfully so. It's up to him what happens from here on out, but it's clear that he was properly punished for a brutal act. It's not the end of the road for anyone involved, and that's probably the best you can ask for right now.

For the record, the "favorite quotes" section on his Facebook now reads: "Don't get caught up in the things you can't control, remember why you started playing, and don't let anyone ever take that from you." I think right now, that's exactly what you want to hear.

Sabre For Life?

by Ryan

With the announcement of Henrik Zetterberg's contract extension, the topic of long term contracts has come about once again. The growing trend in the NHL is to sign your franchise player to an extremely long contract, making them a "{insert team name} for life". These deals, sometimes lasting ten years or more, are the new frontier in hockey. Eight players have deals extending until at least the 2015/16 season, including players such as, Vincent Lecavalier, Alexander Ovechkin, Rick DiPietro, and Mike Richards.

Zetterberg's deal is set to run until 2021, which is a long freaking time until now. In fact, Detroit has another long term deal in place for Pavel Datsyuk, keeping him under contract until 2014. With Filppula and Cleary also on the roster until 2012/13 it looks like Detroit is beginning to decide which players they want on the team long term. They still have seven UFAs on the roster, but signing Zetterberg says a lot about their thoughts on his game and who they value as things progress.

The debate over long term contracts is still very much up in the air. There is an obvious danger in giving a young player a ton of money if he's relatively unproven, and there's also danger in overpaying for a player as his game declines. However, having a productive player under contract eliminates the danger of your franchise player being lured away by the free agent market's suitcases full of money.

There are positives and negatives associated with a big deal, but it seems it really depends on the player involved. Richards' contract was criticized, as was DiPietro's deal; but Ovechkin's contract seems accepted by most as a good signing. The Zetterberg deal seems to have gotten a pretty good reception, but I feel that has a lot to do with the respect Wings' GM Ken Holland has garnered in the past. Zetterberg will be 40 when his deal expires, but if he chooses to retire early the team won't take a cap hit at all.

Personally I like the deal, but I'm still a bit uncertain about long term deals in general. It's hard to say if contracts like this are good for the entire league, as each team has a variety of different circumstances and situations for each player. So, let's put it this way: do you want a long term contract for anyone on your team?

With the current Sabres' roster it's hard to say. If you look at contracts that last until at least 2013/14 you'll see three current Sabres on the list. Jason Pominville, Thomas Vanek, and Ryan Miller all have deals that expire that summer, and Derek Roy's contract ends a year before that.

Those look like mid-range deals given the above, but that's a lot of time and money invested in four players for a team like Buffalo. All four players are likely to see one last contract as they reach their career peak, and are very unlikely to see long term deals like we've seen with Zetterberg. Not at that rate, at least.

So what about the younger players on the roster? Stafford is an RFA this summer and has been hot lately. He is still touted as the younger Sabre with the greatest potential by most, and if he develops the way the staff hopes it may be smart to get him locked up before his price rises.

On the back end Toni Lydman continues to be the Sabres best defenseman, and his contract expires next summer. He'll be 32 at that point, but right now he looks to be the best candidate for any sort of long term deal. Teppo, Jaro, and Rivet are too old, and I haven't seen anything out the young RFAs that would translate into a massive contract.

It's an interesting debate, but with the current Sabres situation it's hard to find a player worthy of such a deal. Even the Vanek deal seemed so lengthy at the time it was signed compared to all the one year deals we saw around the lockout. It was a time when the free agent landscape was uncertain, but with the CBA staying in place until 2011 we may see more deals like this down the road.

Still, it may be a good thing if the Sabres avoid such signings. Already we've seen Briere's contract being shopped, and the rumors about Lecavalier aren't a good sign for deals like this. It looks like each deal really is a unique situation, and it may be for the best that there aren't any situations likely for the Sabres just yet.

Mini Puck Madness

by Ryan

If you've been buying the Sabres Mini Pucks this season, God bless. For most people it seems the novelty of a player's head glued to stuff has passed, but the Sabres still feel like we need to see who's ready for purchase with each visit to Sabres.com. I think it's pretty obvious that some pucks will be more popular than others, so the idea must be to pair a popular player with a less popular one, right?

Well, this week must be pretty fantastic. Let's check the ad.



One player has been an utter disappointment, the other completely unreliable! Guess which is which! Afinogenov! Lalime! $2.99! It's the Sabres Mini Puck Collection, only at Topps!

Years from now Sabres fans will look at their mini puck collection and think one of two things. Either these pucks are timepieces because of the players involved, or you teach your cats how to play mini hockey with the Max and Lalime ones. I think it's the perfect pair, really. Max can't hit the net and Lalime can't protect it.

The Fiery Descent Back to Earth

by Ryan

It seems Miller and Cammalleri have some history, so look for that to get beaten to death tonight.

In that case, consider the Sabres "history".



---

It's hard to figure out what we saw tonight. Was it a defense showing signs of weakness? Was it a tired goaltender having an off night? A missed chance to steal points on the road? Or was it just a team coming back down to earth with a bit of bad luck? Well... can it be all of the above?

From the start of tonight's game it was clear things wouldn't be so easy this time around. Calgary wasn't rusty, and the Sabres were a bit flat after the short rest. Four minutes in Cammalleri revisits Miller with a power play goal, and the Sabres play from behind the rest of the night.



The Sabres didn't look terrible, but the defense was noticeably struggling. Chris Butler was a mess all night, the atmosphere and work load clearly getting to him. He was directly responsible for the first goal, and he looked nervous all night. It's pretty obvious that when Chris Butler gets 20 minutes a night your defense is in trouble.

Let's face it, rookies will struggle on the blue line for Buffalo. Nathan Paetsch won't be scoring nightly, and Lydman and Rivet can't can't do it all. Neither are made for a half hour of ice time, so they aren't going to be pushed that hard. That means significant time for Gragnani, Paetsch, and Butler; and mistakes will be made. If players don't get healthy soon, the play in Edmonton will be the exception while Calgary will be the rule.

So when Phanuef made it 2-0 on a soft goal, things looked pretty much over. You can't win them all on the road, and after such a big game maybe this team just didn't have it tonight. But right after they went down two the Sabres continued to do some of the things we saw in Edmonton. They weren't going to score many goals with fancy passing, but they worked the boards and started getting pressure by using their speed.



All of a sudden Drew Stafford gets the puck in the corner, walks out in front and puts it in on the second effort. Suddenly the Sabres are back in it, and Drew Stafford continues to be hot. It's the kind of play we've seen from him so many times, and his ability to outwork everyone kept the Sabres alive in the second. They kept skating and drew a few penalties, and with a power play to end the second period Tim Connolly rips it home from the faceoff dot.

End of two, tied at two. One period to get two points. After all the mistakes and a soft goal, the Sabres need twenty minutes to get another ppair on the road. After the start we see that would be huge for this team to overcome all that. Going into the third the Sabres carried the momentum and were skating hard. It was only a matter of time before they got the go-ahead goal, and it would be up to Miller to keep this game in Buffalo's favor.

But that goal never came. A few posts, a few missed penalties, but no dice. It was only a matter of time before the push faded away, and a makeup call or two was inevitable. All of a sudden Jaro gets caught on a pinch, Lydman gets beat clean by Bertuzzi, and it's in. The clock said the Sabres had almost 13 minutes to catch up, but it already felt like time was running out. The chance had passed, and by the time Cammalleri's second goal trickles in things were already set in stone. Cammalleri gets the hat trick less than two minutes later on a rebound, and the last seven minutes or so are just a formality.



Miller was clearly upset with himself and said so afterwards, but it wasn't just Ryan who lost it tonight. The Sabres collectively had a chance to steal this game and make another big statement against the West. Destroying a flat-footed team is one thing, but a comeback in a competitive game against the division-leading Flames would be another indication that Buffalo is ready to make some noise.

Tonight it didn't happen, and you can blame whatever you like for it. Miller let in a few, but after 38 shots and on short rest there's not much you can do about that. The defense was bad, chances were missed on offense, and Kiprusoff made some big saves. Call it luck, call it mistakes, or call it the better team pulling away. Either way it's another two points lost when it's starting to matter more and more.

You don't hate the effort, but you sure hate the result, don't you?

Reunion Tour

by Ryan

It's days like this when I wish we played the West more often. After a night to remember in Edmonton, the Sabres travel south across Alberta to the Saddledome and play the Calgary Flames. Calgary is one of my favorite teams to watch in the West, and the Sabres seem to match up well against them in recent times. Last season the Sabres never saw them, and haven't been in Calgary since 2006. That's far too long without a game against one of my favorite HNIC teams, so I'm pretty excited about tonight.

I like the Flames for a number of reasons, but let's start with the fans. The atmosphere at Flames games is phenomenal, especially in the playoffs. Imagine if every Sabres fan had a blue jersey and knew to wear it to every home game. The Saddledome is a wash of red for every game, something Sabres brass only dreamed of seeing back in the '99 Finals. Remember that picture from the Finals that used to be in the atrium at the Arena? Calgary makes that look like an AHL promotion come playoff time. Calgary is a hockey town through and through, and their passion makes most people forget the Flames are from Atlanta.

Not only that, but they have a few really likable players. You can't think about Calgary this decade without Jaroma Iginla being mentioned. He hits, he fights, and he scores goals. What more do you want from a hockey player? Last season he was mentioned as an MVP candidate, and for good reason. A 98 point year is nothing to sneeze at, and he's been producing since he started playing at age 19. Iginla is one of the great captains in the league, and he follows the "leader" model as well as anyone.

Calgary also has one of the best young defenseman in the game in Dion Phaneuf. His defensive numbers haven't been great this season, but he's an anchor on the power play and hits as hard as anyone in the league. The Flames rely heavily on Kiprusoff, and he's had another solid year as well. He's played in 43 of Calgary's 46 games, the most for any NHL goalie this season. Kipper's backup (Curtis McElhinney) has a 0-2-1 record so far, so perhaps that's why.

Overall Calgary has had another solid season thus far, with 60 points and a nine point lead in the Northwest Division. That's at least a three seed in the postseason, and with a hot goaltender Calgary can make some noise this spring for sure. They've gotten good scoring balance from guys like Craig Conroy, Curtis Glencross, and a formerly left-for-dead Todd Bertuzzi; along with good seasons from their big guns. Their top three salaries are also their top three scorers, so it's hard to find a big disappointment on this team.

Calgary gives up a quite a few goals, but then again so do the Sabres. After last night's game we really have no idea what to expect from this Sabres team, so all that could mean nothing. With Miller and Kiprusoff we could see a goaltender's duel, or another high scoring affair out on the plains of Alberta.

Adam Mair may be the only change in the Sabres' roster (stitches from a blocked shot), but we haven't heard anything as of yet. The first five minutes of this game may tell us a lot, as Calgary hasn't played in a week and the Sabres played less than 24 hours ago.

It's always interesting to watch Calgary, as three former Sabres are on the roster. It looks like only Cory Sarich will be active tonight, with Wayne Primeau and Rhett Warrener on Injured Reserve. It seems Miller and Cammalleri have some history, so look for that to get beaten to death tonight.

8PM start from the coolest shaped building in the league. If you somehow get caught up in a NHL Network/Center Ice/MSG blackout fiasco, this site will be your best friend.

Statement Regarding Edmonton Oliers Game

1/28/2009

The Buffalo Sabres, its owners and administration, regrets the incident of January 27 and the outcome of the game with the Edmonton Oilers Ice Hockey team. It is shameful and an embarrassment that this happened. This clearly does not reflect a Christ-like and honorable approach to competition. We humbly apologize for our actions and seek the forgiveness of the Edmonton Oilers, NHL and our community. The team and its representatives in no way support or condone the running up of a score against any team in any sport for any reason. The team’s board members, Head Coach Lindy Ruff and General Manager Darcy Regier have acted to ensure that such an unfortunate incident can never happen again.

Sabres team officials have met with and personally apologized to Edmonton Oilers Head Coach Craig MacTavish and General Manager Kevin Lowe and wish to extend their highest praise to each member of the Edmonton Oilers Ice Hockey team for their strength, composure and fortitude in a game in which they clearly emerged the winner. Accordingly, The Buffalo Sabres have contacted the NHL and is submitting a formal request to forfeit the game recognizing that a victory without honor is a great loss.

Darcy Regier
General Manager

B. Tom Golisano
Owner



In other news, Lindy Ruff has been fired and Diane Sawyer will be interviewing Dustin Penner shortly. Hopefully we can all just get past this and get back to hockey. Completely boring, nondescript hockey where everyone's a winner and players don't have to be sorry about being good.

On the Pond, Tails Never Fails, and Unsold Playoff Tickets

by Ryan

- So I did play pond hockey yesterday. Amazingly I had never played on an actual pond before, and it was everything I hoped it would be. As in it was freaking awesome. The ice was uneven, it was a lot harder to skate, but there's something about finding open ice in the middle of a frozen river that's just so much more fun than renting ice time. The "free" thing is nice, too. I heartily recommend it to anyone. Go while it's still cold and you won't drown.

- Is it just me or is the Super Bowl Hype less pronounced this year than last? Perhaps it's because the Patriots have been replaced by the Buzzsaw in the equation (with Pittsburgh replacing New York, I suppose...), or maybe it's just because I'm ignoring it. Still, this is pretty great. It's good to know that New York State collectively understands the "tails never fails" mentality.

- I should have waited on the FAIL post. This is a much better picture:



- Puck Daddy drops the ball on a playoff tickets/economy post. Here's what he says about Buffalo:

Take a look at the current standings, and tell me where the indicators of recessionary trouble are going to be found. The New Jersey Devils and Carolina Hurricanes are notorious for slow first-round ticket sales; every other team in the Eastern Conference, save for perhaps the Buffalo Sabres, will sell out.

Clearly he's taking the platinum pricing fiasco as a sign that demand is going down. I think we know that's very far from the case. The Sabres simply overvalued the next two home games. Wyshynski is taking a small amount of information and making an assumption that just doesn't add up. Kevin at Bfloblog should have something about this up sometime today, so I'd look for that.

- Not to make a habit out of our discussions of infomercials, but this is the stupidest thing I've ever seen. How is that even coloring? That's like, the laziest art project in the history of mankind. Dragging water over paper to reveal previously designed patterns is not art. That's like wiping the dust off a painting and claiming you repainted it.

- Odd article about Joe Thornton, the Sharks, and the Bruins. I feel like he's trying to say that both sides benefited from the trade, which is kind of absurd. The only good Boston got from trading their franchise winger was that their GM eventually got fired. I think you could make the case that not trading away your best player in a decade and getting a new GM would make it an even better team. It's revisionist history for sure, but so is saying the Thornton deal was a good thing. A President's Trophy doesn't make bankruptcy awesome in Buffalo, does it?

- Zetterberg appears to have a contract extension with Detroit, further convincing me that the Wings' GM is a wizard.

- No morning skate for the team today. We'll have a preview of Calgary up in a bit, as well as a few other things.

Left for Dead

by Ryan

There was a point last night where you had to wonder if this was good.

The Sabres probably had six or seven goals by then, and you started to think about Calgary and the road trip and all those other things you think about as a fan. Karma, using up all your goals at once, saving energy for Wednesday; all of those things were issues that came up. Was it really such a good thing that the Sabres skated a full 60 minutes when they didn't necessarily have to do so?



Yeah, it was a good thing.

It's easy to get excited about ten goals in a game, but it really was a solid team effort that made it happen. Lost in all the goals is a great performance by Ryan Miller and a quiet game from all those question marks on defense. The latter was the great worry for this team with all the injuries on the blueline, but it's hard to hate anyone's performance on a night like this. (Except maybe Paille, who's the only person on the team with a minus. He also failed to register a point or a shot last night.) The forwards took the pressure off the blueline and Miller made some great saves early when the game was still in doubt. For being slightly outshot it never felt that way, but that probably had something to do with the scoreboard.



I know scoring ten goals looks like a team running up the score, but I don't think that's exactly the case. Three goals were scored on the power play after it was already 4-1, and you can't exactly skate in circles with it from the second period on. In the third Buffalo was noticeably holding back, and even the tenth goal was benefited by a defensive mistake for Edmonton. I think one thing that's obvious is that while Buffalo wasn't going 100% all night, the Oilers helped them out quite a bit.

Let's be honest here, the Sabres just aren't that good. Not ten goals on the road good. We've seen them drop seven on an Islanders team looking for a scrap instead of playing defense, but not a playoff team in a (usually) loud building. Tonight Edmonton completely shot itself in the foot. Then Erik Cole put a band aid on the wound and shot himself in the foot another six times.

They were undisciplined, mistake prone, and downright terrible at times. When your head coach says, “It was a debacle of monumental proportions,” and wasn't talking about "Paul Blart: Mall Cop" you know it's more than just the Sabres playing well. Buffalo capitalized on almost every chance they god, but Edmonton gave up a ton of chances. They were good, but not ten goals good.



Still, when was the last time the Sabres beat a "playoff bound" team this badly? How often does Stafford really feel it, and don't we want to see Connolly scoring goals like that? For as many mistakes as Edmonton made, Buffalo was there to force the play with a great forecheck, and even when the game was out of reach the Sabres were working. I'd rather see that out of this team than half a game of bad habits and coasting.

We said this road trip will say a lot about the Sabres, and so far it's all been good. It's just as possible that the Sabres can go get shutout tonight in Calgary, but I'll take ten goals worth of momentum on short rest any day of the week. Seems to me you don't mind a road trip as much when you leave a team for dead on your first night.

FAIL

by Ryan



An epic fail on every level. Oil Country weeps tonight. Much, much more on this later.

Making Waves

by Ryan

It always seems like the Sabres live and die with the West Coast road trip, doesn't it? So many years it seems like what happens out West determines how the Sabres do on the year. We've seen many teams crumple in Alberta and California only to do the same in the standings, so often that it feels like a rite of passage for playoff bound Sabres teams. Last year the West Coast swing became the road trip from hell, with me photoshopping Lindy's head onto Ice Cube's body for effect. Bad times.

With the Sabres currently sitting in 7th, this road trip once again looks to tell us a lot about this team. Next week will take us into February, and before you know it the trade deadline will fly by and we will wonder where all the hockey went. If the Sabres want to delay the long summer they are going to need to climb the standings a bit, and there's no better way to do that than against Western Conference opponents. Bonus points don't hurt you, and the team should we well rested and have little distractions on the road.

Buffalo is coming off a tough road stretch against Tampa and Florida, but were riding high prior to Wednesday night's game. At this point they should know how to play road games, and although the teams are unfamiliar the atmosphere shouldn't be. Once again Buffalo faces problems on the blue line, with converted winger Marc-Andre Gragnani called up for the road trip. That leaves only three starters on the blueline (Lydman, Rivet, Spacek) for arguably the most important road trip of the season.

I don't want to get into the "how many points should they take" game, but I honestly think they can sweep this road trip. Calgary and Phoenix will be tough games, but neither are light years ahead of this team. It will be important to start strong, as we saw last season how a bad start can sink a road trip. Win tonight and the chance is there to come back home with a surge. Lose a few, and this team could be dead in the water.

9PM from Rexall Place in Edmonton. The venue, announcers, and start time may be foreign, but hopefully the team wearing blue and gold will look the same.

A Better View

by Ryan

Looks like Puck Daddy caught wind of the Tropp/Conboy/Kampfer incident, and has a bit more in they way of details. He also found a better video of the incident, which I'm posting here as well.



We'll have more on Tropp and what it means for his career later, but I thought I'd pass along some more info for anyone interested in what happened. More on the game in Edmonton in a bit.

On Oil and Offer Sheets

by Ryan

Wow, it's been far too long since we've seen real hockey. Let's talk a bit about Edmonton before we get to tonight's game. We see far too little of the Oilers here on the East coast, and unless you're watching Hockey Night in Canada to catch the late game you probably don't know much of anything about them this season. Let's see what we can learn from Tom Gilbert's blog:

The Oilers Christmas party was really fun but I wish I would have stayed until Rock Band. I hear it was hilarious. Then yesterday we had a holiday skate with the players and staff and their families. It was great to see everyone and their kids. Santa was there for the kids and they had pizza and chicken fingers for them to snack on. The adults had a separate buffet of turkey, ham, potatoes, carrots, etc, but I'm not ashamed to admit I chose the kids buffet. Sometimes you just have to eat pizza and chicken fingers.

We already know more from that paragraph than all of Pominville's posts combined. So aside from Gilbert's shoe fetish, Cogliano's bad bowling, and Erik Staal's giant turkey, what else is there to know about Edmonton?

Well, they're two points behind Phoenix right now; and while a season ago that would be a problem, sixth place in the West isn't that bad a place to be. Edmonton has benefited from a young group of players coming coming through at the right time, and a look at their stats shows a lot of new faces in Oil Country.

In fact, this year it appears the people scoring the points for Edmonton aren't the ones getting paid as much to do so. Just kidding, it's only Dustin Penner that's struggling this season. Unlike with Thomas Vanek, the weight of a Kevin Lowe offer sheet seems to be too much for the young winger; who's put up Kotalik-esque numbers thus far.

Dwayne Roloson is still the guy in Edmonton, and it wasn't long ago he backstopped a run to the Stanley Cup Finals. A 15-9-3 record is nothing to sneeze at, and his recently traded backup has been swapped for Dany Sabourin. Sabourin has struggled this season but showed flashes of brilliance with Pittsburgh last year when Fleury was injured.

The Oilers benefit from a very active blue line, with everyone's favorite power play cannon Sheldon Souray leading the way. Tom Gilbert is locked up long term and has 24 points, more than any Sabre defenseman. In fact, Edmonton has three defenseman (Souray, Visnovsky, Gilbert) with more points than all but four Sabres on the active roster. That's a ton of firepower, and we haven't even talked about Hemsky and Horcoff.

Edmonton comes in hot, riding a three game winning streak and taking five out of the last six games. They are 7-3 in their last ten, making them one of the hottest teams in the league right now. Then again you can say the same about the Sabres. We'll talk about the matchup in a bit, but for now check out that Cogliano kid.

Morning Musings

by Ryan

Just a few things to look over before we talk Edmonton.

- Our friend Corey Tropp was suspended for the year by MSU yesterday. It's strange, in all the reaction to the incident a few people have stumbled upon our draft profile of him from back in the day. It's strange to see people looking at that page that aren't Corey Tropp's friends coming to heckle us. How times have changed.

- This was a pretty cool link about goalie pads. A high school goaltender designed pads that look like the net. It's effectiveness is debated in the article, but it's along the same lines as Fleury changing from yellow to white pads last season. The logic is that white gives the appearance that shooters have more net to aim at, so I guess that makes sense.

What I found really interesting is that he already has a patent pending for the design. That's an enterprising kid who happens to be able to afford custom pads. What's also cool is that he used the experience to get into college. It's not the best of college essays, but it's a pretty cool hockey-related one.

- Did Texas really make this their batting helmet? Holy crap.

- One thing I forgot to mention: Vanek's Warrior gloves looked awesome this weekend.



The red/white/blue color scheme looked really cool, and the logo on the thumb was an interesting idea. I don't think I ever want to see him in anything but blue and gold, but for one weekend it looked pretty good.

- The AHL All Star Game was last night, and Mark Mancari had three points (2+1) for the losing squad. I honestly have no idea why it's set up like that, but good for him.

- I hope Pominville has a good game tonight, but for the twisted reason that I know we might get a postgame interview posted. Then again, we may not see anything on SabresTV for weeks because of the road trip. We shall see.

- I'm playing pond hockey today. That has nothing to do with anything, but I'm excited about it.

Take Two

by Ryan

Since the start of this season it's been quite evident that the Sabres have dead weight on the roster. Three players, Tim Connolly, Maxim Afinogenov, and Ales Kotalik, all have similar contracts expiring this summer, and with the influx of forwards both on the active roster and in the system it seems obvious that some of these players will no longer wear a Sabres uniform come October. Since it's likely that only one will be signed at the most, we made a case for each player and pitted them against each other this season. So just past the halfway point the question is: who's winning?

Well, it's not as easy a question as you'd think. Here are the numbers:

Kotalik 40GP, 10G, 13A, 23PTS, -5, 20PIM, 12PPP (.575PPG)

Connolly 13GP, 5G, 5A, 10PTS, -1, 0PIM, 4PPP (.769PPG)

Afinogenov 34GP, 2G, 10A, 12PTS, -14, 12PIM, 5PPP (.352PPG)

Now, judging from that it's safe to say that Maxim Afinogenov is not winning anything this year. In fact, based on his numbers and his game I'd say he's been one great big pile of fail this season. No matter what happens the rest of the year, he will not be wearing #61 for Buffalo this fall. His game has been a mess, he's moped about not getting playing time, and you can hear his $3.5 million salary being thrown into the boiler down at HSBC Arena if you sit still long enough.

However, who is having a better season is still a little bit in doubt. It's pretty obvious that Kotalik has the superior numbers, and he very well may have another twenty goal season. Connolly has missed a lot of time again this season, but as we've said before, when he's in the lineup he produces. His 3/4 point per game average this year is about the same pace he's scored in his career with Buffalo, and is the highest percentage out of the three players this season. When Tim Connolly is playing it feels like he is productive, and it turns out that he is. That can't be said about the other two.

We all know that Max has struggled the last two seasons, but you could argue the same case for Kotalik as well. Despite scoring 43 points last year there were stretches in which I completely forgot he was on the team, and this season he has shown similar trends. There are just some games where it's obvious Ales is coasting, and his work on the power play is spotty at times as well. For someone known or his shot he hasn't taken many, and he certainly isn't our best defensive forward.

So here's the question: can you overcome Connolly's injury troubles and say he's having a better season? If not, does that make Kotalik the more valuable player, or is Tim Connolly someone you'd want on this team come October? It's a hard question for me to answer because so much of the future is uncertain with Connolly's injuries. However, I still value him above Kotalik simply because Connolly is more productive when on ice.

It's not a perfect answer, and one that is certainly affected by my affinity towards Connolly as a player. There is a big part of me that wants Connolly on the roster next season, but my practical hockey mind says it's too great a risk to sign him and he probably won't reduce his salary enough to make it feasible. I know my biases, and I was wondering if perhaps you'd share yours. So, just past the halfway point in this season I'll ask again: Connolly or Kotalik? We all know Afinogenov is as good as dead to us, but what about the other two?

All Star Thoughts

by Ryan

Late last night I watched both the Skills Competition and All Star Game. I can't say it was the most enjoyable thing I watched all weekend, but I do have some thoughts on the events.

- Overall the Skills was a letdown. All of it was really confusing, with YoungStars participating in the fastest skater and breakaway challenge, and Carey Price in the YoungStars game. No one seemed to care all that much, except maybe Zedeno Chara. Who knew he had emotions and a soul and stuff. Either way, it's clear the league isn't happy with the talent they picked for the original game so they need the YoungStars to hand pick their Skills guys. Confusing.

- I wasn't really blown away with anyone in the Breakaway Challenge, but you sort of knew Ovechkin was going to win either way. Getzlaf probably had the best move, and maybe the Stamkos dive if they counted it after the buzzer. Still, watch the Ovechkin video again:



I didn't notice it until my girlfriend mentioned it, but he shot left handed using Malkin's stick. I sort of forgot he wasn't a lefty, and Versus didn't exactly help you out on that.

- Speaking of Versus, I watched their broadcast because 1) it was in HD, and 2) last year was a train wreck and I wanted to see if it got better. It didn't. The whole thing was a disaster, with the interviews awkward, replays completely inconvenient, and all kinds of camera mistakes. We missed at least three goals in the epic failure that is the YoungStars game, and we also missed the first shot of Heatley's tiebreaker in the Accuracy Shooting competition. It's only the most important moment of the sequence, but don't worry about it guys.

It's an admittedly tough event to produce, but they have to get better. It's almost unwatchable to begin with, but the broadcast itself made me want to slam my head on the coffee table because I didn't watch it on CBC. I should have known not to give Versus another chance, but I'll probably tune in next year just to see if they can begin to fix it.

- Someone took a penalty last night. Sadly yes, that's news.

- The game itself was... boring. To the point where it was 4AM, I checked the box score to see if Vanek had a point (he didn't), then fast forwarded to the shootout to see the end. It wasn't breathtaking, it wasn't fun to see Campbell not play defense (nothing new about that), and it wasn't fun to watch goaltenders not try. St. Louis scored on a backhand along the ice because Backstrom didn't feel like covering the post in butterfly. If there was ever a sign that he didn't give a crap it was right there with him standing up watching the puck go between his legs.



Maybe it was me, but it just... wasn't fun this time around. It wasn't particularly fun last time around either, but maybe that means it's getting progressively worse. I was at the Canisius game and heard a few people talking about the fact that they were missing the game. They sounded completely unfazed by it, and I felt the same way. It's not like me to ever turn off a game early, no matter how bad. Last night I did, which makes it pretty clear to me how much I really care.



I'm not saying things should change because they won't. The league will try to get fans more involved, suspend more players for not showing, and put the hometown players in the spotlight. I'm sure Kovalev winning the MVP was great "poetic justice" and will remain in Habs lore forever, but it doesn't mean much to anyone else. No matter what they do to the game I will care the same amount next year, which is to say, not that much at all.

Can we play real hockey now?

Imaginary Creature Hosts Cats in Other Cats' Arena

by Ryan



Much better than an exhibition.

Yesterday I hit up the Canisius/RIT game at Buffalo State Ice Arena. The two teams played a pair of games over the past few days, with RIT winning the first meeting on Thursday 5-2. Earning the sweep would be a bit harder than the first time, but they pulled out the 4-3 win with a third period comeback.

Canisius built a 2-0 lead in the first, only to give it all up in the end. A bad penalty with less than eight to play gave RIT a chance they didn't pass up, and a nicely executed 3 on 2 gave them their first lead with less than three minutes to play.

I was surprised to see how small a lot of the Canisius players are. Even their blueline looked very undersized, but everyone on the team was willing to get in the corner and bang a few bodies. I was impressed by how aggressive they played, and their forecheck was solid all game. Even the smallest guys on the team worked the boards hard and took some good hits.

Overall I was impressed by Canisus, who did much worse the last time I saw them against Niagara. They still made some big mistakes, including three straight penalties to give RIT two big 5 on 3s. They also failed to cash in their own 5 on 3 that started the third period, and should have had that stick in front tied up on the winning goal.

Still, it was a pretty fun time for only a few bucks. RIT brought a ton of fans down the 90, so the atmosphere was pretty intense. It's a shame Canisus doesn't have better teams because they could have a decent student section. I couldn't understand the majority of RIT's chants, but their organization is a direct result of how good their hockey team is. From what I've heard their building is a pretty amazing sight, which means I'll have to make the trip to check it out soon.

My friend Dave took some pictures at the game, so I posted a few here. The rest can be seen here.

Golden Goal



Probably my favorite. Nice flex and dive here



RIT goal with student section.



Petey, Goose, and Child



Solid hit. Not the best of the night, but a good example of the physical play.

Thomas Vanek in Another Uniform

I think this one will turn out a little different than last time.

Hockey News for the Hockey Deprived

by Ryan

Just a few things for those of you missing hockey this weekend.

- I think Kevin sums up the latest news on the road trip nicely. Good to see them do the right thing.

- To continue my hockey weekend, I'm heading to Buffalo State Ice Arena to watch Canisius play RIT.

- Sabres Prospects has been doing a great job covering the Sabres in the minors and college. Today he has video of Corey Tropp getting himself into some trouble in the Michigan/Michigan State game.

- I played an NHL97 version of the All Star Game yesterday. Final Score: East 3, West 1. I doubt it will be that low scoring, but I'm pretty sure you needed to know that.

- Question:



Is Vanek borrowing his father's clothes or something? Everything looks a size too big and 15 years too old for him.

- Did I really just talk about Vanek's fashion sense? Oh God. Do we still have two days until real hockey? Craaaaap.

A view from the (college hoops) Roost: Eastern Edition

By Jon

What's the most underrated local rivalry? Without a doubt, Niagara/Siena takes the cake.

The teams are always good, the games are generally well-played and close, and going into today's game, the teams were ranked 1-2 in the MAAC (Siena entered 8-0 in conference play; Niagara was 5-2.) So naturally, when five dollar tickets fell into my lap to watch the matchup at Albany's Times Union Center, I jumped at the opportunity.

Worth it? It would have been, had Niagara decided to show up.

First thing is first-- Siena is good. How good? They've now won 10 of their last 11 and 12 of their last 14. They returned four starters from a team that beat a good Vandy team in the tournament last year.

It was clear right from the start that the Saints were the better team on Saturday. They shot 60 percent from the field and they dominated down low, scoring 56 points in the paint-- most of which came on Benson Egemonye, who had a good day offensively (8-13 from the field; 18 points) but an atrocious day defensively.

So what did we learn? Niagara's still a pretty good team, but there's no chance they get past Siena in the MAAC Tourney, on the Saints home floor no less. Maybe next year, Purple Eagles fans.

*****

Siena plays in the ~15,000 seat Times Union Center in downtown Albany, which is waaaayyy too big for any MAAC team, so last year Siena brass decided to put tarps over all end zone seats, electing to sell only the 8,000 or so seats along the sidelines to make for a smaller atmosphere. A good idea for most games, but what's the logic in turning away people at the door when there are plenty more seats to sell. According to Albany Times Union beat reporter Pete Iorizzo, Siena actually turned people away when they "sold out" of the 7,980 tickets originally made available. Am I missing something? Why in the world would you turn someone away at the door when you can pack another 7,000 in? Sounds pretty foolish to me...

*****

Iorizzo came through with a couple of neat stories about the relationship between Siena coach Fran McCaffery and Niagara coach Joe Mihalic that are worth a read, if you get the chance.

Watch Thomas Vanek for 26 Seconds Tonight

by Ryan



My guess is Around the World. He's not getting much camera time tonight, but it will be intersting to see what he does.

My Hockey Weekend

by Ryan

With all that said below, what will I be doing with my weekend?

Well, I'm going to watch hockey. The All Star Break is always awful for hockey fans, but I've decided to fill it with other types of hockey. For example, last night I stumbled upon UB playing Mercyhurst at the Pepsi Center. It was a surprisingly entertaining game, with UB jumping out to a 6-2 lead before Mercyhurst tied it upon the strength of their power play unit. They would win it 7-6 in overtime, leaving the home crowd stunned in their wake.

After watching a game unfold like that, I decided I should catch some more local hockey while there are no distractions. Today I'm heading to Niagara University to watch some women's hockey. They are playing Syracuse, which means I have a special reason to catch this game.

Perhaps sometime after all that I'll watch the Skills Challenge. I'm taping it for sure, but for now there's some real hockey to attend to. I know Ovechkin will be fun to watch, but I want to see some real hockey today. It's been a while since I've seen anything but NHL hockey, and that really is a shame.

I hope everyone enjoys the crisp winter day. I'll be at the rink.

It's No Fun Playing Cowboys For Pretend

by Ryan

I was thinking about the All Star Game yesterday and I think I figured out why there's always something missing in it. Have you ever watched someone else play video games? Maybe even a hockey video game. When you watch someone else play it can be fun. At times. Kind of. Well, it's fun when exciting things happen, I guess.

So what's missing when you watch someone play video games? Well, it's just not yours. Let's take a hockey game where two people play as the East and West All Stars. In theory this is the best game you can play, with two really talented teams that should be evenly matched. Still, when you watch it play out something just isn't right. Maybe you want to change the lines a little bit, or make a certain goalie play the entire game. Oh, and what the heck is Eric Staal doing on the East squad?

The problem is that no matter what you see, you'll be hyper-critical of it because it's not you playing. Everyone plays hockey games differently, and that means you are never really satisfied when you are merely a spectator. One person's perfection is another's blown chances, and even the very team they use could be completely "wrong" in someone else's eyes. It's just not your game, and because you can't control everything in it you get antsy.

The problem with the All Star Game is this: at it's heart it is for the players, but the league is trying to customize it for everyone watching. What is supposed to be a reward for a good half season has become each fan's personal video game. Fan voting has gone from picking a few players to setting the starting roster, and shootout mini game to boot.

Now this isn't necessarily a bad thing. Getting more people interested in the game is the whole point of an event like this, and in some cases it works. However, what brings about so much tension between fans is the simple fact that you can't satisfy everyone. People will never agree with fans stuffing a ballot box, or setting a proper starting line up, or any aspect of the event, really. Someone else should be starting, someone else has a faster shot, and someone else should get to pick who plays. And on and on. Giving fans the illusion that their individual vote is meaningful brings the opportunity for them to get upset when things don't turn out their own special way.

It seems to me that if you took away the illusion that fans can customize this game there would be less problems with how it works. Let the league and players decide who's been good enough to go; and at the very least minimize how great an impact the ordinary fan has in making these decisions. I know I'm never going to be satisfied with how things turn out on weekends like these, so I'm just not going to care. Sure I'll watch, but there's no point in worrying about this kind of thing. Complete satisfaction is impossible.

This weekend the NHL is hoping you get to use the controller yourself, but we all know that's the furthest thing from the truth.

Getty Makes Things Too Easy

This is just begging to be Photoshopped. Do your worst, folks.

Ricketts, Dogs, and Crosby's Playing

by Ryan

Not to steal from our good friends at First Time, Long Time; but here are some links for Friday afternoon:

- I've never had a dog, but Bill Simmons wrote a great piece about his dog. You can tell when he cares about something, and this was excellent. Still can't hate the guy like some do.

- The Cubs just got Ricketts, or should I say the Ricketts just got the Cubs.

- I forgot to mention Tim Thomas' save on Jason Blake. Here, watch Blake get laid out by a goaltender:



- Sidney Crosby is not playing in the All Star Game. I'll have some thoughts on the game later, but no Crosby does make it a lot less watchable.

- Gary Bettman is serious about this All Star Game business. Personally, forcing people who don't want to play into the game is a bit absurd. I hope Golden Boy didn't have anything important planned.

- The CBA won't be opened this summer, which means I'll have until 2011 to understand it.

- Have you ever seen Weezy's blog at ESPN? I really don't have anything to add. Isn't the fact that it exists enough?

- I did end up watching the Magic/Celtics game last night, and I was pretty impressed by Boston. I'm still getting through Free Darko's book, but I'm trying to be a better basketball fan as the season goes on. If only I slept less, I'd have all this down...

- The reason we put a link to our bingo board on the sidebar was because of this article written by Peter and Andrew over at USRT. I've never been in Artvoice before, and I don't think we've ever been praised in print, so thanks to them for the compliment.

- Nice story on LaFontaine opening the "Lion's Den" in Montreal.

- The latest on Briere? Entrapment! He's like a soap opera this year. So much fun.

Back with some video game all star thoughts in a bit.

The Value of a Replica

by Ryan

A few days ago we talked about the free jersey offer for the Sabres next two home games. Puck Daddy talked about it that same day, openly wondering if the Sabres should reconsider variable pricing on tickets. Our original thought was that this was merely an attempt to sell more tickets despite out pricing much of the market, but perhaps there's something more to it.

Yesterday James Mirtle wrote about the Predators ownership attempting to buy tickets to home games in an attempt to hit revenue sharing benchmarks. Obviously this practice is a little shaky, despite the fact that the league has said this is okay. Mirtle quoted another article discussing the reaction from the NHL's Board of Governors:

One source among the NHL governors says he and some of his peers are not happy that clubs can buy tickets to hit revenue-sharing targets. They are also not pleased that some low-revenue clubs have started offering larger discounts and more incentives such as merchandise and free trips to people buying single-game or season tickets.

It is all done with an eye to raising enough revenue to land a full share of revenue sharing, which comes out of the pockets of other clubs.

Emphasis mine.

This makes me wonder if that's what is going on here. You'd be hard pressed to ever find out what's going on with the Sabres' front office on much of anything, but could this be a method of maintaining a good attendance record and boosting revenue-sharing marks? These two games have the most profit potential out of any home events, and so not selling a few thousand seats in each would potentially hurt the bottom line. But is it enough to warrant an offer like that for the sake of revenue sharing?

Last season the Sabres finished second overall in attendance figures, with a Winter Classic-aided average of 19,950 per game. This season that number has slipped, and the Sabres currently rank 11th with 18,539 per game. That's still 99.2% capacity, but a full 1400 tickets less per game. Over a 42 game home schedule that's a pretty large number, and with higher ticket prices this season that's an even bigger potential drop. Is that difference in revenue from this season to last season enough to warrant a potential loss in revenue sharing?

Now, it's very possible that the source isn't talking about a team like the Sabres. Plenty of teams are having a tougher time putting fans in the seats, including Phoenix, Florida, Atlanta, Columbus, and the Islanders. Their promotions page is filled with deep discounts and "all you can eat" packages to prove it.

Still, the offer the Sabres put forth does seem curious given the situation. Is this merely an attempt to save face and sell tickets in a pricing tier they want to succeed, or is there something much more profitable behind it? Are the Sabres already well into the revenue sharing sector, or is there something more at stake with each free jersey sold? I'm not as well-versed in the CBA and revenue sharing as I'd like to be, so perhaps there is someone out there with these answers.

Either way, it's an interesting move to ponder. According to a "Team Valuation" by Forbes.com in October, the Sabres received $6 million in revenue sharing last season, and operated at an $8.9 million loss. That's good for 21st in the league. The question is, are a few free jerseys to sell an extra $800 in tickets enough to change any of that?

Sobering

by Ryan

So I don't have much in the way of work tonight, and I was going to do some writing while watching something online. I figured I could put on a hockey game and get some things done. Let's take a look at the schedule...



I am sad.

So... basketball tonight? Or do I start watching Season One of The Office?

Pond Hockey, Slankets, and Podcasts

by Ryan

A few ramblings for your mid-afternoon reading:

- The Sabres officially announced that the West Coast trip will be radio only, with Rick Jeanneret not making the trip. Kevin Sylvester, Curt Keilback, and Paul Hamilton will be filling in, which means that even the radio feed will sound foreign. Next week we will have a full post on alternative ways to watch or hear the game, so don't panic. There are ways around pretty much everything these days.

- We haven't really talked about the live blog we did for the games on Sunday. A quick thanks to everyone who came out and talked for a bit. We got a pretty decent response, and a few people stayed around for both games to make them a bit more interesting. Somehow out of all that came a conversation about Snuggies, and how clearly inferior they are to The Slanket.

I mean, not only does The Slanket have better models, but 11 different colors? Certainly they are the superior hybrid blanket/article of clothing. The downside is the $45 price tag, but can you really put a price on looking ridiculous in alaskan blue? Didn't think so.

- Looks like the Fall of Icarus continues in Philly. Who knows what happens to him once he's healthy, but the fact that he's being shopped so soon is pretty interesting. The further away from that summer we get, the smarter Darcy looks. Perhaps doing nothing really was the best strategy given the current market. Interesting.

- A week or so ago we got an email about the pond hockey tournament taking place in the Erie Basin Marina in February. We meant to talk about it and had some things ready, but I just checked and it says the spots in the tournament are sold out. That's great news for the tournament, but bad news for anyone who wanted to throw a team together and give it a shot. Either way it looks like it'll be a fun time, and the weather should cooperate.

- I don't usually listen to Bill Simmons' podcasts, but this week he had on Chuck Klosterman. Since Klosterman is one of my favorite authors, I decided to give it a shot. It was pretty freaking long, but fairly enjoyable. I found out that Klosterman will have a new book of essays out sometime next year, and is getting married in the fall. Interesting all around.

- The Cardinals are trying to give the New Sombrero that Pink Taco feel by wearing red uniforms.

- I'm debating whether to throw together an All Balls post this year because Sekera has played fairly well and currently sits on the shelf. It honestly depends on how bored I get over the All Star break. We plan on posting often, but if we run out of topics I'd expect one.

- After posting about the Honda Superskills Challenge I noticed that the NBA also sells the naming rights to their events, including the Slam Dunk Contest. I'm not sure when that started (at least a few years ago), but either way I'd hate to be the announcers for the events.

- Are we still talking about this? We're talking about a retired quarterback talking about last year's playoff bye week? I mean, I have a hard time listening to Troy Aikman talk about anything; but why is this important? Can't we just talk about this instead? Watching that is just so much more fun.

Give It Away Now

by Ryan

Going into the Florida portion of the road trip, it was the Panthers game everyone was worried about. The Panthers are a much better team than Tampa Bay, and recently they have had Buffalo's number. Monday's game was important, that's what you kept hearing, and with the teams so close in the standings Buffalo needed a win to get some breathing room.

So after that happened, everything seemed a like it was going well. A split was already assured, and Tampa should be an easy game anyway. They are a bad team, and Buffalo has a lot of success in Tampa recently. If the Sabres can overcome a lot of travel, injuries, and little rest to play a good 60 minutes, they could take a pretty impressive road trip into the All Star Break.



Yeah... about that.

The fact of the matter is that tonight the Sabres played bad hockey. They made too many mistakes, took too many penalties, and were a bit unlucky. Five minutes into the game they trailed 2-0 on two point shots, and it was over before it started. They played like they could get right back into it, but it would prove to be 55 minutes of futile toiling. A bad pinch, a bad save, or a bad penalty pushed a one goal deficit to two, and took away a great chance to climb the standings a bit more before the break.

I'd love to say that Tampa Bay used their big weapons to beat the Sabres, but that would be pretty ridiculous. Take a look at the box score and check the Tampa goals:

1st Period
Tampa Bay 4:45, Steve Eminger 4 (power play) (Jeff Halpern)
Tampa Bay 5:19, Steve Downie 2 (Cory Murphy, Matt Pettinger)

2nd Period
Tampa Bay 1:23, Lukas Krajicek 1 (Andrej Meszaros, Vaclav Prospal)
Tampa Bay 13:52, Jeff Halpern 3 (Mark Recchi, Ty Wishart)
Tampa Bay 19:54, Cory Murphy 1 (power play) (Mark Recchi)

No one on that list has more than five goals this season, and in case your were wondering, Cory Murphy isn't some girl from The Real World. He's been on the roster for two days. Those are the players that beat Buffalo tonight, and when you lose a game in which St. Louis and Lecavalier go pointless you did a few things right and a whole mess of things wrong.

It really is strange, because even down two goals the majority of the game I wasn't doubting that the Sabres could win. They played very well at times, with 20 shots taken in the second, but the other two periods just weren't good enough. Bad penalties killed any momentum they had, especially after Toni Lydman went out and made things happen to start the second. When Roy puts in that rebound that should be the start of something big, but just a minute later Lukas Krajicek scores on a play that can only be described as a clusterf*ck.



When you look back on it there was a lot wasted tonight. I mean, Derek Roy was crashing the net and everything! We don't get many games like that, and we give this one away? Vanek has zero shots on goal and we let Mark Recchi have a two point night? That's a disaster if you ask me. If the Sabres did a good job containing their big two, they forgot about the other three lines full of pieces parts. When two players get their first goals of the year and Steve freaking Downie puts one it, you know you just lost a hell of a game.

The worst part about this game is that it will have to linger for six days until we see Buffalo take the ice again. The thought of those point shots going in will be fresh, and when you watch the All Star Game I'm sure you'll get a flash of this:



I guess it's something we'll just have to get past. I'd hate to say this is a game we all just need to forget, but that's kind of how I feel. With Hank's injury, what becomes much more important is how our defenseman heal over the break, and if they can carry some of that other momentum out to the west coast and win some road games. It wasn't the way we thought they would, but the Sabres did get that split on the first half, right?

God, it's going to be a long break.

Free With Qualifying Purchase

by Ryan

Are you a Sabres Insider? If not, you may be missing out on the Great "We F#$ked Up" Jersey Giveaway!



That's right, the Sabres are trying so hard to sell these tickets they are willing to give away a free autographed jersey. The easy answer for this is that they are just trying to be nice, and giving away free jerseys is mighty nice. However, I think we all know the Sabres have struggled with ticket sales this season for the first time since the lockout. People just don't have the expendable income these days, and with the introduction of a new pricing level the Sabres may have out priced some games for the average fan.

The logic behind the platinum level does make sense, but back in August the economic climate was a bit different. Leafs games always sell out, and Montreal isn't far behind Toronto in out of town support. Making these meetings premium match ups will maximize profit from out of town fans and keep the other games affordable for other fans. Not only that, but the two games in question come after a very slow home schedule in January. Fans will be dying for a home game to attend, right?

Well... not quite. The Sabres have seven home games in February, including a bronze game on the weekend (Carolina, 15th) and another bronze game against Ottawa (11th). A game against the best team in hockey (San Jose) is only a silver, and by comparison that Saturday night Rangers game on the 21st looks like a bargain. A Wednesday night Leafs game just isn't all that appealing if you are looking at the other half dozen games on the schedule, and it's not hard to talk myself out of a $98 ticket to see the Habs if I can see the Sharks for half as much.

Hindsight makes it easy to look down on the pricing, but we've talked about these games before. You've gone to the arena and seen the corners bare, and it's no wonder there were over 2,000 seats left for each of these games. Giving away a free jersey is an interesting move that may attract a few more ticket sales, but it's an obvious cry for help in selling tickets that many fans simply don't want at that price.

This type of promotion is good for fans, but they also hurt the bottom line at year's end. Think about how good your profit margin is when you have no need for advertising and promotions like this. We've already seen holiday packs, season ticket incentives, and now free jerseys this season. The Sabres are still selling lots of seats, but it's obvious the demand for tickets has slowed this year. Pricing, performance, and the economy all play a role; and only so many of those factors can be controlled (and anticipated) by management.

It will be interesting to see how tickets for this game sell, as well as what the Sabres do with the rest of the platinum games this year. After those two the last game left is against the Leafs on March 27th, which may have playoff implications if things go right. Still, how things go this year will impact next season's pricing, and if mid-week games continue to struggle the high end games may all go to the weekend. It's an interesting thing to watch, especially when both games already have so many non-Sabres fans in the crowd. Will they stay home, too?

Either way, I know I'll be watching at home. For those that are taking them up on the offer, go with Miller or Vanek. Free or not, you want something that's going to last.

In Brief

by Ryan

Mike Harrington has been on fire today, proving that sometimes the best thing to do in Tampa Bay is talk about hockey. After spending the evening with the USRT boys, he comes through with some solid news about tonight's game.

Rivet took a puck to the face in practice but looks to be okay. All we need is another injury on defense, so I think it would take a lot to keep him off the ice. Also, the Sabres spent yesterday playing paintball. That's a pretty cool day off if you ask me, but with our luck I'm just happy Vanek didn't get shot in the throat or something.

Oh, and as he stated on Sabres Edge, this is pretty amazing. As someone who won't get a chance to go back inside the Aud one last time, that's about as cool as it can get. Harrington says it was taken last week, and I can only hope it sees a few more updates before the building goes down.

No changes in the roster and Miller looks to start tonight. That's pretty much it for pregame, but we will have something ready to go in about an hour. We plan on staying busy even with the All Star break, which is never fun. Stay tuned.

State of Emergency

by Ryan

If you ever worry about the Sabres as a franchise, take solace in the fact that there are worse franchises out there. The team is in relatively good shape for residing in a small market, and considering we're just a few years removed from bankruptcy it's tough to complain about much in the way of finances. There is also a pretty consistent roster of players and good management to lead a team with loads of potential.

See? That's no too bad when you go down the usual suspects of bad teams in the NHL. The Islanders are a mess, Ottawa is going down fast, and Wadell just may kill Atlanta once and for all someday. Still, there isn't any team that compares to the circus going on in Tampa. Ownership, coaching, players, prospects; everything going on around the Lightning seems like it's falling into chaos. Starting this summer with the roster overhaul and the Lecavalier extension everything but hockey has taken center stage in Tampa.

Hiring and firing Melrose. Mishandling Stamkos. Trading away their best defenseman. Trading away their second best defenseman. Overpaying for Malone. Prospal. I mean, look at their payroll and tell me that's not a complete disaster. I don't even know what to make of it.

To top all that off, now the rumors are that they are looking to move their franchise player. It's a rumor that's been denied to the high heavens, but the fact that it even exists tells you a lot about the situation down in Tampa.

The Lightning currently sit 12th in the conference, but it's hard not to picture them in a state much worse than that. Rick freaking Tocchet is their head coach, who still has a the gambling probe cloud hanging over him. Melrose is bad mouthing the team everywhere he turns, and it's hard to imagine many players look at the Tampa situation as a good climate for hockey. Talk to Dan Boyle about loyalty, too. Despite the fact that new ownership took over after that deal was finalized, it's hard to trade your $7 million defenseman and look good afterwards.

It's odd to say, but when you look at a team like Tampa you only appreciate the system in place here in Buffalo. For all the complaints of mediocrity, all the worry about ownership and finances; compared to Tampa Bay we have an all world organization in the Sabres. Buffalo may not have the funds to keep All Star defenseman and centers, but it's not a complete disaster at all times.

We would have a heck of a lot more to talk about with a team like Tampa, but the differences between the two franchises really are pretty stunning. I think I'd rather have stability and a consistent chance to win over the reign of chaos currently holding serve down south. Then again, they did win a Cup. Is that one championship worth seeing your franchise run into the ground only a few years later?

(Maybe)

Dammit.

Atlas turned Heracles

by Ryan

Thomas Vanek is paid to score goals, and as such he is paid to take shots. For the majority of the season he did just that, leading the league in goals for a few months and carrying this Sabres team at some very important times. However, many people have noticed a change in his game recently, and I thought it would be interesting to see if the numbers back this up. Over the last few games his assist totals have risen, and he currently sits at 28 goals and 14 assists. Still a 2 to 1 goals to assists ratio, but something clearly has changed over the past month.

Here is Vanek's game log:

First Five Games: 7G, 2A, 32 SOG

Next Ten Games: 5G, 1A, 33 SOG

Next Ten Games: 6G, 2A, 31 SOG

Next Ten Games: 7G, 1A, 34 SOG

Last Eleven Games: 3G, 8A, 21 SOG

His first five games were nothing short of spectacular, with seven goals and 32 shots. Even after that he maintained an impressive total total, averaging a goal every game or so. He managed to average just over 3 shots per game over that stretch, which isn't fantastic but clearly is more than his last 11 games.

Since December 27th, Vanek hasn't had more than 4 shots in a game, and his goal total reflects that. His assists have gone up drastically, with 8 of his 14 coming over this stretch. Vanek had a five game point streak as well, and while his shot total has gone down his point total hasn't. After the season he has had thus far, seeing Vanek score only three goals since then does seem unusual.



That doesn't mean he hasn't been productive, but his game certainly has changed. I'm not the only one to notice, as Kevin openly wondered where the "Try to stop me" Vanek has gone, and Mike Harrington simply stating that Vanek is passing too much. No one is claiming that assists are bad, but a goal scorer that refuses to shoot at times certainly isn't a positive.

The fluctuation in numbers isn't always such a bad thing. New linemates, an off game here and there, or even just a lot of blocked shots can make your numbers look pedestrian for stretches, but I think there is something more behind what's going on with Vanek. He's not playing poorly, he's just been playing a different game than we're used to. This season Vanek has been playing like Atlas, but perhaps he's moving back to the 2006-07 version of himself, when he registered 43 goals and 41 assists and earned himself that big offer sheet.

Either way, it's still very hard to complain about Vanek this season. He won't be winning any +/- awards this year, but he's still (almost) on pace for his first career 50 goal season. He also should surpass his career SOG totals this year, still averaging over 3 per game. You want Vanek to be shooting when lanes are there, and passing up chances like the 2 on 1 in overtime on Monday shouldn't happen. While the effort is still there and he has great vision on the ice with a clear ability to pass; his true talent is scoring goals. There is a balance that needs to be found, and maybe continuing to play on a line with Connolly will get him shooting again.

Sabres fans want to see Thomas Vanek producing, but it's clear we'd rather see him scoring goals than setting them up. We've talked about a number of possible reasons for the change over the last dozen or so games. We are going to keep an eye on his numbers over the next few weeks, but is there anything else you can think of that we may have missed?

Late Night Post Presented by...

by Ryan

Today the NHL announced the particapants in the Skills Competition on Saturday. I was curious to see how they would be using Thomas Vanek, but I got a little distracted along the way. Here are the names of the events:

Cisco NHL Hardest Shot



Bridgestone NHL Fastest Skater



McDonalds NHL Accuracy Shooting



NHL YoungStars Game presented by Upper Deck



Scotiabank NHL Fan Fav Breakaway Challenge



Gatorade NHL Elimination Shootout



Holy crap. The Superskills events are all pretty meaningless, so I guess there's nothing wrong with selling the naming rights for them. Still, how close are we to players wearing jerseys with an Upper Deck logo as the crest for each event, or even ads on regular uniforms? Naming the Winter Classic is one thing, but just how far away are we from the Stanley Cup Finals presented by Taco Bell?

Either way, expect a mouthful on Saturday night if you tune in. It looks like Vanek is only taking part in the Gatorade thingy, so that will be fun.

Pieces Parts

by Ryan

I'm working on a Vanek post at the moment, but here are a few interesting things in the interim.

- Yahoo had an interesting article about disclosing injuries in the NHL. To be honest it was a bit confusing, but here was the best part:

Paul Holmgren has seen the old and the new, first as a player on Philadelphia’s Broad Street Bullies and now as GM of the Flyers.

Life was certainly simpler before the advent of sports talk radio, ever-changing Web sites, and the saturation of blogs. Then, announcing that a player was hurt was enough.

“There was basically just the print media, and depending on what team you were with, limited TV coverage,” Holmgren said. “Today, the information that is available through a lot of different resources has pushed it to another level. It certainly wasn’t around back when I played. It was almost like, ‘Who cares?’ Now everybody wants to know.”

So... everything was so much better when people just didn't care about anything? Hoc-key? I understand what Ira is getting at here, but I find it hard to blame people for wanting to know what the hell happened to Teppo's face. Damn bloggers.

- Speaking of broken faces, it's good to see that Willis is going to be okay. Be sure to send him your get well cards/Applebees gift certificates in a timely manner.

- Since when are the Sabres 7-3 in their last ten?

- Speaking of records, if you were with us last year we kept checking in with Mirtle's 90 Points or Bust until the bitter end. This year things are looking better, with the Sabres only needing to finish 19-16 to get to the (now 91) point total necessary. Getting that number under .500 on the road trip would be huge for this team down the stretch.

- The Bills announced today that ticket prices will remain the same next season. CONSISTENCY!

- Looks like Carey Price will be playing in the All Star Game after all. Too bad, because at this point I don't see a better goaltender in the East than Ryan Miller.

- I'm trying to avoid the Anquan Boldin thing, but it's really an interesting situation. The Cardinals have two disgruntled players on their roster (Edge and Boldin) yet are on their way to the Super Bowl. A part of me thinks Boldin's comments are being overblown by the media, and the other part of me thinks he just needs to shut up and enjoy the ride. Either way, the next two weeks will all make us want to die. Yay media day!

- Speaking of Edge... really? It wasn't even two months ago that he was screaming to be traded. Now he's a genius?

Second Point, Second Chance

by Ryan

If you missed the game and look at the box score, this one looks pretty impressive for both teams. Vanek and Connolly continued to do their thing, and Booth and Horton each got one. Miller's numbers are pretty strong, and Vokoun wasn't far behind. In the shootout Ales probably made a nice move, and Roy probably did something special to seal the deal.

The problem is that things didn't go exactly like that. Both Sabres goals were the result of good bounces, and a major mistake by Derek Roy cost them the lead and gave up a point. Even the clinching goal in the shootout was a good bounce, with Derek Roy pulling a Phil Kessel on Vokoun. Miller was just as good as the numbers said, but there was a lot more to the story than the stars playing well tonight.



That's not to say the Connolly and Vanek goals weren't the result of good work, because they were. It's hard to criticize any goal, but you have to admit there was a lot of luck involved in beating Vokoun in regulation. If you read Sabres Edge yesterday you know the shootout is a little different, but the Sabres had good chances tonight that just didn't go in. Two weaker goals did, and sometimes that's the kind of luck you need.

There are some people that believe the mark of a good team is getting those bounces to go your way, and I think there's some truth to that. Earlier this year those bounces went the other way, and the play that matched it wasn't all that great. Points were lost on a few chances other teams had that went in, and good efforts were wasted by a bit of misfortune. Tonight was another solid effort, but one that got two points because of those odd bounces. Perhaps it is an equilibrium of sorts, or maybe the team is finally getting some things to go their way.

Still, I think the big story is how Ryan Miller has been playing recently. We all understand how important Miller is to the stretch run, and with Patrick Lalime looking less reliable than we'd hoped, his play only becomes that much more important. He has been great over the last half dozen or so games, and the Sabres' record in January shows it.



What strikes me the most is how he well he reacted to that penalty shot. He got beat clean by David Booth, giving up his first career penalty shot goal. No matter how mentally tough you are, that's got to get to you. Miller has a very strong psyche for a goaltender but you can tell when things get to him, and earlier this season he showed that at times.

So when Booth came up in the shootout, you knew it would be an important second shooter. Already up 1-0, stopping Booth means two chances to win and a huge psychological advantage for your shooters. Thing is, he trains with Booth during the summer, and has seen him evolve into the player he is today. The two know each other, and at that point Miller knows that Booth can beat him. We've seen this kind of showdown before. Kessel last year. Briere, too.

Both times last season Miller got beat, but we've already seen him stone Drury this month, and seeing him completely dominate Booth that second time around was the best possible outcome of this game. The Sabres played another solid road game and came away with two points, but Ryan Miller proved once again why he's one of the best goaltenders in the league. Forget All Star Games, forget who gets articles written about them. What matters are moments like that, when your goaltender comes through at the most important of times.



Dare I say this is another sign of a good team pulling things together? Another win on the road and the All Star break coming fast. A goaltender fans are starting to trust, and more importantly is starting to trust himself. The back end is still a mess and Mike Weber just played 23+ minutes, but I'd rather see that and know Miller will be there to take up the slack. He's done it before, and at this point I can't find a reason to think he won't do it again.

Game Night in Sunrise

by Ryan

Tonight the Sabres face a Southeast division opponent just two points behind them in the playoff race. Hrm, this sounds familiar. Buffalo finishes off the pre-All Star schedule with a Florida road trip, starting in Sunrise against the Panthers. This is a pretty solid team that Buffalo has struggled with already this year, and they never seem to play well on the road against Florida.

Goaltending seems to be the strength in Florida, with Craig Anderson listed as the starter ahead of Thomas Vokoun. Vokoun has a .500 record and has struggled with injuries, but I'd take that kind of talent in the backup role any day. Anderson's .930 GAA is good for third in the league, and he took care of business last time Buffalo was in town with 45 saves in a 2-1 win.

Even with all that goaltending, it's still pretty surprising that no one on the Panthers has 30 points yet this season. David Booth leads the team with 29 points, and defenseman Jay Bouwmeester is third on the team with 26 points. Larry Quinn's favorite Panther only has 25 points on the season, which makes Derek Roy look pretty great by comparison.

It will be interesting to see how the Sabres play against Florida for a number of reasons. There has been very little downtime for this team over the last week, and with a very shallow blue line playing a very good goaltender, this could go very bad very quickly. If they can build off of a great performance at home they can get two very important points, but we're not out of the woods with this team just yet.

I've heard a lot of people expect a split out of this road trip. I don't think that's good enough, but if there's a game to lose it would be this one tonight. That doesn't sould all that optimistic, but I do know I'm excited to see what Vanek and Connolly can do tonight.

Bfloblog has what I missed, as per usual. Although I'm less excited about 24 and more excited about Syracuse/Pitt.

A Novel Experiment

by Ryan

This is all the result of a lack of sleep and a random Google search. Since we started the site almost two years ago we've debated over the template we use. Jon likes a three column format, but I had never found one that I liked. A few days ago I started looking around for one that mirrored our current theme and, well, now we have this to play around with.




The new template is above, and here is the current one:



What we were thinking is this: you are the ones that have to look at the site, so we wanted to know what you thought. There are benefits for both, but I want to know what you have to say about both. We will probably have a poll up in a few days and decide from there. Here's a few things about the test site:

- It's wider, which takes up more of the screen. The top banner was extended to fit, and the third column means the front page can be shorter and load a bit faster.

- The columns are all narrower, however. This makes things on the sidebar look a bit scrunched, and has been described as "busy" by a few people.

- The ads? Honestly, they are just to anchor the left sidebar so it matches the right. We can put something else there if we change, it just looked strange without something there.

- That weird colored line below each post. Not a fan of that.

So, if you have any suggestions or comments about either site, let us know. Really, I'm interested.

A View from the Roost: Timmy Comes Alive!

by Ryan

Since Thomas Vanek turned into Atlas, there was one line combination many Sabres fans have been dying to see. Injuries and inconsistent play prevented it from happening, but the potential was enough to keep some optimists just asking for the chance to watch. Every once in a while they would be caught on a change and play a few seconds together, and one or two people would notice something different. Then this past week they played a few shifts together in overtime, and dozens of text messages were shot across the country saying the same thing:

Connolly and Vanek are playing together.

Saturday night we got the opportunity to see just what that line can do; and it's safe to say their potential is everything we hoped for. We all know what Vanek and Connolly can do on their own, but the thought of them performing together is just so tantalizing. Even with all the talent on this team, putting those two together and just letting them go is a fan's dream. All we needed was a stretch where both were healthy and playing good hockey.



And this isn't even the goal that got me excited. The Sabres' first goal was on a great point shot from Lydman, but Vanek set everything up. Both he and Timmy were camped in front, and Connolly gets the tip. His first goal in ages, and one you know he's been dying to get since taking that hit against the Blues. It was a good goal on a solid play, but it didn't exactly blow my mind. Anyone can tip a point shot, and we've seen hard work out of plenty of middle of the road players this season.

What did literally bring me out of my seat was Connolly's second goal, which was exactly the sort of play these two are capable of. Both Vanek and Connolly had played well all night, with good play in the zone and an excellent backcheck. This was what started it all, with Vanek taking it away on the blue line and chipping it up to Connolly.

Before I could even stand up, it was in. Within three seconds the Connolly/Vanek experiment exploded, and the game was practically over. It was everything they can be: hard working, scary fast, and extremely explosive. It was the Tim Connolly of old playing with the Atlas of new, and even for the ten seconds or so it took for that goal it was pretty special.



Tim Connolly wasn't the biggest part of the game, but what he did on Saturday clearly was the story. After all the frustration with injuries and wasted time, games like that are exactly what makes Tim Connolly worth keeping around. This is what he can do every time he's on the ice, and when he has games like this he tends to have four of five of them in a row. What looked like a player getting back into the swing of things on Thursday turned into a player on fire two days later.

It's only a flash of brilliance, but it certainly is the confirmation of potential we've known for so long. The truth is, I'm really happy for Timmy. I think he needed to hear that ovation reserved for the first star on home ice. The game he had on Saturday is something he can replicate over and over again. Who knows if he can keep it up, but it was nice to see Timmy come to life, if only for a night.



---

- Saturday's game was the first time all year I was genuinely impressed with how the team played. They seemed to have control the entire game, and when things got a bit uneasy Miller was there to bail them out. Butler struggled for the majority of the game but came up with some big plays, and the zone play was some of the best all season. However, this isn't all that great a compliment because as Kevin said, this was the sort of game they used to play all the time.



- The penalty kill was pretty excellent. Great rotation on the point, good pressure on the puck, and very few breakdowns. I was in 301, which is right behind the net, making for a great view of the whole operation. They didn't get too aggressive and give up chances, and there were very few shooting lanes on the point. Everything was on the outside, and when the rare shot got through Miller was there.

- Sabretooth's t-shirt cannon fired two shirts onto the ice. The referees picked them up and tossed them into the crowd, making it the first time they've ever been popular in Buffalo.

- Vanek had two assists on the night and only one shot. It seems to me his game has changed over the past few weeks. Remember when he had 20+ goals and only three assists? Now he's sitting at 27/14. It may not be intentional, but I'd like to take a look at his shot totals over the course of the season and see if things have changed. More on that soon.

- Timmy's postgame was priceless. If Pominville needs a lesson in completely ignoring questions, he should talk to Connolly.



This means, of course, no Pominville press conference to break down. Still, it's good to know what the grandparents of Baldwinsville were pulling for on Saturday night.

- I know this post took forever to get out there, but we will have plenty about Florida later on. Sorry for the delay, sometimes all that not sleeping catches up to me at once.

Championship Sunday Live Blog

by Ryan

Until the games are over, anything we might post today will go underneath this one. Enjoy the games, and don't be a stranger in the live blog. We don't bite.

Pivot or Pointless?

by Ryan

Somehow, I'm going to the game tonight. Expect a "View" post sometime late tonight, and be sure to stop by for the live blog tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it, as it gives me a real excuse to sit in front of the TV all day. We've also been working on something that we will talk about Monday, but tough choices will be made for sure.

There's not much to talk about when it comes to the Sabres because so much of it is wait and see. We know Sekera will miss a few weeks, so it will be an interesting transition on the blueline. If Hank steps we could be better in the long run, but there are still a few issues that need to be dealt with.

The larger question is this: which Sabres team will show up tonight? Will they sleep through a period, or will the crowd be there to pick them up following a big win on the road? This is the last home game for a few weeks; will Buffalo take advantage while they can or does two points against a team close in the standings slip away? A look at the schedule says this team can't afford a slip, but a look in the mirror shows the footing isn't all that great.



Which team shows up tonight?

Carolina Rain

by Ryan

A week ago I was presented with a theory about the Hurricanes. The blogger get together was winding down, and somehow the topic of rivals comes up. Chris Smith from wnymedia.net stated that the Carolina Hurricanes are the Sabres' natural rivals, and he actually made a pretty solid argument for it.

Here it is: the other so called "rivals" Buffalo has don't care about us. The Leafs have more important teams to worry about, and their fans only care because we have cheap tickets. Ottawa cares about the Leafs. Montreal has never cared about the Sabres. We don't play Dallas enough, and everyone hates Philly, which puts a lot on their plate.

With Carolina you have a recent history of important games, a general hatred between fans, and a variety of intangibles that make rivalries significant. Sabres fans have the "shoulda woulda coulda" angle, and Hurricanes fans have a Stanley Cup with an inferiority complex. Add in the sheer number of former Western New Yorkers living in the Carolinas and you practically have a built in home crowd on the road trip to RBC. And for those that turned coat once they moved...

The major problem with this theory is that the Sabres just don't play the Canes enough. Tonight marks their first meeting of the season, over three months into the season. However, a quick look at the standings tells me that if there isn't a rivalry between the two teams, one will develop pretty soon.

With just two points separating the two teams and two more games in February, each game will be a very important match up in the playoff race. Add in a meeting in April, just two games before the end of the regular season, and the potential is there for a showdown the entire conference is interested in. All of that makes me remember why we dislike Carolina so much in the first place, and brings the proper level of importance to tonight's game. Memories of the past are what make rivalries special, but these days it has been a different Hurricanes team than we remember.

For example, if you drive into Oswego you'll notice a sign with the wrong colors on it. It says "Home of Erik Cole" in red and black, but he's been an Oiler all season. A familiar face in a Hurricanes jersey, he was traded in July for Joni Pitkanen. Other new faces for Carolina include Joe Corvo and Patrick Eaves, who came over from Ottawa last season. Tuomo Ruutu is also a fresh face, one that usually has more restraint than his brother.

With these new faces Carolina has struggled, and after a difficult start resulted in the firing of their head coach, the Canes have improved as of late. They went 7-3 until a recent four game losing streak, which they bring into tonight's game. Those four losses came against Boston, Florida, Ottawa, and Toronto; with only Boston a current playoff team. Not a good stretch, but one that only makes tonight so much more important.

A big problem for Carolina is that the Southeast Conference just isn't as weak as it used to be. Tampa Bay and Atlanta are still poor teams, but Florida has improved on the strength of good goaltending, and Washington has taken over the reigns as division leader. The third playoff spot is no longer guaranteed, nor are a few easy games against division opponents eight times a year.

As far as the big guns for Carolina go, Eric Staal and Ray Whitner are pretty much the long and short of it. Tuomo Ruutu is their third leading scorer, which is more a statement about the state of the Hurricanes than Ruutu. Cam Ward has struggled this season, and Corvo has probably been their best defenseman. Oh, and Rob Brind'Amour still has a pulse.

The stakes are well known, which should make for good hockey. The rivalry may be somewhat new, but the memories are fresh enough to make for a good crowd. Faces change, but the (brief) history never does.

Miller an All Star Again?

By Chris

Carey Price, the starting goalie for the Eastern All Stars, may be between the pipes for the All Star game next weekend after all.

TSN reports:

Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price is looking to return to the ice next week and hopes to be able to play in the 57th NHL All-Star Game next weekend.

Price, who has missed the last eight games with an ankle injury, was on the ice for 45 minutes before the Canadiens' practice on Friday.

"I left early because I was out there early and I was tired but I'm close to coming back," Price told the Montreal Gazette. "I won't go to Ottawa with the team but I hope to play one of the games next week (in Atlanta and New Jersey)."

Price, who edged out Pittsburgh's Marc-Andre Fleury as the All-Star starter, has been sidelined since Dec. 30 when the Canadiens beat the Tampa Bay Lightning in a 2-1 shootout.

If Price can't go, it would mean a spot open on the team, and Puck Daddy argues that Ryan Miller should ship up to Montreal with teammate Thomas Vanek as representatives from the Sabres.

More importantly, who gets the third goalie spot? The Habs are already well-represented on the team, so it can be anyone from the conference. It would be an absolutely crime if it isn't Ryan Miller of the Buffalo Sabres; but could a case be made for either Craig Anderson of the Florida Panthers or Scott Clemmensen of the New Jersey Devils?

Miller played exceptionally well to start the season, trailed off a little after and has been very strong in the last two-and-a-half weeks. The last few games, he's been fundamentally sound and has looked like an elite goaltender.

Hopefully Price will make a decision soon and they can fill that spot if it's going to be open. It wouldn't shock me if Miller declined a spot on the team because they didn't tell him far enough in advance for him to adequately prepare for it.

Play Along at Home

by Ryan

Sadly, SabresTV doesn't have a Pominville postgame interview from the Chicago game. I assume this may become a problem on the road, which means we started doing this at the best time of the season. However, here's Pominville from Thursday's game.



He started off strong, then tailed off when Hamilton showed up. Overall a shaky first performance for our bingo board. Follow along at home, and when I wake up I'll put up the official score as well as a preview of the Hurricanes.



Just a reminder. Here's what we got:

Battle
Definintly
Get pucks deep

Total=3.

Overall an utter disapointment in its maiden voyage. I'm almost positive he was somehow made aware of this and tanked to spite us. We will have to see how it develops over the next few games, but something tells me we will be seeing higher scores down the line. Hopefully he can get on a roll, get some quotes to the net, and work hard.

Friday Football and Other Things

by Ryan

Just a reminder that we will be live blogging the two games on Sunday. Why? Well, we are watching anyway, so why not talk about it? If you want to stop by, or even just pick games in the comments, you're more than welcome. Here are some football links to get you ready for the weekend, as well as a few other things.

- This post on Kissing Suzy Kolber is absolutely terrifying, and also pretty fantastic. They've forever changed the way I look at quarterbacks.

- Question: Where is the "it's tough to beat a team three times" theory coming from? John Clayton wrote about it this week and says this:

This is the fifth time a team will face a divisional rival in the championship round after beating it twice in the regular season. The 2-0 team got the sweep in three of the four previous instances. The 1982 Miami Dolphins won their third matchup against the New York Jets. The 1986 New York Giants swept the Washington Redskins. The 1999 Tennessee Titans went to Jacksonville and got their third win over the Jaguars.

The only team that didn't complete the sweep was the 1983 Seahawks, who lost to the Raiders. In that case, the Seahawks pulled off the upsets during the regular season, but the Raiders were a superior team.

So... the team going for the third win is 75% successfully? Am I missing something here?

- It's good to see Tim Graham is still doing work for ESPN despite the fact that the AFC East died this year.

- Sidney Crosby is out tonight, and holy crap Scott Burnside's giant head. Sometimes I think ESPN is taking their video player a bit too far.

- Getting Caught From Behind has the new Bisons uniforms up. I'm not a huge fan of the "B" but it's better than the first logo on the cap. Everything looks so... busy.

- Use the force, Luke.

- Here, of course, is Simmons' NFL picks column. He has done terrible this postseason, but I'd read it if only to confirm that the only hockey game he's ever watched was during the 1980 Olympics.

- Bolden is likely to play for Arizona on Sunday, which hopefully means Fitzgerald gets free. I'm not exactly rooting for the Buzzsaw that is, I just really enjoy watching him play.

- Just for the record... the Baltimore-Pittsburgh game will wind up like 13-12, right? Last week we thought the final in Tennessee would total under 20 points. We got close. I'd take the under on this one, too.

- With Gruden getting the axe, how many coaches were fired this year that were better than Dick Jauron? Three? Five? All of them? Ugh.

More on Last Night

by Ryan

Because the first post was getting too rambly and there's still plenty to talk about.

- Leadership is still something we hear a lot about with this team, and after last night I think it's pretty obvious just how much of a leader Paul Gaustad is. We will never know just what it's like inside the locker room, but if I'm on his team and he plays the best game of his career last night, I'm listening to what he has to say.

I think it's pretty obvious how much we appreciate his game around here, but I was wondering what you guys thought about all this. I like the way he interacts with officials, the way he talks to the media, the work he puts in off the ice, as well as the effort he puts forth on it. He appears to follow the Chris Drury model, and while he will never have the scoring touch he certainly appears to have the same hockey philosophy. Goose learned from Chris Drury how to be a leader, and to me it looks like he's trying hard to follow that model.

Is all this just in my head, or is there something more to what Paul Gaustad brings to this team? I know Paul Hamilton feels a similar way about Goose, and I don't think it's a coincidence that the two more inspiring wins of the year were games in which he scored twice. It may not seem like a big deal, but to me getting those types of goals and even that fight is a major part of what makes good hockey teams. Having someone set that example is the only way anyone will ever have something to follow, and I've struggled to find good examples since a few big name players have left.



- I thought Rivet and Lydman played really, really well. Butler looked bad on the second goal, but overall the defense was much improved. Teppo made some nice plays, and Hank played one of his best games of the year. He looked more confident with the puck for sure, which is a good sign. Hopefully he has calmed down a bit, he needs to be a big player down the stretch for this team. He's done it before.

- Another big hit photo from the AP. This time the hit was real:



- In case you were wondering about JPPGPCB, I haven't done the totals just yet, but I'll update this post once I check the videos.

We will have some football news and notes to gear you up for the live blog on Sunday, as well as a few more things here and there. Stay warm out there, folks.

House of Cards

by Ryan

If the end justifies the means, then all is forgiven when it comes to Drew Stafford. Somehow a hockey game that began with this:





Ended like this:



An improbable conclusion to an unusual game, and the sort of performance we haven't seen from this team in quite some time. Over the last two seasons we have said time and time again that this hockey team can't expect to win games like they did the first two years coming out of the lockout. The game had changed, their personnel had changed, and this just isn't the same team anymore. It's something I've heard from a lot of different people, but every so often they go out and win a game like this.

The team preview that never got published was going to talk about Dallas as an interesting case study. Injuries and shaky goaltending have turned a team two games away from the Finals last season into one ambling at the bottom of the Western Conference. A better team as of late, it was an opponent the Sabres would be capable of pushing around if they felt like it.

For the first half of the game it appeared they didn't feel like doing much of anything. Buffalo was outclassed in all aspects of the game, outshot 12-5 in the first period and outscored 2-0 thanks to two Drew Stafford penalties. Chris Butler was exposed badly on the second goal, a breakaway pass from Modano setting up Ott for the power play goal. The second period brought the deficit to 3-0, and it looked like a replay of Wednesday night's Blackhawks game if you squinted just right.

But all of a sudden, Buffalo fought back. The turning point was at the 4:47 mark of the second period, with Paul Gaustad getting a bit too aggressive around the Stars net. A few Stars take exception, and Goose does what role players do when his team needs a jump: he drops the gloves.

It was defending himself, of course, but anyone who knows the game understands what Gaustad's trying to do there. The message is clear as day: I'm not giving up on this game. When a team trails 3-0, some fights happen out of frustration or to even some other sort of score. This one was a message to both teams that this game wasn't over, and after the performance in Chicago from the night before that message had to get through to the bench.

Less than ten minutes later Paul Gaustad tips a point shot to put the Sabres on the board. A power play goal, it came just after a near miss with the first power play unit. Vanek sets up the chance and heads off on a change, with Gaustad replacing him as the man setting up the screen in front. It's an immediate downgrade at the position, but Goose gets just enough of Rivet's point shot to get it by Turco and suddenly Buffalo has a pulse.

Still, it's a 3-1 game heading into the third. The Sabres faced the same deficit after two the night before, and less than twenty seconds into the third period Chicago would score to put the game away. Buffalo laid down and gave that game away, but this time looked to be different. They had controlled play for much of the second, and carried that into the third when Jochen Hecht scored just three minutes in.

It was a play just nice enough to get you thinking about a comeback, but 48 seconds later Brad Richards makes it 4-2. Bam. Time to lay down again, right? So many times this year that kind of goal has been the dagger, but Buffalo didn't slow down there. The forecheck continued, the defense got more involved, and Miller kept them in the game. It all paid off when Goose gets in front again, cashing in just as the power play expired. He was everywhere tonight, and another big two goal game for Gaustad keeps this one within reach.

Before you can look at the scoreboard and check the clock, Jaro lets the shot go from the point.



Tie game.

MacArthur got a stick on it and started the forecheck, but credit Jaro for taking a shot when he had an open shooting lane. So many times over the last few games have the defenseman waited for bodies to clog up the lanes. The Sabres don't necessarily need to take more point shots, they just need to take smarter, faster ones. You want bodies in front, but you want the puck to get there in the end. Both Jaro and Rivet created goals with smart shots from the point, and that was the big difference between Wednesday and Thursday night.

Another big difference? The Sabres kept pressing. They smelled blood in the water against a bad team, and instead of sitting back and waiting for overtime they kept the pressure on looking for the winner. It didn't happen, but there was no letting up off the pedal once they found it. There is plenty to criticize about the first half of the hockey game, but once they got it going they did everything right.

Once it got to a shootout it was only a matter of time before Lindy found a guy who could put it in. The Stars' shootout magic is gone, just like their powerhouse status in the West. Turco has struggled too much and Miller was just too good, stopping all but one shooter. Roy made a fantastic move to keep the Sabres alive, and Pominville got to be a hero on a big night. Two points on the road after thirty minutes of relative disaster.

It's the kind of win that can be the turning point of a season, but it still shouldn't be taken lightly. There were a lot of bad signs in that first half of the game, but the performance we saw in the second half was quite impressive. It can't become habit, but it's nice to see a flash of that ability every now and then from a team that used to make it look so ordinary. The difference is that two years ago a win like this was based on talent. This time around it's a resiliency we haven't seen enough of this year.

It could be just another flash in the pan, but the potential is there for it to be a pivot point in a season full of straight lines leading nowhere. This team needs to find its bearings, and last night a Goose may have knocked them back on course.

Live Blog, Nipples, and T-Blades

by Ryan

I'm working on a Stars preview, but there was plenty to talk about other than Dallas, so here's a few things before that gets posted.

- We were debating on whether or not to live blog the football games on Sunday, and we decided to give it a shot. The blog will go up on Sunday at about 3, so stop by if you want to talk some football. Shoot us an email if you want to help us out, or if you want to host it on your site as well. Should be fun.

- I thought this photo was pretty interesting:



From what I remember of this hit, Seabrook took a run at Hecht and missed, so Jochen gave him a shove to reciprocate. From the looks of the picture he blew Seabrook up, which isn't the case from what I remember. Also, I didn't realize Hecht wore t-blades. *crunchcrunchcrunch*

- I was looking for a video of the Stafford hit last night and somehow came across this video about Tim Connolly. I'm not sure what "mrsafinogenov" is driving at, but I swear I'm not "redsox24515". Kind of agree with his assessment of the Max vs. Timmy debate, though.

- Also, I guess this happened last night? Looks like the power play wasn't the only thing exposed during the game.

- Puck Daddy has another item on Afinogenov. To be honest, the more we hear about Max possibly on the move the better. The trade deadline is always more about the buzz created about a player than his actual value. The more he gets pumped up, the better a chance he gets a ride out of town.

- The good news is that even with the loss the Sabres didn't lose much ground to the teams behind them. The Penguins lost 6-3 at home to Washington, and even lost a defenseman and maybe Sidney Crosby for a while. That's a tough home game for sure.

- Looks like Sekera is going to miss some time due to this hit:



Didn't look like a terrible, but WRG is calling it "indefinitely". However, "lower body" isn't exactly specific, so who knows what the issue is.

Dallas preview will be up in a bit. We have a little more time with the 8:30 starts, but it should be up within the hour.

Stafford on Keith

by Ryan

Here's the video of Stafford's hit on Duncan Keith: (Update: shorter with a reverse angle)



Legal? Yeah, I think so. Stafford's not exactly a dirty player, and there was a little elbow there but he wasn't fully extended and certainly wasn't trying to take him out. This was a forward getting back into a play and trying to backcheck, which is exactly what you want to see our of a guy like Stafford. If anything he would have tied up one of the other two Blackhawks, but Keith slid into the slot and right into Drew's path. This wasn't Stafford headhunting, but rather Drew seeing Keith move to the middle and realize he had the best chance to make a play on him. To be honest, I'd rather see any of our forwards hit a guy like that rather than let him go.

Here's what Stafford had to say about the hit:

“I hope he’s OK. I’m not trying to hurt anybody,” Stafford said. “At the same time, you have to keep your head up if you’re going to make a play over the blue line like that.”

I imagine he said that with a "toldja so" attached somewhere, but he seems sincere enough. So why am I even talking about this if it's a clean hit and there's no bad blood between the teams? Well, Ben Eager mostly. Here's what he had to say about it:

"I thought it was a completely dirty hit," Eager said. "That team has been through it. They have seen their fair share of head shots, and that guy doesn't have many hits all year. He's a skilled guy, so I'm sure [the league] won't do anything to him. I'm sure if I was the one who hit him I probably would be sitting out for a while."

Well, I'm sure someone out there will say "that's the same as the Drury hit!", which is completely false. You see, Chris Drury wears his helmet too loose, which is the only reason that hit was so bad. Yeah, that's about the only difference I see, really...

Ko Simpson is Worth...

by Ryan

A lot of people have jumped on the Ko Simpson DUI story lately because it really is pretty funny. His definition of "millions" may be very generous in the high priced world of the NFL, but he may be on to something when it comes to some other football leagues.

For example, I was on TSN yesterday and saw that the CFL salary cap will stay at $4.2 million next season. I had no idea their salary cap was that low. I mean, that's an entire football roster for a little more than one Derek Roy. Considering the NFL salary cap for 2008 was about $116,729,000 and you can see the difference between the two leagues. Just a bit more, you see.

So what was Ko Simpson's contract worth? $2.13 million? I guess that means Ko Simpson is worth about half a CFL team. Not too shabby. He should yell that out next time he's in trouble. It sounds more impressive.

Blowin' in the Wind

by Ryan

No matter how glaring a mistake, there is never one moment that loses a hockey game. Whether a bad goal, a giveaway, or just a missed opportunity; no matter what the situation there is somewhere else that can shoulder the load as well. Even late in a game or in overtime, there are reasons a game gets to that point to look back on. In the hour of hockey played each game, there is never just one mistake or reason for anything.

In tonight's game there were two major reasons for failure. It was a game of two acts, two different periods each with a distinct reason for the loss. This wasn't one of those zero effort Sabres losses, which are frustrating in their own way. This was a game where two different problems killed any momentum the Sabres had and eventually cost them two points.



The game began with the Sabres playing almost perfect hockey. Ruff's gospel of hard work from the forwards was well read, and the forecheck was pretty outstanding. Everyone was hitting and giving the Chicago defenseman a tough time, disrupting their ability to get the puck up ice and capitalize on the speed of their forwards. The first goal was a result of good work on the forecheck and a timely turnover. Teppo keeps it in the zone and gets it to Mair, who makes a nice pass in front to Kotalik. Ales puts a great shot past a diving Huet, and it's 1-0. It's exactly the kind of goal this team can create, especially with the third and fourth lines checking hard.

The rest of the first period saw the Sabres continue to work like this, with chances developed off of a good forecheck and aggressive play. Everyone hit, including Pominville and even Hecht, who avoided a Seabrook check and almost put him into the Sabres bench. Things were going good, and then we remembered that the backup goaltender was in net.



It wasn't a complete disaster, but Sharp's goal is certainly stoppable. The initial save is something you need to get with a team like Chicago, and even then the Sharp shot was a trickle. Goals like this destroy momentum, much like the second goal absolutely freaking obliterated anything the Sabres had going for them. I'm not even going to talk about because I still have no idea what happened. Either way, something like that should not be the cost of playing your backup, no matter how much your defenseman back off. Toews shot should never hit the back of the net.

Still, the game wasn't over there. The Sabres carried the same play into the second period, getting chances and disrupting Chicago's puck moving defenseman. Lydman and Rivet both played well, and the defense kept the Blackhawks scorers in check for the majority of the period. The exception was at the 5:53 mark, when Martin Havlat led a 3 on 1 down the ice and scored high on Lalime. Should it have been stopped? Maybe, but it should have never happened. Sekera made a bad pinch and couldn't get back in time, and Havlat did the rest himself.



The effort still wasn't completely awful. The forwards even backchecked hard, with Stafford knocking Duncan Keith out of the game when he cut across the middle. We'll talk more about the hit later, but Ben Eager didn't like it very much and gets himself six minutes in the box. This is the chance Buffalo needs to get back into the game, and you need at least one goal on three straight power plays, right?

Well, you all know what happens next. One shot in six minutes. If Patrick Lalime gave the game away, the power play unit gave away any chance for a comeback. There was no flow to the play, and even getting into the Chicago zone was an issue. If there was ever a time to use a timeout in the second period, this was the time to do it. Only a Tim Connolly shot sometime in the third penalty got through to Huet, who honestly didn't have to do much tonight.

What's amazing about this stretch is that it never felt like the Sabres had a chance to set anything up. There were some cycles at times, but there was no Vanek tip shot, no backdoor pass to Roy. Nothing. The defenseman couldn't get into open shooting lanes, and shot after shot was blocked by Chicago. The best scoring chance of the entire sequence was when Lalime misplayed the puck and Chicago missed the empty net on a wrap around. It was an absolute disaster, a clusterf*ck of epic proportions, and the Sabres never recovered. I've never seen a worse six minute power play, and that's not a statement based on the rarity of the situation. Suddenly Chicago had a two goal lead and all the momentum in the world to boot.

Sabres fans spent the intermission writhing in pain on the floor while Jason Pominville scratched his face on camera, and 17 seconds into the third Wisniewski puts it in. It was over. A 4-1 deficit against a team that has lost twice at home in regulation all year. The Sabres continued to play aggressive hockey, but it didn't matter. After another wasted power play, the Sabres took the last three penalties of the game and the horn sounded as Seabrook tried to pile on.



This wasn't exactly a wasted effort, but the term "waste" should still be used somewhere. The Sabres played a good period of hockey but still came away from it trailing 2-1. From there everything fell apart, and they never recovered from a few bad bounces and a misplayed shot. Brian Campbell didn't exact vengeance on his former squad, and Patrick Kane didn't put on a show for his hometown team. It wasn't a great team pulling away like against Detroit; this was two evenly matched teams playing a game where one team made a ton of mistakes. Lalime needs to be better, the defense still needs work, and a top ten power play unit needs to score on a six minute power play. It wasn't just one thing, but a deadly combination that gave away another two points on the road.

Tonight's game wasn't lost in just one place, it was lost everywhere.

Crosswinds in Chitown

by Ryan

The best thing to happen to the Chicago Blackhawks in the last five years? Their owner died.



Bill Wirtz passed away last September, and since then Chicago has risen from the ashes of a stagnant franchise to become a real factor in the league once again. Their young players have blossomed, fans can watch home games on television, and big name free agents were brought in to make what was once a sad team finally compete in the New "NHL".

This year a lot has happened in Chicago, with head coach Denis Savard fired four games into the 2008-09 season. Many saw the move as unfair given the time table, but he will always be remembered for the brilliant-but-borderline-racist rallying cry "Commit to the Indian". Expectations where high with the arrival of Brian Campbell and Cristobal Huet, the Winter Classic held at Wrigley Field, and a spike in attendance figures; and so perhaps the move was somewhat panic-fueled. However, Joel "It's only buzzed driving" Quenneville has helped the team turn the corner and managed the goaltending situation very nicely so far.

As a Sabres fan looking at the Blackhawks roster, it's hard to talk about anything but Patrick Kane and Brian Campbell. Kane leads the team in points and has been fantastic in his sophomore season, and Campbell has produced on the blueline as well. He has the occasional issue on the back end, but he was brought in to produce points and that's exactly what he's done.

In fact, his play with the man advantage is a big reason Chicago has improved so much. Of his 29 points, 15 have come on the power play, and he continues to play relatively penalty-free hockey, with only 6 PIM all season. This season Chicago's power play has seen the second largest improvement in the league, currently running at a very good %22.8.

Chicago is much more than just two players, with a lot of guys stepping up on a young team. Duncan Keith has been great on the blueline, and would have made the All Star team if not for Campbell being voted in by the fans. The Hawks have nine players with at least 24 points on the season, and you know a team has secondary scoring when Ben Eager has 8 goals on the year. Forgotten in all the Kane hype is Martin Havlat (who has stayed healthy), Patrick Sharp, rookie Chris Versteeg, and captain Jonathan Toews. All four players have over 30 points and have helped bring a ton of depth to a very young roster.

The Blackhawks are playing very good hockey, but there is still a lot of growing left to do. The Winter Classic was a good example of a great team showing a young team exactly how it's supposed to be done. It's not a knock on Chicago as much as it is a compliment to Detroit, but it only shows what the Blackhawks are capable of if things go well. Their roster is full of RFAs likely to get an increase in salary, but this is a team ready to make a run right now.

Needless to say, it will be interesting to see how they come together down the stretch, and how they stack up against the Sabres tonight.

Introducing...

by Ryan

Ladies and gentleman, I present to you Jason Pominville Postgame Press Conference Bingo.



After a few dozen postgame interviews it all starts to sound the same when it comes to Pommer, and we aim to find out just how similar it all is. We put together 24 commonly used phrases and will examine every interview he gives to see just how many he uses each time. We tried not to pick the obvious ones (stick, puck, goal, etc.) but rather specific Pominvillisms we all know and love. Classics like "playing the system", "get pucks deep", and "desperate team" are all there, along with Jason's absolute favorite word: "definitely."

There are no prizes, (unless you hear him to mention "puppies" a few times, then everybody wins) but this is something we all can have a little fun with. Let's start with tonight's game and see how things go. I'm guessing he knocks out at least half.

Sweating Bullets

The Savior of San Jose takes on the Sabres for the first time in a Blackhawks uniform tonight. If he's got any problems, the All-Star defenseman can always call (716) 839-3638.

Here's lookin' at you kid:

Halfway There

by Ryan

There are many ways to categorize the passage of time. For most people these periods of time are divided by weeks, months, and years. For entire civilizations time has passed by decades and centuries, and each can be broken down into other various periods, eras, and so on. With all those classifications, you would think people would settle with the choices we have, but sports fans have one more category: seasons.

Just as with time in general, seasons can be broken down and examined in a variety of ways. You can take a season month by month, week by week, or even game by game. The slow crawl of a hockey season leaves plenty of time for introspection, but the traditional benchmark for a look back is the halfway point. After 42 games you have a pretty good impression of the league, and can determine which teams are good, which teams are bad, and which teams still have time to be good.

We all know the numbers that represent this team's progress. 21-16-5. 47 points. 7th in the Eastern Conference. These numbers indicate that the Sabres have a good chance of making the playoffs, and after last season's disappointment it's hard to say that wouldn't be progress. The numbers don't lie, Buffalo is in relatively good shape in the playoff race, and a finish just above .500 would get them a spot in the postseason.

However, when you take away the numbers and consider what you've watched this season, it's hard to be satisfied with much. After a fast start the Sabres finished off October with a two game losing streak. Both games were awful performances at home, which would prove to be a trend as time passed. November saw another period of up and down hockey, with a five game losing streak anchoring the month. There were more terrible home games, most notably against Columbus and Philadelphia.

December started with another disaster at home, this time against the Predators. The up and down play continued, with a record hovering just over .500 and a home record on life support. Fans were getting restless, and the team was unable to string more than a few wins together at a time. While the new year has brought a 4-1 record thus far, we still don't know if this team will be able to make a push towards the postseason or if they will continue to play mediocre hockey.

If there is a word to describe the first half, it is "uneven." The effort from individual players as well as the team as a whole has fluctuated game in and game out, and no one is quite sure how to get things to change. The "last straw" of sorts may be the embarrassing 4-2 home loss against Washington on December 30th, but that remains to be seen.

Injuries can be given some of the blame, with captain Craig Rivet missing significant time as well as Tim Connolly, Patrick Kaleta, Jochen Hecht, and Paul Gaustad missing extended periods. This has resulted in a lot of rookies seeing lots of ice time, and while they have played well at times it was quite evident the holes in the lineup hurt the effort.

A discussion of season highlights begins and ends with Thomas Vanek, who led the league in goals for the majority of the season and only remains a few off the pace at the halfway point. He has had a few shaky performances here and there, but no one has played better for the Sabres than Atlas. Derek Roy leads the team in points, but his game has been noticeably lacking for periods of time. Even with his current numbers people expect more of him, and I have a hard time arguing against that sentiment.

The defense has struggled, with previously strong players such as Henrik Tallinder and Teppo Numminen playing poorly. With Rivet missing time the blue line has seen its share of youngsters, with Chris Butler and Mike Weber starting games with the big club. Andrej Sekera has continued to evolve into a top flight defenseman, seeing huge ice time in his first full year with the club.

The rest of the forwards have been a grab bag of moderate growth and utter disappointment. Maxim Afinogenov has been downright awful, and players such as Clarke MacArthur, Drew Stafford, and Daniel Paille have been uneven in their play thus far. A steady forecheck has come from the likes of Gaustad, Mair, and Peters, and Kaleta has done his job when healthy enough to do so.

When I look back on the season I see more missed chances and frustration than anything. So many home games were given away, and at times it seems little effort was put forth in a number of games. The Sabres are still in decent shape, but you can only look back on those lost points and wonder where they could be with a full effort in every game. This team is still looking for an identity and leadership, and until it finds it they will continue to lose games they should win, giving away points in the process.

The good news is that there is reason to think the Sabres will improve down the stretch. Play between the pipes has improved, and a capable backup behind Miller will allow the franchise goaltender to catch his breath in February and March. They have an abundance of forwards giving secondary scoring to the top line, with 15 players registering at least ten points. This means there may be a few chips available for Darcy Regier to make a move. The defense has played better recently, and if they can stay healthy down the stretch they may be able to find a solid top six to roll out on a nightly basis.

If there is anything you can appreciate about the Sabres thus far, it's that they haven't completely shot themselves in the foot this year. Last season's halfway point brought a ten game losing streak that all but killed the postseason. The Sabres have been uneven, but they certainly haven't been bad for an extended period of time.

The Buffalo Sabres are an underachieving team for sure, but not to the point where this season has been a failure. There is room for growth, room for improvement, and room for change if necessary. There is no free agent elephant in the room, no major expiring contracts to get upset about, and no salary cap crunch. For the next 40 games, all anyone has to worry about is playing hockey well enough to play another seven hockey games come April.

Based on that last sentence alone, I'd say things are looking up.

A Few Things For the Night

by Ryan

Another couple of things to get you through the late hours. I'm still working on a midseason report, so look for that tomorrow along with a Blackhawks preview and a little game we are making up on our own.

- I've decided that I need to watch more hockey, so I started last night with the Detroit/Dallas game on Versus. We play the Stars this week, and I figured watching the Wings dismantle a bad team would make me feel better about the Sabres' play on Saturday. Thing is, the Stars played a heck of a game, eventually knocking off the Red Wings in overtime.

It was actually pretty frustrating because they played the perfect style of hockey to beat Detroit. They forechecked like crazy and relied on a few chances taken by the defenseman to cash in. Both goalies played great, but it took a starter bringing his "A" game and a full team effort to take down the Stanley Cup Champions. If a team like Dallas can do it with all their injuries and problems, why can't the Sabres?

The good news is that we're one of the first hits when you Google search "Valedictorian of Awesome", so I guess everything's not lost.

- A few days ago Side of Pork mentioned that the Sabres' schedule doesn't list local TV channels for the West Coast road trip coming up. If the January 27,28,31 and February 2 game isn't on local TV I would be really surprised, but just in case my friend Dave found us a good place to find them. I'm not saying, I'm just saying.

- ESPN is already starting with the "Braketology"? Really? That's like saying Tim Tebow is one of the greatest football players of all time. Oh, I see what you mean.

- Miller had an interesting quote from the Sabres' site.

“It’s kind of like a golf swing. That’s how I try to explain things to people. You go to the range and you’re thinking about six different things: Where is the weight on this foot, back hinge, the elbow, all this stuff. Goaltending is a lot like that. My stance, my hand positioning, where I am in the crease, how much I challenge, my glove side not being too low or too high, trying to get dialed in. The last few games I’ve felt good… I’m starting to feel more like where I think I need to be.”

I've never heard goaltending described like that, but it does make a lot of sense. There are so many things that can go wrong for a goalie, and what may look to us as bad positioning may just be a glove an inch too high. It's good to hear that Miller is confident in what he's doing now to talk about it, because we need him to round into shape for the playoff run. Mike Harrington says Lalime gets the start tomorrow, but this road trip will be a busy one for #30.

- I'm debating how to handle the playoff push this year. I'm guessing we take each day and recap what the teams close to us did the night before, as well as keep the standings on the sidebar somehow. Does anyone have any requests or suggestions on how to handle it differently?

Sabres with the M

by Ryan

On Friday I was looking through some game recaps and found out that Jason Arnott played in his 1,000th career game back on December 20th. He was honored with a silver stick by the NHL before the game on Thursday against Pittsburgh, which is a pretty cool way of recognizing the feat. Only about three percent of all NHL players will reach that mark, so it certainly is a unique thing for players.

Oddly enough, on Saturday Brian Rolston played in his 1,000th game as well, which means a silver stick is coming his way, too. That got me thinking about the silver stick and how many of them have been given out to Sabres players. The current team is fairly young, but we've seen some great players come our way over the years. Here's what I came up with through a little digging.

There are only two players who have played their entire career with the Sabres and totaled over 1,000 games. The first is, of course, Gilbert Perrault (1191), while the other is Craig Ramsay (1070). Mike Ramsey is third in games played with 911, but he did amass 1,000 games played with seasons in Pittsburgh and Detroit.

Other than Ramsey there are quite a few Sabres who have totaled silver stick-worthy careers split with different teams. Players such as Phil Housley, Doug Gilmour, Tim Horton, Pierre Turgeon, James Patrick, Dale Hawerchuk, Stu Barnes, Chris Gratton, Alexei Zhitnik, Eddie Shack, Don Lever, Petr Svoboda, and Mike Foligno are all on the list. I'm sure I missed someone, but those are the players that stood out.

Of course the big question is if there are any current Sabres at or near 1,000 games played. Let's take a look at the active roster.

Teppo Numminen- 1357
Craig Rivet- 769
Jaroslav Spacek- 663
Jochen Hecht- 580
Maxim Afinogenov- 555
Toni Lydman- 554
Adam Mair- 448
Tim Connolly- 446
Ales Kotalik- 405
Henrik Tallinder- 358
Derek Roy- 314
Thomas Vanek- 287
Jason Pominville- 264
Paul Guastad- 243
Andrew Peters- 196
Daniel Paille- 160
Drew Stafford- 144
Nathan Paetsch- 134
Clarke MacArthur- 97
Matt Ellis- 88
Andrej Sekera- 81
Patrick Kaleta- 70
Mike Weber- 18
Mark Mancari- 10
Chris Butler- 10
Nathan Gerbe- 6
Tim Kennedy- 1

Teppo is the only active Sabre with more than 1,000 games played, and he passed that mark years ago. Craig Rivet is next in line at 769, but he's still got a long way to go. There is plenty of youth on the team, but only two players with permanent roster spots (Sekera and Kaleta) have less than a full season under their collective belts. Of course all this will change tomorrow, but I thought it would be fun to look at the team and it's history through this particular milestone.

Oh, and our good friend Miroslav Satan is currently sitting at 990 career games played. Let's hope his silver stick is a little tarnished and demands to be its own agent.

Expiration Date

by Ryan

If you're a Sabres fan, the most popular number you've heard this year is 3.5 million. That's how much both Tim Connolly and Maxim Afinogenov make this season, and more importantly, how much won't be on the payroll next fall. It is more than likely that both players aren't re-signed. In fact, it would take an incredible offensive explosion for even a second look at Max, and a borderline miracle to get Connolly through the rest of the season unscathed.

Regardless, the end of this season will probably bring the departure of both these players, and maybe even Ales Kotalik. With this departure looming, many fans have been talking about trading either player. The reasons are pretty simple: they are both leaving anyway, so why not get something in return? Max has never reached his full potential, and since the 05-06 season he has been a complete letdown. Tim Connolly has also missed almost 250 games in six seasons with the Sabres, and has frustrated fans and management alike with each trip to the Injured Reserve.

It is for those same reasons, however, that many feel moving either player would be quite difficult. It's no secret that Afinogenov has been a mess all season, and with him in the press box and whispers of no GM wanting him, it is quite possible that Max plays out the rest of the year in a Sabres uniform. The same can be said about Connolly, who many feel is just too great an injury risk to take a chance on. Whoever trades for either player would want production out of him no matter what, and that's something that both can't guarantee at this point.

This has all been discussed before, but on Sunday Puck Daddy linked to an interesting article about expiring contracts. It's from Friday, but two of players discussed in it are the Sabres mentioned above. Here's what David Staples wrote about how the "expiring contract" concept could work in the NHL:

It's an easy concept to grasp. Each year any one team has players who are in the last year of their contracts. For instance, Dwayne Roloson of the Oilers is in the final year of his $3.7 million a year deal. After this year, Roloson's contract will no longer count against the Oilers' salary cap number. So this year, he has an expiring contract.

Other Oilers with expiring contracts are Mathieu Garon, Kyle Brodziak, Denis Grebeshkov, Erik Cole and Ladislav Smid. Between all of them, they get more than $10 million a year in salary. When their contracts expire, the Oilers will have that money to either re-sign these players or sign up other players.

The importance of an expiring contract is this: When most teams are pressed up against the upper limit of the cap -- as tends to happen when the cap number drops or stagnates -- teams will be desperate to create cap room for themselves heading into each summer, into each July free agent signing period. The more big dollar expiring contracts a team has, the more amount of cap space it will have to make a big free agent signing.

It's an interesting concept, and it's something that does happen in another cap-controlled league. For example's sake, he takes the Oilers and Maxim Afinogenov, among others.

Afinogenov of the Sabres has only scored two goals in 34 games this year, but if you can pick him up for cheap, or maybe for a long-term contract player such as Dustin Penner, then that's a deal the Oilers might well want to consider, under the right circumstances (Edmonton out of playoffs, Sabres making a playoff run).

In the NBA, the attractiveness of expiring contracts has made hot trade items out of players who are no longer productive, guys who do little but sit on the bench and pick up a fat paycheque. Teams pressed up against the cap, but hoping to making a big free agent signing in the summer, acquire them for the cap space they will soon create.

This isn't a perfect example because it's very unlikely Darcy Regier takes on a contract like Penner's, but the concept is very intriguing. If the economy remains weak in the future, we may see GMs make roster moves with this strategy in mind. As Staples said, it would bring an interesting value to players who lack much on the ice.

The concept isn't perfect, and as a commenter stated on the original post, the concept works in basketball because teams have very deep benches and players can go entire games without seeing the floor. Roster spots are more precious in the NHL, and many more players see the ice on a given night compared to the NBA. The fact of the matter is that if you trade for someone, he plays out the season on your team.

However, as time goes on we will see how the salary cap changes the way business is done in the NHL. There are a ton of big contracts hitting the market this summer, and if the economy continues to stumble the cap will make things very, very interesting. The "excelsior" mentality no longer applies to the pay ceiling, and it looks like some GMs are going to struggle with the deals they made in seasons past.

Either way, it's an ridiculously interesting concept. Does this make Max and Timmy more "tradeable" in any way, or is this shift in the system too unlikely for GMs to consider?

Five "A"s, Rickey Henderson, and Awesome School

by Ryan

Just a few things to get you through the night. We plan on staying busy this week despite the break in the schedule. Look for a mid-season review and something special for Jason Pominville, as well as a few other things before we see Chicago. I'd like to keep up the pace and preview each team the Sabres face, but I can't promise anything. At least one for the Blackhawks, that's for sure.

- John Vogl had a good article about the Red Wings today. It's a nice summary of what makes them so good, including all the history surrounding the team. People always talk about what makes an attractive team to potential free agents, and Detroit pretty much covers every category when it comes to that. It's why Hossa went there for less, and it's why more and more players will give them a chance. Oh, and their GM is a wizard. I'm really curious to see how this offseason will turn out for the Red Wings, but I doubt they struggle for very long.

- Ilya Kovalchuk was named captain of Atlanta after over a season and a half without one. Check out the seven captains they've had in team history:

Kelly Buchberger, 1999–2000
Steve Staios, 2000–01
Ray Ferraro, 2001–02
Shawn McEachern, 2002–04
No captain, 2004–05 (Lockout)
Scott Mellanby, 2005–07
Bobby Holik, 2007–08
No captain, 2008-09
Ilya Kovalchuk, 2009-present

Not a great list, but I guess anything is better than five assistants. If you thought the rotating captain was bad, try having five people kind of in charge. Crazy.

- Muckers and Grinders has a solid post about Ryan Miller, in which she describes Miller taking faceoffs with Goose and Pominville at Friday's morning skate. As long as Goose doesn't use the "Selling out so hard I'm down on one knee" move and knocks Miller unconscious, I'm fine with it.

- Anytime I hear about Rickey Henderson I think about our first Internet friend at Riding With Ricky. Therefore, we have to say congratulations to both when Rickey is voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

- The color guy on Versus just said Pavel Datsyuk would be "the Valedictorian of Awesome School." It's been a fantastic game so far that I'll talk about tomorrow, but I just wanted to make sure that went on record.

- As far as the football this weekend... I wasn't nearly as entertained by these for games as I was the last four. Everyone I watched the two games on Sunday with fell asleep between them, and not because we are all 80. Either someone chloroformed the room, or the Eagles put us to sleep. Go with the latter. I think the Baltimore-Pittsburgh game will be sleepy as well, but still interesting; and the Buzzsaw/Eagles game will be interesting for a completely different reason. Larry Fitzgerald, for one, but the Deadspin angle will also be fun.

On Kane and Crazy

by Ryan

Please read this before the Buffalo News' archives sucks it out of the Internet forever. Don't think about who wrote it, just consider the message it is sending out and the player giving the quotes. I know most people rarely like what Bucky Gleason has to say, but this one's an interesting example of his work.

When you are dealing with a niche sport, the marketing buzzwords change completely. Hockey is one of those niche sports, and it's clear that the NHL is no longer a part of the "Big Four" leagues. There is the Big Three (NFL, MLB, NBA) and then there is hockey, stuck in the middle of the sports that matter to almost everyone and the sports that matter to individual markets. The NHL matters in lots of markets and Canada, and that's what puts it in between.

Anyway, one big buzzword with the NHL is "youth hockey", and that's why what Bucky is saying here is important. The thesis of his article is "calm the f#$k down, people", and I admit he makes a good case for it. However, I think there is something to be said for the other side of the argument, which he seems to ignore. Let's take what he says about youth hockey parents:

Are you one of them? Hockey parents for years have had a reputation for being over the top, but it appears to be getting worse. For all the good Blackhawks winger Patrick Kane brought to the region over the past two years, his success could very well be the worst thing to happen to a growing population of parents who think Little Johnny is the next one.

I’m not trying to squash the dreams of kids, who should pursue their goals so long as they’re enjoying the game. This is for parents who believe they serve breakfast to future Division I players or NHL prospects without having a clue what it takes to get there.

Exactly. Bucky's main point is that hockey parents go way too far in pushing their kids. This is true of almost every youth sports parent, but with hockey it seems especially evident. There isn't much research behind this, but it may have something to do with the temperature of rinks and the sticker shock of a Synergy. That's a volatile combination, especially when your child is playing the team that takes more hacks than Adam Dunn.

Here's where Bucky starts to lose track: the numbers.

Here’s an invitation to reality. Twenty-two players from Western New York are playing Division I hockey. It appears to be an impressive number, but is it?

It’s less than 1.5 percent, three of every 200. Basically, your kid needs to be one of the top players in his age group across the entire region to play D-I, assuming you didn’t suffocate his passion before high school. By the way, of the 22, many were given only partial scholarships, some none at all.

You think Little Johnny is going pro? Think again. High school players alone are in the minority, and less than one in 300 will be drafted by an NHL team. More than 200 players are selected every year in the draft, but only about 40 will ever reach the NHL.

All of the above is true. However, we're already talked about some pretty impressive numbers when it comes to NHL talent coming from New York. Let's go back to Mirtle's original post here.

The rest are mainly from good ol' Western New York, where the Sabres have made quite an impact and are a big, big part of the sporting landscape. Buffalonians in the NHL? Patrick Kane. Lee Stempniak. Todd Marchant, Patrick Kaleta and Nick Foligno.

Add in this stretch between Buffalo and Utica, and you've got a few more from the pipeline. Players from this 200-mile I-90 corridor (which I realize stretches outside of WNY) also include Robbie Schremp, Marty Reasoner, Jay Leach, Brian Gionta, Tim Connolly, Erik Cole, Ryan Callahan and Dustin Brown.

These days, there is a ton of high school hockey being played throughout New York, a relatively new development. Steve Manson, editor of the Western New York Hockey Magazine, recently called the state "the biggest and best kept secret in USA Hockey."

Some credit the fact there are a lot of former Sabres settled in the area, working as coaches, while others point to the success of minor-league hockey in Binghamton, Syracuse, Rochester, etc.

Twenty years ago, New York born players made up just 4 per cent of the U.S. population in the NHL, and last season, that number hit 15 per cent.

This isn't pitting the two sets of statistics up against each other, but rather looking at it from the other side. The few players that do make it to the NHL from Western New York is still a significant amount in the bigger picture, and each player that does make it is a marketing dream for the Sabres. Other than divisional games, which home games get more interest than games against teams with former players and homecomings for local boys?

Factor in those games with the "youth hockey" push and you have a bustling hockey market. Youth hockey has been cited as a big reason hockey works in Dallas. How much did we hear about youth hockey during All Star weekend in Dallas two years ago, and how often do we hear it cited as a reason hockey is struggling in Florida? Getting kids involved in a niche sport is something we hear about constantly, and while it may not always work for soccer, it seems to be a bit more effective for hockey. Getting kids on the ice instead of a basketball court means they grow up idolizing Derek Roy over LeBron, and makes them a hockey fan for life.

Rivet's comments are spot on, the game should be about having fun. For everyone involved, hockey should be fun. It's why I watch, and although I've never seriously played hockey I love playing pickup or even just the occasional skate. When I was little there was nothing I looked forward to more than turning on Empire at seven to watch the Sabres play. It was my way of getting involved in the game, but for some it takes playing it themselves.

I understand what Gleason is trying to say through the numbers and Rivet's comments, but I think he's missing the point of youth hockey just as much as some hockey parents do. There will always be people who take things too far, and every few months we hear of parents wreaking havoc down at the local rink; but that doesn't outweigh the inherent good that youth hockey brings. For every parent that thinks their son or daughter is the next Thomas Vanek there are teams full of kids who just want to pretend to be him, if only for a few minutes.

For decades there have been overbearing parents trying to make their children superstars. I'm sure Little Suzy Saxophone's parents aren't worried about fun, either; and Bobby Basketball probably wants to see his friends, too. These parents aren't going anywhere, and if they won't listen to their own children when they ask for ice cream they certainly won't listen to you preach.

It's a solid article, but if these people really are crazy, what makes you think they are going to change? What's the definition of insanity again? Right.

The Difference

by Ryan

Two chances in Saturday night's game. Which one gets the red light?



Or... this one:



Yeah, I thought you'd pick that one.



They are two completely different plays, but when compared side by side they can summarize Saturday quite nicely. The Sabres' chance is a 2 on 1 operated by Hecht. Not a lot of speed, it looked iffy the entire way, and the pass to Pominville was led just a bit too far. It goes up on end and Pominville never gains proper control of it, so no shot gets off. It's just one opportunity, but one late in a tie game with very few chances for the Sabres.

The Detroit opportunity was just the result of hard work. A good cycle and a great shot/pass from Hudler puts it right on the tape, and with Miller down Samuelsson doesn't miss. There may be a bit of luck involved, but when Detroit got good chances they made them count, and less than 30 seconds later Hossa puts the game away. A good effort from Miller wasted in the dying minutes of a winnable hockey game.

What's interesting about these two scoring chances is that their results reflect exactly how I felt watching the game. There was never a doubt in my mind that Detroit was going to win. I kept saying that "the hammer is going to drop", and with each chance and each big save I wondered when it would happen. I never felt that way with the Sabres' chances, the few of them that they had.

The Sabres were outshot 48-22 on Saturday, and the first two periods they had single digit shot totals. It's obvious that the effort necessary to beat a team like Detroit just wasn't there, and even with Miller standing on his head they wouldn't be able to get that second goal. It should go down as a frustrating game, but to be completely honest I never expected them to be in a position to win in the first place. The Roy line produced a crash-the-net goal and nothing more all night, and the few chances the Sabres had weren't a problem for Ty Conklin.

I should probably be upset with the effort the team showed this weekend, but they did split the weekend series with very little going for them. Miller was great against one good team and one great team; and a loss that late in the third is frustrating I can't say it was unexpected. Despite the anemic play in front of Ryan, the Sabres are slowly climbing the standings while the teams around them continue to struggle.

It's not really progress and the schedule is still tough, but the Sabres are better off then they were a week ago. I guess that's all you can ask for on a Monday in January.

Reviving the second ranked offense

By Jon

The coaching carousel continues to turn, but one of the hot candidates was taken off the market when the Broncos reached an agreement with former Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels last night. While he was certainly a hot commodity and a chic candidate for several coaching vacancies, Denver's decision seems to be more than a little curious.

Let's take a look at Denver's regular season team stats, shall we?

Team offense (NFL Rank in parentheses)
Overall rank: 2
Total yards: 6333 (2)
Yards/game: 395.8 (2)
Total rush yards: 1862 (12)
Rush yards/game: 116.4 (12)
Total pass yards: 4471 (3)
Pass yards/game: 279.4 (3)
Points/game: 23.1 (16)

Now without even looking at the defensive numbers, you know they are going to be atrocious. How does a team ranked 2nd in team offense finish with a losing record? Terrible defense, that's how. Just for kicks, lets take a look at the defensive side of the ball.

Team Defense (NFL Rank in parentheses)
Overall rank: 29
Total yards allowed: 5993 (29)
Yards/game allowed: 374.6 (29)
Rush yards allowed: 2337 (27)
Rush yards/game allowed: 146.1 (27)
Pass yards allowed: 3656 (26)
Pass yards/game allowed: 228.5 (26)
Points allowed/game: 28.0 (30)

Now, common sense should tell everyone with half a brain that the Broncos need someone to come in and shore up the defense. Apparently the Denver brass missed the memo. McDaniels' defensive experience? Two years as a "defensive coaching assistant" in New England, for what it's worth.

According to Chris Mortensen at the WWL, Denver owner Pat Bowlen wanted a fresh, young face to take control of the team, but if you were planning on hiring someone with an offensive background, why did you fire Shanahan in the first place? His offensive approach seemed to be working quite well. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Therein lies another gripe: McDaniels' age. He's 32. He looks like he's about 23, tops. Now, I'm going to go way out on a limb here and say that the seven players on the Denver roster that are 32 or older may have a bit of an issue taking orders from their peer, especially after playing for one of the most respected coaches of all time. When Mike Shanahan took over as Denver's coach, Josh McDaniels was 18. I'm just sayin'.

Maybe Bowlen wanted some of the Belichick magic to rub off on his team? I mean, that's worked out for other teams hiring Patriot assistants, right? Oh wait ... no it hasn't. The Belichick coaching tree isn't exactly Walshian, now is it?

Maybe McDaniels will succeed. Maybe he will hire some hotshot defensive coordinator that will make all of Denver's problems go away. But are you sending the right message to your fans when you fire a future hall-of-famer that has been at the helm for fourteen years and replace him with some young punk with far less impressive credentials? Probably not.

Don't worry Broncos fans, at least he's not Dick Jauron.

Jonny Flynn Says Hello

by Ryan



Mike Rosario says ow ow ow.

Easy Answer

by Ryan

No matter what you write or how well you write it, there are always people who get the wrong message out of it all. It's no one's fault, really, there are just so many elements of human communication that sometimes a signal gets crossed and the wrong impression is left. For example, here is what Bill Simmons had to say about the Cardinals/Panthers game that took place tonight:

Something wacky is happening with these Saturday night playoff games. The NFL didn't start having them until January 2002, the month when the Raiders traveled to New England for the "Snow Game" (what Pats fans call it) or "Tuck Rule Game" (what Oakland fans call it). Either way, it was one of the 10 most memorable playoff games ever played and the most famous "push" of the Double-Ohs. We've seen at least one memorable Saturday nighter every January since; the underdogs covered the past five in a row; and 10 of those 17 Saturday nighters were memorable in some way. Here's the complete list:

2002, Round 2 (N.E. by 3 at home): Pats 16, Raiders 13. The Snow Game. (Hah!)

2003, Round 1 (G.B. by 6.5 at home): Falcons 27, Packers 7. Vick rolls through Lambeau and murders everyone's two-team Packers-Jets tease; everyone finally sees through the "Favre is a big-game QB" myth.

2004, Round 2 (N.E. by 6 at home): Pats 17, Titans 14. Two degrees, minus-11 wind chill. Brrrrrrr. Adam Vinatieri somehow kicks a rock of a football 46 yards for the winning points (his greatest non-"Snow Game" kick).

2005, Round 1 (S.D. by 6 at home): Jets 20, Bolts 17 A classic Schottenheimer playoff collapse. Just classic. Can't somebody hire him again? Please?

2006, Round 2 (Denver by 3 at home): Broncos 27, Pats 13. An atypical Brady stinker combined with Champ Bailey's bizarre 99-yard interception TD in which Ben Watson stripped him at the goal line but the refs ruled it a score. I'm still bitter.

2007, Round 1 (Seattle by 2 at home): Seahawks 21, Cowboys 20. The Romo Game (if you're from Dallas) and the Babineaux Game (if you're from Seattle). Regardless, this was a Pancreas Punch Game for Cowboys fans.

2007, Round 2 (N.O. by 5 at home): Saints 27, Eagles 24. A rollicking semi-shootout with a fantastic post-Katrina Superdome crowd.

2008, Round 1 (Jax by 2.5 on road): Jaguars 31, Steelers 29. The game that earned David Garrard $60 million.

2008, Round 2 (N.E. by 13.5 at home): Pats 31, Jaguars 20. 19-0 was in secret jeopardy for a while. Surprisingly tense.

2009, Round 1 (Indy by 1.5 on road): Chargers 23, Colts 17. The Mike Scifres Clinic, as well as the game that probably will get the OT rules (thankfully) overturned in some way.

So that's 10 memorable Saturday night playoff games. What's the reason? I couldn't possibly tell you. You got me. I'm stumped. Now throw this in …

Thanks to a tip from Mike Wilkening (an editor at Pro Football Weekly), we're also working on a streak in which three straight double-digit Round 2 favorites failed to cover: the '05 Colts (gave 10 to Pittsburgh, lost by three); '07 Colts (gave 10.5 to San Diego, lost by four) and '07 Patriots (gave 13.5 to Jacksonville, won by 11). Since 1990, double-digit favorites in Round 2 are 9-7-1 against the spread and 12-5 straight up. Of those nine covers, the favorite won by 17-plus in every game. Of the six favorites favored by between 10 and 11 points since 1990, four of them ('95 Niners, '95 Chiefs, '05 Colts, '07 Colts) lost outright; the other two ('91 Bills, '01 Rams) won by a combined 62 points.

Here's why I'm telling you all of this: If you like the Panthers, you'd better really like them.

Before I read this I believed tonight's game would be competitive. The deep threat of Fitzgerald and Bolden was for real, and at the very least this game could develop into a bit of a shootout if things go right. After having all that laid out for me, I only believed this more. I suppose that's my initial feelings being positively reinforced, who knows.

Either way, after all that reasoning and hard work he goes and picks the Panthers.

Well, I really like them. The weekend couldn't have worked out better, actually: A limited Arizona team broke two big plays, got a fluke fumble-return TD and took advantage of a deafening home crowd to overachieve against a young team that never caught a break. Now the Cardinals are on the road -- where they went 3-5 this season and got blown out by the Jets, Pats and Eagles by the combined score of 151-62 -- and playing 2008's best home team (8-0), a well-balanced, well-coached team that will run it down their throats. What am I missing?

A lot, I guess. This is in no way a "I'm smarter than Bill Simmons" post, in fact it's quite the opposite. I just think it's interesting that the exact same information laid out and interpreted by two different people could come to two completely different conclusions. Based on our preconceived notions I suppose this shouldn't be shocking, but I find it really interesting that he did all that and still couldn't convince himself to change his pick.

Did he really "miss" something, or is there something more to it? Is the NFL at a point where anyone can beat anyone anywhere, or is there something about a time slot that changes how games are played? All I thought was that the game would be entertainingly close, and I was dead wrong. There was never any doubt, but for the other team. Everyone loves to say they are right, but can anyone really say they expected "Arizona 33, Panthers 13"?

If not, then I think there's plenty to talk about here. Does anyone have any ideas about... any of that before I start talking about hockey again? Just with expectations and playoff football, I suppose. Feel free, that's all I'm watching all day.

Transitions in the Transition Game

By Chris

It looks as though Chris Butler and Ryan Miller will see the ice tonight as the Sabres take on the Detroit Red Wings from Joe Louis Arena.

John Vogl reports that Henrik Tallinder will likely watch the game from the press box and it shouldn't come as a great surprise.

Say what you will about Brian Campbell (he was a liability on defense and was overrated around the league as a physical presence) but he could get the puck up the ice better than anyone in a Sabres uniform in the last 10 years (apologizes to Richard Smehilk and Mike Wilson). Andrej Sekera has shown promise as a No. 1 puck-moving defenseman, but the defensive corps have struggled with the breakout passes for most of this season. With the first pass so important in the Sabres' system, not having a consistent defenseman pulling the trigger has obviously caused some problems.

Butler has shown the ability and will get the chance to prove himself again tonight. It's a little surprising that Tallinder is getting the sit down instead of Teppo Numminen, who you would think would like a rest every now and then (we've been saying that since he signed though). It's another statement from Ruff to Tallinder that he needs to be on his game every game.

It also shows how far Nathan Paetsch has fallen out of the coach's good graces. At this point, they should just waive him to make permanent room for Butler, who's getting close to not being protected from the waiver wire. And if a team snatches up Paetsch, then so be it. It appears he's ninth on the depth chart now anyways.

With Miller getting the nod tonight, look for Lalime to get the start in his Chicago homecoming on Wednesday.

Tonight is a good test for the Sabres. We all know what Detroit brings to the table so if the Sabres can play like they did in the third period against the Rangers and leave the other half of that abomination behind them, then we should be looking at a high-flying match. Game time is at 7 p.m.

A View From The Roost: Miller Steals One

By Chris

Ryan Miller got it done last night. That's why the Sabres were able to get two points against the Rangers. The only shot he let it was one he couldn't see. Forty-three saves on 44 shots plus three in the shootout should get the job done no matter who you're playing. Last night, it resulted in a 2-1 win and the Sabres continue to roll through the calendar year.

Watching Chris Drury come down on the shootout...you had a feeling he was going to do something. We all know what Drury is capable of. But Miller rose to the occasion and slammed the door shut. And just like that the Sabres had two points in their pocket that, as a team, they didn't deserve.

-A majority of the saves Miller had to make were outside shots that didn't have much of a chance of going in. Credit there goes to the Sabres best three defensemen last night: Lydman, Rivet and Spacek. It was tight-checking neutral zone game until things started to open up in the third period and those three helped get the job done. At times, Rivet and Lydman look like a sold No. 1 pairing but so far this year, Ruff hasn't been reluctant to mix up the pairings as the game progresses.

-I don't know what Tallinder and Numminen were doing on that Rangers goal, but they looked completely lost. Colton Orr could have had a picnic lunch in front of the net and no one would have moved him out of the way.

-The lack of a transition game really hurt the team last night. The first pass out of the defensive zone was often deflected or intercepted and that's one of the main reasons the Sabres struggled for most of the game. More on this later today.

-Connolly returned last night. He looked a little rusty as to be expected, but he was able to create a few opportunities that made you sit back and remember why the Sabres refuse to give up on him. Buffalo is a better team with him on the ice without question but, as Ryan talked about yesterday, he's not out there nearly enough.

I hope I wasn't the only one drooling a little bit when Ruff put Connolly with Vanek in the overtime period. Hopefully that's something we see more of in the future.


-If Matt Ellis continues to play with as much passion as he showed last night, then he should be in the line up every game. He has a tremendous work ethic that rubs off on the other players.

Just before the Derek Roy goal, Ellis was streaking down the right wing with the puck. He gets the puck in deep and the next thing you know, the Vanek line has possession and puts the puck in. Ellis has become a bit of a spark plug and hopefully that continues.

-The pass Vanek made to Stafford on the Roy goal was a thing of beauty. Cross-ice, through Drury's legs, right on the tape. A little lucky? Maybe, but it takes a lot of skill and confidence to even attempt a pass like that.

-It's inexcusable that the scoreboard read 10:02 into the second period when the Sabres finally got their first shot on goal in the second period. The Rangers dominated the first 15 minutes of the period, but it's embarrassing that it took Buffalo that long to get ANYTHING going. The Rangers didn't look like a team with a second gear either, but if the Sabres want to keep this streak alive and beat quality teams, they can't be coasting through half the game.

-No Rangers penalties? Really?

-I was shocked Kotalik didn't go backhand on the Rangers backup goalie.


Actually, too, if Lundqvist had been in net, I bet we would have seen a much more wide-open game. The Rangers defense hung back for most of the game to cover, instead of pinching up into the play had Steve Valiquette not been between the pipes.

-The Rozsival incident was a bit scary. They never showed it on the Jumbotron so I still haven't seen a clear shot of what happened, but seeing something like that always puts a damper on whatever is going on at ice level.

-The crowd was pretty subdued last night. Granted they didn't have a lot to cheer about until the end of the game, but even from the get go, all 18,300-some in attendance seemed as out of it as the Sabres did. So much for those rowdy Friday night crowds.

- 4-0 in 2009. *Knocks on wood*

Emerging from mom's basement

By Jon

The rumors aren't true: The Goose's Roost is not written by one man (Ryan) with four distinct personalities. Really, there are four contributors (Though one deprives himself of enough sleep and humanly contact to write 2,500 words three times a day while the other three ride on his coattails.)

Don't believe us? Then join us tomorrow at Casa di Pizza on Elmwood for a night of pizza, beverages and bloggers, emerging from the depths of their mother's basements and bravely exposing themselves to the outside world to crowd around a television watching grown men play hockey.

Those expected in attendance: Myself, Ryan, and Rich from the Roost (I'm working on Chris), the girl(s?) from Sabretooth's House, Kevin from BfloBlog, Tedd from First Time, Long Time, Peter and Andrew from USRT, and many others.

Rangers and ex-Sabres

by Ryan

Whenever the Rangers come up on the schedule, I think of Chris Drury.

I can't help it. He's still one of my favorite hockey players to this day, and I've thought about his style of hockey a lot over the past few years. I'm not filled with obsessive thoughts; I don't scan his box scores or look for articles about him, and you wouldn't catch me dead in a Rangers #23 shirsey. Still, when the Rangers highlights come on it's no longer Jagr, Leetch, and Richter that come to mind. It's Chris Drury.

That being said, I don't feel the attachment to Chris I used to. I like his game, I like what he brings to a hockey team, but he's a Ranger and that's fine. It's pretty obvious that the further we get away from that summer the more we understand what happened. To be quite honest, I'm completely okay with it. The Sabres were decidedly moving in a certain direction, and unfortunately they got burned. Then the Vanek thing happened. But whatever. The team is fine, and everyone involved is okay.

But why am I talking about that now? This is a huge game for the Sabres, who sit in 8th with quite a few teams on their heels. The Rangers are currently in 5th, six points ahead of the Sabres. You can throw in the "four point game" moniker if you'd like, but that's your call. Buffalo's been on a roll lately, and this is the last home game for quite some time. Many are already considering tomorrow's trip to Detroit in the loss column, so a good showing tonight is important before the long road trip.

Kevin sets it up much better than I did, so I'd take a look at that and get a good read on the Rangers. Chris is going to the game and will handle the View post, and I'll have a few ramblings up in a bit, including where to watch the game with us tomorrow.

GO! GO! GO! GO! GO! GO!

by Ryan

I have no idea how Thom Brennaman and Charles Davis got into the broadcast booth last night, but Fox shouldn't give the keys to just anyone. Here's the pair losing track of what down it is. Should Oklahoma kick a field goal on third and goal? Davis gives an emphatic no. Smart.



The broadcast was a train wreck throughout the evening. Awful Announcing has a good collection of quotes and analysis and the video above, while Deadspin has The Best Sound Clip Ever About The Greatest Football Playing Quarterback of All Time.

After the third quarter I left my house and had to listen to part of the fourth in the car. I'm not exaggerating when I say the radio broadcast was at least 300 times better than the TV one. I forget who was doing it, but for the first time all night I felt like I was being told what was going on rather than being talked at in a confusing, roundabout way.

Seriously, is that team the best Fox had to offer? Somewhere between the orgasms of Thom and the dead air that is Joe Buck is a decent broadcast. Somewhere.

On Timmy

by Ryan

I'm excited about tonight's game for a lot of reasons, most of which I will get to later on. This morning I want to talk about the return of Tim Connolly. When it comes to Connolly's career, so much of the conversation focuses on things other than hockey. His injuries, his extracurricular activities, whether or not he wears a visor. Almost everything we as fans talk about has nothing to do with his play on ice.



The easy answer for this is that he just isn't on the ice enough. Over the past five seasons, Timmy has missed 249 out of 368 games. That's an incredible number of missed games, and it's easy to understand the frustration felt by almost everyone involved with his career. Whenever I get mad about Timmy and his injuries, I only imagine what he feels like; all that potential never getting a chance to shine.

It's hard for people to get excited about Connolly anymore, but when healthy he is one of the best players on this team. I've talked about it before, but the fact of the matter is that when Connolly's on the active roster he produces. That can't be said about some other question marks on this team, and for that I give Connolly the benefit of the doubt at times.

Despite all the jokes and all the frustration we've expressed over the last few seasons, the fact of the matter is that Tim Connolly is still one of my favorite hockey players. The natural ability he has is something I will always envy, and the way he plays the game is something I still respect about him. Lindy brought up an interesting point when talking about Connolly's game earlier in the week.

“He doesn’t play like he’s been hurt. I think you’ve got to give him credit for that,” Head Coach Lindy Ruff said. “He doesn’t go out and play a soft game. If he went out and played a soft game, he would have totally avoided the play against the St. Louis player. But he didn’t. He’s the type of guy that wants to take the puck into traffic and wants to draw people to him and he wants to use that ability to open people up.

“That puts him sometimes in jeopardy of suffering some tough hits.”

I think Ruff has a really good take on not only what makes Connolly so good, but also explains a lot of what happens to his body. Despite all of the injuries and risk, he works the boards hard and isn't afraid to take a hit to make plays. It's a high risk asset, but an asset that's essential to his game. I don't think Connolly would be as valuable to a hockey team if he didn't take those hits and work that hard, yet at the same time it's hard to justify his utility when he's on the shelf so often.

It's an interesting little catch-22, but one that he appears to be completely aware of. Here's what he said in that same article:

“The only thing I can control is going out there, playing the game and playing to the best of my ability,” Connolly said. “We have to go out there and win hockey games and concentrate on getting this team to the playoffs."

I'm going to be honest, I love the hell out of that quote. I really do think that Connolly does everything he can to get back on the ice, and it's obvious that he wants to be out there. If he wanted to sit in the press box and collect that salary he wouldn't have played with broken ribs, and if he didn't love the game he would just hang it up when the risk gets too great. Something tells me that's not how Tim Connolly thinks, and no matter who signs him this summer he's going to keep playing the same was he always has.

It's silly and certainly a bit naive, but every time Tim Connolly comes back from an injury I get a little excited. Maybe this is it, maybe that was the last big injury and he's going to pull it together. We all know he's valuable on the power play, and once he makes that first defenseman miss you'll remember exactly why he signed that contract way back when. If he finishes out the year and produces, then maybe, just maybe, someone will want him on their team. Maybe even here. Turn things around. Who knows, right?

I really do know better. The cynical hockey fan in me says he plays a half dozen games and gets caught with his head down. Or slips off a bar stool. Or falls down a well. Something is bound to happen, and that's not often the slogan of an optimist. Still, the hope is there, and I'd like to think I'm not the only one thinking like that today. It's not a whole lot of faith, but it's enough for me to appreciate him when he hits the ice.



Oh Tim Connolly, I find it quite hard to quit you.

College Football Post

by Ryan

Before you watch the Oklahoma/Florida BCS National Championship game, please take the time to read this. It's totally worth it.

If you don't believe me, the link is to a Slate article written by Bill James. Yes, that Bill James. The good news is that it reads a little less complex than this, which almost made me pass out when Rich showed it to me last night. To sum things up, Bill James absolutely murders the BCS, the computer rankings, and pretty much everyone involved in the entire process.



So tomorrow when you see all those "The BSC doesn't work, it just didn't feel right" columns everywhere, don't bother reading them. You already know better, and I doubt you'll see a better constructed argument anywhere else. Either way, enjoy the game tonight. It should be a good one.

What's a Jarkko to Do Tonight?

by Ryan



Tonight the Senators finish up the road trip from hell against the Boston Bruins. Based on what we saw in the last two Sabres games, this one will be a bloodbath. Missing the game will be Jarkko Ruutu, who still isn't sure why he got a two game vacation. Our advice for him is to just enjoy the time off. Buy one of these, get some snacks, grab your favorite seat on the couch, and just try to enjoy the game.



We recommend burgundy.

Vanek, Gerbe, Kennedy, Mancari: All-Stars

By Chris

Thomas Vanek will make his first appearance as an NHL All-Star when the event takes place in Montreal at the end of the month. It's no surprise as Atlas is enjoying one of the most spectacular individual seasons in recent Sabres history. Vanek will be the Sabres' lone representative on the Eastern Conference squad.

Full Roster here.

Also, down on the farm, Pirates forwards Nathan Gerbe and Tim Kennedy will represent Team PlanetUSA in the AHL All-Star Game. Gerbe is slated to start in the game. Mark Mancari will play for Team Canada.

Other notables with Buffalo ties that will take part in the event: Drew Miller, Rory Fitzpatrick and my personal favorite, Mike Ryan (MJ over at My Safety Is Harvard should be thrilled).

Full rosters here and here.

The Return - Featuring Pat Burrell & Barry Sanders

by Rich

Morning, everybody. I'm Rich, and if you've been around the Roost for long enough, you may remember me from the somewhat distant past. So yeah, I've been out of the game for a while and I'm still rounding back into form, but hopefully I'll be able to lighten the posting load on Ryan a little before the dude totally loses his mind. At the moment, the appropriate analogy for his role in this blog is somewhere between Minnesota-era Garnett and Barry Sanders...well, the whole time he was on the Lions. Actually, those are both pretty depressing. Pre-Pippen MJ, maybe? That's better, I guess (although I lack both the arm length and rebounding ability that comparison implies).

ANYWAY, on to the item that actually spurred my comeback. In the past, I've bitched about awful sportswriting quite a few times, but at the moment my issue is with the complete lack of attention being paid to one recent Hot Stove transaction: Pat Burrell's signing as the Rays DH.

If you've been within 30 feet of a television during the past month or so, you probably noticed that the Yankees got some attention for spending roughly $800 trillion on a fat guy, Carl Pavano 2.0, and Mark Teixeira. That's all well and good, and I'm not here to talk trash about King Hank I's little spending spree (there's a lot of offseason left and believe me, I will get to it). The media showing New York love is nothing new, and it's certainly not something that's going to change any time soon. I do think it's a little lame, however, when people go crazy over everything the Yankees do while ignoring the fact that the team that won their division (and the American League, for that matter) added the one thing they needed for relatively cheap.

Last year the Rays shocked everybody with their run to the World Series, and they did it with Cliff Floyd DH-ing and nobody on the team that could handle left-handed pitching. Burrell pretty much covers both of those weaknesses. Check out the head-to-head comparison (or lack thereof):


Cliff Floyd:

.268 / .349 / .455 , 24 extra-base hits (11 HR), 28 walks in 246 AB

Pat Burrell:

.250 / .367 / .507, 69 extra-base hits (33 HR), 102 walks in 536 AB


So yeah, little bit of a difference there. Some may point out that Burrell's numbers are obviously going to be much higher in "counting" stats because he accumulated more than twice as many at-bats as Floyd last year. They're right, but that's because Cliff Floyd can't play against lefties. Burrell rakes against lefthanders, OPS-ing .952 last year compared to the Rays as a team, who managed just .726 (hat tip to Tim Dierkes at MLBTR for having those numbers so I didn't have to look for them at 5 in the morning).

I guess what I'm saying is this: yeah, the Yankees added a ton of names this offseason, but the defending AL champs added the one thing they were missing; a full-time DH who murders lefthanders. Oh, and all those other guys in Tampa? They're just another year more polished and now they know how good they actually are. The AL East is going to be a war this year, no matter how much cash the Yanks shovel into the furnace.

I can already hear the cowbells.

Who Makes the All Star Team?

by Ryan

Today the Eastern All Star reserves are announced, and it's pretty obvious who will get selected from Buffalo's roster. Still, the Sabres don't play until tomorrow and there's not all that much to talk about. Here we go:



Thomas Vanek. C'mon people, it's Atlas we're talking about here. He's currently in a three-way tie for most goals (27), and 25th overall in points. If Vanek doesn't make it, Austria will invade a neighboring nation. Probably Liechtenstein. You hear that, Bettman? BLOOD WILL BE ON YOUR HANDS!!!



Derek Roy. Just look at him. He's adorable, he rarely frowns, and according to Mike Fisher up there he looks fantastic in hockey pants. Currently 24th in total points, it would seem logical that he gets in as well. His problem may lie in the abundance of centers ahead of him on that list, but for the sake of simplicity let's say he makes it so we can all be upset about it come noon-ish.

Do I think he deserves to be there? Yeah, probably. I don't love his effort the majority of the time, and I agree with Kevin when he says that, "He is the face of the Sabres problems to this point (no, he isn’t the problem, but he represents all the bad qualities with which this team is capable of playing)." Actually, that pretty much nails it.

Still, do you see Roy on a roster alongside Malkin, Savard, Backstrom, Richards, and Krejci? Yeah, me either.

So... what about Jason Pominville? He has 31 points and has been decent all year, right? While this is true, the same can be said for a half dozen other guys. He's had a good season, but the difference between 37 points and 31 points on the year is about 40 spots on the leader board. I doubt many Sabres fans really gave Pominville a second look for the team, but I thought it was interesting to see the difference between a good year and an all star performance. From the looks of this it's about six points.

When rosters get announced, we'll be sure to let you know about it.

Ruutu, Murray, and Kool & the Gang

by Ryan

Just a few things to get you through the evening:

- Oh hey look, Ruutu got two games. That was fast. I'm not going to complain about the length because a part of me is just happy he got anything at all.

- The interesting thing about this whole situation is that everyone is talking about fighting again. Um, what fighting? Even after all that drama there were zero fights last night. This bite happened in a scrum along the boards, but it never escalated into a true altercation. I really feel like this has nothing to do with fighting because even if/when they finally kill fighting in this sport, these scrums are going to continue. So will incidents like this.

- Before the Ruutu bite Peters and Neil got involved around the same area. Did anyone actually think Neil was going to drop right by his own bench? I give Peters credit for not getting carried away, but we should all know better than to expect Chris Neil actually does anything so close to the head shaking "no" on the bench. Speaking of that...

- Hey hey! The Sabres got another head coach fired! Our one coach per year quota has been filled! And Murray, too?



WOO HOO!*

*It's only a newspaper report, but still. Let me have this.

UPDATE: Not so fast, apparently. Ottawa ownership denying the firings and the eventual arrival of Pat Quinn (which would totally make sense, kind of like having secondary scorers on your team).

- Matt Ellis now has more goals than Mike Fisher. Did I mention Fisher makes $6 million this year?

- It looks like we will be seeing Brad May at bit more often.

- The rivalry between the Sabres and Senators has changed so much over the last few seasons. The two teams have had history before (as much history as a team only a few decades old can have, I guess), but since the lockout it has exploded into something completely different. This morning Chris and I were talking about it and he said something to the effect of, "It had to be Ottawa, didn't it?"

Think about it this way: most people have all but forgotten about the Briere/Ovechkin incident. Hindsight has moved us beyond arguing over whether it was a dirty play, and Briere's spearing habit and subsequent actions with the Flyers has changed just how much we care about that incident. That absolutely hasn't happened with Ottawa, and no matter who Chris Drury plays for the Drury/Neil incident will stay with Sabres fans.

It wasn't just that hit but all the games played before it, and all the events that followed it. There is only Briere/Ovechkin, but it isn't just Drury/Neil. It's Sabres/Senators, and that's what makes it a real rivalry. Today everyone is talking about Ruutu/Peters, but in time it will become just another chapter in the battles between the Sabres and Senators.

Today we look forward to Capitals games because Alexander Ovechkin is the best player in hockey. That's an aspect of the sport that everyone can appreciate, but a true rivalry is what hockey is all about. Natural goal scoring talent is one thing, but if you're not looking forward to February 7th and that awkward home and home against Ottawa, you don't have a pulse.

And just because we can:

Jigsaw Falling Into Place

by Ryan

Okay, one more time:



The scary thing is that it only took six white dots to make that happen. He really was that pale.

---

It only took fifteen seconds to decide whether the Sabres were willing to play hockey last night. The Sabres forechecked hard on a rookie defenseman, pinched to cause a turnover, and before you know it Goose makes a nice pass to Matt Ellis and it's in. Suddenly it's 1-0 and they are doing exactly what they need to do against a team like Ottawa.

Before the period is over it's 2-0, with the Vanek/Roy/Stafford line making something out of nothing. Everyone involved makes a smart play, with Vanek waiting along the half-wall just long enough to attract two Senators and still get it out. Roy skates hard to get to the puck first, then has the vision necessary to realize he had no real chance, but a trailer is coming. He makes a nice pass to Stafford, who does his job by skating himself into the play and going hard to the net. It was a soft goal and a bit of luck, but it's the kind of goal your best line deserves based on the effort.

The Sabres carried that play into the second, with that same line putting in a garbage goal. Think about the way both of those goals are scored by three of the most talented players on this team: hard work. For all the natural ability Roy, Vanek, and Stafford have; it was them giving that extra stride or taking the physical punishment in front of the net to make the plays and get these goals. You can say both goals are lucky, but that's discounting a whole lot of effort given by a team that had been lacking a pulse for some time now.



So the Sabres have a three goal lead on a team that has only managed to score 87 goals on the season. Things are looking good until Ryan Miller goes out to lunch. I'm not sure what he was thinking about on the first Spezza goal, but it was probably something important like what color fedora to wear during his charity event. He still isn't playing great hockey, and his positioning isn't fantastic; but Miller would come up big later on when it really mattered.

Going into the third I couldn't shake the feeling that the Sabres were going to lose this game. It was the feeling I had when they played Boston, and the same feeling I had on New Year's Day. It's a side effect of the hockey we've seen, and maybe we've gotten just a bit too used to this team losing leads. Perhaps I shouldn't be happily surprised when they play a period of great defensive hockey, and if that's the case then tonight is the kind of game that will help me shake that feeling.

The way the Sabres played in the third is what divides mediocre hockey teams from good hockey teams. We all know the Sabres currently have the status of a mediocre team. This isn't awful, but it certainly isn't satisfactory. They need their defense to improve, and they need to learn how to win close games. That's what the Sabres did in the third period, despite their best defenseman sitting in the press box.

Give Miller credit here, he came up big when it mattered. In the end he made 31 saves, some of them fantastic, and he kept a one goal lead from turning into another point given away. The forwards did nice work along the boards as well, but Miller looked determined to keep that lead after those two goals he let in during the second.



Before you know it Vanek has the empty netter, and it's all over. The Sabres did their job and beat a team they should beat every time. It wasn't pretty, and it sure wasn't without controversy; but good teams beat bad teams on home ice. After all the lost points we've seen over the past two years, you can't complain about the final score, and you certainly can't hate the effort.

This was another little step you wanted to see from a team that looks to be coming into its own. The Sabres are getting healthier, getting good work from its defense, and starting to see some consistent effort from the forwards. They may not have gained much ground in the standings, but games like these are the ones you forget about at season's end. You only seem to remember the games you are supposed to win and don't, not the points you expect and actually get.

No matter what we think about tonight, the Sabres sure better forget it fast. This was the easy part of the week, and if you saw the Rangers play on Monday, you know we're in for a much better opponent come Friday night.

Two Minutes for "Being the Bitee"

by Ryan

Before we talk about the game itself, we should probably get this out of the way. I'm not really sure how to react to it because I've never seen anyone get bit during a hockey game. These are the kinds of things I'm just not prepared to discuss, so I apologize if this is meaningless.



I guess we should start with what actually happened, as in "did Jarkko Ruutu bite Andrew Peters?" From what I've seen that answer has to be yes. From then on the severity of the bite, the reaction by Peters, and all that other stuff is rendered moot. Jarkko Ruutu freaking bit someone. Isn't that what really matters here? No matter how badly Peters may have been acting, the very fact that Ruutu was biting in the first place lets Peters off the hook for the potential Oscar bid.



As far as the penalty on Peters, well, I have no idea. I suppose the bite was pretty hard to see at first glance, so that's probably why no penalty was called on Ruutu. In fact, I'd say it was almost impossible to see the bite because who actually looks for that sort of thing in a scrum? After the game Lindy said he had played in games where people have been bitten, so maybe I'm just not old enough to have experience with this kind of thing.



So I guess the question left to answer is whether Jarkko Ruutu should be suspended. If what we think we see in the replay really is there, then he will get suspended for a short period of time. Since Andrew Peters still has a thumb, I wouldn't rule out the idea of Ruutu getting no suspension. We've seen crazier things go without punishment over the last few years, and if he says he didn't do it, well, that's good enough for Colin Campbell!

It's a shame that this is all you'll hear about tomorrow morning, because it really was an important win for the Sabres. Let's address this again when an announcement is made about suspensions; there are more important things to talk about today.

Defense, Defence, Defense

by Ryan

We've already talked about why the Sabres should win tonight, and after what we saw on Saturday there's no excuse not to give a similar effort at home following after two days off. To top all that off, the Sabres are getting healthy again, with Craig Rivet returning to the lineup tonight, and Tim Connolly not far behind. Afinogenov will miss some time after getting run by Chara, but at this point that's not going to be much of a factor.

The Sens are having injury issues as well, with Anton Volchenkov missing the Devils game and likely to miss tonight. Add in Kuba's stint on IR and you have a very weak defense on a team already struggling with that very issue. Ottawa is stressing the importance of this game, but when you are that far down the standings it seems like every game is that important.

Paul Hamilton has word on Teppo's status (questionable), as well as the news of Toni Lydman's illness. He's doubtful tonight, and that's bad news because he was most likely to face the Big Three all night. Craig coming back cushions the blow significantly (if he's anywhere near %100, that is) but it will be interesting to see how the rest of the blueline plays with Lydman out.

Buffalo still has a home record hovering just over .500, but Ottawa comes in with a 4-12-3 record on the road. They just haven't been scoring goals lately, and if Miller turns in a solid performance and the defense defends the Big Three tonight should be easy. The Sabres never seem to make it easy on themselves when playing the Sens, but if there's one game they absolutely should win this week it's this one.



7pm start from the Arena tonight. There aren't many home games this month, so enjoy the HD while it lasts.

WAIT FOR IT!!!

by Ryan

Which one doesn't really fit with the rest? We played this game last night while watching the Fiesta Bowl. Your turn:



What's G? These guys, I guess.

The moral of the story is that I can't drink Gatorade anymore. Not because I don't like the taste, but rather because I don't understand what the hell they are talking about.

What's Wrong With Ottawa?

by Ryan

We haven't seen the Senators since October 27th. They were slumping, but came in and dismantled a lackluster Sabres team. It was Ottawa's 8th win against Buffalo in their last 13 games. That was a long time ago, but when you really think about it not much has changed. The Sabres are still playing up and down hockey, and Ottawa has continued to struggle. A few weeks ago Puck Daddy had a good post about Ottawa's troubles, which included a quote from their Owner, Eugene Melnyk:

"Come March, they're going to talk about the miracle turnaround of the Ottawa Senators."

"I fully expect us to be in the top four teams in the conference."

That's all well and good, but the more you look at this team the easier it is to find the problems. As Wyshynski says, it's pretty obvious that Ottawa is a one line team. Their salaries show it, and their statistics make it quite evident as well. This is a system that Ottawa has used for the last few years, and while they have gotten very, very close to winning it all; this looks like it could be the death rattle of it all.

The problem isn't that the Big Three aren't producing, but that the rest of the team isn't. Take another look at those team statistics; after Spezza, Heatley, and Alfredsson there isn't much left. The next two players on the list are both defenseman, Philip Kuba and Alexandre Picard. Kuba has 22 assists, and Picard only has 13 points total.

Compare that to the middle of the road Sabres, who have ten players with at least 13 points, as well as Numminen and Afinogenov sitting at twelve (and considered complete disappointments to boot). Although the Sabres have struggled, they have maintained the balanced scoring necessary to follow their formula, while still having Roy and Vanek outscoring (or matching) the big three.

Point production from their other lines is an issue, but they have other problems as well. Both Auld and Gerber have struggled, both with below .500 records and a save percentage hovering just above .900. Auld has started more games despite making almost $3 million less than Gerber, which only shows just how much both have struggled.

Their defense has been dismantled and replaced with little effect. Corvo*, Commodore*, Redden, and Meszaros all either were traded or left via free agency this summer, and while Kuba has played very well (he's a monster on the PP) but he's been hurt for some time now. Jason Smith hasn't been great, and the younger players Ottawa has used like Lee and Bell haven't been spectacular, either.

What's scary about Ottawa's current situation is that it happened so fast. They sunk a ton of money into three or four players, signed smaller deals with a group of guys they thought could produce, and suddenly are stuck with a team with very little turnover and a spot in the basement of the East. Things could change and their young talent could improve, but it's getting a bit too late for that this season. Mirtle has his "Push for 90" numbers up, and the Sens would need to finish 29-16-0 to hit the magic number necessary for a playoff spot. When James says to "stick a fork" in Ottawa, I can't argue with him.

That doesn't mean Ottawa won't beat Buffalo tonight, but only that they shouldn't. The Sabres have struggled against Ottawa for the past few seasons, but for as uneven as their play has been they are still the better team. Ottawa has the fatal flaws of top-heavy scoring, bad defense, and disappointing goaltending. The Sabres may have one of those problems, but they are certainly in a position to improve before time runs out.

More on tonight's game in a bit.

*Corvo was traded at the deadline for Commodore, but still.

Are We There Yet?

by Ryan

Amazingly, I've yet to buy the right package to get NHL Network on my television. I know, I know, I'm totally missing out. I've only caught a few games during the World Juniors, and I didn't get to see Canada play once. That means I missed out on seeing our top two draft picks in action, along with Tavares and pretty much half of the first round of last year's draft.



However, I did get to see the championship game tonight, which was freaking great. We went to a bar to watch the Fiesta Bowl, which was also great, and the game was somehow on over the Rangers/Pens game. I'm glad it was, because the Pens sucked again and the hockey played up in Ottawa was much better than most of what I've seen in the NHL this season.

Canada went in search of their fifth straight championship, and Sweden sure didn't take it lying down. The checking was rough, the talent on both sides was fantastic, and despite the lopsided final it never really felt like a rout. Canada kept crashing the net and Sweden kept on the counter-attack, but it was Canada that was too much for Swedish goaltender Jacob Markstrom.



The only think I kept thinking while watching this game was this: "I can't believe this will be in Buffalo in a few years." I'm still not sure the majority of Sabres fans know how lucky we are to get a tournament like this. The level of play and the amount of international attention the U-20 gets is phenomenal, and so many of the players involved become stars in the NHL. This really is the best group of young hockey players in the world, and before you know it they will all be hanging out in Western New York.



I'm excited already.

Final Thoughts on Wild Card Weekend

by Ryan

- I like the elongated moments of silence on the Fox broadcast, but not because they are useful. I just like that I don't have to listen to Joe Buck talk. Does he think he's being a good announcer by not describing anything that's happening, or does he realize that the majority of people tuning in hate him? Discuss.

- It was hard to watch the Vikings/Eagles game, because if the Bills ever make the playoffs under Dick Jauron (God forbid) it will play out just like it did for the Vikings. Poor clock management, a defense failing at the worst possible time, and a running back doing everything he can to win despite only twenty touches. The way the first half ended reminded me so much of Dick I probably looked like him while watching it.



- In the postgame for the Miami/Baltimore game the CBS crew mentioned that Miami had a mediocre offense that can't throw deep and good defenses can lock down. Doesn't that describe the Baltimore offense as well? In fact, you could make the same argument for the Tennessee offense, too. Does that mean we're looking at a 6-3 final next weekend? When I mentioned this to Rich he responded by saying, "Unless Big Ben is concussed enough to throw touchdowns to Ed Reed." Rich makes a strong point.

- Despite Philly's win over Minnesota I don't see them getting past the Giants. In fact, based on the way both New York and Carolina played two weeks ago I'd say I'm rooting for a rematch. It seems likely, but whenever anything seems likely in the playoffs the Chargers beat the Colts and screw everything up. Freaking Sproles.

- Say what you will about purple and yellow, but this is a cool horn. I want that horn to use in real life. Anytime something relatively good I want that to play. Win a dollar on a lottery ticket? Horn. Free sub on my Subway Card? Horn. Sound the feasting horn!

- Even though neither game yesterday was amazing, I'm going to miss football when it's over. No matter how far they push the Super Bowl into February, the off season in football is incredibly long. I'm just not ready to talk about the draft, so I'm going to enjoy the last seven games of the season while I can.

Anatomy of an Upset

by Ryan

No team is perfect. No matter how many points you have or how good your reputation is, every team is beatable. It's why the Patriots didn't win the Super Bowl last season, and the Sabres didn't win the Stanley Cup two seasons ago. The formula is easy: capitalize on the other team's mistakes and limit your own.



This isn't hard to figure out, but it's important to remember because that's exactly how the Sabres beat the best team in hockey on Saturday. Everything was stacked against the Sabres according to the statistics. Boston had won 14 straight home games and hadn't allowed a power play goal in more than five games. They also have plenty of success against Buffalo recently, and the afternoon game was something Buffalo isn't used to.

So the Sabres did what good teams do. They started fast and got a goal as a result of good work in front of the net. Matt Ellis goes out with Gaustad and Pominville, and suddenly Jason Pominville wants to do work. Give Lindy credit for putting guys together that were a bit unconventional, because the mash up made guys like Pominville and Kotalik work harder than they normally may have. Even on Ellis' second goal it was Kotalik with the second effort that made it happen.



The important thing about Saturday's win was that the Sabres overcame a lot of things to get the two points. Although they never trailed they had to deal with a load of pressure from Boston, including the always-deadly Marc Savard. You knew coming in that he would make things happen, and Kessel's goal was a perfect example of this. However, the Sabres made it difficult for him to operate by working him hard on the wall and eliminating space every time he hit the ice.

Ryan Miller also helped to keep that lead, with some great saves at the most important of times. More importantly, he made the saves good goaltenders are supposed to make; the ordinary ones that he sometimes forgets about. Well, maybe not that Thornton goal, but there was some traffic on that one. Anyway, this team will rise and fall with Ryan Miller, and he still isn't playing like he can and should be. However, games like this are important for both Miller and the team as a whole to gain confidence and start climbing the standings.



It's funny to look back at Lindy Ruff's comments about the "best player on our team" after a game like this, but Ellis' performance doesn't take away from what Ruff says. If Matt Ellis is scoring two goals you better have a half dozen players skating just as hard as he is. That's what Buffalo had on Saturday, and that's the kind of effort they should be capable of every night.

Despite the fact that Kessel beat Miller again, despite the short bench, and despite the fact that Boston gave them everything they had, the Sabres held a 4-2 lead for almost half the game. No collapse, no bad luck, and no extra points given up. They played the kind of hockey we should see every night and got the win against the (former) best team in hockey.

In a season filled with such up and down play it seems like a good string of games should be counted as baby steps towards finally getting it together. You have to try not to get too upset about the losses and too excited about the wins. However, with an opponent like Boston and the run they were on, this should be considered a big step. In the standings it's only two points, but it should mean to this team that they can easily beat a poor Ottawa team, and that they are just as good as the Rangers. It should also mean that the Red Wings game on Saturday isn't impossible, because any team can be beaten if the effort is there.

It's just one little baby step, but it should make the next few stones appear well within reach.

Non-Boston Related Hockey Thoughts

by Ryan

Since both football games today have been pretty sleepy, let's talk about some hockey tidbits before finally getting to the Sabres game yesterday.

- The numbers from the Winter Classic are in, and it's safe to say it was another big success. The market shares are pretty interesting, so let's check out the top five:

Top 10 Metered Markets:
1. Chicago 11.8/21
2. Detroit 10.5/20
3. Buffalo 10.1/20
4. St. Louis 5.3/10
5. Pittsburgh 4.4/8

Of course the first two Winter Classic cities are in there, but the fact that Buffalo almost matched Detroit's numbers is pretty amazing. The Buffalo market always responds well to national broadcasts, but I'm sure there was an extra bit of interest to see how Chicago would put on the show.

- We all know All Star voting is a joke, but it's always frustrating to see the final result, especially when you know the league encourages it. Breaking voting records makes for a cool press release, but there will be some very deserving players staying home when all is said and done. The system is messed up all around, with the wrong players getting nominated (Teppo and anyone who was hurt the majority of the year) and the "team vote" concept. Giving fans the chance to pick the starting roster is a novel concept, but after the last two seasons of "Vote for Rory" and Habs/Pens it just isn't working like it should.

- If you liked the Semin fight, I'm sure you will love this:



Between this and the taint punch from a few weeks ago it seems like Sidney is an angry little bugger these days. I guess you would be if you're on a team with two all world players and struggling to keep a playoff spot.

You can't say the Sabres are doing much better, but it's obvious that the Penguins should be. They have a below .500 home record, have gone 3-7 in their last ten, and are in desperate need of a real head coach. It would help if they could play some defense, too. Sid also needs to learn to take the visor off if he wants to get into real fights, unless pouncing on guys who are actually trying to win a faceoff is his idea of a good time.

- January is a pretty busy month for the Sabres, but they only have three home games left in it. Two of those (Ottawa and NYR) are this week, which means a lot of traveling, including a Florida and west coast road trip. How the Sabres do at home will set the tone for both of those trips, as well as a visit to the Stanley Cup Champions this Saturday. It may only be January, but it feels looks like this month will determine a lot for Buffalo's playoff hopes.

Sometime before daybreak tomorrow I will have some thoughts on the Boston game. Promise.

Rob Ray is Not Impressed

That's Alexander Semin, uh... pawing at Marc Staal. I'm glad he knew enough to get the jersey off, but he does know you're allowed to use fists, right?

Quickly

by Ryan

Today I'll post a ton, I promise. Here are some thoughts on Wild Card weekend thus far:

- NBC had on Matt Millen before the Cardinals/Falcons game and pretty much the entire day. Now while it's great that he feels well enough to show his face these days, what the hell was NBC thinking? Why would we want to listen to him? What could he possibly have to say about playoff football after HE BUILT THE TEAM THAT WENT 0-16!!! What could he possibly have to say that ANYONE would believe? What does he know about winning, besides nothing?

I am honestly more qualified to be on the pregame show, if only because I didn't draft a pro football team that couldn't manage to win one game. There is no coming back from that, and you are never, ever credible again.

- I was surprised by how enjoyable both games turned out to be. I'm not really rooting for any one team this postseason, but I really thought the Buzzsaw would fold and Peyton would blow out the Chargers. Both didn't happen, and they were two pretty good games all things considered. If the other two games li