Month: September 2013

Injuries present unique situation for Zadorov, Larsson

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Something interesting happened to the Sabres in the past week. A run of injuries suffered at the tail end of the preseason created some unique roster opportunities for a handful of Sabres prospects.

Obviously the last thing any team wants is to suffer injuries. Particularly injuries to players who have been touted as key pieces to the future success of the franchise. Yet, the injuries to Joel Armia, Marcus Foligno and Nikita Zadorov aren’t going to cause the Sabres as much stress as you may originally believe.

All three players are bound to be shifted to injured reserve in order for the Sabres to meet the NHL’s roster requirements this afternoon. While it will prevent them from getting immediate ice time, they’ll have the opportunity to stay in Buffalo while they recover. Specifically for Armia and Zadorov it means spending more time with the team, working out here and just absorbing more time with the big club as they heal up. Particularly for Zadorov, that is a great benefit.

Zadorov’s injury should provide him some additional time in Buffalo before heading back to London.

Considering it appeared as if Zadorov was destined to be returned to London, he will now get approximately two more weeks to spend with the Sabres strength and conditioning staff and I’d gather he’ll probably have the chance to get on the ice a few times as well. While it wasn’t a guarantee, I do believe that the Sabres wanted to give Zadorov a nine-game tryout prior to his injury. Assuming that was indeed the case, his nine-game cameo might just come after he’s fully recovered. Comparing the two timelines is easy enough; two weeks plus nine games > nine games. Continue reading →

Extra Point: Turnovers help Bills close out defending Super Bowl Champs

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Feel free to insert your own cliché on ugly wins when thinking back on the Bills’ win over the Ravens yesterday. The Bills got the thing to the garage but with the effectiveness of a drunk guy wearing an eye patch.

The offensive shortcomings of the second half that allowed the Ravens start to sneak back into the game amplified a lot of the worry of most Bills fans while also erasing an impressive first half from their collective memories.

Buffalo’s defense rebounded well after allowing over 500 yards of offense to the Jets last week and virtually eliminated Baltimore’s running attack while managing to survive with a patchwork secondary that helped contribute to a five-interception day.

Aaron Williams led the way with a pair of interceptions and an overly impressive day that only saw him beaten badly once on a deep ball to Torrey Smith. While it was yet another bad day for Justin Rogers, the contributions of Williams, Kiko Alonso (2 INTs) and a pass rush that recorded four sacks and 12 hits on Joe Flacco bridged the gap for the struggling corner.

The Bills front seven was stout for the entire game. Marcell Dareus had one of, if not the very best performance of his professional career while the others on the line each brought valuable contributions themselves.

Manny Lawson, in addition to adding his first sack of the season, was stepping to the slot receiver at times to provide coverage. Mario Williams was pushing the pocket at times – and Flacco rolled away from him quite a bit during the afternoon – added a very important red zone sack of Flacco that aided in holding the Ravens to a field goal.

Offensively the Bills did all their talking in the first half. EJ Manuel was efficient and hit on a big play to Robert Woods to help stake the Bills to their second lead of the game. Manuel sputtered in the second half, losing some composure but managing the game well enough for the Bills to get the W. Continue reading →

Sabres can fast track youngsters this season

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Perhaps this season won’t be about winning the Cup for the Sabres, but that might not be all bad. If suffering is indeed what Sabres fans are in for, at least the crop of fresh faces on the roster will provide a compelling narrative to follow for the season.

In the weeks between the draft and training camp, the Sabres voiced their support of Rasmus Ristolainen as an NHL-ready prospect and confirmed that Mikhail Grigorenko would play the season in Buffalo. Additionally, players like Zemgus Girgensons, Johan Larsson and Mark Pysyk began showing that they’d also be vying for a spot on the roster that takes the ice in Detroit on October 2.

With only six days left until the regular season opens, the roster is beginning to take shape with only a few spots left to confirm. How many fresh faces will be on the opening night roster is one aspect that hasn’t been determined at this point.

Buffalo still has nine defensemen in camp with newly signed, junior-eligble Nikita Zadorov amongst the group. Zadorov has received rave reviews throughout the summer and the preseason and has probably earned himself his nine-game tryout before being sent back to London. However, the already crowded blueline corps has little wiggle room to find a spot for Zadorov, even if it is for nine games.

It would be great if the Sabres could find a way to get Zadorov into the line-up for those first nine games, they certainly don’t need to have Alexander Sulzer on the roster to open the season and could use his spot to insert Zadorov to start. It isn’t inconceivable to think that either Sulzer or Jamie McBain will be heading to Rochester regardless of what the Sabres plan on doing with Zadorov simply because I don’t see many minutes available for those two at this point. Continue reading →

Conspiracy theory: Could the Sabres be running the world’s greatest jersey con?

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In an odd twist of rhetoric, many Sabres fans have been muttering a similar phrase the past couple of days. “It’s too bad to be true. Right?”

The Sabres new third jersey has only managed to scrape together a few dozen fans as backlash for the new jersey has been beyond negative to this point. Fans, bloggers and mainstream media members (local and nationally) have panned the uniform’s busy design leaving little support in their wake. Although social media was hardly what it is today when the Slug jerseys were unveiled, it seems as if this new creation has received more backlash than the previous number one contender for the worst jersey in Sabres history.

However, what if this was all part of a massive, well-orchestrated charade? What happens at training camp when the jerseys are to be officially unveiled and the lights go out and suddenly Ted Black’s entrance music comes on? Would the team President pulling the curtain on a different, better looking third jersey not be the greatest troll job in the history of hockey?

Naturally the chances of such greatness occurring are somewhere between slim and a new Peace Bridge, but I can’t say it wouldn’t be all that surprising. Let’s consider the facts: Continue reading →

Trade may be the only remaining solution for Bills and Byrd

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The saga surrounding Jairus Byrd went from a frustrating, stagnant stalemate to a quickly decaying cycle of bad faith that is pointing towards divorce.

When Andy Levitre left for a hefty contract in Tennessee, it was generally assumed that the money saved by not signing Levitre would be allocated towards Byrd’s new long-term deal. However the summer dragged on without any progress made and Byrd eventually sat out all of training camp due to the impasse.

Now there are rumors circulating that Byrd and his agent are attempting to work out a trade for the Pro Bowl safety as it appears his relationship with the Bills organization has become severely damaged. Both sides can take credit for fouling up the entire situation as the Bills likely stood pat on their salary offer which was obviously well below what Byrd and his representation have demanded. Continue reading →

Sabres miss the mark with jersey, unveiling

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For a team with such a widely celebrated crest and color scheme, the Buffalo Sabres manage to do an incredible job finding ways to disappoint when it comes to uniform design.

Today officially marked a new chapter in Sabres uniform history when Steve Ott joined forces with the Sabres social media team to help “leak” the new third jersey via Twitter. To say that the reaction was poor would be an understatement. Whether via Twitter, news posts or Facebook comment – the album link had over 500 in two hours at the time this was written – the reaction by the vast majority of those who had seen the uniform was incredibly negative.

Count me amongst those who dislike the new threads. Continue reading →