Chris and Tyler talk about the Jonathan Drouin situation as it reaches a boiling point, look back on the Ryan Johansen trade and offer up midseason grades for the Sabres.
Author: Chris Ostrander
Sabres Pipe Dream: A New Web Series
Given the on-ice struggles of the Sabres, the Beyond Blue and Gold series may just be the best thing to come out of First Niagara Center in the past few years. The web series has done a brilliant job in highlighting the players away from the rink while also showcasing the phenomenal video production team the Sabres and Pegula Sports boasts.
The lone complaint I’ve ever had about the show is how short the episodes are. I’m typically left wanting more out of each episode and while I appreciate and understand the shooting schedule and production that goes into each episode, I still feel like I want each episode to run a little longer. With that in mind, I started thinking about how the team could expand their web video offerings and came up with an idea for a new web series the team could run.
What I eventually cooked up via text with fellow 2ITB contributor Tyler Roeder was an idea for a studio show that focuses solely on analysis of the team. Unlike Beyond Blue and Gold, this show wouldn’t be feature based but almost like an expanded version of the postgame show with video breakdown, opponent previews and the like. No call ins, a weekly web series going through what the Sabres have been up to on the ice. Continue reading
Take My Money: Mini Sabres Jerseys
In a Buffalo News article from last fall, Kim Pegula was quoted as saying the hope for PSE, the Sabres and the Bills isn’t to follow the lead of other teams in each respective league, but to blaze their own trail. This is a great stance to take, particularly for the Sabres who have often been guinea pigs for NHL projects. Why be a follower time and time again when you can be the gold standard across the league?
However, I’ve come to notice other NHL clubs engaging in various practices and promotions which I would love to see the Sabres take on. What caught my eye most recently is a mini-pack ticket promotion the Anaheim Ducks are running that comes complete with a mini third jersey from throughout the organization’s history. I can say definitively that if the Sabres offered a line of mini jerseys they’d have full license to take as many of my hard earned American dollars as they pleased. I don’t care if it’s a blatant rip-off of the Ducks current promotion, these would kill in Buffalo. 
The Instigator Podcast 4.12 – Targeting Trades
There’s still time before Tim Murray really starts talking trade but not too early to discuss what steps the Sabres should take moving forward. Chris and Tyler discuss whether Murray should be looking at options at forward or along the blueline.
Put a Stop to Counterfeit Sabres Jerseys
There’s an epidemic sweeping through First Niagara Center and there doesn’t seem to be a cure. Counterfeit jerseys continue to show their ugly face in the arena and there seems to be more this year than ever before.
Perhaps the most unfortunate factor is that there is no precise way to address this growing trend. Most fans who are wearing fake jerseys – let’s call a spade a spade and just call them fake – have purchased them for the drastic cost savings compared to what you pay through NHL Shop or the Sabres Store. I’m sure there are fans who think the jersey they bought is in fact real and they’ve simply been duped, but I’m willing to bet those fans are in the minority.
There are a few things that really rub me the wrong way when it comes to fake jerseys. First and foremost is the fact that they simply don’t look good. At all. The entry image for this post is a really bad fake jersey and most at least look a tiny bit closer to what’s being worn on the ice. However, every other fake jersey still looks terrible and I’ve yet to see a fake NHL jersey that made me think it was close to the real thing. Continue reading
Sabres phone backgrounds featuring Ristolainen and Bogosian
Over the past few months I’ve tossed a few phone backgrounds out for anyone who may have been interested. I started with Mr. Eichel (there’s also a Bills Cold Front version) and I’ve slowly added a couple more to the collection. Below you’ll find the newest additions to the 2ITB phone background collection with wallpapers devoted to Rasmus Ristolainen and Zach Bogosian. Enjoy. Continue reading
Offside review has become a detriment, not a benefit to the NHL
The clamor over adding a coach’s challenge to the NHL game wasn’t necessarily deafening, but it wasn’t silent either. Over the past few seasons various occurrences (looking at you Matt Duchene) led to a stronger case for teams to have the ability to review certain plays on the ice. Beginning this season the league obliged and provided coaches the ability to challenge one play per game.
It’s become a disaster.
Instituting a coach’s review for goalie interference or offside plays was brilliant, in principle. Mounting examples of each play made for a strong case to give coaches this option and the league was wise to research it and ultimately institute it. The negative impact continues to mount, however and it would seem wise of the league to backtrack on the offside rule at the very least.
The length of the reviews and the size of the tablets used by officials have been the focal point of the new system’s naysayers. That coaches have managed to use the new system as a loophole for much longer timeouts has been another unexpected consequence. The flaws are really coming to the forefront as more and more plays are flagged for review.
I will add that while I am a Sabres fan, my view on the rule does not reflect that Buffalo has been victimized four different times on offside reviews. While that sad bit of irony likely irritates many in the Buffalo fanbase, my criticism rests solely on the flaws I see in reviewing offside plays.
In fact, I’ve grown so tired of the offside review that it upsets me to hear and read the narrative bemoaning the tablets and length of the reviews. While those two features are certainly giant red flags, nothing outweighs the fact that a goal starved league created a rule which removes goals which would otherwise be perfectly legal. There are many out there crying to change the size of the nets – a fundamental alteration of the fabric of the game – while there’s a brand new rule stripping goals off the board. Continue reading
More Thoughts on the World Juniors
Waiting two full years for the World Juniors to arrive at our door once again will certainly test the patience of Western New York’s hockey fans.
The build up to the tournament will certainly bring plenty of cries about #OneBuffalo, #Buffalove and the like. What I hope to see more of is chatter and planning over activities surrounding the tournament.
Downtown Buffalo is a much different place today than it was in 2011 and I hope to see it change even more before the start of the 2018 tournament. But outside of big development projects, I’m hoping the city adopts an Olympic-type vibe for the 2018 tourney. I’m thinking of various activities and attractions around town. Pulling inspiration from All Star weekend or the non-event attractions many Olympic cities utilize. Continue reading
The Instigator Podcast 4.11 – Outlook Outside of the Slump
Tyler and Chris get together to chat about the current state of the Sabres despite the up-and-down play they’ve worked through this season.
World Juniors can Serve as a Catalyst for Downtown
The countdown to the 2018 World Junior Championships in on. We’re just about two years away, on the nose, from the start of the tournament which will culminate in early January 2018.
That’s two full years before the eyes of (most of) the hockey world are directed on Buffalo. Two years to plan and two years to prepare the city.
Based on Buffalo’s previous run as a host in 2011 and subsequent USA Hockey and IIHF events hosted in Buffalo, it’s clear that the Sabres organization has their ducks in a row when it comes to hosting international events. I have little doubt that the efforts made by the Sabres will eclipse the work that made the 2011 tournament a success.
While every ticket at the 2011 event wasn’t sold – in fact there were many Team USA games with open sections of seats – I don’t think it’s a stretch to expect a better turnout for 2018. That’s without taking the planned outdoor game into account. Western New York’s hockey culture continues to grow and if the participants are sold the right way I’d expect to see fans turn out well. One of the many goals that needs to be met by the 2018 WJC
The biggest area of opportunity, in my opinion, is how the players, media and fans who are converging on Buffalo will feel about the city. Two of the more infamous moments of the 2011 tournament were the criticisms leveled by European journalists and Emerson Etem of Team USA. Etem’s comments on the city brought boos from the home crowd whenever he touched the puck in following games. Having home fans boo one of Team USA’s own was terrific.
Obviously the city and region have grown quite a bit in the past five years. The improvements will certainly reflect well upon new and return visitors. However, there’s so much positive energy downtown that the World Junior tournament could serve as the catalyst to wrap up some of the most promising projects in the city. Continue reading
