Author: Chris Ostrander

Ranking the masks of Team USA’s goalies

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It’s official. All three goaltenders that will be wearing the Red, White and Blue in Sochi have received their masks for the 2014 Olympic Games. Jimmy Howard was the third and final recipient as Ray Bishop delivered his freshly painted mask to him today.

Howard’s mask is a very basic USA design that’s somewhat reminiscent of Ray LeBlanc’s helmet from the 1992 games. While I followed Howard’s mask through the painting process I had high hopes based on the partially painted pictures Bishop Designs was providing on their Facebook page. The sharp, angled lines had the potential to really pop with the rest of the design based on what was being teased.

Ryan Miller’s 2014 Olympic Mask (Bishop Designs)

Ultimately I think it only falls short with the placement of the bald eagle on the top. I’m a proponent of profile views or nothing when it comes to eagles on masks. Blame Ed Belfour if you must, but the straight-on shot of the bird’s head doesn’t really do it much justice. In fact, it gives it sort of a funky chicken look.

Otherwise, the helmet looks awesome. As basic as most of the design may be it plays perfectly. I’m nitpicking when it comes to the eagle on the top because I think the simplicity of this mask ends up winning me over elsewhere. It’s clear that Bishop and Howard were both well aware of the hurdles that need to be cleared when it comes to the IOC’s standards.

I’d have to slot Howard’s mask in as second to Ryan Miller’s on the team this season. Miller’s 2014 mask is nearly identical to that of the one he wore in 2010 but with a few specific changes. He first went with a navy blue base as opposed to the ice blue on his mask from 2010. The change to a navy base triggered a change from blue and red stars to just red stars on the mask. He also went with the Team USA jersey shield on the chin as opposed to any logos associated with Sochi along with a change to the backplate. Continue reading →

NHL talent will soon trump picks, prospects on Sabres shopping list

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At some point in the near future the Sabres will reach a critical mass when it comes to their rebuild. Eventually Tim Murray and the front office will be at a point where picks and prospects are trumped for the need of talent with NHL experience.

That point won’t likely come this summer nor is it likely to occur immediately after the 2014-15 regular season. But with the way Buffalo’s pipeline is expected to balloon in the coming months, Murray and company will soon need to find a different type of asset to add to the puzzle that is the Buffalo Sabres roster.

It was something that had come to mind somewhat recently with the hubbub surrounding Ryan Miller, Matt Moulson and Steve Ott along with the reported return each player will bring. Add to that the comments from an unnamed Western Conference GM in Pierre LeBrun’s article on Murray and it’s clear that the next step of Buffalo’s rebuild will need to come soon.

… I have always believed that you need some good veteran players to help [the young] ones along. You don’t need tons more draft picks when you have as many as they already do. There comes a point when you could have too many young players [and] picks… I would personally not just get more picks and prospects back since they have lot of those already. I would look for players that can play so you don’t rely on rookies so much.

It’s a take I agree with wholeheartedly. At some point your roster can’t just be comprised of 18-22 year old rookies. There will need to be a veteran presence on the roster and it needs to come from various directions. Continue reading →

Toeing the line during the Sabres race to the lottery

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It was long understood that the Sabres weren’t going to be a very good hockey team this season. However the nosedive they went on to start the season was surprising to even the most pessimistic amongst the Buffalo fan base.

Things have begun to turn around slowly under the new regime of Pat LaFontaine, Tim Murray and Ted Nolan. Buffalo has proven to be more competitive as of late and that has led to more wins along the way. In fact, they’ve scored three or more goals in four-straight games despite coming away with just two points over that span. Funny that the goaltending had been so stellar all year until the stretch where the team finally started finding the back of the net.

Buffalo’s recent run of games has highlighted a split in how fans are looking at the 2013-14 season. Amazingly there exists a legion of Sabres fans who, from the beginning of the year, expected the team to win every game and make trades to aid in winning right now. These people likely live in a world of blissful ignorance where Ryan Miller will one day be traded for Patrick Kane. It does seem that most of the fanbase has embraced the fact that the Sabres were not built to win so much as securing a high draft pick which would help to accelerate the building process.

What’s odd is that there seem to be a faction of fans who aren’t just aware and hopeful of the race for the first pick, but they’re openly rooting for the team to lose every game in order to secure said pick.  While a lottery pick is the light at the end of this tortuous tunnel, it really isn’t necessary to root against your team, is it? Especially when finishing 30th doesn’t even guarantee that pick. Continue reading →

Pipe Dream: Altering the FNC pavilion

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As HARBORcenter continues to grow, the encroachment upon the front door of First Niagara Center is becoming more and more apparent. One of the most significantly altered spaces of the 18-year old arena will be the pavilion.

The grand entrance atrium was a hallmark of the design of the arena when it was originally introduced as Crossroads Arena. Having a main front door and entryway to an arena was a design feature that wasn’t regularly utilized in pro sports. It made the new home of the Sabres unique from many of its NHL counterparts. Now, with the skybridge connecting HARBORcenter and First Niagara Center, the look and functionality of the atrium will be significantly altered.

Based on the renderings and seeing how the façade of the arena will be affected by HARBORcenter, the original design and look of the atrium will be almost entirely compromised. While it would certainly be costly, there is now an opportunity change the outward appearance of the arena’s front door while also improving the design aesthetic of the arena so it fits better with its new neighbor.

The way that HARBORcenter and First Niagara Center come together has a somewhat awkward look when you look at the height and design of the pavilion and how the skybridge works into it. Additionally, the height of HARBORcenter’s rinks serves to affect the look of the pavilion. Why not alter the façade of the pavilion in order to allow for the two buildings to join together in a less awkward manner? By extending a redesign onto the other side of the pavilion to extend down to the Alumni Plaza, the front of the arena would not only get a visual upgrade but would also create a uniform look with HARBORcenter.

A simple glass façade would not only be the easiest but would also provide a nice visual upgrade. However, the lower levels of HARBORcenter, particularly the skybridge is brick which would likely clash with an all-glass look for the arena. Continue reading →

Grigorenko debacle highlights flaws of NHL/CHL agreement

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Mikhail Grigorenko’s initial decision to refuse this assignment to Quebec was the newest chapter in the winding tale of his poorly managed development with the Sabres.

The genesis of the awkward situation – the refusal to report to Quebec, the Facebook comment asking for time to think and final decision to report – stems back to the push to keep him in Buffalo at the start of last season. The well documented and mishandling of Grigorenko has resulted in two burned years of his entry level contract and what could be a growing rift between the team and player.

Although mishandling Grigorenko has become a spotlight matter for two straight seasons, the inability to do anything other than to keep him in Buffalo or send him back the QMJHL has not only handcuffed the franchise but also underscores a rule that requires changing between the NHL and CHL. Here’s some background reading on the agreement. Continue reading →

Murray’s track record shows an adept talent manager

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With Tim Murray set to be the star of this morning’s press conference the front office makeover will have been completed nearly two months after it began with the introduction of Ted Nolan and Pat LaFontaine.

LaFontaine’s extensive search for a GM ran through a gamut of candidates before landing on Murray, who served as Ottawa’s Assistant General Manager prior to this appointment. While the process took far longer than expected or desired for many (including myself) it would appear that LaFontaine exhausted all options and vetted every candidate on his list to the fullest extent. While the original timeline was expected to only be a few weeks, I give credit to LaFontaine for conducting the search properly. If it indicates the type of work ethic LaFontaine will put into his position, I’m confident that the Sabres will be in good hands with him at the hockey department’s helm.

Not the Sabres new GM

Murray appears to be a strong pick despite the early clubhouse leaders being names like Jason Botterill and Paul Fenton – widely considered the best candidates to take over a GM position soon. A vast majority of Murray’s tenure in the NHL has seen him at the reigns of amateur talent evaluation and draft operations. He was part of a management team that scouted and drafted players like Joffery Lupul, Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry and Bobby Ryan in Anaheim before working with his uncle in Ottawa to draft players like Erik Karlsson, Jared Cowen, Robin Lehner and others.

One interesting thing I found when perusing the drafts of team’s he’s been with is that while his guidance hasn’t yielding overwhelming success in middle rounds, the Ducks swung and missed on back-to-back first round selections after Murray’s departure. So there’s certainly something to be said about the guidance he provides at the draft table.

Pierre LeBrun has pointed out that Murray’s talent lies in talent evaluation and it would appear that his talents are particularly effective with younger players as his duties as Binghamton’s GM helped the Baby Sens win a Calder Cup just three years ago. Given the scores of picks and prospects the Sabres own, Murray appears to be a strong fit for guiding the Sabres through their rebuild. Continue reading →

Let the Sabres piggyback on the USA Hockey coverage

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The US Olympic selection committee did an interesting thing providing complete access to a pair of reporters throughout their evaluation process for the 2014 Olympic Team. If you haven’t already read Scott Burnside or Kevin Allen’s breakdown of the process, I strongly recommend you do so now.

By giving the pair of decorated writers a chance to be the proverbial fly on the wall during the decision making process, USA Hockey not only provided a window into a process that most hockey fans ever dream of, but they also may have opened the door for other such ventures.

With 24/7 helping to increase exposure to the day-to-day operations of a hockey team – Dan Bylsma and Ray Shero breaking down their roster immediately springs to mind – fans began to start seeing things that they had no insight on before. With the tease at Dion Phaneuf’s contract negotiation in the most recent episode of the HBO series, I can only imagine that we’ll see a bit more in the series finale. Add the snippets of front office peeks from 24/7 and other similar programs to the all access work from Burnside and Allen and I think there is a recipe for even more interesting access to be provided by NHL franchises. Continue reading →

Revisiting the coolest part of the Winter Classic: the goal masks

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This is an update version of a post I originally ran prior to the Rangers vs. Flyers Winter Classic in 2012. While the unfortunate cancellation of last year’s Classic caused us to wait on any sort of new equipment for the goalies involved, it appears that each goalie who will be appearing in the 2014 Winter Classic will have some sort of special gear for the event.

Should the goaltenders involved in the Stadium Series games decide to wear special gear, I’ll attempt to provide consistent updates. However, with the league going with more of a futuristic look, I don’t anticipate seeing anything like you see for the Winter Classic.

The rankings have been updated to reflect the gear being worn for the showdown at The Big House and I did also include Carey Price’s awful mask from the 2011 Heritage Classic.

Aside from the event itself, the best part of the Winter Classic each season is the different gear the goalies sport. It has become something of a yearly tradition with many goalies deciding to wear new pads along with their commemorative paintjobs.

The easiest and most common change is to simply get a special paint job done for the day. Few goalies have decided against any sort of change for the Winter Classic as most have a new mask painted for them at the very least. While there has been a handful to make no change between the NHL’s Winter and Heritage Classics, here is a ranking of those goalies to wear special equipment for the events. Continue reading →

Can the Toronto series be fixed?

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It took about 4 years and 364 days for the Bills executives to catch up with the feelings of the Buffalo fan base with regard to the Toronto series. Publicly, at least.

With Russ Brandon noting that there appears to be a distinct competitive disadvantage to the Bills playing a late-season home game in the domed Rogers Centre each season, perhaps a change is coming for the recently renewed series. While fans are hoping for the best, I doubt the Bills are willing to turn away from the massive check that Rogers has cut them in order to get those regular season games.

There’s probably a good chance that there is a massive penalty that would need to be paid by either party if they decided to walk away, so I’d quell any thoughts of the remaining games being cancelled at this point.

But that doesn’t mean the Bills won’t be working to find a better working relationship with what has become little more than a joke of a cash grab for the organization. There are a few different ways that the Bills and Rogers could work to adjust and fix what has quickly deteriorated into a poorly attended, non-partisan yearly event that typically serves as the cherry on top of Buffalo’s annual playoff elimination.

The most preferable option would be to come to an amicable split, allow Rogers to take back any remaining funds that would be attached to the games that were still set to be played and allow the Bills to take their home games back. This is obviously a long shot as the legal eagles on both sides of the table most certainly wrote in some sort of cancellation clause which would prevent either side from terminating the deal. Continue reading →

Tough choices for Snow will benefit Sabres

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A funny thing has happened in the past month-and-a-half. Since sacrificing three major pieces to obtain Thomas Vanek from the Sabres, the Islanders have been in a veritable tail spin; a tail spin that has taken them to just a handful of points away from the Sabres home in the NHL’s basement.

Sam Reinhart remains the target this year, but the Sabres arsenal could be stacked depending on the decisions Garth Snow makes in the coming months.

New York’s descent to the bottom of the Metro Division and NHL standings have left the organization, Garth Snow specifically, in a precarious situation as the rest of this season unfolds. Despite the massive shortcomings in the Metro Division, it would appear that the Islanders are dead in the water with regard to the Eastern Conference playoff picture. That leaves them just a few points from the basement and the potential to land a top-five pick based on their spot in the lottery. But with the Islanders due to fork over a first round pick to Buffalo in exchange for Vanek, Snow and his staff will need to determine if they want to lose a potential first round pick this year or miss out on what could be a very valuable chip in the Connor McDavid sweepstakes.

When the Vanek trade went through, determining which pick would turn Snow from saving to sacrificing his 2015 pick was a hot topic of conversation. However, talking about what Snow’s train of thought would be with a pick in the five-to-eight range is much different than if the Islanders are picking in the top three. The former being the more popular train of thought as a late slide out of playoff contention seemed like it could be the most likely scenario the Sabres would find themselves in terms of snagging a second first round pick this year.

With the Islanders struggling as badly as they have, a few more factors come into play with regard to their next two first round picks. Continue reading →