Buffalo Sabres

Ryan Fitzpatrick saved Buffalo from becoming a hockey town

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Ryan Fitzpatrick and the Bills resurgence has captivated Buffalo sports fans and kept the city from thinking hockey-first. While the Sabres will lose top billing for the time being, they will benefit from a shared spotlight.

Just six and a half short months ago Terry Pegula looked down at Gilbert Perreault and cried. That action galvanized nearly every sports fan in Buffalo. It was an act that began to turn Buffalo into a true hockey town.

Under the guidance of Terry Pegula the Sabres fan base has continued to explode.

Pegula immediately put his plan into action to create Hockey Heaven. As the season wore down his team clawed their way into the playoffs and pushed the defending Eastern Conference Champions to the brink of elimination.

Once the summer hit, Pegula kept rolling. He unleashed Darcy Regier, who quickly brought in high-priced troops to improve the Sabres roster. Pegula’s team began a massive remodeling of the locker facilities in the First Niagara Center. Renovations were made to the concession areas and every slug logo, short of the ones on the banners, were stripped from the arena. Life in Pegulaville was in full swing.

All of this action swept Sabres fans off their feet while the NFL lockout was in full effect. Now, the “lockout” was a complete sham and only a few pieces of the NFL offseason were lost. There was never a threat of games being missed. However, the exasperated Buffalo fan base was just about ready to push the Bills aside, as a roster of undrafted free agents and no-names opened training camp. Continue reading →

Europe approaches with one move to make

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It has been a summer full of new faces, surprises and salary cap calculations. The situation surrounding the Buffalo Sabres roster finally became clear on Monday afternoon.

After waiving Ales Kotalik and Shaone Morrisonn over the weekend, Buffalo was on their way to unloading the money they needed to get under the cap. Meanwhile, Darcy Regier also sent down the remaining batch of prospects and veterans who had been searching for a roster spot.

While the organization waited to see if Kotalik or Morrisonn were claimed, the roster in Rochester got the remaining pieces they will use this season. Only Luke Adam and Matt Ellis remained in Buffalo after the cuts. Paul Szczechura also is with the Sabres, but The Buffalo News reports that he is injured as hasn’t been skating. Continue reading →

Double Minors: Sabres weekend wrap

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The Sabres finished their three-game weekend 2-1 as they were handed their first preseason defeat on Sunday in Columbus.

Buffalo, finishing a five game in seven nights stretch of hockey, weren’t very competitive against the Blue Jackets. The Sabres dressed what may have been their greenest line up of the preseason with only a handful of regulars playing in Columbus. Robyn Regehr wore the ‘C’ while Ville Leino and Andrej Sekera each wore an ‘A’. A look at the roster shows 10 regulars in the line up and that is fairly generous in my eyes.

Ryan Miller wasn’t spectacular, but he was Friday against Toronto, so I really don’t care too much. Tyler Myers scored on a great individual effort, but there wasn’t much else to like, or care about in this game.

Continue reading →

Sabres bubble battle

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As the Rochester Americans prepare to open training camp, and the Buffalo Sabres pare down their roster, the battle for the remaining roster spots is becoming clearer.

Ales Kotalik's prowess in the shootout may earn him a spot on the final roster.

 

With the 11 prospects sent to Rochester this morning, there are only 41 players left in camp, and only 24 or 25 will be seriously fighting to avoid a drive up the 90. On the bubble are; Brad Boyes, Matt Ellis, Ales Kotalik, Shaone Morrisonn, Mike Ryan, Colin Stuart and Paul Szczechura. On the outside looking in are; Luke Adam, T.J. Brennan, Dennis Persson, Zack Kassian and Drew Schiestel. Corey Tropp earned a couple looks through the preseason, but I feel like he is still floating below guys like Adam, Kassian and the NHL veterans as well. Continue reading →

Roster picture clears up as 11 are sent to Rochester

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In a move most knew was inevitable, the Buffalo Sabres sent 11 players to Rochester, this afternoon.

Alex Biega was the only player sent to Rochester to see time in the preseason.

Buffalo sent forwards Riley Boychuk, Jacob Lagace, Maxime Legault, Shawn Szydlowski, Travis Turnbull and Mark Voakes; defensemen Alex Beiga, Nick Crawford, Corey Fienhage and Matt MacKenzie and goalie Jeff Jakaitis to the Americans. Rochester’s training camp will begin on Monday. A large number of the 41 players remaining with the Sabres will likely join these 11 once this weekend’s three-game set is complete.

Goaltenders David Leggio and Drew MacIntrye will certainly be sent to Rochester after backing up this weekend and young prospects like Marcus Foligno, Zack Kassian and Brayden McNabb will also join the Amerks.

Alex Biega was the only one of this group to see time in a preseason game, however the inclusion of Boychuk and MacKenzie intrigue me the most. Both are products of the 2010 draft and share a 1991 birth year. While each have played four seasons in the WHL, neither entered training camp with a contract. Boychuk has shown some growing pains to the pro game so far, but MacKenzie has some potential to blossom into an offensive threat a la Brian Campbell.

It remains to be seen if these two will end up in Rochester for the season. If that is the case if would add two more names to an already crowded roster battle. As more players appear to be destined for the minors, the new affiliation with Gwinnett makes more sense every day.

The Morning Skate – Weekend series

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Ryan Miller will play the full game against Toronto on Friday.

The Buffalo Sabres enter this weekend’s trio of games with 19 skaters who have yet to see action this preseason. As Rochester is set to open their camp on Monday, there is a chance some of these players may remain in the press box before heading up the 90.

Notable names among the group are Ales Kotalik, Shaone Morrisonn and Jordan Leopold. Brayden McNabb has also been held out thus far, but I would expect him to see action at some point this weekend. In fact, the three veterans listed above are all certain to see time before the team heads to Europe.

The complete list is as follows: Forwards; Riley Boychuk, Jochen Hecht (injured), Kotalik, Jacob Lagace, Maxime Legault, Jonathon Parker, Mike Ryan, Colin Stuart, Paul Szczechura, Shawn Sydlowski, Travis Turnbull and Phil Varone, defensemen; Nick Crawford, Corey Fienhage, Joe Finley, Leopold, Matt Mackenzie, McNabb and Morrisonn, goaltenders; Jeff Jakaitis and David Leggio. Continue reading →

Double Minors – Sabres 3 – Canadiens 1

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It may have been against most of the Hamilton Bulldogs’ roster, but Christian Ehrhoff had his coming-out party for the Buffalo Sabres.

Ehrhoff made a pretty pass to Jason Pominville to open the Buffalo scoring in the second period and scored the game winning goal on a twisted wrister early in the third period. To go along with his +2 and two-point night, Ehrhoff skated for 22 minutes for the Sabres.

Clearly Ehrhoff is a multi-talented defenseman and will be utilized in every situation by Lindy Ruff this season. While Tyler Myers and Robyn Regehr skated together tonight, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Ehrhoff and Myers paired up as the regular season draws closer.

– Ryan Miller was, well, Ryan Miller. He was calm and collected and had a number of sparkling saves among the 11 shots he turned away. Jhonas Enroth allowed a power play goal to P.K. Subban, but made 11 saves on 12 shots. Another confident performance off the bench for the new backup. This is an encouraging sign since I have had some doubts about how Enroth will rebound from his strong debut in 2010-11. Continue reading →

Addition of Gwinnett Gladiators affiliation gives Sabres more options

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The Gwinnett Gladiators made some news yesterday, as they announced an affiliation agreement with the Buffalo Sabres.

The ECHL club will likely serve as a safety valve for the Rochester Americans if they’re in need of reinforcements. The Gladiators may also end up being a place to stash additional players in the event that there is no room in Rochester. Based on the training camp roster, the Sabres have a few players who may end up being bumped to the Coast.

After sending ten players back to junior yesterday, the Sabres were left with 47 players in training camp, only 23 will end up on the Sabres opening night roster. Buffalo kept a few interesting names pas the first cut, namely forwards Riley Boychuk, Jonathon Parker and Phil Varone; and defensemen Corey Finenhage, Joe Finley and Matt Mackenzie.

Both Boychuk and MacKenzie are eligible to return to their respective junior clubs while Parker and Varone continue to extend invitations that extend back to prospect camp. Fienhage and Finley stand out to me because of Finley’s size, draft position and lack of a contract and Fienhage simply doesn’t have a deal with the Sabres, that I know of.

I would expect Varone to get a contract, while Parker is probably toeing the line between staying and leaving. Boychuk and MacKenzie will ultimately return to their junior clubs but Fienhage and Finley very well may battle for a spot with the Amerks.

The majority of the 47 players will end up split between Buffalo and Rochester, however there is the opportunity to send additional players to the ECHL and keep them within the system. In the past, players like Fienhage may have been discarded after fizzling in the pipeline, but the new affiliation allows players to be stashed away while still playing the professional game. This will be a great tool for the Sabres to utilize.

For example, goaltender Jeff Jakaitis will be kept as an insurance policy for the Amerks in the event Drew MacIntyre or David Leggio are recalled or injured. The Buffalo News reported that Jakaitis was signed to an AHL contract, today. Maxime Legault and Jacob Lagace are also likely targets for the Gladiators. Both will have a great chance to make the Amerks, but if they are to be cut, they can be sent to Gwinnett and kept in the system for the year. Fienhage, Finley, Parker and even Dennis Persson are on my list of ECHL candidates.

While this affiliation won’t necessarily allow the Sabres to cultivate the next Gretzky, it will keep assets in the system when they would have previously been lost because the AHL club lacked the roster space.

The Morning Skate: Sabres vs. Canadiens

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The Buffalo Sabres will take the ice in Montreal for their second preseason contest of the year, tonight.

Fresh off a 3-1 victory over Carolina on Monday, the Sabres will go with a line up heavy with veterans and only a few tweeners against Montreal. The lines are as follows:

Vanek – Roy – Pominville

Ennis – Leino – Stafford

Gerbe – Adam – Boyes

Foligno – Ellis – Kassian

The defensemen were listed by the Sabres’ Twitter as Ehrhoff, Regher, Myers, Gragnani, Schiestel and Persson. Whether or not those are in order of pairs, I can’t be sure (s/t to Kevin at sabres.com). UPDATE: It appears that Regher will skate with Myers. This probably meansEhrhoff will skate with Gragnani. Ryan Miller and Jhonas Enroth will split time in net. I would guess Miller gets the start with Enroth coming off the bench again. Continue reading →

Who wears the ‘C’?

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For the first time since the summer of 2008, the Buffalo Sabres are without a full-time captain. The last captain, Craig Rivet, was waived in February and the Sabres have gone without an official captain since.

Tyler Myers wore a letter for the first time as a Sabres against the Hurricanes on Monday.

As the first puckdrop of the 2011-12 season fast approaches, the organization will need to peg the next man to adorn the ‘C’ soon. To offer a barometer for when an announcement may occur, Rivet was named captain on October 8, 2008. Rivet became the 27th captain in franchise history and it is rather unfortunate to think there have been 27 captains in this team’s history. Twelve earned the honor during the “rotating captaincy” years of 2003-04 and 07-08. Now that idea may be the most preposterous thing I have ever heard of. At the most you should have co-captiains – as they had in 2007-08 with Drury and Briere – but it is a shame to think a professional hockey team would need to rotate the captaincy, there had to be one or two candidates who could have easily filled that role.

Personally, I see four front-runners for this honor. Paul Gaustad, Tyler Myers, Derek Roy and Thomas Vanek. Each have their own pros and cons but are also likely the best candidates to become the 28th captain in Sabres history. With only four players deserving of a look, I am confident that a crime such as a rotation will not occur. Continue reading →