Buffalo Sabres

Pipe Dream: It’s Time for a Sabres Skills Competition

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Rosters for the 2017 NHL All Star game were announced with far less fanfare than the 2016 version as John Scott’s name was nowhere to be found on the four division squads for the event. While the new three-on-three format injected some much needed life into the weekend, the highlight for many remains the Skills Competition.

The Skills Competition is a perfect made-for-TV event that showcases the incredible skill of NHL players in easily digestible bites. It’s a format that’s been pulled to local events by many NHL clubs on an annual basis, as teams take advantage of longer breaks in the schedule to put on a show for their fans. The Sabres even ran their own in the 90s before putting an end to the practice.

Bringing back the Sabres Skills Competition has been a common request (at least in my personal Sabres Twitter echo chamber) and those cries seemed to intensify last year with the debut of Sabres Showdown. Giving fans the chance to see a Sabres-specific skills competition on TV gave them a glimpse of what could be in store with a ticketed event.

Adding an event like this to the Sabres schedule would accomplish a number of easily attainable goals. It’s an event that can be sold as an open ticket instead of first accommodating season ticket holders, thus extending an opportunity for those fans who don’t typically attend a game to grab a seat at Key Bank Center for Sabres hockey. The tickets themselves would (read: should) be below that of the box office price for a game, again helping to include a segment of the fanbase that typically can’t attend a game in person. These are also best served as early afternoon events, which is tailor-made for #familyfriendly #fun. Lastly, a special event like this could be considered a way that the team is giving back to the fans, another issue that has gained momentum in recent years. Continue reading →

The Instigator Podcast 5.29 – Turning the Corner

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With a trifecta of impressive wins under their belt – and another near miss – the Sabres are creating some believers in Western New York. While there’s still work to do, it appears the rest of the team has caught up to the impressive play in goal. Chris and Tyler discuss the goaltending debate despite the lack of an actual goalie controversy while also highlighting the impressive play of Evander Kane, Sam Reinhart and Kyle Okposo, among others. Be sure to listen in here or grab the episode on your mobile device and listen on the go.

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The Instigator Podcast 5.28 – New Year but Asking the Same Questions

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Back for the new year, Chris and Tyler are stuck asking the same questions of the Sabres that were asked in 2016. The Sabres appear to be stuck in neutral with no real signs of getting moving again thanks to injuries, poor special teams and poor coaching. We analyze what options are left at this point in the year and look forward with some hope as not everything is bleak down at Key Bank Center. Catch the new episode here or on your device, links to subscribe to The Instigator Podcast can be found below.

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Crease Crash Course: Brain Farts All Around in Florida

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The Sabres were just minutes away from an impressive comeback road win in Sunrise when a quartet of bad plays led to the tying goal in a game the Sabres would ultimately lose in a shootout.

At the center of Nick Bjugstad’s goal is Zach Bogosian, who makes a number of bad decisions which led to the goal. Robin Lehner, who had played a strong game to this point, ultimately made a very strange decision and poor read prior to Bjugstad chipping the tying goal home.

This is the first goalie review in some time as Buffalo’s run over the last few weeks has featured mostly straightforward play. Both Lehner and Anders Nilsson have continued to play very well and the goals they’re being beaten on aren’t too complicated. So the lack of really in-depth plays to review (and the lack of quality replays in some cases) has led to the absence. However, Bjugstad’s goal on Tuesday featured a number of breakdowns, including the goaltender. Continue reading →

The Instigator Podcast Interview – Featuring Sabres History and Memorabilia

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We will be doing a new feature on The Instigator Podcast on a weekly (or semi-weekly) basis. The interview series will be one-on-one conversations covering a wide range of hockey topics. We’ll touch on Sabres topics and general NHL and hockey fandom as well.

The first Instigator Interview features the men behind the Seymour Knox’s Ghost Twitter account as he and Chris discuss his impressive memorabilia collection the covers one-of-a-kind items from The Aud and beyond. We also discuss whether or not the team has done enough to honor their rich history in recent years. You can catch the interviews in the same places you find our regular episodes.

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The Instigator Podcast 5.26 – Veteran Presence

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After a brief layoff Chris and Tyler are back in action not 24 hours after Buffalo’s comeback win against the Kings. This week’s podcast covers the impressive debut of Brendan Guhle, the continued struggle of finding the right spot for Josh Gorges and some insight on the veterans on Buffalo’s roster who are outperforming expectations.

Catch The Instigator Podcast here or grab it on your mobile device via iTunes or Google Play.

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In Defense of Robin

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The NHL season is now exactly two months old, and as the calendar churns towards Christmas the Buffalo Sabres find themselves in a familiar place: looking up at the rest of the Eastern Conference.

While the team is only six points back of third place in the Atlantic Division with a few games in hand, the team needs to start stringing wins together in order to get back into the playoff conversation. As fans and pundits alike look for ways the Sabres can jumpstart their season, many are of the belief that the answer may lie with Anders Nilsson, at least for the time being.

The first year Sabre and fourth year NHLer is enjoying a career renaissance in Buffalo under the tutelage of goalie coach Andrew Allen. Nilsson has compiled a 5-2-2 record with a 2.38 GAA and career high .932 save percentage to date, and many believe the Sabres should stick with him in net while he continues to pile up the impressive numbers.

Robin Lehner would stand to lose playing time as a result of an extended string of starts for Nilsson. Lehner’s stat line isn’t anything to sneeze at either, as he’s posted a 2.44 GAA and .920 save percentage, yet only has a 5-9-4 record to show for it. Continue reading →

The Instigator Podcast 5.25 – The Jack Attack is Back

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The Instigator Podcast is back to recap Jack Eichel’s triumphant return to the Sabres lineup and how his play will affect the rest of the roster. Also in this week’s episode: we touch on Dougie Hamilton’s recent trade rumors, the Canada World Junior selection camp roster and even get a special guest appearance from the 2ITB Dog, Bauer.

We have also transferred to a new hosting service with Podbean. So if there are any technical difficulties that you encounter, please don’t hesitate to notify Tyler or myself as we transfer to the new service. You can still subscribe and listen on iTunes or through Google Play as usual, so there are no other changes to be concerned with.

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Crease Crash Course – Goal Support and Lehner Lift Sabres

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For the first time since October 30, the Sabres scored more than two goals in a game. And, shocker, they won!

Robin Lehner has caught quite a bit of undeserved flak, partially due to the price paid by Tim Murray to acquire him and partially due to a number of lopsided losses suffered by the Sabres with him in net. As discussed previously in this space, Lehner’s play hadn’t wavered so much as the play in front of him had dwindled. It’s no surprise that Lehner played an impressive game against Calgary and got a win when the team in front of him scored more than one goal.

The game wasn’t without its warts as the Flames scored on a near tap in off a four-on-one rush, a play which Robin Lehner was exposed on something of a poor read. It seemed obvious that he didn’t expect the pass to Mikael Backlund to be as far outside the crease as it was, leaving him to make a desperate attempt of a two-pad stack as he came across the crease. It was a goal that he probably wasn’t going to stop even if he was technically perfect, as he simply needed to cover too much ground as the pass came across the crease.  Continue reading →

The Instigator Podcast 5.24 – NHL Jersey Talk with Matt Hills of hockeyreviews.ca

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In addition to our discussion on Buffalo snapping their losing streak – and offensive impotency – Chris and Tyler spent some time with Matt Hills of hockeyreviews.ca. Matt is a jersey aficionado who spent some time talking counterfeit jerseys with us along with the noticeable drop in quality of retail NHL jerseys in recent years.

We had some data issues with this week’s podcast so some editing was required to make sure the file was set up right. A few pieces wound up being left on the cutting room floor but hopefully the final product isn’t too choppy.