Buffalo Sabres

Sabres delay tank celebration for at least one more day with win over Canes

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The merciful end to the nosedive to 30th will have to wait at least one more day as the Sabres edged the Hurricanes 4-3 in the season’s penultimate game at First Niagara Center.

Those who may be tied a little too much into the tank likely lost some hair as the Sabres jumped to a two-goal advantage after the first period and extended their lead to four after the second. Patrick Dwyer woke up the Hurricanes with a tally with just under 2:00 remaining in the middle frame and Carolina would carry that momentum into the third.

Alex Semin scored a beautiful goal just 2:31 into the third and Eric Staal made it mighty interesting with just over five to play. Buffalo managed to buckle down and preserved the one-goal win despite allowing 52 shots and 85 attempts.

Buffalo heads to Columbus on Friday with the magic number for 30th place locked in at two. The Coyotes could do us all a solid and win one more, but I hardly think that’s a realistic possibility. Continue reading →

Scarf collection should be the next addition to the Sabres Store

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Through the build-up for Dominik Hasek’s jersey retirement, I lobbied hard for the Sabres to provide the fans with a commemorative banner for the game. I also thought it would have been very cool if the organization sold replica banners of the rest of their retired numbers.Scarf8

My recommendations were posted in this space and also brought up to members of the Sabres marketing team who addressed them with hesitation. It’s my belief that they were unsure of the costs associated with producing and selling the banners. As it turns out, they seem to have figured out a way to turn a profit on them as the Sabres Store now sells replica retired number banners and replica championship banners.

This all, of course, was my idea. I didn’t even ask for a commission on it.

Kidding about my utter level of brilliance of million-dollar ideas aside, I was incredibly pleased to see the Sabres take this idea and run with it. At the end of the day this blog is here to create intelligent (I hope) conversation regarding Buffalo sports, Buffalo development and anything else that runs across my mind. If something I pitch is seen as a good idea, I hope to see the powers that be take it and run. That’s why I hope the #ThirdsNotTurds or the game day poster contest gets attention in One Seymour H Knox III Plaza.

So, my next recommendation is for the Sabres to introduce a line of collector-edition scarves. Continue reading →

Gameday Poster for Sabres vs. Blackhawks

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Chris Downey, who plies his trade at Sabres Hockey Central volunteered to give the Blackhawks poster a go for tonight’s game. It’s exciting to have people reaching out and showing interest in the project. Once things get going full-bore next season I’m hopeful that it will reflect a very impressive collection of talent. Below is Chris’s submission along with one that I tossed together as well.

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Gameday poster for Sabres vs. Maple Leafs

Chris Ostrander1 Comment

Gameday poster number two features the Sabres and Leafs in an Eastern Conference basement showdown. I went with a comic book cover theme for this one (although I’m not good enough to put a solid effect on Phaneuf and Gionta. Feel free to share thoughts, criticism or contact information if you’d like to get in on the act. Sabres4-1alt

 

Looking ahead to Buffalo’s goaltending options for 2015-16

Chris Ostrander2 Comments

At long last, time is winding down on the Sabres season. The marathon trek to the league basement is all but complete at this point as the Sabres hold a six-point advantage over the Arizona Coyotes for the right to the 20% odds at the NHL Draft Lottery.

While the Sabres aren’t yet guaranteed one of the top two picks in the draft, it’s looking more and more likely that they’ll wind up picking in the top two in June’s draft reports Sports Betting Dime. Even with the final results not yet determined, knowing the talent waiting at the top of the NHL Draft should give Sabres fans solace that the roster turnaround will be nearly completed once Murray announces Buffalo’s pick this summer.

Continue reading →

Fans plunge FNC into bizarro world in Coyotes OT win

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Someone had to win this game. Someone had to come out of the ridiculous atmosphere in First Niagara Center with a pair of points in the standings. Arizona came away with an OT victory and moved one point further away from the Sabres in the league basement.

But the result is hardly the most interesting part of tonight’s game. In fact, Buffalo getting another point in their cushion in the race for McDavid and Eichel isn’t even the most interesting thing to come out of tonight. Buffalo, on home ice, were actively cheered against for the better part of 30 minutes as they tried to battle back against the Coyotes.

Things didn’t get really bizarre until well into the second period. Even after Jordan Szwarz gave Arizona an early lead, most of the building seemed torn on how they should act. But after Oliver Ekman-Larsson and David Moss scored to give the Coyotes the lead, everyone seemed to know what was at stake.

From there, fans gave overwhelming support to Mike Smith and the Coyotes. The fans would boo Arizona penalties and even booed when Brian Gionta scored to tie the game late in the third. When Smith made a desperation stop on Zach Bogosian in the dying minutes, you would have thought it was Dominik Hasek turning aside Trent Klatt. Continue reading →

Game Night Poster for Sabres vs. Coyotes

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In what I hope becomes a regular practice for home Sabres games, I’ve developed a game night poster for tomorrow’s Tank Battle. It’s my hope to have a handful of designers from around Sabres Nation contribute to home dates next season so we have commemorative posters for each home contest.

 

The Instigator Podcast 3.7 – The Sabres Stretch Run

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For the first podcast of the post-3rd Man In era, Tyler and I sit down to chat about exactly how the Sabres got to where they are, the expectations for the final few games of the year and what could be on the way this summer.

Goaltenders, Evander Kane and tanking are on the docket for this episode of the Instigator Podcast.

Follow the link to listen.

2ITB Header Design contest

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About a month ago I chose to run with a new design/theme for the site. The change over led me to abandon the header image I had used previously and adopt the plain blue and white header you see now.

But I feel the time has come to put a new header image up so that I can continue to grow my #brand. Or something. So I’m holding a design contest, of sorts, to pick a new site header. The contest is open to literally anyone and everyone and the winning designer will receive a 2ITB Prize Pack (some hats), so you won’t be doing this pro-bono. Well, sort of pro-bono since there won’t be any money involved, but you still get some cool stuff if you win.

Here are the stipulations for the design contest:

– The header image must be 1000×200 in size.

– The image should incorporate the Sabres, the city of Buffalo and/or the Bills. All three don’t need to be included, but the image should pull on each of these in some way.

– The image needs to incorporate “Two in the Box”, because #brand.

– Be creative. I’m not adverse to overly unique designs and I’m open to new things. So don’t shy away from an idea because you’re worried I’ll hate it. I will add that I’ve grown to like the clean look of the page with the basic blue header, so I’d be partial to a clean, uncluttered design, but I’m truly open to anything.

– Designs should be sent in to 2intheboxbuffalo@gmail.com

Feel free to send along any questions you might have along with tagging your entry on Twitter using #2ITBDesign. I’ll be sharing my favorite designs via Twitter as well.

 

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The curious case of Matt Hackett

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Matt Hackett was very much seen as a serious candidate as the goalie of the future for the Sabres when he was acquired at the 2013 trade deadline. He’s since slid down the depth chart and sits in a precarious position as the 2014-15 season dwindles away.

Entering the year, Hackett needed to get in eight appearances of at least 30 minutes to remain a restricted free agent heading into the offseason. His status is a unique one that isn’t encountered too often, but put both himself and Tim Murray in an odd situation even before the season started.

Hackett’s up-and-down play, late-season knee injury, the emergence of Nathan Lieuwen and the presence of both Jhonas Enroth and Michal Neuvirth made things that much cloudier.

Of course, things have cleared up a bit as Enroth and Neuvirth were both traded and Chad Johnson was injured before appearing in a game, leaving just Hackett and Anders Lindback to man the crease for the remainder of the year. Lindback’s hot play has kept Hackett from seeing the lion’s share of the work and time is running out with only nine games to go in the season. Continue reading →