Tonight could be the night. After December, fans were thinking a lottery pick was in the future. Now the Buffalo Sabres are one point away from the NHL Playoffs.
Thanks to a little help from the Thrashers – and a no-show by the Rangers – Buffalo has a magic number of one to clinch over New York or Carolina. The Thrashers could do Buffalo a huge favor tonight by putting away the Canes at Phillips Arena. Continue reading
There is about to be 10,000 square feet of space open on the Buffalo waterfront. The problem is that most of Buffalo probably doesn’t know the space exists.
For the past three years the Ira G. Ross Aerospace Museum has occupied the space in HSBC Arena behind the Sabres Store. They just learned that their lease will not be renewed.
This is both good and bad news. First of all, raise your hand if you knew the aerospace museum was located in the arena. Keep your hands up if you know where the entrance to the museum is…Bueller…Bueller….anybody? That is because the door is tucked around the corner of Main and Perry across from the “subway” tracks and the fenced in area that stores floating docks in the winter. Not exactly a prime location for foot traffic. Continue reading
Tonight’s Bruins-Rangers game was somewhere in the limbo that exists between a catch-22 and a win-win scenario. On one hand, a Rangers win all but eliminates the Maple Leafs and makes Carolina’s mountain that much steeper. On the other hand, a Boston win would keep the Sabres in seventh place and knock off another game for the Rags and giving Buffalo a magic number of three.
Well, Tim Thomas let in three pretty bad goals as the Bruins gave up a three-goal lead and took one on the chin, 5-3 to the Rangers. Looking at the whole situation I’m happy the Rangers won. I think Zdeno Chara is a scummer and I enjoy seeing him lose. The same goes for Brad Marchand, Gregory Campbell and Milan Lucic. Besides, one loss for the Rangers doesn’t do all that much for the Sabres’ hopes. If the Canes lose Wednesday, that is a whole different story.
Still, the fact that the Bruins folded like a tent after building a three-goal lead isn’t a good sign for them. Not to mention, their Vezina Candidate didn’t make any big saves for them when they needed it. Actually, he didn’t make many saves at all, whether they were routine or big saves.
For my money I don’t know if I want to see the Bruins in the first round. The Capitals are the best matchup on paper but the Sabres don’t play them too well. That leaves the Flyers who are backing their way into the playoffs themselves. If it came down to the Bruins or Flyers, I would take the Bruins. The Flyers’ size and depth scares me more than the thought of having to exorcise demons from last years playoffs.
The magic number is four. If the Sabres gain four points over the Hurricanes over the next few days, Buffalo will have secured a playoff bid.
The Sabres enter tomorrows game against Tampa Bay with a three point lead over the Canes. A Buffalo win, coupled with a regulation loss by Carolina, will keep the Canes from catching up in the playoff race. There are your four points. Continue reading
Cue the naysayers. Jhonas Enroth’s performance against the Rangers will bring every single Ryan Miller-hater out of the woodwork.
Forget the fact that Miller put up two huge shutouts and another strong two-goal game last week. He was named the first star of the week and was a major part of the Sabres establishing a strong foothold in the Eastern Conference playoff picture. Of course he let in a few weak goals against Toronto that erased any good play that preceded the game. Continue reading
The NCAA’s two power conferences are represented in the 2011 Frozen Four as North Dakota and Minnesota-Duluth will be representing the WCHA against Michigan and Notre Dame from the CCHA.
North Dakota has crazy depth and will face an incredible test against Michigan as the Sioux haven’t had many hiccups in the second half of the season. Minnesota-Duluth has taken a Cinderella-type run past Union and top-seed Yale. Notre Dame’s goaltending makes them a scary team for anyone to face.
With all but four teams still playing, now is the time of the season when college free agents become attractive to NHL teams. Just today Niagara forward and Hobey Baker candidate, Paul Zanette, was signed by Montreal to an AHL contract. One of the biggest names on the table, Paul Thompson (UNH) was picked up by the Penguins. I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets a few games with the big club at the tail end of the year, they’re in dire need of forward depth. Continue reading
The Terry Pegula era has been greeted with unbridled enthusiasm. I don’t blame anyone for it either. He, and Ted Black, have said all the right things and have made all the right moves thus far. They have added numerous facets to the in-arena and home viewing experience.
Many of the improvements have come from the Sabres Suggestion Box. One suggestion that has been addressed by one (or more) fans is to do something with the red wall that lines the 100 level at HSBC Arena. This is something that has crossed my mind before and cropped back up when the suggestion box debuted.
My idea is to add some art to the wall. I first thought of this when I caught a game at Air Canada Centre. The ACC has put a mural of old pictures around their wall. The pictures are made up of old pictures of fans from Maple Leaf Gardens. This adds a very cool aspect to the in-arena experience there. That is where the genesis of my idea was born. Continue reading
This is one of those weekends that you could bill as the biggest of the season, until the next set of back-to-back games rolls along. So I will refrain from dubbing tonight’s game against Florida and tomorrow’s against New Jersey as the two most important games of the year.
However, the Sabres are in a position of power and can tighten their grip on a playoff spot if they take at least three of four this weekend. In actuality they could split the weekend and maintain the same lead they have on Carolina going in to tonight. There are so many different ways this can play out you can nail down one option and say “this is how it has to be.” Continue reading
The Sabres introduced a new goal song last night – well, it was supposed to debut against the Canes – and they got to test it out eight times. The song is “Swords of A Thousand Men” by Tenpole Tudor. It is a perfect goal song, just ignore the strange video.
The only thing I noticed about the song last night is that it didn’t fit well with what the Sabres have been doing after goals lately. They currently try and squeeze RJ’s goal call in with the song before the ensuing faceoff. It is just a little too much. They should take a page out of the Blackhawks book and start the song just after the horn goes off. Using Jeanneret is a cool touch but a goal song that will get the entire arena signing is much more effective.
The Buffalo Sabres placed Craig Rivet on waivers this morning. I learned the info via Bob McKenzie’s twitter account. In addition to Rivet, former Sabre Ales Kotalik was waived by Calgary along with Nik Zherdev (PHI) and Marek Svatos (NSH).
Kind of crazy to see Svatos waived. The Preds poached the winger from St. Louis when they signed him out of the KHL earlier in the winter.
It is about time that Rivet was given some sort of out. He has been stuck in the press box for quite some time, he deserved better than the fate he was receiving.
I wonder what will come of the Rivet situation? Do they send him to the AHL? Or are they confident a team like Montreal, Vancouver or Toronto will claim him? Either way, the next 24 hours could be interesting to watch.
