Sabres Development Camp wrapped up with the French Connection Tournament yesterday and in the wake of another mid-summer peek at Buffalo’s prospect pipeline, Chris and Tyler share their thoughts on who stood out from the crowd over the weekend. In addition, we offer up some thoughts on the contract status of Robin Lehner, Sam Reinhart and Jack Eichel. Although we don’t spend very much time on #15.
Jack Eichel
New Phone Wallpapers for the 2017-18 Season
With the 2017-18 Buffalo Sabres season rapidly approaching, I built out some new phone background for use as a lockscreen, wallpaper or both. I’ll add new players as the season goes on and if you have any requests, send them my way. Enjoy. Continue reading
The Instigator Podcast 5.33 – Eichel, Booing and more Sabres Deadline Talk
Chris and Tyler spend far too much time discussing the fallout from Jack Eichel’s harmless comments following the Sharks victory in addition to hitting on Buffalo’s You Can Play Night and the fast approaching NHL trade deadline. We also focus in on the continued rumors surrounding the Coyotes and Islanders while hitting on a few more trade deadline storylines as Brian Gionta, Dmirty Kulikov and Cody Franson are starting to come up on watch lists.
The Instigator Podcast 5.31 – Lehner Rumors and Judging what the Sabres Control
Back for another episode, Chris and Tyler pour over recent rumors that Robin Lehner may have been shopped after his meltdown in Toronto while also debating the thought process of trying to compare players team-to-team. We argue that the Sabres need to be judged based on their results, not the results of another club or another player.
We think this is a topic that’s getting badly misinterpreted by the fanbase, if you agree, disagree or simply think we’re complete dopes, please let us know.
You can grab The Instigator Podcast on the go by subscribing on iTunes, Google Play or other podcast apps.
The Instigator Podcast 5.25 – The Jack Attack is Back
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.
2015-16 2ITB Sabres Awards
Once again the 2ITB Awards are back to celebrate another season of Sabres hockey. As always, some of these categories are serious and others are inserted for fun.
It was an interesting season given Buffalo’s surge from the basement to almost out of the basement. While they didn’t climb too high in the standings, they improved by nearly 30 points in the standings and injected an incredible amount of excitement into the fanbase thanks to the exploits detailed below.
I’m expecting an exciting offseason and probably a new set of expectations for next year which will be a little too high. Until then, enjoy some of the highlights from 2015-16. Continue reading
Sabres Likely to Dot World Cup of Hockey Rosters
The return of the World Cup of Hockey coincides nicely with the Sabres’ resurgence. The puck will drop on the event over two years after Sam Reinhart was selected in Philadelphia, casting one of the largest stones of Buffalo’s rebuild.
As the Sabres continue to grow from cellar dweller to competitor, their roster will gain more and more notoriety. Jack Eichel already commands a great deal of attention and players like Reinhart, Ryan O’Reilly and Rasmus Ristolainen are growing into stars in their own right. Thanks to the format of next fall’s World Cup, the Sabres will have an opportunity to have a number of players represent the team at the re-tooled international tournament.
The introduction of the North American Young Stars and European All Star teams opens additional for many of Buffalo’s players to step onto the Air Canada Center ice next fall. Some of the names that will follow are going to be no brainers in terms of participation while others will be admitted long shots. Here’s a look at which Sabres players will be, at the very least, on the watch list for next year’s World Cup. Continue reading
North American Young Stars World Cup of Hockey Roster Projection
The long wait for the World Cup of Hockey’s return is almost over and I can’t wait to see the event back on the ice next fall.
There is some contention over the choice to include a pair of teams who aren’t connected to any one country. The European All Stars, made up of players from countries not named Sweden, Finland, Russia or the Czech Republic, and the North American Young Stars teams will allow the league to showcase more star talent in the short tournament. The two teams have drawn the ire of some, particularly the Young Stars team which will pull American and Canadian players under the age of 23.
While Team Europe’s melting pot roster will be star-studded, the team isn’t pulling talent from other nations participating in the tournament. The same cannot be said of the North American Young Stars who will likely wind up with three or four players who would have otherwise suited up for the Americans alone.
I, for one, love the idea of the Young Stars team. As this isn’t the Olympics and there still doesn’t appear to be a long-term answer for the structure and schedule of the tournament, there’s no reason not to introduce a new wrinkle or two to help put more star power into the games. Each time the Olympics come around there’s discussion over how good a second Canadian squad would be. This practice isn’t far off from giving the Canadians another entry, there just happens to be a few Americans sprinkled in. Continue reading
Double Minors: Replay Derails Sabres Comeback Against Sens
For a few fleeting moments on Thursday night, the plan had fallen into place perfectly. Evander Kane had shoveled a puck home from beside the net, DJ Kool was blasting throughout the arena and the momentum had fully shifted as the Sabres had tied the game.
However, Ottawa successfully challenged the play as the Sabres were deemed to have been offside on the zone entry and the score reverted to 2-1. While the Sabres still had a firm control over the game, they were unable to score another tying marker.
For the record, the Senators and the referees made the right call. The play was just ever slightly offside and the review showed that. So twice in two nights the new NHL review system worked as planned. It will be a hard pill to swallow for Sabres fans but it was the right call. Continue reading
Reloaded Forward Group is Full of Upside
Pop quiz, hot shot. Can you name all of the forwards vying for a spot on the Sabres roster this year? No cheating.
The Sabres enter camp with a hefty roster bolstered by two years of rebuilding. As a result, fresh faces abound and it isn’t too hard to leave out a name or two while you’re penciling in lines.
Tim Murray’s first 18 months have brought Evander Kane, Jamie McGinn, Ryan O’Reilly (and brother Cal), Zach Bogosian, Josh Gorges, Cody Franson and Robin Lehner (among others) to the Queen City. Oh, and two guys named Sam Reinhart and Jack Eichel, too. As a result, trying to ferret out exactly who will be on the opening night roster isn’t an easy task.
Obviously Eichel is going to be at the center of attention throughout camp. After all, where would the Sabres marketing team be if they couldn’t show us Jack Eichel doing Jack Eichel things with people who aren’t Jack Eichel? All kidding aside, I’m beyond ecstatic to see him in preseason action after his play in development camp (especially the 3-on-3 tournament) and at the Prospects Challenge. I just hope the Sabres don’t run him into the ground as they try to promote him the team.
The number of potential position battles for a team starting to turn the corner out of a rebuild isn’t that surprising. The forward group has the most potential for upheaval as there are upwards of 15 players who could conceivably push for a roster spot for the October 8 opener. Continue reading
Two in the Box 