Another NHL season is upon us after a summer that was filled with more Buffalo hockey news than you could shake a stick at. The entire Eastern Conference saw a shake up over the summer and the conference could see a similar playoff race, with seeds 7-12 all within shouting distance of each other. I think the same playoff cast will return this season, but with a few minor changes: Continue reading
NHL
Where does Myers rank among his draft mates?
An easy assessment of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft would be to call it the Year of the Defenseman. Twelve defensemen were taken in the first round with twelve more being taken in the second round. Nearly half of the first 60 picks were spent on players to patrol the blue line.
One of those defensemen was Tyler Myers. The Sabres selected Myers, the number four ranked North American skater, with the 12th selection in the first round. Buffalo actually traded up one spot, to ensure they got Myers before the Los Angeles Kings. The Kings selected Colton Teubert with the next selection. Myers was the fifth defenseman taken in the first round, behind blue chips; Drew Doughty (2, LA), Zach Bogosian (3, Atlanta), Alex Pietrangelo (4, St. Louis) and Luke Schenn (5, Toronto).
Myers signed a seven-year $38 million extension this summer. This preempted the massive eight-year $56 million contract given to Doughty by the Kings and the five-year $18 million deal that Schenn got. Bogosian is on his second contract (two years, $10 million) and Pietrangelo will get a new deal in two summers.
As for the six drafted below Myers, only three have seen extended time in the NHL and three have yet to see time in the NHL. Myers is the only one to win an NHL award but isn’t counted on as much as Doughty is. Meanwhile, Schenn and Bogosian both fill top-four roles for their respective clubs but aren’t yet the top defensemen on their teams.
Myers’ contract is one of the best of the bunch, both in terms of length and cost, and he has seen more success than a large fraction of the picks. Of the twelve first rounders, I rank them as follows: Continue reading
Breaking down the Sabres goaltending schedule
The general consensus among the fans and media is that Ryan Miller had a down year in 2010-11. His 2.59 GAA and .916 save percentage paled in comparison to his Vezina winning season in 2009-10.
Miller did notch his sixth-straight 30-win season and was named team MVP for his work. A major culprit in his performance last year was the schedule he played. For the second time in his career, Miller shoulder the workload for over 30-straight games. That is 30-straight starts without any time off. Miller was forced to do the same in 2007-08 and his play was markedly worse in that season as well. There are two glaring reasons for these massive games played streaks. The Sabres needed Miller in net to make up ground in the playoff race; and Miller’s backup was so weak the coaching staff wouldn’t play him.
So, thank Jocelyn Thibault and Patrick Lalime for being better cheerleaders than goaltenders. Had Miller gotten a fair amount of rest, like he did early in 2009-10, his numbers would have been much better. The performance of the team in front of him also had a negative impact on his play. Continue reading
NHL’s worst idea since the glowing puck
This is easily the worst idea the NHL has had in quite some time. Numbers on the front of a player’s helmet.
Puck Daddy posted this story today after seeing the tweet from the Minnesota Wild’s equipment manager. The Puck Daddy story comes with a complete breakdown straight from the NHL, be sure to check that out.
I guess i get what they were going for here. With a number on the front of the player’s dome he will be easier to identify. However, the level of ridiculousness here is astounding.
The numbers are way too big, they don’t look natural on that part of the helmet and it makes the helmets look like they belong in a European league.
The thinking is that the player will be easier to identify, by everyone, with the additional digits on their dome. However, the way helmets are built – plus the size of the players – these numbers will be rendered useless. Not ot mention, they will be too small to see from the press box, so broadcasters are out too. The only people this will benefit are those at the game or watching the broadcast.
While most will certainly be able to see that number, it doesn’t make it any less tacky. Plus, there are already four different locations a number can be found on any given uniform; the back, sleeves and back of the helmet. Some teams even have chest numbers which would bring the total to six if this stupid number is allowed to stand. The teams with chest numbers will look like an Excel spreadsheet with six different numbers on each player. To enact something so gimmicky and awkward to aid the casual fan is the height of stupidity.
For the record, the glowing puck was supposed to help casual fans, too.
This is clearly something that wasn’t thought through, by anyone. Someone needs to take this back and do it soon.
Double Minors: Sabres 3 – Hurricanes 1
It was Slug Appreciation Day, every one and their third cousin came to the First Niagara Center to upgrade their logos. Tonight also marked the first time all the arena upgrades would be on display for the fans to see as the first hockey game was played under the First Niagara Center banner. Oh yeah, the Sabres came back to win 3-1 against the Carolina Hurricanes.
While there wasn’t any pomp or circumstance to the new arena name, or the snazzy new upgrades, the Sabres played to a sell out crowd for a preseason hockey game. It was pretty clear that the hockey community was beyond ready for this game to happen as the Pegula Effect has been in full swing all summer.
The Sabres iced a pretty strong roster with about a 50/50 split of players expected to play with the big club and those destined for Rochester. Ville Leino and Drew MacIntrye were the only new faces to play this evening. For what it’s worth, Paul Gaustad wore the ‘C’ while Tyler Myers and Drew Stafford both served as alternate captains. Of course, the ‘C’ and ‘A’s will rotate as the preseason carries on, but Gaustad and Myers are certainly on the leadership track for this hockey club.
As for the game: Continue reading
Proud to Puck launches today
Along with providing Bandits, Bills and Sabres content here at 2ITB, along with other random musings, I will be contributing as the Sabres writer for Proud to Puck. It is a new NHL news website that will offer coverage of the entire league. I’ll often re-post content here from P2P and vice-versa.
I am joining a great group of writers and it will be a fun season providing content for this new site. Be sure to check it out on a daily basis.
Buffalo Sabres season preview: Between the pipes
This is part one of a series previewing the Buffalo Sabres 2011-12 season. Part one focuses on the goaltenders.
Through the highs and lows in the Sabres history there seems to always been one constant. Sound goaltending has always been something the Sabres have boasted. As they enter the year with Ryan Miller as their starter they once again have no issues between the pipes.
However, unlike the past four seasons, the Sabres have a sound insurance policy as a back-up goaltender. Jhonas Enroth, whose play down the stretch helped secure the Sabres’ playoff position, will serve as Miller’s primary back-up for the entire season. Enroth will provide added stability to a position that was already the strength of the team. Continue reading
Sabres-Flames rumors swirl again
As training camp fast approaches the Sabres timetable to get under the cap continues to shrink.
Despite the obvious solution (sticking players in the minors), Darcy Regier continues to stand by his strategy of utilizing trades to clear the necessary cap space. Due to that apparent strategy, the rumor mill is back up and running.
Everyone’s favorite rumor monger, Eklund, floated the idea of a second trade between the Sabres and Flames. While it is an intriguing notion I doubt that either team could find a workable option.
Buffalo currently sits $3.6 million over the salary cap. The Flames are just about $1.5 million under the cap at this time. Given those numbers, I can’t find a may either team could work the payroll. The Sabres top trade prospects are Brad Boyes, Ales Kotalik, Shaone Morrisonn, Jason Pominville and Andrej Sekera. Sekera is the most attractive option based on his cap hit (2.75) and his skill level. Pominville is a close second based on his scoring touch, but his $5.3 million cap hit would require a lot of tweaking in a potential trade. Brad Boyes has a moderate cap hit and a moderate offense return, I wonder how attractive he would be for teams around the league.
As for the Flames, there are only a few truly attractive options based on the Sabres’ needs and salary constraints. Rene Bourque, Curtis Glencross, Nik Hagman and Brendan Morrison. Certainly Sabres fans are hoping that the white whale, Jarome Iginla, is a target, but there is no way they could swig the trade based on their current cap situation.
Farewell Captain Clutch
In case you hadn’t heard, Chris Drury played in, and won, the Little League World Series. No fooling.
In a related note, Captain Clutch is calling it a career. After an underwhelming and injury plagued tenure with the New York Rangers, Drury was bought out earlier in the summer and has decided to retire from professional hockey all together.
What this tells me is his degenerative knee condition is more severe than originally expected in July. There were many who figured he would find his was onto a contender’s roster at discounted rate for the 2011-12 campaign. After all his face off skills, penalty killing and other intangibles would be very attractive to a team making a Cup push.
Alas, his injuries likely played a large role in this decision.
Drury was, and will be, one of my favorite players of all time. Ever since his first seasons with Colorado I was a fan of his style and skill. When he was acquired by Buffalo I was ready to do back flips.
Drury was part of some of the best Sabres hockey in the history of the franchise. He, Daniel Briere and the rest of the core players carried the team to the Eastern Conference Finals in back-to-back years in what was one of the most memorable runs I can think of with this team. Then, of course there was the goal. Who else?
And here is an even cooler angle
Continue reading
Sabres re-sign Gragnani and add to AHL depth
Nearly a strong month of silence from One Seymour H Knox III Plaza was ended this week when the Buffalo Sabres announced a trio of new signings.
The final signing, a one-year deal for Marc-Andre Gragnani, is the most important of the three. The Sabres no longer have any players left without a contract after Gragnani agreed to terms. Earlier in the week Buffalo came to terms on one-year contracts for Mike Ryan and Paul Szezechura. Both will play in Rochester this season.
The acquisition of Ryan and Szezechura was a good move by the team as the Amerks were in desperate need of help at forward, particularly at center. Szezechura is a natural center and Ryan will likely allow for Matt Ellis to serve as a pivot as well. Both players are capable of putting up numbers at the AHL level in addition to having some NHL experience. Strong marks to Darcy Regier for finding two strong veterans for the Americans. Continue reading
Two in the Box 
