In our quest to provide insightful coverage of the Sabres, we’re looking to add a Rochester Station Chief to the Two in the Box team. At times, it feels as if there’s a lack of coverage for the Amerks for Sabres fans to pull upon. With Kevin Oklobzija no longer covering the team for the D&C – a true shame as his work was second to none – there’s an even larger gap when it comes to available coverage on the Amerks.
So, if you’re a hockey fan in Rochester who has the interest in offering up your hot or luke warm takes on the Americans, let us know. Interested parties can email 2intheboxbuffalo@gmail.com.
On the eve of the Buffalo Sabres season (and hours after the Eichel gut punch) we thought it would be cool to take a look at the new paintjobs and new gear Buffalo’s goaltenders will be wearing this season.
All four goaltenders who will be splitting time between Buffalo and Rochester will be using masks painted by Dave Gunnarsson (DaveArt) which probably should be of little surprise given his massive NHL portfolio and Swedish nationality. That the Sabres feature three Swedes certainly helps push business to the NHL’s preeminent mask artist.
As for gear, things are split down the middle between CCM and Vaughn. Robin Lehner and Jason Kasdorf are Vaughn disciples while Anders Nilsson and Linus Ullmark both sport CCM gear. Here’s the full rundown: Continue reading →
Chris and Tyler are back with a new episode of The Instigator Podcast. Today we discuss the recent change in control behind the bench of the Rochester Americans, where Dan Lambert has taken over, along with iconic Sabres overtime goals. We provide a “definitive” ranking of all-time Sabres goals and we encourage you to share your thoughts on what that ranking should look like.
The Sabres begin the season in four days, and some question marks still remain as to who will be part of that opening night roster against Ottawa. The organization has made quite a few cuts over recent days that have answered some questions, such as sending Cal O’Reilly down to Rochester. There’s still a handful of decisions to be made in the next 24 hours, or so, with the roster currently sitting at 28 players and only enough room for 23. Here’s how I see the Sabres’ roster looking to start the year. Continue reading →
With a new season comes new helmets and the Sabres organization will be treated to a number of new goal masks for this season. Thanks to Tim Murray’s dealing, Chad Johnson and Robin Lehner bring their unique looks to the organization this season. Additionally, Linus Ullmark and CJ Motte will have new mask art to add to the organizational list.
Here are the masks Buffalo’s goaltenders will be sporting as the season opens: Continue reading →
UPDATE: This was written as the news regarding Mikhail Grigorenko’s demotion broke.
The puck officially drops on the Buffalo Sabres season on Thursday night when Columbus rolls into town. Today marks the final day for roster trimming and the Sabres still have a few moves to make in order to work their way to 23 players.
Ted Nolan’s job isn’t going to be easy, especially when it comes to choosing his forwards.
Buffalo’s roster, for the most part, is fairly easy to project. A handful of defensemen – Tyler Myers, Josh Gorges, Andrej Meszaros, Mike Weber and Andre Benoit – are all but assured a spot as are a fair group of forwards. Namely Brian Gionta, Tyler Ennis, Matt Moulson, Chris Stewart, Marcus Foligno, Cody Hodgson, Drew Stafford and Zemgus Girgensons.
That leaves only a few spots for a number of players. Continue reading →
Looking around the hockey world, there are plenty of players getting bumped off rosters due to the influx of skaters and goaltenders previously slated for the NHL. The effect will be felt across Europe and particularly at the AHL level.
While individual AHL teams will benefit from skaters on entry-level deals making their way down to the developmental league, the players who would have typically battled for one of the final roster spots are likely destined for other locations.
Rochester serves as a perfect example of this as a few tryout players and summer free agent signings have suddenly found themselves on a roster with a lot more talent than originally expected.
Marcus Foligno and Cody Hodgson were each expected to be in Buffalo to start the season with Luke Adam, Kevin Porter, Nick Tarnasky and Corey Tropp were all expected to at least push for a roster spot with the big club. Now, those six join 14 other forwards who now face a much more daunting task in making the AHL club.
Those who are most affected by the infusion of talent are; Riley Boychuk, Maxime Legault, Jonathan Parker, Frederick Roy and Jamie Wise. Boychuk and Parker each saw time in the ECHL last year, while Legault has stuck with the organization on AHL contracts over the past few years. Roy and Wise each made a positive impression at development camp, but are behind far more skaters than they would have been after their camp performances earlier in the summer. Continue reading →
The specter of past failures often loom large for NHL franchises. For example, the lack of defensive depth in the spring of 2006 prompted Darcy Regier to go on a drafting and free agent spree that stocked the Sabres cupboards with defensemen. Now the organization is reaping the rewards of that draft strategy.
However, as it pertains to the Americans for the upcoming season, the blueline is going to be awfully crowded. Rochester will enter camp with ten defensemen on their roster. Like with their goaltenders, at least one or two will be destined to spend some time in the Coast during the year.
Easy money on that player will be Corey Fienhage. The former third round pick hasn’t panned out at nearly every level since he was drafted by the Sabres and he even spent some time in Gwinnett last season. Nick Crawford could also be a candidate for the Coast depending on the performance of some of the rookies that are coming in this season. Drew Schiestel will also be in a sticky situation as he comes back to the organization after being loaned to Texas last season – a move that many interpreted as a death sentence for his time with the Sabres.
Get him a normal number.
Schiestel will be back for another year, but is looking up at a deep roster of defensemen who all saw serious time with the Amerks last year. Should Schiestel stay healthy over the season, he could certainly climb back up into the good graces with the coaching staff. After all, he was likely the first player who would have been called up last year had he not suffered additional injuries. The main hurdle Schiestel now needs to deal with will be the young prospects that will be playing in Rochester this season.
Mark Pysyk and Jerome Gauthier-Leduc are each entering their first professional season and will each bring plenty of mobility to a blueline that is already rich with physical defenders. Pysyk is a well-heralded prospect who fell to the Sabres in the first round of 2010. He is mobile, a right handed shot and is responsible at both ends of the ice. While he isn’t a straight ahead offensive dynamo, he certainly isn’t a stay-at-home stalwart, either. Pysyk plays a very balanced game and should get plenty of minutes in Rochester.
As for his fleet-footed 2010 draft mate. JGL is far more Gragnani than he is Campbell. JGL is a scoring machine and proved as much in his final year of junior. His defensive capabilities scare me, especially after seeing how useless Gragnani was in all but one playoff series during his Sabres career. Finding a way to develop a two-way game will likely be a key for JGL’s development.
A few mainstays for the Amerks blueline will be Alex Biega, Joe Finley and Matt MacKenzie. Biega, who wore a letter last season will continue to bring that sound two-way effort he has since his time at Harvard. Meanwhile MacKenzie will continue his development track that is basically one year ahead of Pysyk at this point. Continue reading →
They did it right, however. The uniform remained unchanged aside from the base color. The triple stripes on the sleeves and waist stay blue and white and the Amerks crest also sticks around. Aside from incorporating an alternate color, the Amerks kept their jersey largely unchanged.
Perhaps it is that red, white and blue are a pleasing scheme that can be used in any combination. The Sabres use of gold doesn’t necessarily allow for too many subdued uses. While a red uniform isn’t conservative (hello, butter knives), it complements the color scheme the Amerks use quite well. Gold, on the other hand, contrasts the Sabres (or Preds) use of navy in a much louder fashion. Yet, I’m left wondering if the Sabres third jerseys (due for 2013-14) will use gold as a primary color. Continue reading →
Saturday afforded me the chance to check out a pair of games and sample some of the best BBQ in Western New York.
Rather than just stay at home for Saturday’s Sabres – Senators game, a few friends and I took a quick trip to Rochester for a Bandits game, Dinosaur BBQ and the Amerks – Senators game.
The purpose of the trip was to see the Amerks and see some of the talent the Sabres have in the pipeline. It ended up being a great day trip featuring a sports double header. The Bandits game was a loss. They are a team in complete disarray who don’t seem to have a clue which way is up. Buffalo was held to three goals fro most of the game until they finally went on a late run. The final score was 13-10, but that was hardly indicative of the domination the Bandits endured.
The Amerks game was far better. Joe Finley dropped the gloves just three seconds in and Rochester put on a clinic against the AHL’s cellar dwellers. Mark Voakes (0+3) and Travis Turnbull (1+2) paced the Amerks as six different players scored for Rochester.
David Leggio didn’t see his tenth shot until the third period and was largely untested for most of the night. He did allow one goal, but did mange to make a few impressive stops along the way. Leggio finished with 17 saves.
While Marcus Foligno was busy scoring his first NHL goal, there were a few bright spots from some of the players biding their time in Rochester this season. Paul Szezchura, Brayden McNabb and even Finley had some strong moments in the blowout victory.
The highlight of the day may have been grabbing a massive plate of BBQ between the games. Dinosaur BBQ is located about 100 yards from Blue Cross Arena. Would it be that difficult to put a location in downtown Buffalo? Seriously, are the people making decisions on the waterfront that obtuse? Continue reading →
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