Shutdown Pair

Tag: Buffalo

  • The New Boss

    The Sabres won last night, though it still wasn’t pretty and took overtime and stupid penalties by the Thrasherjets to do it.  So it pretty much ‘solves’ nothing about the Miller/Enroth debate.  As I was watching the game last night, I think I came up with a good analogy for what is happening.  It’s like when your boss retires, and some new guy comes in from another department to take over.  You stop surfing the net, or goofing with your phone, or flirting with the hottie that sits a few cubes behind you.  Look at ME, you are saying, this company is my LIFE.

    But after a few weeks, you ease the throttle back a notch.  Your work’s getting done, so there’s no harm in checking those NFL injury reports.  You find yourself standing next to the hottie’s desk chatting away after you get coffee.  It happens, you’re human.  That’s where the Sabres are with Enroth, though.  It’s still New Boss Mode.  They sit up straight and pay attention for Jhonas in a way they don’t for Miller right now, and make no mistake, Miller needs the D to do just that.  He needs to find his game, so they need to quit cheating, making bad passes, and generally expecting Miller to make the save.  He isn’t right now, so they need to put their phones away, leave the hottie alone (she’s got a boyfriend anyway guys) and get to work.  In the long run it’ll make them a better team when Ryan does get his game back on track.

    Cody damaged Glass's hand WITH HIS FACE

    As for the game last night, I missed the first period, and when I saw the score I thought “darn, I missed all the fun”.  Yeah, not so much.  Thomas Vanek scored twice (although the second one was ricocheting a goal in off him in his office), and Roy had two goals, including the one that tied the game late to send it to overtime.  It was a penalty-filled affair, with the Jets taking some dumb penalties in particular.  I thought Gerbe embellished to get the penalty in the OT.  Pominville played half the game.  A special nod to Gaustad for the super-sweet pass, and Cody McCormick for the epic bout with Tanner Glass.  Commander Cody got cut, possibly by Glass hitting his helmet as Tanner had to ice his hand in the penalty box afterwards.  Oh, and congratulations to Corey Tropp for his first NHL goal.

    See you Friday when the Sens come to town.  May be in the pressbox for that one.

  • Gameday 2011-2012 – Jets at Sabres

    It’s going to be quite a night at the FNC tonight.  Dale Hawerchuk and Rick Jeanneret will be inducted into the Sabres Hall of Fame (hey, that means they get swords right?  COOL).  The newfangled Thrasher-Jets are in town for the first time, and we are all waiting impatiently to see which goalie gets the nod tonight for Buffalo.  Ryan Miller provided some choice quotes regarding the situation:

    “I’m here to win,” Miller said Monday. “That’s the emotion you get from me. If I’m discouraged, if I’m pissed off, that’s just how it is. I want to win. I don’t want to be out there getting scored on. I don’t want to be pulled out of a game. I want to, you know, I want to fucking win the game.”

    I put the bad words back in, those weren’t in the News story.  Could you imagine all the letters (hand-written!) they’d get from the old people that still get a physical copy of the paper?  Heh.  By the way, love this bit from Lindy Ruff at the end:

    “There’s a lot of fire there,” Ruff said. “He’s emotional about his game, and that’s what you like. I like him the way he is.”

    I keep hearing the chorus to “Just the Way You Are” now.  Aww.  Moving on, Ennis and Hecht are still recovering, and Kaleta is still suspended, so I imagine Corey Tropp will still be in tonight.  As an aside, wasn’t his name being pronounced like it was spelled ‘trope’ in the preseason?  Or maybe at Traverse City.  Whichever way it’s said, he hasn’t looked out of place out there to me.  It’s a 7pm game, but expect it to start a bit later with the pre-game festivities.  Adjust your DVRs accordingly if you need to record the game.

  • Winning Weekend Fans The Goalie ‘Controversy’ Flames

    Buffalo played Jhonas Enroth in both back to back games this weekend, and won both by one goal.  It certainly won’t mute the vocal minority who are now thinking that maybe Enroth should be the one to get 50-60 games this year.  I don’t think that’s what is happening here, Ruff is giving Ryan Miller some time to clear that horrible Flyers game out of his head, get the work in at practice, and come back with a vengeance.

    As for the games, the one on Friday against the Flames was about as perfect a game as Buffalo could play.  They peppered Calgary’s backup goalie with shots, with Stafford and Gerbe scoring in the 2-1 win.  It was night and day from the difficult to watch team that couldn’t seem to buy a good scoring chance, when they weren’t too busy giving the puck away.  Last night’s game against the Senators was more even and not quite as dominant, but still showed a lot of positive signs.  Robyn Regehr was wrecking dudes, Boyes and Leino both played very solidly, and Nathan Gerbe was a stud on the Leopold goal.  Derek Roy scored the other Buffalo goal, and also had the decider in the shootout.  Vanek and Boyes both contributed in the shootout as well to keep Buffalo alive.  These two games really seem like what we were expecting from the start of the season, the right guys contributing…save for the goalie.  REALLY interested to see how Enroth gets used in the up coming week, with a Tuesday home game against Winnipeg, another Friday/Saturday combo with a rematch against Ottawa and a trip to Boston, then a Monday game in Montreal.  Is he back to one game on the weekend?  Two?  I think if Miller plays well against Winnipeg, assuming he goes in for that one, we are back to the ‘schedule’ for Jhonas.  But if he plays against the Jets…

  • Gameday 2011-2012 – Flames at Sabres

    Well, that was an interesting week.  We see line shuffling, Miller chased in less than 7 minutes, Enroth holding the line for a comeback try, but ultimately still losing at home to the Flyers.  Kaleta gets suspended 4 games, and Corey Tropp is up to take his spot in the lineup.  Ready your Tropp-ic Thunder or Tropp-ical Storm puns now.

    So, Kaleta.  He definitely hit the dude in the head, I don’t know that he was trying to head-butt ’em, but it was a reckless play that contacted the head, so 4 games works.  The people spoke and Kaleta was the popular choice for most suspended Sabre, and now he’s got quite a lead.

    The Flames come in tonight for another 7:30pm start, off a 4-1 win in Detroit last night.  That’s right, Buffalo gets to be the rested team tonight.  Calgary is pretty much on par with the Sabres right now, with solid wins surrounding painful losses.  They’ve at least had the decency to win more than one at home, though.  Lindy is playing coy about which goalie plays tonight, as for Calgary, they play Kipper into the ground so it wouldn’t surprise me to see Kiprusoff out there.  Doesn’t help that backup Henrik Karlsson is 0-1-1 with a 3.32 GAA in his limited appearances.  We’ll probably know more after practice today.

  • Gameday 2011-2012 – Flyers at Sabres

    Hmm, so not only do we have former Flyer Ville Leino centering the first line, but Roy is at the point on the power play, with Gragnani out of the equation.  Might we get a Mike Weber sighting?  Lindy wouldn’t say, but it wouldn’t be a huge surprise.  The Flyers come in without Danny Briere who is nursing sore ribs.  Sorry, boo-birds, your ownly chance to boo him will be when they announce the scratches.  Pronger is also out after nearly having his eye scooped out.

    I know that it’s the first meeting after the Flyers eliminated the Sabres from the playoffs, but I just don’t feel any great anger at them for it.  I mean, I always dislike the Flyers, and that didn’t increase it any.  Maybe it’s the hangover from the Pegula effect.  Leino will doubtless have some butterflies playing his old mates, perhaps moreso because it hasn’t gone that well here.

    It’s another 7:30pm start time tonight, and it’s on Versus, so plan accordingly.

  • Calder Watch – Luke Adam to the Second Line

    It happened even faster than I figured, but Leino has taken over the top C spot with Pominville and Vanek, while Luke Adam gets put on the wing with Derek Roy and Drew Stafford.  Still, it’s not a bad place to be, as Derek Roy is a point per game guy when healthy, and Stafford can be a solid goal scorer.  But it’s still not the same as being between two guys in the top 10 for scoring in the entire league.  This could be a short-lived experiment if Vanek and Pominville look lost with Leino out there, but Lindy’s thinking is to get both lines going.  I can’t fault him for that.  Roy is an important player who hasn’t gotten going yet (1G 3A) and it’ll be interesting to see if Adam can help with that.  It’s a good test to see if he’s really a benefit to his linemates, or he was simply the beneficiary of sitting between two of the best point producers on the Sabres.

  • While you were sleeping…

    I don’t check the standings religiously this early in the season, but I saw them today and did a bit of a double-take.  In case you haven’t seen them either, Buffalo is now behind both Toronto AND Ottawa in the Northeast division, with Montreal 2 points behind.  There’s still plenty of time, no question there, but it’s a bit disconcerting to say the least.  Ottawa is supposed to be terrible, but they’ve won 6 straight.  They haven’t exactly been taking on intimdators (Columbus, Florida, Carolina, the Rangers) but you beat the teams you play and they are doing that.  Buffalo can’t afford to lay eggs when playing all the middling to bad teams, especially at home.

    So what’s wrong?  I think you have to start with the defense.  Myers has looked unsure of what to do at times, which is unlike him when he’s playing well.  He’s waiting too long to decide on whether to go for a pass or just clear the puck, and opponents are reaching him and making the decision for him.  Ehrhoff isn’t great defensively, but Canucks fans could’ve told us that.  He’s gotta be scoring if he’s not going to be defending.  Gragnani has just been a train wreck out there recently, passes to nowhere, difficulty in breakouts, pretty much everything seems hard for him.  Will not be surprised to see Mike Weber get a shot Wednesday.

    It’s not time to panic and trade everybody, but Buffalo can’t afford to be standing still for too much longer.  They just might end up where they were last January,with no new ownership boost available to save them.

  • Poll: Your Feelings on Jhonas Enroth

    (hey, if they are going to blame calls for Enroth on blogs, might as well make it official!)

    [poll id=”5″]

    Meant to be tongue-in-cheek, as we all know Miller is the guy.  Just curious.

  • Panthers VS Sabres Game Notes

    First period thoughts:  Passing is squirrelly at best.  Miller made some solid saves.  McCormick/Ellis/Boyes did some good work out there but they can’t be the best line.  Sekera had some good plays, Gragnani needs to learn how to receive a pass.  Myers is still having a rough go, with the penalty and some tough plays around his own net.  I’m fine with the goal not counting, could’ve gone either way but when the foot moves forward, and the refs started discussing it right off.  Personal note:  I almost cheered in the pressbox.  Bad Tick.

    Second period thoughts:  Vanek went Atlas on his goal, but the D is still just slinging pucks all over the pace and hoping the right guys get them.  They are lucky this is the Panthers and not the Capitals.  The Sabres seemed to pick up their play and operate a bit more coherently after Vanek’s goal, so hopefully that can continue on into the third.  Theodore has looked beatable, but they’ve gotta get more shots – only 14 after 2 periods.  Not enough.  Personal note:  I like the hot dogs up here better than the ones they sell at the concession stands.  Which isn’t saying much.

    Third period thoughts:  Silent J fizzled on a breakaway.  Gragnani is still a wreck.  Just when you thought it was safe to plan for a win, the wheels fell off.  Perhaps the retaliation penalty by Stafford was a sign of things to come.  Gerbe getting the extra 2 was deadly.  There were still too many passes that were sent on their way with no thought to destination.  While they got a few more shots in, it was in no way enough.  Miller definitely could’ve been better but you can’t lay it at his door, not totally.  Seemed like no one was on the same page, except maybe McCormick/Ellis/Boyes.  A tough loss to swallow.  Personal note:  Not sure I want my first post-game press conference to be with Angry Lindy.

    Post-game presser thoughts:  Lindy was ticked with their effort, using words like pathetic, disjointed and the like.  Didn’t want to say too much about the calls.  On a personal note, Vogl works blue and I had a difficult time not throwing down a #feces reference.  It’s interesting to see the regulars operate there, there’s a hierarchy in place for questioning, though I don’t think too many wanted to gamble on getting an earful back for a dumb question tonight.

    Anyway, it was a great experience.  I want to thank Ian Ott, Kevin Snow and the Buffalo Sabres for the opportunity.  I think I will do this again, though it’ll be easier once my wife is off work again.  Philly comes to town on Wednesday, a 7:30pm start game on Versus, so plan accordingly.

  • Gameday 2011-2012 – Panthers at Sabres

    I’m in the pressbox for this one, as the Sabres host the Panthers this lovely evening.  Florida is in the building at 5-4-0 having just lost to the Senators (ugh).  They might have something in young goalie Jacob Markstrom, who has a 2.11 GAA and a .945 save percentage so far.  Positively Enrothian numbers, that.  I’m going to focus in on Tyler Myers and Luke Adam as much as I can, I’m really curious to see how much of the top line’s performance is due to the youngster and how much is just him being in the right place at the right time.  Myers, well, I just want to see what he’s doing wrong to maybe figure out how hard it will be for him to change it up.

    I’ll be active on twitter tonight, though I might save my best stuff for my game recap.