Shutdown Pair

Tag: Jhonas Enroth

  • Yeah Sabres!

    I haven’t felt compelled to post much of anything this preseason, as you may have noticed.  A touch of snark at the Leafs here, a bit of whimsy about Shanny’s player discipline for head-hunting there.  Beyond that though, nada.  I think there’s a good reason…I’m satisfied.  For the first time in a while, I so like what the team has done in the offseason I don’t feel the need to do a bunch of research, or scour Behind The Net’s advanced stats, to try and show you why Buffalo should be better this year than last.  The moves stand on their own.  They took a playoff team from last year, lost only a few players, replaced them with guys who are most likely quite a bit better.  Jhonas Enroth looks primed to be the solid backup goalie that we’ve waited years for, and Miller has been sharp early as well.

    I guess what I’m saying is, I need the season to start to find something to complain about, or praise highly.  I’m content.  Once the games start, I can champion someone’s cause for the Calder again, or show video of why Ehrhoff is an important player for the Sabres.  Let’s resolve to make this the best blogging and tweeting year for Sabres fans ever.  The season begins, and I’m ready.

  • Sabres Win Pre-Season Opener

    It wasn’t pretty, but the Sabres got the win last night against the Carolina Hurricanes 3-1.  Gaustad and Gerbe scored in the third to take the lead and assisted on the other two goals, and Kaleta added an empty netter to seal it.  Brandon Sutter was your Canes goal scorer.  It definitely looked like a pre-season game for most of the first two periods, with Buffalo giving up chance after chance.  Jhonas Enroth (playing the second half) made some fantastic saves, and new guy Drew MacIntyre was solid.  We also had our first look at Leino in a Sabres uniform, and he looked pretty good.

    The Sabres play the Habs tomorrow night, possibly with some more of the regulars in the lineup.  I know some of the junior players are returning to their respective teams.  Hockey is back, and it feels great!

  • May You Live In Interesting Times

    Well, this had to be one of the most interesting Sabres seasons in recent memory.  Buffalo started the season with a whimper, losing at a pace that had more of us thinking draft lottery than playoffs.  The first hints of Terry Pegula gave a vague hope for the future, but we didn’t know anything about him yet, so it was only a small distraction.  November was better than October, but not by much.

    December finally had a good game or two for Ryan Miller, and the Terry Pegula rumors picked up steam.  The Sabres’ best offensive player at the time, Derek Roy, went down with an injury and only just now was able to return.  After that, many of us (myself included) counted Buffalo out.  They’d only gotten 30 points in the first 33 games, Miller was not the Vezina Miller, and Myers was looking more like a rookie this year than last.

    January, things got VERY interesting there.  You’ll remember that’s when Stafford-mania began, as Buffalo came home for a game in the middle of the WJC road trip and beat the Bruins 7-6, on the back of a Staffy hat trick.  The beginnings of the upward swing were showing, with the Sabres going 4-0-1 after a sort of bottoming out loss to Calgary.  Nathan Gerbe suddenly found his way, earning his spot in the lineup and coming up huge (er, sort of) as the team inched their way back up the standings.  The month ended with the long all-star break, but the real story was still Terry Pegula, who kept appearing in all the right places as the team sale picked up steam.

    February, yeah, February was kind of fun.  Terry Pegula really did buy the team, Thomas Vanek was in Atlas mode, Twitter met the Pegula daughters, and Tyler Myers was an OT hero.  Pegula day was AWESOME, and the team was rolling.  March was much of the same, with Buffalo in the playoffs and controlling their own destiny.  Even their deadline day acquisition contributed for more than one game.  We fell in love with these guys, and never wanted the ride to end.  The Sabres won a bunch of games to end the regular season, looking primed to upset some dudes in the playoffs.

    Well, we all know what happened there.  They took the Flyers to 7, but couldn’t get it done.  Injuries to key guys didn’t help, but in the end, it was a 2 seed over a 7 seed.  So what now?  It’s hard to say.  This is Terry Pegula’s first off-season, and the team has ‘no financial mandates’.  Buffalo will have a lot of cap room (as high as $21 million thanks to the new TV deal) but also a lot of spots up for grabs.  Defense in particular could look very different, with only 3 guys under contract (one of them Shaone Morrisonn).  Will they make a big trade?  Go hard after the biggest names?  Fill spots with guys from Portland that should get a shot?  Do Kassian and Foligno figure in?  What do they do with Enroth (RFA)?  The ride will continue, and I can’t help but think the outlook continues to be bright.

    What will happen here?  Locker cleanout usually has some interesting bits, where we find out who was injured, especially.  I may comment on the other games and series, and then it’s off-season mode.  Future posts will look at the roster, the spots and free agents.  Thank you Sabres.

  • It’s NOT About Miller VS Enroth

    Look.  I personally have not heard any fan (either around the water cooler at work or from the people I choose to follow on Twitter) say Enroth should start over a completely healthy Ryan Miller.  There are always people who like the backup goalie or QB when they play well, but what I’m seeing is more “yeah Enroth is awesome too!” than “He’s better than Miller!”.  WGR has had an on air personality or two asking if Enroth should start until he loses, but beyond that, it’s Miller as the number one.  I can’t speak for WECK, as I haven’t listened (sorry, I can’t stand political talk and I avoid stations that play it).  There’s more furor over the furor about this imagined discussion than anything.

    It’s not a perfect example, but this reminded me of the win streak that Biron and the Sabres went on back in 2005-06.  Miller wins the job, does pretty well, gets hurt, Biron goes on a run, but Miller is the guy.  Biron may have gotten a few extra games here and there because of his performance but everybody knew who the goalie of the future was.  Miller is still the goalie of the future and the now.  Having an actual backup that is trusted just strengthens the team and gives options for future acquisitions.

  • Potential Opponents

    Now that the Sabres are all but assured of making the playoffs, let’s take a look at their most likely combatants.  There’s a few possibilities here, as the Sabres could be anywhere from 6th to 8th.  7th is the most likely spot to finish in.

    First up is the Washington Capitals.  The season series with the Caps was 1-2-1, with Miller going 1-2-0 with a 2.32 GAA and .924 SP.  Jhonas Enroth played the game last week, losing in OT (sandwiched between those 2 outstanding games for what it is worth).  The win, if you recall, was the game that Thomas Vanek dazzled John Carlson and Braden Holtby for the OT winner.  I’d be curious to see what a seven game series against the Caps would look like, as Buffalo is playing much better lately, and Washington has some injuries of their own they are dealing with, including Mike Green, Dennis Wideman and Tom Poti on the blueline.

    Next up in the likely opponents list is the Flyers.  Unlike the Caps, the Sabres have one more game against the Flyers this Friday, going 1-2 in the first three.  Ryan Miller has played all 3 games against Philly, and the numbers aren’t great – 4.03 GAA, .881 SP.  Again, a couple of those were earlier in the year and the most recent game is a 5-3 win.   The Flyers are 2-3-3 in their past 8 and who knows what’s going to happen with their goaltending tandem.  Bobrovsky is the likely starter for the playoffs, though you have to think Philly wouldn’t hesitate long to put the more veteran Boucher in there if  ‘Bob’ struggles.  They’ve also been missing Pronger and Briere, though Briere might be in for the Sabres game Friday.  Pronger hasn’t played since March 8th and had a ‘minor setback’ in rehab that puts his earliest return game 1 of a potential playoff matchup at the earliest.

    The other likely foe would be the Boston Bruins.  This probably happens if the Sabres can overtake Montreal for 6th in the conference.  Buffalo has gone 4-1-1 in the season series, with Miller posting the 4-0-1 portion of that, with a 3.01 GAA and .911 SP.  Those numbers are skewed a bit by the 7-6 SO win where Stafford scored with 30 seconds to go to tie the game.  Tim Thomas took back the goaltending job from Tuukka Rask and had a Vezina-caliber season.  I’m really hoping they end up playing Montreal, though.  It would be great drama, not to mention they are likely to beat each other up.

    As of today, it is still mathematically possible to see the Lightning (and an even smaller chance to see the Penguins) but it’s so unlikely that there’s no reason to worry about it.  Looking at the potentials, there’s nobody there that this team, they way they are playing can’t stand toe to toe with.  There’s a lot of variables right now with the health of key guys up and down the Eastern conference, including the Sabres with Miller, Pronger as I mentioned, and the Washington D.  Boston has the best goaltending situation, but the Sabres still have a great record against them.  I know the excitement builds with every passing day, and I expect tonight’s home game crowd to blow the roof off the place.  Let’s send this team streaking into the playoffs.

  • Enroth Battles for the Win

    It doesn’t get much more exciting than that, does it?  Enroth weathers a storm as the Sabres give up 18 shots in the first period, with Stafford and and Pominville scoring to tie the game up and send it to a shootout.  And what a shootout it was, 10 rounds, and coming back from being down 2-0 there as well.  Vanek and Ennis scored on their shootout attempts to extend it, as did Gerbe after Montreal scored a few rounds later.

    I will say that Montreal has some great players coming up, and will be interesting to watch and battle against.  Max Pacioretty had a goal, an assist and a shootout goal, and PK Subban is nothing if not entertaining.  Add in Jaro Spacek, who is still a favorite of mine, and I like ’em.  Like beating them more, though.

    One other note from last night:  Seriously, can Pierre McGuire just shut UP?  He talks way too much, and he can’t mention a player without giving us where he went to school or played in juniors.  Every time Myers touched the puck, Kelowna got mentioned.  Has to be the most times the city was ever mentioned on an American TV station.  We get it, Pierre, you watch a lot of hockey.  I can’t remember ever sitting and watching a pro game and wondering “hey, where did he play junior hockey?”.  Add in the close talking and bothering Lalime, and I am really not looking forward to hearing more of him now that he’s going to be on VS more often.

  • Tradeable Assets

    Yes, I think it’s time to look at who has value to ‘sell’, after that effort this weekend.  There is still time to recover, but it’s growing short.  49 games left, but only 30 points in the standings in the first 33.  It took 88 to make 8th last year in the East, but that was unusually low.  It will probably take a few more than that, which seems problematic for this current cast of characters.  So that means changes, and the decision to be a buyer or a seller.

    For the purposes of this post, we are looking at ‘selling’.  I covered ‘untouchable‘ players before the year, thought I am taking Goose off the list.  I might even put Leopold and Roy on, considering their performances so far.  Either way, here’s what i’m looking at for tradeable assets:

    1. Tim Connolly – He’s always going to top the list for a lot of people, and it’s understandable.  We are tired of the injuries, the streaks, potential that never gets realized.  He would have value, maybe, and his contract isn’t terrible closer to the deadline.  He has to be healthy to move though, which is the biggest problem.  By the way, shouldn’t they be putting in a steel honker for Timmy?  Anyway, I don’t know anyone that would complain about him being gone, and most would be happy for whatever they get for him.
    2. Drew Stafford – This would be a case of selling high, as Angry Eyebrows is on a very favorable contract ($1.9mil expiring this year, RFA) for his production so far.  Trading Drew would potentially open a wing spot for Zack Kassian next year while getting some return for another guy who has shown potential here but never really put it all together for any length of time.
    3. Craig Rivet – It honestly makes more sense for him then the team, you know he wants to play but just doesn’t seem likely to get back in barring a run of injuries.  $3.5mil prorated would still be tough for a team to swallow for a d-man in the twilight of his career (who’s not cracking THIS lineup).
    4. Jochen Hecht – Has the complicating factor of another year left on a fairly hefty deal for a two-way forward who is underperforming.  Seems more likely to go if the Sabres are trading for a player with salary coming back.
    5. Chris Butler – Sekera has to be safe, in my mind, as Myers’s new partner.  I get the feeling Butler is on borrowed time, if there was someone that was trusted more to slide into his spot (which is not Rivet).

    I’m honestly not sure what to do about Enroth, as no one would want Lalime, and anyone else that left would be a spare part for spare part deal, not any sort of change that would fix the culture/shake up the incumbents.  Same thing for trading prospects – there may be fantastic deals to be made, but that doesn’t fix the team next year.  All of this also assumes the long-term deal guys stay, which I find extremely likely (Miller, Vanek, Pominville, and probably Myers after this year).

    There are two things that could shift the focus from selling players for picks/prospects.  One would be the Sabres going on a big-time winning streak…and the other is Terry Pegula.  He is the wild card, no doubt about it.  He could complete the sale and decide to set a bomb off in the locker room, wiping out coaches, GMs, players, the whole nine yards.  I know some of you are hoping for that, and to be honest I wouldn’t get upset if it happened.  What that would mean, though is giving up on this year AND next, unless you think the young players and newly acquired talent would mesh immediately with a potential new coach.

    I still have hope that this team figures it out and makes these rambling thoughts moot.  The rational part of me has serious doubts.

  • That’ll do, Enroth

    Jhonas Enroth dueled Marty Biron to a tie through regulation, but in the end lost 3-2, gaining Buffalo another point.  5 out of 6 isn’t bad, considering they’d gotten, what, 1 out of 10 before that?  Now to see how they fare against stronger competition, and not fellow basement dwellers.

    I know Vanek is catching heat for not shooting on that play late.  I liked his patience to move around the sliding defender, and he thought Roy had a better shot.  Taken on it’s own, the play is fine.  Some would see it as a pattern of Vanek passing up chances, which is true to a point.  I think Thomas is just trying to contribute what he can while the goals aren’t coming.  Games are more fun when Vanek is sniping, will admit that.

    Enroth’s play has put Buffalo in an interesting quandry.  He’s winning, something Lalime hasn’t done much of in his time here.  His numbers aren’t super-impressive, but he’s made key saves and was strong in the two shootouts.  People say he should go back to Portland to continue development, but to what end?  Miller is the starter for the forseeable future, so what is Enroth’s career path?  Backup goalie is the only option that keeps him here.  If there was a trade offer that gave a solid return, I’d do it, but beyond that, what was he drafted for if not to play with the big club?

  • Oh, Kovy…

    Were it not for the fact he’s making a cubic buttload of money over the next 15 years, you’d almost feel sorry for Ilya Kovalchuk.  It’s obvious that he WANTS to help his team out but the harder he tries, the worse it goes.  Sort of like a Ben Stiller movie, it’s almost too embarrassing to watch.

    A lot of positives for Buffalo last night, with many of the big names contributing.  Derek Roy scored both in regulation and the shootout, Tyler Myers had a goal and 2 assists, and the +3 goes a long way towards getting him back where he belongs.  Enroth had an up and down game but made big saves when it counted (until he didn’t have to, thanks to Kovalchuk).  Is there any reason Enroth shouldn’t be the backup right now?  Leggio is killing it for the Pirates (currently 7-1), so let the Williamsville native take the reins.  How much of a loss is it if Lalime is lost via waivers, really?

  • Gameday 2010-2011 – Sabres at Devils

    Some things you will hear ad nauseum tonight:

    You get the idea.  It’s the battle of a backup goalie versus an AHL goalie, with both teams trying to claw their way out of the bottom of the Eastern conference.  Craig Rivet didn’t make the trip, looks like Butler back in.  Perhaps for the best.  Patrick Lalime is back as the backup, apparently his appendix is in fine working order.  Interesting how no one is clamoring for him now that Enroth won a game, including a solid shootout performance.

    I am cautiously optimistic about tonight, considering the opponent, it’s on the road, and they beat this same goalie not that long ago quite soundly.  Beyond that, not saying anything else until I see the effort from the past few games continue on for a few more.