Shutdown Pair

Tag: New York

  • Losing My Patience

    This isn’t about the Sabres, not directly, but about the cable television industry, which now exends into phone companies, the internet, and more.  Most Buffalonians who follow the Sabres have heard that MSG might get dumped from Time Warner Cable after the end of the year (2 weeks) if the two parties don’t come to an agreement.  The last time this came up, MSG was gone for 2 months.  Considering there’s also been other channels that have not been on the air for various periods (including missing Bills games because of a similar problem with CBS), I’m about to the point where I’m going to drop cable TV altogether.  We’ve been hanging on by a live sports related thread for a couple of years now thanks to hockey, if the main channel for that is gone, I literally have no reason to stay on.  I have a Blu-Ray player that can connect to Hulu and Netflix, tablets and phones which can do the same.

    That being said, I find it very silly that MSG wants to up the per-subscriber charge into ESPN’s range.  The percentage of TWC’s subscriber base that regularly watches MSG (even in NYC for the Knicks/Rangers) has to be quite a bit smaller than the percentage that what ESPN.  Especially during baseball season.

    Nice coincidence, considering all of this, FiOS will now have MSG in HD.  Just in case any of you had any reason coming up to switch.  FYI.

  • Gameday LIVE – Rangers at Sabres

    Getting set up in the pressbox for tonight’s visit from Martin Biron and the New York Rangers.  It’s the Sabres’ first game against the Rangers, and Jhonas Enroth gets the call after Miller played in the win last night.  Leino comes back from his suspension, but Hecht (‘lower body’) and Corey Tropp (concussion) are both out, so Colin Stuart gets the recall from Rochester.  The wheel turns, does it not?  Eventually all of this focus on head hits might mean you don’t have a new player concussed every night.

    Some notes from the Sabres’ gameday crew:  Vanek has only been held scoreless in consecutive games twice, gaining a point or more in 20 of 28 games.  Stafford has 1+1 in the past two games.  Ehrhoff leads the team in ice time with 24:33 per game on average.

    I’ll be updating this post after each period with my thoughts.

    1st Period:

    Buffalo begins the game by taking a high-sticking penalty, Robyn Regehr 9 seconds in.  PK is no big deal for this team, and with some help the lineseman’s leg, they get a break.  Biron almost mishandled the puck right in front of him.  The penalty was killed.  Beautiful play from Kassian to Adam but it didn’t go in.  Enroth is absorbing shots, good sign.  Ehrhoff joins Gragnani with early giveaways.  The Sabres aren’t generating zone time or chances, though Drew Stafford is working hard.  Excellent opportunity from Chewie/Vanek/Pominville, then another partial break by Vanek afterwards.  Play picked up after the 8 minute mark, with the top three lines finally getting some chances.  Enroth had a big save on Brad Richards.  Cody took a number after getting knocked down in front of the net shortly after.  Rangers and Sabres trade interference penalties.  Vanek with a near-beauty out of the box.  Buffalo got a little scrambly at the end but managed to avoid the late goal being allowed.  Scoreless after one.

    2nd Period:

    Stafford/Ennis/Roy some solid work to start the period.  Seems to be more balanced early, Buffalo making some plays.  Not so many stoppages.  Good steal by Roy, and save by Biron.  Nice breakup by Ehrhoff coming back on a Rangers rush.  On the power play Vanek seems to forget how to puckhandle for a minute.  The Rangers score on a short handed rush when Hagelin picks his corner on Enroth.  Vanek answers not long after on a ‘fuck you I’m scoring’ blast from between the circles.  Brandon Prust took exception to Vanek giving old friend Marty Biron a show shower.  This is fun.  Not so fun when Callahan scores another shorty.  Ehrhoff has to knock him down there.  The crowd let’s the Sabres hear it at the end of the second for that second shorthanded goal.  2-1 Rangers.

    3rd Period:

    A few good chances to start the period.  Adam just missed on a great pass from behind the net.  And then Enroth lets in another softy.  Just a killer, that one.  Not even sure what really happened.  Ennis and Stafford had some great chances not long after that but to no avail.  Just don’t seem to be making good decisions when the puck.  Vanek has 2 great chances, then Kassian decks a dude along the boards and gets a penalty.  PK letting too many Rangers stand in front of the net.  Puck possession is a problem.  The Rangers ice the game on the power play, whistling a shot past Enroth’s glove hand.  It’s Gaborik.  There is a baby crying nearby, I don’t blame him or her.  4-1 Rangers.  Your three stars:  3 – Callahan, 2 – Biron, 1 – Hagelin.  Biron got a big cheer.

    Postgame Thoughts:

    Lindy felt the powerplay was too stationary, not making the defenders change their angle of attack.  He also felt that they had more and better chances than last night, but made more mistakes.  There were a lot of shots missed high, he noted that they had discussed shooting high on Biron, but they couldn’t make it happen.  Marc-Andre Gragnani had been coached to join the rush more, but he still made some tough plays.

    I’m honestly not sure where to go with this tonight.  They weren’t terrible, though maybe Enroth was in the second and third.  Some blame can be laid on his teammates on a couple of the goals, but none of them were impossible stops.  It’ll be interesting to see if Miller starts to get more starts or if Lindy sticks with The Schedule.

  • Leino, Richards and You

    In the end, the Sabres went higher-risk/high reward by picking Ville Leino over Brad Richards.  Can Leino be a center again?  He was very good in limited faceoff duty last year.  He played the position until he was 23, so we have to hope it’s like riding a bike.  Ville has to be happy about potentially being with some solid young talent, whether it’s Gerbe or Ennis or Stafford or Pominville.  I’m willing to give this a try and get behind Leino.  Add in Ehrhoff and Regehr, hope for solid full seasons from Gerbe and Ennis, and this year should be a solid step up from the last.

    Or, Darcy Regier could trade several of the players currently on the roster away, and completely up-end my thoughts here.  Isn’t it fun?

  • One

    The number you need to know is one.  One point seperates the Buffalo Sabres from the playoffs.  They can get the point themselves, either tonight or tomorrow night, or the Hurricanes or Rangers can hand it to them by losing, even in OT or the shootout.

    Of course, the much more satisfying way to do things is for the Sabres to take care of their own business and win out.  Philly (tonight’s opponent) hasn’t exactly been instilling confidence in their fans, and they had a closed-door chew-out session with their GM.  Columbus (tomorrow’s opponent) is in a tailspin of epic proportions, having only 3 wins since the beginning of March.  They will also be operating on short rest as they play Nashville tonight.  Things are stacked in the Sabres’ favor.

    Let’s see them accelerate into the playoffs.  Bust down the door against Philly, and roll that momentum forward.

  • Lost Points and Positive Developments

    So, the Sabres scored 6 goals against the Islanders, and lost.  Ryan Miller had a post-game meltdownafter a question from noted feces enthusiast John Vogl.  A bad question, a worse answer after a horrible game.  Buffalo is still in the driver’s seat as far as taking a playoff spot, but Ryan’s issues, whether mental, physical or a combination make you wonder if the push is a good idea.  Should he play game after game after game if his numbers are suffering, just to squeak into the playoffs and go out with a whimper?  I know the hope is that you become last year’s Flyers, but as a fan that’s tough to swallow after winning the division.  Would any trade even fix this?  You’re not getting a better goalie than Miller, and it’s obvious no backup is getting played unless Miller’s car gets set on fire by some Montreal fans prematurely celebrating a playoff spot.  I suppose the best bet is to trade for more scoring and hope you can outscore your opponents.  Not easy.

    There are some nice things to talk about despite them being overshadowed by Millsygate.  Drew Stafford had his fourth hat-trick of the year and continues to muddy the trade him/sign him debate.  Tyler Myers has scored twice in as many games, he needs to be appearing on the scoresheet more if his team is making that playoff run.  Ennis and Gerbe are both contributing (a few giveaways there too but hey, rookies).

    Does Miller getting shelled (and NOT pulled) have any effect on whether or not he plays tomorrow and Wednesday?

  • 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?

  • I’ll Take It

    I was camping this weekend, so I didn’t get to see any hockey or football, so I have no specific insight into any of the games.  Looking at the results, I am very happy Buffalo was able to beat the Senators, which is really the only thing I wanted out of the weekend.  Very good to see Derek Roy producing, Leopold and Morrisonn contributing, and Tyler Ennis in the mix too.  Beyond that, there’s not much I can say.  Hopefully will get the game on tonight.

  • Hockey Bloggers and Access

    The big discussion point today (thanks to this article over at Puck Daddy amongst other things) is credentials and access for hockey bloggers.  The sticking point raised on the reference conference call is actually valid (why should someone have access to our locker room on the road when they are not welcome at home?), and that I don’t have a problem with.  Where things break down, though, is where the line is drawn now between bloggers and pro sportswriters.  There are bloggers doing fantastic work, both independently and under the umbrella of a larger media network (such as SBNation).  I see no reason why they (if they want it) shouldn’t be accomodated with full access.  Individual teams (such as the Rangers) disagree, though.

    Let’s look at an example, the Buffalo News’s own Mike Harrington.  He works for a newspaper, and writes columns that get published on actual paper along with his twitter account and the paper’s Sabres Edge blog.  But he has no problem blasting Darcy or Lindy when it’s warranted, which apparently would be enough to keep him out of the visiting room at MSG, without the get out of jail free card that is his News byline.

    Let’s face it:  there should be a way to be a blogger and be credentialed with full access in every city.  The NHL itself has all sorts of social media connections, and should be able to assist teams that need it in fostering them as well.  Bloggers that want access (not all of us do) should be able to request it, and then have their site looked over by the team’s communications team.  If the person can deliver coherent thoughts and doesn’t sound like a moron, step two would be a quick phone ‘interview’ to ensure they aren’t intimidated talking to people and wouldn’t be out of place in a media scrum.  I’d also have no problem with teams having a measuring stick of some type (how long your blog has existed+monthly pageviews+Twitter follower count or somesuch) to weed out people just looking for a free seat in the arena and a chance at getting autographs.

    For my part, I’ve never really looked into the possibility here in Buffalo.  I get the feeling it’s not something that would happen, and anyway I don’t have the confidence in a group to speak up and ask questions.  It would be nice to be in the press box and able to listen in directly to the press conferences and locker room interviews, but really it wouldn’t have a huge effect on what I actually do.  Still, access done right would be a benefit to teams, as the media climate continues to shift towards a mix of ‘new’ and ‘old’ media.

  • Schedule Day

    The NHL schedules come out at noon today, which is great, since they normally make us wait a few more weeks to plan potential road trips.  The home openers were announced yesterday, so we know that Buffalo opens on the road at Ottawa Friday, October 8, and comes home for the Rangers on October 9.  Not sure if getting back on the horse against the Sens is good or not but there it is.

    Every year I keep looking for a good road trip to take my son on, hopefully there’s a good game somewhere cheap during a convenient time.  A Carolina trip, maybe meeting up with my Dad and brothers, may work.