Archive for February, 2009

What is more uncertain than the Sabres playoff hopes so far this year, is what the roster is going to look like for their next game. The Buffalo Sabres roster will be stable for one more night against the Islanders, but could be drastically different come their next game against the Montreal Canadiens.  What is more interesting is whether or not the Sabres will be buyers, solidifying for a playoff run this year; or if they are going to sell, with the hopes that next year will bring better results. On Wednesday, Tim Connolly could find himself in a new [...]

The lowly New York Islanders play host to the Buffalo Sabres tonight.  The Islanders are no where near the Eastern Conference playoff race, and the Sabres are barely clinging to a playoff spot, after losing both their top goal scorer and top goaltender. The Sabres need to go into this game with some respect for the Islanders, for fear of letting the game get away from them.  They have yet to win without Ryan Miller, and tonight could be the night they snap into a much needed winning streak.  In their last five games, the New York Islanders have only [...]

Tonight the Buffalo Sabres play the New York Islanders, in what is the last game of the season for the Sabres before the trade deadline.  The next time they play against the Montreal Canadiens, rosters are frozen until the off season. This date has been huge for the Buffalo Sabres, the past five seasons have seen Darcy Reiger making at least one move leading up to trade deadline day. Safe players? Ryan Miller – this is an obvious choice, he is the Sabres goalie of right now, and needs to be here until the goalie of tomorrow is ready. Thomas [...]

Lalime is proving to be capable of handling the stressors of the Buffalo crease.  What is dooming Buffalo is their inability to score. In the last two games against the Carolina Hurricanes the Sabres have managed 1 goal, and have allowed 5.  Against a team that is not as good as the Sabres, this is not acceptable.   If the Sabres are going to make the playoffs, they have got to beat the teams that are below them in the standings, and you have to have an offensive showing to do it. You are not going to win games when the [...]

Sabres fans looking to see Jhonas Enroth start for the team will have to wait a little longer, as Patrick Lalime is feeling better, practiced with the team today and will start for the team in tonights contest against the Carolina Hurricanes.

I shed a tear every time I drive or walk by, but the past is the past, and Memorial Auditorium is coming down.  Here is a photo of the Aud taken on February 18, 2009 (thanks to the Erie County Harbor Development Corp):

With the trade deadline looming, and the Sabres with some obvious needs, General Manager Darcy Reiger sat down and talked one on one with Kevin Sylvester.  Some highlights of the conversation: Darcy is not really looking for rental players, he is looking not only for guys that will help this year, but with maybe another year on their contract. Darcy is ultimately going to do what he thinks is in the best interest of the team. On Tim Connolly, Darcy is considering all of the avenues, resigning him, or trading him.  If a trade is in the works, the return [...]

As the Sabres prepare to take on the Hurricanes for the second time in two weeks, captain Craig Rivet calls a players only meeting at center ice after practice.  It’s just what the team needs from its veteran captain. The topic wasn’t revealed, and Rivet laughed it off as a discussion about the team dinner, but it doesn’t take a rocket science to figure out the topic of discussion was probably the last time these teams met, at HSBC arena on February 15th, a game the Hurricanes dominated. The Sabres were extremely flat, and the Hurricanes benefited from some great [...]

The Buffalo Sabres played the Anaheim Ducks twice this year, in the NHL’s attempt at balancing out the schedule.  Its too bad they don’t meet again. Both meetings between the teams ended in a 3-2 Sabres loss, but the affairs were physical old time hockey games.  The last meeting however, soured some blood, and has caused some heated comments by the coaches. The incident being reffered to is the third period hit by Paul Gaustad of the Sabres on Ryan Getzlaf of the Ducks.  Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said the hit was dirty, and Gausted deserved to be suspended. The [...]

It is too bad for the NHL that the fan base in Carolina is not a rabid hockey fan base, because tonights game between the Buffalo Sabres and Carolina Hurricanes is about as close to playoff hockey as it is going to get in February.  The Buffalo Sabres hold on to the eighth and final playoff spot, trailed by the Carolina Hurricanes by only one point.  A win tonight by the Sabres helps them seperate from the bottom of the Eastern Conference, a loss drops them out of the top eight. Complicated matters for the Buffalo Sabres is the fact [...]