Archive for June, 2010

    Tomorrow will officially make all UFAs free to sign with any team. I believe teams like New Jersey, Montreal and San Jose are going to have their pens ready to make their teams able to compete for the Stanley Cup next year. As for Buffalo, they do have needs and will have to do some signing whether it be their own players or free agents. The last couple days have been full of speculation the Philadelphia Flyers have much interest in either Tallinder, Lydman or perhaps even both. Tallinder and Lydman are middle of the road players who have [...]

This past post season saw several NHL teams make the playoffs and succeed with rookie or journeymen goaltending. Take the Stanley Cup finals for example.  Michael Leighton and Brian Boucher versus Antti Niemi. There was a lot of talk early after the post season that maybe, just maybe teams will start to get smarter and not pay for goaltenders.  The start of the end of inflated salaries in the NHL?  Dead wrong. The Philadelphia Flyers have bestowed the faith and trust of the crease at The Wachovia Center to Michael Leighton for two years for a total of #3.1 million [...]

Up against the wall Sabres fans….only a day a way from the free agent frenzy. Nick Mendola has a pretty good idea of what Darcy may or may not do on deadline day and after to get this team ready for next season in his in depth look inside the general managers mind. Are you ready for football Buffalo?  BLD has added a new contributing blogger and he is making his mark over there….previewing some position battles for training camp.  QBs were part one, and Left Tackle were part two.  Keep tuned in over there as these guys will give [...]

Kevin Collins, the Strength and Conditioning coach for the Portland Pirates and previously with the Rochester Americans, has joined the Columbus Blue Jackets.  Getting to the NHL is a dream of most involved with hockey, and Collins has realized that dream. Getting a chance to work with some of the best athletes in the world will be quite an experience for Collins, and he will surely succeed in his new surroundings. “Accepting the position as the Strength and Conditioning Coach with the Columbus Blue Jackets presents an excellent opportunity for Kevin… [A]lthough difficult to see him move on, I am [...]

The Ottawa Senators made it official, they have bought out the final year of Jonathan Cheechoo’s contract.  The right winger is now set to become a free agent on July 1st. The Buffalo Sabres are still looking for the right dance partner for Thomas Vanek, hoping to spark a player who is supposed to be leading the team in the goals category.  Falling well short of his potential this year, I might want to try Cheechoo on for size this year, if it might mean pairing him with Thomas Vanek, and putting a skill center between them. Cheechoo’s best years [...]

We are just two days away from the opening of the 2010 frenzy that is the free agency period in the NHL.  The Sabres started to take care of business by locking up unrestricted free agent Mike Grier for another year of service.   Mike Grier left Buffalo because he didn’t like the way things were headed and played in San Jose for three seasons before rejoining the Buffalo Sabres.  Grier was a great leader for the team throughout the regular season, and was probably one of their best forwards if not best players in the 2010 playoffs.  The Sabres are probably getting [...]

The Buffalo Sabres announced  that the 2010 Summer development camp will begin July 5th and run till July 9th. The event, which will be held in Niagara University’s Dwyer Arena, will have times which open to the public. Specific times and dates are available here. The camp will serve as an orientation of sorts for 42 of the Sabres prospects including our draft picks from the recent NHL entry draft. It will be a great way to see our prospects participating in on ice drills and activities. Who knows maybe you will get to see a future superstar…

     The Sabres 2010 Draft included 8 total selections and it appears they aimed to address the lack of size and blue line authority. The Sabres Director of scouting Kevin Devine believes other then Pysyk the player with in which they have high hopes for is D Jeromem Gauthier-Leduc. Many teams had him on their radar in the second round but Buffalo was able to pull the trigger and get him. Leduc netted 20 goals and 26 assists from the blue line last season, a main concern for the Sabres to improve quickly on. Leduc is not staggering in size, [...]

Now that the smoke has cleared after the 2010 NHL entry draft, we can take a look at just who the Buffalo Sabres decided to select. Mark Pysyk (D) selected 23rd overall in the first round, was expected by some to go earlier, Central Scouting’s final rank was a seven. Pysyk born in Sherwood Park, Alberta was the first player drafted by the Edmonton Oil Kings and even though he only played 48 games this season because of a broken foot he was nominated team MVP. “He finished the season with a broken foot and a lot of scouts weren’t [...]

The Sabres officially drafted D Mark Pysyk of the Edmonton Oil Kings from the WHL Pysyk was the first ever draft pick of the current incarnation of the Oil Kings when he was selected third overall in the 2007 WHL Bantam DraftIn 2009-10 Pysyk played 48 games before being sidelined with a broken foot. Despite the injury, the Oil Kings named him their team MVP of the season. His most productive season was last season with 7 goals 17 assists and 24 total points in just 48 games. Mark Pysyk D Buffalo Sabres (image provided by Edmonton Oil King team [...]