Archive for February, 2011

I can sit here and complain about how Darcy didn’t acquire a defenseman or move Tim Connolly; however, I’m going to praise an uncharacteristic move done by Darcy and that is signing a “real” top 6 forward that is still under contract. I put “real” in quotations because of past deadline deals that included busts like Dominic Moore, Raffi Torres and even going as far back as Joe Juneau. Instead of hasbeens and flash-in-a-pans, Darcy dealt a 2nd round pick for a consistent top 6 forward, who at one point showed a pretty heft knack for scoring goals. Brad Boyes [...]

The Buffalo Sabres stuck true to the form that they would not do anything leading up until the trade deadline until after the current homestand.  The timing of the Boyes deal was based on the fact that he was playing in a contest in Calgary, and the Sabres did it so that he could join up with the team in order to play against the New York Rangers.  As of 1:00PM EST -  the Buffalo Sabres remained silent on making any changes to the team.  With plenty of wholes to fill for a playoff run, not even looking at any [...]

So the deadline trading isn’t up yet, and this piece may be outdated by this afternoon, but I thought the Sabres recent pickup of Brad Boyes creates a great topic of conversation and speculation. What, oh what, do they do next? Here’s a couple thoughts.

After a feeble end to a lackluster homestand; the Buffalo Sabres continue to push for eighth place.  In order to do that, the Buffalo Sabres will have to do it on the road, as their next seven games will be played away from their home at HSBC Arena. While they are away, Terry Pegula’s designers will be looking to make minor changes to HSBC Arena, like installing a new rug in the Sabres locker room. While the digs at home are changing, the Buffalo Sabres have to get down to business.  Only two points out of eighth place (Carolina) with [...]

We believe in this core.  For too long those sentiments have been the benchmark of the regime of Lindy Ruff, Darcy Regier, Larry Quinn, and Tom Golisano.  It appears that the mantra will not change anytime soon. Whether it is a directive from a new owner, or a new owner letting his hockey men run the hockey show, but the Buffalo Sabres will be buying pieces for this year and the future as opposed to selling off the contracts that have gotten them into this position. Now this tells me two things, either the face of this franchise is not [...]

It can be very dangerous letting a team stay in a game for as long as the Buffalo Sabres let the Ottawa Senators stay in tonights game, but with an empty net goal that went off both posts, Thomas Vanek and the Buffalo Sabres beat the Ottawa Senators for the fourth time this season.  Unfortunately for the Buffalo Sabres – the Carolina Hurricanes picked up two points by defeating the Penguins, and the New York Rangers throttled the Washington Capitals 6-0, so the two teams immediately in front of the Buffalo Sabres also picked up two points.  The Florida Panthers [...]

The fire sale in Ottawa has started, and then head into Buffalo with a much different roster than they had the last time we faced off against them.  Good news for Pat Kaleta, Chris Neil won’t be on the ice at all tonight, so it is one less pain in the neck we have to deal with.  Points are at a premium, and things are getting a little unsettling as the trade deadline approaches.  I don’t think it is in the organizations blood to give up on this season, given their close proximity to the top eight teams.  With games [...]

Craig Rivet cleared waivers by the Buffalo Sabres Thursday at noon.  The Buffalo Sabres will assign him to the Portland Pirates of the AHL.  In a twist that was not so much unexpected, the Buffalo Sabres will allow Craig Rivet to be placed on re-entry waivers today at Noon, so that teams might have a chance to claim him at even lower than what they would have paid if they had selected him Wednesday evening.  My question would be, if no one selects Craig Rivet on re-entry waivers starting tomorrow at noon – what will happen to the aging defensemen and [...]

Tis a busy day in the life of an NHL GM. Craig Rivet, Ales Kotalik, Nikolay Zherdev, and Jeremy Colliton all cleared waivers today. The Ottawa Senators however claimed Marek Svatos off waivers. ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun has a feeling Rivet’s journey on waivers is not over. LeBrun recently tweeted, “By the way expect the Buffalo Sabres to put Craig Rivet on re-entry waivers to see if teams would take him at half the price…” The Buffalo News is reporting that Rivet will be placed on re-entry waivers on Friday at noon. In other news, Alex Kovalev is heading to Pittsburgh [...]

The Pegula era starts with a bang! First, a historic move was in order yesterday when the Sabres became the first NHL team to place a captain on waivers mid-season; however, this move does not seem as though it was made because of the new owner, but it is still a step in the right direction. Personally, I liked Craig Rivet. I was not happy that he decided to keep the C on his jersey despite being stuck in the press box, but I still thought he served the Sabres well up until last year. Again, I don’t think him [...]