Buffalo Sabres, Chris Stewart, NHL Draft
Gooooood morning, Buffalo Sabres fans!
The Buffalo Sabres return home tonight after a lengthy road trip to host the St. Louis Blues in one of nine games on tap in the National Hockey League this evening.
Heading into tonight’s game, here are some news and notes from around the hockey world:
CBS Sports highlights Buffalo Sabres forward Chris Stewart as a potential piece to be moved prior to the trade deadline. The folks there call Stewart “the ultimate wild card” heading into deadline – which is now less than a month away – and say it’s extremely likely that he’ll be traded, rather than let loose into free agency this summer. [CBS Sports]
The Buffalo Sabres finally won on Tuesday, breaking their lengthy, franchise-record losing streak and defeating the Montreal Canadiens.
The question now is: what happens next? Will this be a fresh start? [The Buffalo News]
Will the Buffalo Sabres win again? Will they lose tonight and go into another lengthy drought? Will they start a winning streak and race up the standings now? Or maybe (perhaps most likely), it’ll be stop and go, win and loss, here and there. Five consecutive home games are on tap next for the Buffalo Sabres, so it’s time to see what having the home crowd can do for them.
More from Sabres News
- 3 biggest standouts at Buffalo Sabres 2023 Prospects Challenge
- 3 takeaways from the Buffalo Sabres final Prospects Challenge game
- Buffalo Sabres experiment with lesser-known talent in loss to Pens
- Buffalo Sabres 75 Bold Predictions for 2023-24: Prediction 51
- Buffalo Sabres vs. Pittsburgh: A quick look at the Penguins prospects
Meanwhile, CBC takes a look at three teams who are doing better this season compared to last — and three who are doing worse. Among those doing worse are the Chicago Blackhawks, who have 12 less points now than they did at this point last season. By no means are the Blackhawks having a bad season, however — they’re just not doing quite as well as last year. Among the teams doing better are the Nashville Predators, who have 21 more points this season than last year at this point. [CBC.ca]
In terms of NHL expansion talks, Sonics Rising has a piece this morning about NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, who recently revealed that there are still some leadership groups in Seattle that may be interested in bringing a franchise and a variety of arena locations, from Bellevue to Tukwila. Both cities are about 15 minutes drive from Seattle itself.
Oh, and did you know: Mike Richards scored his first regular season AHL goal at the age of 29? [Sportsnet]
Rounding things up today, a fun tool for all you draft-lottery hounds out there: the draft lottery simulator. Read this (Sports Illustrated), then try it for yourself.
Finally, in a more “fun” category: ESPN takes a look at some of the NHLers who have just one National Hockey League game under their belts. They’ve made their own brand of history; some have long moved on from hockey, while others remain in the game at some level. The two specifically highlighted in the ESPN piece are Jordan Sigalet, who played one game for the Boston Bruins in 2006, and Moe Robinson, younger brother of Larry Robinson.