Buffalo Sabres Links: New Regime, NHL Team Rankings

Good morning, Buffalo Sabres fans! The Buffalo Sabres are on a three-game winning streak heading into tonight’s game against the San Jose Sharks. The Sabres have a few games against Western Conference opponents coming up, with the Sharks tonight and then the Dallas Stars rolling into town on Tuesday.

Before we get hyped for tonight’s game, let’s look at some news and notes from around the hockey world.

First up: many would agree that the Buffalo Sabres have gotten better under the head coaching of Dan Bylsma. Better than the team was while Ted Nolan was in that position, at least. Of course, some of it has to do with the coaching, but other parts have to do with the players and the overall morale of the team. Things are quite different now in the way Bylsma goes about things compared to Nolan, and at this point in the still-young season, things aren’t looking too bad.

Our first link this morning: a Die By The Blade look at if the Buffalo Sabres really are doing better under Bylsma compared to how they did under Nolan. On a related note, you can also check out this ESPN piece that says yes, the team is improving – and rapidly – and also takes a look at just how good the Sabres can be.

More from Sabre Noise

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• Buffalo Sabres vs. Pittsburgh: A quick look at the Penguins prospects

As the NHL season continues, trade talks and rumors are still abound. The latest seem to surround Colorado Avalanche forward Matt Duchene. Could his name be out in conversation? Maybe, at least according to this ESPN article from Pierre LeBrun.

Would you take Duchene on the Buffalo Sabres? What would you be willing to give up for him? I like him, but I’m not sure what the trade would entail. Then again, Tim Murray seems willing to try just about anything when it comes to improving this team, and maybe Duchene could be another piece of still fairly-young leadership.

One big piece of hockey news this week came from the Ontario Hockey League, via the Flint Firebirds.

In case you’re not aware of the situation – and if you are, I hope you’ll skim over this paragraph and allow me the two seconds of explanation – here’s a short rundown: Team owner fires head and assistant coaches, potentially on the basis that his son isn’t getting enough playing time. Team gets wind of this; as a group – the owner’s son included – they handed in their jerseys and quit until the coaches were reinstated. The owner met with the league commissioner and others and eventually reinstated the coaches.

Now, check out this piece from the NY Post that discusses the situation and what the NHL can learn from it.

Next: Five Sabres Who Need to Step Up

Finishing off today’s links, here’s a fun one for you: an online “this or that” game that will spit out a list of all 30 NHL teams personally ranked for you. From your heavily-acclaimed favorite, to that team at the dreadful bottom of the list — how do the teams rank for you?

It’s a little bit of an exhausting method, pairing teams together and asking you to choose one or the other. You can also tell the generator that you like both teams or have no opinion, but that may affect your final scores. Some were super easy to pick; others were a toss-up. After all – how am I, as a Sabres fan, supposed to pick between the Leafs and the Stars?!

In the end, mine seemed pretty accurate, although there’s some teams I found near the bottom of the list that I’m more “Well, I don’t really care one way or another about them” than “Wow, I really dislike this team.” How do your results pan out?