Following the NHL‘s year-long lockout during the 2004-05 season, perhaps no franchise was looked upon more favorably than the Buffalo Sabres. The Sabres were viewed as a team on the rise that was able to adapt to the NHL’s new style of play quicker and better than anybody else.
The Sabres fell one game short of the Stanley Cup Finals during the 2005-06 season, and if not for a ridiculous string of injuries to four of their top defensemen, a Stanley Cup victory was very likely. The Sabres followed that season with the best regular season in franchise history, capturing the President’s Trophy. But yet again, the Sabres were vanquished in the conference finals.
What ensued was the loss of co-captains Daniel Briere and Chris Drury to free agency and two seasons that saw the Sabres fall short of the playoffs. The Sabres returned to the postseason during the 2009-10 season but disappointed with a first-round exit.
Entering this season, the Sabres had grown stagnant organizationally. Many fans felt as though the team was stuck in neutral and that winning wasn’t the top priority. That all changed, however, when the Sabres were bought by Terry Pegula. The change in culture allowed the team to roar into the playoffs and push the Philadelphia Flyers to the brink of elimination before falling short in a Game 7.
Although there is more reason for optimism regarding the Sabres than there has been in quite some time, the playoff loss to the Flyers certainly exposed some glaring weaknesses. If Pegula’s goal of bringing a Stanley Cup to Buffalo is to be accomplished, there are a number of holes that must be filled.
Here are five offseason moves that can make the Buffalo Sabres Stanley Cup contenders in 2012.
As the NHL playoffs continue without Buffalo, the Sabres and their fans are already looking forward to next season. Watching the San Jose vs. Detroit series, I realized that there is no way the Sabres could compete in a game, or series, of that intensity, which may be a key factor in why they lost to the Flyers in Game 7 and have won only one in the history of the franchise.
That all could change with the enormous amount of talent coming from Portland. In a couple of years, the team may be able to compete and win under that pressure. We saw it this season, but only in flashes. The Sabres won huge games during the regular season just to get into the playoffs.
Whatever the reason was for a largely disappointing Game 7 performance was, one could expect the Sabres to only improve in games of that magnitude.
Buffalo have already seen tremendous potential from players such as Tyler Ennis, Nathan Gerbe, Andrej Sekera, Tyler Myers, Jhonas Enroth and Marc-Andre Gragnani to name a few.
The Sabres have a talented, young core of players who are keeping the future of the team looking bright. Not only that, but the new God of “Hockey Heaven” has helped give the city true hope and another reason why fans should be thrilled for the Sabres upcoming season.
But, before we even get to Buffalo’s 2011-2012 season opener, which will be on October 8th against the Los Angeles Kings in Europe, the Sabres’ organization is expected to have one of its busiest summers in years. Terry Pegula made an immediate impact when he bought the team, and he isn’t interested in making a profit as owner.
“If I want to make some money, I’ll go drill a gas well,” Pegula said, who paid $189 million for the team.
While the Sabres look toward the offseason, there is still a problem that needs to be solved—who is the captain?
With the benching, and eventually waiving, of captain Craig Rivet, the Sabres are looking for an actual leader to wear the “C”. In recent years, players have grown weary to put on that “C”. It’s more than just a letter, but how many players are worthy of getting it?
At one point, the Sabres had a captain of the month, where they would switch the captain every month. It certainly didn’t make a definite, distinguished captain out of anyone.
Thomas Vanek would make the most sense as captain, even if he doesn’t possess all of the ingredients. The Sabres’ winger makes the most on the team with over $7 million per year and is signed through the next three seasons.
Now, some may argue that the amount of money a player makes should not enter the debate in who should be captain. In that case, look at what Vanek did this season after Derek Roy went down. Without him stepping up, the playoffs may not have even existed for the Sabres.
“If it happens it happens,” Vanek said. “If not, I’m not going to be disappointed. If it comes up, I’ll take the challenge, I’m always a guy that welcomes challenges.”
Only time will tell what happens prior to the beginning of next season. The Pegula factor will be in full swing and the Sabres could have a renewed, revitalized look to a team that is determined to make a deep run in the playoffs.
As the young players continue to mature and gain experience, Sabres fans can only watch as Buffalo could become one of the most feared teams in the NHL in the next few years.
This article was also featured on TheHockeyWriters as well as SabresHockeyCentral.
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With the seemingly new-found wealth for Buffalo Sabres general manager Darcy Regier as owner, Terry Pegula says all the right things to fans and the media. Only one question really remains: Is this an offseason for them to rebuild or stand pat?
There is no question the Sabres have some really great pieces to the puzzle in place. But looming over their heads like a demolition ball is the fact they are still without a true No. 1 center, and quite possibly a No. 2 center as well.
The lack of a true power forward seems to be something they have not had in years. It is essential that Sabres’ brass looks deep and hard at this and grasps the concept of how utterly valuable a true power forward can be to the success of a team.
The defense is not a lost cause either, but the coaching staff needs to decide whether they are going to stick to a run-and-gun style defense where while they will give up the occasional odd man rush, they are going to inject a blueliner deep in the offensive zone to act as a fourth forward.
The problem with that concept is the head coach Lindy Ruff never seems to stick to one style, and almost confuses his players when he pulls those reigns back on the style for no rhyme or reason.
On the flip side, Ruff can implement a more stay at home defensive style. working more on capitalizing on their opponents mistakes through the neutral zone to win games.
I personally believe either approach will work, they just need to stick to the game plan and take their lumps as they move along throughout the next season.
With the biggest name on the open market at center this offseason being Brad Richards, Regier could make a tremendous splash and commitment to winning with a player of this caliber. Even a forward like the never-aging Mark Recchi could bring alot to the table for the Sabres not only on the ice, but off it as well.
The fact may be that the Sabres may have to overpay a marquee player to come to Buffalo, but long-term return on that investment may be just what the doctor ordered to get this team over the top with the new and revamped message Terry Pegula is selling to the fans of the Sabres.
In my humble opinion, look for the Sabres to be very busy come July 1st.
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Playing seven games in the first round is considered to be a curse that dates all the way back to 1992, when the Pittsburgh Penguins had to beat the Washington Capitals in seven games in the first round before beating the Chicago Blackhawks for the Cup.
But with perhaps three of the biggest matchups this playoff season all going to seven games, it may be time for that curse to be broken.
There is no doubt that Vancouver has had trouble the last three games, blowing a three game lead to the Blackhawks this series.
They are now sweating it out before tonight’s game seven a game that may see history repeat itself as the Blackhawks prepare to send the Canucks home for the third year in a row.
The Canucks also have the curse of the President’s Trophy on their shoulders as only the Red Wings have won the Cup since 2003 after winning the President’s Trophy.
While the Canucks played their best game of the series on Sunday according to coach Alain Vigneault (via NHL.com), they need to step it up one more time if they expect to make it out of the series alive.
Another big Game 7 we will see tonight is the Philadelphia Flyers taking on the Buffalo Sabres in a series that has been back and forth since its first game.
While the Flyers have put two back to back wins together in this series (Games 2 and 3), they have also had a duck-duck-goose type of goalie situation.
This may be the hardest series to call as there is definitely no clear indication of the momentum going one way or the other and it has taken overtimes in both Games 5 and 6 to declare a winner.
This may be the game to watch for this round.
The Tampa Bay Lightning refuses to let the Pittsburgh Penguins leave the first round without a fight as they have put two impressive back-to-back games together, forcing the Penguins to work for Round 2.
This series saw a 2OT in game four that declared Pittsburgh the winner, but that game may have taken all the energy Pittsburgh had as the last two games have been won by a combined 14 points compared to the Penguins’ four points.
This leaves the door wide open for the Lightning unless the Penguins can get back in gear at home on Wednesday to close out this intense series.
While the Red Wings, Nashville Predators, Washington Capitals and the San Jose Sharks are not a shabby list of teams that have closed out their series’ in six games or less, the teams going to game seven also have some impressive credentials, including both teams in the Stanley Cup Final last year.
It is not to be forgotten that the Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins may also go to seven games in their series if the Canadiens pull off a win tonight.
If there was any year for the seven game curse to be broken, a feat the last 32 teams could not do, this is the year.
And with the pace of the playoffs this year, it is definitely a feat that would fit right in.
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Move over, Kate Smith. Make room for the fat lady.
Tell her to limber up those vocal chords, too. Because the Philadelphia Flyers are done.
There will be no magical trip to the Stanley Cup Finals this year. The Prince of Wales Trophy is already looking for another owner. It’s over.
Last year, the injuries worked out. Simon Gagne made it back in time. Jeff Carter made it back in time. This year, the Flyers stars are leaving the ice. There’s no Pronger, no Carter, no hope.
It was extinguished yesterday. The Flyers returned from a loss in Game 4 in which they came oh-so-close to scoring but were denied at every turn, again, by Buffalo goalie Ryan Miller. Game 5 was in their building. The stakes, already high, were raised with Sabres Coach Lindy Ruff’s calling the Flyers “whiners” afterward. There was no way around it. Philadelphia had to win.
Less than four minutes in, it was 2-0 Buffalo. Just under 12 minutes later it was 3-0 and goalie Brian Boucher was gone. Two remarkable periods followed in which the Flyers fought desperately, and succeeded, to tie the score, but it was all undone when Tyler Ennis scored for the second time in the game, and the playoffs, 5:31 into the extra period.
It really was a great comeback. James van Riemsdyk, Andrej Meszaros and Danny Briere scored consecutive goals to breathe life back into a lifeless game.But ultimately, it doesn’t matter. It’s still a loss, and it hurts as much as a 9-0 slaughtering would have. There’s too much for the Flyers to do.
They have to go to Buffalo and win. They have to come back home, where they’re 1-2, and win. They have to hope they don’t run into red-hot, Olympic Ryan Miller 2.0 either one of those games. They have to hope the goalie that has two shutouts on them in five games doesn’t catch fire one of those two matchups.
It’s not happening. The Flyers had two windows. They had Game 4, in which a win would have buried Buffalo 3-1, and they had Game 5, in which a win would have given them series control. They blew them both.
The Flyers could make it back to the Wells Fargo Center (after all, they won in Buffalo in Game 3), but they won’t make it out. There are a maximum of two games left in Philadelphia’s season. Enjoy it while you can.
After this, it’s time to think about what needs to be done to improve the team. Addressing the goaltending situation sounds nice. That’s probably the first bullet point, seeing as the Flyers’ last two series have seen all three of their goalies yanked at one point.
Whatever the Flyers choose to work on in the offseason, they had better decide fast. It’ll be here before they know it.
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The physicality of this series between the Buffalo Sabres and Philadelphia Flyers has been the definition of playoff hockey. It has been impressive to see the Sabres raise their game to a level that was rarely seen in the regular seasons and while fans may be disappointed in Game 3’s final score, the mistakes were easy to pinpoint and most importantly, easy to fix.
The first period seemed to flow directly from Games 1 and 2 and the high intensity was evident as was the loud hometown crowd that came out to cheer on their beloved Sabres. With the new reign of owner Terry Pegula, there was certainly some extra excitement in the air.
At the 3:40 mark, Patrick Kaleta was put in the box for roughing as he protected goaltender Ryan Miller—a penalty that, in my mind, was one worth taking. Sending a message is what Kaleta does best and starting the game off in this fashion seemed almost acceptable.
Unfortunately, at 4:42 the Flyers’ Jeff Carter scored on the power play giving the Flyers the first goal of the game. The pace and momentum of the game continued throughout the first period and the Sabres’ Drew Stafford tied it at 11:55, much to the relief of the capacity Buffalo crowd. Stafford now has five goals in less than a month and his play seems to be at a new level as well.
With 3:20 left in the period the Sabres were given a gift, a double minor on Flyer Scott Hartnell for delay of game. The Sabres were unable to capitalize on this and the frustration seemed to begin to mount at that point and for the rest of the game the Sabres seemed to play at a level of uncertainty that wasn’t reflective of the numbers on the score board.
While the crowd was certainly a factor in the first, they were quickly quieted in the second period.
The second started with the buzz of Patrick Kaleta’s absence from the ice which was later announced as being due to an upper body injury. That seemed to take a little out of the Sabres’ sails.
Meanwhile, former Sabre Danny Briere added another score for the Flyers at the 17:16 mark and that was where the Sabres official lost their momentum. They certainly battled hard to get it back but just couldn’t seem to get far enough up that proverbial hill.
With 3:16 left in the second, the Flyers put another point on the board thanks to Nikolay Zherdev putting the Flyers up 3-1. With just two minutes to go in the second, the SOGs were the tell-tale factor: Flyers 13, Buffalo 4. While the Sabres seemed to dominate the puck consistently, the shots to the net were not good enough for the laws of probability.
The true warrior of the night was, without a doubt, Nathan Gerbe. His play was nothing short of outstanding and anyone watching the game will tell you that he was the on-ice leader for the Sabres. He was simply hustling the entire night and making himself part of plays at every opportunity. There were some incredible scoring opportunities for the Sabres at the end of the period as well.
Gerbe’s hard work finally paid off with 1:48 left to go in the second when he sent a rocket through the five-hole of Flyers goaltender Brian Boucher for one of the more comical sights of the night. Boucher was in his stance with his legs open in a V as Gerbe’s shot came out of nowhere. Boucher bent down almost perpendicular to the ice and peered through his legs to see if the puck had actually gone in the net, which it did.
Going into the third with only a 3-2 deficit, the Sabres seemed to be slowly running out of gas. At the 13:01 mark they found themselves with a 5-on-3 power play for about 1:15 and were unable to capitalize on it or the 5-on-4 that followed. Yet they continued to battle, even against some questionable if not outright illegal moves by the Flyers.
Earlier in the game the Flyers made a substitution during a break in play as the referees consulted on a call and then, late in the third with the heat turned up high around his net and the Sabres making some serious threats to tie the score, Boucher inexplicably ripped off his mask to get a stoppage of play whistle claiming that something was wrong with the straps on his mask, which wasn’t the case at all—gamesmanship a la the Flyers.
With a little under two minutes left in the game, the Sabres pulled goaltender Ryan Miller—a move which I felt was going to be fruitless considering the pace of the game—and with just 17.8 seconds left on the clock, Kimmo Timonen scored the open-netter to make the final score 4-2.
The Sabres outshot the Flyers 37 to 26 yet couldn’t make them count. Their SOGs were predictable for the most part and Boucher was ready. Their puck handling in the offensive zone seemed tentative at times and they were hesitant to bring the puck deep into the zone, giving Boucher plenty of time to prepare and with rarely much traffic in front of him, he was able to make the saves keeping the Sabres to just two goals.
What needs to be done in Game 4? Continue keeping the tempo and pace of the game, ease up on the excessive passing in the offensive zone and make bolder moves to get deeper into Flyers territory to make those SOGs more effective.
Additionally, let’s start getting some more bodies in front of the Flyers net whenever possible. Based on Boucher’s panic move in the third, removing his helmet to stop play, he certainly wasn’t comfortable with all that confusion in his area—something that the Sabres hopefully took note of and will use to their advantage on Wednesday when they again host the Flyers at HSBC Arena.
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While many consider the Sabres to be a one and done team in the playoffs, I have to respectfully disagree. After watching the first period and part of the second in their first round match up with the Philadelphia Flyers, I am confident that my “10 Bold Predictions” are indeed true to form. The pivotal point in just about every one of these predictions is one person – Terry Pegula.
The emergence of an owner who is the antithesis of his predecessor and someone who is not only reaching out to the fan base but to the players as well is creating an atmosphere that is reminiscent of the 2010 Stanley Cup Champions. He is developing an environment where people want to be and like any good employer, he understands that valuing your employees benefits everyone and provides a ripple effect that will have infinite returns.
The Buffalo Sabres were able to take home ice advantage from the Philadelphia Flyers by grinding one out in a 1-0 victory.
Ryan Miller made 33 saves on his way to his second career shutout. Patrick Kaleta had the games lone goal off of a rebound in the third period.
Here are four keys to the game that led to a Sabres victory.
Stay tuned here for live blog coverage of the first game of the Sabres-Flyers Eastern Conference quarterfinals series.
It appears that both no. 44 defensemen will be out tonight. While it has been much publicized that Chris Pronger‘s absence will be a big loss for the Flyers, Andrej Sekera’s presence will be equally missed by the Sabres.
This, along with the play of rookie goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, will be two things to watch for throughout the game.
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The NHL Playoffs 2011 are underway, but the Buffalo Sabres and Philadelphia Flyers will wait until Thursday night to begin what should be another classic series between the two Eastern Conference foes.
To get a better feel for the Sabres opponent, I touched base with Freddy Doll, Philadelphia Flyers FC here at B/R.
Here’s what he had to say regarding the Sabres/Flyers first-round matchup
(I’m a Bills FC, but I’m a huge Sabres fan too. Imagine that.)
Q1: What are your general thoughts about the Flyers heading into the playoffs?
A1: The Flyers may have been on a skid heading into the playoffs, but I fully believe that they won’t have a problem ramping it up in the playoffs. I believe they feel it is their time to prove to everyone that they can get it done. I expect them to come out hard in this series.
Q2: What advantages do the Flyers have over the Sabres?
A2: Depth. The Flyers had seven 20+ goal scorers and Ville Leino had 19. Not to mention, that even with sitting games out, Zherdev had 16 goals and Andreas Nodle had 11. So, the Flyers had 10 forwards with 10+ goals. This should cause match-up problems when the Sabres try to decide who their top defensive pair should go up against.
Q3: What advantages do the Sabres have over the Flyers?
A3: I would have to say the experience of Ryan Miller. Miller and Sergei Bobrovsky had an almost identical GAA and SV% this year. However, Miller has the Playoff experience.
Q4: How will the injuries to Pronger, Betts and Briere affect the team? Which player can they not win without?
A4: Reports from the Flyers camp is that Briere and Betts will play Game 1. Pronger is a game time decision for Game 1. I believe that the Flyers can win even with their injuries. Their depth is ridiculous, and they are now even better with the call-ups that they made.
Q5: Who must step up if the aforementioned players aren’t back from injury or return and aren’t 100%?
A5: If Pronger cant go, then whoever plays for him, whether it’s Danny Syvret, Matt Walker, Nick Boynton, or Erik Gustafsson. Whichever player plays in place of Pronger will have all eyes on them. The defensemen will have to play better than average because the media will have a field day with “if Pronger was here….”
Q6: Who’s the wild card or X-factor for the Flyers in this series?
A6: No doubt it’s Nikolay Zherdev. His offense could be valuable, if he can please the coaches enough to stay in the line-up. If you want a call up that could become a wild card, look for either Mike Testwuide or Eric Wellwood to be able to make an impact if they are needed.
Q7: Prediction for first-round match up with the Sabres?
A7: I’m going to say Flyers in 6. I think the Flyers’ offensive depth will prove too much for Ryan Miller and the Sabres defense corps
(I’ll be answering some questions from the Sabres perspective. Look for it on Freddy’s page tomorrow)
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