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Sabres
The Minnesota Wild visit HSBC Arena tonight for a 7:30pm game, coming of a 5-1 loss to the Detroit Red Wings last night. The Sabres play the Wings in Detroit on Saturday, by the way. Most likely a Lalime game tonight, as the goalies are expected to split the weekend. There’s some question as to who starts in goal for the Wild, as Niklas Backstrom tweaked his groin before last night’s game and is day to day. Josh Harding played last night. Minnesota has been struggling mightily to generate chances lately, ending last night’s game with 22 shots (but 13 in the first). The game before? 11 shots. They are bottom 5 for the season in shots/game. One oddity – they lead the league in short-handed goals, with 10. Something to watch out for. Gaustad may return tonight, while Stafford most likely will not. That should keep Mancari in, and I think most of us would like to see if he can continue his strong play. Sabres
I’m not sure if this nickname originated with Kevin Snow (crack Sabres PR man) or elsewhere, but it’s a Tyler Myers nickname that might have some legs. So to speak. It’s unique, unlike many of the names I was hearing on WGR yesterday. It’s not uncomplimentary. I like it. If my Ty-Bomber doesn’t win out, I would be okay with this. Sabres
Okay, I was going to title this “Making a Statement” or some such, but Greg Wyshynski hijacked that for his Three Stars post. Good to have more media mentions of Tyler Myers, though, so it’s all good. I only got to listen to the third period last night, but I kept hearing Myers and Mancari over and over again, with shots, pass break-ups, and just general awesomeness. I am going to take credit for the game last night, as I mentioned yesterday that Myers needed to step up again to get back into the Calder discussions. Mission accomplished. Let’s hope he keeps it up for a few more games.
Nice. Right now there’s not another player on the Sabres I enjoy watching more. Sabres
Tyler Myers/Calder media mentions: Calder rookie race down to goalies, Myers and Duchene - Greg Wyshynski, Yahoo!
I think Myers needs to pick it back up, score some points to get back out in front. The intriguing story of Tyler Myers - Mike Heika, Dallas News
The rest of the article is links to other articles, but some you may not have seen before. Latest games:
That’s two losses (Pittsburgh and Washington) and two wins. It will be interesting to see if Myers loses ice time due to power play changes. Sekera is getting a shot on the top unit. Sabres
The Dallas Stars fly in for a 7pm game at the arena tonight, most of which I’ll be missing as I take my daughter to go see Elmo. Might try for some DVR action. Though I usually fall asleep trying to stay up and watch during the week, what with the 6am start times at work… The Sabres, of course, are coming off a 2-1 OT win against the Rangers, while Dallas won 4-3 in a shootout against Washington last game. This was after 2 games where Marty Turco got pulled after 4 goals on 11 shots, and then ceded the next start to new Star Kari Lehtonen (who promptly gave up 6 in a loss). By the way, Marc Crawford:
I know what he’s trying to say, but really, your goalie wears a mask every night. At least with the Stars job, Crow isn’t on HNIC anymore. Paul Gaustad and Drew ‘Angry Eyebrows’ Stafford should still sit tonight. Sports
With the struggles of some sports franchises (especially in the NHL), this technology I’m sure will get a long look. It’s called APIDIS, or Autonomous Production of Images based on Distributed and Intelligent Sensing. They’ve talked about it at New Scientist. It’s apparently easy enough to get basic ball tracking, but the system can be programmed to prefer including certain players more often (Bettman can have an across-the-board rule about Sidney Crosby!), and supposedly it can automatically adjust the camera angles to capture more of the action when needed.  Dispensing Product ESPN has shown interest, but I could see this being looked at by teams like the Phoenix Coyotes or Tampa Bay Lightning, especially for road games. A reduction in the amount of crew needed to be sent on trips would be seen as a cost benefit to the more cash-strapped teams, and would be a foot in the door for the technology. I do believe ESPN has already called some soccer games remotely during the World Cup, this is the next logical step. You could theoretically send only a couple of guys to set up the cameras (and not even that if they end up as permanent fixtures in arenas). It’s definitely a technology to keep an eye on in the future. Sabres
It hasn’t been pretty, but the Buffalo Sabres have picked up 2 wins – 4 important standings points – this weekend to move 2 points ahead of the Ottawa Senators for first in the Northeast. The Sens have struggled since the break, picking up only 1 point in 3 games. They next play in Edmonton on Tuesday, and Calgary on Thursday. Buffalo’s next games are on Wednesday and Friday (home tilts versus Dallas and Minnesota). I am not quite sure what to make of the Sabres’ scoring woes. They take plenty of shots, 6th in the league, but they (wince) don’t shoot enough on the power play (22nd at 5 on 4). Even worse, when the Sabres are up 5 on 3, they are the WORST in the league at shooting. There are teams that average out to 160 shots per 60min of 5 on 3, and the Sabres? 63. Atrocious. (all numbers via Behind the Net) I almost hate to put this out there, as the ‘yells shoot on the power play’ people will feel obligated to scream even louder. Seriously though, it is one thing that helps make all the rumors that the Sabres wanted an offensive defenseman at the deadline, maybe to get some more shots from the point. Life
We recently took the kids to see the Mayville Ice Palace on the way back from ‘camping’. I’ll have pictures and stuff about that later, but check this out (and yes, we walked out on the ice to visit the ice fishermen): Sabres
They were talking about it this morning on WGR, and I agree – no more excuses. Raffi Torres is in the lineup (on the wing with Roy and Pominville) so whatever ’spark’ they will get from that should happen. Things MUST improve, and the best chance to start that is tonight. The Flyers come in of a 7-4 loss to the Panthers, after failing to improve their goaltending situation at the deadline. Vanek will be skating with Connolly tonight, which has, at least, worked well for stretches in the past. The best playmaker with the best goal scorer should be a no-brainer, but we’ll see. Buffalo still trails Ottawa by one point for first in the division thanks to some losses by the Sens, but it’s up to them to take advantage. Sabres
 Check it out, Connolly DID play last night Ryan Miller had his hero’s welcome, but the rest of his team couldn’t propel him to a win in his first game back. Hecht scored, Miller had 37 saves, but that about ends the good. Oh, Ovechkin got nailed once or twice, that was cool. Beyond that, too many giveaways, odd man rushes, you can’t do that against this team. 39 shots, way too many. Miller was grumpy after the game:
You can hear comments from Miller and Ruff here. I am interested to see what changes might be made for Friday’s game, as Torres will be here, but Goose will still be out. Will there be callups? Ennis, maybe? Have to keep showing these guys that their jobs aren’t safe. Darcy made his moves, now it’s up to Ruff and the on-ice leadership to make these guys sack up. |
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