Sucktacular Buffalo Sports Weekend
Okay, that sucked. Plain and simple. After the Sabres shuffled through both Friday’s and Saturday’s games, the Bills lose to the stupid Patriots. Some guy named Bryan Little tore up the Sabres in the Thrashers game (Vanek at least got his 12th goal of the season). Tim Connolly was one of the few bright spots last night, getting his first goal in the loss to Boston. The Sabres have until Wednesday to regroup, when St. Louis comes to town for a 7:00 pm start.
The I didn’t get to see the Bills game, but judging by the comments over at the BfloBlog open thread, it’s just as well. McKelvin had a big return to keep help keep them from not even scoring a touchdown. Next week is the Monday Night Football game against Cleveland…maybe a get-right game for them?
Tags: atlanta, bills, blues, boston, bruins, buffalo, connolly, football, Hockey, mckelvin, NFL, NHL, sabres, st. louis, Thomas Vanek, thrashers
Bills Rebound But Sabres Fall In Skills Competition
Due to the TV situation for the football game, and general busy-ness, I saw neither game live. Though, for the football game, sounds like quite a few had some problems thanks to the power outages at the Ralph. Anyway, the Buffalo Sabres tied the game and forced a shootout, but Lalime and the boys ended up losing to Atlanta 3-2. Vanek scored again, giving him his seventh. Patrick Lalime played very well, stopping 35 of 37 shots faced. The Sabres still have yet to allow a goal on the PK. Boston is up next for them, on Tuesday. It’s Buffalo’s first appearance on Versus (of many), so get your radios ready.
The Bills got back on the winning track against LT2 and the Chargers, winning 23-14 at the Ralph. Lee Evans caught a fade route TD from 2 yards out (apparently one handed and against his helmet). Marshawn Lynch had 92 total yards and a score also. What really keyed the win was the defense, especially free agent signing Kawika Mitchell, who had the Gordie Howe hat trick of pro football (Sack, Forced Fumble, Interception). Buffalo starts three straight division games, and winning those (or at least 2 out of 3) could very well put the division title out of reach. Especially with Cleveland and KC coming up after that.
Tags: atlanta, bills, buffalo, chargers, evans, football, Hockey, lalime, lynch, mitchell, NFL, NHL, sabres, san diego, Thomas Vanek, thrashers
Gameday - Sabres at Thrashers
Oct 18, 2008 NHL
Quick post today as I may not be home tonight…first, I am just as much in love with this video as the rest of you:
Buffalo is in Atlanta to square off against the Thrashers, who lost on Thursday against the New Jersey Devils. One interesting side note is the fact that longtime Amerks coach Randy Cunneyworth is an assistant with Atlanta. He was interviewed about the Sabres at the Blueland Blog.
Do you have any tips for Ilya on how to beat Ryan Miller?
Great goal scorers always find ways to score, no matter who they’re facing. I haven’t talked to him yet but I can probably share some tendencies with him. I’m not sure Miller has particular weaknesses, because he’s such a talented young goalie, but there may be tendencies- ways he reacts in certain situations.
We’ll see, Randy. That might make it a VERY good night for Lalime to get his second start, beyond that fact that it’s the 3rd game in 4 nights for the Sabres.
Tags: atlanta, buffalo, Hockey, kotalik, lalime, NHL, Ryan Miller, sabres, Thomas Vanek, thrashers
Agent Hyperbole
Oct 6, 2008 NHL
Browsing through the NHL news, I came across this gem at TSN: Thrashers top prospect Pavelec won’t report to AHL. That’s odd, I thought, considering that the AHL is where ‘prospects’ have a tendency to play before getting their shot. Reading on:
”When Ondrej signed two years ago, [Thrashers GM Don Waddell] gave Ondrej his word. He sat there at the table and gave Ondrej his personal word that Ondrej would never be held back,” Allan Walsh, Pavelec’s agent, told Sporting News. ”Last year he led Chicago to an American League championship. This year he played in the first exhibition game and then the third period on October 3 — they threw him into the game cold in the third period. That is criminal mismanagement of a young goalie.”
Really, now? I looked up that second game - he didn’t exactly get thrown in as he started in goal coming out from the second intermission, which is a common occurrence in the pre-season. You want your guy to go to the KHL, fine, I get it, but don’t make getting put in to start the period for a struggling Hedberg sound like he got shoved onto the ice without his pads on.
Tags: atlanta, hedberg, Hockey, khl, NHL, pavelec, thrashers
Portland Pirates Coach
Jul 26, 2008 NHL
The Portland Press Herald has an extremely detailed report on the coaching situation for the Sabres’ AHL affiliate, the Portland Pirates. Since Randy Cunneyworth joined the Atlanta Thrashers staff, Buffalo has switched gears and is talking to Kevin Dineen, who coached the Pirates for the past three seasons. Dineen is also in the running to coach the Ducks’ new affiliate (the now-famous Iowa Chops) or become a scout with Anaheim. The Ducks were the parent club for Portland last year.
Tags: ahl, anaheim, atlanta, buffalo, cunneyworth, dineen, ducks, Hockey, NHL, pirates, portland, sabres, thrashers
Deadline Day - Part 2
Feb 26, 2008 NHL
This day has seen the end of Campbell, but will it soon see the end of any other Sabres?
1:01pm: D Adam Foote to the Avalanche, Jackets get a Conditional pick (and another if Foote resigns?).
1:11pm: F Sergei Fedorov to Washington for Blue Jackets D Theo Ruth.
1:30pm: D Rob Davison goes to the Isles for a Sharks 7th round pick.
1:36pm: Canucks get F Matt Pettinger from the Capitals for F Matt Cooke. Caps are the big movers so far today.
2:45pm: So…is this it then?
2:50pm: D Christian Backman of the Blues to the Rangers for a 4th round pick.
2:51pm: D Hal Gill to the Penguins, Leafs get a 2nd and a 5th.
2:56pm: Here’s the boom: F Marian Hossa and F Pascal Dupuis (great name to say) to the Penguins, with the Thrash getting F Colby Armstrong, F Erik Christensen, F Angelo Esposito and a 1st rounder in return.
Deals can still go through after the deadline, sort of like sending mail that has to be postmarked by a certain time: as long as the deal is at the league office now, you are good.
3:11pm: Islanders send jerkwad F Chris Simon to the Wild for a 6th round pick.
3:20ish: Red Wings get D Brad Stuart for the Kings 2nd and 4th rounders.
3:25pm: Rangers get F Fredrik Sjostrom, G David Leneveu and F Josh Gratton, Coyotes get the other Hossa (Marcel, a forward) and goalie superprospect Al Montoya.
3:26pm: Leafs trade F Chad Kilger to the Panthers for a 3rd rounder.
3:30pm: Two deals by the Ducks, trading for Kings G JS Aubin (Miller’s opponent in those AMP commercials), giving up a 7th round pick, and getting D Marc-Andre Bergeron from the Isles for a 3rd.
Cleaning up the late deals…Washington gets F Alexandre Giroux from the Thrash for F Joe Motzko. Nashville gets F Jan Hlavac from the Lightning for a 7th round pick.
Tags: atlanta, avalanche, blue jackets, campbell, Colby Armstrong, colorado, columbus, davison, detroit, fedorov, foote, Hockey, hossa, islanders, kings, los angeles, new york, NHL, penguins, pittsburgh, ruth, sabres, san jose, sharks, simon, stuart, thrashers, trade, trade deadline, wings
Miller Injured in Shootout Loss to Thrashers
Feb 2, 2008 NHL
To be honest, as soon as Miller went down in the second period, I sort of stopped worrying about the outcome of the game. I thought Ryan’s bell had just been rung by hitting his helmet on the post, but when you watch the replay, you see him react a few seconds AFTER that…and unfortunately, it reminds of when Hasek got injured in the Olympics a few years back (down for a save, head jerks back in obvious sharp pain). More will be known today, and I hope it’s not so serious as that.
As for the game, the Thrashers came out swinging early, getting the 2 goal lead in the first period. However, the second period was all Buffalo as they scored 3 goals. The first was a blast from Spacek at the point on the power play that was redirected by Jochen Hecht. Pominville netted the next one, and they took the lead on a sweet pass from Derek Roy out to Dan Paille who was left alone for the easy shot.
The Thrashers tied it early in the third on a goal from Jim Slater, after Thibault came out to replace Miller. Kalinin gave Buffalo the lead back a few minutes later on the power play, but Tobias Enstrom sent the game to OT with 17 seconds to go. The Sabres were down 2 men for a 6 on 3 disadvantage (with Hedberg on the bench). Hard to blame T-bo for that. The OT session was one big PK for the Sabres, and the shootout was ended in the 4th round. T-bo made some good saves to get it that far, but the Sabres could not get one past Hedberg.
I want to go all positive on you guys, what with 5 out of 6 points, better scoring (including D involvement, 2 PPGs) and all, but the injuries worry me. Miller, obviously, is a cornerstone. The Sabres cannot push for the playoffs without him. I thought I heard mention of a shoulder injury for Spacek, and then there are the guys already down.
I would like to give special recognition to Derek Roy, he was outstanding last night at both ends. Also to the refs, for missing multiple calls, possibly calling a no goal that should’ve counted on Gaustad’s ‘interference’ of Hedberg. I still don’t know how they can call a no goal but not the penalty. Roy got a stick to the face that went uncalled also.
The Sabres next play on Tuesday, so maybe some of these guys will be okay by then.
Tags: atlanta, B-Lo Sports, hecht, hedberg, Hockey, injury, kalinin, NHL, paille, roy, Ryan Miller, sabres, slater, Spacek, thibault, thrashers
It started so well…
Jan 23, 2008 NHL
It’s been a few days since I’ve posted about the Sabres, partly because I haven’t gotten to watch much of the games. I DID see the awesome beatdown of the Thrashers, and was all set for that to be the beginning of a dominant stretch.
Never mind.
I was unable to listen to the rest of the last game against the Coyotes, thanks to Kevin Sylvester calling a bunch of soft goals. My thought was the Sabres would win one of these two before the break, and break off some wins on some weaker teams afer. They can still do that, but Dallas is a tougher nut to crack than Phoenix, Bryzgalov or no Bryzgalov.
Tags: atlanta, B-Lo Sports, bryzgalov, coyotes, dallas, phoenix, sabres, stars, thrashers
Gameday - Thrashers at Sabres
Jan 18, 2008 NHL
The Atlanta Thrashers come to Buffalo tonight for a 7:30pm game at the Arena. The Sabres are ‘winless’ in 10 straight, and may get Derek Roy back in the lineup. However, I have yet to hear for sure if Clarke MacArthur is playing. Sabres.com pointed out that Atlanta is the only team during the slide that beat the Sabres by more than 2 goals. It’s too much to hope that the Sabres get on track tonight, right?
Tags: atlanta, B-Lo Sports, Hockey, injury, macarthur, NHL, roy, sabres, thrashers
NHL All-Star Starting Lineups Announced
Jan 8, 2008 NHL
The starters for the NHL All-Star game (in Atlanta this year) have been announced. The East, to no one’s surprise, is headlined by Sidney Crosby, Vincent Lecavalier and Daniel Alfredsson. The blue line has the Wookiee Chara and Andrei Markov, with the usual suspect in Goal, Martin Brodeur.
Your Western Conference starters are one Vancouver goalie shy of being a Detroit/Calgary sweep. Jarome Iginla, Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg start up front, Dion Phaneuf and Niklas Lidstrom are your D-men, with Roberto Luongo between the pipes.
The game itself is January 27th at 6pm, but leading up on Friday and Saturday there is a youth hockey tournament to showcase how the sport is trying to grow in the South. The skills competition and YoungStars game takes place on Saturday night.
Tags: all-star, all-star game, allstar, atlanta, brodeur, chara, crosby, Daniel Alfredsson, datsyuk, Hockey, iginla, lecavalier, lidstrom, luongo, markov, NHL, phaneuf, zetterberg
