Better Effort, Same Result
Nov 22, 2008 NHL
The Buffalo Sabres had a much stronger effort against the Flyers last night, but still ended up on the losing end of a 3-0 shutout by Biron. They generated a ton of shots (40) but the powerplay really did ‘em en, going 0 for 5, including a decently long 5 on 3. Unfortunately, as the last penalized player returned to the ice (Scott Hartnell), he got behind the D on a break and beat Miller. Philly would score midway through the third to ice it, followed by an empty netter (both by Jeff Carter).
The new-look lineup was pretty good from what I saw (too nervous to watch the whole thing), call-up Mark Mancari was not afraid to fire away, and Paetsch wasn’t on the ice for any of the goals against. By the way, the Buffalo highlight of the night might just be Peters’ performance in his fight with Josh Gratton:
Gratton starts throwing at Andrew Peters before he’s got his hands up, but Peters recovers and lands multiple solid shots (right around the :20 mark Gratton has a ‘Why did I do this again?’ look).
The Islanders come in tonight, with a whole laundry list of injuries and having lost the last three to the Sabres by a combined 14-5. I’m probably recording this one tonight so if there are any worthwhile videos to put on Youtube, I’ll be taking care of it.
Tags: buffalo, carter, flyers, gratton, hartnell, Hockey, mancari, Martin Biron, NHL, philadelphia, Ryan Miller, sabres
Gameday - Flyers at Sabres
Nov 21, 2008 NHL
The Buffalo Sabres host the Philadelphia Flyers tonight at the arena, 7:30pm start time. Buffalo is coming off a horrendous performance against the Bruins, where they took a 4-3 lead into the second period but messed around and lost 7-4. Miller’s been ordinary since his back to back shutouts, but some of the blame falls on the defense who are giving up odd-man rushes and letting guys camp the net like Boy Scouts at a Jamboree. Thomas Vanek, at least, is still playing well as he has 3 goals in the last two games.
Philly comes in hot, 3-0-1 in their last 4 despite having quite an injury list (including Danny Briere). Martin Biron has improved, allowing 6 goal in his last 3 games (he’s the 2-0-1 part of that). Riley Cote is out as well, so there goes one potential dance partner for Peters, but being the Flyers, I’m sure there’s someone else. Here’s hoping for a better performance tonight.
edit: Mark Mancari has been called up from Portland, and according to Mike Harrington, was skating with Paille and Gaustad at practice. Mancari has 11 goals and 14 assists on the big line for the Pirates…we’ll see who’s benched for tonight.
edit again: Harrington just updated the above link with lines, and the bombshell that Hank is on the shelf tonight as well. Paetsch, then?
Tags: briere, buffalo, cote, flyers, Hockey, mancari, Martin Biron, NHL, paetsch, philadelphia, Ryan Miller, sabres, tallinder, Thomas Vanek
Thomas Vanek, Austrian Hero
Aug 25, 2008 NHL
NHL.com has an article up about Flyers prospect Andreas Nodl (nodle? noodle? know-dle?), and he has some very nice things to say about Thomas Vanek:
“He’s an idol in Austria,” Nodl said to NHL.com. “You want to use him and see someone from Austria that did it. He was the reason I came over here (from Austria). He hooked me up with a tryout in the USHL and he kept in touch the first year to see how things were going.”
Nodl played with the Sioux Falls Stampede, the same USHL outfit where Vanek played before heading to Minnesota. Great to see him helping out a fellow countryman, even if it makes the Flyers better in the future.
Tags: flyers, Hockey, NHL, philadelphia, sioux falls, stampede, Thomas Vanek
Random NHL Thoughts
Apr 14, 2008 NHL
I watched a fair bit of the games last night, except for the part of the Calgary/San Jose game where I fell asleep (stupid late games). The Rangers/Devils game helped me come to a decision on which team I want to win…the Devils, as I don’t ever want Sean Avery to win another game in his life. His little stick waving dance in front of Brodeur was very bush league. I was watching on CBC, and Ron MacLean and Kelly Hrudey pointed out a rule about inciting a penalty where the ref (who did warn Avery) could’ve given him a 10 minute misconduct. You also saw Chris Drury skate over to Avery and say something to him after the warning, maybe to tell him to cut that out? I’d love to know.
Calgary/San Jose was CRAZY. San Jose gets a PP 30 seconds in, and within minutes it’s 3-0 and Kipper is storming off the ice. Curtis Joseph came off the bench and slammed the door…and the momentum shifted back to Calgary after Cory Sarich slammed Patrick Marleau to the ice on a monster hit along the boards. Marleau had already been bloodied once by Dion Phaneuf so he was having a rough night. Brian Campbell was instrumental in the Calgary win, as he didn’t take anybody on the winning goal, just kinda standing between Owen Nolan and Nabokov, being a great screen for the Calgary vet.
Montreal and Boston had quite a goaltending duel, as Carey Price was great, Tim Thomas outdid him though. Martin Biron got his first playoff win to get Philly back into things there, and he is going to be a dad again today, congratulations Marty!
Tags: boston, brodeur, bruins, calgary, campbell, cbc, devils, drury, flames, flyers, hnic, Hockey, joseph, kiprusoff, marleau, Martin Biron, nabokov, new jersey, new york, NHL, nolan, phaneuf, philadelphia, price, rangers, san jose, sarich, Sean Avery, sharks, thomas
Pittsburgh Holds Up Their End
Apr 3, 2008 NHL
…as did New Jersey, although they let Boston get a loser point. Buffalo still has a shot at the playoffs with the losses by Philly (in a very rough game with Pittsburgh) and Boston. The Sabres must take care of business tonight in Montreal, looks like Jaro Spacek might be back. Great soundbite from him on WGR, by the way, about how he had a good feeling about the games last night, and was going to have dinner and relax. This prompted the morning show guys to decide that WWJD must mean ‘What would Jaro do?’, so we should all have a good dinner and relax. Sound advice under the circumstances.
Tags: B-Lo Sports, boston, bruins, devils, flyers, Hockey, new jersey, NHL, penguins, philadelphia, pittsburgh, playoffs, sabres, Spacek, wgr
NHL Musings
Mar 12, 2008 NHL
I see Philly got a loser point tonight to keep 4 points ahead of Buffalo. Those shootout failures loom larger and larger.
…
Jeff Jillson is on re-entry waivers…wonder if Buffalo thought about grabbing him for depth in Rochester now that Weber is up?
…
I just don’t see the Leafs making up enough ground for that last playoff spot, even with the current suckitude of the Sabres and Flyers.
…
Gary Bettman ‘advised’ the new Lightning owner to lay low until the deal is finalized…think they learned anything from that whole “Hamilton Penguins” debacle?
Tags: B-Lo Sports, flyers, Hockey, jillson, leafs, lightning, NHL, philadelphia, sabres, tampa bay, toronto
You Win One, You Lose One
Mar 6, 2008 NHL, They Said It
That, at least, seems to be what the Sabres are all about right now. A night after pulling away from Philly in the third (on a missed ‘Too many men’ penalty) to win 5-2, the Sabres dropped one to the Capitals 3-1. Miller was tested early in the game, and though he only faced 23 shots officially, it seemed like half of them were on breakaways. He maybe could’ve had one of them, but the defense minus an injured Henrik Tallinder has to get better if the Sabres truly believe themselves to be a playoff team.
Although it ain’t the officials’ fault, I can’t help but think that officiating in any of the games I’ve seen recently (not just Buffalo games) seems to be on the slide. Here’s hoping it improves for the playoffs, I hate it when the Zebras are a factor in deciding playoff matchups. If it’s in your team’s favor, you never hear the end of it from the fans on the losing side.
edit: just saw this: Ruff tells Flyers to stop whining about no-call:
If we’re going to go back and whine about [how] the play changed the game, I can whine about the officiating. I can find something to whine about every night. … I thought we outplayed them in the third period and deserved to win. Did we get a break? Yeah.
Makes things a little better to get a shot in at the Flyers, even with the Caps loss.
Tags: capitals, flyers, Hockey, NHL, ovechkin, philadelphia, Ryan Miller, sabres, tallinder, washington
Deadline Day
Feb 26, 2008 NHL
Today is the NHL’s Trade Deadline, all deals must be consummated by 3pm Eastern time. Rumors are rampant (you can get most of them at TSN’s TradeCentre ‘08. There have been a few moves already, with Prospal going to the Flyers, and a few other guys getting extended (Comrie, Jackman for example). Sabres fans wait to see if Darcy will make a move with Campbell (he has to, right??), and to see if anyone else goes. Oh, and it sounds like the Sharks are going after Soupy.
10:34am: First move of the day, D Bryce Salvador to the Devils, F Cam Janssen to the Blues. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of Salvador to be honest.
11:20am: TOR player Belak to the Panthers for a 5th.
11:27am: Here it is…Campbell to the Sharks (edit: with a 7th rounder?). Sabres get Steve Bernier and a 2008 1st rounder.
11:45am: F Brad Richards and G Johan Holmqvist to Dallas for G Mike Smith, F Jeff Halpern and F Jussi Jokinen.
11:55am: G Huet from the Habs to the Caps for a 2nd rounder.
12:24pm: Avalanche get D Ruslan Salei from the Panthers for D Karlis Skratins and a 3rd.
12:25pm: Canes get F Tuomo Ruutu from the Blackhawks for F Andrew Ladd.
12:36pm: Senators acquire F Martin Lapointe from the busy ‘hawks for an ‘08 6th rounder.
Tags: blues, campbell, comrie, devils, flyers, Hockey, jackman, janssen, new jersey, NHL, philadelphia, sabres, salvador, san jose, sharks, st. louis, trade, trade deadline
Ugh
Feb 26, 2008 NHL
Best part of the Flyers game, right here:
Peters and Boulerice (just back from his 25 game suspension) trading blasts. The Sabres themselves coughed up a 3 goal lead to lose in the shootout. Horrific officiating all around. Still not sure if Campbell will be around here tomorrow…fun times coming (not).
Tags: B-Lo Sports, campbell, fight, flyers, Hockey, hockeyfights, Jesse Boulerice, NHL, peters, philadelphia, sabres, trade, trade deadline
Gameday - Flyers at Sabres
Feb 25, 2008 NHL
After an ugly (for both teams) loss to the Rangers this weekend, the Sabres try to regroup tonight against the freefalling Flyers. Hecht will most likely miss tonight’s game, and the lineup will be the same as against the Rangers (including the second NHL game for prospect Marc-Andre Gragnani). The Flyers will be without the services of leading scorer Mike Richards after he tore his hammy in a crushing OT loss to the Panthers.
7pm Versus game tonight, so make sure you have your radios ready (if you are within reach of Rick and Harry) if you can’t stomach the VS announcing crew.
Tags: B-Lo Sports, flyers, gragnani, hecht, Hockey, NHL, philadelphia, richards, sabres
