Honk if you love justice!

Gameday - Sabres at Wild

Oct 23, 2008 NHL

The Buffalo Sabres face off against the Minnesota Wild in a matchup of unbeaten-ish teams.  This will be the first game for the Sabres without Craig Rivet, out for 2+ weeks after getting his knee scoped.  Nathan Paetsch steps back into the lineup across from Teppo Numminen.  As Kevin mentioned over at BfloBlog, the Wild have had injury issues of their own.

Miller should get the start tonight, which is at 8pm.  Also, if you are interested, RJ is featured on ‘Voices’ on the NHL Network at 7:30pm (in case you missed my post yesterday).

Tags: buffalo, Hockey, minnesota, NHL, numminen, paetsch, rick jeanneret, rivet, sabres, wild

Lines

Jul 7, 2008 NHL

Now that things have settled a bit, I thought I’d look at the potential line combinations for this year.  Keep in mind I’m not 100% sure who can be sent to Roches…er…Portland to start the season.  Anyway, what the lines will most likely look like:

Hecht - Connolly - Pominville
Vanek - Roy - Afinogenov
Paille - Gaustad - Stafford
Peters - Mair - Kotalik

Tallinder - Lydman
Spacek - Rivet
Paetsch - Sekera

Miller
Lalime

That 4th line left wing is fluid, but with all the forwards that will still be on the team (barring other deals) I can’t see Kaleta or MacArthur starting the season with the big show.  I’d like MacArthur in that spot, though, with Kaleta as the first injury call-up.  Heck, I’d have Kaleta up and playing just for his agitation and energy though I know not everyone agrees with that.  Any better ideas?

Tags: buffalo, connolly, Drew Stafford, gaustad, hecht, Hockey, kaleta, kotalik, lalime, lines, lydman, macarthur, mair, Maxim Afinogenov, NHL, paetsch, paille, peters, pominville, rivet, roy, Ryan Miller, sabres, sekera, Spacek, tallinder, Thomas Vanek

Orpik: Forget I said anything…

Jul 1, 2008 NHL

From John Vogl at the Buffalo News:

I just got off the phone with Darcy Regier. The Sabres will not be in the final running for the services of Brooks Orpik.

“We did have conversations,” Regier told me. “I don’t expect to be a part of that going forward.”

Uh, I guess that leaves a trade still out there…or seeing how Weber/Sekera/Paetsch/Numminen maybe can fill the final two spots on the blueline.

Tags: buffalo, Hockey, NHL, numminen, orpik, paetsch, sabres, sekera, weber

Patches Back, Funk Sent Down

Mar 25, 2008 NHL

Just what the title says, Nathan Paetsch is back in the lineup, so Mike Funk is back down to Rochester.  Lindy Ruff was quite happy with his callup this time, but likes having Nathan’s ability to join the rush from the blueline back.  Dmitri Kalinin and Jaroslav Spacek are both skating on their own and are getting closer to returning.  I hope they are able to help the team in time.  At least Philly and Boston were idle tonight, the situation didn’t get any worse.

Tags: B-Lo Sports, funk, Hockey, injury, kalinin, NHL, paetsch, ruff, sabres, Spacek

Gameday - Hurricanes at Sabres

Mar 14, 2008 NHL

I narrowly resisted some sort of overplayed Hurricane pun, you guys should know that.  The Canes blow into Buffalo (okay, I lied) on a five game win streak while the Sabres remain 4 points out of the playoffs, having lost 4 straight and 6 of the last 7.  To make matters worse, the Leafs, Caps and Panthers are all just one point behind Buffalo in the standings.  D Mike Funk was called up to take the roster spot of Nathan Paetsch, out with a concussion.  Kalinin, Spacek and Connolly are all out as well.

I’m trying very hard to stay positive about the team, but it gets tougher the closer they get to the end of the season out of the playoffs.  My son wants to see another game, but I don’t think I’m throwing down silver or gold level money for a 4 year old to go to a game, when he may not even last all the way through.  It’s too bad, as he’s a pretty solid good luck charm for the team.  7:30pm start at HSBC Arena.

Tags: B-Lo Sports, Carolina, funk, Hockey, Hurricanes, injury, kalinin, NHL, paetsch, sabres, Spacek

Patches down, Sabres out?

Mar 14, 2008 NHL

Nathan Paetsch was wrecked by Georges Laraque, laying on the ice for several minutes before being helped off. Buffalo got wrecked in the game, losing 7-3. Apparently there were a couple of games that could’ve counted, but it’s got to get better. Philly lost so Buffalo didn’t lose any ground, but teams like Toronto are gaining. They have to face Carolina again, and then those Leafs are the Saturday night fight. Paetsch is out ‘indefinitely’, it’s at least a week since they are calling the injury a concussion. Pommers is taking reps at D, but I imagine he will be used sparingly there (being the leading scorer and all).  Big Georges gets to sit out 3 games, too, btw.

Tags: Hockey, injury, laraque, NHL, paetsch, penguins, pittsburgh, sabres

Gameday - Rangers at Sabres

Mar 10, 2008 NHL

[singlepic=15,160,120,,right]The Rangers are in town tonight, facing a Sabres team that is hurting, both physically and for points.  According to WGR, Paetsch practiced (leg laceration), but Bernier (groin), Tallinder (shoulder), and Connolly (lost his purse) all sat out and probably won’t play.  The Sabres are 4 points out of the playoffs right now and can close in on Philly with a win tonight.  The game is on Versus tonight, 7pm.  Get your radios out if you are tiring of the lackluster play by play the VS team gives us.

Tags: connolly, Hockey, injury, new york, NHL, paetsch, rangers, sabres, Steve Bernier, tallinder, wgr

Gameday - Predators at Sabres

Feb 27, 2008 NHL

The Nashville Predators are the first post-deadline opponent for the Buffalo Sabres tonight at the Arena.  The newest Sabre, Steve Bernier, will be in the lineup skating alongside Roy and Vanek.  I would very much love for this combo to click, as having an ass-kicker on the ice (hopefully while still being able to help out with the scoring) would make teams think twice about taking cheap shots on them.  I do wonder what will happen once all the injured players come back.

Nathan Paetsch gets back in with the absence of Campbell, working alongside Nolan Pratt.  Kalinin will get his shot next to Spacek (boy, if their heads ever collide it could crack spacetime).  7pm start time, let’s get back in the playoffs tonight, boys!

Tags: B-Lo Sports, campbell, Hockey, injury, kalinin, Maxim Afinogenov, nashville, NHL, paetsch, pratt, predators, roy, sabres, Steve Bernier, Thomas Vanek

Soup to Nuts: Campbell Calls Off Negotiations

Jan 15, 2008 NHL

You can guarantee every Sabres blogger is going to bust out the soup puns.  I apologize in advance.

Brian Campbell told the media that he will not be negotiating a contract extension for the rest of this season.  He says that he wants to concentrate on hockey and it’s not fair to the team or him to continue at this time and possibly cause a distraction.  He will be heading to his second All-Star game.

Let’s do some comparisons.  Campbell is currently 8th in the league in scoring (with Zdeno Chara).  Chara has a cap hit of 7.5 million per year, by the way, though he is more of a physical presence than Soupy.  Others of note:  Rob Blake (6mil but is 37), Wade Redden (6.5mil) and Kimmo Timonen (6.33mil).  You can assume that some team that wants to make a splash in free agency (Washington has been thrown out there) will make Brian an offer in that range.

Looking ahead to 08/09, the Sabres have Paetsch, Lydman and Tallinder locked up for that year and the next, and Spacek will be in his final year.  Kalinin, Campbell, Numminen and Pratt are all UFAs.  Weber and Sekera are both in Rochester, and could get a shot at a roster spot.  If Campbell goes, I can’t imagine them not keeping Kalinin.  I’m not saying anything on Teppo until we know if he will A:  ever be healthy again and B: want to come back to this team.

Outside the defense corps, Ryan Miller will be the next big deal to be done.  Mike Ryan is the only forward that will be a UFA, MacArthur, Gaustad and Paille will be RFAs.  I really have no problem at this time with the Sabres signing any of those guys to a longer term deal, although if losing Ryan means more time for MacArthur, I’d do that in a heartbeat.

So that’s next year.  I’m not sure what arbitration will look like, but after getting burned by that a few times, I’m sure the Sabres management will avoid that as much as possible…right?

Tags: B-Lo Sports, brian campbell, campbell, chara, Hockey, kalinin, lydman, macarthur, NHL, numminen, paetsch, pratt, redden, Rob Blake, ryan, Ryan Miller, sabres, sekera, signing, Spacek, tallinder, timonen, weber

Better Effort, Same Result

Jan 9, 2008 NHL

The Sabres tied it late and forced a shootout, but lose again to the New Jersey Devils 2-1.  The Devils got on the board first on the power play, as Mair and Kalinin whiffed on Andy Greene slipping down from the point and Elias nailed him with the pass for the easy score.  It stayed that way until 2 minutes to go, when Buffalo scored on a rare 3 on 2 opportunity.  Hecht drove toward the net and passed to MacArthur, who slipped it to Pominville for the wide open net.  It was Jason’s 10th goal of the season.  The Sabres dominated the OT session, but were unable to score.  Vanek had the best chance, sweeping the puck toward the net while falling, but it hit the post and went out.  Brodeur stopped 2 of 3 Sabres in the shootout (making a great save on MacArthur) while Miller was surprisingly average, letting 2 in for the loss.  After the game, TV took the loss on himself, as he almost whiffed on his SO chance.

Still, this was a very fun game to watch with the Sabres play improving as the game progressed.  You could feel the energy from Kaleta, MacArthur and Pratt (in place of Paetsch) as bodies were flying a heck of a lot more than usual.  I think Kaleta knocked Vishnevski down 3 times on his first shift.  I want to see the boys play like this (with this lineup!) against the Sens and see how many goals they score on a goalie who is not a future Hall of Famer.

Tags: B-Lo Sports, brodeur, devils, elias, greene, hecht, Hockey, kaleta, kalinin, macarthur, mair, new jersey, NHL, paetsch, pominville, pratt, Ryan Miller, sabres, vishnevski