It's official - Rick Nash is no longer a Buffalo Sabre. After lying through his teeth about why the constant stream of hockey figures were visiting the HSBC Arena, Jay Byers has now leapt into contention for the prestigious title of "Most Hated Man In America" - the smart money has him ahead of George W. Bush but just below Tom Brady - by announcing that the beloved winger and top-scoring Sabre was to be traded to the Philadelphia Flyers. The move effectively represents the point at which this season became a complete bust, but as the under-fire general manager tried to point out to the rioting crowd of fans, the move was not about giving up entirely. In return for Nash, Philadelphia gave up unsettled centre Tom Burr, developing grinder Samuli Lehtinen and, the most important piece of the deal, New Jersey's first-round draft pick in the 2012 Entry Draft. Burr is most likely to join the pro team immediately, although his role is not yet known, while Lehtinen will report to Rochester.
GM Byers was quoted yesterday as saying "while Rick is obviously a big part of our offense, we feel his value is not likely to be this high again and so this trade made the most sense." If he was trying to rationalise his actions, it failed miserably, and he had to deliver the second part of his speech cowering behind a wall of bodyguards. From some of his previous actions, such as the pre-season trade that saw Pierre-Marc Bouchard move to San Jose, it's no surprise that Byers prefers to mould the players under his command himself - Valdis Rostoks has benefited greatly from his time in the AHL this year with the Rochester Americans - and this move is simply representative of his continued philosophy.
As it stands, there is an excellent chance New Jersey's pick will end the season at least as a top-ten pick, if not a top-five, and Byers is supposedly very optimistic that he can draft a player around whom the Sabres can rebuild. Targets include Jouko Vaijarvi, the goaltender ranked #1 by the Central Scouting Bureau, and defenseman Aaron Koharsky.
Friday, 19 October 2007
Monday, 15 October 2007
All Is Lost. All Is Lost!
The horrifying rumours that have been circulating around the HSBC Arena are...true. In a Buffalo News exclusive, we can inform you that Jay Byers, general manager of the Buffalo Sabres, has confirmed what every true fan of the team has feared from the moment the puck dropped on opening night.
Rick Nash is no longer untouchable.
We told you yesterday that Byers was spotted eating with Philadelphia's Thayne Bezanson, and that he met with New Jersey's Rob Ryan, but both meetings were explained away as being related to disgruntled winger Martin Havlat; that might still be true, but now we have to call everything into question. Nash currently has 35 points so far, making him the highest point producer on the Sabres so far, and would naturally draw a lot of attention if he were ever put straight up on the block. Even so, the announcement that the incessant requests to make Nash a Flyer/Devil/Blue Jacket/Penguin/whatever would no longer be confined straight to the special filing cabinet is a big move in itself.
Of course, it has an effect that will be obvious to everybody in the ITC - fans of the Sabres are already displeased. There was an outcry of protest against it on the official team message board, as well as on countless others, and early reports indicate that a pair of letterbombs were intercepted en route to the HSBC Arena (not to mention the envelope full of human faeces that was badly handled by an intern who is now currently in therapy). Sabres owner Thomas Golisano said earlier today that, while the response was probably "a bit excessive, it was the Nasher. Only morons hate the Nasher." It should be mentioned, of course, that Nash is going into free agency, and with the Sabres bumping up against the cap anyway, trading him or a fellow franchise player like Marian Hossa might even have been necessarily.
But who are we to be impartial? Fuck Byers, fuck Byers in his AIDS-infested ass with a cactus. All hail Nash! All hail Nash! Oh, Nash can you see, in the dawn's early light, some bitches for you to beat on!
Rick Nash is no longer untouchable.
We told you yesterday that Byers was spotted eating with Philadelphia's Thayne Bezanson, and that he met with New Jersey's Rob Ryan, but both meetings were explained away as being related to disgruntled winger Martin Havlat; that might still be true, but now we have to call everything into question. Nash currently has 35 points so far, making him the highest point producer on the Sabres so far, and would naturally draw a lot of attention if he were ever put straight up on the block. Even so, the announcement that the incessant requests to make Nash a Flyer/Devil/Blue Jacket/Penguin/whatever would no longer be confined straight to the special filing cabinet is a big move in itself.
Of course, it has an effect that will be obvious to everybody in the ITC - fans of the Sabres are already displeased. There was an outcry of protest against it on the official team message board, as well as on countless others, and early reports indicate that a pair of letterbombs were intercepted en route to the HSBC Arena (not to mention the envelope full of human faeces that was badly handled by an intern who is now currently in therapy). Sabres owner Thomas Golisano said earlier today that, while the response was probably "a bit excessive, it was the Nasher. Only morons hate the Nasher." It should be mentioned, of course, that Nash is going into free agency, and with the Sabres bumping up against the cap anyway, trading him or a fellow franchise player like Marian Hossa might even have been necessarily.
But who are we to be impartial? Fuck Byers, fuck Byers in his AIDS-infested ass with a cactus. All hail Nash! All hail Nash! Oh, Nash can you see, in the dawn's early light, some bitches for you to beat on!
Sunday, 14 October 2007
02/01/12 - 08/01/12
Toronto Maple Leafs 2 - 2 Buffalo Sabres
Buffalo Sabres 2 - 0 Toronto Maple Leafs
It's not particularly surprising that both of these games between the Northeast Division rivals sold out their respective home arenas, nor that the first of them, at least, was filled with penalties. Since the Maple Leafs were significantly better in the Air Canada Centre than on the road, the expectations were that Toronto should at least be able to take two points away from the home-and-home, but the Maple Leaf-dominated eighteen thousand-strong crowd was stunned by the barrage of Sabre shots; for one of the few times so far this year, Buffalo outshot their opponent, 35-25, making Marek Schwarz's first-star rated performance all the more impressive. Robert Nilsson and Mike Ryder were the two to get past him, Nilsson in the first period and Ryder in the third, while Adam Mair and Kris Chucko had the Maple Leaf goals.
Where the first game was mostly offensive in nature, the return fixture at the HSBC Arena was far more defensive. Martin Havlat had 14 penalty minutes, the result of two minors and a misconduct call that saw him dismissed from the game, which some are seeing as the death knell for his time in Buffalo, but as usual, it was Ryan Miller's heroics that drew the most praise as he kept Toronto out through all of their 17 shots for his second shutout of the season. While the win wasn't exactly dominant, goals from Marian Hossa and Martin Legault were good enough for a much-appreciated pair of points, also marking the tenth win this year in front of the Sabres fans.
St. Louis Blues 4 - 3 Buffalo Sabres
With their excellent core of players, the Blues can point to a lot of reasons for why they're sitting pretty atop the the Western Conference; 20-goal scorers Aleksander Suglobov and Brian Sutherby on the first line is one, Eli Fagerholm's 2.39 GAA is another and the stellar defensive play of Anton Babchuk and Jean-Michel Bolduc is a third. And yet, even with all these advantages, they were still run close by the hot Sabres and it took a late Nathan Horton goal to give them the win. Suglobov and Sutherby had goals, both in powerplay situations, as did Mark Bell; while they might have been playing catch-up hockey for most of the game, tallies from Mike Cammalleri, Havlat and Jay McClement saw the Sabres draw level even for a matter of minutes. While this did no favours for Miller's stats, Fagerholm conceding three times on just 18 shots made Miller the best goaltender by default.
Current Record: 15-18-2-5, 37 points
Player of the Week: Rick Nash - 0 goals + 4 assists = 4 points
Goaltending Record: Ryan Miller - 3 games, 1 win, 1 shutout; 6 goals allowed, 2.00 GAA; 69 saves, 92.00 Save %
Buffalo Sabres 2 - 0 Toronto Maple Leafs
It's not particularly surprising that both of these games between the Northeast Division rivals sold out their respective home arenas, nor that the first of them, at least, was filled with penalties. Since the Maple Leafs were significantly better in the Air Canada Centre than on the road, the expectations were that Toronto should at least be able to take two points away from the home-and-home, but the Maple Leaf-dominated eighteen thousand-strong crowd was stunned by the barrage of Sabre shots; for one of the few times so far this year, Buffalo outshot their opponent, 35-25, making Marek Schwarz's first-star rated performance all the more impressive. Robert Nilsson and Mike Ryder were the two to get past him, Nilsson in the first period and Ryder in the third, while Adam Mair and Kris Chucko had the Maple Leaf goals.
Where the first game was mostly offensive in nature, the return fixture at the HSBC Arena was far more defensive. Martin Havlat had 14 penalty minutes, the result of two minors and a misconduct call that saw him dismissed from the game, which some are seeing as the death knell for his time in Buffalo, but as usual, it was Ryan Miller's heroics that drew the most praise as he kept Toronto out through all of their 17 shots for his second shutout of the season. While the win wasn't exactly dominant, goals from Marian Hossa and Martin Legault were good enough for a much-appreciated pair of points, also marking the tenth win this year in front of the Sabres fans.
St. Louis Blues 4 - 3 Buffalo Sabres
With their excellent core of players, the Blues can point to a lot of reasons for why they're sitting pretty atop the the Western Conference; 20-goal scorers Aleksander Suglobov and Brian Sutherby on the first line is one, Eli Fagerholm's 2.39 GAA is another and the stellar defensive play of Anton Babchuk and Jean-Michel Bolduc is a third. And yet, even with all these advantages, they were still run close by the hot Sabres and it took a late Nathan Horton goal to give them the win. Suglobov and Sutherby had goals, both in powerplay situations, as did Mark Bell; while they might have been playing catch-up hockey for most of the game, tallies from Mike Cammalleri, Havlat and Jay McClement saw the Sabres draw level even for a matter of minutes. While this did no favours for Miller's stats, Fagerholm conceding three times on just 18 shots made Miller the best goaltender by default.
Current Record: 15-18-2-5, 37 points
Player of the Week: Rick Nash - 0 goals + 4 assists = 4 points
Goaltending Record: Ryan Miller - 3 games, 1 win, 1 shutout; 6 goals allowed, 2.00 GAA; 69 saves, 92.00 Save %
Friday, 12 October 2007
Happy New Year! (26/12/11 - 01/01/12)
Buffalo Sabres 4 - 3 Philadelphia Flyers
In their first game with Jay Byers back in the saddle - after being washed up on a California beach, discovered by a now-traumatised child and declared stupid on the scene by the Los Angeles police department - the low-flying Sabres delivered an impressive performance to derail the Atlantic Division leaders in spite of some surprisingly poor individual performances. While Robert Nilsson and Jay McClement proved the key factors on offense (Nilsson had a goal and an assist, McClement had two helpers), it was Ryan Miller who won the game for Buffalo, withstanding a barrage of shots from the Flyers and even adding an assist on Nilsson's powerplay goal. While Philadelphia had 38 shots - fully twice Buffalo's 19 - Miller stood strong with 35 saves to take a victory away from the misfiring Rick DiPietro.
Buffalo Sabres 3 - 2 Boston Bruins
Before the season began, this game was projected to be one in a series that would eventually determine which of these teams finished bottom of the Northeast Division; Buffalo had their toughness problems and Boston an implacable goaltending conundrum. While the Sabres might still be a little too soft for comfort, Boston general manager Chris Jennings traded for Miikka Kiprusoff to alleviate their problems in net and help Jonathan Bernier bed in in the ITC. Unfortunately, Bernier had the misfortune to meeting a Sabres team on what counts as a tear for them - Miller delivered another first-star performance, making 27 saves in all, while Sid Sorensen and Marian Hossa both had goals to down the Bruins and Mattias Thorssel ended a goal-less streak that stretched 31 games before then.
New York Islanders 1 - 2 Buffalo Sabres
Even with star rookie Rich Castellanos' good performance so far in the season, the New York Islanders looked to be heading swiftly towards another top-five draft pick to go with him and, unshockingly, Ryan Miller was again almost perfect. Gustav Kostuik's first-period was the only shot of the Islanders' 19 that pierced his defenses, and that was quickly denied by Martin Havlat earning his tenth of the year. Even Josef Esser, Long Island's favourite thug, beating Rick Nash in a fight couldn't deter Buffalo as Marian Hossa wiped New York from the ice with a second-period goal to take the Buffalo unbeaten streak to five games.
Buffalo Sabres 2 - 4 Ottawa Senators
The winning streak obviously couldn't last, but it was a particularly bitter pill to swallow that it had to end at the hands of a divisional rival. Nikolai Zherdev was the driving force in the Ottawa victory with his two goals, but Havlat's poor performance was an equal reason for the defeat - he had been complaining of low ice-time previously, and his morale was basically shot with the rumours that he would soon be traded. For yet another game, Buffalo was outshot, and this time Miller couldn't do all the work, conceding four times on 29 shots.
Current Record: 14-17-2-4, 34 points
Player of the Week: Marian Hossa - 3 goals + 2 assists = 5 points
In their first game with Jay Byers back in the saddle - after being washed up on a California beach, discovered by a now-traumatised child and declared stupid on the scene by the Los Angeles police department - the low-flying Sabres delivered an impressive performance to derail the Atlantic Division leaders in spite of some surprisingly poor individual performances. While Robert Nilsson and Jay McClement proved the key factors on offense (Nilsson had a goal and an assist, McClement had two helpers), it was Ryan Miller who won the game for Buffalo, withstanding a barrage of shots from the Flyers and even adding an assist on Nilsson's powerplay goal. While Philadelphia had 38 shots - fully twice Buffalo's 19 - Miller stood strong with 35 saves to take a victory away from the misfiring Rick DiPietro.
Buffalo Sabres 3 - 2 Boston Bruins
Before the season began, this game was projected to be one in a series that would eventually determine which of these teams finished bottom of the Northeast Division; Buffalo had their toughness problems and Boston an implacable goaltending conundrum. While the Sabres might still be a little too soft for comfort, Boston general manager Chris Jennings traded for Miikka Kiprusoff to alleviate their problems in net and help Jonathan Bernier bed in in the ITC. Unfortunately, Bernier had the misfortune to meeting a Sabres team on what counts as a tear for them - Miller delivered another first-star performance, making 27 saves in all, while Sid Sorensen and Marian Hossa both had goals to down the Bruins and Mattias Thorssel ended a goal-less streak that stretched 31 games before then.
New York Islanders 1 - 2 Buffalo Sabres
Even with star rookie Rich Castellanos' good performance so far in the season, the New York Islanders looked to be heading swiftly towards another top-five draft pick to go with him and, unshockingly, Ryan Miller was again almost perfect. Gustav Kostuik's first-period was the only shot of the Islanders' 19 that pierced his defenses, and that was quickly denied by Martin Havlat earning his tenth of the year. Even Josef Esser, Long Island's favourite thug, beating Rick Nash in a fight couldn't deter Buffalo as Marian Hossa wiped New York from the ice with a second-period goal to take the Buffalo unbeaten streak to five games.
Buffalo Sabres 2 - 4 Ottawa Senators
The winning streak obviously couldn't last, but it was a particularly bitter pill to swallow that it had to end at the hands of a divisional rival. Nikolai Zherdev was the driving force in the Ottawa victory with his two goals, but Havlat's poor performance was an equal reason for the defeat - he had been complaining of low ice-time previously, and his morale was basically shot with the rumours that he would soon be traded. For yet another game, Buffalo was outshot, and this time Miller couldn't do all the work, conceding four times on 29 shots.
Current Record: 14-17-2-4, 34 points
Player of the Week: Marian Hossa - 3 goals + 2 assists = 5 points
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