Lindy Ruff has given his soldiers the day of on Thursday. Back to back games on Sunday and Monday dictate a rest and recovery day on Thursday. The team will skate again on Friday and Saturday.
Is it a coincidence that the Sabres bubble players will be away from the rink when Darcy Regier and Lindy Ruff will fast at work hand-crafting the 2013 roster?
The mathematics suggest that there will be roster moves made on Thursady and Friday.
There are 26 players on the training camp roster:
15 Forwards
9 Defensemen
2 Goalies
Regier has to cut Ginsu his camp roster down to the 23 limit by 3 pm EDT on Friday January 18.
Players who are removed from the camp roster must clear waivers in order to gain entry to AHL Rochester
Its never easy to reduce a roster. It gets all the more complicated now by virtue of a one week training camp and a 48 game abbreviated schedule.
Here are my roster selections:
Miller and Enroth are your goalies (2)
My D corps (7): Myers, Ehrhoff, Leopold, Regehr, Sulzer, Weber, and Brennan.
* If I'm Regier, on Thursday I begin returning calls from all GMs who have called to inquire about a my blue line depth. I immediately find a new home for Reggie Sekera. If Edmontom gave Dallas a third round pick for defensive D Mark Fistric, then Regier can leverage a second, or perhaps a first rounder for the crafty puck mover Sekera.
** Pardy will have to clear waivers in order to play in Rochester. There's no guarantee that he would clear waivers with so many NHL GMs searching high and low for NHL D-men. Hell, Wade Redden is likely going to play in the NHL again before too long.
Now the magic number is down to 24.
Grigorenko has earned a roster spot. If its up to me, he not only gets his five game NHL tryout, but he also gets the full 48 game season.
Four days of NHL training camp is a long enough audition time for coaches and GMs to evaluate their top prospects. With exhibition games being cancelled due to the NHL lockout, hockey honchos are now left to having to evaluate their youngsters in intra-squad scrimmages and in drills. Not always easy and fair. It is what it is.
Three NHL teams have begun the process of sending their organizational prospects back to their junior hockey teams. On Wednesday afternoon, four top organizational prospects were sent back to their respective junior clubs.
The Dallas Stars chose forward Radek Faksa with the 13th overall pick (one pick after Grigorenko) in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft. Today, the Stars sent Faksa back to Kitchener Rangers. They also sent Brett Ritchie, their 2011 second rounder (44th overall) back to the Niagara Ice Dogs.
The Ottawa Senators have sent forward Stefan Noesen, their 2011 1st round selection (21st overall) back to the Plymouth Whalers.
TheWashington Capitals have sent their 2012 1st rounder (16th overall) back to the Plymouth Whalers.
By comparison, Mikhail Grigorenko has impressed the Sabres brass, and is still in Buffalo camp. Grigo has given Ruff and Regier dozens of good reasons to keep him in Buffalo camp for further evaluation. More importantly, he gets more cockpit time with his new line mates Steve Ott and Ville Leino. 9-25-23 have developed a special brand of continuity and chemistry since they first started skating together wehen Buffalo camp opened on Sunday morning.
As an aside, the Sabres are taking the day off on Thursday, and will resume their training camp on Friday and Saturday. This insures that Grigo will stay in Buffalo until Friday afternoon.
Regier has to finalize his roster by 5pm Friday.
**
Updated 2:15pm
Grigorenko was flanked by Ott and Leino at Day Four of Sabres training camp.
Welcome to Groundhog Day. Rinse, wash, repeat. Rinse, wash, repeat. Rinse, wash, repeat.
Lindy Ruff has been answering the same questions about the future plans of the Sabres.
Will the team keep the Russian Rockstar, Mikhail Grigorenko, for the first five games of the 48 game abbreviated season? Will he stick and stay with the team for the entire 48 game season? Or, will the team send him back to QMJHL Quebec Remparts later this week?
After today’s practice at First Niagara Center, Lindy Ruff stepped to the mic, and offered a similar answer to the zillion dollar question:
Will the team be granting Grigo a five game audition, beginning this Sunday against the Philadelphia Flyers?
Ruff says the answer to the question is not so easy, especially since the coaching staff will not be able to chart the kid’s progress vis a vis exhibition hockey games. Ruff did say again that if Grigorenko can help the Sabres win games, then, in all likelihood, he will stay and play in Buffalo.
"You’d love to see him (Grigorenko) in preseason games," the coach said.
"You’d love to see him against somebody else’s competition. It’s a great way to see where a guy’s at.
"Then along the way, there’s the physical part of it, the mental, the grind of the schedule. There’s everything inside of that. But when you’re evaluating those young players against an opposition that’s coming after you, you get to see a guy under the gun. We don’t have that luxury so we’re trying to do it in intra-squad games, we’re trying to do it in practice.
"He’s had three good days, so for me you watch him play at the world juniors. You put value in that. You put value in the growth and if he keeps growing, a week from now where’s he going to be at? It’s just all the stuff we’re going to, steady as she goes, try to evaluate and make the right decision to make us a better team."
Ruff and Regier have until 5pm EDT Friday to finalize their opening day rosters.
Will the Sabres make the right decision and give their fans the gift of Grigorenko?
The NHL offices know that that the fans of the Buffalo Sabres LOVE to watch their team play on TV. Historically, the Sabres TV ratings are among the top 5 of all 30 NHL teams. Thats why they call it "Hockey Heaven".
The Buffalo Sabres today announced that seven Sabres games during the 2012-13 regular season will be broadcast nationally on NBC and NBC Sports Network. MSG, the Sabres’ local TV rights-holder, will air the remaining 41 games of the 48-game season. All 48 Sabres games in 2012-13 will be available in high-definition.
Beginning with the Sabres’ home-opener against the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday, January 20, NBC has scheduled the Sabres for two of its NHL on NBC telecasts on Sunday afternoons. The other game slated to air on the network is the Sabres’ matchup against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday, February 17, at 12:30 p.m.
The February 17 game broadcast will be part of NBC’s daylong Hockey Day in America coverage.
Five Sabres games are scheduled to air on NBC Sports Network in 2012-13 including:
March 10 at Philadelphia
March 17 at Washington
April 2 at Pittsburgh
April 7 vs. New Jersey
April 17 at Boston.
Buffalo will have its remaining 41 games broadcast on MSG in the Buffalo/Rochester market. MSG is entering the sixth year of a 10-year extension to broadcast Sabres games locally.
***
Who'd ya rather?
Ryan Miller?
Ilya Bryzgalov?
Flyers owner Ed Snider told csnphilly.com on Tuesday that he's hunky dorey with his present goaltending situation? Weren't the Flyers rumoured to be involved in the Roberto Luongo soap opera last week?
“We’re in good shape in goal,” Snider said. “I have a lot of faith in Bryzgalov. I think he’ll do a real good job for us.
“A lot of his problems had to do with the different style we played as opposed to Phoenix. I really believe we will tighten up a bit and help him out. I think he is a damn good goalie.”
Damn. Good. Goalie.
Better astrologist.
Even better philosopher.
Bryzgalov will face Ryan Miller on Sunday afternoon in Buffalo's season opener.
Mr. Humangous Beeg had a lack luster stint in the KHL during the NHL lockout.
For CSKA, Bryzgalov was a so-so 6-5 with a 2.13 GAA and a .913 save %. The Russian club abruptly terminated Brygolv's contract at the end of December. Injury? Pain in the butt?
Who knows the real reason why he couldn't play and succeed in Russia.
We'll see in the next 48-72 hours if Snider is really standing behind Bryzgalov, or if he is just pumping his tires.
Bryz is trying to live up to the 9 year $51 million contract that he is dragging around on his back like a grand piano. He's a $5,666,6667 cap hit.
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