Adam Pardy, come on down. You're the next contestant on the D-man Is Right!
Ron Rolston confirmed after prax today that D Alex Sulzer will be on the shelf "a while". Must have had a negative finding on his MRI.
With Sulzer and Leopold out, Rolston gets one of his steadier D from Rochester to join the fray on the two game roadie to Florida.
More to come...
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Updated 10:40am:
According to Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News, he Sabres have recalled Adam Pardy from AHL Rochester.
Pardy will replace the injured Alex Sulzer, who hurt his leg at the 3:57 mark of the firsp period on Saturday night.
I'm thinking Sulzer will be placed on IR to allow for the Pardy promotion. A source I know was at the Sabres fundraiser on Sunday and saw Sulzer there. The injured was said to be lacking mobility.
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Thomas Vanek is not on the ice either. Likely a rest day for #26.
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Ville Leino is skating on Monday morning as well.
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Mikhail Grigorenko had himself quite a depressing week last week. He was scratched for three consecutive games (PIT, WPG, TOR). In his anticipated return to action on Saturday night, he was used sparingly, having only skated ten shifts for a combined 6 minutes. He was witness to his first NHL head coach getting fired. He was introduced to his second NHL head coach. Then, he learned that the new interim head coach has questions about whether the kid can handle the pace of the NHL game.
When asked to give his assessment about rookie Mikhail Grigorenko’s play after the 4-0 loss to the NY Islanders on Saturday night, Sabres interim head coach Ron Rolston said:
“He’s talented. But, he’s got a ways to go. Ya know, in terms of game situations, and some costly mistakes, everyone makes them, but certainly, a lot of talent but he’s got a ways to go”.
When pressed to explain the comment further, Rolston responded:
“He hasn’t really been on that (PP), and that’s something that he’ll have to continue to earn”.
Is his conditioning an issue?
“Right now it’s more just his pace. His pace I think is what he struggles with at times in the game when it picks up and the tempo picks up. You know, he’s got the ability. You can see his hands, the skill, his vision, but, when the tempo gets jumped up a little bit is where he’s going to have to make some improvements.
The new coach had only seen the kid play for one game and one practice, and his synopsis of the kid’s game is that he’s a way’s away?
I’d be concerned right now if I were Grigorenko and his agent. In a matter of a week, the kid has gone from playing a regular shift to being a healthy scratch for three consecutive games for the first time in hockey career. It’s got to be a confusing time for Grigo, who on Sunday became the only 18 year old left in the NHL this season, as Devils rookie Stefan Matteau turned 19 years of age. I spoke with Grigo during the first period intermission of the Winnipeg loss in Buffalo last Tuesday, and he told me that he was surprised that he was being scratched for the Jets game. He told me that he’d been power skating and working out, and that he felt confident that he’d be playing in Toronto on Thursday night. The Ruff firing on Wednesday threw a monkey wrench into the plan to play the kid in Toronto on Thursday, as Rolston hadn’t yet had a full practice session to evaluate his talented young centre. Grigo was a healthy scratch once again in the loss to the Leafs.
On Saturday morning, after the optional skate, Rolston said that he wanted to insert Grigo into the lineup with players of his ability level. The thinking is to create confidence in the kid and to help hom to find some success so that the kid can use as it as a building block for future success.
"When we put him in there, we want him to be playing with some players that he can play with and make plays and build confidence," Rolston said
Rolston cautioned that he’s not about to hand the kid the keys to the car. He’s going to have to earn his regular shifts and ice time.
"He has to go out there and work for it," Rolston said. "But we want to put him in situations to have some success and build on because we think he's going to have a bright future."
Grigo played the pivot for Marcus Foligno and Pat Kaleta in the loss on Saturday night. He skated a chintzy six minutes, his lowest TOI output of the season. He registered one hot. He was an even player.
Opponent/ Grigorenko TOI:
FEB 23 '13 NYI @ BUF- 6:00
FEB 15 '13 BOS @ BUF- 8:08
FEB 12 '13 BUF @ OTT- 11:50
FEB 09 '13 BUF @ NYI -7:13
FEB 07 '13 MTL @ BUF- 10:34
FEB 05 '13 BUF @ OTT - 12:34
FEB 03 '13 FLA @ BUF- 15:04
FEB 02 '13 BUF @ MTL- 12:54
JAN 31 '13 BUF @ BOS- 8:57
JAN 29 '13 TOR @ BUF- 10:05
JAN 27 '13 BUF @ WSH- 17:10
JAN 25 '13 CAR @ BUF- 6:48
JAN 24 '13 BUF @ CAR- 11:47
JAN 21 '13 BUF @ TOR- 13:00
JAN 20 '13 PHI @ BUF- 11:13
Jochen Hecht has skated in all 19 games this season. No goal, five assists. His pace is better than Grigorenko’s? He brings more to the table that a promising 18 year old star? Why are the Sabres living the past, by heaping 15+ minutes per game on Hecht’s old legs? Jochen’s lowest TOI this season was 8;08, while his highest TOI was 21:08. 32 shots on goal.
If Grigorenko is not worthy of a regular shift and 11-13 minutes of ice time per game on a team that started the season 2-0, however, has fallen to a 4-12-1 record in its last 17games, then maybe its time to end the experiment and send the kid back to the Quebec Remparts so that he can play hockey and further sharpen his skills. Perhaps Patrick Roy should be coaching him to improve his pace right now. Grigo needs to play top six minutes. Its time to stop treating the thoroughbred like a stable horse. If he’s not ready for the NHL, then send him back to The Q. Therein lies the conundrum. To hear Ruff tell it, Grigo was performing well, and showing progress. Ruff said that Grigorenko was working off the ice to improve his strength. His learning curve under Ruff’s mentorship was showing a positive trend. That all changed last week as Ruff was in desperation mode in his final days as head coach of a struggling unit. The easy out was to park the 18 year old in lieu if veterans who might help correct the losing streaks and inconsistent play. That didn’t seem to work as practice sessions in the post-lockout NHL have become a rarity. Grigo has been doing his chores off the ice by watching more video and working on his strength and conditioning. He could use more ice time, both in games and in practice situations. Yesterady would have been a great day for such a practice, however, with respect to the new CBA, players are getting four mandatory days off per month for rest and recovery. The team bowled in a charity event on Sunday when it really needed to head back to the practice rink to right the wrongs that are killing the Sabres right now. The team will skate on Monday morning, then will charter to Tampa for their annual parents trip.
What becomes of Grigo’s ice time with the Sabres from here on out is still a mystery.
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Alexander Sulzer left the game at the 3:27 mark of the first period in Saturday's 4-0 skunk job to the NY Islanders. Sulzer left the game with a lower-body injury and did not return to the game. In his post game presser, head coach Ron Rolston mentioned that Sulzer was to be re-evaluated.
No news on the severity of the Sulzer injury on Sunday, as the team had the day off from practice and instead participated in the Bowl-A-Rama to benefit the Buffalo Sabres Foundation.
Losing Sulzer for a period of time is certainly not something that Rolston had hoped for. Sulzer has three goals and has an assist this season.
Rolston will re-convene practice on Monday morning to correct the atrocious turnovers that his team committed against the Islanders on Saturday night. The Sabres will play the Tampa Lighting on Tuesday night, and the Florida Pathers in Sunrise on Thursday night. They will return to Buffalo to host the New Jersey Devils on Saturday afternoon. Then, the Sabres will hit the road for four games in a row against the Rangers, Hurricanes, Devils, and Flyers.
Rolston will have to make a decision about his dinged up blue line with Sulzer and Jordan Leopold (upper body) on the shelf. TJ Brennan was a healthy scratch on Saturday night and he could replace Sulzer in the starting six. If Sulzer's injury is of a long term nature and Leopold is a no-go to play in Tampa, then Rolston will have to dip his beak in the Rochester pool for a defenseman.
Adam Pardy has played well since he was waived to Rochester. He has 1 goal and 4 assists in 11 games played. He's +8.
Brayden McNabb has shown some serious signs of improvements in his game since he struggles to find his consistency in the early stages of the season. He has 4 goals and 25 assists in 49 games. He's +4.
Lets face it. The Sabres D have been a collective failure in consecutive losses to Toronto and the Islanders. Ehrhoff, Sulzer, Sekera, Weber, Regehr, Myers and Brennan have taken turns making ugly mistakes with the puck. Leopold is absolved of any criticism since he has sat out the past three games.
Rolston needs to change the culture of his D corps, and he needs to do it now. They appear to be playing so tight that they squeak. It appears to me that they are are playing with paralysis from analysis.
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