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Pominville On The Ice

April 2, 2013, 7:33 AM ET [434 Comments]
GARTH'S CORNER
NHL news by Garth • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Updated 11:43am:


The Sabres are on the ice in Pittsburgh this morning.

According to Kevin Snow of sabres.com, Vanek and Ott are skating with the team. Both players missed Monday's skate in Buffalo. Ron Rolston said yesterday that its "unlikely" that Vanek will play tonight's.


Ryan Miler will start against Tomas Vokoun.

Jason Pominville is on the ice as well, as is recent call-up Luke Adam.

Adam Pardy is not, however, he is in transit from Rochester to Pittsburgh.


More to come....








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With the NHL trade deadline a day away, Ken Hitchcock and Doug Armstrong are singing the Blues in St. Louis. Their starting goalie, Jaroslav Halak, left Monday's game against the Minnesota Wild late in the first period with a lower-body injury.

With under a minute to play in the opening period, Halak sprawled to stop a shot from the point by Minnesota's Jared Spurgeon. The shot went wide and deflected off the end boards, but Halak laid face-first on the ice for several moments after play was stopped. He skated off the ice under his own power and went immediately to the locker room.

He was replaced in goal by Brian Elliott and did not return to the bench. Elliott is 4-6-1 with a mediocre .859 save percentage this season.

Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said following the game -- a 4-1 Blues victory -- that Halak will likely miss some time because of the ailment.

"Unfortunate injury, looks like its going to be awhile, so we'll have to wait and see and get a better evaluation of it tomorrow," Hitchcock said.

Hitchcock noted that goaltender Jake Allen (8-3, .906 save %), just returned to Peoria of the American Hockey League Saturday, will likely need to return to St. Louis to back up Elliott, who made 19 saves in the win Monday.

Halak missed several starts in early February with a sore groin, but it's unclear if Monday's injury is related.


With Halak on the shelf long term, might the Blues be looking for a veteran goaltender for the home stretch and the playoffs? The Blues have $18 million in cap space to work with.

The Blues head into tonight's action in eighth place in the Western conference with 38 points. Edmonton and Columbus have 37 points, Nashville have 36, Dallas 35, and Phoenix 34.

A 3-4 game losing streak might force the Blues to slide down the standings.


The Sabres called up goalie Connor Knapp to Rochester from the ECHL on Monday night.


Is Jhonas Enroth a possibility? Ryan Miller?



Thanks, blues.nhl.com

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reggie
Thanks, Dan Hickling


Sabres GM Darcy Regier has converted two UFA-to-be foot soldiers into prime building blocks for the future.

On Saturday, Regier traded veteran puck mover Jordan Leopold to St. Louis for a second rounder and a fifth rounder in 2013.

On March 15, Regier traded young D man TJ Brennan to Florida for a fifth round pick in this year's draft.

On Monday night, Regier trade Robyn Regehr to the Los Angeles Kings for two more second round draft choices. The Sabres will receive LA's second rounders in 2014 and 2015.

The Sabres called up Adam Pardy from the Amerks to replace Regehr in the lineup.

Last week, Pittsburgh Penguins GM Ray Shero set the market comparable for a veteran D man for this NHL trade deadline period when he sent two second rounder picks to San Jose in exchange for linebacker on skates, Douglas Murray.

On a conference call with media late Monday night, Regier said that LA had first expressed interest in Regehr a couple of weeks ago. The Kings didn't have a first or second round pick in this year's draft, so then Regier opted to accept the second round picks in 2014 and 2015.

Regier used the word "flexibility" in his comments on Monday night. The Sabres GM can use all four draft choices to help add more players to the Sabres organization, or he may use them as currency to sweeten future deals.

Regier has become the foremost seller in a very active trade marketplace. Expect more trades between now and the trade deadline.

Regier said that his eye is now focused on future, not the here and now.

The GM is not interested in just getting into the playoffs. His goal is a long run throuugh the NHL playoffs.

“I think we indicated to him we were going to look toward next season,” Regier said. “We were going to look building this team not just to make it into the playoffs, but to go deep into the playoffs.“

"No one’s quite sure of the timeline. But we’re certainly going to focus on next season versus this season, and this provides him an opportunity I think to challenge for the Stanley Cup.”


While the Sabres will play the high-flying Penguins tonight, Regier will be busy working his phone today and long into the night. He has players, like Jason Pominville and Drew Stafford, that other GMs covet. Regier, if he chooses to trade, has the opportunity to achieve maximum value for his wingers. Draft choices will not be enough. He'll need to haul in a top six forward as compensation fr each player. Pominville has one year remaining on his current contract at $5.3 million. Stafford has two years remaining at $4 million per season.


Pominville? Stafford?


Regier must be fielding multiple phone calls and texts from GMs. Why else would he ask his captain for a list of eight teams that he will NOT accept a trade to. On Monday night, RDS reported that the Sabres GM has asked his captain to submit a list of eight teams that he is not willing to be traded to.

Pominville has a limited no trade clause and he holds the right of refusal on a trade. He has one more year left on his current contract. Any moves that Regier wants to purse will first have to be approved by the captain. If the RDS report is true, then that process began on Monday night with the request for Pominville's list.

The Sabres practiced in Buffalo on Monday morning before jetting to Pittsburgh. They will play the Jarome Iginla and the Crosby-less Penguins tonight.

Its looking more and more like Pominville will be traded out of Buffalo.

Teams said to be interested in Pominville include: Detroit, Dallas, Colorado, LA, Vancouver, Nashville, Montreal, and Winnipeg.


Teams said to be interested in Stafford include: Minnesota, LA, Nashville, San Jose, and Columbus.




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Here's why you should love Steve Ott. Very respectful teammate. Team-first leader. Future captain of the Sabres.





The Sabres have called up D Adam Pardy from Rochester to take the place of Robyn Regehr in the Buffalo lineup. Ville Leino will not play in Pittsburgh. Luke Adam will play in place of the injured Leino (abdominal muscle).







***

Updated 9:06pm:








Just when you though that Luke Adam was a footnote in Sabres history, he is called up for his first sortie in Buffalo since he was sent back to Rochester in January 2012.

In 2011-12, Adam skated in 52 games with the Buffalo Sabres , scoring 10 goals and adding 10 assists for 20 points. Registered 13 points (4+9) in 27 games with the Amerks

Adam started the 2011-12 season on Buffalo's top line with Vanek and Pominville. He scored 10 goals in a furry, cooled off, then eventually struggled to the point that Lindy Ruff and Darcy Regier sent him back to Sabres University for some fundamentals with Professor Rolston.



Rolston moved Adam from his natural center ice position and played him on the wing. Adam was a vocal opponent of the move from his natural position, and wasn't afraid to let people know that he wasn't a big fan of playing the wing. This season, Adam seems to have gotten over the position move and he has played well on long stretches. He has 14 goals and has been playing well enough to earn his first call-up of the season.
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