Sabres GM Darcy Regier spent Wednesday in Boston at the NHL GM Meetings. On Thursday afternoon, Regier and Kevin Devine, Sabres Director of Amateur Scouting will answer questions and hopefully shed some light on their strategy for the upcoming NHL Entry Draft.
I'm curious to know if the Sabres have made progress in their ongoing discussions with Patrick Roy and the Colorado Avalanche. I'm wondering if Avs are serious about trading their first overall draft choice to a team like Buffalo, or, if they are simply bluffing so that they can draft Nathan MacKinnon first overall.
Inquiring minds also want to know whether or not the Sabres have initiated trade discussions with the other six teams directly ahead of them in the draft order: Edmonton, Calgary, Carolina, Nashville, Tampa, and Florida.
Blackhawks head coach Joel Quenneville is about to give the people what they want.
He's resisted the temptations to play his two rock stars, captain Jonathon Toews and Patrick Kane, together in the first three games of the Stanley Cup Finals.
Tonight, Coach Q has no option other than to play his best two players together with the Hawks still smarting from the 2-0 shutout that the Bruins hung on the Hawks on Monday night.
Toews is mired in a nasty goal scoring slump and Q is counting on Kane and Bryan Bickell to get the Captain Serious back on the official score sheet in Game 4. The Bruins lead the series 2-1.
"Every waking moment it's something you think about", Toews said of his ugly goal scoring streak after today's game day skate.
Toews has scored only only goal snas has added only eight assists in 20 playoff games. He last scored on May 25th vs. Detroit. He'll take points anyway he can get them. The Hawks can ill afford to lose Game 4.
Bryan Bickell says that tonight is the game of his and his teammates' lives:
Thanks, Blackhawks TV
One of the big reasons why the Hawks were skunked in the last game was because their Slovakian Sniper, Marian Hossa, left the ice during the pregame warm-ups in Game 3 and didn't play in the game.
Here are the newly created lines for the Hawks:
Bickell-Toews-Kane
Hossa-Handzus-Sharp
Saad-Shaw-Stalberg
Kruger-Bolland-Frolik
The phrase "No Goal" is associated with a controversial goal "scored" by arch nemesis Brett Hull in the third OT of Game 6 of the Dallas Stars in the 1999 Stanley Cup Final.
As the overhead picture shows, Hull's skate was clearly in Dominik Hasek's crease, however, the puck was not.
Subsequent to the erroneous series-ending goal, the NHL claimed to have sent out a memo clarifying the "skate in the crease" rule that allowed goals in instances where the goalscorer maintained control (not possession) of the puck prior to entering the crease.
On this play Hull kicked the puck with his left skate (while still outside of the crease) into a shooting position.
Others have pointed out that similar plays were called differently during the regular season.
Sabres fans were born at night, but not last night. The referees botched the call and yet still awarded the goal to Hull, prompting the now famous "No Goal!" phrase.
Its been Buffalo's rallying cry for a decade and a half, and will never be forgotten.
The rule that led to this controversy no longer exists in the NHL, however, as shortly after it was removed from the rule book.
Hull's goal ended the series and the Stars were awarded the Stanley Cup. At the time, even Dallas Morning News hockey writer Keith Gave questioned the legality of the goal. NHL officials, however, maintained that Hull's two shots at the goal constituted a single possession of the puck since the puck deflected off Hasek, and their ruling stood, noting that they were going to change the rule the following year anyway.
NHL Director of Officiating Bryan Lewis said there was no crease violation because "Hull had possession of the puck when his skate entered the crease."
You got jammed, Buffalo!
If you are not puking in the waste basket yet, you will be when you face the realization that today is the 7th Anniversary of the Carolina Hurricanes winning the Stanley Cup.
The Canes advanced to the Cup Finals after they beat the injury-riddled Sabres in Game 7 in Raleigh. The Sabres D corps was missing McKee, Numminen, and Tallinder due to injuries. Nathan Paetsch and Doug Janik were forced to have to play in the series deciding Game 7.
There is no question in my mind that the Sabres would have defeated the Edmonton Oilers in the Cup Finals, had it not been for their catastrophic injuries to their blue line.
Now, you are free to go yak in the garbage pail.
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Ryan Flyin'?
The Bobby Ryan to Philadelphia Flyers rumors are percolating again.
It was a year ago next week that the Ryan to Flyers talk heated up after the Anaheim sniper and Cherry Hill, NJ native made comments to a New Jersey newspaper about his desire to play for the Flyers.
CSN Philly's Tim Panaccio says that the Ducks and Flyers are talking about a swap that would see the Philly send stay-at-home D Braydon Coburn and the 11th overall pick in the June 30th NHL Entry Draft to Anaheim in exchange for the perennial 30 goal scoring Ryan.
Thanks, CSN Philly
Aren't the Flyers in desperate need of defensive D-men and a starting goaltender? Do they need another scorer at this time?
Lets keep an eye on this developing situation. The NHL GMs meet in Boston today. The draft is on June 30 in Newark.
The Colorado Avalanche braintrust held their pre-draft organizational meetings last week.
The prevailing take away item:
The Avs will not be selecting D-man Seth Jones with their first overall pick in the June 30th Draft.
I call it the Patrick Roy Effect.
Prior to hiring Patrick Roy as their new head coach, and Exec VP of Hockey Operations, the Avs had been saying that they would be looking to invest their #1 overall pick in Jones, who fills one of their most glaring areas of need.
When Roy entered the organization, the paradigm immediately shifted to the Avs looking at all players and all options, including the trading their #1 overall pick.
Roy is an Alpha Dog. He's a natural born leader. He wants what he wants, when he wants it.
Roy may be thinking about acquiring D depth through trades and through the UFA market.
According to Adrian Dater of the Denver Post, the Avs are saying that forwards Nathan MacKinnon, Jonathan Drouin or Alexander Barkov are too good not to take with the first overall pick.
"If we do pick first, we're leaning more toward one of those three forwards," Avalanche executive vice president of hockey operations Joe Sakic told The Denver Post.
The Avs blue line can use a couple of difference-making D, however, they are willing to roll the bones and to bypass the Denver native Jones in order to get their hands on a franchise athlete like MacKinnon, Drouin, or Barkov.
But Sakic reiterated the organization's belief that the three forwards represent the best players available in the draft.
"We feel those three forwards are just too good to pass up," Sakic said.
Roy personally scouted MacKinnon and Droiun the past two seasons in The Q, when his Quebec Remparts played the Halifax Mooseheads head to head. Mikhail Grigorenko's Remparts were sent packing for the 2012 playoffs by MacKinnon and Drouin.
Roy knows talent when he sees it, and it appears that he has sold Sakic, GM Greg Sherman and the scouts on leaving Jones on the table in lieu of selecting one of the top three forwards in this exceptionally deep and talent-rich entry draft.
Kevin Devine, Sabres Director of Amateur Scouting, said last week that he and Darcy Regier have been engaged in exploratory conversations with Roy in order to create a win/win trade between the two clubs for the 1st overall pick in the June 30th draft.
The Sabres are said to be very serious about trading up to secure Colorado's first overall pick. In order to do so, they will have to include their #8 and #16 overall draft picks, plus a roster player and top prospect. One prevailing thought is that the Sabres right now are in talks with Florida, Tampa, Nashville and Edmonton right now. The Sabres are attempting to move up and better their draft position and to achieve another first round draft choice in the June 30th draft. The thought process is that the Sabres are trying to trade their most valuable assets Ryan Miller or Thomas Vanek in order to achieve another first round draft choice that they can presumable offer to Colorado in exchange for the first overall pick in the entry draft. If Buffalo can offer three picks in the top 16 in this deep draft, that may top the scales in their favor. Last weekend, Colorado said no thanks to the Calgary Flames offer of the 6th, 22nd, and 28th picks in the entry draft in exchange for their #1 draft choice.
In order to climb into the top three picks in the draft, the Sabres will have to find another trading partner in the top four, like the Lightning, Panthers, or Predators.
The NHL GMs be met in Boston on Wednesday.
The trades will start happening fast and furiously in the days to come.
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