The youth movement is alive in Buffalo's broadcast booth as well as on the ice these days.
Forster Hewitt Award winner, Rick Jeanneret, has just signed a new three year contract. At the end of the three year contract, he will retire from his Hall Of Fame broadcast booth position.
Congratulations to veteran hockey play-by-play broadcaster, Dan Dunleavy, who will replace RJ beginning in 2016-17.
The Sabres have issued this statement:
The Buffalo Sabres today announced that Rick Jeanneret, hockey’s longest-tenured broadcaster, has signed a new, three-year contract with the team to remain its primary play-by-play voice. The Sabres Hall-of-Famer will call an increasingly reduced number of games during the next three seasons before stepping away from the microphone for good. Veteran broadcaster Dan Dunleavy has been added to the Sabres broadcast team and will serve as Jeanneret’s substitute before assuming the primary play-by-play duties for the 2016-17 season.
“We are very lucky to have such a deep and talented pool of broadcasters in the Sabres organization,” said Sabres President Ted Black. “RJ is a hall-of-fame talent and we are thrilled that he will be with us for three more years as he winds down his prolific career. We are also excited to bring on Dan, who is a proven play-by-play talent that we know will be a capable successor to RJ. Having an up-and-comer like Dan and a broadcasting legend like RJ behind the microphone will be a great one-two punch for our Sabres broadcasts in the coming years.”
Jeanneret, who was awarded hockey broadcasting’s highest honor, the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award, in 2012, will be embarking on his 42nd season behind the microphone for the Sabres in 2013-14. He began his broadcasting career with the team during the 1971-72 season and, at the end of his new contract following the 2015-16 season, will retire after calling Sabres games for 44 seasons. As part of his new contract, Jeanneret will remain with the team in an honorary capacity after he retires in 2016.
“This decision was obviously very difficult for me to make,” Jeanneret said. “It has become a yearly deliberation, deciding if the coming year would be my last or what season I would finally step away. I initially thought doing a full year of games this coming season and then retiring was the way to go. After discussing it with my family and with the Sabres, we all thought signing this new deal was the right choice. I get to continue to do what I love while slowly reducing my workload and eventually turning the reins over to Dan, who I greatly respect and believe Sabres fans will grow to love.”
Dan Dunleavy will take on play-by-play duties in 2016-17.
Dunleavy, who comes to the Sabres from the Toronto Maple Leafs’ broadcasting team, will begin his substitute play-by-play duties this season, filling in for games that Jeanneret takes off. In addition to his play-by-play duties, Dunleavy will serve as on-air talent for Sabres pre- and post-game broadcasts and will have a substantial presence onSabres.com.
“I am excited and honored to join the Sabres organization and its tremendous broadcasting team,” Dunleavy said. “I’m excited because it’s well known that Buffalo is a hockey-crazy city that adores its hockey team. It makes being a broadcaster so much more thrilling when you know that the fans are on the edge of their seats while watching their team. And I’m honored that I get an opportunity to work with and learn from one of the best play-by-play announcers hockey has ever seen in Rick. He is the pinnacle of our profession and I’m humbled that I will be following in his legendary footsteps.”
Prior to joining the Maple Leafs’ broadcast, Dunleavy spent 19 years at Sportsnet Radio and The Fan 590 Toronto. In addition to filling in as a play-by-play voice for the Sabres in the 2010-11 season, Dunleavy’s experience includes nine years of play-by-play of the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship, the 2008 IIHF World Hockey Championship in Halifax and Quebec City, the 2010 Vancouver Olympics Men’s and Women’s Hockey, the OHL’s Mississauga Majors, and Canadian Hockey League and American Hockey League games on Rogers Sportsnet. The Toronto native has also called soccer and lacrosse games, serving as the play-by-play voice for the National Lacrosse League’s Toronto Rock on The Fan 590 and is the radio and television play-by-play voice for Toronto FC on Sportsnet TV/Radio and TSN 1050 Radio.
Jeanneret and Dunleavy will be joined by Rob Ray, who will return to serve as color commentator for all Sabres broadcasts. Brian Duff will also return for his third season with the Sabres broadcast team, maintaining his role as the in-game host for pre- and post-game coverage, as well as intermission reports.
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Wondering what recently signed Sabres D-man Hank Tallinder is up to this summer? My sources tell me that "Hank" is home in Sweden right now, however, he will be jumping the pond and heading to Buffalo at the end of the month.
If you don't have plans for ths Friday night, why not grab some friends and head over to Sweden to watch Tallinder and a gang of NHLers as they play an exhibition game in Järfälla
Detroit D-man, Niklas Kronwall, and several of his Swedish born NHL friends will challenge Järfälla HC in an exhibition game. The event organizers promise that there will be a festive event for the whole family. There will be an autograph signing, meet-n-greet, NHL apparel giveaways, and a BBQ.
Here's the list of NHL players who will be competing in the special event:
Henrik Tallinder, Buffalo
Niklas Kronwall, Detroit
Jonathan Ericsson, Detroit
Gustav Nyqvist, Detroit
Jonas "Monster" Gustavsson, Detroit
Mikael Samuelsson, Detroit
Johnny Oduya, Chicago
Marcus Krüger, Chicago
Gabriel Landeskog, Colorado
Jacob Josefsson, New Jersey
Niklas Grossman, Philadephia
Patric Hornqvist, Nashville
You better book your ticket and leave now if you are going to make it to Järfälla for opening puck drop. mThe distance between Buffalo, NY and Stockholm, Sweden is 6,394 kilometers or 3,973 miles or 3,453 nautical miles.
Have fun!
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Thanks, Dan Hickling
Mikhail Grigorenko is a center. He’s not a winger.
I’ve heard it suggested a few times by some media and fans this summer that Ron Rolston should consider playing Grigorenko at a winger position this season. There are a couple schools of thought associated why some people think it will be beneficial to move him to the wall, rather than let him play the middle. First, playing the wing would reduces his responsibilities in that he would only be responsible for his 33% of the ice. The pundits think that if Grigo were to be given a limited role, it would allow him to maximize his shifts. In the winger model, Grigo would go up and back down the wall a total of four times a shift (two up two back). His defensive responsibilities would be simplifies and he wouldn’t have to cover such a wide expanse of ice, as he has to when he plays the pivot. The other school of thought is that Grigo would be susceptible to more punishment and more physicality from opposing D while patrolling a wall, rather than employing his God-given moves, vision, smarts, and center instincts to evade and elude enemy fire. “Playing the wing will toughen up Grigorenko, because he’ll be knocked on his keester, and he’ll learn from that” is the rationale that’s been bandied about. I also hear that Grigorenko should be playing wing for the Sabres this season because he played wing with such poise and purpose for Team Russia at the IIHF World Junior Championships in Ufa, Russia in December and January. Grigorenko centered for left winger Slepyshev and right winger Kucherov at the WJCs. The only time he lined up at wing was when he was waved from the faceoff circle, or, on special teams assignments. People, lets not get carried away. Grigorenko will a better player this season for having had to endure the ups and downs of his first NHL season. I dare say that if Ruff and Rolston had left the kid alone and played him with capable wingers like Ott and Leino ( or Foligno when Leino was injured) then the kid would have found the score sheet more times than once ( also added four assists). Playing 5-7 minutes a night with Jochen Hecht and John Scott is exactly an ideal job description for an 18 year old kid. I have to give Grigorenko a lot of credit because through all of the tough times, and there were many of them in 2013 ( ie: having his first NHL coach, Lindy Ruff, get fired just one month in his first NHL season, having to learn a new coach‘s expectations on the fly, and being a healthy scratch for the first time in his life) the kid kept his mouth shut and he did the work that was being asked of him, as well. Whats more, he always wore a smile on his face. He didn’t let the adversity, negativity, and outside noise get to him. He’s a world-class athlete. He’s made from tougher stuff. In my opinion, he deserves to play his natural position, center. Not wing. He skated with great pace and precision at the recent prospects camp. His stride appears to be more fluid as a result of working with the Buffalo skating instructor. I saw him skate earlier this week and I'll tell you that his explosion to loose pucks looks to be accelerated as well.
With all due respect, I can’t think of a worse idea than suggesting that Grigorenko play the wing. That’s the position that he has been groomed to play his whole career. The Sabres did their homework and they scouted Grigorenko in person dozens of time before they invested the 12th overall pick in the 2012 entry draft him to play in the NHL. Darcy Regier and the Sabres scouting staff know a center ice star when they see one.
So, why switch-pitch him now that he’s already dipped his beak in the NHL brook and he’s taken a big sip? Albeit, a sample-sized taste of the NHL during the lockout-shortened 2013 regular season. The kid played a sparse role in 25 of Buffalo’s 48 regular season games after the work stoppage had ended. Now, some of the arm chair PP QBs want to move the kid to the wing in an attempt to “teach” him the NHL game. Playing center in the NHL isn’t easy. It gets tougher when defenders and opposing coaches know that the center was a scoring star in Russia and in the QMJHL. I don’t recall today’s splendid NHL centers like Steven Stamkos, John Tavares, Claude Giroux, Matt Duchene, Jason Spezza, and Anze Kopitar stepping their first skate strides onto the NHL rink and immediately playing like rock stars. There’s a learning curve. Its to be expected that 18 and 19 year kids are going to struggle to grasp the nuances, positional responsibilities, and the battle aspects of the pro game. The NHL is the best pro league in the world. The athletes are the best, bar none. Its under stable that an 18 year old rookie in Grigorenko looked lost at times last season. You’d look lost too if defense-first centers like Sidney Crosby, Geno Malkin, Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, Eric Staal, and Patrice Bergeron were looking to embarrass you in your rookie season. That’s what NHLers do. They sniff blood in the water, it sends them in a frenzy, and then they attack the innocent prey. Just like Great Whites instinctively do on “Shark Week”. There are killer “sharks” in the NHL, too. They play 19-22 minutes a game and play in all situations. They play PP and PK. They are on the ice in the final two minutes of every game. They want the puck on their stick in crunch time. That’s what #1 centers do. They are a rare breed of cat. Great ones come along only so often. Buffalo were lucky that one was available at the 12th overall pick in 2012. Grigorenko is not a bonafide #1 NHL center yet. Operative word being “yet”. Cody Hodgson will assume the #1 center role when he is re-signed in the days to come. Vanek will take his rightful pace at LW on the top line. For now, right wing is wide open on the top unit. Stafford will likely get a look there. However, I like a bold move like putting “The Finnisher”, Joel Armia alongside Vanek and Hodgson. Sparks would fly for sure! Tons of offense and two snipers on the wings. I love the idea.
I like Ott-Grigorenko-Leino as the second unit. This unit impressed me immensely last January during theone week training camp, just after the NHL lockout had ended. The 9-25-23 trio played exceptionally well in the Blue & Gold scrimmage and likely would have started the season together had Leino no suffered his injury.
For the third unit, I like Foligno-Ennis-Flynn. I wouldn’t mind 63 in the wing with 82 in the middle, either. Flynn showed me a lot last season and I like his poise and ability to find holes in the D coverage.
My fourth unit who feature heavy hitting and a tom of energy with Kaleta-Girgensons-Tropp.
Porter would be my odd man out. However, he’d take the place of Girgensons in the event that the young Latvian doesn’t make the opening night roster out of training camp. I honestly believe that Girgensons has the skill, the drive, and the cajones to do whatever it takes in the exhibition games that he plays in to make the Buffalo roster. I have a very good feeling that he will make the Sabres out of training camp. If he doesn’t, he’ll be an injury call-up during the season. Porter or Johan Larsson would take the fourth line center job in the event that Girgo is sent back to the Amerks at the end of Sabres training camp.
Girgensons knows what its like to be moved from his natural center position to the wing. It happened to him in Rochester last season. he adapted well to the move, and he played well. After the recent prospects scrimmage in Buffalo, Girgensons told me that he would prefer to play his natural center position. Tyler Ennis told the same thing two seasons ago, as did Luke Adam. All are natural centers who now have added value and versatility for having learned how to play the wing in the NHL and AHL. I don't see Grigorenko making a change from the middle to the wall very easily. I may be wrong, but his skill set screams type-casting him as a center only.
The math doesn't lie.
In 92 career regular games with the Quebec Remparts, Grigorenko scored 70 goals and added 69 assists for 139 points. Thats a 1.51 points per game clip. In 22 QMJHL playoff games, he scored 8 goals and added 16 assists, or 1.09 points per game.
In Buffalo, he only created 5 points in 25 game games, or, 0.20 points per game.
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I submit to you that Mikhail Grigorenko is better than 0.20 points per game in the NHL. I see him as a 50+ point player for Buffalo this season.
Its incumbent upon Ron Rolston, and his new offensive coach, Joe Sacco to put his star center in positions where he can score and create. Sacco sure got a ton of production from his young star centers in Colorado the past four seasons, didn't he? Paul Stastny, Matt Duchene, and Ryan O'Reilly all played exceptionally well as young centers under Sacco's tutelage. Here's hoping that Sacco can get more horse power and production from his centers Hodgson, Grigorenko, Ennis, Girgensons, and Porter this season. You can throw Ott and Foligno into that group as they are hybrid forwards who play wing-center when called upon to do so.
On a team that was sadly lacking in offensive production in 2013, why would they want to temp fate by moving Grigo out of a scoring role at center by moving him to the wing?
Grigorenko will be a Buffalo Sabre for all 82 games this season. He is not eligible to play in Rochester, and he will not be returned to Quebec City. He's a Sabre now.
**
It was good to see Sabres power forward Marcus Foligno back in Buffalo today.
He told me that he has been working out at home in Sudbury. For years, Marcus and his brother Nick have worked out with their own personal trainer back home. Ditto this summer. Marcus had some new fitness goals that he identified when the 2013 regualr season had ended.
He wanted to be fresher at the end of shifts, and he wanted to maximize each shift on the ice, better than he had previously.
What were your conditioning goals for this summer, I asked Foligno:
"Building up my legs. Leg drive is so important to my game", he told me.
I'd say that his hard work is about to pay off for him when training camp begins in five weeks. Foligno told me that he's now 227 pounds right now. He looks leaner to me. He told me that he played at 220 lbs. last season. His gains have come from the off season lower body workouts that he has been doing. The goal is to be heavier on pucks. Marcus wants to hold on to pucks longer in the offensive zone. Having a stronger core will allow him to did his edges in and make it more difficult for opponents to move him off the puck. Enemy D-men will exhaust themselves if they spend 30-40 seconds of a 45 second shift trying with all their might to get Marcus off the puck. His new and improved core and legs will make him a terror on the walls and in battle sequences. Buy stock in Advil now because many NHL teams are going to be stocking up in anticipation of heavy games to be played vs. the Buffalo Sabres. Foligno, Ott, Kaleta, Weber, Girgensons, Scott, Tropp, and perhaps Ristolainen (fingers crossed) are going to be bringing the pain on an 82 game basis.
"I'm stronger. I feel great", he told me.
Great news for Sabres fans. Terrible news for Bruins, Leafs, Sens, Habs, Wings, Panthers, Lightning, and the fans of the other 22 NHL teams.
For this first time in his NHL career, Foligno will be playing an 82 game season. In his rookie year, he played just 14 games in Buffalo. He scored 6 goals and added 7 assists in those 14 memorable games. In his lockout-shortened sophomore season, he played 47 games.
Marcus will be 22 on Saturday. He can now say that he is now in the best shape of his hockey life.
In a few weeks, he'll put all of his gym work to work for himself on the rink.
For now, he told me that he wants to get back to Rochester and celebrate his birthday this weekend watching the PGA Tour Championship at Oak Hill Country Club.
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