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Winds Of Change About To Blow Through Buffalo?

October 15, 2013, 10:48 PM ET [6 Comments]
GARTH'S CORNER
NHL news by Garth • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Is it me, or do the Buffalo Sabres play their best hockey away from First Niagara Center?

On Tuesday night, the struggling Sabres broke on through to the other side of the win-loss ledger by playing a complete 65 minute game and then burying two shootouts goals to win their first game of the 2013-14 season.

Bullet dodged!



The Sabres avoided the worst start in franchise history as Tyler Ennis scored the deciding goal in the shootout for a 4-3 victory against the New York Islanders.

Ron Rolston said Monday night that he wanted to see more chances and offense from his top six forwards. he got what he wanted with goals by Ennis, Vanek, and Foligno in regulation.




Thomas Vanek also beat Evgeni Nabakov in the skills competition.

The Sabres limped to Long Island having lost their first seven games.

Marcus Foligno's spinning wrister tied the game with 2:01 left in regulation.

Isles captain John Tavares wasn't too impressed by Foligno's game tying goal. Tavares not a fan of Steve Ott either.


Thanks, Islanders TV



Here are some tasty nuggets to chew on:


* Ryan Miller improves to 44-27 in shootouts in his career. He ranks 2nd in the NHL behind only Henrik Lundqvist (45) for most shootout wins.


* Ryan Miller improved to 3-1 against the Islanders in shootouts, stopping 13 of 18 Islanders shootout attempts in those games

* With a .939 save percentage through five games played, Ryan Miller is off to the second-best start of his career. (2011-12: .950)


* Thomas Vanek improves to 20-for-54 in the shootout in his career. His 20 shootout goals are the most in Sabres history.

* With his seventh career shootout goal, Tyler Ennis (7-for-18) passes Maxim Afinogenov for seventh-most in #Sabres franchise history.

Thanks, Ian Ott @SabrePR


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It took agitator/repeat offender Max Lapierre less than 90 minutes to make the NHL community put Pat Kaleta on the back burner. Kaleta's 10 game suspension was announced just before 7pm EDT on Tuesday night. Lapierre sent Dan Boyle off the ice on a stretcher and to a local St. Louis hospital with this disgusting hit from behind. Trademark Lapierre, hitting a guy when he's not looking.



Stupid is as stupid does! You mean to tell me that news of the severe 10 game Kaleta suspension wasn't shared in the St. Louis Blues room before the start of the Sharks game? Lapierre has been playing this same dangerous brand of hockey for years. Its about time that he he held accountable for his punk actions.

Lapierre was in total control of his actions as he tracked Boyle into the left corner to retrieve a puck. Lapierre hammered Boyle from behind, causing the San Jose D-man's face to slam off the end wall.

Boyle was down on the ice for several minutes before being strapped onto a stretcher to be transported to a local St. Louis hospital.

For his idiocy and cowardice, Lapierre received a five-minute major for checking from behind and was ejected from the game along with teammate Ryan Reaves, Sharks players Matt Pelech and Andrew Desjardins after a fight ensued on the play

My take:


Look at the Kaleta-Johnson hit. Then look at the Lapierre-Boyle incident.

Kaleta got a 10 game suspension. No penalty, no injury to Johnson.

Lapierre has earned at a 20 game suspension for his despicable act.




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The NHL has spoken and Patrick Kaleta is now suspended for 10 games.



At first blush, I think that Kaleta got off easy this time. He's a repeat offender. I was expecting the NHL to throw the book at Kaleta. He's already served 2 of the 10 games. Kaleta will be eligible to return to the lineup for the 11/2 games vs. Anaheim. He will also be allowed to play in the home and home series with Toronto on 11/15 and 11/16.

Kaleta is no stranger to the NHL judicial system, having been suspended three times before this incident with Columbus D Jack Johnson.

Johnson was not injured by the hit. There was no penalty. This suspension is all about PK's reputation and his brushes with Shanahan

Sportsnet's John Shannon wonders if Kaleta will appeal his ten game suspension





Its well within Kaleta's rights to appeal the suspensions since Johnson wasn't injured and that there was no penalty levied against Kaleta.



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Sportnet's Nick Kypreos reported on Tuesday that Buffalo Sabres GM Darcy Regier is on the hot seat right now. Kypreos mentioned the names of two prospective candidates who might replace Regier if he is moved out of the Buffalo GM position. The Sabres won their first game of the season on Long Island on Tuesday night. Their 1-6-1 record is a cause for concern for Sabres fans because they want to see a more competitive team during this rebuilding project in Buffalo. Lindy Ruff was fired last February after 15 seasons on the job. His record at the time of the firing was 6-9-1.

There's no doubt that Sabres fans are an angry lot right now, and understandably so. The current management group isn't managing the expectations set forth by the new owner when he took over the team in February 2011. The fans were promised "Hockey Heaven".


Courtesy Sportsnet.ca

Kypreos mentioned Ken Sawyer in his Sportsnet report.


The Buffalo front office hierarchy:

Owner Terry Pegula
President/Alternate Governor Ted Black
Chief Development Officer Cliff Benson
Senior Advisor/Alternate Governor Ken Sawyer

GM Darcy Regier
AGM Kevin Devine



Interesting to note that Sawyer and Ted Black worked in the Pittsburgh Penguins front office with the two alleged candidates to replace Regier: Jason Botterill and Tom Fitzgerald.

Both men have solid hockey pedigree. They started as players in the NHL, and are currently playing high level roles in one of the winningsest franchises in the NHL. Both have created impressive bodies of work and have played key roles in the success of the Pittsburgh Penguins organization.

Jason Botterill is in his fifth full season as assistant general manager after being promoted to his current position in May, 2009, by GM Ray Shero.

As assistant GM, Botterill works closely with Shero on all hockey-related matters, including scouting, player development and contract negotiations. He also manages hockey operations and acts as GM for the club’s top minor-league affiliate, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League.

Prior to his promotion, Botterill, 37, worked two seasons as director of hockey administration with the Penguins; his responsibilities included salary cap management, professional and amateur scouting and overseeing prospect development. His avant-garde approach and understanding of the salary cap has been a major asset for the Penguins.

Before joining the Pittsburgh organization, Botterill worked with NHL Central Registry and also scouted for the Dallas Stars.

Botterill was a first-round draft pick (20th overall) by Dallas in the 1994 NHL Draft and played 88 NHL games over six seasons with Dallas, Atlanta, Calgary and Buffalo. He also played 393 career games in the AHL and IHL, recording 127 goals and 257 points.


Tom Fitzgerald is in his fifth season as assistant to the general manager in Pittsburgh after being promoted on July 3, 2009.

Prior to his promotion, Fitzgerald, 45, served two seasons as Pittsburgh’s director of player development. He was also named interim assistant coach for the Penguins on Feb. 15, 2009 and helped the club win its third Stanley Cup championship four months later.

In his current role, Fitzgerald monitors Penguins’ prospects playing in college, junior hockey, Europe and with the club’s American Hockey League affiliate at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. He advises GM Ray Shero on personnel decisions.

The Massachusetts native was a first-round draft pick of the New York Islanders in 1986 and played 17 NHL seasons with New York, Florida, Colorado, Nashville, Chicago, Toronto and Boston before retiring in 2006. He scored 329 points (139G-190A) and registered 776 penalty minutes in 1,097 career games. He reached the Stanley Cup Final with Florida in 1996.


Never rule out former Sabre Rick Dudley as a candidate to replace Regier. Dudley's body of work speaks for itself, having played an integral role in turning around the fortunes of teams in Tampa, Chicago, Atlanta, and Montreal. Dudley is a Western New York resident.

I spotted Botterill and Dudley in the Buffalo press box on Tuesday night.

With Ryan Miller, Thomas Vanek, and Steve Ott playing on expiring contracts, there is justification for teh fan base to be anxious right now. Are all three men going to re-sign? If so, when? Will one or two of them be traded? If so, which ones and when?



The winds of change may be about to blow through Buffalo.

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