I get a kick out of Alex Ovechkin. When he's on top of his game, he's one the top two hockey players in the world. He's been a one man wrecking ball this season
On Tuesday night, he surely seemed to have fully recovered from his recent lower body injury.
In Buffalo, there was no fear of missing out on Ovi's hockey prowess. In his words, "it was a boring game, but it was a fun game too".
Ovechin scored twice ( #37 and #38), plus he added two helpers in the 5-4 Caps win. This dude is on fire.
Could it be that NY Rangers captain Ryan Callahan is on the move?
Pierre LeBrun reports that the Rochester native and pending UFA hasn't had a smooth negotiation with the Rangers.
One player whose name I would have never predicted to be even possibly in the mix before the season is that of New York Rangers captain Ryan Callahan.
But he’s a pending UFA July 1 and so far contract talks have not gone well at all, a source told ESPN.com Tuesday.
All of which led to some rumblings that the Rangers are exploring the trade market in case talks don’t produce a contract extension before the March 5 trade deadline. My colleague Darren Dreger also reported on Callahan’s trade possibility during our Insider Trading segment Tuesday evening on TSN in Canada.
You can imagine the reaction when Rangers GM Glen Sather called some teams over the past week to inform them that Callahan might be available.
"That’s a pretty big name," one Western Conference source said.
What I'd give to have Cally in Buffalo, eh?
He'd add immediate respect and credibility to a youthful Sabres room. He adds instant leadership as well. The kind of player the Pegulas , Pat Lafontaine and Tim Murray should want to re-build their team around.
The 28 year old right winger ( 5'10" 190 lbs., Guelph Storm) alum has scored 130 goals and has added 119 assists in 442 career games on Broadway. In 59 career playoff games, he has 14 goals and 10 assists.
He is in the final year of a 3 year, $12,825,000 contract ($4.25 million AAV).
Callahan is reportedly looking to cash in on this next contract to the tune of seven years and $6 million per season. The term and dollars are not in line with Rangers GM Glen Sather is willing to pay his captain. Conversely, the Sabres will have to spend $25-$26 million to get to the salary cap floor in 2014-15. I can't see the Sabres having a problem paying a dynamic player like Callahan $6 million per season, especially if he continues to hang numbers on the board. He has 9 goals and 11 assists in 37 games played this season. He missed a whack of games due to a knee sprain in December. He's just now beginning to round back in to his normal form.
Callahan is represented by Rochester-based agent Steve Bartlett, who also reps Thomas Vanek and Brian Gionta.
Coming home to Buffalo-Rochester will reunite Callahan with his family. I'm always moved when I watch the "HBO 24/7" episode that features Callahan and his grandmother after a Sabres-Rangers game in Buffalo.
Who says you can't go home?
Hell, if the Sabres can land home grown star Callahan, why not make it a daily double by making a hard run at pending UFA D Dan Girardi. The Welland native is reportedly seeking a Jay Bouwmeester style deal in the $5.5 million per year range for 7 seasons.
Again, if I'm spending Pegula's money, I make a run at Callahan AND Girardi.
Ted Nolan and the Sabres did the Washington Capitals a huge solid by playing Ryan Miller in Pittsburgh on Monday night.
Miller has single-handedly dominated Ovechkin and the Caps twice this season by stopping 77 of the 79 shots he has faced. Miller has powered the Sabres to two 2-1 shoot-out decisions, the first in Buffalo on December 29 and the second in Washington on January 12. Reason enough for Caps GM George McPhee to be more than “interested” in acquiring Miller at or before the Olympic roster freeze deadline on February 7. Miller can’t score goals, however, he can steal games. The solution may be as fundamental as Adam Oates improving his goals against average by adding a new veteran puck stopper while tightening down the neutral zone coverage. Its worth a shot.
McPhee has one foot on a swath of black ice and the other on a banana peel right now. His contract expires at the end of the season and there is no guarantee that he will be retained as the club’s GM. Pressure? ‘Lil bit!
How bad is it right now for the Caps? Look no further than their past month of dreadful results produced. On the morning of December 28, the Caps were feeling pretty good about their chances of making the playoffs as they were in second place in the perfectly ordinary Metro Division. The Caps were six points ahead of their closest pursuers and 13 points behind first-place Pittsburgh. What a difference a month makes in the compressed, ultra-competitive Eastern Conference standings. Today, the Caps are in seventh in the Metro and now in 13th place. The Caps enter tonight closer to the Sabres than they ever were to the Penguins. Yes, folks. The Caps have been THAT bad. Hence, insistence that they will be looking to make a blockbuster trade in the next week or so to improve their course of action because what they are presently doing just ain’t cuttin’ it. Although they’re still only five points shy of second place in the Metro, the Caps have to jump over a cluster of combatants to leap frog over. The clock is ticking furiously on them. They will likely run out of time to make the playoffs. The Caps have only thirty games remaining. If they keep up at their current dreadful pace, their playoff hopes may be mathematically flat-lined by the time the Olympic roster freeze begins.
McPhee needs a miracle on ice. He needs it yesterday.
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The Caps put the kibosh on their season-worst 0-5-2 losing streak on Saturday night in Montreal with a 5-0 win over the suddenly sluggish Montreal Canadiens. Braden Holtby made 21 saves to earn his second shutout of the season and the ninth of his NHL career.
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In the past month of free fall hockey, the Caps have fallen from first in the NHL on the man-advantage to fourth, largely because they’ve gone 1-for-31 on the power play over their past nine games.
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Washington has gone 3-7-4 over the last month, while Buffalo are 4-6-3 in the past month. Two of Buffalo’s wins during that stretch came against Washington. Their other wins are against New Jersey and Columbus over the last month.
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On the season, the Sabres are averaging 1.78 goals per game and 26.4 shots on goal per game.
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Buffalo has scored only 26 goals in its last 13 games, with five coming in Saturday’s 5-2 win over Columbus. The Sabres were goose-egged by Sid, Geno, Kunitz and the Pens on Monday night in Da Burgh.
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Mikhail Grabovski will miss his second straight due to a nagging foot injury.
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Brooks Laich (groin) took the morning skate and will be a game-time. If he cannot play, then Ryan Stoa will skate in his place on the second line.
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Braden Holtby will face Jhonas Enroth tonight. This will be the first time since December 3 and 7 that Holtby will make consecutive starts for his team.
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