Sabres carried play in the first period, however, Richard Park scores from Douug Weight.
Lalime and Marty are matching save for save
***
2nd Period:
Miller should not be playing tonight, Lindy. Lalime comes in in relief as miller allows two goals to Tambellini.
****
Bailey beats the lacklustre Buffalo D to make it 4-0.
***
****
Tyler Myers was officially appointed to the Sabres squad on Thursday when the brass asked him to finish the great work that he has started in Buffalo. The Oil Rig has made quite the lasting impression on his GM, coaches, and teammates in his short time in Buffalo. Myers is doing everything his coaches are asking of him, and he is doing it at such a high level for a rookie.
Friday night in the Leafs room, I caught up with the man that Myers looks to for inspiration and advice, Luke Schenn. Myers and Schenn were D partners with the Kelowna Rockets for two seasons. They know one another very well. Closer friends you won't find. You’ll recall that Schenn was in the same boat last season at this time. He made the Leafs roster after his nine game “try-out” in his rookie campaign. Schenn, like Myers, was too much of an impact player to send packing back to Kelowna of the Western League. He had every bit of poise and talent to play in the NHL. He just needed a chance. Schenn was in the rookie class of teenage blue liners that included blue chippers Drew Doughty (LA), Zach Bogosian (ATL), Alex Pietrangelo (STL).
Schenn knows what its like to have his life run on hyper speed at 18O km per hour. The NHL is not junior hockey. It’s the greatest collection of talent in the world. Getting there is a tribute to your talent. Staying there is a tribute to your hard work. Schenn’s been there, done that, bought the t-shirt.
“It all happens pretty fast, you know? Tyler’s doing real well for himself. He’s playing a lot of minutes, and he’s in a great situation. I think the main thing for him is to keep it up right now because I mean there’s so much hype around him right now---- to keep ‘er going the whole season is going to be the big thing”. Schenn knows what its like to be the “next big thing”. He’ll impart his experiences-- good and bad-- on his buddy, Tyler. Schenn’s rookie season in Toronto was moving along at a great pace, however, until the wall slaammed into him. You either hot the wall or the wall hits you. so goes life in the NHL. Schenn was injured in late November. He had to sit and watch his team, and that absolutely galled him. “I was feeling very good, playing well, and then I get injured-- so I really only got to play a month of hockey. The NHL is definitely a tough grind for sure”. Schenn knows that Myers will hit a wall at some point. All young players do. Its how you react to it that separates the great players from the average players.
Myers is getting his twenty odd minutes per game, playing 5 on 5, and PP. He seems to be in tip top shape, however, there’s a wall that all youngsters run into. Schenn has experienced it. “Pretty much, especially a big guy like him. He’s not really used to the NHL grind. I mean, junior guys are not as big as him so he can just dominate games”. Schenn likes what he’s seen of Myers’ physical play thus far. ‘he’s looked really confident and sure of himself in his own end”.
I asked Schenn what is it exactly about the Western Hockey League that prepares youngsters, most notably Dmen, for the NHL? The WHL is a fast track for NHL talent. “You wanna know? There’s no travel like it! You spend hours on the bus. Three games in three days. You’ve get a 72 game schedule, you know? Its pretty physical hockey and things get heated out there, too. That’s the big thing, you know, because the OHL does not have to travel that much . In the “W” there’s lots of travel and I think its prepares us better. The travel is pretty brutal, the 72 games schedule, then, you squeeze in World Juniors and stuff like that for a guy like Tyler, it makes life very busy so that’s the good thing about it.”
*****
“I text him every once in a while to see how he’s doing and he does the same. We keep in touch”. As of Friday night at 10:30 pm, Myers had not seen a text nor received a congratulatory call from his buddy Luke. That would all change when Schenn and Myers had a brief meeting in the hallway outside the Leaf room. The former Kelowna stars turned NHL impact players could only chat face to face for a couple of minutes. Schenn was heading to the airport to fly direct to Montreal. Myers was on his way to the airport to fly to Long Island.
Welcome to the show.
****
There are no style points for wins. The fashion police can’t arrest you for ugly wins.
The Sabres needed Tim Connolly’s walk-off homer in extra innings to seal the deal on their 3-2 win over Toronto Friday night. Last season, the cry was loud for how Buffalo could not win the ugly ones against jacked up opponents. Tim Connolly was not going to let the Leafs skate up the QEW with two points in their possession. Fitting, in that Connolly was called for a glove pass in the final minute of the game, while the Tronna net was open. 19 snatched the airborne puck, placed it on the ice and took a shot that entered he yawning Toronto net. Ref said “no goal”. Moments later, with 37 seconds remaining, with the Monster on the bench, Tomas Kaberle’s point shot was tipped, vis a vi a Grabovski high stick. The play was reviewed and the suits in Tronna called it a Good Goal. 1:04 into OT, Connolly dotted the eye of The Monster with a 19 gauge shotgun blast from just inside the blueline.
Talk about trick or treat!
Who needs pretty wins, anyway?
*******
Thomas Vanek is bitter. His Minnesota Twins were sent packing by the NY Yankees.
"I'm a Phillies fan now. I can't root for the team that beat my team. Phillies all the way"
****
Speaking of Phillies fans, you'll see Marty Biron in the cage tonight in Long Island. He'll face Patty Lalime.
****
Nathan Pinch will trick or treat as a forward tonight. #38 will play the wall tonight, as Kaleta and Goose are ill. Nate would drive the zamboni and pay the organ if you asked him to. He's a Swiss army knife and thats why he's still on Lindy's roster. The guy never bitches about ice time and he always answers the bell when called upon to play like a pro.
Join the Discussion:
»