It's great to see that Jack Eichel hasn't lost his wry sense of humor.
Eichel has been rehabbing from his high ankle sprain while his Sabres teammates have cruised out to a 1-2-1 record.
Eichel injured his left ankle during a power play drill with eight minutes remaining in a practice session the day before the 2016-17 season opener vs. Montreal.
Eichel is expected to miss 6 to 7 more weeks.
Eichel remained in Buffalo with his family while the Sabres played three games in Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver. It has to suck being left out of team dinners and bonding events on the road.
To my eyes, it looks like Jack may have shaved his curls off. When I saw him last Friday, he had a summer flow in full effect.
Here Eichel and his roomate Samson Reinhart wish us all a Happy Eichtoberfest!
A photo posted by Anaheim Ducks (@anaheimducks) on
The Anaheim Ducks played their first five games of the new season on the road out East.
They flew home on weary wings with a 1-3-1 record and a -4 goal differential.
The Band Perry have scored just 10 goals for while allowing 14 goals against in their first five games of the season.
Randy Carlyle is hoping that home cooking will cure all that ills his Ducks when they make their season home opener against Vancouver on Sunday.
On Saturday, GM Bob Murray created a seismic shift when he called three players up from AHL San Diego and demoted three others to LoCal.
Who's Up?
Defenseman Shea Theodore, and centers Joseph Cramarossa and Michael Sgarbossa.
Who's flying south to San Diego?
Left winger Mason Raymond, right wing Nick Sorensen and defenseman Jacob Larsson.
Ducks head coach Randy Carlyle said after Saturday's practice that the demotion will be good for Larsson.
"He needs to get more minutes in the American Hockey League and get up to the pace of the game. We love the kid. This is a fast track for his development, and we told him so. All we're looking at is for him to elevate his game one more notch because we feel he's close to being an NHL defenseman. To accomplish that at 19 years old is quite an accomplishment."
Carlyle said that Sorensen needs time to develop in the AHL.
Raymond did not impress Carlyle on the eastern roadie. Hence, he is in the AHL now.
Here is the curious element to Saturday's roster shuffle.
Shea Theodore was brought up to inject scoring into the anemic Anaheim power play which is 2 for 18 (11%) this season.
Cam Fowler and Sami Vatanen currently run the Anaheim PP units.
On Saturday, Carlyle told the team's website that the increased workload placed on his team's second leading scorer Fowler (2G, 2A) and Vatanen (1G, 2A) in the first five games precipitated the Theodore promotion. Fowler and Vatanen currently lead the Ducks in average TOI per game with 24:46 and 23:58 respectively.
"We know Shea has the ability and offensive instincts to run a power play," Carlyle said. "Right now, he gives us the option of not taxing Cam and Sami to play the full two minutes. That's tough, plus to play a regular shift and penalty killing time. We want to distribute the minutes."
Theodore played 19 games for the Ducks in 2015-16 , scoring three goals and six assists. He averaged 19:01 TOI. Theodore also played six playoff games for Anaheim. Theodore has two assists in two games played for San Diego this season.
A photo posted by Shea Theodore (@sheatheodore) on
I get it. Bring in Theodore to lessen the load on Fowler on Vatanen. Simon Despres was injured on the road trip causing a vacancy on the left side of the D corps that Clayon Stoner has been filling.
I also think that the Shea Theodore promotion may be a bit of a "tell" that unrestricted free agent Hampus Lindholm is about to be re-signed. When Lindholm finally re-signs for 7 years and $5.75M AAV, Fowler likely will be traded. Dollars have to move out in order to move in Lindholm's new average annual value.
The Ducks likley will recall Larsson from San Diego after a Fowler trade occurs to balance out the left side of the D.
Theodore is a minute-munching, left shot PP QB.
Fower is a minute-munching, left shot PP QB.
"Going (to San Diego Gulls) gave me a chance to get my confidence back," Theodore said. "I feel good coming here. We were playing a lot of minutes. It's good to be the go-to guy there, but it's good to be back here. I'm excited to be back."
Theodore should get used to playing big minutes in Anaheim for the foreseeable future.
**
The Buffalo Sabres ended their three game western roadie ended with a 2-1 loss in Vancouver on Thursday night. The team touched down in Buffalo around 6:00 a.m. EDT Friday morning.
Roundabout Noon time Friday, while the rest of their Sabres teammates were enjoying a relaxing day off, Nick Baptiste, Hudson Fasching and Casey Nelson were all informed by the Sabres that they had to pull on their boots and go back to work. The youngsters were conscripted to downtown Rochester where they re-joined their Amerks teammates for Friday night's grudge match against the Toronto Marlies.
Thanks, Amerks.com
Hours before the trek down the I-90 on the New York State Thruway to Exit 46, Baptiste was creating a lifelong memory by scoring his first NHL goal, in whacky fashion, three time zones away in Van City.
Stress? What stress? It was time to go prove oneself all over again.
Cue Janet Jackson's "What Have You Done For Me Lately".
With Baptiste, Fasching, and Nelson in his lineup, Lambert was able to craft four prodigious forward lines:
Baptiste, Fasching and Nelson all left their fingerprints on the 5-2 Rochester win prompting the question:
Which two forwards will be called up on Monday to Buffalo? The Sabres travel to Philly to play the Flyers on Tuesday night. Jack Eichel (ankle) and Evander Kane (ribs) will not be making the trip to Philly. Therefore, Dan Bylsma will be needing the under studies to impress enough to earn another invitation to play for the Sabres.
Consider this the cliched "carrot dangling" that we hear so much about in the resukts and performance-driven reality of pro sports.
Amerks chead coach Dan Lambert's job is to develop and prepare the organizational prospects for situations like these when star players become injured. However, the show must go on. The Sabres earned 3 of 6 points on the wstern roadie, and could have had more had they defeated Calgary in OT.
Lambert wasted no time at all getting Baptiste, Fasching and Nelson into the lineup on Friday night.
The Amerks were led by Taylor Fedun's goal and assists, Cal O'Reilly's two assists and Cole Schneider's two assists .
Linus Ullmark stopped 32 of the 34 shots he faces to improve his record to 2-1-0.
In the second period, Kasperi Kapanen made it 1-0 Marlies, however, the Amerks scored teh next three goals and never looked back.
Fedun's PPG was followed bya 200 foot beauty by Fasching. Justin Bailey scored a PPG in the first minute of the third period to give Rochester the two goal lead.
Toronto scored to make it a one goal game and then Casey Nelson kit the lamop to preserve Rochetser's two goal bulge.
Dan Catenacci scored into the open net to cinch the 5-2 Rochester win.
The Amerks travel to Binghampton tonight where the kids will once again have the opportunity to impress the Buffalo brass who will be in the house, taking notes.
I call is "Rochester American Idol".
The kids step out onto the big stage, under the harshness of the bright lights to perform for Simon Cowell, er, Tim Murray. If you check all the boxes and impress the judges, you get an invitation to Hollywood, which in this metaphor is being played by the city of Buffalo.
Nerves always play a big role in this process. The kids who can convert their butterflies and anxiety into fuel, focus and flwless performances will advance to the show.
So, which Amerk forwards are the ones to watch for Sunday's call-ups to Buffalo?
Here are your contestants:
Cole Schneider: 2G, 4A in first 4 games of season; 1.50 points per game
Alex Nylander: 1G, 3A in 4 games played; 1 point per game
Cal O'Reilly: 1G, 4A in 4 games played; 1.25 point per game
Hudson Fasching: 1G in 1 game played; 1 point per game
Justin Bailey: 2G in 4 games played; 40% shooting %; .50 points per game.
Nick Baptiste: 1G, 1A in 2 games played
The Sabres only have 12 healthy forwards and six healthy defensemen. The bare minimums to fill out an NHL roster card.
**
My take on the next round of call ups:
Were I a betting man, I'd double down on the two Williamsville Sabres, Cole Schneider and Justin Bailey, earning the next two call ups for the trip to Philly, annd perhaps beyond.
Baptiste is my wild card.
What have we learned about the 2016-17 Sabres?
They are creating chances but cannot bury their chances. The Savres now find themselves ranked 19th in goals for while averaging just 2.75 goals for per game.
Dan Bylsma has to find more goal scoring from his forwards and D.
They have scored just seven goals while at 5v5 in four games played. Buffalo have landed 103 shots on enemy goalies and have only converted on seven of those chance.
The Sabres have scored four PPG in those four games, however, Ryan O'Reilly and Matt Moulson have scored 2 PPG apiece. The Sabres PP currently ranks #13 in the NHL standings at just 19% success rate. Losing two PP monsters in Jack Eichel and Evander Kane to long term injuries in the first week of the NHL season will harsh your mellow in a hurry. Those injuries are in the rear view mirror. Bylsma and teh Sabres must adapt and overcome.
Adding Schneider and Bailey to the PP units that already include ROR, Okposo, Moulson, Ristolainen.
The Sabres have lost their last two games by a single goal.
My prescription for all that ails the Savres right now:
More shots, more zone time, more scoring chances, more goals for. Also, more physicalityon the walls in all three zones will agitate opponents and cause them to lose their cool and take dumb penalties which will result in more power play attempts for Buffalo.
Did you know that the Sabres have earned only 5 power play opportunities on home ice while being rewarded with 16 such PP Opps on the road?
This number isn't as lopsided as it appears because they have played just one game on home ice thus far. They travel to Philly on Tuesday and should expect only 4 PP Opps (road average).
However, they come home for home games on Thursday (Minnesota) and Saturday (Florida). They will travel to Winnipeg on Sunday, Minnesota on Tuesday November 1 and will be home to Tronto on November.
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