Phil Housley won’t say it outwardly, but he will in the privacy of his office.
Housley is ecstatically dancing a jig on the inside about the news that Zach Bogosian is healthy.
The reason for Housley’s gleeful mood is that December 1 marks the first time in this miserable season that Housley and D coach Chris Hajt will FINALLY have their top six defensemen playing together in a game for the first time. Marco Scandella, Rasmus Ristolainen, Jake McCabe, Viktor Antipin, Zach Bogosian and Nathan Beaulieu are finally of sound mind and body.
The Sabres have missed 124 man games to injury this season. Two-thirds of their injuries have unfortunately affected their six man starting D corps. Of his starting defensemen, only Scandella and McCabe have played in all 25 games this season.
With 66% of his D taking up residency in the trainers tub and in the urgent care, Housley and Hajt were forced to dress 2-3 AHL D per game.
No wonder the Sabres are owners of a 6-15-4 record this season. No bloody wonder.
Bogosian will make his season debut tonight when the Sabres host the defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins.
In 141 career games in Buffalo, Bogosian has scored 9 goals and 33 assists.
At the time of his untimely injury during the final period of the exhibition season season against the NY Islanders in September 29, Bogosian was moving freely and with high pace. Bogosian will crush it in Phil Housley’s five man attacking system. Bogosian will be the fourth man in the rush and he will bury his head and bust his ass to get back to his end to protect the fort.
Bogosian has himself a great summer of training which he augmented by skating with NHL and NCAA stars in Da Beauty League in Minnesota. Housley wants Bogosian to read the play, jump, join, finish, back check and be physical.
Zach Bogosian starts off the scoring for @WalserAutoGroup ! 1-0! pic.twitter.com/TxMaVcvX2K
— DaBeautyLeague (@DaBeautyLeague) July 26, 2017
Bogosian missed the first 25 games of the season after he was placed on IR on October 5. Bogosian suffered a lower body injury which his body took extra time to heal from.
On Thursday, Jason Botterill waived D Matt Tennyson, who went unclaimed. Tennyson will bolster the back end in Rochester.
Coach Housley: Zach Bogosian will be playing tonight. It’ll be intriguing to have him in the lineup. He’s a powerful skater & brings a lot of good energy for our room. We’ve missed that. #Sabres pic.twitter.com/IrJQSUl28S
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) December 1, 2017
The Sabres held an optional skate on Friday morning. However, at Thursday’s practice, Bogosian played with Nathan Beaulieu. That duo will represent against the Penguins.
Having the luxury of being able to slot his D on their appropriate duo is huge for Housley. Up until this juncture in the season, Housley and Hajt have had to adhere a “dance with who bring ya… philosophy which has cause mismatches that have led to goals against the Sabres.
Duos:
— SabresBuzz (@SabresBuzz) November 30, 2017
Scandella-Ristolainen
Bogosian-Beaulieu
McCabe-Antipin
Gorges-Falk-Tennyson
*Bogo ready