Kane Giving Back (sabres)

The Buffalo Sabres are a dramatically different team today that they were last April when the Chicago Blackhawks beat them 4-3.

The Blackhawks swept last season's series.

Jonathan Toews (2G, 2A) and Andrew Shaw (1G, 3A) led the team over those two contests.

Buffalo enters Saturday's matinee with three wins in their last four games, including a 3-0 drubbing of Anaheim on Thursday night, while Chicago finished a four-game homestand with a 4-0 win over Edmonton. The Hawks allowed just two goals in those four games.

When the puck drops at 1pm today, the Hawks will notice a dramatically improved Buffalo lineup than the one they faced last season.

Buffalo General Manager Tim Murray followed through on his promises to turn over his roster in teh off season.

Murray shocked the hockey world at the 2015 draft by making his second blockbuster trade of the 2015 calendar year by hooking up with Colorado to acquire center Ryan O'Reilly and power forward Jamie McGinn. The Factor centers the Buffalo top line with Samson Reinhart and McGinn. O'Reilly leads the Sabres with 28 points (11G, 17A) in 33 games this season. He leads all NHL forwards with 21:50 TOI per game and ranks third with a 59% faceoff win percentage. O'Reilly has 13 points on the power play . With ROR, Evander Kane, Samson Reinhart, Jack Eichel, Rasmus Ristolainen and putting PP points on the score sheet, the Sabres have transformed into a top 5 PP unit after ranking 30th in the NHL last season.

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When I look at Jamie McGinn off the ice, I see a Buffalo guy. He's not your stereotypical NHL player. He's not all about the Hugo Boss gear and the expensive European loafers.

If you saw him at a pizzeria on Chippewa you'd just think he was another kid from Cheektowaga or Niagara. McGinn is a jeans and t-shirt guy who sports a scruffy beard to hide the scuff marks and bruises that he collects like trophies from collisions with enemy defenseman.

McGinn has calluses and dry skin on his hands. He wears his dirt and grime under his fingernails like a badge of honor.

That's how the 27 year old Fergus, Ontario native rolls. He is a working man's working man. He will give you an honest day's work for an honest day's pay. No falsh, no toe drags, no dangles, no snipes. Just an in-your-face, stomp on your soul physicalmstyle.

McGinn can play effectively on all four forward lines. He'd probably excel on defense if Dan Bylsma told him he needed to play there.

McGinn is not allergic to hard work. He thrives on it.

Hard work will beat talent when talent refuses to work hard.

McGinn was not a throw-in piece in the Ryan O'Reilly trade with Colorado last June. Tim Murray demanded that Joe Sakic and Patrick Roy include McGinn in the deal due to his tireless work ethic and leadership qualities. McGinn starred for the Ottawa 67s at the same time that Murray was assistant general manager with the Ottawa Senators. Murray scouted McGinn in his own hockey backyard.

McGinn works harder than the majority of guys in his room. He has to. He wasn't blessed with amazing God given talent. He has to rely on his smarts and his work ethic to succeed.

It would be easy to mistake him for a construction worker, a UPS driver or a car mechanic. McGinn is an every man. He represents Buffalo's working class heroes the same way that Matt Ellis, Cody McCormick, Adam Mair, Pat Kaleta, and and otherrs have. Short on talent, long on effort, McGinn doesn't take shortcuts. He goes the long way. He doesn't go through the motions. He takes his time and hones his craft. He plays the way he practices. That's why Sabres fans have immediately shown their appreciation for #88.

On Thursday morning, I asked McGinn about the unique and unmistakable chemistry that he shares with Ryan O'Reilly. I call McGinn and Ryan O'Reilly the “Irish Mafia…. They remind me of gritty, tough characters from the TV series “Boardwalk Empire… or a James Cagney black and white movie from 70 years ago. One has a missing front tooth and a twinkle in his eyes. The other has a scruffy beard and broad shoulders that are wider than a NHL linebacker.

Friends of mine in Denver told me that McGinn and O'Reilly were great friends on and off the rink when they played together with the Colorado Avalanche.

So, how did McGinn and O'Reilly meet? “I'm trying to think. Did I play against him in “The O…? I do remember watching him years ago. I played for the junior Canadiens growing up and that's where he came from, that organization. So, I had seen him play. I was a little older than him but heard about him and stuff before but we never knew each other personally until Colorado….

The last time I witnessed immediate chemistry on and off the ice like I have with McGinn and O'Reilly was when Mike Grier and Chris Drury played for the Sabres. That's the best example I can give you. It's not hyperbole. It's the truth. McGinn and O'Reilly perform so well together on the ice because they enjoy one another's company off the ice.

On Thursday night, McGinn scored his seventh goal of the season in typical McGinn fashion. He went to the blue ice, harassed John Gibson and the Anaheim D, and was richly rewarded.

Buffalo Sabres fans continue to gravitate to and embrace McGinn because he is the hardest working man on the ice on most shifts.

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McGinn told me that he absolutely loves playing in Buffalo. He knew of Buffalo's love for hockey before the trade and he is amazed by it everyday.

“When I was traded to Buffalo, I knew what kind of town it was like and I was like “that's the right town for me and my game…. Its the right fit for my style of hockey. I hope that I continue to give is my work ethic and to let them know I am here to play. I'm here to work and I always have my teammates' backs. "

With Ryan and Reinhart playing my line right now, when things are going well we are just having fun doing it. Going to the net. When things are going well it starts with our work ethic. That's when we are having the most fun. When I was traded here the one thing that stuck out about Buffalo was how much I love the fans and how passionate they are and how they get behind us….

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I asked McGinn about his habit of ending as many shifts as possible in the enemy's blue ice.

“That's where I belong. If the puck drops the I get the rebound. I just stand there and show that I am not afraid and I'm ready for anything. It just shows that I'm always ready and engaged in the game. If the whistle already goes I just want to stand there. I'm just going to wait it out. I'm kind of stubborn. Defensemen can take a penalty to get me out of there….

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Welcome back Tyler Ennis.

The "Water Bug" has missed 15 games with an upper body injury that he suffered on November 25.

Enzo will make his long awaited return to the lineup on Saturday afternoon against Patrick Kane and the Blackhawks.

Ennis will skate alongside Jack Eichel and Evander Kane.

Ennis has 3 goals and 7 assists in 19 games this season.

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The Sabres have sent Cal O'Reilly back to Rochester.

O'Reilly was playing in place of Marcus Foligno who was injured in the Detroit game on Monday night. Foligno missed the New Jersey and Anaheim games. Bylsma used Cal O'Reilly in Foligno's place.

O'Reilly collected an assist in the two games that he played for the Sabres this week.

This will not be the last time we see O'Reilly in Buffalo this season. I thought that COR was excellent in the New Jersey and Anaheim games. COR is such a slick passer and play maker. He could have had 4 assists on Thursday night.

Buffalo's line trios for Saturday:

McGinn-ROR-Reinhart Kane-Eichel-Ennis Girgensons-Larsson-Gionta *Moulson-Legwand-Deslauriers

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Evander Kane is a great ambassador for the Buffalo Sabres in the Western New York community.

On Friday night, Kane treated 50 Buffalo kids to a delicious gourmet meal at the landmark Italian restaurant Chef's in downtown Buffalo.

Kane also presented each child with a $200 Target gift card so that they can buy gifts for themselves and their families this Christmas.

Thanks. WGRZ TV

Evander knows that sharing means caring.

Thanks, Evander

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