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Blashill paid Sabres de facto boss Ryan O'Reilly a tremendous compliment by comparing him to one of Detroit's future Hall Of Fame leaders.
"O'Reilly's a Zetterberg-type player, real strong on skates, real strong two-way player," Blashill said.
Blashill knows a stud when he sees one. The similarities are obvious. No, I'm not talking about the trademark beard that ROR and Hank both rock.
Both men are relentless workers. They hate to lose and are never satisfied with their game. They want to constantly get better. They are team first. The swallow pucks like Kirby vacuum cleaner.
O'Reilly is having a Hart, Selke, and Lady Byng Trophy trifecta season.
His 10 goals and 17 assists put him in 19th place overall in NHL scoring.
ROR leads the Sabres in scoring and TOI.
"The Factor" leads all NHL forwards in TOI with 21:51 minutes per game. ROR also leads the NHL in faceoff win percentage with a 58.6% win rate.
O'Reilly is the most complete player that the Sabres have seen since Chris Drury.
Zetterberg is a first ballot Hall Of Famer and he continues to inspire his younger teammates and contribute in all three zone at age 35.
In 866 career regular season games, Zetterberg has scored 301 goals and has added 509 assists for 810 points. He is an amazing +164.
In 132 playoff games, Zetterberg has scored 56 goals and added 63 assists for 119 points. He is +38 in the playoffs.
O'Reilly is only 24 years old, however, he has already distinguished himself as one of the best two way centers in the NHL for the past seven seasons.
O'Reilly's career body or work puts him in a class of players with difference makers like Jonathon Toews and Anze Kopitar. The only thing Toews. Kopitar and Zetterberg have that O'Reilly doesn't have is his name on the Stanley Cup.
God willing, ROR will be as special a player at age 35 as Zetterberg is today.
Blashill also praised Evander Kane and Jack Eichel
"Kane is an elite skater with a good skill-set. Obviously, there's more. Obviously, (Jack) Eichel's a big addition as well. So they're a much improved team from a year ago certainly".
No love for Rasmus Ristolainen, Samson Reinhart, and Jamie McGinn Blash?
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The good news is the Detroit Red Wings have earned points in their past 13 games.
They are 8-0-5 during their point-guzzling streak.
Not bad, eh?
Most NHL head coaches would sleep comfortably knowing that their teams are stacking pints and distancing their teams from opponents in the Eastern Conference.
Not Jeff Blashill.
The rookie head coach and Mike Babcock clone is concerned about his team's lack of structure.
The Wings are getting sloppy with the puck and that is not sitting well with Blashill.
The Wings have allowed 16 goals against in their last six games ever since the Buffalo Sabres struck for four goals in a shootout loss in Detroit on November 30.
The Winged Wheel have allowed more quality scoring chances lately. They are turning pucks over at an alarming rate which is counter intuitive to the trademarked and copyrighted Red Wings way.
"I think we're turning too many pucks over, taking too much risk," Blashill told MLive.com.
"I want to be able to have reward without lots of risk. I think the challenge to be an offensive team is to also be a really good defensive team.
"In the last three or four games, we've swung to where we've had too many turnovers and we've given up too many easy chances, mostly because of risk or poor decisions, so we have to eliminate that."
Dan Bylsma and the Sabres would be wise to push the pace and deliver heavy body checks against the Wings on Monday night. The Sabres won aggressive, physical game against Milan Lucic and the LA Kings on Saturday night.
When they create turnovers they are a quick-strike transition team capable of dominating an opponent's D with puck possession, skill, and speed.
In many ways this vintage of Sabres are like the Red Wings.
The Red Wings are 12-0-1 in their past 13 against the Sabres.
Buffalo scored a shootout win against the Wings last season.
The Wings are 31-5-2-2 in their past 40 games against the Sabres.
At Joe Louis Arena, Detroit has won eight in a row and is 16-0-1 in its past 17 against the Sabres
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If you happened to be at HARBORCenter late Sunday morning, you weren't seeing a mirage in one of the nets.
Yes. You were seeing with your own two eyes injured Sabres goalie Robin Lehner who was participating in a post practice on ice session with his goalie coach. Injured forwards Tyler Ennis and Cody McCormick also participated in the sesh.
And in case you were wondering about Robin Lehner, he's alive, too. pic.twitter.com/RwqOXgLnZH
— John Vogl (@BuffNewsVogl) December 13, 2015
3 goalies: As practice is ending, Robin Lehner joins Ullmark & Johnson on the ice. pic.twitter.com/lLi2AR0FGw
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) December 13, 2015
I'm confiused.
Didn't Damien Cox tell us on HNIC's "Saturday Headlines" segment that Lehner is still 3-4 weeks away from returning from his high ankle sprain injury?
Cox reported that Lehner suffered a setback while skating last week and now his return appears to be a month, or more away.
Lehner injured his ankle while playing goal against his former team the Ottawa Senators in the second period of his Sabres debut on opening night on October 8.
Thanks, Sportsnet
Cox also noted that the 6'5… Lehner checked in at 255 lbs. when training camp began in September. It's understandable that Lehner's hockey conditioning would be suffering considering he was off the ice from February 14 until he skated in captain's practices in Buffalo in early August. Lehner has been off the ice for 8 of the 12 months in the calendar year 2015.
If Cox's story is correct, the Sabres won't be seeing Lehner until mid-January or possibly later.
Lehner will not be in NHL game condition when he finally returns to the Buffalo lineup. The Sabres will likely send the hulking Swede to AHL Rochester for a few conditioning games.
The original timetable at the onset of his high ankle sprain pegged Lehner's return at 8-10 weeks. Here we are 9 weeks into this confusing matter and we are no closer to a solution.
Lehner may not start a game for the Sabres late January or early February.
Lehner has been skating with his goaltending coach either before or after team practices and on home ice while the team was out west last week.
Other than seen the hulking Swede walking around the arena in his walking boot not many people from the outside world have seen Lehner skate no make goalie movements and tracking exercises while on the ice.
Was Sunday's photo opp during the Sabres skate Tim Murray and Dan Bylsma's way of saying:
"What setback"? to the hockey media in Toronto?
Or, is it just a baby step in the right direction of Lehner's healing process?
Inquiring minds want to know.