Top line shake up

           Lindy Ruff lost Jhonas Enroth somewhere along the line, and Ron Rolston appears to have found him. The Sabres back up net minder has stopped over 90 shots in his last 3 outings, averaging a SV% of .950 over the course of them. This is the Enroth that nearly scrapped together a playoff run when Ryan Miller went down 2 seasons ago.  Steve Ott's promotion to the top line, was rewarded not once but twice, including the game winner in OT. It's taken 30 games but breaking up the top line and spreading out some of the high talent players is something fans have been vocal about all year under Ruff. Pairing Pominville, Hodgson, Ott and Vanek, Ennis, Leino gives the Sabres a slightly different look, and forces the competition to play them a little differently. During the second period Thomas Vanek was hit by a shot and left the game. The energy Ott brings to the table is second to none, especially on this team. Something that spreads to guys like Pat Kaleta or youngsters Marcus Foligno and Brian Flynn, setting an example for the rest of the team that hard work pays off. So when a player of Vanek's caliber goes down, the next man up mentality has to kick in.

        With Thomas Vanek out tonight in Toronto due to a hip injury, the Sabre's are going to need that energy again. It wasn't lock down defense or smart possession play that won the game against Montreal, in fact between the end of the first period and 8 mins left in the game Buffalo registered only 3 shots on goal. For once it was winning puck battles in the gritty areas down deep, and out working the other team that put them on top. If they want to continue winning, with no Vanek, they will need the same type of effort, from everyone on the roster, lines 1-4. Miller back between the pipes and big John Scott is expected to fill Vanek's roster spot, leaving Nathan Gerbe a healthy scratch for the second game.

Guess who?

            There is a very good chance the Buffalo Sabres will go from having the same coach for 16 years to having 3 coaches in less than 12 months. Although its possible Mr. Rolston will turn the team around force Terry to keep him behind the bench for a while, I wanted to take a look at him and the other possible and somewhat probable candidates. I've also included links to their HockeyDB pages so you can check out their résumé's.

Ron Rolston

Let's start with the guy currently behind the bench, He got the call just 2 days ago, having less than 12 hours to prepare himself for his first NHL coaching appearance. The team hasn't helped him much, but Coach Rolston has held it together nicely, handling the media train fairly well for a coach in his position. He's spent 2 years behind the bench in Rochester coaching many of the same players he will in Buffalo, including Ryan Miller. Prior to that he spent 7 years working with US national team development program, getting teams ready for international tournaments, coaching his teams to 3 gold medals in the IIHF U-18's. He's also coached for Boston College. Ron Rolston brings to the table the seemingly limitless ability to progress and excel a young players career, which he has done countless times preparing players for the blue and gold. His hockey sense and simplistic approach may make it a little easier on the transition. If ownership decides to keep him in Buffalo they need to be sure of his ability to deal with superstar and professional talent. Ego's and attitudes are magnified especially in physical sports. Whether or not Rolston will handle them fluently, only time will tell. Although superstars weren't always far away, he is the older brother of Stanley cup winning Brian Rolston.

Phil Housley

Housley is an ex sabre captain, and NHL veteran. A Sabres first round draft pick in '82 who played with the team for 8 years, and spent 20 years in the league. Most recently he coached the U.S. juniors team a gold medal at the 2013 world juniors in Russia. Housley played with Ruff his entire time in Buffalo. His relationship with the team and his coaching career seemingly just beginning its hard not to connect the theoretical dots. Limited experience behind the bench leaves the possibility of assistant or associate at first. Maybe the core veterans on this team could use someone else who's been through it. 

Randy Cunneyworth

The first man on this list with previous Head Coaching experience is ex- Sabre and former Canadians interim head coach Randy Cunneyworth. Should the Sabres look at him, he would bring a gritty hardworking style behind the bench. Upon his retirement, he went straight to work on the Sabres' AHL coaching staff, where he was a head coach for nearly a decade, missing the playoffs just twice in 8 years. He then went to the Canadians AHL counterpart for 1 season leading them deep into the playoffs, and next season was promoted to assistant coach under Jacques Martin. When the Habs sputtered out of the gate, Cunneyworth got the call. He only coached 51 games and went 18-23, but was never truly given a fair shake. Not speaking french or being Canadian made him easily unlikable to a rabid fan base who's team was in disarray. A fact GM Pierre Gauthier solidified when upon the coaches promotion, apologized to the Canadians fans for Cunneyworth being American/speaking English. Cunneyworth's close ties to Buffalo and AHL coaching career should make the list.



Franchise ties aside, I'd like to take a look at some outside possibilities. Bringing in someone completely new wouldn't be a terrible thing. Assessing candidates on their outside accomplishments without the blinders of them being an ex-player might be just what the doctor ordered.  Also these are all re-treads, I personally would prefer someone with some NHL coaching in their background, however I think the Sabres will go with new blood.

First up Scott Gordon, the current Toronto Maple Leafs asst coach and ex NY Islanders head coach was a stud in the AHL. Consistently taking the Providence Bruins to winning records and playoff appearances. However his start in the NHL was shaky at best coaching the teams that GM Garth Snow and owner Charles Wang scraped together. But I wont fault Gordon for that, the leafs wasted no time scooping him up the next season.

Paul Maruice, I know there is no chance in hell this is going to happen. The ex Hurricanes coach is happy behind the bench of KHL's Metallurg Magnitogorsk. However he's stated he would return to the NHL in the right situation with the right offer. If it happens I'd imagine he wouldn't be in a head coaching position anyway.

Patrick Roy, that's right. The man himself. Currently head coach of the Quebec Remparts in the QMJHL. When Lindy was fired Roy's agent commented on how he would like to explore options in the NHL. I don't know what to think about this but you never know, and its definitely worth mentioning.

CoHo last minute dangles not enough .. car 4-3 buf

CAR 4-3 BUF

CoHo dangles not enough

          The sabres were back to their old ways Tuesday night and even a slick dangle from Cody Hodgson was to little to late. Being sloppy in their own end and only showing up for half a game isn't what won them 3 games in a row, or what sparked them to score a shorthanded goal against the Rangers down 2-1 in the 3rd to tie it up, stealing a point. Ryan Miller looked exhausted he needs to rest, 14 straight starts including 3 games in the past 4 nights have taken their toll on the goaltender. But the team can't continue to take shifts or entire periods off, and expect things to turn around on their own. Twice tonight poor shifts right after scoring lead to goals for the hurricanes and took away any momentum that appeared to be building. Ron Rolston has his hands full trying to deal with the poor decision making that usually ends up in the back of our own net. Rotating D-men in and out every game doesn't help, whether due to injury or coaches decisions. 

        That said the Sabres are 3-1-1 in their last 5 and have been playing better. Vanek returned from injury and appeared to hurt his hand in the game, no mention in the post game though. TJ Brennan who recorded a 108 mph slap shot during the AHL skills competition, netted his first of the season at the end of a 5-3 powerplay. I'd like to see him quarterback the powerplay more often as Myers has proven to be ineffective in that role. Sabres will hop a flight to NJ and get right back at it Thursday, maybe playing a team they recently beat will give them confidence going into the game. And lets not forget Ryan Miller and devils forward Adam Henrique chirping at each other just a few nights ago.

Where has hockey gone?

        I'm not sure what to think about the Patrick Kaleta suspension. It didn't surprise me, that a repeat offender would get suspended for such a hit. But the amount of hate the man is taking for if anything was a light shove is ridiculous. It bothers me that their is a double standard of being judged by what team you play for and how big your market is. Tyler Ennis took 2 hits from both Rick Nash and Dan Girardi, that were if judged by impact to the body or head, worse than the Richards hit. But because Dan Girardi plays in New York and Tyler Ennis isn't a "superstar" he only gets a boarding call. Perhaps Ennis should've laid strewn across the ice, giving an oscar worthy acting performance like Richards. The league continually decides its suspensions by market size and uses smaller markets as punching bags. And to give an idea of who the league is appeasing I saw some ranger fans on twitter saying its " the worst hit I've ever seen ". I have a hard time understanding that, if they had any knowledge of the games past they would know far darker events lurk in the NHL's recent past. Chara on Pacioretty, Cooke on Savard, Bertuzzi on Moore. Let's not forget this is the same game Scott Stevens played. I know it's one of your star players but have we forgotten what game were playing? You decide..

Remember the only suspension in any of these hits was Kaleta and it was 5 games.

The wheels haven't fallen off.. yet

       So somehow the Sabres held it together this weekend, it wasn't perfect by any means, but we beat the Devils, then went into MSG and stole a point. We totally should've lost the game even though we out played the Rangers most of the game. We took a penalty and Pat Kaleta sneezed on Brad Richards sending him violently into the boards making it a 5 on 3 and earning a misconduct. The rags scored 2 on the ensuing powerplay and the Sabres were down a goal. Nathan Gerbe would pull the Sabres back even short-handed with nine seconds left in the penalty. Sending the sabres into their 2nd extra period in 2 nights. Sabres got a powerplay in OT but could not capitalize. Ryan Miller playing his 13th straight and 2nd of back to back shootouts did not have the gas left, and the shooters did nothing to help his cause as lundqvist made saves on Pominville and Ennis. I like that the team showed the grit to get back in the game after taking the bad penalties and allowing 2 goals. This team is learning how to roll with the punches, and possibly face another one as we're waiting to hear about the Kaleta hit, Brendon Shanahan and him will have a phone conversation at 3pm EST.

      

          More important was the first game of the weekend against the New Jersey Devils, the last home game before a road trip the Sabres wanted to impress. The game was alot more physical than expected, Kaleta got under Kovalchuk's skin right away and forced him to take a bad penalty, how ever the 2 times the Sabres got on the powerplay in the first we took penalties and nullified them. The team played better in the 2nd which we're known for going to sleep during and stuck it out to OT. Captain Jason Pominville scored twice and really carried us, Hodgson assisted on his 2 goals. Adam Henrique got a break away shorthanded on Ryan Miller early in the third and burried it. In the shoot out Pominville scored, Illya Kovalchuk missed and Ennis scored. Leaving it up to Henrique who had beat Miller earlier in the night, not this time though, as Miller would bait the Glove and take it away. He even had a few words for Mr. Henrique.. I think it went something like this, Music coutesousy of Ryan Millers subconscious.

      

      

Don't come around here no more Mr. Henrique... Next time were coming to you. Sabs will be in Carolina Tuesday and in New Jersey Thursday 2 winable contests, I'd really like to see the point streak continue..

      

Hey, it could happen...

    So I know I'm going out on a limb here but it could happen. We really do have a chance to win 3 in a row. Saturday afternoon the Sabres face the New Jersey Devils(10-6-4) who started strong but have been going through their own troubles as of late. 4-5-1 in their last 10 and 4-4-1 on the road, sounds eerily similar to the Sabres home record. I expect Ryan Miller to get his 12th consecutive start, and back up Jhonas Enroth who hasn't played since Feb. 5th, to start Sunday against the Rangers. Should make for an interesting weekend of hockey.  I'm sure Miller is eager to get some wins, and it will be the last chance for almost 2 weeks to impress a somewhat rabid fanbase, as the Sabres begin a 4 game 10 day road trip Sunday.

UPDATE:Vanek has been ruled out for Saturdays game, with an upper body injury. This is news to me. It seems anytime we face must win situations one of our players miraculously gets injured. From Miller all the way back to Hasek. Time to stand up Drew Stafford, Tyler Ennis and Cody Hodgson. I would add Tyler Myers to that group, but I think his game is slowly coming around hes a +2 in his last 5 games and has been staying out of the box. Maybe less ice time is helping him sort out his game, the points will come. I still think we end up 1-1 after Sunday, unless Vanek's injury keeps him out tomorrow, and is more serious than it appears.

   Also I'd like anyone reading this to check out my buddies blog @ http://puckoftheislander.blogspot.com/. Likes to write about Islanders and Sabres but you might see him post about anything sports related. I plan on joining our blogs together in the near future, which was the main plan but that got a little derailed. Even good for a laugh once in a while as I was in a zombie like state after a long day at work and this picture brought me out of it. 

http://puckoftheislander.blogspot.com/

    Other games I'll be keeping tabs on:  Pens@Habs & OTT@NYI i hope pens and isles whoop our divisional rivals.

Prediction: 1-1 for the weekend ... I don't see Miller losing unless the team completely gives up. But its highly probable Enroth gets a start making it REALLLY hard to see us winning both games. I'd be happy to go
1-0-1 and sneak 3 pts out of it.

Why New York Islanders fans need to ease up on Rick Dipietro

ex-coach Ted Nolan, owner Charles Wang, Rick DiPietro and GM Garth Snow.

      Recently Islanders goal-tender Rick Dipietro made some pretty startling comments about whats its been like for him over the past 6 years on Long Island. There is no doubt in my mind that a'lot of the hatred NY Islanders fans have spewed at the former all-star goaltender is warranted. Brought on by a controversial deal made by GM Garth Snow locking up Dipietro for over 15 years paying $67.5 million. A 15 year deal for a goal tender is preposterous to begin with, fans and analysts began to question the deal almost immediately. Fears were brought to life when Dipietro suffered a hip injury while mic'd up during the 2008 all star game at the skills competition. And a series of injuries and bad circumstance bring us to today, 4 years later with less than 50 games played.

      But I'm not here to jump on that bandwagon, in fact I think a'lot of what the fans blame Dipi for is really the fault of owner Charles Wang and GM Garth Snow, and the ability or lack there of to replace or maintain talent. The Islanders highest single season goal producer in the last 6 years is Jason Blake who had a 40 goal campaign in the 06-07 season at age 33. The Islanders failed to retain him the following season, at a reasonable asking price he went to the leafs and continued to prove he had 2 50-60 pt seasons left in him. Along with Blake Veteran's Ryan Smyth, Tom Poti and Viktor Kozlov all left the team, To replace them Snow brought in seasoned veteran Bill Guerin, Mike Comrie and Ruslan Fedotenko. In the 07-08 season no player would score over 50 pts and in 08-09 only newly acquired Mark Streit would record over 40 pts. They went from having 5 players with over 50 pts in 06-07, to 1 between 07-08, 08-09. It's taken 5+  years to develop home grown talent into those replacements via John Tavares, Matt Mouslon, Kyle Okposo and Michael Grabner. Goal-tending cant help you if your not putting the biscuits in the basket. Perhaps Islander fans have forgotten Dwayne Roloson made a stop here too, as well as Marty Biron and Joey Macdonald. Roloson left the Islanders at 6-10-1 only to go to the Lightning  and go 18-12-4 the same season, and win 10 games in the playoffs.

       Also all the blame for being a waste of cap space, this only matters when your team is spending to the cap limit. The Islanders are in constant battles to even hit the cap floor. Even going as far as to sign Tim Thomas who will never play a game for them just to avoid cap penalties. Islanders ownership is probably happy Dipietro's still a cap hit or they would be in real trouble. In fact signing Thomas is what enabled them to send Ricky down to the minors, ironic don't you think? The Islanders have over $16 million in cap space and Dipietro would be a $2.3 million dollar cap hit. So when your at your next Islanders or Sound Tiger games, perhaps you should think before spewing hate. Maybe think about the decisions that really got this team where it is and not make a scapegoat for who really dug this hole.