Sabres Goalie Controversy

2 games into the preseason. 2 goalies that are 1-0. Mika Noronen is the next between the pipes. Darcy Reiger and Lindy Ruff do not have an easy decision facing them if all goaltenders sparkle in the preseason as they have so far. From what I have seen Ryan Miller is playing stronger than Biron right now. He faced more shots in his win and won by the same score. Miller also outplayed Marty in the Thursday night scrimagge I saw. Noronen is the wildcard here. If he plays well too he might be the most attractive option to trade away.

Mika has a low salary and like Mika Kipprusoff in Calgary he is a Finn and maybe a steal for whatever team picks him up. I still feel Biron must go.He has been the starter since Hasek left has yet to lead the team to the playoffs. No one else on the team has been as many chances in net and failed so consistently.

This 2-0 start needs to carry over into the regular season or else the Sabres will get lost in the Bills hysteria. Preseason is like cotton candy, it's nice and sweet but ultimately it will not leave you satisfied. A good regular season start would be like a nice steak dinner with a twice baked potato and salad with house dressing. Sabres fans will be fully satisfied and happy to buy tickets for a second helping.

Preseason Fiesta

For one night hockey was again king in Buffalo. Thanks to cheap tickets and a Saturday night the Sabres faithful packed the house for their first look at their hometeam in almost a year and a half. This was a preseason that meant nothing. It's an encouraging for the franchise that the fans do love hockey and will support the product if it is affordable and entertaining.
Affordable means different things to different people but I don't think $5.50 was beyond many fans definition of affordable. Even more importantly the product on the ice was entertaining. With no offseason transactions to get the fans excited the team needs to start strong or risk getting washed away by Buffalo Bills hysteria. A preseason game is usually not where strong starts are made, that is usually dedicated to the regular season, but a poor showing before an almost full house on Saturday night could have brought out the boo-birds and certainly could have lost some fans that might have considered buying tickets. Nobody wants to see the same old Sabres of the past three seasons that missed the playoffs. Sabres fans want a winner and will only pay to see a winner.
This was possibly one of the most important preseason games in Sabres history. Thankfully Thomas Vanek rose to the occasion, scoring both the game tying and game winning goals. A win is a win but who scored was even more important. Vanek is the future of the franchise. He represents the build from within policy that Darcy Reiger has been using for the past few years. If only for one night Vanek vindicated that policy. He may have even sold a few more seats for the boss upstairs. Vanek is the player the fans will pay to see.

Moving Marty is Best for Biron

After witnessing the Sabres practice in HSBC arena on Thursday night my emotions can be explained in one word, excited. I was excited to be watching NHL hockey, I was excited to see the ice, I was excited to hear the sounds. I will be bursting out of my pants for the preseason game against the Capitals on Saturday. It is starting to sink in. That feeling that only comes at the start of an NHL season, when anything is possible and even the most passive team in the offseason is in first place if only for a couple hours. The playoffs are within reach. With apologies to two turn tables and a microphone This is truly where it's at.
I couldn't help but notice that Marty Biron was the weaker of the two goaltenders. Both Biron and Ryan Miller made some stellar saves but what was more telling were the saves Biron failed to make. A slapshot from the top of the faceoff circle and a Rory Fitzpatrick penalty shot are chances an NHL goaltender must stop, at least an NHL goaltender that can help the Buffalo Sabres must stop. I have not seen Mika Noronen yet but based on salary, Biron is the most attractive candidate to be shipped out. His experience should also make him more marketable to other teams as well. He deserves a chance to play somewhere else. This is Ryan Miller's team now. Marty is just keeping his seat warm until he arrives. The loss of Miro Satan is being greated with muted cheers in the Buffalo lockeroom. Recent articles in the Buffalo News have quoted mutiple players saying that Miro did not have any chemistry with the players in Buffalo and it may have been best for him to move on. Chemistry is all well and good but Satan was still the teams leading scorer in 6 of the last 7 seasons the Sabres iced a team. For Buffalo to just let him go without getting anything in return is a bad move by Darcy Regeir. If the Sabres can make the playoffs and make it interesting once they get there all will be forgiven but for now the only thing that the Sabres can do to sell tickets is to sell hope. Nothing in the offseason has made sabrenation believe that this year will be different from any other.

Bondra a Thrasher: Southeast division thoughts

Now that perennial Sabre killer Petr Bondra has signed with the Atlanta, the Thrash can now claim to have one of the most productive offseasons in the NHL. They didn't execute a wholesale roster change like the Penguins but they did complete an overhaul of their roster. With the addition of Marian Hossa and Greg Devries from Ottawa, the Thrasher increased their scoring up front and toughness on the blue line. Speaking of toughness, the addition of Bobby Holik will give A-town some much needed grit. They have questions in net but Bob Hartley is doing a good job of selling the team into believing they can have success.
I like Atlanta to contend for second place in the Southeast division of the Eastern conference. I say second because the Lightning should easily run away from the competition. The Canes improved but are still unproven in goal. The Panthers have some issues in net as well after an offseason that saw Mike Keenan take team MVP Roberto Luongo to arbitration. Luongo will respond with a great season out of spite but the new equipment rules may hurt him. The additions of Gary Roberts and Joe Nieuwendyk add experience but I don't see them scoring more than 20 goals apiece.
The Capitals need Alexander Ovechkin to live up to the hype. He will but that doesn't mean he can keep the puck out his own net. With Brendan Witt unhappy, they have issues on the blueline. Olaf Kolzig is committed to this team which is commendable but the workload he will now be shouldering will take a season or two off of his playing career.
The Lightning rule. The lose of Khabibulin is balanced by the addition of Sean Burke and the ascension of John Grahame. Either of these guys is capable of greatness and the offense and defense is still stellar.

McKee: Being Loyal Doesn't Get You Paid

You have to love Jay McKee. He is a soldier. Playing through pain and injury is part of his character. He is also a class act. While he has gone from a team that was a perennial Stanley Cup contender to a celler dweller without switching cities he has publicly stated that he wants to stay with the Buffalo Sabres. It makes sense. His wife is Buffalonian. He has lived here for almost ten years.
Being loyal doesn't get you very far in the NHL, especially with the bottom line watching Buffalo Sabres. In a move that Money Ball GM Billy Beane would be proud of, Darcy Reiger has not budged on his value of Jay McKee, saying he is "injury prone", meaning the longest tenured Sabres will most likely be going the way of Satan and Zhitnik come next summer or even sooner if the Sabres are out of the playoff chase.
Only looking at the botttom line is to narrow of a perspective when considering the wider dynamics that make a hockey team work. Jay McKee may have had injury problems in the past but what he brings to the lockeroom even when hurt certainly justifies a greater effort on Darcy Reiger's part to sign him to a long term deal.
Being injury prone is a weak excuse at best. Can't we just have some honestly and say he wants too much money. If the Sabres were not siging players because they are delicate flowers that could be mangled by a hockey dashing down the ice the Sabres would not have resigned Jochen Hecht or taken a chance on Teppo "Bad Heart" Numminen.

Where's the Hate?

Some of us welcome the new collective bargaining agreement. A level playing field. No more big spending teams. This can only help the Sabres.

Well those are all true but consider these two points. Big spending teams were always an enemy of the Sabres. Who didn't hate the Flyers or Rangers? They had the money and were not afraid to flex their financial strength. It was even better that the Rangers floundered in mediocrity as a result of misdirected spending. It was even better when the high powered, high priced Mapleleafs would struggle while playing the Sabres in HSBC arena. I can still hate the Rangers but I have no reason to now. When the Rangers come to town it's just another team, not a living breathing example of what is wrong with the game.

From a management standpoint the Sabres have no more excuses for not fielding a competitive team. Everyone is on the same playing field. It all falls on managements shoulders to develop quality players and attract quality free agents. The Cleveland Indians model is a great example in baseball of a team developing talent and creating a great team. Hockey may have more challenges with the way the new collective bargaining agreement handles minor leaguers in developing homegrown talent. Management must handle it though. It's what they are paid to do. This is what they wanted. Salary is not enough to attract a player. The team must make itself attractive, like a college recruiting a high schooler. Maybe the Sabres should take some lessons from UB Basketball coach Reggie Witherspoon on recruiting. The man brought Turner Battle to Buffalo. Without any free agent signings to excite the fans, Sabres may need some help in bringing the talent.