In the words of a very famous rabbit, thats all folks. The push for the playoffs came to an end for the Buffalo Sabres last night in Philadelphia after a 2-1 loss to the Flyers. If the Panthers had managed to come back and beat the Capitals last night, there would be very different conversations floating around right now.

It was heartbreaking, to say the least. The Sabres took an early lead on Ville Leino‘s 8th goal of the year, yep thats right people I said EIGHT… Either way, Leino scored late in the second period and it looked like the Sabres were going to pull off another miracle. This team is normally very strong when carrying a lead into the third, but this time they just couldn’t hold on.

Marc-Andre Bourdon tied it up on a booming shot from the blue line that found its way through a screen and past Ryan Miller. That was just around the 6 minute mark of the third period, meaning that should have been plenty of time to pull together and get something done, considering this game meant EVERYTHING for the season to continue. The Flyers responded with physical play that left the Sabres scrambling. Matt Read iced the game with his 24th of the year with 4 minutes remaining in the period.

» Continue reading “Buffalo Sabres Eliminated From Playoff Contention”

Well at least something good happened in the universe currently being occupied by the Buffalo Sabres. Marcus Foligno, who was only recently recalled from Rochester, was named the NHL’s rookie of the month for March. A solid effort by the rookie forward, combined with impressive play from his linemates Drew Stafford and Tyler Ennis, landed him on top of an impressive pack.

Foligno accumulated 12 points (5G 7A) in 11 games from March 10th against the Ottawa Senators through March 31st against the Toronto Maple Leafs…which was a disappointing loss, to the Maple Leafs… Either way, at least we have a rookie to be proud of, since any hopes of making the playoffs are dwindling by the day, unless the Caps play the Lightning, because then Super Stammer saves the day. Anywhooooo… congrats Marcus!!

Well, for the Buffalo Sabres, its not over yet. After another dominating win against the Washington Capitals last night, that hope is growing into something real. Two months ago, this team was in the middle of a franchise record road losing streak and was sitting in the basement of the Eastern Conference and now they managed to turn a ten point gap into the eighth and final playoff spot. At least thats where they sit today.

Currently the Sabres are on a 5 game win streak after posting dominating wins against Tampa Bay, Montreal, the New York Rangers, Minnesota and Washington. Through this current streak, the Sabres have outscored their opponents 22-6, thanks in large part to the line of Drew Stafford-Tyler Ennis-Marcus Foligno and the stellar play of Ryan Miller.

» Continue reading “Buffalo Sabres Seize 8th Place From Caps”

Now this is what the Buffalo Sabres were expecting when they rewarded Drew Stafford with his contract extension. His two goals last night continued to prove that all he needed was the right line mate’s to awaken him from his slumber for most of the season. In his last 6 games, he has 12 points and has had separate 3 point games. Stafford has been a streaky player through out his career and tends to score in bunches, but many get the sense that this time seems to be a little different.

His line mates, Tyler Ennis and recent call-up Marcus Foligno, have certainly helped bring out what many believe is the “real” Drew Stafford. Foligno has played in 8 total NHL games, his first coming back in December against the Senators. While his name didn’t appear on the scoresheet that night, many were excited to see what the youngest Foligno had to offer. In his next appearance, which was 7 games ago, he would score his first goal. After that he was promoted to the line with Ennis and Stafford and the rest in pretty much history. Foligno has accumulated 10 points in 7 games, including 5 goals.

» Continue reading “Will The Real Drew Stafford Please Stand Up?”

In just his second NHL game, Marcus Foligno came through big time for the Buffalo Sabres last night. He outmuscled Sergei Gonchar behind the Ottawa Senators net late in the third period and threw the puck to the front of the crease, probably hoping Drew Stafford would redirect it in. Unbeknownst to him, or anyone else at first, Foligno was the last Sabre to touch the puck before it careened on over Ben Bishop’s shoulder. Check out the goal here!

Just for some background on the last few days for Foligno, here’s his pre-game interview

And finally, my favorite, Foligno in the locker room post-game. Look at that smile!

Well its official Sabres fans, we finally have a full time captain, Mr. Jason Pominville!!  The team announced today at their team dinner in Helsinki, Finland that Pominville will serve as the captian for the 2011-2012 season.  Paul Gaustad, Drew Stafford, Derek Roy and Thomas Vanek will serve as the assistants.

This may come as a surprise to some, considering many thought Vanek would be our next captain, but I personally felt Pominville should have been the captain forever and a year ago (then we could have avoided the Rivet debacle).  When Pommer wore the ‘C’ for the last few months of the 2007-2008 season, the team was successful in terms of that season posting an 8-6-3 record and scoring 57 goals in 17 games.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEpr8moQBPs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnwUYahu3Bc

What are your thoughts on this decision?  Give me the good, the bad, the AWESOME!  Clearly you can all see where my stance is, now tell me yours!

Well the awesomeness in Pegulaville just keeps on coming.  They Sabres made a splash on the first day of free agency by signing forward Ville Leino to a 6 year contract worth $27 million.  Another awesome deal, at least in my mind. Leino is still young and should have no problem adjusting to Lindy’s system and he would look mighty nice centering a line with Jason Pominville and Tyler Ennis/Drew Stafford/Thomas Vanek.  He’s big and is not afraid to play in front of the net, which is something this team has lacked outside of the services of Paul Gaustad and Vanek.  I’m looking forward to seeing how Lindy works him into the fold and cna’t wait to see that beautiful shot next season.

To keep up with some of the grit, the Sabres also re-signed forward Cody McCormick to a multi-year deal.  I love McCormick, seriously though he’s one of my favorites, and couldn’t be more excited to have him back.  The combo of McCormick, Gaustad and Kaleta makes for quite the thundering third line, with McCormick leading the way with 16 fighting majors last season.

On a side note, Tim Connolly is GONE!!!!! I don’t even care that he signed with the Maple Leafs, thats how excited the city of Buffalo is to be done with his injury riddled self.  The contract is of course absurd, I mean really, would you pay a middle of the road (at best) center, who is hurt more than he is healthy $4.75 million A YEAR… Thats $750,000 more than he was making in Buffalo.  Either way, enjoy him Toronto, that is if you ever get to see him play.

Stay tuned, because there is no way this team is finished yet. There are still 4 RFA’s (Enroth, Gragnani, Weber and Sejkera) to sign and the team has about $1.3 million left until they hit the cap ceiling.  Something’s gotta give, now its just a waiting game to see what that something is.

SabresDotCom, the official Twitter account of the Buffalo Sabres, has just tweeted Sabres forward Drew Stafford has agreed to terms on a multi-year contract.  Stafford played exceptionally this season, scoring a career high 31 goals and 52 points and a +13 +/- rating.  He appeared in 62 games after suffering several minor injuries through out the season.  Stafford also tied for the NHL lead in hat tricks with 4 (12/15, 1/1, 2/8, 2/13).

The Sabres drafted Stafford in 2004 with the 13th overall pick.  He played 3 season at the University of North Dakota, from 2003-2006, with current NHL players Taylor Chorney (Edmonton), Matt Greene (Los Angeles), Brian Lee (Ottawa), TJ Oshie (St. Louis), Zach Parise (New Jersey), Jonathan Toews (Chicago), and Travis Zajac (New Jersey).

 

UPDATE

sabres.nhl.com finally posted an update, that had absolutely no information on the actual contract, which isn’t really all that shocking.  The figure being thrown around right now is $16 million over 4 years, which sounds about right as far as the range many were thinking.

Sabres GM Darcy Regier had this to say after he announced the signing: “It was important for us to get Drew locked up,” said Regier. “What we saw from Drew this season is exactly what we envisioned when we drafted him. Drew will continue to be an important part of our team in the coming years.” – www.sabres.nhl.com

Again, stay tuned for another update when real figures can be verified!