Sabres' roster almost set

The Sabres' opening night roster for the 2008-09 season is close to being set. The team sent several players, including Nathan Gerbe and Tim Kennedy, to Portland's camp this morning. The moves leave the team with 23 24 healthy players -- one more than the NHL roster limit. Here's who's on the ice right now in HSBC Arena:

Forwards: Thomas Vanek-Derek Roy-Maxim Afinogenov; Daniel Paille-Jochen Hecht-Jason Pominville; Clarke MacArthur-Matt Ellis-Ales Kotalik; Andrew Peters-Adam Mair-Patrick Kaleta. Tim Connolly, bothered by a bad back, is not on the ice.

Defense: Toni Lydman-Craig Rivet; Jaroslav Spacek-Andrej Sekera; Mike Weber-Teppo Numminen; Henrik Tallinder-Nathan Paetsch.

Goalies: Ryan Miller, Patrick Lalime.

Have to wait for coach Lindy Ruff's news conference and a team release on the Portland guys to see if this is officially the lineup. Stay tuned.

1:45 P.M. UPDATE AFTER LINDY TALKED

First off, sorry, in my haste to get from work room back to ice, forgot about Drew Stafford, who is out with an ear injury. So, yes, they have 24 players, not including Paul Gaustad who could be placed on injured reserve and not count.

Ruff will not keep eight defensemen. He'd prefer to keep six, but the Sabres are all but certain to have seven. The coach said he's still not sure if they will keep 23 players for opening night.

---John Vogl

Comments

[Dave]

I think that's a good move. We have a lot of young blood on the team that has at least had a year of experience on the ice with the vets. Let's keep the guys who have that perspective out there until one of them shows lackluster play, then replace him with a guy from Portland to light a proverbial fire under him to play better.

[tim]

Gerbe scored last night in portland and Marek scored twice.

p.s. adam dennis gave up two goals in two minutes.

[jan]

I can't see this team keeping 8 defensemen -- I'd rather have guys play every game in Portland that sit up in Buffalo. Send Gerbe to Portland -- let him learn how to play pro hockey and play with bigger players every game instead of sitting up in Buffalo. There's a glut of players at forward; send down who you can so they play every day in Portland and be ready to contribute when they are called up. That ought to keep some current Sabres on their toes -- there are plenty of young guys who want a chance to play in the NHL, (and they'll be ready.)

[Derek]

Amen, Bob.

[bob]

Here is what I wrote after the Minnesota game.
"No Peters in the lineup last night. We get outhit 19 to 7. Vanek and Roy take
three retaliation penalities. Teams take great physical liberties with us
when they know there is no retribution available on our bench!!"

Now against Columbus, Peters in the lineup, Columbus 22 hits, buffalo 20! Buffalo wins 5-2.

Last year with Peters in the lineup, we got 51 of our 90 points - he played about 1/2 the games in the schedule. We win more with him in the lineup than with him out.

A balanced and therefore successful team is not made up of your top 18 skilled skaters. It has to be a mix of guys playing different roles. Peters has a specific role and does it well. Would you rather have Peters sitting in the box for fighting or Rivet and Gaustad?

So everyone please stop writing that Peters has no skills, his role in the lineup has nothing to do with the skillls that a Gerbe or a Connolly have.

[Chad]

"Does this spell the end for Peters or Mac, John?"

And if you're referring to that question, I answered it because it was a question that never would have been answered by John. Why would making the team out of camp spell the end for Peters or MacArthur? I suppose we could've endlessly waited for John's oh-so-official response, but I chimed in. Deal with it, Razor.

[Chad]

Razor, your inability to tell the difference between a question to the board and a question to John is a telling sign of your inability to understand even the most rudimentary basics of the English language. Note how someone asked "how long is Connolly signed for?" I don't see how that is addressed to John. Even if it was, John doesn't seem to field basic questions like that, ones that can be found with just a minute of research. Furthermore, even if the question was addressed to John (and it doesn't seem that it was), this is an open board and several people, not just John, can comment on the question. That's what an open forum is for, pal.

Secondly, I never said that you did say that I spoke for the press. Only that you said I presume to speak for the press or team. I illustrated I neither act nor think like I do. So check your facts, moron.

You write like a petty law student.

[Buffalo Excuses]

Chad,

The Excuses will never win a cup.

[RazorRick]

Chad--your inability to follow a simple post is disturbing. I will try this again, and for your benefit, I am typing slowly:

Yes, moron, I did say I believe you THINK you speak for the Sabres and the press. Otherwise, why are you answering posts directed to John Vogl? What I did NOT say is that I believe you speak for these entities. Obviously. Hence the post.

Wow. Your inability to make this distinction is perhaps the most compelling sign of your impending mental break down.

Good luck with that.

[Adam in Nashville]

John Vogl,

Has Lindy said anything about Ellis? Is he an addition like Darche, primarily picked up to add some experience to our club in Portland? Or is he really competing for a spot on the big club? I'd love to know more about these guys. I'm actually really excited to see how our farm team in Portland looks. We've added so much fire power to the team compared to what we had in Rochester last season.

Adam

[Chad]

"Who is "Chad"? And why does he presume to speak for both the Sabres front office and the Buffalo News?"
-RazorRick

Razor, you're really going to sit there with a straight face and say you didn't say that I presume to speak for the team or the press? Frankly, your opinion of my opinions mean nada to me. You call me a bore one second, yet you admit that you read my posts and you're seemingly fired up enough to bring yourself to posting about my posts.

I have an opinion, almost always one backed up facts or reasonable inferences. If you don't like that, that's your opinion. If you want more of the "Darcy sucks!" or "Buffalo will never win a Cup!" talk, I suggest you take your ball and go play with the WGR forum posters.

[JB]

Hey gang. I posted the other day about Ellis in a different thread. The kid is pretty good. My wife is a Wings fan so I used to see a lot of Ellis when he played for Detroit (thank you very much Center Ice package!) and I think his skill set is better than Mancari's. He's got decent size and is real good around the net. He didn't cost them anything and my guess is he'll stick around until Guastad's healthy then be sent down. I believe he will have to clear waivers.

And just to set the record clear - I'm JB in Rochester, not Jim B who thinks he's a girl in, ironically, Queens.

:)

[Chad]

"Question: How much is Connolly's contract for? And how many years are left on it?"

As Derek said, he is an unrestricted free agent after this season. Connolly makes $2.9 mil this season.

"I don't see how Mancari get sent down over some of this other figure skaters on this team."

Sal, considering he now has to clear waivers, I'm guessing the Sabres just don't think he's that good. They've been lucky and wrong at the same time in the past (Pominville). Maybe they thought the addition of Ellis made Mancari expendable. Not advocating one side or the other, just trying to give you the team's possible rationale.

"Does this spell the end for Peters or Mac, John?"

Why would it? They're both on the team right now. As I've said before, I think this is both Mac's biggest and last chance to prove he is a full-time NHL player. I think the team will give him an extended period to prove he's just that. If he doesn't show that consistency, it's back to Portland or, if he doesn't clear waivers, he moves on and goes to another team. This is Peters's last season with the team. They'll keep him up with the Sabres and he'll be used in the same role as he always is.

[Derek]

Connolly is up after this year. Does this spell the end for Peters or Mac, John?

[Sal]

I just do not like the weakness of this Sabres team. I don't see how Mancari get sent down over some of this other figure skaters on this team

[Jerry's Tweed Jacket]

Always refreshing to see Tim Connelly and his dance partner 'bothered by a "insert this year's injury here"' in the Forward rotation. Welcome to Year Infinite of the #19 Lack of Dependability Tour.

[SabresFan in DC]

Question: How much is Connolly's contract for? And how many years are left on it?

[Derek]

What an educated post.

[gfunk]

dump the joke that is andrew peters

[Derek]

We need more details, John!

[SabresFan in DC]

What, no Briere or Drury?

Sorry bad joke. It's been a long off-season. Can't wait for the season to start!

[Chad]

Tim, I'm pretty sure (almost positive) Darche does not have to clear waivers to be sent down, but I will double check that. Not sure about Ellis. Just because he was out of options with his former team doesn't mean he'd have to clear waivers with Buffalo. The point of the rule is to expose players to other teams when one team keeps sending down/calling up that player. Buffalo has yet to do that with Ellis.

[tim]

don't Darche and Ellis have to clear waivers? If they do then its smarter to send them down than MacArthur because he also has to clear waivers and is better and younger than the two of those guys.

[Geoffrey Anger]

when was mancari sent out?
seemed like an alternative while gaustad is down. surprised to see ellis is somehow ahead of him.

[tim]

is Stafford grounded because he didn't play nice last night?

[PM44]

Stafford and Afinogenov not on the ice. What's up with that?

[Chad]

First of all, I think you left out Stafford, John (or is he not practicing?). That would leave them with 24 players and mean there will be one more guy sent to Portland (hopefully Weber, see below). I would think that Stafford would be the 3rd line winger instead of MacArthur. A little bit surprised about two other things:

1) Sending an offensively gifted player like Gerbe down to the minors while Connolly is on the shelf. The third line would a lot more formidable, offensively, if Gerbe was centering Kotalik and Stafford. Maybe they think they found a diamond in the rough with Ellis, but his history suggests he is not a big scorer at this level. This leads me to believe that the team (not me, necessarily) thinks Connolly will be ready for the season. Otherwise, Buffalo is using two offensively challenged centers. Not good for business.

2) If Weber isn't a top-6 defensemen, send him down. What good will it do for him to watch games from the press box when he can be playing 20 minutes/game down in Portland? Have Paetsch be the 7th defenseman to fill in for short-term injuries and, in the event of a long-term injury to a defenseman, call up Weber. I hope that's their plan.

[lotofsnow]

Also, no Stafford?

[lotofsnow]

Is one of those extra Pominvilles you listed supposed to be Afinogenov?

[tim]

Pominville playing on 2 lines?

[Brian Carl]

John..

What is with the Hasek reference? Also, any thoughts on keeping 8 dman?