Sabres Edge

The NHL's marketing slogan for this season is "Questions will become answers," with commercials featuring several of the game's biggest stars. Ryan Miller is among them, and his video is below.

---John Vogl

Another season is right around the corner, which means oddsmakers have another chance to sucker -- uh, I mean entice -- folks into betting their money. Ryan Miller is an early favorite to garner attention.

Miller, the reigning Vezina Trophy winner, is the 5-to-1 favorite to repeat in the 2010-11 season, according to the odds e-mailed today by gambling site Bodog.com. New Jersey's Martin Brodeur is the second choice at 7-1, followed closely by Vancouver's Roberto Luongo (15-2) and the Rangers' Henrik Lundqvist (8-1).

Here are some other odds featuring the Sabres. As always, they are led by my usual disclaimer: Gambling is bad. Your money is much better spent on whiskey, women and concerts.

Odds to win the 2011 Stanley Cup

Chicago 6/1

Washington 13/2

Pittsburgh 7/1

Vancouver 8/1

Detroit 11/1

Boston 14/1

Philadelphia 14/1

San Jose 14/1

New Jersey 15/1

Los Angeles 16/1

Montreal 25/1

Buffalo 26/1

Odds to win the Eastern Conference

Pittsburgh 3/1

Washington 3/1

New Jersey 15/2

Philadelphia 15/2

Boston 17/2

Montreal 15/1

Ottawa 16/1

Buffalo 17/1

Odds to win the NHL Northeast Division     

Boston 10/11

Buffalo 3/1

Ottawa 4/1

Montreal 9/2

Toronto 14/1

Regular Season Points Over/Under

Buffalo 91.5

Who will win the Norris Trophy as the best defenseman?

Zdeno Chara, Bruins 3/1

Mike Green, Capitals 7/2

Drew Doughty, Kings 11/2

Duncan Keith, Blackhawks 6/1

Dan Boyle, Sharks 9/1

Dion Phaneuf, Maple Leafs 9/1

Chris Pronger, Flyers 10/1

Nicklas Lidstrom, Red Wings 10/1

Shea Weber, Predators 12/1

Tyler Myers, Sabres 14/1

Who will win the Calder Trophy as the Rookie of the Year?

Taylor Hall, Oilers 7/2

John Carlson, Capitals 11/2

P.K. Subban, Canadiens 11/2

Jordan Eberle, Oilers 8/1

Tyler Seguin, Bruins 10/1     

Magnus Paajarvi, Oilers 12/1

Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Coyotes 12/1

Jonathan Bernier, Kings 15/1

Michal Neuvirth, Capitals 15/1

Tyler Ennis, Sabres 18/1

Buffalo Sabres Over/Under Player Points

Derek Roy 70.5

Tim Connolly 60.5

Thomas Vanek 56.5

Tyler Myers 51.5

---John Vogl

The Sabres are off today, but that doesn't mean the coaching staff gets a break. They still have a few decisions to make on offense and defense.

Two forward lines are locks if everyone is healthy: Thomas Vanek-Derek Roy-Drew Stafford, and Jochen Hecht-Tim Connolly-Jason Pominville. Rob Niedermayer, Mike Grier and Paul Gaustad (the team's best faceoff guy) aren't going anywhere. That leaves three starting jobs between five players: Tyler Ennis, Nathan Gerbe, Patrick Kaleta, Cody McCormick and Matt Ellis.

The Sabres still have eight defensemen for only six jobs. Again, if everyone is healthy, the locks are Tyler Myers, Craig Rivet, Shaone Morrisonn, Steve Montador and Jordan Leopold. That leaves one starting job between three players: Chris Butler, Andrej Sekera and Mike Weber.

Who do you think gets them?

---John Vogl

The Sabres and Flyers have a 6 p.m. start for their final exhibition game and we'll have some observations here over the course of the night. It's Johan Backlund in goal for the Flyers against Ryan Miller. The Sabres in classic blues and the Flyers in their new classic 70s whites with the orange stripes and black nameplates. Very cool on both counts.

No Daniel Briere for the Flyers tonight so the boos will be down. Bill Guerin in the Philly starting lineup. He would be an interesting addition for them (frankly, he would have been an interesting catch for the Sabres but Rob Niedermayer will certainly do.

Sabres starters: Miller, Myers-Morrison, Ennis-Roy-Stafford.

---Mike Harrington
(www.twitter.com/bnharrington) 

Third Period

Notes: Enroth in for Miller to start the third. Miller went 3-1 in four preseason games, posting a 1.59 goals-against average and .932 save percentage. ... The eight goals are the most for Buffalo in a preseason game since an 11-3 win at New Jersey in 1988.

19:11 left: The Flyers make it 8-3 on their second shot against Enroth, Ben Holmstrom's drive from the slot.

15:20 left: Hecht makes it 9-3 with a nice snap shot And as nice as all this offense is, the Sabres are going against some AHL goaltending tonight. The fans love it of course. The countup just hit "We want 10."

4:40 left: Been working on some print stuff and not much happening. Still 9-3 as Pominville just rifled one off the post.

It's over: A 9-3 win closes the preseason with a 4-2 record. Crowd's chants of "We want 10" weren't rewarded. Can't be selfish, people!. Final shots were 35-27 for the Sabres. Bring on the Senators Friday night and the Rangers on Saturday night.

Second Period

Couple notes: Roy has a goal and an assist, giving him nine points in the preseason (2-7). That's one off the NHL lead of 10 by Toronto's Phil Kessel. Roy has points in all five games he's played. Butler was minus-2 in the first period. Leopold was plus-2. Sekera was the ice time leader at 7:33.

Never mind on the Roy stat (at least not yet). The scorers gave him the assist on the Gerbe goal. It was clearly Pominville.

16:58 left: Kaleta with the clear decision over Powe thanks to a couple of quick rights. Gave the "it's over" sign to the crowd as he hit the penalty box. Powe got him in the mush with a high stick and Kaleta put an end to that.

15:00 left: They just played the Fratellis "Chelsea Dagger" here. No way. Nope. Nope. Nope. That's the Blackhawks' song. You're ripping that off, Sabres. And you're certainly not playing that when the Hawks are here Oct. 11, right? RIGHT?

14:14 left: Myers with a simply sick move in the slot to fake out Erik Gustafsson and beat Backlund. The kid had 11 goals last year. He could definitely push 20 with plays like that. 4-2. Carcillo gets the gate for some reason. Waiting for an announcement. Carcillo gets a misconduct and a game misconduct. No clue. 

13:07 left: OK, now Roy has his second point of the night, pulling a rebound around Backlund to make it 5-2. This is not a great Flyers team out there tonight by any stretch. Brian Boucher is going to be in goal with Michael Leighton out. Amazing they got as close to the Cup as they did.

11:16 left: Sgt. William Taylor of the US Army introduced as tonight's Tickets for Troops recipient. Great initiative by Chris Butler, one of the many good guys in the dressing room. But he's got to start playing better on the ice.

10:59 left: The rout is completely on now as Pominville has a tap-in at the edge of the crease to make it 6-2. The Sabres have six goals on 19 shots overall and three on nine shots in this period. Not to mention six in a row since they were down, 2-0.

10:18 left: Roy is putting on a clinic, feeding Ennis at the edge of the crease for a five-footer to make it 7-2.  Crazy. Roy has shown in the preseason he could be an elite center as GM Darcy Regier says. How about an 80- or 90-point season?

9:37 left: Sergei Bobrovsky in to play goal for the Flyers. Backlund made just 13 saves on 20 shots.

1:46 left: Roll the highlight film as Stafford pulls the puck through the legs of the Philly defenseman and puts it top shelf under the bar to make it 8-2. A power forward move. 

End-2nd: It's 8-2 for the Sabres. Yes, 8-2. Shots are 14-6 in the period and 24-16 overall. Sabres are shooting 33.3 percent. Not bad.

First Period

Wearing the C tonight is Pominville. Wearing the As are Roy, Stafford and Morrisonn. The lines are Ennis-Roy-Stafford, Hecht-Connolly-Pominville, Gerbe-Niedermayer-Grier and McCormick-Gaustad-Kaleta. So which of those 12 do you sit to get Vanek back in the lineup? Yikes.

14:40 left: Shots are 3-3. Forgot the defense pairs. They're Myers-Morrisonn, Leopold-Sekera and Butler-Montador. A couple great shifts from the Connolly line, with Pominville cranking a shot off the post at one point.

13:36 left: The Flyers take a 1-0 lead as Dan Carcillo beats Miller with a slapshot to the short side on a 3-on-1 break. Rough play by Butler and the Roy line was caught up ice.

13:20 left: Should note the building is pretty much full. This game was part of the season ticket package. Excellent turnout, although I heard traffic was pretty brutal outside. Did y'all forget it was a 6 p.m. start?

10:21 left: Let's just say there's not much intensity out here right now. This plays like two teams trying to get through the last game with no injuries.

10:00 left: Butler has been brutal so far. Caused the goal and failed to keep the puck in at the point on this possession, allowing the Flyers to come down ice. Then he helps run Jon Kalinski into Miller, which is Buffalo's worst nightmare. Miller got up and grabbed Kalinski by the shirttail, getting a rise out of the crowd. Miller should have done the same to Butler.

7:46 left: The Flyers make it 2-0 as a screened shot from the right point by Matt Walker gets by Miller on the fly. The Sabres may have watched the Bills today, sorry to say.

6:58 left: The fourth line came on right after the goal and started to hit. Rewards immediately as McCormick puts one home from the slot on a Kaleta feed. Gaustad had a big hit earlier in the shift. That can be a really good line. Bangers who have some skill and can put the puck in the net. 2-1, Flyers.

6:13 left: The tempo definitely changes as Roy beats Backlund from the slot after a nifty backhand pass from  Stafford near the right point. Two goals in 45 seconds makes it 2-2.

4:23 left: The Flyers negate their power play with a tripping call on Guerin, who took down Morrisonn. Myers' defense partner is a little gimpy going to the bench but seems to be OK.

3:40 left: Two brutal giveaways by Connolly at the left point, one that leads to a 2-on-0 but Darrell Powe's backhander goes wide. A few seconds later, Backlund stops Stafford at the doorstep.

2:38 left: The Sabres go up 3-2 with 15 seconds left on the penalty as Gerbe one-times home a bullet fro the right circle. Pominville totally made the play with an interception at the right and a deke to get in the slot and create space. There is no way -- repeat, NO WAY -- they can send Gerbe out. He has a team-high three goals in the preseason. Buffalo power play is 6 for 24 in preseason, tied for second in the league at 25 percent. Where was THAT in April, right?

End 1st: The Sabres rally back for a 3-2 lead after one. Shots were 10-10.

Not playing in tonight's 6 p.m. game against the Flyers will be Thomas Vanek and Matt Ellis up front, and Craig Rivet and Mike Weber on defense. Patrick Lalime will also sit, with Ryan Miller and Jhonas Enroth working in goal.

Ellis is clearly going to Portland but you wonder who the 13th forward will be? Nathan Gerbe? He's had a pretty darn good camp to send him back. As for defense, is Mike Weber already in and Chris Butler and Andrej Sekera playing for their spot tonight? Or is Weber on the bubble unless one of those two look bad tonight? Interesting postgame questions for sure.

Elsewhere, the Panthers have waived ex-Sabre Andrew Peters but are hoping he clears waivers today by noon so he can be sent to Rochester.

---Mike Harrington
(www.twitter.com/bnharrington) 

The Sabres have two significant ailments as they prepare for their final preseason game Sunday against Philadelphia. Goaltender Patrick Lalime is out with a groin pull, while left wing Thomas Vanek also is unable to practice after getting hit during an exhibition Thursday in Montreal. Coach Lindy Ruff said Vanek has a neck and head injury but added it doesn’t fall in the seven-day window for concussions.

"Van has to be held out," said Ruff, who doesn’t believe Vanek will miss the season opener Friday in Ottawa. "He’s going to probably see our doctor again tomorrow night.

"Patty’s had a bit of a groin pull, so he hasn’t practiced now for the last three or four days. It’s getting better. I’m concerned because he’s not getting any playing time. I’m hopeful [he’ll be ready for opening night], but right now there’s no guarantee."

---John Vogl

Zack Kassian isn't quite ready for the NHL, the Buffalo Sabres decided today. The team has sent the 2009 first-round pick back to Windsor of the Ontario Hockey League, one of nine moves made to trim the roster.

Kassian had one assist in four preseason games. The 6-foot-3, 226-pounder was a physical presence in the opener against Toronto, but the Sabres feel he needs to work on his quickness and improve his play away from the puck to be NHL ready.

"I had a good camp," Kassian told The News by telephone. "I came in here doing what I wanted to do. I got a taste of what it’s like in exhibition, and now I know what to work on to make that team next year.

"Exhibition games are really fun. I didn’t really know what to expect going out there, skating around, playing with guys that play in the NHL. It’s an eye opener to see how good they are and how hard they work."

The Windsor Spitfires will be trying for their third straight Memorial Cup championship, and Kassian is expected to play a significant role.

"I’m really excited to go back to junior," the right winger said. "That’s a big part of developing. I’m going to go back to junior and I’m going to play a lot of minutes. I’m going to play in every situation. I’m going to have a lot more chances offensively, and that’s going to overall make my game a lot better."

The Sabres' other roster moves included sending forwards Mark Mancari, Luke Adam and Paul Byron, defensemen T.J. Brennan, Drew Schiestel and Dennis Persson, and goalie David Leggio to minor-league Portland. Forward Mark Parrish was released from his professional tryout contract, and General Manager Darcy Regier told The News he will speak with Parrish's agent about the winger joining the organization as a depth player.

---John Vogl

Thomas Vanek, who played just 4:06 against Montreal on Thursday after leaving with an injury, is apparently fine and scheduled to practice with the team in Philadelphia this morning, according to the Sabres' media relations staff.

Vanek got what was described as a neck stinger during the first period and did not return. The left winger reportedly would have been fine to continue playing if it were a regular-season game. The Sabres play the Flyers tonight.

---John Vogl

Yet another dispute between television providers and their channels has arisen, and this time it's costing subscribers to DISH Network the chance to see Sabres games.

The contract between MSG, cable home of the Sabres, and DISH Network expired at midnight without a new agreement. MSG Networks will be the home to 72 Sabres broadcasts this season.

"We've been informed by our broadcast partners at MSG they no longer have an agreement with DISH Network to televise Buffalo Sabres games,” said Michael Gilbert, director of public relations for the Sabres. "This is a matter between MSG and DISH Network, and the Sabres have no involvement in the negotiations between the two parties. As a result, we encourage all of our fans who have DISH Network to switch carriers. As it currently stands, DISH Network subscribers will be unable to watch Buffalo Sabres games starting with the season opener on Oct. 8."

---John Vogl

Just clicked on TSN.ca to check its hockey news of the morning, and the Canadian sports giant has the entire Sabres-Montreal preseason game from Thursday night online.

Here is the link to the first period. And the second. And the third.

Don't say I never did nothin' for ya.

---John Vogl