Sabres Edge

Watch all the segments from the most recent Bucky & Sully Show here.

By Mike Harrington

Who doesn't love a great pass? We had two absolutely sick ones Thursday night: Thomas Vanek to Jason Pominville and Patrick Kane to Marian Hossa for an overtime winner. Check 'em out:

By Mike Harrington

Thursday's late-night special had a spectacular finish as the Edmonton Oilers rallied for a 2-1 overtime win over the struggling Los Angeles Kings after a wild final minute of regulation.

The Oilers tied the game, or so it seemed, with 1:05 left on a goal by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. But after a sudden discussion by officials, the goal was wiped out due to goaltender interference and fans at Rexall Place erupted. The ice was showered with debris and the game was delayed for about 10 minutes.

When it resumed, the Oilers scored the tying goal (again) as No. 1 overall pick Nail Yakupov swatted a rebound out of mid-air past Jonathan Quick with 4.7 seconds left -- and then took off down the ice for a knee-sliding celebration that reminded everyone of Theo Fleury circa 1991. Sam Gagner won the game with a goal in OT. With young stars all over, Edmonton has been great fun to watch so far.

Continue reading "Video: No late fail for Oilers' Nail in wild OT win over Kings" »

By Mike Harrington

Greetings and welcome to Sabres season! Bet many of you never thought we'd say that this year.

But lo and behold, here we are at First Niagara Center getting ready for today's opener against the Philadelphia Flyers.

I'll be joined here today by John Vogl, Bucky Gleason and photographer Harry Scull. Here's a look at our coverage plans for the Sabres-Flyers game, which will air on Ch. 2 and WGR Radio with a 12:30 faceoff:

---I'll be on the WGR Radio roundtable from 11-11:40, discussing the season with Brian Koziol, Paul Hamilton and Brian Duff. Hamilton is doing the radio play-by-play today for the ill Rick Jeanneret. 

---At noon, I'll host a special opening day chat on the Sabres Edge blog for 30 minutes.

The link to the pregame chat is right here.

---Then stick around for our in-game blog all afternoon and a special 15-minute "Sabres flashchat" we'll have during the second intermission. We'll have intermission flashchats from time to time throughout the season; make your questions good, as only the best will make it in that short timespan!

---After the game, be sure to look for audio from the locker room and our postgame video wrap-up.

Today's Buffalo News includes our annual NHL preview section, featuring everything you need to know about the Sabres and presented through the auspices of award-winning Graphics Editor Vince Chiaramonte, sports page designer Andrea Zagata and cover artist Dan Zakroczemski.

In our cover story, Vogl talks about the Sabres' situation at center, where Tyler Ennis and Cody Hodgson are vastly inexperienced compared to most teams' No. 1-2 guys down the middle.

Vogl's team preview discusses a Sabres team that might have lost some offense but picked up some sandpaper edge that has been missing.

My main contribution looks at the question of whether a goalie -- Ryan Miller, perhaps? -- can steal a short season for his team. 

Follow this link for Vogl's four reasons for optimism and his four reasons for pessimism.

What do I think the Sabres have to do in a short season? Not stumble out of the gate at home.

Vogl talks to Pat LaFontaine to take a look back at the '94-95 Sabres, who finished 22-19-7 and were a first-round loser to the Flyers. 

Bucky Gleason says it's all on Lindy Ruff now. 

In our Mixed Media column, Greg Connors says NBC is ready to finally get this thing going. The network did a great job yesterday showing the Kings' banner-raising and then switching to Flyers-Penguins.

Outside of the preview section:

In announcing Darcy Regier's contract extension, owner Terry Pegula said Saturday "this looks like a good team." We'll see. 

Ville Leino's status for today's game is uncertain due to a leg injury.

By Jay Skurski

Former Canisius College star Cory Conacher survived final cuts today to earn a spot on the Tampa Bay Lightning's opening-day roster.

"I like his grit, I like his relentlessness, I always have and he deserves it," Tampa Bay coach Guy Boucher said today, via the team's official Twitter account.  

Conacher, 23, won the MVP award in the American Hockey League last season after finishing with 39 goals and 80 points with the Norfolk Admirals, who the Calder Trophy.

He's played left wing on a line with Vincent Lecavalier and Teddy Purcell during the Lightning's training camp.

Conacher was mentioned today by TSN's Bob McKenzie on Twitter as a candidate for the Calder Trophy, which goes to the NHL's rookie of the year. 

By Tim Graham

When the Buffalo Sabres traded center Derek Roy on Monday, it reminded me of the time goaltender Martin Biron and I convinced Roy that I was on the verge of getting traded to Newsday.

I referenced the story in a tweet that generated a healthy response. People wanted to know the details. So, inspired by similar anecdotes I've been reading the past few days in Frank Deford's excellent autobiography "Over Time," here's just one of a thousand behind-the-scene stories I can tell from two decades hanging out in locker rooms.

A day or two before the NHL trade deadline in February 2007, I leaned against the wall in a nearly empty Sabres dressing room, waiting to interview a particular player. I don't recall who.

Biron and I were about five feet apart on opposite sides of the entryway. He was inspecting his leg pads at his locker stall. Roy sat at his locker way down the row to Biron's left. Jason Pominville was down the row of lockers to my right.

On the large, flat-screen television was a TSN show dissecting trade-deadline rumors.

Ever since Ryan Miller emerged as the franchise goalie, Biron's name frequently got bandied about as trade bait. He was anxious about getting dealt, and this time he would be -- to the Philadelphia Flyers. By this time, Biron and I had known each other for seven years and enjoyed many conversations never meant for the paper.

With my notepad in my back pocket and no recorder I asked Biron -- just two guys talking -- how he was holding up. He said something diplomatic, but he silently telegraphed, with a theatrical roll of the eyes, that he was stressing out. Then, in typical Biron fashion, he quickly tried to turn the situation into a joke.

"How are you hanging in there, Tim?" Biron asked. "Do you think you'll get traded this year?"

Those who know me are aware my sense of humor can be drier than powdered gin. So I deadpanned that my agent was hearing Newsday and the Boston Globe had called The Buffalo News about me and wanted to know what it would take to close a deal.

Biron, equally as sarcastic, started to express sympathy for my predicament. Roy hollered "Bulls---! Reporters don't get traded."

I gently informed Roy newspapers make trades all the time. "Yeah, that's true!" Biron chirped. I explained when NHL teams are about to make the playoffs, their local newspapers sometimes need to bolster coverage for the stretch run. Sometimes they have too many editors and need to acquire reporters. Or vice versa.

The New York Islanders, under Ted Nolan, had been one of hockey's most exciting stories that season and were gunning for a playoff berth. Newsday wanted go all-in. As for the Globe, I wasn't sure what its motive was because the Boston Bruins didn't look like a playoff team. Maybe the Globe needed to unload a contract or wanted me for depth.

Roy, about to turn 24 and in his fourth NHL season (counting the lockout), stared off in the distance and nodded his head, satisfied with this new bit of insight.

Unfortunately, the ruse wouldn't last long -- not nearly as long as the time I used a tape-delayed boxing match to persuade defenseman Alexei Zhitnik into thinking I was a legitimate psychic by predicting the exact round and method that massive underdog Corrie Sanders would whip Zhitnik's countryman and friend Wladimir Klitschko.

I shifted a glance to Pominville. I could tell he wasn't buying it, and he was about to say something.

Biron and I cracked. We told Roy we were just screwing with him.

Roy didn't think it was as funny as we did.

Join The News' John Vogl and guest Kris Baker of SabresProspects.com to look ahead to this weekend's NHL draft.

Weigh in with your comments and questions at 11 a.m. Wednesday on the Sabres Edge blog.

The News' Bucky Gleason, John Vogl and Mike Harrington held a season-end video chat on the Sabres, as well as the team's decision to retain General Manager Darcy Regier and coach Lindy Ruff. Replay the chat in the console below the video.

Click on the links below to watch clips from the live video chat:

-News Sabres Writers on the decision by Sabres' management to forgo season-end news conference

-On the possibility of a lockout

-On the play of Alexander Sulzer

On Ruff's comments about Roy's play

News Sabres Reporter Mike Harrington and NHL Columnist Bucky Gleason discuss the Sabres' moves on trade deadline day:

The Sabres have traded center Paul Gaustad to Nashville, along with a fourth-round pick in exchange for a first-rounder.

Additionally, the Sabres shipped winger Zack Kassian and defenseman Marc-Andre Gragnani to Vancouver for center Cody Hodgson and defenseman Alexander Sulzer.

Here is a video of highlights from General Manager Darcy Regier's news conference:

Here is the full audio:

Download

BuffaloNews.com and the Sabres Edge blog will provide thorough coverage leading up to and following today's 3 p.m. NHL trade deadline.

It kicks off with The News' Bucky Gleason, John Vogl and Mike Harrington live chatting at 12:30 p.m. A live two-hour video broadcast starts at 1:30 p.m., hosted by Tim Graham and Jay Skurski, with updates from Vogl and Harrington from First Niagara Center. Any news conferences will be carried live as well.

New York Islanders coach Jack Capuano is suffering from the same flu bug that forced goaltender Evgeni Nabakov to stay home on this trip, and he has decided to stay back at the team hotel and not direct the Isles in tonight's game at First Niagara Center.

(No truth to the rumor Capuano was completely sickened by his team's no-show Monday against Ottawa.)

Capuano will be replaced tonight by Doug Weight, the longtime NHL veteran who won a Stanley Cup with Carolina in 2006 and wrapped up his career with the Isles last season. By this time, I'm guessing Weight knows who Jason Pominville is. 

You may recall that it was Weight's boarding call against Pominville during overtime of Game Six here that set up Daniel Briere's overtime goal that allowed the Sabres to pull even in the '06 Eastern Conference finals. Weight said afterward he didn't even know Pominville's first name, to which the then-Buffalo rookie famously shot back, "He knows my last name because he hit me from behind."

Great memories. And now the Sabres struggle just to climb into -- maybe -- 11th place in the East if things all go the right way tonight. Oh, well.

Be sure to join me here at 7 for tonight's live game blog.

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