Sabres Edge

By Mike Harrington

The Sabres were back at First Niagara Center today to clean out their lockers, have exit physicals and meetings with staff that included General Manager Darcy Regier. As could be expected after another non-playoff season, the mood was a somber one. The Sabres have missed the playoffs two years in a row, four seasons out of six and seven years out of 11.

Said winger Drew Stafford of this year's miss: "There's just no excuse for that."

While reporters have heard a lot from Ryan Miller this week about his potential exit from Buffalo and his 500th game -- and Miller spoke again today for more than 11 minutes -- the star attraction today was winger Thomas Vanek. And like Miller, Vanek admitted he thought plenty that Friday's shootout win over the Islanders was his last game as a Sabre.

"Let's be honest," Vanek said. "I'm not stupid. I know I have a year left and they can probably deal me for prospects, young guys, whatever else is out there. Yeah, I've thought about it. If it looks like it's a long rebuild, then it probably makes sense for both parties to move on."

Vanek wants a quick, trade-based rebuild as opposed to a build through the draft. But the latter scenario appears more likely.

"I don't know what the plan is," Vanek said. "If they're turning it over to the younger guys, it's a turnover. Or are they going to build around us again? It's all speculation at this point because you guys don't know and I don't know what's going to happen."

Miller broke no new ground today over what he's said in the last couple of days. 

"I’m convinced more and more as I play longer and longer it’s more about the attitude and the kind of team you build," Miller said. "It’s not always about a bunch of skill pieces. You have to define the way you play. And we can find a way to play here, if we can define it and do it every night, we’ll have just as good a chance as anybody."

That said, Miller knows he may not be part of any new plan about how the Sabres may play.

"Around this stage of a contract, you have to be realistic," Miller said. "In the last year of your deal, if you’re not part of the plan, you become an asset that’s tradable. So I’m just trying to stay open to coming back and trying to stay excited about playing hockey games in the NHL if it’s not going to work out."

One player that was not in the building today was winger Ville Leino, who suffered from a collapsed lung late in the season and has not spoken about that injury -- or about his status as a potential candidate for an amnesty buyout under the new CBA.

Regier will undoubtedly be asked about Leino Monday afternoon, when the GM and team president Ted Black will hold an end-of-season meeting with the media. The Sabres declined to have such a meeting last season and were openly laughed at for that decision when the Professional Hockey Writers Association met at the draft last June in Pittsburgh. Owner Terry Pegula is not expected to attend.

Click below to hear audio today from Vanek, Miller and Tyler Myers and stayed tuned to the Sabres Edge for video from today's proceedings.

Thomas Vanek

Ryan Miller

Tyler Myers

By John Vogl

The Sabres sent Adam Pardy to the minors at the start of the year after designating him as their ninth-best defenseman. He'll be in the top four Saturday when Buffalo hosts Philadelphia.

Trades and injuries, including today's announcement that Tyler Myers is done for the year after breaking a bone in his leg, have decimated a defense that was once considered a team strong point.

Only two of the six players who started on opening day are still available to play, Christian Ehrhoff and Andrej Sekera. Myers and Alexander Sulzer are out with injuries, and the team traded Jordan Leopold and Robyn Regehr. Mike Weber, a season-opening scratch, remains, while T.J. Brennan, who also started the season in the press box, was dealt to Florida for a fifth-round pick.

Continue reading "Considered a strong point at start of season, Sabres' defense has been decimated" »

By John Vogl

The Sabres' talent level, which has dropped significantly through trades recently, is going down again. The team announced today that defenseman Tyler Myers will miss the rest of the season with a broken bone in his leg.

Myers played a team-high 25:37 during the 5-1 loss to Montreal, including a final shift with 2:41 to go. He was particularly critical of the team following the game but didn't show signs of the ailment.

It's not yet known how Myers suffered the injury. He blocked a team-high four shots, including a close-range blast during a five-on-three power play for Montreal. He also blocked a shot by P.K. Subban with 2:56 to play during his final shift.

Myers has struggled for much of this season after reporting to the team out of shape. He has three goals, eight points and a minus-8 rating in 39 games. Nonetheless, he was second on the team in ice time per game at 21:18, and the Sabres will need to replace his minutes.

The Sabres' farm team in Rochester has been thin on defense, with the Amerks recently signing blue-liners Michael Wilson and Fredonia native Nick Bailen to pro and amateur tryout contracts, respectively. Top prospect Brayden McNabb is out for the year with an injury.

Alex Biega, a fifth-round pick by Buffalo in 2006, leads active Amerks defensemen with 22 points, including 18 assists, in 66 games.

By Jay Skurski

With Jordan Leopold sent to St. Louis on Saturday, the Buffalo Sabres have to replace more than 21 minutes of ice time.

In their first game without the veteran defenseman, the beneficiaries were Tyler Myers and rookie Mark Pysyk.

Myers skated a game-high 28 minutes, 13 seconds in the shootout loss, while Pysyk was on the ice for 13:52 – a game after being a healthy scratch in Florida.

"It felt good," Myers said of the extended work. "It's whatever the coaches are going to decide how to play us. I think all the 'D' has been doing a really good job of adjusting to what has been given to them."

Myers didn't learn of Leopold's trade until arriving at First Niagara Center for the game.

Continue reading "Myers, Pysyk beneficiaries of Leopold trade" »

Tyler Myers celebrates his third-period goal. (Harry Scull Jr/Buffalo News)

By Mike Harrington

It was one of those nights. 

The Sabres were decent in the first period (albeit unable to get the puck out of their zone for the first 82 seconds). They were horrific in the second, getting richly deserved boos on their way off the ice in a 2-1 hole that would have been about 6-1 or 7-1 were it not for Ryan Miller. 

Something pretty darn interesting must have gone on in that dressing room in the second intermission. Tyler Myers and Lindy Ruff both admitted there was plenty of anger and the third period that followed was easily this club's best of the year. 

When the 4-2 win over the Boston Bruins was complete, Drew Stafford (the elephant finally off his back after scoring his first goal), greeted the media in an outlandish fur coat with Sabres logo on the back. He then unleashed this gem as reporters encircled him: "Guys, I want to thank Mike Harrington for letting me borrow his coat."

Hey man, whatever works. 

Continue reading "Postgame audio: Lots of As to give for big comeback against Bs" »

Tyler Myers (right) met Colin Greening along the boards last week in Ottawa and gets another shot tonight. (Getty Images)

By Mike Harrington

OTTAWA -- The Sabres have done a lot of talking the last few days amongst themselves. But what's the old adage? Talk is cheap. Let's see what it means on the ice.

We get a big look tonight at Scotiabank Place as defenseman Tyler Myers returns to the lineup for the game against the Ottawa Senators after sitting out two games as a healthy scratch. Myers had long talks with coach Lindy Ruff and veteran Robyn Regher last Friday in Long Island and said today he's prepared to be "starting from ground zero"* tonight.

(*Good call considering Myers' minus-9 rating is better than only the minus-10 of Los Angeles' Drew Doughty. Wow, there's a reason the defending champs are worse off than the Sabres).

"It feels good to be back in but I don't know if it's a relief," Myers said today. "I don't come here just to get in the lineup. I need to put together a solid defensive game and just build it from there. I've tried to work as hard as I can using the time I have to try to mentally get prepared and that's the biggest thing. I don't think at this point it's anything physical. It's just getting my head straight."

Continue reading "Myers gets another chance vs. Sens" »

By Mike Harrington

OTTAWA -- The Sabres have hit the ice at Scotiabank Place for their pregame skate. As Lindy Ruff said this morning, Mikhail Grigorenko is back in his normal spot on the third line. One of the fourth liners will be a scratch. The lines look like this:

Vanek-Hodgson-Pominville
Foligno-Ennis-Stafford
Ott-Grigorenko-Gerbe
Scott-McCormick/Hecht-Kaleta

The defense will have the return of Tyler Myers. The current pairs are:

Myers-Regehr
Ehrhoff-Sekera
Leopold-Weber
Sulzer-Brennan

I would assume pair four are the scratches. Have to see who gets extra work.

By Mike Harrington

OTTAWA -- In his weekly appearance on WGR Radio this morning, coach Lindy Ruff announced that defenseman Tyler Myers and center Mikhail Grigorenko will return to the lineup tonight against the Ottawa Senators. Myers has been a healthy scratch the last two games while Grigorenko sat out Sunday against Boston.

There was no indication who will be coming out of the lineup. The Sabres are scheduled to skate at Scotiabank Place at 11:30.

By John Vogl

UNIONDALE – Lindy Ruff is tired of waiting for Tyler Myers’ game to come around, so there won’t be one for the defenseman tonight.

The Sabres will scratch their struggling D-man when they visit the New York Islanders. Myers was put through a strenuous workout at the end of an optional morning skate in Nassau Coliseum.

“I’m embarrassed, and I should be,” said Myers, who was benched for a game early last season.

Continue reading "Myers 'embarrassed' to be taken out of Sabres' lineup as healthy scratch" »

By Mike Harrington

Andrej Sekera practiced with the Sabres Friday in the Nassau Coliseum and is expected to play Saturday against the New York Islanders. Adam Pardy has been loaned back to Rochester.

So the Sabres' options could include dressing all seven defensemen (using T.J. Brennan as a power-play specialist) or scratching one. For purposes of this poll, assume Christian Ehrhoff plays and everyone else could be in peril.

Do they simply scratch Brennan? Or does Lindy Ruff make a bolder move and finally tell Jordan Leopold or Tyler Myers -- who is last in the NHL in plus-minus at -9 -- to take a seat in the press box?

Cast your vote below:

By Mike Harrington

There's no real practice time in the NHL this season. Not with this bottleneck of a schedule. So the Sabres were on the ice less than 45 minutes today in First Niagara Center before heading to Ottawa for tomorrow's game against the Senators.

And they were still shaking their heads over the way Sunday's 3-1 lead against Florida -- which hit town last in the Eastern Conference -- turned into a 4-3 loss.

"We have some things to clean up," said defenseman Tyler Myers. "A 3-1 lead, we didn't bury a lot of chances in the second period ... There's a way you have to play and we gave up too much and let them back in the game."

Of course, there's little scoring from anyone other than the top line right now. Drew Stafford, a former 31-goal scorer stuck at zero for his $4 million contract, said more scoring and more awareness in games is needed.

"It needs to happen and it needs to happen right now," Stafford said. "We don't have a lot of time to turn it back around. If you do lose a couple in a row, that hurts. That's something we're doing our best to address but we need to be even better."

Continue reading "Ruff: 'I'm a little above disbelief'" »

By Mike Harrington

We should hear an injury update from Lindy Ruff in the 1 p.m. hour as we head toward the 3 p.m. faceoff downtown between the Sabres and Florida Panthers. Can this club play any worse than it did Saturday during what John Vogl aptly called its beatdown in Montreal? Doubt it. But there's still 40 games left. 

As I went through the NHL stat pack this morning, I pondered some of these numbers:

---Thomas Vanek enters today tied for the NHL scoring lead with Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos. Both have seven goals and nine assists for 16 points, although Vanek has played one less game. Frankly, Vanek needs to get on the ice more. He enters today averaging 19 minutes, 13 seconds per contest -- and that's only 58th among NHL forwards. (Stamkos is at 21:13).

Here's the leader board in that department.

Here's the second page, which pegs Vanek right between Michael Grabner of the Islanders and Joe Pavelski of San Jose.

Continue reading "Not-so-Super Sabres numbers" »

Tyler Myers

Lindy Ruff

Drew Stafford

Jason Pominville

By John Vogl

MONTREAL -- Thomas Vanek is arguably the best player in the NHL right now. The league took notice today.

Continue reading "Sabres' Vanek earns NHL's Third Star of the Month" »

Thomas Vanek burns Tuukka Rask for his hat trick goal. (AP)

By Mike Harrington

BOSTON -- So much happened in the Sabres' 7-4 win over the Bruins that it's hard to process in the hour or two immediately after it. My sense, however, is this has the potential to be a huge turnaround game. Quick hits:

---The Sabres need to get some scoring out of more than one line but Thomas Vanek is so hot right now, it doesn't matter. He's got 15 points in just six games this season -- and 54 points (28-26) in just 46 career games against Boston. And his passing has never been better.

"He's been awesome," said coach Lindy Ruff. "That play to Tyler Ennis [to score Buffalo's third goal] was second to none. Outmuscled a guy in front of the net and really a diving type pass that helped us get back in the game."

"The puck is going in," Vanek said. "I've always been a good passer in my mind. People are focusing on it more right now because the puck is going in."

Continue reading "Final thoughts and audio from a wild night in Beantown" »