Individual honours are great, however, its long since overdue that the Sabres create some team pride by stringing a few wins together. The team presently sits 5 points out of a playoff spot.
Lindy Ruff is ready to get back to work. The team has been drilling and skilling, ad nauseum, for the past two days. Time to exact a measure of revenge against the hated Leafs on Friday night.
Ruff says the Leafs are getting excellent goal tending to augment their three line, balanced attack that features speed and creativity.
Time for the Sabres to beat the Leafs, eh coach?
Leafs @ Sabres
-This is the third of six meetings between the Sabres and Maple Leafs this season.
-Last meeting: Toronto defeated Buffalo, 3-2, in Toronto on Dec. 22.
-The Sabres are 5-5-0 in their last 10 games vs. the Maple Leafs; 6-4-0 on the road.
-This is the 181st game all-time between Buffalo and Toronto; Buffalo leads the series with a 100-58-22 record. Buffalo is 41-33-15 on the road against the Maple Leafs all-time.
-The two teams will next meet in three days, on Jan. 13 in Buffalo.
STORYLINES
Buffalo is 30-13-1 against the Maple Leafs since the lockout. The 30 wins are Buffalo’s highest win total against one team since the lockout, ahead of Boston (27) and Montreal (24).
The Sabres are looking for their first road win since Dec. 3 (3-2 win at NSH).
At the halfway point of the season, Buffalo has seen all but four players (Thomas Vanek, Jason Pominville, Luke Adam and Jhonas Enroth) who began the season with the team miss time with injury. Their total of 183 man games lost is 88 more than at
this point last season.
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
Buffalo is 8-2-3 against Canadian teams this season… After an 18-18-5 start in 2010-11, the Sabres rallied to a 25-11-5 record in the second half of the season to make the playoffs… Jason Pominville became the third Sabre to play his 500th game with the team this season on Saturday, joining Thomas Vanek and Derek Roy.
Congratulations to captain, Jason Pominville for being named to his first NHL All Star game.
He's come a long way since being waived by the Sabres.
Pominville has scored 14 goals and assisted on 29 others this season. 43 points in 42 games is an outstanding feat, considering the Sabres have been struggling to score goals for the past three weeks.
Not to rain on Pommer's parade, but, I feel like Thomas Vanek is getting jammed by the NHL for not being added to the All Star squad. Vanek has been Buffalo's best player on a nightly basis all season long. many of HDTVs in-game accomplishments do not appear on the game score sheet. I blame the Ottawa myopians for this glaring ommission. There's no way that Daniel Alfredsson deserves to make this All Star team over Vanek. Sorry, Danno, you dont deserve it. I don't have a problem with Spezza and Michalek making the squad. Alfredsson has been injured for most of this season and has been an after thought on most nights. Another reason for Sabres fans to hate the Senators. Nice job stuffing the ballot box with your Sens, Ottawa. Why not include Chris Neil, too?
I tip my bucket to a friend, Mr. Brent Rossi, who yesterday was officially announces at the new VP of Brand Strategy and Marketing.
Before joining the Sabres, Rossi was the VP of Marketing for the Harlem Globetrotters, and also was employed as a senior manager of live events for World Wrestling Entertainments (WWE), served as Director of Marketing for the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers and was Marketing Manager for Comcast-Spectator.
I phoned Brent today to congratulate him on his new position with the Sabres.
We had a great laugh about a hilarious CM Punk experience that we shared a few years back when Brent brought the WWE to Buufalo.
Ever since Sabres pest, Pat Kaleta's, was suspended for four games by the NHL in November, he's been skating with a red bulls eye on his back these days. He's on the radar screens of the officials and the league.
Lindy Ruff has had it up to here. So has Pat Kaleta.
Lindy Ruff admitted as much after the Leafs loss on Tuesday night.
"Kaleta just can't hit anybody anymore. He can't," Ruff said. "Everytime he hits somebody it's a penalty. He knows that. He can't hit anymore.
"I'm worried. He's a marked man, definitely a marked man. ... I don't think he hit him that hard. It used to be a good hit in the game. You get a penalty, I'm worried about him. I'm worried about if he can play his game."
Ruff's take didn't change when asked about Kaleta after Wednesday's practice.
"It is disappointing," the coach said. "I don't think good hits should be taken out of the game. I understand there's a level of concern with what's gone on with concussions but you can't take good hits out of the game. We've asked Pat to tone it down".
Kaleta was issued a charging penalty in the third period of the Sabres 2-0 loss to the Leafs on Tuesday night. Kaleta identified that Leafs forward, Grabovski, had control of the puck and was positioned on the end wall looking to make a play. Kaleta being Kaleta, put the gas pedal to the floor, and sped directly at Grabovskin. At the moment of impact, Kulemin flew into the glass. The ref's hand immediately pointed to the heavens. Kaleta was issues a two minute charge. Lindy Ruff calls it "hard hockey". Kaleta has been playing this way since his days in the OHL. Its the only brand of hockey that he knows how to play.
The officials are not hip Kaleta these days.
"He's (Kaleta) trying to do the right things, supply some energy when he can, trying to keep his feet on the ice when he hits," Ruff said. "Obviously, he's got a target on his back."
Kaleta is an energy guy, who makes his opponents think twice about touching pucks. PK36 has developed quite the reputation of a bone-crunching hitter over the years. He's not your rank and file fourth liner. He skates well, is put together well, and has a penchant for separating men from pucks. He plays the game at 100mph.
Lately, his velocity and elevation, get him into trouble.
Kaleta is understandably frustrated.
"I have to find a way (to play a hard hockey) or else I wont be here.", Kaleta said.
Take Kaleta's hitting skills out of his tool box, and he is still an effective player. He kills penalties well, has scored 10 goals and likely can score more if/when healthy, and is easily able to get under the skin of his opponents. In other words, he's becomes Matt Ellis when he's not hitting. Take away his unique selling proposition, which is his truculence and pugnacity, and you're left with another fourth liner.
The Sabres have Zack Kassian, Corey Tropp, and Marcus Foligno in Rochester who can do the same things that Kaleta does on the ice.
Will Kaleta simply blend into the landscape now that he is on the radr screen of the officials, or, will he be able to re-engineer himself and thus, re-purpose his game on the ice?
Montreal centreman, Mike Cammaleri's frustration is percolating to the surface these days. His Canadiens are as inconsistent as the Sabres right now, and there appears to be no end in sight. Cammaleri has only 9 goals and 13 assists in 37 games (-6 rating) this season. He's better than that. He wants more from his opportunity in Montreal. This is not what he signed up for.
Yesterday he spoke openly and candidly to Francois Gagnon from La Presse about his team's laissez faire approach to preparing for hockey games, and their overall play.
Cammaleri called it a losing "mentality" and he voiced his displeasure about his teammates and their ho-hum attitude and acceptance of the persistent losing in Montreal. Sounds like Cammaleri is not happy with the leadership and coaching of his team. He's not alone.
I've been told that Cammaleri's frustrations are a distraction in the Montreal room.
There has been chatter in Montreal that Randy Cunneyworth would be scratching Cammaleri for the Boston match, however, the team received a serious dose of bad news last night concerning its captain.
To compound the bad news in Montreal, they have lost their captain, Brian Gionta, indefinitely, to bicep surgery.
Cunneyworth has benched PK Subban in recent games, and he's not afraid to park a star player for acting in a manner that could be detrimental to the team. Hard for Cunneyworth to put Cammaleri in a Calvin Klein suit in the press box while his team is in need of offense.
Cammaleri may be mouthing off in order to get himself traded to a contender.
The Habs play in Boston tonight.
I'm predicting a Montreal loss.
Let the speculation about Cammaleri begin.
He signed with the Habs as a free agent because he wanted to help them win a Cup. Doesn't look like thats about to happen this season.
Their D corps is depleted, and they have trouble scoring.
Were I Darcy Regier, I'd reach out to Montreal and inquire about Cammleri's availability.
He's a playmaking.scoring centreman. He's a $6 million cap hit this season, and for the next two.
Maybe Derek Roy for Mike Cammaleri is a possibility. Hey, you never know.....
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