Updated 7pm EDT:
Edmonton Oilers Dallas Eakins is sending a strong message to Nail Yakupov by scratching the youngster in Toronto tonight.
That is:
Clean up your turnovers and score me some goals, or else, you will sit.
Yakupov, the former first overall pick in the NHL Entry Draft (Sarnia Sting) scoring legend, is being benched by his rookie head coach due to his inconsistent play in all three zones.
Sucks that Yakupov has to miss playing on Hockey Night In Canada.
Eakins is taking a page from Sabres head coach Ron Rolston's book. Bench the young Russian junior hockey star to get his attention focused on the small details and urgency of playing, succeeding in the NHL.
Spare the rod, spoil the child.
***
Updated 6:10pm:
According to @BroadStreetBull:
Flyers winger Scott Hartnell's upper-body injury is more serious than the Flyers initially thought, according to Flyers GM Paul Holmgren.
Holmgren said Hartnell underwent an MRO today, and the veteran will miss two to four weeks. The veteran left winger was injured in Friday's 2-1 loss to Phoenix.
Hartnell broke his foot in the third game last season.
Holmgren didn't divulge specific details about the injury.
The Flyers may need to go outside their organization to find a proven winger to replace Hartnell if one of their prospects, Michael Raffl and Tye McGinn, can't fill Hartnell's skates. Both were recalled from AHL Adirondack today.
***
On other Flyers injury news, Vinny Lecavalier will miss about a week with a lower-body injury. He was injured when he collided with a Coyotes player.
________________________________________________________________________
Sabres D Mike Weber has played better games than the last Sabres games against the Blue Jackets.
Weber was on the ice for all four Columbus goals. He finished the forgettable game with a -4 rating. His D partner (at least for the first period) Tyler Myers, finished the game -3.
Sabres coach Ron Rolston has decided to scratch Weber for tonight's game in Chicago.
Personally, I'm not a big fan of Rolston's decision to bench Weber for having an out-of-character, uncharacteristically dreadful game on Thursday night.
I spoke with Weber in the Buffalo room after the Columbus loss. He was upset. He's tired of the now cliched excuses and the 'youth movement" crap. He told me that the guys in the Buffalo room would not be there right now if they were not NHL-ready. They'd be in the AHL or ECHL. Weber wants more from himself and his teammates. He know that he let his team down with his -4 performance vs. Columbus. He wants to right the wrongs. Not wallow in negative energy and emotions.
Frankly, I admire his candor and honesty.
The Sabres leaders had a closed door meeting that went longer than the customary five minutes after the game had ended. Presumably, Weber stood up in the room and addressed his teammates and urged them the be better and to stop playing with hesitation. When the players meeting had ended, it would have been easy for Weber and all of the mistake-makers to scatter to the back locker room, the shower of to the exercise bike room for an extra long ride to burn off the anger and anxiety after the loss. Not Weber. He instead chose to stand tall in the pocket and answer for his mistakes. I respect that about Weber. He held himself accountable.
In his scrum, Weber spoke the truth about his teammates, young and old.
"I'm tired of hearing it's a "young team", I'm really tired of hearing it," said Weber.
"There's no excuses in here. All these guys have played now five games in this League. We need to find a way. We're going to make mistakes. But we need to make plays. We need to generate something. We need to get something going."
I get why Rolston is benching Weber, however, I just don't like scratching a team leader after he had one bad game.
By and large, Ryan Miller, Jhonas Enroth, and the Buffalo D, have been Buffalo's best performers through the first five games. The biggest area of disappointment has been the forward lines. Five goals in five games? Give me a freakin break!
Drew Stafford has skated in all five Buffalo losses, has been largely invisible in all five games, yet hasn't been scratched. Nor has the quiet as a church mouse Tyler Ennis. Brian Flynn has played all five games. Mind telling me why?
Here's a stat that will make your head hurt:
Of the 22 Sabres skaters who have played in games this season, 17 of them are minus players. Weber is now -8. Myers is -7. Vanek and Hodgson are -4. Stafford, Porter, Flynn, and Girgensons are all -3.
4 are even players in Ott, Pysyk, McCormick and Leino.
Which means that Christian Ehrhoff is Buffalo's only plus player. He's a whopping +1.
The Sabres enter tonight's game in Chicago with an NHL-high -9 goal differential. The need to awake from their 5 on 5 scoring coma. NOW!
They have scored just 2 power play goals in 18 opportunities (11.1 percent).
They are averaging one goal a game.
Its high time that captains Steve Ott and Thomas Vanek grab the tourists and onlookers by the collar, and pull it into every battle, in every zone on the ice.
Roslton will leave Johan Larsson in the lineup tonight. One of Rolston's go-to guys, Kevin Porter, will sit this game out.
Mikhail Grigorenko has been exiled from his one game stint in the "150 Foot Club" (the press box is 150 feet above the ice surface in NHL rinks).
Alex Sulzer will take Weber's place in the lineup.
Weber will take his benching like a pro. He'll be a positive guy in the room and on the bus to the hotel and airport. He'll encourage his teammates to play with they instincts instead of being fearful of getting benched for making mistakes.
Question now is:
Will his teammates listen to and learn from his examples? Or, will they continue to march to the beat of their own drummers?
Rolson has seven D-men. He doesn't want one of them to get too comfortable with their roster spot. Weber will sit tonight. Will Myers sit on Monday night?
Thanks, Sabres.com
****
Mikhail Grigorenko told Dan Dunleavy this morning:
"I have to earn his (Rolston's) trust":
Thanks, sabres.com
***
This is the first of two meeting between the Chicago Blackhawks and Buffalo Sabres this season; the teams won't see each other again until March 9 at First Niagara Center. The last time they played each other was Jan. 18, 2012 at United Center, when the Blackhawks routed the Sabres 6-2 by breaking a 2-2 deadlock with four straight goals. All six Chicago goals were scored against Jhonas Enroth, including two by Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews.
****
Join the Discussion:
»