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The Leafs are expected to beat the Sabres tonight, right? It shouldn't even be a contest. The almighty Leafs, despite their 1-4 home ice record, are the dominant team. The Sabres are the odds-on under dogs.
Lets face it, the Leafs are the upper echelon team and they should easily lay waste to the bottom dwelling Sabres. The Leafs are in another league compared to the rebuilding Sabres.
Should the Leafs win tonight, the Toronto media will be all:
"Don't plan the Stanley Cup parade route yet, Carlyle. You only beat the lowly Sabres"
However, if the Leafs lose to the Sabres, Toronto's airwaves will be on fire immediately following the game.
Should the Leafs lose to the Sabres tonight, watch out! A loss to the Sabres would crush the Leafs and their anxiety-riddled fan base from coast to coast in Canada. It will not surprise me in the least if Brendan Shanahan fires Randy Carlyle following a Leafs loss to the Sabres.
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Samson Reinhart will make his eighth appearance of the season tonight in Toronto.
I'm thinking that Reinhart will be skating inside the ACC in January.
Montreal-Toronto are the host cities for the 2015 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships.
Reinhart will be the captain of Team Canada's entry in the WJC tourney. Canada hasn't won a gold medal in five years. What better place to win gold but on home ice, and home soil?
***
It was early September when I met Josh Gorges for the first time a just prior to the Buffalo Sabres annual golf outing.
I was eager to ask the 30 year old gritty D-man about his "Thanks, but no thanks" message that he sent to the Toronto Maple Leafs in July. Girges made headlines in July when the Maple Leafs wanted to trade for him and he refused to waive his no trade clause to go Montreal's most bitter hockey rival.
Gorges caused a massive head slap moment when he selected the Buffalo Sabres over the Maple Leafs.
"I did what was best for my wife and my family. Toronto wasn't the right place for me. We love how Buffalo has opened its arms up to us and we are enjoying it so far".
Gorges told the Canadian Press that Toronto was not for him.
"I just said, 'I'm a heart-and-soul player. It's the only reason I can be good at this level is I have to play and commit with my heart,'" Gorges said in an interview with The Canadian Press on Wednesday after practice at First Niagara Centre. "And after playing against them for that many years of being our No. 1 rival, I just didn't think it would've been fair to them. I wouldn't have been the same player that they would've expected me to be.
"Over time I would've got there. But I just didn't think I could commit my heart to playing the right way."
I applaud Gorges for taking the high road. What so wrong with taking the high road and respectfully saying "no" to a trade request? How many greedy, selfish pro athletes would have accepted the trade then given a half-hearted effort on game night?
Toronto never stood a chance in landing Gorges due to the company that Gorges and his wife keep.
Gorges played with Brian Gionta in Montreal. The Gorges and the Giontas are close friends and Buffalo closed the deal with Gorges by delivering Gionta.
Leafs grand poobah Brendan Shanahan came close but no cigar. Shanny sense Gorges' convictions and will when the two men spoke in July.
"What he said to me was, 'That's why we're trying to make a trade for you is you have that character where you give yourself to one team,'" Gorges recalled. "He even said to me, 'If you would've been a guy that said, 'Oh yeah, sure I'll go to Toronto,' like that, then you're obviously not the player that I thought you were. The fact that you have that built in you is why we like you as a player.'"
Tonight, Gorges will face the Leafs for the first time since snubbing them last summer. Sure, he'll get roundly booed during the announcement of the starting lineups and then again every time that he touches the puck. He won't care. He's a hockey player. He knows that when he's being booed inside the library known as the ACC, that he's doing his job correctly.
Leafs fans will get a chance to get a glimpse of the one that got away tonight.
**
Here are the projected lineups per the Sabres:
SABRES
Matt Moulson - Tyler Ennis - Chris Stewart
Cody Hodgson - Torrey Mitchell - Drew Stafford
Marcus Foligno - Zemgus Girgensons - Brian Gionta
Nicolas Deslauriers - Sam Reinhart - Cody McCormick
Josh Gorges - Tyler Myers
Mike Weber - Andrej Meszaros
Andre Benoit - Rasmus Ristolainen
Michal Neuvirth
Jhonas Enroth
Scratched: Nikita Zadorov, Tyson Strachan, Brian Flynn
Injured: Patrick Kaleta (upper body)
MAPLE LEAFS
Joffrey Lupul - Nazem Kadri - Phil Kessel
James van Riemsdyk - Tyler Bozak - David Clarkson
Daniel Winnik - Mike Santorelli - Leo Komarov
Richard Panik - Peter Holland - Matt Frattin
Dion Phaneuf - Cody Franson
Stephane Robidas - Jake Gardiner
Morgan Rielly - Roman Polak
Jonathan Bernier
James Reimer
Scratched: Carter Ashton
***
Earlier this month, the Tampa Lightning exposed forward Richard Panik to waivers. The underachieving winger could not earn a full time ride on the Stanley Cup contending Bolts.
Inconsistency has been Panik's middle name for the early stages of his NHL career.
Some Sabres fans were clamoring for Tim Murray to claim Panik off waivers. Not me. The guy buried Zemgus Girgensons with a cowardly, dangerous hit from behind in January 2013 during a Rochester-Syracuse tilt.
Girgensons suffered a concussion as a result of Panik's jackassery.
I expect Zemgus to finish his checks every shift of every game. That's how he rolls. I'll be willing to bet that he'll be finishing checks on Panik with more urgency and purose tonight.
**
The worst fears of the Anaheim Ducks were realized late Monday night when it was learned that one of the team’s top four D-men would be parked in the press box due to a busted finger. Ben Lovejoy broke his finger, likely by punching San Jose’s Joe Pavelski’s visor and bucket in a spirited, fight-filled gong show on Sunday night.
According to the Ducks, Lovejoy will be lost to his team for 6-8 weeks.
The injury will add more fuel to the fire regarding a Tyler Myers to Anaheim trade rumor that began before the untimely injury to Lovejoy.
In the short term, the Ducks have called up Josh Manson from AHL Norfolk. Manson, the son of former NHL D Dave Manson, was a sixth round pick of the Ducks in 2011. Manson is not a long term solution. He's a short term bandage. Lovejoy's D partner Cam Fowler will need a veteran by his side so that he can continue to rush the puck and play at both ends of the ice.
In case you missed what I wrote about Myers-Anaheim on Sunday morning:
Tyler Myers played well on the recently concluded California road trip that saw the Sabres go 1-2. Myers didn't record any points on the trip, however, he played with a lot of poise and physicality while skating an average of 22.5 minutes TOI per game.
Was Myers auditioning for the Anaheim Ducks while in their neighborhood?
The Ottawa Sun reports that Tim Murray has told teams:
"in no uncertain terms he won’t give the 24-year-old away without a strong package in return. It’s believed the asking price is two high-end prospects and a pick".
Ducks GM Bob Murray had inquired about Myers’ availability last spring before the NHL Trade Deadline. Myers is intruguing to the Ducks who have a nice blend of veterans and youth on their D corps. Francois Beauchemin, Bryan Allen (injured), Ben Lovejoy, Mark Fistric, and Clayton Stoner play the heavy game extremely well, while Cam Fowler, Sami Vatanen, and Hampus Lindholm bring the mobility and scoring touches.
If a deal is to be done with Buffalo for Myers, it would have to included one D prospects and one in Hampus Lindholm (2012 1st rounder, 6th overall) and one forward prospect Nick Ritchie (2014 1st rounder, 10th).
Lindholm is a complete player. He’s 6’3” and 210lbs. He skates like the wind, has an NHL shot, and plays the physical game. In his rookie season in Anaheim in 2013-14, Lindholm potted 5 goals and added 24 assists. In 78 games, he was +29. That’s not a typo. Lindholm was +29 as a 20 year old. He will turn 21 in January.
Lindholm is a complete defenseman, and he does everything well. His size, skill, and mobility make him a must-have in any deal for Myers. In some ways, he’s a shorter version of Myers. He likes to throw his weight around, but doesn’t take dumb penalties. He loves to rush the puck and join in on the offense. Scouts say that his hockey sense are puck skills are excellent. He thrives on the PP and PK and can play upwards of 22-25 minutes per game.
Ritchie is a big, strong, tough winger who likes the heavy game and can finish. At 6’2 and 225 lbs., Ritchie fits into Murray’s model. Ritchie is a prototypical power forward with an impressive blend of size, skill and strength. He has fast hands and fast feet and is a human bulldozer. Ritchie scored 39 goals and added 35 assists in his NHL draft year while playing big minutes for the Peterborough Petes.He added another 5 goals and 5 assists in the OHL playoffs last season. He has 5 goals and 8 asists in 10 games with the Petes this season, and 25 PIMs.
Tim Murray once worked in the Ducks front office with Bob Murray. Both men understand one another. Bob will get Myers if, and only if, he is willing to part with two of his top prospects and a third rounder.
Tim Murray doesn’t have to trade Tyler Myers. He's 24 years of age and is playing his sixth NHL season. Myers has played 327 regular season games and another 13 playoff games while wearing a Buffalo sweater. He's scored 41 goals and added 97 assists in 327 games played (anther 2G, 5A in playoffs). Murray has him under contract ( $5.5 million cap hit through 2018-19). Myers has a ton of marketability right now as it appears as though his inconsistent ways are now a thing of the past. He struggles after the lockout due to injury and was inconsistent until Ted Nolan fixed his game last season. Myers is back to being himself again.
If Bob Murray, Ken Holland, Peter Chiarelli, or Craig MacTavish want to get their mitts on Myers, they will have to pay a premium price to get him. In my opinion, Detroit and Anaheim have the wherewithal and the prospects that Tim Murray wants in return to get a Myers deal done.
Tim Murray made a scouting trip to Ottawa to watch the Sens-Devils game on Saturday night Might he be eyeballing young D Jared Cowen? Paul MacLean is content to keep Cowen as his seventh D. The kid wants to play. He's clearly MacLean's dog house right now as he has only played in two games this far. Murray drafted Cowen ninth overall in 2009. He knows full well what type of player the 6'5" 230 lb. D-man is. In 68 games last season, Cowen scored 6 goals on 68 shots taken and added 9 assists and 45 PIMs. He was an even player.
If Murray decides to move Myers to Anaheim, Cowen (and a second rounder) for Stewart may be a worthwhile trade for both the Sabres and Sens.
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