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Jhonas Enroth started 118 games in Buffalo. He won only 43 of his starts.
Perhaps his best performance was last season when he was Buffalo's starting goalie during the season of "The Tank". Enroth started the season as the #1 for the first time in his career. He posted a 13-21-2 record with a .327 GAA and .903 save %.
Enroth admittedly wasn't a fan of tanking. He and his teammates were interested in winning games rather than winning Jack Eichel via the NHL Draft Lottery.
In the end, Enroth was traded away to Lindy Ruff's Dallas Stars.
His Buffalo win/loss record doesn't matter to the fans of Buffalo. He showed up for the battle when called upon. Enroth always answered the bell for his Buffalo teammates.
His loyal fans (and there are still tend of thousands of them in Buffalo) and his teammates loved the diminutive Swedish tender.
Enroth is the classic underdog and Buffalo loves cheering for the guys who have to work harder than all of the rest.
I am always going to be big fan of Jhonas Enroth. He was a pleasure to cover when he played for the Buffalo Sabres. It wasn't easy for Enroth to exist in Ryan Miller's shadowLindy Ruff, in my opinion, didn't use Enroth properly. Ruff tended to ride Miller and ignore Enroth. Thro, ugh the highs and lows, Jhonas always kept his head down, worked his ass off blocked out all of the noise/hype and supported his teammates.
Enroth always prepared well for games and practices. He always battled and gave his teams a chance to win.
Always brutally honest and critical of his own play, Enroth was and still is a very candid person. I loved when he would be critical of himself when his teams were losing. And winning.
Jhonas will start for the Kings tonight against fellow Swede Linus Ullmark.
Tonight marks Enroth's first start in Buffalo since he was traded to Dallas last February.
Enroth has a sizzling .962 save % and 1.17 GAA playing behind the ginormous LA Kings.
You should give Jhonas a round of appreciation when he is introduced during the intros.
I'm glad for the success that he has found in the post-Buffalo chapter of his NHL career.
After the morning skate, Enroth spoke with the Kings' website about his return to Buffalo and his new rle as Jonathon Quick's backup in Botox City.
Enroth on returning to Pegulaville:
It was definitely a bit different obviously, since I spent some time here. But I’m excited for the game and looking forward to it a lot. So it should be a good one
.
Enroth on re-connecting with his Buffalo friends and fans:
Oh yeah, definitely. I think everyone knows that I love Buffalo. So it’s nice to come back and it still felt like I was coming home in a way. But yeah, it was nice to come back.
Enroth on whether it’s disappointing to be in Buffalo on tail end of a back-to-back:
Yeah, definitely, but that’s how it is and we’re here to play a hockey game and I obviously get that. I’m just going to try to stay professional, get ready for my game here. I haven’t played in a while, so I’m pretty excited about that, too.
Enroth backing up for Jonathan Quick:
Well, I think I was in kind of a similar position with Miller here. I think I played a couple more games back then, but it’s a situation I can say I am pretty used to it. But I’m just trying to stay sharp in practice and just being sharp whenever I get the nod. Like I said, I feel like I know what I need to do now. I’m a couple years older and so far, I‘ve been playing pretty well when I got my chances. So I’m just trying to look for more games.
Enroth, on moving from Buffalo to Los Angeles:
It’s a big difference. Obviously LA is a really cool place to live in and it’s a lot of things to do there. So it’s a cool place to live, and I’m definitely happy to get that experience to live there in a cool city like that.
Enroth on the radically different Buffalo roster:
Yeah, I know. I’ve seen their roster and it’s a whole lot of new guys, especially the top two lines. I haven’t played with any of those guys. I think Gionta is the only one and Reinhart. There’s a lot of new players and new trainers too, I’ve heard. But I think the Sabres are really starting to come around and they’re a pretty young and talented team now. So it should be exciting to follow the team.
Enroth still watches his Sabres on TV:
Yeah, I’m not more than human, right? So of course I keep an eye on the Sabres because it was the first team that I ever got to play for and got drafted here. So of course I keep a little bit of an eye on them. To be honest, I’m trying to not keep up too much because I like to focus on myself. But it’s hard to not keep an eye on Buffalo.
Enroth, on whether former Sabres mates Brayden mcNabb, Christian Ehrhoff, and Jamie McBain helped his transition to Lipstick City:
I think so. I think we’re four guys, right? So I knew those guys when I first got here or got to LA. So it was definitely nice to know a couple guys around the team and it’s been a pretty smooth transition for me. I think I really like the team we have and it’s a good group of guys.
Enroth is still a HUGE Brayden McNabb fan:
First of all, he was a really good player when he played here with the Sabres, too. I knew coming into the season that he’s going to be a really good defender. A guy you like to have in front of you as a goalie. He’s a big body and plays the game very tough and you can count on him every night. I knew he was a good player.
Enroth, on his fondest memory of being in Buffalo:
Honestly, I think it’s my last season here last year. It’s a season I’m very proud of and looking back at it, I kind of smile when I think about it. It was a tough season for us, but I got to play a lot of games and I felt good throughout that year and it was a good experience. I think that’s probably the biggest experience or biggest memory from my Sabres time here. Obviously, my first couple games here, too, my first year when I broke into the league.
***
I would be remiss if I didn't praise Sabres GM Tim Murray for the one off season acquisition that nobody is talking about. The Sabres would be in a world of hurt right now were it not for the hiring of this individual.
Stick tap, Tim Murray for stealing Terry Murray away from the Philadelphia Flyers.
I don't know how he did it, but he did it. And that's all that matters.
I dare say that were it not for the tutelage and guidance of Terry Murray that Rasmus Ristolainen would not be having the career season that he is experiencing right now.
Murray has developed the reputation as being the NHL's defensemen whisperer. Murray, a former NHL D-man, has an innate ability to mold and shape the minds and tools of young, raw, talented D prospects to form them into difference-making rear guards. Ever heard of Drew Doughty? Jake Muzzin? Alec Martinez? Brayden McNabb? You can now add Ristolainen, Jake McCabe, Mark Pysyk, and Cody Franson to the list of young NHL D who have succeeded while playing for Terry Murray.
Murray, the former head coach of the Los Angeles Kings , Philadelphia Flyers, Lehigh and Adirondack Phantoms has been all that and more in his short time in Buffalo.
Murray, who turned 65 in July, has an impeccable track record of working well with prospects and younger players at both the minor league and NHL levels. Murray has 31 years of coaching experience. He has brought his 15 years of NHL coaching service to Buffalo and has been a godsend since he arrived last June.
Ask any NHL scout, coach, GM or front office type about Terry Murray and they will tell you without hesitation that he is an excellent hockey resource and teacher of the game.
Dan Bylsma and Tim Murray knew what they were getting when they hired Terry Murray to turn around the D corps that finished 30th overall in the NHL the past two seasons. Tim Murray's tanking days ended at the very moment that he traded for Ryan O'Reilly and Jamie McGinn and selected Jack Eichel second overall at the NHL Draft in late June. When the 2014-15 season from hell ended, Tim Murray's first order of business was to get rid of Nikita Zadorov, Andrej Meszaros, Andre Benoit, and Tyson Strachan. Buffalo's blue line was an NHL worse combined minus 183. Jake McCabe and Chad Ruhwedel were the only even or plus D-men on that roster. All others were dashes. Ristolainen was -32. Gorges was -28. Weber was -22. Benoit was -19. Meszaros was -30. Myers was -15. Zadorov -10. Bogosian -7.
God, that blue line was awful. Murray constructed it that way by design to perform poorly. There waa a winning formula to Murray's 2014-15 roster: don't score goals, allow opponents to treat your blue line like a turnstile, have decent goal tending. The Sabres finished 30th overall for two seasons in a row and now have Samson Reinhart and Jack Eichel to show off as their rewards for tanking.
When Dan Bylsma took over as Buffalo bench boss, all tanking talk ended post haste. Bylsma interviewed many different candidates for his assistant coaching positions. He won the lottery when Terry Murray opted to decline Philly's offer to assist rookie NHL head coach Dave Hakstol to work alongside respected veteran hockkey men in Bylsma and Dave Barr.
Bylsma raves about Terry Murray:
“Terry is a guy who’s been a head coach in this league. He’s been an assistant coach in this league. He’s been a head coach at the American Hockey League level. He’s coached with and under some other great coaches in other great systems, organizations. Terry’s bringing that to our team. I think it’s going to be a huge part of our development for our players, especially our defensemen.”
Murray and Rasmus Ristolainen appear to be a match made in Hockey Heaven. Seriously. We knew that Risto was going to be a great one but did anyone think that the young Finn would be one of the most consistent, top performing all around D-men just 29 games into this season?
I'll admit I didn't see this metamorphosis happening so quickly. I knew that Risto was the real McCoy the minute I first laid eyes on him at his first Sabres rookie development camp in July 2013 shortly after Darcy Regier had selected him 8th overall in the NHL draft.
Murray and Bylsma are trusting Ristolainen implicitly in all key situations and against the other team's top lines. So much so that the recently turned 21 year old is leading all Sabres in ice time with 24:13 TOI per game. He averages 31.5 shifts per 60 minutes. Last season, Ted Nolan skated Risto just 20:36 TOI per game. Murray has been accentuating the positives on Ristolainen's D-zone responsibilities. Ristolainen already has 48 hits in 29 games after finishing last season with 118 hits. Murray has pumped the kid's tired to the point where he believes that he actually is Shea Weber, Roman Jossi or Ryan Suter. Murray is the jockey and Risto is the thoroughbred who is killing the field right now with his dazzling array of defensive and offensive suite of skills. Ristolainen's most amazing growth area has come from Murray imploring him to shoot the puck early and often in games. Ristolainen has an absolute bomb from the point and he can walk the line and shoot while moving like is role model Shea Weber. Ristolainen has already taken 75 shots through 29 games. Ristolainen enters Game 30 against the LA Kings tonight with 7 goals and 14 assists.
Ristolainen literally carried his team on his back on Thursday night in Calgary when trailing 2-0 in the third period he scored a natural hat trick to tie the game at 3-3. The Sabres would lose on a great goal by Sean Monahan on which Chad Johnson failed to make a simple save. The Sabres couldn't blame Risto for the gaffe. All by himself the kid led his team out of trouble and gave them a chance to win.
That's leadership.
That's the Terry Murray Effect.
Murray took a similar tact with Drew Doughty in LA. Early on in his NHL career, Doughty has a one-track hockey mind. He loved to take the puck and go. Murray saw more to Doughty than just being a rover or a fourth forward on the ice. Murray tapped into Doughty's self-belief system and convinced the kid that he was the king of the NHL D-man jungle. Murray would tell Doughty to visualize that he was the best, most dominant D-man and not Weber, Suter, Karlsson, Subban, et al.
The results speak for themselves. Doughty, 26, has already played dominant roles on two Stanley Cup winning teams and has won two Olympic gold medals. There is no better one-man breakout in the NHL right now than Doughty. Duncan Keith and Erik Karlsson are great D but they don't do it for me like Doughty does. Under Terry Murray's watchful eye, Doughty became a consistently dominant 200 foot player. He now dominates in all three zones every shift. He's a tremendous back checker. He hits like a loaded 18-wheeler. He blocks shots and finished checks.
Doughty's rookie season was Terry Murray's first year as head coach in LA. Doughty finished that season with 27 points and was -17. Murray skated him 23:50 per game. However, his career skyrocketed in his sophomore season when he pumped in 57 points and was +20 while skating 24 minutes TOI per game. The next two seasons saw Doughyt scored 40 and 36 points, respectively while skating 25 minutes TOI per game.
After the 2011-12 season, Murray was fired and was replaced by Darryl Sutter.
When Murray arrived in LA he had several rare talents in Doughty, Anze Kopitar, Dustin Brown and Jonathon Quick. In his 3.5 seasons as head coach of the Kings, he polished those rare gems and found maximum value in all of them.
It's no wonder that Sutter has won two Stanley Cups with the players that Terry Murray mentored and fostered in the early years of their NHL development. Sutter gets all the glory for winning two Cups, however, NHL insiders know that Terry Murray was the reason why the young studs that the Kings drafted became NHL superstars.
Murray now sees in Ristolainen that which he saw in Doughty four years ago.
Murray now has Ristolainen believing that he is indeed one of if not the best defenseman in the NHL right now.
I asked Ristolainen last week if he every stops and thinks about perhaps being considered for the Norris Trophy for NHL's best defenseman at the end of this season.
“No. I don't think like that. I have so much more that I can be doing. I have to get better. I keep listening to my coaches and I keep getting better”.
At 21 years and 44 days, Ristolainen became the youngest NHL defenseman to score a hat trick since Hannu Virta (19 years old) recorded one for the Sabres on March 19, 1983 at Montreal.
He was just the sixth Sabres defenseman to score a hat trick and the first since Phil Housley on January 22, 1988 vs. New Jersey. The others were Phil Housley (2), Jerry Korab, Jim Schoenfeld, John Van Boxmeer and Hannu Virta.
Rasmus Ristolainen is on pace to score 20 goals this season. The only Buffalo Sabres defenseman with a 20 goal season is recent Hockey Hall Of Fame inductee Phil Housley (5 times).
That's rarified air right there.
Ristolainen is currently on pace to produce 59 points this season. No Sabres defenseman has had a 50 point season since Gary Galley accumulated 54 points in 1995-96.
Terry Murray's thumbprint is also being seen on the play of Zach Bogosian, Josh Gorges, Mark Pysyk, Jake McCabe, Cody Franson, and Mike Weber.
The 2014-15 Sabres D corps landed 521 hits on opponents. This year's D corps already has 256 hits after 29 games played and will easily surpass last season's hit totals.
Under Murray, the Buffalo D zone breakout is mush more fluent and methodical that that of Ted Nolan's helter skelter, chicken-with-its-head-cut-off breakout. Murray stresses to his D to take the puck and go when they have an opportunity to do so. However, he stresses that his D make quick, short, hard passes to their D partners and forwards while on the move.
Under Murray's coaching, the D are encouraged to join the rush and to create plays for their forwards. The Buffalo D have accumulated 50 points in 29 games played already this season [Ristolainen has 21 points, Franson 11, Gorges 5, Bogosian and Colaiocovo 4 each, McCabe 3, McCabe and Weber 1 each].
Last season, the Sabres' blue line was a combined -183. Today, its a combined -24.
For that, Terry Murray deserves a key to the front door of Hockey Heaven.
**
Murray will get to say hello to his former players and Kings colleagues after the game days skates today.
Here are the Sabres D pairs and lines for toinight:
Duos:
Gorges-Ristolainen
McCabe-Bogosian
Weber-Franson
*Colaiacovo
Trios:
McGinn-O'Reilly-Reinhart
Moulson-Eichel-Kane
Gionta-Larsson/C.O'Reilly-Girgensons
Foligno-Legwand-Deslauriers
#FreeCalOReilly
I'm ready for Johan Larsson to go back to Rochester or to be traded.
The guy is not a top six forward. He pouts when her is a bottom six guy.
It's time once and for all to end the Larson Experiment.
Time to cut the cord.
I hope Bylsma sits him tonight and plays Cal O'Reilly.
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