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Get a load of these beauties! The Buffalo Sabres players joined Zach Bogosoian to celebrate at his first ever Bogo Bunch charity event on Saturday night.
The theme of the event was classic 1920's fashion.
Get a load of Jake McCabe and Zemgus Girgensons. They look like legit gangsters with their battle scars.
Jack Eichel posted this mug shot on his Instagram account.
I'm told that Bogosian raised a lot of money and awareness for his foundation.
Great jobs!
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Thanks, Jets TV
Understandably, Patrik Laine was not on the ice with his Winnipeg Jets teammates on Sunday morning.
Jets head coach Paul Maurice confirmed to media that Laine is in fact suffering from a concussion that he suffered in a violent collision with Buffalo Sabres defenseman
Jake McCabe on Saturday. Laine is out of the lineup indefinitely.
I agree with Maurice's assessment of the events that led up to the Laine concussion. It was an unfortunate result to a text book hockey play.
Great pass to the winger with speed through the neutral zone. Excellent recognition of McCabe to jump up and defend the passing lane. The collision was a result of two trains arriving at the same station at the same time. McCabe timed his hit perfectly as Laine had his head up, his eyes down and the puck on his stick. McCabe denied Laine time and space through the neutral zone. Unfortunately, McCabe and Laine smashed their heads together in the collision.
Laine will meet again with Jets team doctors today and will begin the stages of the NHL concussion protocol. There is no immediate timetable for a return to the Jets Laine. I think that it's safe to say that Laine will not be participating in the NHL All Star Game activities in LA in three weeks. Naturally, Laine has yet to be selected to play in the All Star Game, however, I think it's a given that the young Finn has earned his invitation to play in the event.
It's ironic that Laine suffered his first serious NHL career injury inside the building where he was drafted second overall at the 2016 NHL Draft in Buffalo, NY.
The Sabres won the game 4-3 by erupting for three goals in the thrid period. The McCabe-Laine collision occurred after Sabres captain Brian Gionta tied the game at 3-3.
Laine, a rookie of the year candidate, has 21 goals and 15 assists this season.
Paul Maurice said Sunday that former Sabres winger Drew Stafford will be taking Laine's place on the top line alongside Mark Scheifele and Nik Ehlers.
Here is a video of Patrik Laine leaving the barn in Buffalo on Saturday afternoon.
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Laine will be evaluated by team doctors on Sunday.
There was no word at the rink on Saturday whether the slick young Finn has a concussion. Having seen the collision live in the building, I'm wagering that Laine will be missing games in the next couple of weeks. I'm not a neurologist, nor do I play one on the internet. However, the force and velocity of the Jake McCabe hit on Laine likely caused head trauma far greater than just ringing the kid's bell. Were I the Jets, I would prepare Laine to sit down for the next 6-8 games. Concussion or not. With head injuries, no two are the same and symptoms sometimes take days to appear and identify themselves.
Having spent time speaking with him at the NHL Combine and NHL Draft last summer, I'm a big fan of Laine. I wish him well in his recovery.
Photo credit: Tim Ludwig
In case you were at work or you were out of the country and missed the Laine-McCabe collision, here are the facts as I saw them from my seat on press row on Saturday afternoon.
Patrik Laine's condition has not been updated by Paul Maurice nor the Winnipeg Jets.
Jets head coach Paul Maurice's take on the McCabe-Laine collision was as I expected. Maurice said it was a clean hit.
In the third period of Buffalo's come from behind win on Saturday, Laine, the second overall pick at the 2016 NHL Draft, was laid out by a devastating, clean open-ice hit by Sabres defender Jake McCabe.
You could feel the momentum swing dramatically in Buffalo's favor after they tied the game at 3-3. The McCabe his added more fuel to Buffalo's fire as they crowd erupted and gave the Sabres players a wave of emotion to ride to victory.
Buffalo battled back and erased the 3-1 deficit with three unanswered goals by Marcus Foligno, Zemgus Girgensons and Brian Gionta. Sabres fans havent't seen a third period comeback like the one they saw on Saturday since 2012-13/ Those damn tanking seasons suck the life right out of the fan base. Today, the players provided the passion, the fans provided the wave of emotion that fueled the victory.
Shame on the Jets for trying to milk a two goal third period lead. They clearly underestimated the Jack Eichel-inspired Sabres of 2017. Eichel chewed out his teammates on Friday for their collective laissez faire third period effort in Chicago on Thursday night. Eichel blasted his teammates for feeling satisfied with taking one point in Chicago when they deserved two points. Eichel wasn't happy that his team spanked the Rangers 4-1 Tuesday night then coughed up a third period lead and lost in OT to Chicago. Eichel won't tolerate losing. He despises it.
On Saturday afternoon, the Sabres fought their way off the floor and refused to tap out.
Eichel approved of the Buffalo third period. He said the game changed when he and his fellow forwards got pucks in behind the Jets and then turned up the heat on the forecheck.
The game ended with Sabres goalie Robin Lehner trying to break loose from a bear hug being applied to him by the linesman. Lehner wanted to punch Dustin Byfuglien and Mark Scheifele in the face after the Jets crashed his crease and were looking for a fight.
After the game, Lehner confirmed that he wanted to take a big chunk out of Byfuglien. I wish the linesmen would have let Lehner loose so that he could pop the big bully in the pie hole four or five times. If any NHLer could drop Byfuglien with a flurry to the face, it's Lehner the mixed martial arts goalie.
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Welcome to the Atlantic Division standings on Sunday January 5, 2017.
Montreal are in the lead with 56 points. However, a mere seven points stand between seven teams that smooshed together in second through eighth place. It's a veritable mosh pit.
Talk about a wide open race for second and third place!
Boston took over sole possession of second place with a win over Florida on Saturday.
By losing in regulation on Saturday night, Ottawa and Toronto are tied for third place with 44 points.
Tampa and Florida also lost oin regulation on Saturday night and are now tied for fourth place with 42 pomts apiece.
Buffalo beat Winnipeg Saturday afternoon and Detroit lost to San Jose Saturday night. The Sabres and Red Wings are tied for fifth place in the division with 39 points each.
Not all teams have played the same amount of games in the Atlantic division so games in hand will be very advantageous moving forward into the January battles.
The Canadiens have played 40 games, the Bruins 42 games. Ottawa have played 38 games, Toronto 39, Tampa and Florida have each played 41 games. Buffalo have played 39 games and Detroit 40.
The Canadiens have built their their ten point cushion in the division with a lot of help from their 24 regulation and OT wins, the most in the Atlantic division. Boston have 19 ROW, while Ottawa, Toronto and Tampa have 17 apiece. Florida and Buffalo have 14 ROW and Detroit 12.
Some Atlantic teams have feathered their respective nexts by winning in OT and in the skills competition. Other teams, like the Buffalo Sabres, have failed miserable to close out opponents and win games in OT and in the miniature gold segment of games known as shootouts. The Sabres are not adept at putting their neaon colored ball through the clowns's nose nor up the ramp, over the water moat and into the yawning cup 60 feet away.
I digress.
The Buffalo Sabres have nobody to blame but themselves for failing to win their OT and shootout games. The Sabres have a combined 3-9 record in OT and shootout games this season. The Sabres need to cleanup their OT/shootout win strategy in a hurry. The points in the standings that they left on the table in the 2016 segment of their schedule is damning.
Tampa are 3-4 in OT/Shootouts; Boston are 4-4; Toronto are 5-8; Montreal are 5-6; Ottawa are 6-4; Florida are 8-8; Detroit 8-5.
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Rasmus Ristolainen logged a career-high
30:22 of ice time against Winnipeg on Saturday.
Mind you, the game was a sixty minute affair with no OT. Dan Bylsma trusts his young Finn to be on the ice in all key situations. Ristolainen enters Sunday action tied for fifth with Shea Weber and Kevin Shattenkirk in NHL scoring among D-men with 26 points (3G, 23A). Ristolainen is currently ranked in 4th place among NHL D-men in Time On Ice with 26:50 per game. Ristolainen is also tied for second place in NHL Defenseman scoring on the power play. Ristolainen has 1 goal and 15 assists on the PP this season. Ristolainen's 109 total hits in 39 games places him seventh overall in hits among full time NHL D.
I'm fully expecting Ristolainen to be selected to play in the 2017 NHL All-Star Weekend will take place January 27-29 in La La Land.
Ristolainen has earned himself an All Star invitation. In the past two seasons he has proven himself to be one of the best defenders in the entire NHL with his best work yet to come. #Norristalainen deserves high praise for his dogged determination and ability to shut down the top lines of opposing teams. Ristolainen is not a flash in the pan. He has already played 233 games in the NHL and has scored 22 goals and 69 assists in his career. Not bad for a kid who just turned 22 years of age.
I'm also advocating for Ristolainen to be considered as a Norris Trophy candidate this season. In my own humble opinion, Ristolainen has been just as if not more valuable a defender for his team as Brent Burns, Cam Fowler, and Shea Weber.
I said it. I meant it. I stand behind it.
Ristolainen is at the very least an NHL All Star. I see no good reason at all, other then bias towards incumbent popular/favorite players, that Ristolainen be omitted from Norris Trophy candidate discussions.
The 2017 NHL All-Star Game will once again feature the 3-on-3 All-Star Tournament, showcasing the NHL's most talented star players from each division. Introduced at last year's NHL All-Star Game in Nashville, the All-Star Tournament will feature three 20-minute games, with star players from each Division making up the four All-Star teams: Pacific, Central, Atlantic, and Metropolitan.
Each team will be made up of 11 players from each Division: six forwards, three defensemen and two goaltenders.
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With their win over the Jets on Saturday afternoon, the Sabres have improved to 7-3-2 against the Western Conference this season, including points in each of their last four games (4-0-1) and wins in each of their last four home games against the West.
If only the Sabres could beat Eastern Conference teams this season the way that they do their Western foes, they would be a playoff team today.
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Brian Gionta, who has now scored in each of Buffalo’s two games against Winnipeg this season, is now tied for the team lead with eight even-strength goals this season.
With a goal and an assist, Ryan O’Reilly now has 13 points (4G, 9A) in his last 14 games, including four (1G, 3A) in two games since returning to the lineup following an appendectomy that sidelined him for four games.
Samson Reinhart recorded the lone assist on O’Reilly’s goal, improving his output to nine points (2G, 7A) in his last nine games.
With his goal, Marcus Foligno now has a goal in consecutive games and has a point in each of his last three home games (2G, 1A).
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Stick taps to the game presentation staff of the Buffalo Sabres for producing this gem of a pregame video just in time for Saturday's home game against Winnipeg.
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