@boosbuzzsabres
GM Jason Botterill and the Buffalo Sabres may have found themselves a real gem in goaltender Carter Hutton. Although he may no be the second coming of Martin Brodeur or go on a late-bloomer run to the Stanley Cup like Tim Thomas did, what Hutton is bringing to the Sabres both on and off the ice is worth mentioning...again.
Hutton came to the Sabres after a pretty strong performance in a backup role for the St. Louis Blues and was ready for his shot as a starter. But he also knew that there were other responsibilities as well, like being helping his new team transition from cellar-dweller and taking the heat off of rookie Linus Ullmark.
"I think my role is to come in here, step in, play well and help the team win hockey games," said the 32 yr. old to the gathered media after his signing. What's been expressed to me is I think they kind of want me to protect [Ullmark] in the sense that this is going to be a big year for him. Playing full-time in the NHL is a lot different than playing full-time in the AHL. I just think they don't want to make any mistakes rushing him. They know he's their guy in the future and they have a lot of faith in him."
Botterill said at the time of the signing that his scouts focused on Hutton in free agency and they really liked what they saw. "What we've learned about Carter," said Botterill, is he has the confident in the No. 1 role and also has a history of working with young goalies.
"We think it's a great fit."
What we in Sabreland have learned about Hutton after four games is that he's a real calming presence both on and off the ice.
Hutton is a great puckhandler for a goalie and that aspect eases some of the burden on the defensemen heading back for the puck. With a league built on speed and pressure, the opposition forecheck can be a nightmare for defenseman. However, with Hutton back there handling the puck, it's almost as if there was another skater there already and instead of a defenseman starting the play on or beneath the goal line, Hutton is already there looking for an outlet pass or dump-off. He's already told his defensemen to let him handle things when the situation calls for it and they've obliged. The results are consistent breakouts from the back-end the likes of which we haven't seen in a long time.
Off the ice Hutton is a calming voice of reason regardless of the outcome. After the Sabres got spanked by the Boston Bruins by a 4-0 score at home and were booed of off the ice. When asked by the media if it was difficult not to over react to a game like that, Hutton said matter-of-factly, "For me it's pretty easy. It is what it is. Whether we lost 10-0 or 1-0 it's just one game. We've got to move on and take what we can from it."
The Sabres proceeded to win the next two games before dropping their second of the season last night 6-1 to the Colorado Avalanche and the general vibe was that they may have taken things a little for granted, according to head coach Phil Housley. He told the gathered media last night that his team should have "a good, valuable lesson to learn (from) last night" and that he still has a team that's "learning to win."
Good points.
The Sabres have been in the dumps so long, most recently a last place finish In 2017-18, that winning and maintaining that winning attitude is still somewhat foreign. Forward Kyle Okposo said last night that they "just weren't ready to go" while Hutton said that it might be "just one of those things where maybe we get a little too comfortable at home."
Hutton, who was with a 46-win St. Louis Blues team that advanced to the second round of the 2018 NHL playoffs, also mentioned "the grind of winning" saying that "it's not anything that's easy to do" and that they must learn to embrace it."
Buffalo is on the road for a season-long five-game road trip beginning in Arizona tomorrow night followed by trips to Las Vegas (the 16th,) San Jose (18th,) Los Angeles (20th) and Anaheim (25th.) Facing off against the one-win Coyotes would be a good way to hopefully start learning to win again.
*****
It took a while for the Sabres to get their feet underneath them last night but when they did they started playing much better and got back into the game.
Midway through the second period the second line of Patrik Berglund, Jeff Skinner and Okposo got a nice cycle going in the Avalanche zone that lasted over 1:30. After the puck left the Colorado zone Jack Eichel, Sam Reinhart and Conor Sheary, along with defensemen Jake McCabe and Rasmus Dahlin got it going again for over a minute.
That quintet were using every inch of the offensive zone trying to create space against a real solid defensive-five for the 'Lanche. The cycle was beautiful to watch as the Sabres did everything they could to get a good shot off and looked every bit in control. I could have watched it a lot longer as it's something we haven't really seen often.
Unfortunately at KeyBank Center a vociferous portion of the 15,000-plus were getting anxious and they displayed their impatience and displeasure with what was transpiring by yelling "SHOOOOOOOTTTTT!!!!"
McCabe eventually got a shot off from the slot that was just wide of the net.
If people pay money to go to a game, they can pretty much act as they choose as long as it's not offensive or causing physical harm.
People yelling "SHOOOOOOOTTTT!!!!" at that point with the beauty that was the Sabres cycle seemed rather offensive to me. Nobody in the Sabres organization will say it, nor will anyone in the Buffalo media mention it, but it should be said. Having money to go to a game, or spending that money to go to the game doesn't make one an expert on what should be done in any given situation.
At-me all you want, but that just wasn't warranted.
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