Pegulaville26

Nick Cotsonika from Yahoo Sports is reporting that the Sabres are looking to re-sign Paul Gaustad. He is a piece that is highly sought after by a few teams, Detroit and Vancouver to name a few. This of course comes as no surprise to me. I've been hearing all along the plan is to keep Gaustad. He is well liked in the locker room and a leader. He has brought his game to a new level the last few weeks. I'm expecting a 3 year deal around the 2.5-3 million dollar mark before the deadline. IF Gaustad is traded, I see it very likely he re-signs July 1.

No way Pominville leaves, they didn't just make him captain to trade him when he is playing well with Vanek. Gaustad is probably staying, he is going to be off the market in the next day or two with a new contract.

I think the habs robbed Nashville on this deal

Buffalo fans have been looking for that answer for 14 years. Anyone who knows the answer let me know.

Good pick up. Dominos starting to fall

@Digityman I think ruff needs to find a new organization to work for

The Sabres and Flyers share the ice for the 3rd time tonight, however the first at the Wells Fargo Center. These two teams do not really like eachother after last seasons 7 game series. Philly has won the first two meetings in two different ways. The first they chased Ryan Miller early and held onto a 3-2 win. The second they pulled a 2010 playoffs come back. The Flyers trailed 3-0 and came back to win 4-3 in OT thanks to a great pass by MA Gragnani to Claude Giroux sending him in alone on Miller. Ville Leino returns to Philly tonight, should be interesting the reception he receives. Remember when Leino saved the Flyers in round 1? Leino robbed Ennis from Sabres history... I throw up in my mouth everytime I remember we lost to Boucher, Leighton, and Bobrovsky. Unlike the first two meetings Jhonas Enroth will start tonight for Buffalo. Makes sense seeing tomorrow's game against Montreal is more of a must win than tonight's against Philly. I think Tuesday's loss to NJ was the final nail in the coffin. They missed two chances to make up ground on Toronto. They can only lose 5 games of the next 22 which includes a west coast trip to Vancouver and Anaheim. As well as 2 more stops in Boston and one more after tonight in Philly. Therefore the auditions for the tradeable pieces start tonight. I am hoping for a strong night from Jordan Leopold and Paul Gaustad so maybe the Flyers will be interested in one or both of them. Expected Lineup: Leino-Roy-Pominville Vanek-Ennis-Gerbe Stafford-Gaustad-Kaleta Kassian-Ellis-McCormick Ehrhoff-Myers Regher-Leopold Weber-Sekera Enroth (Miller) Prediction:Flyers are hurt maybe they get lucky? Nope they will Bryz look like a star 4-1 Flyers

I was doing my usual morning cruise around the hockey internet making stops at tsn, nhl.com, and hockeybuzz to get my crazy Ek rumors for the day. I'm surprised it took Ek so long, but at long last the Miller for Kane rumor was in his rumor blog today. So since the Sabres give me nothing interesting to write about I'll kick this around. Now let me say this first off IF this happens I find it hard to believe it goes down at the deadline. I think Chicago will take a shot at Nabokov, Bulin, or another rental goalie and keep Kane for the playoffs. However in the offseason a different story. Lets start with Patty Kane. He has speed, skill, personality, and excitment. He has struggled this season in Chicago after a red hot start. He has 12 goals and 33 assists so far in 57 games, with a +8. On the Sabres roster he'd be in the top 3 for scoring with Vanek and Pominville. However by Kane standards this is an off year. Kane has played center, but is best used on the wing. I'm not trying a Ville Leino conversion here if I make this deal. If I'm trading for Kane he is playing his natural position of wing. A few cabbies in Buffalo might be upset, but all in all I think most Sabres fans would be happy with Kane. Now to Ryan Miller. He has had an up and down season this year. He started well then went south since his injury, but is on the way back up again. He sports a 16-17-3 record with a 2.75 GAA and a .909%. He also has 3 shutouts this season, one coming in a shootout loss to the Rangers (only in the NHL). He has put his heart and soul into the Sabres franchise trying to win. However they have never reached a Cup final and have not bad it out of the first round since 06-07. This league is harsh where production matters more than dedication. Also not on Miller's side is the growing idea that paying a goalie a boat load of money isn't the way to go. Tonight's opponent is a prime example of this theory. Sure Thomas won the cup last year, but before him post lockout Niemi, Fleury (eh), Osgood, Gigure, and Ward. I don't think any of those goalies you would consider top 3-5 in the NHL besides maybe Ward, but he won before he made a name for himself. Fleury maybe, but he has to many off nights, take a look at last weekend Jets game. All those post lock out winners had scoring by the bunches. Before Sabres fans start buying their blue and gold 88 jerseys a couple hurdles stand in the way here. One Miller has a NTC in which he has to give a list of teams he will accept a trade to. Chicago might not be on that list. Also the Sabres need a goaltender if Miller is gone. Do they hand it over to Enroth? I'm assuming Crawford would probably come over with Kane, but it might cost the Sabres another piece too (Sekera, Gragnani, Weber, or Brennan). Also who says Chicago wants to give away Kane. He is a former first overall pick with the talent level that doesn't grow on trees. Sure maybe they will want a shake up if they get bounced in the first round, but is a 6 million dollar goalie that shake up? Anyway you could pry can out of Chicago without giving Miller up and instead using Enroth and prospects (wishful thinking probably)? WWDD(what would Darcy do)??? What would you do?

If I'm the Leafs I don't do it. They don't need a winger, they need a center. Trading for Nash although a heck of a player pretty much ends any chance to afford a top center. 7.8 million dollar handcuffs for 6 years.

Haha That is fantastic! Can't wait to play this game with Leino for the next 5 years

I was wondering how long it would take for Leafs fans to turn on Connolly. Just wait until he trips over the blue line in practice again and gets hurt.

With Rick Nash I want to say buyer beware here. Let me throw some stats at you. Rick Nash 649 GP 227 goals 250 assists 527 points. Thomas Vanek 522 GP 224 goals 205 assists 429 points. If you project Vanek out into 649 games he passes the stats that Nash has right now. Vanek is 6'2 207 lbs and Nash is 6'4 216 lbs. Almost the same player/career. I love Vanek he's my favorite player, but is anyone paying a top 6 forward/dman (or 2), a top prospect, and a high draft pick for Thomas Vanek? Also Nash makes 7.8 million for the next 6 years.

According to Bob McKenzie at TSN the Jackets are making Rick Nash available. Also there has been reports that Nash has given GM Howson a small list of teams he'd waive his NTC too. Let the bidding begin. http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=387786

The NHL is trying take these type of players out of the game. Two weeks ago it was Patrick Kaleta. He could not give a good clean hit without getting 2 for charging or roughing. Now they've moved onto Rinaldo. It's a joke and these bad calls to run players out of the league can have effects on playoff races.

After watching the Sabres vs Lightning game on Saturday I once again come back to the how the NHL has gone backwards thoughts. Coming out of the lockout the NHL claimed they would be different. Players were no longer allowed to clutch and grab. Slow players could no longer interfere with fast players. Scoring was up and the game was growing. Seven years later it seems we have gone back to pre lockout. How many times a game now can you sit there and say "that's interference" or "that's holding"? No matter what team or game I'm watching I say it more than 5 times. Remember when players dumped the puck in and the defender could not stand in front of them or hold them up. Definition of interference. The Philadelpia Flyers were forced to do a full rebuild because of how the NHL changed out of the lockout. They were to slow and couldn't clutch and grab anymore. Now I think that team could be successful again. Players like Hal Gill who are pylons are still in the league now because they can interfere again. Teams like the NJ Devils and Tampa Bay Lightning are responsible for the reason scoring is down. They bore up the game to the point where you want to rip your eyeballs out. How many people see NJ on the schedule and go "Oh nice NJ!". The Devils wonder why they can't put any fans in their new arena. What Guy Boucher is doing to the lightning is a crime. Star speed and skill players like St. Louis, Stamkos, and Lecavalier are handcuffed in that system. I know Stamkos has 37 goals, but imagine if he was able to attack the offensive zone. Remember this?.... Is this how we are supposed to grow our game? Not many people tune in to watch two teams give up 20 shots and play to a 2-1 score on a nightly basis. I love hockey and the Sabres are in a strong playoff push, but I have no intention of watching the Devils play Buffalo tomorrow. My girlfriend and I turned down tickets to the game to instead go out somewhere else on Valentine's Day. Any other team we would be at the FN Center tomorrow. I'll catch the 2-1 highlights later. Scoring as an all time low this season around the league. Goalies are having all time high stats. It's bad when a 2.30 GAA is average or below average. Dominik Hasek is considered one of the best in the game and he sported a 2.50 GAA average in his day. That was outstanding. Goalie equipment size is back up again. For example James Reimer looks like Garth Snow. Also the NHL has informed officials to stop calling penalties. Penalties are also at an all time low. In the last 2 Sabres games 2 penalties were called. Zero in the Lightning vs Sabres game. Am I to believe not one player tripped, hooked, held, or interfered with someone. The NHL wants scoring up then they need to give out PP's. Do you think the NHL has gone backwards? What should the league do?

On Hockey Day in Canada, the Toronto Maple Leafs will retire Mats Sundin's jersey tonight. Toronto is hosting the Canadiens tonight, a fitting night to honor Sundin. Should be a great night and game in Toronto. Stick tap to Sundin and his excellent career. He deserves the honor.

On Wednesday I declared the 6-0 win over the Bruins could be the game fans look back at to point to when the comeback started. However last nights game might be another one of those games. Kari Lehtonen stood on his head for 40 minutes and early in the 3rd Dallas increase their lead to 2-0. Buffalo appeared to be on the path to a frustrating L however, minutes Radek Dvorak took an awful penalty hauling down Vanek in the neutral zone. Vanek would capitalize on a nice tip on the PP. The score would stay 2-1 until the 19:20 mark of the 3rd. With the goalie pulled Derek Roy put away a rebound to tie the game at 2. Late in OT Lehtonen would again shine by stoning Vanek on a wide open net with seconds remaining. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10wkAf9stxo The game would go to a shootout where Nathan Gerbe would use a sick back hand to beat Lehtonen and give the Sabres 2 points. http://video.nhl.com...vidchn-shootout As the standings sit Buffalo is 8 points behind 8th place Toronto with a game in hand and 9 behind Ottawa with 3 games in hand. Buffalo wins the games in hand and head to head games left they catch both teams. (Currently watching the Oil vs Sens on the Iphone headed for a 3pt game. Hate them!) Tonight the Sabres host the Tampa Bay Lightning looking to keep it going. Buffalo has not lost at home since December 10th. The FN Center is becoming known as a hard place to win for road teams. Love it. Some big news today with Luke Adam being sent down to Rochester and Zack Kassian being called up. Kassian will played tonight for the injured Cody McCormick, who sustained an upper body injury last night. Adam who has 10 goals and 10 assists this season needs to play big minutes. He has not scored since early December and needs to get his confidence back. When Kassian returns to Rochester I'm sure you'll the Kassian-Adam-Foligno lined reunited that dominated Traverse City in the Prospects Tourney. Tampa has played well of late, but their style might play into Buffalo's hand tonight. The Sabres played last night and could feature some fatigue however Tampa is not a team known to press. Could help the Sabres stay in the game. The lightning bolts have won both prior meetings this season one in Buffalo and the other in St. Pete. The mystery surrounding tonight's game is who will be in goal for Buffalo. Miller or Enroth. With no pregame skate it will be unknown until game time. Ride the hot hand or give some rest? Buffalo doesn't play again until Valentine's Day against NJ at home. Projected lineup: Leino-Roy-Pominville Vanek-Ennis-Stafford Gerbe-Gaustad-Kaleta Kassian-Boyes-Ellis Ehrhoff-Myers Regher-Leopold Weber-Sekera Miller (Ride the hot hand is my guess) (Enroth) Projection: Tough game it will be a lower scoring battle. 2-1 Tampa in OT/SO

Sabres management has thrown their support behind Ruff and Regier over and over again. However if the Sabres miss the playoffs, fans will demand someone pays. Lindy Ruff has stated numerous times that he one day wants to call the shots and be the GM of a team. Hmm interesting how things work out. Right now Ruff is not behind the bench due to his broken ribs. He stated after last game he enjoyed watching the game from the press box and could see a lot more of what is happening. James Patrick did an excellent job behind the bench in the Boston game and will kind of be getting an audition here for a few games. The idea of Regier paying for the poor season with his job and Ruff moving to GM is not unlikely to me. Ruff plays a very large role in all trades and signings, more than most coaches do. James Patrick would then move into the Head Coaching spot. I think if Sabres management has to pick between Ruff and Regier it's Ruff that stays in the organization. I'm for giving the idea a try. What do you think?

Tonight the Dallas Stars make a visit to the First Niagara Center. Of course with Dallas in town the famous "No Goal" from the 99 cup final must be mentioned. Brett Hull scored the game winning goal in game 6 while his foot was in the crease. Therefore should have been no goal. However the NHL did not (proven fact) review the goal. So in typical Buffalo sports heartbreaking fashion "No goal" falls in with "Wide Right" and "Music City Miracle". Anyways onto tonights big game. Dallas is coming off a 4-2 win last night in Columbus. Kari Lethonen played in goal, so therefore Richard Bachman will guard the cage for the Stars tonight. Sheldon Souray and Brendan Morrow will also not participate in tonight's game due to injuries. On the other side of things however the Sabres are again fully healthy with a opening night lineup. Thomas Vanek will return to the lineup, resulting in Luke Adam to be scratched. Adam should be in Rochester by Monday if their are no other injuries. Dallas has not won in Buffalo since the "no goal game". Their last regular season victory in Buffalo came back in 1997. Lindy Ruff's first home game as head coach. Long time ago. I'm excited to get to take a look at Loui Eriksson and Jamie Benn in action tonight. Benn has my full respect for pulling the anti-Ovechkin in the all-star game. He got his appendix removed days before the game and still showed up and played. Eriksson has sick skill and speed, he's always been one of my most underrated player choices. His skill is hidden in Dallas. The Stars will come hard tonight for 2 points they sit 9th right now in the West and need the points. Buffalo needs this game just as bad. First off because the Lightning are already in Buffalo waiting for their matchup tomorrow night. Also they need to capitalize on this game in hand which they have 4 on Ottawa and 3 on the Jets. James Patrick will be the head coach again tonight and for the near future with Lindy Ruff being in contact with the bench from the press box. Ryan Miller in goal sporting a 4-0-1 record with 2 shutouts in his last 5. Only allowing 4 goals in that time. A little bit of an eyebrow raiser came out of Ruff's pregame comments. He stated that Leino will stay on a line with Pominville and Roy. 29 and 26 have been linemates all season. However I'm all for this idea with Leino coming to life on that line and Vanek struggling before he was hurt. Change is good, we will see how long it lasts tonight. If I were Ruff I'd put Vanek in with Ennis and Gerbe. We will see. Projected Lineup: Leino-Roy-Pominville Gerbe-Ennis-Vanek Boyes-Gaustad-Kaleta Stafford (I don't know where he fits?)-McCormick-Ellis Ehrhoff-Myers Leopold-Regher Sekera-Weber Miller (Enroth) Prediction: Sabres are rolling and Dallas is 0-8-1 in the 2nd game of back to back games. 4-2 Buffalo.

The past couple days I have noticed a lot of things around the hockey world. A lot of small sometimes unnoticed stories are signs of things to come in my opinion. Before I begin let's all give a stick tap to Mr. Scott Gomez. It was 359 days between goals, Gomez hit twine last night against the Isles. I can finally watch a Sabres vs Habs game not saying to myself "just don't let Gomez score". Thank you Isles! Ok back to the signs. Over the past week or two a lot of small stories have come out in regards to the trade deadline. In my opinion I think we are in store for the slowest deadline we have seen in years. Sorry TSN. Sure we had the Flames and Habs swap about a month ago. However it has been all quiet. Usually I would say this is the lull before the storm, but I don't think so. Let me give you some back up to my theory. First a couple weeks ago a report come out that the Leafs are likely to stand pat at the deadline. This makes sense to me although it wouldn't be Burke's style. They want a big fish and who is out their to be had? Carter? Not worth what it would cost right now. Parise? Not happening at the deadline NJ needs to make the playoffs and make money. Nash? Would cost to much. Getzlaf? Not going anywhere. Ryan? Unlikely to move as well. Grabovski was rumored to be on the move, but he is red hot. Maybe a small move involving MacArthur, but he has played well as of late (classic streaky MacArthur). Also the last week has been interesting with reports coming out of Carolina. Anyone who believed the possibility of Staal or Ward moving needs a reality check. Gleason was signed to an extension and removed off the block. Rutherford has claimed he wants to keep Ruutu and sign him. Of course he would say that right? However I don't see what moving Ruutu now gets Carolina, a 2nd-3rd rd pick or B- to C level prospect. I guess maybe Bryan Allen could be had. The big boys like Philly, NYR, Pens, Wings, Sharks, and Hawks are all looking for depth. Players like Gill, Moen, Blake and Kubina fit this bill. If I'm a team like the Flyers I'll stick with my D instead of throwing a pylon like Gill in. No way Suter or Weber is moving now. Anaheim has backed off the idea of trading Getzlaf, Ryan, and Perry. Not shocking. Gagner is the hottest player in the NHL and will be an overpay now by any team so he likely to stay. Doan is unlikely to move, Whitney could be a possibility. Semin, come on. Penner, really? Hemsky is over valued by the Oil. In Buffalo I can't see Roy moving, same with Gaustad. Gaustad has been a force for the Sabres the last few weeks. They will look to resign him. Roy will be an offseason move I believe. Last in the goaltending field Garth Snow came out and said Nabokov is not on the market. Schneider and Bernier could be had in a big time move, but chances of that are slim. Nittymaki and Sanford could be had though. Do you agree with my thinking on the deadline? Pregame blog coming later.

3 point games will make it near impossible for them to catch anyone. They need 47 points IMO in 27 games, that's about 20 wins in 27 with a few OT loses sprinkled in. Look at this way too, they are 4-0-1 in their last 5 and have gained no ground.

Boston the big bully of the Northeast was prepared to come into the First Niagara Ceneter and run the soft Sabres out of the building. Not in Pegula's house! Cody McCormick set the tone 2 minutes in challenging Shawn Thornton to a scrap. The Sabres brought the pressure early. Christian Ehrhoff scored on a goal that I think I could have stopped. Pominville would then score on a beautiful spin o rama pass by Ville Leino. I think Leino has found his linemate in Pominville. Ville has been a new player since the All Star break. Ennis would use his speed to abuse the Boston defense and chase Rask from the net. Buffalo would add three more on Thomas by Kaleta, Pommer, and Stafford. Patrick Kaleta was vintage Kaleta tonight. He challeneged Lucic to a fight and held his own. Again showing Boston they won't stand for being pushed around. Kaleta would then lay a good lick on Chara, causing Chara to chase down Kaleta and deliver a cheap shot for a penalty. Weber and Thornton would go at late in the 2nd. Then Kaleta would lay a hit on McQuaid and start another scrap. Gaustad let Lucic know during that get together that Lucic would not push his weight around. The big bad Bruins looked slow and unorganized tonight. Buffalo carried the play and the hitting. Boston had very little chances on Miller until it was 5-0 in the 3rd. Miller is 4-0-1 in his last 5 giving up only 4 goals in those 5 games. The Sabres may not make the playoffs, however I promise you if they can stay healthy and on this path, one they will make it interesting and two no team in the NHL will want to see them on their schedule. What's up with Tim Thomas and facebook?

Haha! Nope he is going to wait until the next time he goes up against Leopold in a drill in practice after the media forces him with pressure. Ruff did stay late after practice to tell the media how much of a POS he thought Leopold was.

3 broken ribs. That probably hurts a lot. Add to the list of injured players/coaches. Only opening night personel/player to not miss a game this season, Jason Pominville.

No way Chicago trade Toews. Especially for Roy and a 1st rd pick. I would love to have Patty Kane back in Buffalo however if a trade is done I don't think it will involve Miller. If Chicago is trading Kane it is for 2 reasons. One a shake up and 2 to get cap relief. They are not going to be thrilled about taking a goalie with 5.25 million dollar cap hit. You'd have to convince the Hawks Enroth is thier man and it will probably cost us Kassian or McNabb as well as a pick. A Kane trade wouldn't happen until the offseason, Chicago needs him this year for a playoff run. However at the deadline I've been banging the Sam Gagner drum for two months now. Get Gagner now and Kane in the offseason and have a Vanek Gagner Kane first line. It looks like though Regier waited to long to nobody's surprise. Gagner with 12 points in 2 games is going to cost a kings ransom now. Any trade thats made will be an overpay for Gagner. Sabres are in no shape for an overpay. Stastny makes too much money no thanks. I would love Parise, but again that is a Draft/Offseason move. NJ is not trading him at the deadline they need to make the playoffs and go far to make money. They are in huge debt. So what I would do is call around to GMs and see what I can get for Roy, Boyes, Leopold, Gragnani, and Weber. Boyes is a UFA, Roy is Roy, Leo is a good vetern D-man a desperate team could overpay for and Weber and Gragnani could be go throw ins. I don't want to trade Gaustad anymore sorry Wings. This team needs him to lead. Marty Turco?? We don't need him gambling on the bench and he would be Lalime 2.0.