Yuri Khmylev Open Thread: Flyers at Sabres

Jiri Novotny, Vyacheslov Kozlov, or the EuroTrain?  An easy choice, thank you.

Khmylev’s career in the NHL may have been a relatively brief one, but he was blessed to play left wing with the most dynamic duo in Sabres history in their finest season.  In 1992-93, Pat LaFontaine centered the line of Alexander Mogilny on the right wing and Yuri Khmylev on the left.  To be fair, Dave Andreychuk spent some time at left wing that season as well, but he was traded to Toronto late in the season along with Darren Puppa for goaltender Grant Fuhr.  After that, Khmylev manned the left side exclusively.

Khmylev had 20 goals and 19 assists that season, and he bettered that mark the next year with 27 goals and 31 assists despite LaFontaine missing most of that season.

Things went downhill after that as LaFontaine never played another full season, they traded an unhappy Mogilny in 1995, and the Sabres went into a period of decline.  Khmylev was eventually shipped to the Blues in 1996 for a second-round pick that turned out to be Cory Sarich.

Still, 1992-93 was probably the most exciting season I can recall as a Sabres fan, and Yuri Khmylev was a big part of it.  Sorry, Yuri, for all those times I called you “The Eurotrash.”  It was all in good fun.

Forecast Friday

Thank you, NFL schedule makers, for giving us a weeks reprieve from the Bills.  If only these things rolled around more often.  When we meet again next week we’ll have nine weeks left in the Dick Jauron era, and the Trent Edwards watch will stand at nine weeks remaining to save his QB job (if it can be saved at this point).

May as well cut right to the chase.

Last week was my first loss on these hallowed BfloBlog pages, so we’re looking to bounce back strong this week.  Let’s see who might help us here.

Indianapolis* (-9) over Houston

Green Bay (-9.5) over Tampa Bay*

New Orleans* (-13) over Carolina

I honestly cannot wait to bet these games.  If you don’t like those, you can always go with New England* (-10.5) over Miami.  It’s another game that has like a 99% chance of going your way.

Philadelphia at Buffalo tonight

Last year was a tough one for Sabres fans, what with the Sabres missing the playoffs and all.  But one thing besides the playoffs that has stuck with me was the Sabres 0-4 record against the Flyers last year.  After the Leafs, which has really become a one-sided joke of a rivalry, there is no team in hockey I despise more than Philly.  So getting swept last year demands vengeance.

I mentioned yesterday that Danny Briere will miss tonight’s game, along with Ryan Parent.  Add to that the issues the Flyers are having combating the flu and the Sabres are dealing with a Philadelphia team that is at less than full strength.

Best of all should be the return of Ray Emery to HSBC Arena.  Emery has always fared well against Buffalo during the regular season, going 10-4 against them over his last three NHL seasons.  He’s been fairly solid this year with a .916 save percentage while everyone around the NHL waits for him to implode.  Still, it seems like every year we’re waiting for Emery to melt down and he never really does.

For Buffalo, Andrej Sekera is healthy enough to play while Toni Lydman will be out with a groin injury (or as Dick Jauron would say, Lydman is a groin).  Sounds like everybody else is good to go despite some players dealing with the flu this week.  Remember the good ol’ days when a player having the “flu” meant he was either too hung over to play or didn’t want to go against “Tiger” Williams.  Euphemisms – another casualty of H1N1.

7:30 start tonight.  Family commitments will be keeping me from attending, but I’ll be watching thanks to the miracle of DVR.

Buffalo Sabres: Hard Work Ahead?

Before the season started there were a couple stark dividing points on the calendar; the road trip in January, the Olympic break in February, a packed March with 16 games in 31 days, and what was looking like a brutal November schedule immediately following an easy stretch that just ended.  I think last night’s game against the Islanders was a demarcation point that signified the end of an “easy” stretch of 12 games to open the season.  Now we have the Philly game on Friday that starts a “hard” ten-game stretch that will end with a Friday afternoon game in Philadelphia on November 27th.

Funny thing is, nobody told the teams we were playing who was supposed to be good.

The Sabres early-season games included perennial doormats such as the Islanders, Atlanta, Phoenix and Tampa Bay.  That had most folks figuring on some easy wins and a surge to the top of the standings.  Most of them did turn out to be wins, but they were anything but easy as Phoenix, for example, stands at 9-6-1 at this point.  Who knew a 2-1 win would look good right now?  The Islanders have acquitted themselves well at 5-5-1, a far cry from the team that finished at the bottom of the league two straight years.  Maybe a 2-1 series lead isn’t such a bad thing.

In fact, the teams Buffalo has played thus far have a combined record of 65-55-20, which means they have earned 53.6% of available points.

Looking ahead to the Philly-to-Philly stretch of November games the teams Buffalo is scheduled to play have a combined record of 47-36-11, or 55.9% of available points.  Better, but not nearly as much as many would have predicted at the start of the season.

Like the Sabres, every team seems to be having some issues at this point.  While Buffalo contends with a lack of scoring from their top-two lines, Philadelphia has run into some injury issues.  Here’s what some of our upcoming opponents are up against at the moment:

• Philadelphia:  With 15 points they are tied with the Islanders for last in the Atlantic, although they do have three games in hand.  Their issue appears to be injuries, with Simon Gagne gone for 6-8 weeks and Danny Briere on the shelf with (surprise!) a groin strain.  They are also dealing with a bout of the flu that has Matt Carle questionable for Friday.  Defenseman Ryan Parent is also expected to miss Friday’s game.
• Boston:  Expected to run away with the Division, they are mired in fourth place and dealing with injuries themselves.  Milan Lucic and Marc Savard are both out for another 3-5 weeks, and Savard makes that first line go.  They dealt Phil Kessel to Toronto during the offseason, and say what you will about his inconsistency, 30-goal scorers are hard to replace.  Their offensive struggles have been well-documented (three goals in their last four games including back-to-back shutouts).  Now word comes out that forward David Krejci has H1N1, meaning he won’t rejoin the team until he is symtom-free for 24 hours.  Couple that with the fact that Tim Thomas couldn’t remain superman forever, and the Bruins have fallen back to Earth a bit.  Still, they should be a strong team once they get healthy.
• Washington:  Ovechkin is out and is being called “week-to-week” and their goaltending is suspect.  Still, Ovechkin should be back when the Caps come to Buffalo.

So while the upcoming stretch can be considered difficult, it doesn’t seem to be as bad as I imagined it at the beginning of the year.  And while the Sabres don’t have me entirely convinced, the next ten games will say a lot about their future.

Jody Gage open thread: Islanders at Buffalo tonight

16 games.  Three goals.  Three assists.  Six points.

Those are Jody Gage’s career numbers with the Buffalo Sabres despite having been in the Sabres system for 11 years.

So what makes him so special?

Way back in the day Buffalo had a special relationship with Rochester and their AHL farm club, the Americans.  The Knox’s (the Sabres owners) purchased the Americans before the 1979-80 season, and given their proximity to Buffalo the teams became tightly intertwined.  I know that as a boy following hockey I paid almost as much attention to Rochester as I did to Buffalo.

Jody Gage came to the Amerks after the 1984-85 season, and became a fixture in Rochester for over 20 years as a player, an assistant GM and a General Manager.  To quote directly from his Wiki entry:

In ten seasons, Gage became the Amerks’ all-time leader in games played (653), points (728), goals (351), and assists (377). Gage won the Les Cunningham Award in 1987–88 after a 60-goal season (second player in league history to accomplish this feat). He was the third player in AHL history to score 1000 points, the fifth player to play 1000 AHL games, and the fifth member of the AHL’s 500-goal club. Gage led Rochester to a Calder Cup in 1986–87 and back to the Calder Cup Finals in 1989–90, 1990–91, and 1992–93.

Obviously, Gage never got much of a shot in the NHL, thanks largely to his being a little too slow to keep up with NHL level players.  But it never stopped Buffalo fans from asking for his callup to Buffalo when times got tough.

Besides, the other No. 12’s were pretty bleak.  After Andre Savard nobody got me real excited, so “Mr. Amerk” got the call.

As for tonight’s game, Patrick Lalime is out after suffering a groin injury in Monday’s practice.  That means Jhonas Enroth has been recalled from Portland.  As always, it may be best if Miller stays healthy considering Enroth has struggled this year with a 3-7 record and a .872 save percentage this season.

7:00 start from HSBC tonight.  BfloBlog is in attendance for those who may be interested in such things.

Gilbert Perreault Open Thread: Sabres at Islanders

Just a quick word on last night’s game before we talk about Bert.

If the Sabres had played a real hockey team last night they would have lost by five goals.  Fortunately, they played something called the “Maple Leaves,” which resulted in a 3-2 Buffalo win.  The best part by far was hearing the Leave fans in the halls after the game talking about how happy they were to “get a point.”  Congrats, Toronto fan, on your FIFTH point of the season!  We were truly humbled to have you in our building.

As for Gilbert, it’s not like I had a choice, right?  Perreault is the only Sabre to have worn No. 11, and he is clearly the best skater in the history of the Buffalo franchise.  Funny thing is, Gilbert was never my favorite player.  He was always too distant and aloof from the fans, and he somehow seemed to be “above” Buffalo.  My Dad always liked to say that Perreault could have owned the City of Buffalo if he wanted to, but he didn’t seem to care.

Anyway, you’ve all seen his numerous highlights, but here’s something you may not have seen:

Craig Ramsay Open Thread: Maple Leafs at Sabres

There are many ways one can measure a hockey player.  Goals, assists, points, plus-minus, goals against; the list goes on and on.

But sometimes you have to go a little bit off the board when measuring someone who is easily one of the greatest Sabre forwards ever, Craig Ramsay.

Drafted 19th overall in 1971, his career spanned 15 seasons, 1,070 NHL games, and a place on the ice for every great Sabres moment that happened up until 1986.  Craig Ramsay was the best defensive forward in Sabres history (my apologies to Don Luce, but his career was not as long) and also chipped in plenty on the offensive end despite playing on the defensive “shutdown” line almost exclusively in his career.  Just look at these point totals:

• 1972-73 28 points (9th in team scoring)
• 1973-74 46 points (T-6)
• 1974-75 64 points (7th)
• 1975-76 71 points (5th)
• 1976-77 61 points (5th)
• 1977-78 71 points (4th)
• 1978-79 57 points (5th)
• 1979-80 60 points (T-5)
• 1980-81 58 points (6th)
• 1981-82 51 points (8th)
• 1982-83 29 points (14) Just 64 games that year
• 1983-84 26 points (14)
• 1984-85 33 points (10th)

And here’s where he stands overall among Buffalo’s all-time leaders:

• Games Played 2nd – 1,070
• Goals 5th – 252
• Game Winning Goals 8th – 32
• Assists 3rd – 420
• Points 4th – 672
• Short Handed Goals 1st – 27
• Game Tying Goals 4th – 15
• Shots 8th – 1,479

After looking at that I suppose my only question is why his number isn’t retired.  You may find some Sabres ranking ahead of him in individual categories, but there is nobody ranked so consistently high in every category who doesn’t have his number in the rafters.  And there are a few (Danny Gare, Rene Robert, Pat LaFontaine) who are looking up at him in many categories.

Plus, he signed an autograph for me at a Mobil station when I was 11-years-old.  So take that, Rene Robert!

Forecast Friday

Hey, remember a couple weeks ago when I wrote that Edwards should be the starter because Fitzpatrick kinda’ blows, and he’s not the long-term answer anyway?

Well, forget all that.  I mean, he still blows.  And he isn’t the long-term answer.  But they won two straight so who’s arguing?  If the Bills lose to Houston they can feel free to switch back to Edwards – who knows, maybe he got the sense knocked back into him that he lost against the Cardinals last year.  If they win, well, the job’s all his.

As for gambling, what can I say?  If you have been following my advice thus far you have made yourself into a wealthy individual.  This week, however, does not have a magical feel to it.  I will continue on, but with a tentative heart, as Vegas has finally started to figure out just how bad some NFL teams really are.

Remember, we’re picking a three-team teaser here, which allows the spread to move ten points in any direction on all three games.

Dallas* (-9.5) over San Fran.  Sure, Dallas is up and down this year.  But getting half a point at home is a solid bet.

San Diego* (-16.5) over Oakland.  Yep, SD and LT ain’t what they used to be.  They should still be able to beat a team of such total suckitude as the Raiders by a touchdown.

Indianapolis* (-12.5) over San Fran.  Can Indy beat ‘Frisco by a field goal?  I sure hope so.

If you think it could be a week for underdogs (caution: this has not happened all year) I like Cleveland getting 23 with the tease in Chicago and Carolina getting 20 in Arizona.

Toronto at Buffalo Tonight

What a great season so far, huh?

The Sabres are winning, and Toronto is absolutely the worst team in hockey at the moment, which brings joy to everyone in Buffalo but those trying to resell their Leafs tickets to stupid Toronto fans who are usually willing to pay hundreds of dollars to watch the shitastrophy know as the Maple Leafs.

I wish I could say I was sorry, or had some twinge of bad feelings for the Leafs and their boorish fans, but I don’t.  The only way it could get better is if Doug Gilmour, Darryl Sittler, Borje Salming, and Wendel Clark all got together and lit Canadian flags on fire while drinking Budweiser and singing the Star Spangled Banner.

Just for fun, let us look at the team that gets the bulk of the media attention in the hockey world.  Here’s how they have finished this decade:

• 2008-09: 24th
• 2007-08: 23rd (T)
• 2006-07: 18th
• 2005-06: 18th (T)
• 2003-04: 5th
• 2002-03: 9th
• 2001-02: 3rd
• 2000-01: 14th (T)

That’s a quick and precipitous decline ever since the lockout ended.  To go from the Conference Finals in 2001-02 to no better than 18th overall since the lockout is a steep decline, especially for a team with such a passionate fanbase.

So this year was supposed to be different.  Brian Burke is running the show, and he brought in Ron Wilson to coach up a team of goons hard-nosed players who have more heart than talent.  Problem is, being a goon hard-nosed player doesn’t mean you can score goals or play NHL level defense, something Toronto has been lacking this year.  Even their goaltending, which was supposed to be rescued by a Swedish import who played in an AHL-plus level league last year, has been a disappointment.

Add to that a penalty kill that has been stopping opponents at a jaw-dropping rate of 63.4%, and you have all the makings of a season aimed at securing the No. 1 draft pick.  What’s that?  Oh, that’s right!  Toronto gave up their first round pick both this year AND next year, AND a second-round pick this year in the Phil Kessel trade!  Brilliant move, Burkie!  And after proving so well that Toronto can operate in a salary cap environment they give up the lifeblood of the team, draft picks.  It’s going to be a looong few years for the Leafs.

So where does that leave the Sabres?  In the most obvious and least newsworthy story of the past decade the Sabres held on to Tyler Myers.  Duh.  And to think how many pixels have been dedicated to online polls and pleas that he must -MUST- stay…

The Sabres are also the proud owners of a five-game winning streak against the Leafs, dating back to December of 2008.  Not coincidentally, Ryan Miller is 5-0 with a 1.20 goals-against in those five games.

Looks like Lydman and Sekera are still out, although Andrej could be back tomorrow night.  Paetsch has acquitted himself well, all things considered, and shouldn’t have too hard a task at home tonight with Lindy Ruff being able to get the matchups he wants on his own ice.

Other than that, all systems are go for a 7:30 start tonight.  I would expect a lower-than-usual number of Leaf sweaters in the stands, and thus a corresponding drop in drunken boorishness.  At least from the Toronto fans, that is.

PS – last minute stat sent my way by my brother-in-law:

Toronto gave up the game’s first goal for the 10th straight time against Dallas and has not yet scored any earlier than 14:27 of the first period.

Sounds good to me.  SonTwo and I will be in the ol’ BfloBlog seats tonight, and they rarely lose with him in attendance.

UPDATE:  Via Twitter, Paul Gaustad is questionable tonight with the flu.  Adam Mair will skate in his place if he can’t go.

Gilles Hamel Open Thread: Sabres at Devils

Yeah, that’s right, it’s Gilles effing Hamel.

I thought long and hard about Rick Dudley, but his playing days were a bit before my time and even his tenure as head coach couldn’t get him a pass – not even for old times’ sake.

Scott Arniel came to mind as well, but he was even more of a two-bit player than Hamel was, and I wasn’t sure that Arniel didn’t wear a couple other numbers during his days with the Sabres (turns out he did wear different numbers while in the league, but was always No. 9 with Buffalo).  And finally I thought about J.F. Sauve, and as you can clearly see I have a soft spot for the Frenchies when they are on my team.

But in the end it was Hamel, mostly because he played for one of my favorite Sabres teams; the 1983-84 team.  That team finished with 103 points, one behind the Bruins and good for third in the NHL that year (of course Quebec knocked them out 3-0 in the first round of the playoffs).  It was Tom Barrasso’s rookie year, and he split time with Bob Sauve while winning the Calder and sharing the Vezina with Sauve.  Perreault was at his peak, Andreychuck, Housley, and John Tucker were teenagers, Mike Foligno was in his third year in Buffalo, and I thought the Sabres would be good forever.

Oh, and Gilles Hamel was seventh on the team in scoring with 44 points, one behind a 23-year-old Lindy Ruff who scored 14 goals, was a plus-15, and had over 100 minutes in penalties (thought I would throw that in there for all those revisionist historians who somehow feel that referring to Ruff as a bad player, which he wasn’t, somehow translates to his coaching style).

So there you go, Gilles Hamel.  Thanks to the power of the 83-84 Sabres you get your own little moment of glory right here.