Buffalo Sabres 2011-2012 Thread!

[shaud19]

Role reversal! From WGR

Right near the end of the Sabres open practice Wednesday night Pat Kaleta came out from behind the net to try to center the puck. Thomas Vanek of all people got him lined up in his sights and just hammered him. Kaleta laid on the ice before being helped to the lockerroom room. Lindy Ruff said, "He's shaken, but I think he's going to be OK. He got a little bit of a shot to the head there, but he's going to be OK."

The hit was shocking to me because it's the hardest I've ever seen Vanek hit somebody and it was a teammate! To me, it totally crossed the line because Kaleta is not expecting that kind of contact in practice so he's not braced for it. Ruff agreed, "The obvious answer is yes, it went too far, but whether Van leaned in too much or whether Patty kept coming with too much momentum, we don't want anybody hurt in practice so that's the extreme case, but he's going to be fine."

I had a chance to speak to Vanek as he was leaving. He said, "It happened fast, I just in the high slot, saw Patty was coming out of the scrum and taking it to the net, I wanted to cut him off, he stopped and opened up and I just froze." Vanek agreed he hit him harder than he needed to, "Oh sure, I was just ready there to cut him off and it happened fast."

[djaye]

Dup post. Sorry!

[djaye]

Whats the final roster going to look like?

They had a line of Kassian/McCormick/Kaleta in the home game against Toronto on the ice running everything out there, it was great to see! Its unfortunate that line wont be assembled during the season. Theres always hope, right?

Im wondering how Leino will work out. He didnt seem to mesh very well in pre-season. Regehr seemed to mesh right in and Ehrhoff looked ' ok '. Im just concerned about ' play making ' centers.

[BGC99]

Originally Posted by BGC99

Both Kotalik and Morrisson will probably be playing in Rochester.

Had a feeling both players would be sent down. Wonder where Kotalik is going to end up.

IMO Kassian dosen't make the team this year. I don't think Kassian has the sand to take on the heavyweights with regularity, maybe a scrap once and awhile out of his league. Kassian will probably scrap with the Boll's and Lucic's of the league.

IMO Kassian's best competition to date.

Kyle Neuber vs Zack Kassian ohl 12 nov 2009 ...

[Ciccarelli]

Watched the exhibition game against Adler Mannheim two days ago and the Sabres looked very strong (the opponent wasn't the best anyways)

If I remember correct Ruff played following lines most of the time:

Ennis - Leino - Boyes
Vanek - Adam - Pominville
Gerbe - Roy - Stafford
McCormick - Gaustad - Kaleta

Regehr - Myers
Ehrhoff - Leopold
Weber - Gragnani

Enroth


The Ennis-Leino-Boyes line worked really well together but might be too soft for the NHL. They had great chemistry and Ennis was their best player.
Adam looks very good and he has some size if he can develop a good offensive game he could very well stay on a scoring line or at least surpass Gaustad in the depth chart.
Gerbe did draw at least 3 penalties...he is so quick and small that opponents have a hard time stopping him and he really falls quickly to the ice.

Was surprised to see Ehrhoff being the captain of the team.

Summed up I like the team, maybe a bit soft (cancel the maybe) they are very soft, but they look like a strong team with 4 good lines and a good defense. Still hope to see Kassian, Foligno called up some times this season.

[djaye]

They looked pretty good against the Ducks tonight. I think Luke Adam might become a mainstay.

As Ciccarelli said, they looked good defensively and meshed quite well, but they are pretty soft for an NHL Team.

[Jack Schitt]

The larger ice surface worked in their favor. They are built for it. I'll be interested to see how they look on the NHL sized rinks. They are talented for sure... but soft as puppy shyt.

[Ciccarelli]

Originally Posted by Jack Schitt

The larger ice surface worked in their favor. They are built for it. I'll be interested to see how they look on the NHL sized rinks. They are talented for sure... but soft as puppy shyt.

Absolutely. When they played here in Europe also european announcers said that the Sabres played an european style of hockey. They rely on skating and quick passing, pretty much no dump and chase game and a lot of puck posession.

Watching the Sabres play over here I had a feeling that they play like the Czechs.

[shaud19]

In case you were wondering how to pronounce his name theres others by the same guy.

How to Pronounce Christian Ehrhoff Buffalo Sabres...

[shaud19]

Gerbe= biggest little man. See that push after scring the goal?...Gare's epic fail joke about kim kardashian "Neil has more ice time minutes than kardashian (long stutter) wedding minutes"... Some big time hits last night... Enroth showing he's a great backup... easy for me to say but got a little too cute passing last night shoot!

[BuffaloBrawler]

Hate to go back to the Kassian theme, but WTF, one fight in Rochester and he looked like crap.
The whole Rochester Org makes the Sabres look like Ogre from Revenge of the Nerds.

Did the AHL outlaw fighting or something...

I expect both Kassian and Foligno to fight as least as much as Guastad, FFS.

[shaud19]

Well put together cereomony for Buffalo's HOF inductees last night. Boy, does Jeanneret know how to work the crowd.

He actually made Buffalo sound like a great town but us fans know how true that is overall...

[djaye]

Slo-Mo of McCormic and Glass..

http://youtu.be/mPiJxnoQ2y0

[BGC99]

After last's nights humiliation I think It's time to call up Kassian. Really guys think about It, he took on a lot of top contenders In the OHL and i'll bet he's ready for the big show to fight against the "BIG BOYS."

[Jack Schitt]

Originally Posted by BGC99

After last's nights humiliation I think It's time to call up Kassian. Really guys think about It, he took on a lot of top contenders In the OHL and i'll bet he's ready for the big show to fight against the "BIG BOYS."

I agree that he should be called up, but only because he is the only thing resembling toughness... and not to take on Lucic but to add some depth if shyt hits the fan. Face it... Kassian isn't going to beat up lucic. Hell, he's only had one fight out of Jr.s and it was a loss against Garnett Exelby for fux sake.