Obviously, it’s never a good winter in Buffalo. And winter never stops, so I’m told. Anyway, the one thing that can make the time pass in the darkest months on the shores of Lake Erie is a hockey team worth watching. Kids, the Buffalo Sabres will very much be worth watching this season. So the residents may only need two batches of foot warmers each day. If you’re in search of a second team or are unaffiliated but need a team slightly below the glitterati to pay more attention to, and kind of attach yourself, the Sabres are probably the ticket. Mostly because they have firepower for days. This is a team that will come as close to a real-life version of “Hit The Ice” as any (was I the only one to ever play this game? With the live octopus on the ice? Forget it). Sabres games are going to feature goals, goals, goals dancin’ on…well, not the Sunset Strip. Whatever strip Buffalo has. Chippewa Street doesn’t really roll off the tongue to parody Motley Crue. The Sabres return a lineup that had four players who racked up 70 points or more last season, six who had 59 points, or more, four 30-goal scorers (and Victor Olofsson who had 28), and two #1 d-men, or two d-men with #1 potential, who soup up this team’s motor something fierce. It’s led by Tage Thompson, who took a few years to figure out how to play Denis Savard’s game while also being 6-6, but at age 25 put it all together for a 47-47-94 statline that came somewhat out of nowhere. It is truly a sight to see someone this big dance through entire defenses, and the angles he can create with that reach flummox a lot of goalies. Thompson will have his two main running buddies back in Alex Tuch and Jeff Skinner. The latter used to be the poster boy for the “Yeah, but who gives a sh*t?” All-Stars, indicating that his 40-goal seasons were 40 goals that never came close to mattering. With the Sabres very likely having something to play for this time around, should be a keen watch on what he does when the chips are down in March. Tuch has become just about the most annoying two-way demon in the league, something of a traveling company show of Mark Stone. Fans of any other team learn to dislike him pretty quickly because every shift he’s up someone’s ass and causing turnovers and finishing off chances and generally creating a ruckus. What makes the Sabres so fun is they’re hardly one line. Dylan Cozens anchors the second line, and they sport Olofsson, and Casey Middlestadt, as well as breakout candidate JJ Peterka. Sadly, shoot-from-anywhere Smash TV weapon Jack Quinn ruptured his achilles in the summer (must’ve been some intense golf) and is likely out until at least the new year. The Sabres’ real strength though is the cheat code of having both Owen Power and Rasmus Dahlin on the blue line. Both are squaring up to be top pairing puck movers, which means for at least two-thirds of every game the Sabres have someone on the ice to get them up the ice. Power’s scoring hasn’t reached the heights that Dahlin’s has, but he’s also four years in arrears in experience, with last year being his first full season in the league. Erik Johnson and Connor Clifton were brought in to play centerfield for both, though Matthias Samuelsson and Henri Jokiharju may relegate either, or both to the third-pairing. Are there problems? Of course! It wouldn’t be the Sabres if there weren’t problems! The big one is in the crease, where they’re turning things over to a child. That would be Devon Levi, who is 21, and dominated at Northeastern the past two seasons as well as backstopped Canada last winter to WJC gold. But it’s a huge ask to turn a team’s hopes onto a goalie that has seven professional games of experience. But they might have to, as the alternatives of Eric Comrie, and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen make baby Jesus cry. On top of that, whoever is in the mask for the Sabres is going to have a lot of work to do. Sure, the Sabres have a lot of offensive weapons, but they also had the habit of pointing them at their own goalie last year too. Buffalo had the fourth-worst xGA/60 at even-strength last year, Though they didn’t give up a ton of attempts. Which means that they were reverse-efficient, making sure whatever they gave up was basically a prime chance. Being this loaded with young forwards generally means there’s a steep learning curve to teach them how to play with and without the puck and on both sides of the ice. Those lessons have to be picked up quickly this year for the Sabres to get into the playoffs. The Atlantic Division is still something of a stone bitch as well. It’s hard to gauge what the Bruins or the Lightning will be given what they’ve lost through either retirement, attrition, or injury. But it’s hard to fathom either will be bad. The Leafs are still loaded, the Panthers could be anything, the Senators are on the same arc as the Sabres, and the Red Wi…..HAHAHAHA just kidding the Wings still won’t matter. #YzerPlanForever (and it’ll take forever). That’s a lot to navigate through to get into even a wildcard spot, and even more when attempting it with a rookie goalie, and so many important players being under 25. But hey, nothing worth having comes easy. And it’ll be a lot of fun finding out if they’ve got the sand. Get on board now, you’ll be happy telling people you did later. Follow Sam on Twitter @Felsgate and on Bluesky @felsgate.bsky.social
Related Posts
Jim Ratcliffe s bid to purchase a 25 per cent stake in Manchester United could serve as a foot in the door ahead of a potential full takeover in the future, unless the Glazer family see a way to extract further value from the Red Devils.
That is the view of finance expert Dan Plumley, who believes United could realistically be valued at up to £7billion in the coming years.
A deal for Ratcliffe s INEOS group to purchase a stake in the club is believed to be close to completion, with the deeply unpopular Glazer family opting against a full sale despite fan pressure.
Ratcliffe was initially rivalling Qatar s Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al Thani for a full takeover, and though the British billionaire will now only acquire a minority share, he will reportedly be given f…
Manchester United are interested in signing Fikayo Tomori from AC Milan in the summer transfer window, according to . The report has claimed that the Premier League club scouted the defender in action for Milan against AS Roma at Stadio Olimpico in Rome in Serie A this past weekend.
Tomori is open to leaving AC Milan for a club in the Premier League in the summer of 2023. The 25-year-old England international central defender believes that a move back to a club in the English top flight would see him get more playing time for the Three Lions.
The 25-year-old has been on the books of AC Milan since 2021 when he made the move permanent after a loan spell at San Siro. The defender helped the Rossoneri win Serie A last season. Milan have progressed to the semi-finals of the…
A deal has been agreed in principle for the sale of Wigan Athletic, according to the current ownership group.
The deal will require EFL approval and no details of the prospective buyer were given in a brief statement posted on the club’s website on Sunday evening.
“The prospective new owners have committed to resolving all outstanding liabilities at the earliest opportunity,” the statement read.
“Further updates on this process will follow in due course.”
Wigan, who finished bottom of the Sky Bet Championship this season, were hit with a second four-point penalty over payment of wages at the end of May and will start next season on minus eight points in League One.
The Latics were handed the initial deduction in response to two late paym…
Croatia suffered the biggest defeat in their history as Spain thrashed them 6-0 in Tuesday s Nations League match at Estadio Manuel Martinez Valero.
Marco Asensio scored once and set up four more in Luis Enrique s second match in charge, as the World Cup finalists were run ragged in Elche.
Saul Niguez headed Spain in front before Asensio fired in two spectacular strikes, although the second was credited as an own goal from Lovre Kalinic.
Croatia, for whom Ivan Rakitic was making his 100th appearance, rarely got to grips with their opponents and conceded three times more in the second half through Rodrigo Moreno, Sergio Ramos and Isco.
The result is their heaviest ever defeat, the first time they have conceded six goals and the first game in which they hav…
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers was delighted to see an “emotional” Reo Hatate back on the pitch before the Japan midfielder departs for the Asian Cup.
Hatate made his first appearance in 10 weeks when he came off the bench during Celtic’s 3-0 win over St Mirren.
The 26-year-old’s latest lay-off because of a hamstring injury was his third leg muscle injury of 2023 and he appeared to be in tears as Rodgers embraced him after the final whistle in Paisley.
Hatate will head off to Qatar with Japan and might not be back until February but Rodgers is excited to see the midfielder perform when he returns.
“You could see afterwards he was actually quite emotional to be back out on the pitch again,” the Celtic boss said. “He’s put in so much hard wo…
Manchester United are interested in signing Kerem Akturkoglu from Galatasaray, according to . The report has claimed that the former Premier League and UEFA Champions League winners are looking for a new winger in the middle of the season to enhance their chances of being successful this campaign.
Akturkoglu has been on the books of Galatasaray since 2020 and has been brilliant for the Turkish club in recent years. The winger helped Galatasaray win the Turkish Super Lig last season. The 24-year-old has scored three goals and given four assists in seven Turkish Super Lig starts so far this season. The winger scored nine goals and gave 11 assists in 31 league starts last season.
Galatasaray are second in the Turkish Super Lig table at the moment with 22 points from eight …
Lionel Messi deserves to win the Ballon d Or this year, according to Barcelona and Brazil great Rivaldo.
Messi enjoyed another stellar season for Barca, scoring 51 goals in all competitions as the Spanish giants claimed the LaLiga title.
However, they fell short in the Champions League and lost the Copa del Rey final, while Argentina could only clinch third place at the Copa America.
Despite that, Rivaldo believes Messi should be awarded an outright record sixth Ballon d Or.
In my opinion, the Ballon D Or of this season is Messi for what he has done, the 1999 winner said, courtesy of Betfair.
He didn t win the Champions League, but because it is an individual prize he scored a lot of goals, important goals.
Birthday GOAT
— …
Hibernian boss Lee Johnson is looking forward to working with Jojo Wollacott again after signing the Ghana international goalkeeper from Charlton on a three-year deal.
The 26-year-old has joined the Easter Road club for an undisclosed fee and will compete with veteran David Marshall following the departure of Kevin Dabrowski, who was released at the end of last season.
Johnson was manager of Bristol City while Wollacott was trying to break into the first team at Ashton Gate after coming through the academy.
After being unable to establish himself at City, the keeper joined Swindon, where he was number one throughout the 2021-22 season before moving on to Charlton last summer.
Wollacott, who has earned 11 caps for Ghana since his debut in October 2021, mad…
Erik ten Hag is demanding Manchester United raise the bar once again having overseen “necessary” and “immense” improvements during his first year in charge.
Last summer the Dutchman took the reins at a club in disarray, with a lack of coherency, quality and joined-up thinking resulting in a wretched 2021-22 campaign.
Ten Hag brought in a new style, implemented demanding standards and handled star Cristiano Ronaldo’s exit as well he could before masterminding the end of United’s six-year wait for silverware.
The Carabao Cup triumph was followed by a third-placed Premier League finish and FA Cup final loss to eventual treble winners Manchester City, who are the target as they push for further improvements.
“I think the levels all across increa…
Kyle Walker revealed his training-ground mocking of the Manchester City goalkeepers contributed to his unorthodox role at Atalanta, where he found life a little tougher than anticipated.
Right-back Walker ended the match at San Siro in goal after Ederson was injured and substitute Claudio Bravo was sent off in the 1-1 draw.
The England defender was introduced in place of Riyad Mahrez and donned the gloves, remarkably making the only save of all three City keepers from Ruslan Malinovskiy s free-kick following the foul that saw Bravo dismissed.
Walker saw out the remaining nine minutes and stoppage time without conceding, before reflecting on a bizarre outing.
Asked if he had made the decision to go in goal himself or been instructed to do so, Walker told B…