Buffalo Sabres News and Discussion

‘“Mike Weber is one of those players that made a real big jump this year in terms of what he meant to our hockey team, how he plays the game, just the potential that he has to continue to grow on this team,” Rolston said. “It put a player like Mike in more of a leadership role because of what he did and because of the minutes that he had. He was in the lineup every night blocking shots, sacrificing for his teammates.’

‘“I think he understands where he needs to go and the growth he needs to have here, especially in the summer to get himself prepared for being an elite defenseman and one of the best defensemen in this league, which he’s been before, we know he can be next year,” Rolston said.’

‘It does take a bit of time to build a consistent Stanley Cup contender. It does not take several years. We can hit each other with sample sizes out the wazoo. You can point to teams that suffered for a while, while I point to groups that had a big bounce in one year.’

‘“I have the belief that I can play here,” Flynn said. “This is where I belong. I know how hard you have to work to stay up here. It took a long time, a lot of hard work, a lot of hours to get here.”‘

‘But let’s not be too harsh on the Bills. They’re not trying to tell you they started rebuilding 15 months ago by trading Paul Gaustad, like the charade Darcy Regier is pulling. Never mind the fact Regier’s rebuilding plan included throwing money last summer at Zach Parise, Ryan Suter and Shane Doan.’

‘“I had a tough stretch through Buffalo,” MacArthur said. “I think the one year actually they were going to make it I went to Atlanta. It’s been a long time coming, and it’s been as good or as better as I thought it was going to be.”’

‘The Sabres averaged 2.91 goals per 60 minutes when Hodgson skated five-on-five, according to BehindTheNet.ca, a website dedicated to hockey statistics. That number put him ahead of star centers such as Philadelphia’s Claude Giroux (2.90), Washington’s Nicklas Backstrom (2.89) and the New York Rangers’ Brad Richards (2.88).’

‘Patrick and Adams were holdovers from the staff of Lindy Ruff, and their departures were expected when Rolston had the interim tag removed from his coaching title this week. Neither had a previous relationship with Rolston nor, sources said, a good relationship with General Manager Darcy Regier.’

‘Patrick and Adams, who were hired by former head coach Lindy Ruff, were not retained. Rolston is keeping assistant coach Teppo Numminen and goalie coach Jim Corsi.’

‘Their special teams – the power play ranked 29th overall and the penalty killing 26th – are terrible. Alleged franchise defenseman Tyler Myers has suffered a stunning regression since a dynamic rookie season in 2009-10. Franchise cornerstones Ryan Miller and Thomas Vanek could be dealt this offseason.’

‘Both Patrick and Adams were holdovers from Ruff’s tenure, and were both responsible for working behind the bench.’

‘Patrick was an assistant for six years under former long-time head coach Lindy Ruff, while Adams was brought on in 2011 with no clear role but eventually became a full-fledged assistant.’

‘Bucky Gleason claims that Teppo Numminen will be retained by Rolston.’

‘Instead of asking Marcus Foligno to be a reliable scorer, we should ask him to be Steve Ott – a high energy, defensive-minded, puck-possessing hitter who can score a little and drive opponents insane. Did he do that in 2013? Yes. As much as his ceiling suggests? No. But for a rookie season, to provide those things and some scoring was a success and should give the organization a positive feeling about where he’d headed.’

‘The Sabres have two picks(8 and 16) in the top twenty in what is considered to be the deepest draft in the last ten years.’