bob_sauve28

https://fieldlevelmedia.com/news/sabres-riding-rare-momentum-into-battle-with-blackhawks/After ending a 13-game winless drought, the Buffalo Sabres will look to start stringing some victories together when they host the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday night. Buffalo’s nightmarish 0-10-3 streak was snapped in emphatic fashion in Monday’s 7-1 win over the New York Islanders. All of the Sabres’ frustration over the previous four weeks seemed to be channeled into Monday’s rout, sending the team into the Christmas break on a high note. “Great morale in the room right now heading into … a much-needed break for us,” forward Tage Thompson said. “Mentally, physically (we will) just now regroup … and reset for the second half of the season with a win under our belt and some good mojo.” The 13-game slide dropped the Sabres almost to the bottom of the league standings. With 28 points, they are ahead of only the 26-point Blackhawks in the overall NHL table. Chicago is on a two-game losing streak, including a 4-3 setback to the Minnesota Wild on Monday. The Blackhawks gave up a lead in each of the first two periods, then fell behind in the third frame in another late breakdown. The Blackhawks have been outscored 49-32 in third periods, and they share the NHL lead for most goals conceded in third periods this season. “I thought it was (a) little bit the same story,” Chicago interim coach Anders Sorensen said. “The biggest thing I think is when the game is on the line. … (We’ve) got to be willing to go and play offensively at the same time. I thought we got sat back a little bit too much there.” As much as the Blackhawks have struggled in most facets of the game, killing penalties is a clear strength. Chicago’s 85.3 penalty-kill percentage is the fourth-best in the NHL, and opponents are just 1-for-37 on power plays in the Blackhawks’ last 13 games. By contrast, the Sabres have scored on just 14.7 percent of their power plays, the fourth-lowest clip in the league. The power-play unit has shown some signs of life, however, by going 1-for-3 in each of the Sabres’ last two games. Thompson leads Buffalo with 26 points (17 goals, nine assists). Forward JJ Peterka has seven points (two goals, five assists) over a five-game points streak. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen was 0-7-2 with an .864 save percentage in nine games before stopping 27 of 28 shots against New York. He probably will start again for Buffalo on Friday now that he seemingly has broken out of his slump. Chicago’s Petr Mrazek missed two weeks with a groin injury before facing the Calgary Flames on Dec. 21. Arvid Soderblom started against the Wild on Monday because the team is easing Mrazek back into action, but Mrazek probably is the more likely candidate to start after the three-day Christmas break. Connor Bedard leads the Blackhawks with 30 points (nine goals, 21 assists). After something of a slow start to his second NHL season, Bedard has started to heat up, tallying four goals and seven assists over his last nine games. Buffalo is 6-0-1 against the Blackhawks since the start of the 2021-22 season. The seven-game points streak includes the Sabres’ 4-2 win in Chicago on Oct. 19 in the first meeting this season. –Field Level Media

Trade rumor talk https://thehockeywriters.com/5-players-the-sabres-should-trade-for/

Most young NHL players will struggle for 2 or 3 seasons earlier in their career. Even if they have strong rookie or second year success. It is a real trend. For whatever reason, many players take a step back for a few seasons before eventually taking off again. Look no further than Washington Capitals leading scorer Dylan Strome. The 27 year old has 38 points in 33 games this year. He put up 67 points last season and 65 the year before. He is playing his best hockey after age 25. Before that, he struggled through 3 straight years of under performing. His only strong season early on was his first full year with Chicago after Arizona moved him. Strome carried a “bust” label for a while there after 3 seasons of struggling but just look at him now. Time, experience and determination has finally made him a strong NHL player. Many years after being selected 3rd overall in his draft. Another example, J.T. Miller for Vancouver. He had 56 points in his 4th NHL season, his highest total to that point. He then went 3 straight seasons not coming close to that number before suddenly breaking out with 72 points. He has since gone on to score more than 80 points a year in 3 of the next 4 seasons. He too did not become dominant until after he was over 25 years old. Now let’s look at superstar Nathan MacKinnon. He scored 63 points in his rookie year and he looked to be unstoppable. Yet he went the next 3 seasons in the league not matching or eclipsing that point total. Then suddenly in year 5 he scored 97 points and has never looked back. MacKinnon was so talented he took off well before age 25. But he still managed that 3 year “setback” that so many seem to do.

Article on Cozens https://www.diebytheblade.com/the-curious-case-of-dylan-cozens/ When it comes to Cozens, there is a reason so many teams are circling the Sabres for his services. Dylan is a little different from the other youthful players for Buffalo. He is the closest thing we have among the young talent to being a great all around player. Solid in all aspects of the game. Sure his offense is struggling right now but I don’t think many would doubt his heart. He is a tough kid too, playing with more passion than his teammates usually. He also has better size than Quinn and Peterka and Kulich and others. There are leadership qualities there too as Cozens has not been afraid to call out the team before. And we have seen his scoring talents already, he just needs to find his groove again. At this point, we can not give up on such a valuable young hockey player. It would be short sighted. We all know the success stories of other former players traded away in the past 5 years. The Sabres need to stick it out with Cozens. The scoring will return with more experience and better talented line mates. If there is one young core piece at the forward position that Buffalo can’t afford to lose, it is him.

https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/buffalo-sabres/latest-news/six-sabres-prospects-confirmed-for-upcoming-world-junior The Buffalo Sabres confirmed what was expected on Monday when they reassigned AHL forwards Konsta Helenius and Anton Wahlberg to enable them to play for their respective countries at the upcoming 2025 IIHF World Junior Championships in Ottawa starting on Thursday. Helenius was selected 14th overall by the Sabres at the 2024 NHL Draft in Las Vegas and played for Finland last season at the Under-18s, the 2024 World Juniors in Sweden, and the World Championships. The 18-year-old has 17 points (6 goals, 11 assists) in 28 games for the Rochester Americans and is expected to center the Finns' top line. Wahlberg, 19, played for Sweden at the WJC in Gothenburg alongside Amerks teammate Noah Östlund and has 10 points (4 goals, 6 assists) in 25 AHL games this season. Buffalo will have six prospects participating in the tournament, as Helenius and Wahlberg are joined by Sabres draftees Adam Kleber and Brodie Ziemer (USA), Maxim Strbak (Slovakia), and Norwin Panocha (Germany). The opening day of the tournament on Boxing Day will feature Wahlberg and Sweden going head-to-head with Slovakia and Strbak in his fourth and final World Junior, Kleber and Ziemer with the US matching up against Panocha’s Germany, and the Finns with Helenius taking on host Canada.

That was a super crazy nice shot from Quinn. Also, Cozens had a great game, also. Two nice apples. Hope he is ready for a strong second half to lead us back into playoff race.

I would bet that does not happen. Terry is sleeping sound somewhere with a "do not disturb" sign on the door.

So this time we should stay the course, add a vet PP specialist in off season, re-sign Zucker and maybe a stay and home defense man and do better.

Same thing we always do. Trade away all these young players we have just as they are hitting their prime and start another rebuild, of course!

The situation with the Rangers is just ugly! https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6016529/2024/12/23/rangers-devils-trocheck-kreider/ “We gotta show more heart,” Vincent Trocheck said after Monday’s shutout, a 5-0 shelling from the Devils in which the Rangers mustered 12 shots on goal, gave up three power-play goals and scratched Chris Kreider, the closest thing this organization has to a Mr. Ranger. It’s a shocking thing to hear a player say about his team at any point in the season. It somehow feels more shocking given how the past month has gone. The Rangers hit the three-day holiday break losers of 14 of their past 18, and they’ve been uncompetitive in about six of them. “I think of the times we’ve lost by multiple goals, left our goalies out to dry,” Trocheck said. So does everyone else. Even the flawed 12-4-1 team played with some fire in the belly, hungry for goals on a talented team even if many of the players weren’t quite so committed to defending. Now the goals have dried up and the commitment to, well, anything, is just gone. The Rangers came into this one still leading the league on the penalty kill, so they went out and gave up three PPGs on four opportunities, two of them off too-many-men penalties in the second period. The Rangers’ once-vaunted power play went 0-for-4 to drop to 6-for-49 since early November. It’s all gone. Every last bit of it. Good play, fire, heart, dignity, togetherness — poof. In just over a month, the Rangers have become a team that’s easy to play against, even after a feisty first period in which Trocheck and Sam Carrick fought. They’re pushovers.

Yes, nice change. It get old quick seeing how happy the other teams players are all the time

Juri! He's a winner

This is America! Anything is possible!

Good shot

Lame call

No way? Is that true?

Any news?

Gonorrhea?

Oh no

Oh beautiful!! Nice shot Jack, beautiful work, pass Cozens

Too many fancy passes!

Oh, that was nice!

Rob Ray is on special assignment

We are winning puck battles!

Nice!