Posts from the Sabres Category at FanHouse - AOL Sports Blog

There are a lot of big names still on the board through the early stages of free agency today. The one position that there's been no shortage of movement at? Goalie. Goalies are changing teams left and right today and the effects of some of the moves are going to be pretty wide-ranging. Let's take a look at some of the moves that have taken place and what they might mean. All of the exhaustive contract details are via TSN.

Jose Theodore to the Capitals- It's a two-year, $9 million deal and Eric's got the details below. Theodore did seem to regain some of his form this past year with the Avalanche, but he melted down in the playoffs against the Red Wings while suffering from a bad case of the flu. He'll probably give the Caps an upgrade over what Olie the Goalie was giving them earlier in the year, but he won't carry them the way Huet did down the stretch last year. And $4.5 million seems like a lot of money for a guy that just might be washed up, doesn't it?

Cristobal Huet to the Blackhawks- With a ton of moneyalready tied up in Nikolai Khabibulin (~$7 million a year), the 'Hawks are now paying Huet $5.635 a year as well. Huet's an upgrade over what the Blackhawks have, for sure, but I'm trying to wrap my mind around paying more than $12 million a year for their top two goalies.

More goalie moves after the jump.

If you remember all the way back to, stay with me here, last night then you might remember my post about a ridiculous "goal" that Finland scored on Team USA during the IIHF World Championship qualifying round. If you don't, then feel free to check out the post.

Essentially, Finland's second goal went through (or under, it's not exactly clear) the side of the net. Upon video review, it is blatant to anyone who isn't legally blind that this is, in fact, what happened. But no matter, video replay officials did not pick up on any of that. I went on to say in the post that we should be thankful that no matter how bad the officiating is in the NHL, it's not this bad.

Boy, was I wrong.

Kevin at BfloBlog pointed out today that this exact thing happened to the Sabres during the 2000 playoffs. I'll let him explain.

Sadly, it is very possible [that NHL refs are as bad as their IIHF counterparts], because it happened in an NHL game in 2000, when Philadelphia defeated Buffalo 2-1 in Game two of their playoff series [Pictured above! -- KS]. Philly's first goal came off the stick of John LeClair, but the puck actually entered through a hole in the side of the net. I was in a hotel bar in Pennsylvania watching the look on Hasek's face as he checked and re-checked his glove, thinking the puck had to have gone through his glove, because he had the net covered. Then there's the scene of Sabres GM Darcy Regier storming the replay booth and furiously pointing at the replay monitors while the replay officials just shrugged their shoulders. Remember, at this point the NHL claimed they reviewed ALL goals thanks to another no-goal incident involving the Sabres just one year previous.

So yes, I was wrong. NHL officiating is actually, unbelievably, as bad as the IIHF officiating that we saw last night. I sincerely regret the error. For your amusement, video of the goal in question follows the jump.

The diminutive Nathan Gerbe, who led Boston College to the NCAA men's hockey title last month, has signed a contract with the Buffalo Sabres. He will forego his final year of eligibility at Boston College to turn pro. He was a fifth-round pick of the Sabres in 2005.

Gerbe led the nation in scoring this past season with 68 points (35 goals, 33 assists), and he was a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award, given to the nation's top player. That award was won by Michigan senior Kevin Porter, who has moved on to the Phoenix Coyotes organization.

Gerbe is only five-foot-six, but his playmaking ability is second-to-none, and he is more than willing to go in the tough areas. It's never easy for a smaller player to have great success in the NHL, but he doesn't have to look past Boston College to find one who has.

New Jersey's Brian Gionta (five-foot-seven) had a wonderful four-year career at BC, and he has scored 95 goals in the three years since the lockout.

It's no secret that the 2007-08 NHL season didn't end the way New Jersey Devils goalie Martin Brodeur wanted it to. As if seeing his team flushed out of the playoffs in just five games wasn't enough, Brodeur also got to endure a public beatdown at the hands of winger Sean Avery. No, Avery never laid a glove on Brodeur. Instead, he did something far worse: Avery shamed him with his antics, something that Brodeur only compounded as he refused to shake Avery's hand at the end of the series.

It's also no secret that Brodeur is closer to the end of his career than even he wants to admit, but if he has his way in a meeting with some fellow players and general managers in a few weeks, he'll be sure to have a significant influence on the game for many years after he's gone.

What am I talking about? This morning, the NHL and NHLPA announced the formation of the Goalie Equipment Working Group, a body consisting of five players and four general managers. According to a statement from the NHLPA, the group will "examine the configuration and dimensions of goaltender equipment with respect to safety and performance."

"If the working group decides alterations to the rules governing goaltender equipment are warranted, and will not jeopardize the safety of the goalies, these recommendations will be forwarded to the Competition Committee for consideration," the statement said.

In other words, if there's any way this group can figure out a way to shrink the equipment in order to increase goal scoring without jeopardizing the life and health of goaltenders, they'll do it. Then again, taking a look at the members of the group, my guess is we won't be seeing any dramatic changes after that June 11 meeting.

After about five months worth of votes, the guys over at Orland Kurtenblog have finally determined a winner in their exhaustive poll to determine the greatest NHL hit of all time. The winner: Scott Stevens' clean and righteous destruction of Slava Kozlov during the 1995 Stanley Cup Finals:



Sitting proudly in the second spot: Brian Campbell's number on R.J. Umberger during the 2006 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Click here to check that one out. Thanks to the guys at Kurtenblog for leaving no video evidence unconsidered in what has to be considered the ultimate hit reel.

As for me, well, there's one hit I'll always consider above all others.

After watching Pittsburgh's rather putrid offensive performance Sunday, I can't say I'm surprised that people are accusing them of tanking the regular-season finale. After all, a physical, bruising, in-state rival is probably not as appealing a matchup in the playoffs as an injury-riddled team with questionable confidence.

I'm also not surprised that the head coach of that injury-riddled team (Ottawa) is all over the story. Hey, anything to put on that bulletin board, right?

"You guys all know - they wanted to play Ottawa," (Bryan) Murray said following practice Monday morning. "That's fine. That was fairly obvious from the drop of the puck."

Murray suggested the Penguins didn't want to get beat up by the hard-hitting Flyers.

"In a seven game series, if you don't like a physical way the Flyers play, it's probably better to go elsewhere."

It's a pretty harsh accusation, but there's enough evidence on the tape to make it pass the smell test. Pittsburgh was largely lifeless, and that Sidney Crosby guy (I've heard he's pretty good) wasn't around.

Of course, there are two sides to the story. Crosby just recently returned after missing a bunch of games with an ankle injury, and though Pittsburgh played well without him, it's not rocket science to conclude that they'd miss him in the playoffs if he pulled up lame again. The difference between the first and second seed is home ice for the conference final. It's defensible to conclude that Pittsburgh prioritized health over the top seed.

Over at 100% Injury Rate, they're featuring this footage of Boston's Jeremy Reich muscling Buffalo's Mike Weber into the boards after a spirited race for the puck:

I'm not sure what else there is to say other than that injuries like this just happen in the NHL. We're not talking about a hit from behind, but what NESN color man Andy Brickley rightly terms a battle of strength. Reich won, Weber lost, and the results, though unfortunate, are just part of the game.

1. Score a hat trick in the third period.
2. Score six unanswered goals.
3. Out shoot your opponent 16-4 in the third.
4. Care about your playoff chances.
5. Respond when the home fans boo you.
6. Ah, well ... You get the point.

The Buffalo Sabres did all of the above and then some on Wednesday night in Western New York. Down 4-1 heading into the third period with their playoff hopes riding on every goal and save, they did what any team with some heart does and, you know, tried to win the game. The 10th place team in the East stormed back against the Lightning to grab victory from the jaws of defeat. Buffalo scored six unanswered goals in the third period which included a natural hat trick from Thomas Vanek to give him 31 goals on the season. I would imagine that's why they pay him the big bucks.

As you know, the standings in the Eastern Conference change faster than the wind and last night's win was a big one for Buffalo. Washington lost, meaning the Sabres jumped over them to move into 9th place in the East and are now only one point behind the idle Flyers for 8th. And now the teams in the 7-10 spots are separated by only 3 points. This race is starting to turn into a daily soap opera for hockey fans. Who's up? Who's down? Who's making out with the maid? OK, maybe not that last one but you know what I mean. FINAL: Buffalo 7, Tampa Bay 4.

You can either stop reading here or try and caulk your wagon and float it across the jump to the rest of Thursday's ice sheet. Choose wisely, pioneer!

Up next: The Rangers continue their dominance over the Devils, Anaheim tops Dallas and another player is run face first into the boards (could you guys please cut that crap out??).

The only thing more annoying than a fan who constantly blames the officiating for the fate of his team is a constant apologist for zebra incompetence. Adam Proteau of The Hockey News is like the Gloria Allred for NHL referees, and he's rushed to their defense again after that egregiously blown too-many-men-on-the-ice call that led to Buffalo's game-winning goal against Philadelphia this week. Or, as Proteau calls the protesters, "all the sour apples who went nuclear":

At the risk of getting into ABC After School Special-territory, how difficult is it for people to understand that nobody's perfect, and because of that, there never will be an error-proof system for policing games? Have we not learned from Hockey Night In Canada host Ron McLean, a onetime serial ref-ripper, who, despite being a Level 5 referee himself, only truly understood the challenges officials face after the league allowed him to serve as a referee for a pre-season game in 2006?

Apparently, we haven't. And that's why I can guarantee you that in this spring's playoffs, there will be at least one "controversy" involving a blatant penalty that wasn't called, or a goal that was wrongly disallowed, or an illegal stick blade that wasn't immediately identified as such. It is as predictable as bulging eyes after a puck to the crotch, and if I'm sick to death imagine how nauseated the officials themselves must be.

Interesting analogy. Anyhoo, Proteau previously came to the defense of referee Mike Leggo during last year's playoffs, whose feeble performance in the Islanders/Sabres series kept him out of work for later rounds. I can find some common ground with one of Proteau's two main gripes, which involve the conspiratorial complaints from some fans (and general managers) that certain referees have it in for them. (I'll only plead guilty to this once, but that was because my coach told a referee to have another donut). But this "everybody makes mistakes" stuff doesn't fly when a referee can't even figure out how many players belong on the ice at a given moment in a game. Yes, it's a tough gig -- but there's no need to excuse that level of incompetence.

Every day from Monday to Saturday, The Ice Sheet will take a look at the biggest stories in the league that happened on the ice and elsewhere the night before.

There was some simple hockey math on display last night around the NHL:

Pittsburgh + Crosby = Eastern Conference Lead: Sidney Crosby returned from injury last night, assisting on Maxime Talbot's game-winner in a 2-0 Marc-Andre Fleury shut out of Tampa Bay. Interestingly, it was Crosby who decided when he would hit the ice again -- getting two games under his belt before Sunday's national television showdown against Ovechkin and the Capitals. Nice timing...

40 - 40 = Zero: The numbers for Florida Panthers goalie Craig Anderson over the last three games have been absolutely stunning. Last night, he stopped 40 Bruins' shots in a 1-0 OT victory for the Panthers, following up his 53 saves against the Islanders in his last start. Anderson has now made 105 consecutive saves. Meanwhile, Marty Brodeur made 41 saves in a 4-1 Devils' win over the Leafs, and Miikka Kiprusoff made 39 saves in a 1-0 shutout of the Blue Jackets.

(Coming Up Next: Last Night's Losers, Inside the Mind of Oilers Fans, Tonight's Must-See Games and a classic Stanley Cup Playoff brawl.)