Die By The Blade: All Posts by Zachary Zielonka

2013 Buffalo Sabres Report Cards: Nathan Gerbe

2013-05-18T16:32:26Z

Nathan Gerbe

#42 / Left Wing / Buffalo Sabres

Height: 5-5

Weight: 178

Born: July 24, 1987

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	SOG	PCT
2012 - Nathan Gerbe	42	5	5	10	-3	14	0	1	0	64	7.8

Contract: $1.45 million cap hit through 2013-14

Report Card for 2012: 4.6

Introduction: Nathan Gerbe has been a fan favorite for a few years now mainly because of his diminutive size. He came onto the scene during the 2010-11 season after playing a total of 20 combined games from 2008-2010. During that 2010-11 season, Gerbe had 16 goals and 15 assists in 64 games. In the 104 games since that season, Gerbe hasn't been able to match that total as of yet.

In the shortened 2013 season, Gerbe registered just 5 goals and 10 points in 42 total games. Gerbe bounced around among linemates and actual lines all season.

Key Stat: Nathan Gerbe scored six of his 10 points this season at home. Of those six points scored, only one of them was a goal.

Thumbs Up: Even though Gerbe's offensive production is down over the past couple of seasons and his playing time is being diminished, people still like him. That has to count for something, right?

Thumbs Down: After having high expectations coming off the 2010-11 season in regards to his offensive production, Gerbe has mainly been relegated as a fourth line player for much of the 2013 season. He registered just 12:30 of average time on ice this season which 50 seconds lower than the last career low that came in the 2010-11 season. Gerbe's 64 shots this season was the lowest career average shots/game total he has had in his five seasons in the NHL.

Voting: Using the good old grade school system of A, B, C, D, F, with a A representing a great season, C an average season, and F a very poor season, grade Nathan Gerbe on his performance this year according to the expectations you had for him.

Poll

How would you grade Nathan Gerbe's 2013 season

2013 Buffalo Sabres Report Cards: Marcus Foligno

2013-05-15T15:26:28Z

Marcus Foligno

#82 / Left Wing / Buffalo Sabres

Height: 6-3

Weight: 226

Born: Aug 10, 1991

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	SOG	PCT
2012 - Marcus Foligno Rochester	47 33	5 10	13 17	18 27	-4 7	41 38	1 3	0 0	0	55 77	9.1 12.9

+/-

PIM

PPG

SHG

GWG

SOG

PCT

2012 - Marcus Foligno

Rochester

-4

9.1

12.9

Contract: Signed at cap hit of $900,000 through 2013-14.

Report Card Grade in 2012: 8.6

Introduction: When Marcus Foligno was called up from the Rochester Americans in March of 2012, he shocked most Sabres fans with six goals in the final 14 games of the season. The line pairing of Tyler Ennis, Drew Stafford, and Foligno had a lot of expectations heading into the 2013 season to see if they could continue the magic they had last season. That magic just didn't appear and the line was broken up a handful of games into the season. Foligno found himself bounced around the lineup all year, eventually ending up on the fourth line by the end of the season. In 47 games, Foligno couldn't match his goal total of last year, falling one short.

Key Stat: Marcus Foligno had the best Corsi/60, which is the on-ice shot differential, among all Sabres this season with 3.67. He is one of three players that had a positive Corsi/60 this season, along with Alexander Sulzer and Christian Ehrhoff.

Thumbs Up: Ever since Foligno has been up with the Buffalo Sabres, he has established himself as a physical forward that isn't afraid to throw the body around. In 2013, Foligno recorded 108 hits which was good for 3rd on the team.

Thumbs Down: Among all players that played for the Sabres this season, Foligno had the third highest percentage of shift starts in the offensive zone, only behind Matt Ellis and Mikhail Grigorenko. This stat starts to lean toward a little bit of shielding that the Sabres may have tried use to get Foligno's offensive game started. It also didn't appear to work much as Foligno's production dropped during the season. He had two long scoring droughts, a 20 game stretch in the middle of the season and a 14 game stretch at the end of the season.

Voting: Using the good old grade school system of A, B, C, D, F, with a A representing a great season, C an average season, and F a very poor season, grade Marcus Foligno on his performance this year according to the expectations you had for him.

Poll

How would you grade Marcus Foligno's 2013 season?

2013 Buffalo Sabres Report Cards: Tyler Ennis

2013-05-11T14:00:06Z

Tyler Ennis

#63 / Center / Buffalo Sabres

Height: 5-9

Weight: 157

Born: Oct 06, 1989

	G	A	P	+/-	PIM
2012 - Tyler Ennis	10	21	31	-14	16

Contract: Signed through 2013-14 at a cap hit of $2.8125 million\

Report Card Grade in 2012: 7.5 out of 10

Introduction: Tyler Ennis had lofty expectations on him heading into the 2013 season after the scorching end with 9 goals and 20 points in the final 19 games of the season last year. Ennis had a decent start to the season with three goals and six points in the first 10 games of the season. His scoring touch faded down the stretch of the season as Ennis only had one goal in the final 17 games of the season.

Key Stat: 10. Ennis' ten goals on the season made him one of four people that played for the Sabres that had double digit goals. The other four were Thomas Vanek, Cody Hodgson, and Jason Pominville.

Thumbs Up: In what was a low scoring season for the Sabres, Tyler Ennis was one of four players to have double digit goals in the truncated season. Ennis spent most of his even strength time this season with the line that proved to have so much success last year. In the final 10 games of the season though, Ennis spent most of his time with Thomas Vanek and Cody Hodgson.

Thumbs Down: Ennis's scoring drought in final 17 games of the season was just another aspect of the Sabres offense that let the team down throughout the season.

Voting: Using the good old grade school system of A, B, C, D, F, with a A representing a great season, C an average season, and F a very poor season, grade Matt Ellis on his performance this year according to the expectations you had for him.

Poll

What grade would you give Tyler Ennis for his 2012-13 season

Season In A Sentence: Darcy Regier On Suffering

2013-05-03T17:00:05Z

Terry Pegula has been in search of creating a Stanley Cup Champion, that has not changed. In fact, that has been reinforced. That is stronger than ever. It may require some suffering."

That line from Darcy Regier is probably the most memorable line from Monday's season ending press conference. It's also Regier's most regrettable line as he later clarified that suffering was the wrong word to use, patience was better. But, looking at the offseason ahead of the Buffalo Sabres, suffering may be the right word when it comes to debating the status of the franchises' two biggest stars in Ryan Miller and Thomas Vanek.

Ryan Miller is one of 62 goaltenders that have ever played 500 games in the NHL. Only 20 of those goaltenders have ever played 500 games with one team and 12 have played their first 500 with one team. Yet, game number 501 of Ryan Miller's career seems more and more like it would be with another team. Miller's career with the Sabres has been interesting over the past ten years. He has led the team to two Eastern Conference finals and has one Vezina trophy to his name. Over 500 games, Miller has a career 2.59 goals against average and a .915 save percentage.

Miller has survived some ups and downs in his career. Back in 2003 when he went through a brief stretch of allowing 13 goals in two games, including seven goals on home ice to his hometown childhood team. Those early poor performances have always resonated with Miller throughout his career as he continually references how he felt early in many recent press conferences.

Over the final few weeks of the season, Ryan Miller has seemed more and more resigned to moving on from the Buffalo Sabres. One of the more lasting legacies that Miller may have is that fateful game against the Rangers on April 19th. Miller was mercifully pulled after allowing 4 goals on 14 shots and acknowledged the crowd's mock cheer when he actually did make a save. During last Saturday's locker room clean out, Miller acknowledged that he really has no control over his future.

Thomas Vanek has been the Buffalo Sabres leading scorer six out of the last seven seasons. He is the offensive face of the franchise now after Jason Pominville was traded to the Minnesota Wild. A first round pick in 2003, Vanek has grown in the eight seasons that he has been in the league. From being a healthy scratch in the 2005 playoffs to a leader of the team, Vanek may be the most essential forward the Sabres have at the moment.

The Sabres have to figure out how they are going to replace these players before they make a decision on whether to move them. Miller's current replacement, Jhonas Enroth, is a restricted free agent that will be looking for a raise. If the Sabres trade Miller before settling that deal, all of the restricted leverage they have will have disappeared. In the case of Thomas Vanek, the Sabres need to figure out where the offensive scoring is going to come from. The 2013 Sabres only had three players that managed to score double digit goals, tied with Dallas, Nashville, San Jose and Winnipeg for the lowest total in the season. Over the past couple of seasons, if Thomas Vanek isn't scoring, then the team as a whole is struggling to score.

Selling a couple more seasons of struggling is going to be tough, but Sabres fans are a bunch that will continue to show up. The team is going to have to because the 2013-14 season slogan is probably going to be "Suffering Our Way To A Stanley Cup."

Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Buffalo Sabres: Jhonas Enroth Shines Again In 3-1 Win

2013-04-15T01:27:31Z

The Buffalo Sabres are the little team that just won't go away. Their likelihood of making the playoffs is a measly .6% and if they won out the last five games of the season, their chances of making the playoffs are only 29.4%. But the Sabres feel they still have some hope to get a chance to make the playoffs. "Teams are hopping over each other when a team wins or when a teams loses so I think we have been watching a lot of NHL on the Fly. We still believe in ourselves here and we just need to take care of our job," said defenseman Mike Weber after the game.

Making the playoffs isn't the only reason why these players still need to play well in the final five games of the season. There are some players that are fighting for jobs next season as well. From Mike Weber again:

"We've got guys that are trying to prove themselves. Guys that are trying to earn contracts, guys that are trying to earn permanent spots on this roster, guys that are trying to show that they can be in the top six or the top two or the top four so this group of six right now there is a lot to prove and a lot to gain."

Jhonas Enroth Shines Again

After getting his third career shutout on Saturday afternoon, coach Ron Rolston decided to ride the hot hand again. It paid off for him as Enroth looked solid again against Tampa Bay. Jhonas made 32 saves in the winning effort and had a 96:11 shutout streak going until Benoit Pouliot broke it in the second period. That shutout streak was the second longest of Enroth's career, his longest being 107:39 in 2011.

Enroth credited his defense with a lot of the reasons why this team has been playing well as of late. "I think we have been playing pretty simple back there. We making some crisp passes out of the zone and I think that the guys have been really jumping on the rebounds. It's a lot of things that we are doing right right now."

Kevin Porter Strikes Again

Kevin Porter was on a three game point streak heading into tonight's game against the Lightning and was able to add to it with a second period goal that gave the Sabres a three goal lead at the time. Here is how the goal unfolded from Porter's point of view: "It wasn't an ideal play but it found the back of the net so it was good. It was kind of a bad pass but [Flynn] recovered and made a nice play into the slot."

Head coach Ron Rolston has been impressed with the play of both Kevin Porter and Bryan Flynn."You've watched them play since they have been here. They both compete and they have a lot of passion for the jersey they are wearing and they give you the effort every night. It may not be points but it's going to be something else, it's going to be in some way to help us be successful as a team. We've been fortunate to have a lot of guys that have stepped up and those two guys are two great examples."

Chad Ruhwedel's Whirlwind Weekend

Chad Ruhwedel has been awful busy over the last four days. His Lowell team lost on Thursday night in Pittsburgh to the eventual champion Yale Bulldogs in the Frozen Four. He then turned around and signed a pro contract with the Sabres on Saturday and was in the lineup for two games for the Sabres.

This is what Ruhwedel had to say about his weekend: "I had to pinch myself for a while. I got a good night's sleep last night, but it took a while to fall asleep though. Yesterday was a tough day. It was nice coming in here and getting a win and then following it up with another one."

Oh, and in case you were wondering, apparently his nickname is Rudy.

Die By The Blade Three Stars

1. Jhonas Enroth
2. Kevin Porter
3. Bryan Flynn

The Sabres are off from practice on Monday and do not play again until Wednesday against the Boston Bruins.

RUHWEDEL Thread: Sabres vs. Lightning

2013-04-14T20:30:04Z

Game #42

Buffalo Sabres (17-18-6) vs. Tampa Bay Lightning (17-19-6)

Puck Drop - 5:00pm - First Niagara Center - Buffalo, NY
TV - MSG | Radio - WGR 550-AM
SBNation Lightning Blog - Raw Charge (Please play nice if you're going to visit.)

News and Notes

- This the final meeting between the Lightning and Sabres this season and the only one that will take place at First Niagara Center. The Sabres and Lightning have split the first two games with the Lightning taking the last matchup with a 2-1 victory.

- This is also the final afternoon game for the Sabres this season. They have gone 3-4-1 in the eight previous afternoon games this season.

- Steven Stamkos has 8 goals and 18 points in 18 career games played against the Sabres. He scored in each matchup this season against Buffalo as well. He is also riding a three game point streak as well with one goal and two assists in three games.

- Thomas Vanek has 23 goals and 12 assists in 35 career games against the Lightning. He did not register a goal in either matchup against the Lightning this season.

- The Sabres and Lightning are 4-4-2 in their last 10 games with the Lightning losing their last two and the Sabres coming off a 1-0 win over the Flyers.

Game #42

Buffalo Sabres (17-18-6) vs. Tampa Bay Lightning (17-19-6)

Puck Drop - 5:00pm - First Niagara Center - Buffalo, NY
TV - MSG | Radio - WGR 550-AM
SBNation Lightning Blog - Raw Charge (Please play nice if you're going to visit.)

News and Notes

- This is also the final afternoon game for the Sabres this season. They have gone 3-4-1 in the eight previous afternoon games this season.

- Thomas Vanek has 23 goals and 12 assists in 35 career games against the Lightning. He did not register a goal in either matchup against the Lightning this season.

- The Sabres and Lightning are 4-4-2 in their last 10 games with the Lightning losing their last two and the Sabres coming off a 1-0 win over the Flyers.

Buffalo Sabres vs. Winnipeg Jets Recap: Let The Tanking Commence

2013-04-10T02:49:58Z

With a 4-1 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday night, the Buffalo Sabres find themselves still four points back of a playoff spot and not making any ground on making the playoffs. The Sabres found themselves down after giving up three goals in the second period but managed to make the score respectable with their own goal in the third period. The Jets finished the game off with an empty netter. Kyle Wellwood, Eric Gagnon, Andrew Ladd, and Blake Wheeler were the goal scorers for the Jets while Kevin Porter scored the lone goal for the Sabres.

Thomas Vanek Makes His Return

Thomas Vanek last played on March 26th against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Vanek missed five games with a lower body injury but made his valiant return against the Winnipeg Jets. Vanek played on a line with Drew Stafford and Tyler Ennis and finished the game with 19:19 in ice time, 2 shots on goal, one hit, two giveaways, and a blocked shot. That line was also on the ice for all four of the Winnipeg goals.

Shots On Goal Still Mystifies The Sabres At Times

At the halfway point of the game, the Buffalo Sabres had 10 shots on goal. It took six minutes for the Sabres to register their first shot on goal. In the meantime, the Winnipeg Jets had already registered seven shots on goal. The Sabres offense hasn't been very good at creating shots on goal while the Sabres defense has been just as bad at trying to limit the opposing defense in taking those shots. Coming into tonight's game, the Sabres defense had allowed a league worst 33.0 shots/game. The team was outshot 23-16 through the first two periods before turning on the offense in the third, outshooting Winnipeg 14-7.

Sabres Still Futile Against The Southeast Division

One of the major sticking points for the Sabres this season has been their play against the Southeast Division. With this loss to the Jets, the Sabres are now 2-9-2 against the Southeast, a division that only has one team making the playoffs if they were to start today. The Sabres in the Eastern Conference that isn't in the Southeast Division with a losing record against the Southeast.

The Sabres will take tomorrow off before they get back on the ice against the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night.

TANKthread: Buffalo Sabres vs. Winnipeg Jets

2013-04-09T23:32:42Z

Game #40

Buffalo Sabres (16-17-6) vs. Winnipeg Jets (19-19-2)

Puck Drop - 8:00pm - MTS Centre - Winnipeg, MB
TV - MSG | Radio - WGR 550-AM
SBN Jets Blog - Arctic Ice Hockey (Please play nice if you're going to visit.)

News and Notes

- The Winnipeg Jets are just two points out of a playoff spot which would be the first for the new franchise. The team just has eight games left to leapfrog the New York Islanders and New Jersey Devils. They also have had only one above .500 record in the final eight games over the past five years, which was the 2008-09 season.

- Steve Ott is still finding the back of the net lately. He has three goals in three games and two goals in nine career games against the Jets/Thrashers.

- The Buffalo Sabres haven't won in Winnipeg since February 23, 1993. They lost both games at the MTS Centre last season including a playoff killing tilt late last season.

- The Buffalo Sabres have a 2-8-2 record against the Southeast Division this year, the only team not in the Southeast Division with a losing record.

- If you recall, the Sabres and Jets already met once this season, at the First Niagara Center, which was a 2-1 Sabres loss. Bryan Little and Andrew Ladd has the Jets goals while Jason Pominville scored the lone goal for the Sabres. These two teams will meet again in Buffalo on April 22nd.

Game #40

Buffalo Sabres (16-17-6) vs. Winnipeg Jets (19-19-2)

Puck Drop - 8:00pm - MTS Centre - Winnipeg, MB
TV - MSG | Radio - WGR 550-AM
SBN Jets Blog - Arctic Ice Hockey (Please play nice if you're going to visit.)

News and Notes

- Steve Ott is still finding the back of the net lately. He has three goals in three games and two goals in nine career games against the Jets/Thrashers.

- The Buffalo Sabres haven't won in Winnipeg since February 23, 1993. They lost both games at the MTS Centre last season including a playoff killing tilt late last season.

- The Buffalo Sabres have a 2-8-2 record against the Southeast Division this year, the only team not in the Southeast Division with a losing record.