Today is a sad day at NHL Hot Stove as we close up shop.

I would like to thank every one who has ever contributed, commented and read our site. It was a fantastic ride which unfortunately we can no longer keep up.

Myself and David Strehle are taking on bigger roles at RLDHockey.net while Dustin Leed and The Hockey Guys has been generous enough to give a home to our other excellent contributors. Please be kind enough to give both sites a read.

The NHL announced tonight that they will change their current six-division setup into four conferences. For the first time since 1998, the League’s board of governors reached an agreement that not only alters the current outlook but also will allow every team to play a home-and-home series. The NHLPA will still need to approve the realignment but that appears to be a formality at this point.

These four conferences break down as the following:

Conference 1

Vancouver Canucks
Calgary Flames
Edmonton Oilers
Los Angeles Kings
San Jose Sharks
Anaheim Ducks
Colorado Avalanche
Phoenix Coyotes

Conference 2

Winnipeg Jets
Detroit Red Wings
Chicago Blackhawks
St. Louis Blues
Nashville Predators
Columbus Blue Jackets
Dallas Stars
Minnesota Wild

Conference 3

Toronto Maple Leafs
Montreal Canadiens
Ottawa Senators
Boston Bruins
Buffalo Sabres
Florida Panthers
Tampa Bay Lightning

Conference 4

Pittsburgh Penguins
Philadelphia Flyers
New York Rangers
New York Islanders
New Jersey Devils
Carolina Hurricanes
Washington Capitals

The current playoff configuration will also change with the first two playoff series coming within the Conference. However, eight teams will still make the show but there should be much more parity. For example, a team in a ‘weaker’ division would not be allowed to grab the third seed if they narrowly make the playoffs.

Furthermore, the schedule works out well for all teams. Home-and-home series should account for roughly 44-46 games with the remaining games getting played in rivalries within the conference. This change, as well as keeping natural rivals like Pittsburgh and Philadelphia; Chicago and Detroit; Calgary and Edmonton; should pave way for more excitement and interest around North America.

Now that we have the details down, let’s get to the fun part. What do we name these conferences? Do they get the old names: Norris, Campbell, Adams and Patrick? Do we rename them something more current like Gretzky, Lemieux, Howe and Orr? Put your vote in below and give some write-ins into the comments.

By Alexander Monaghan
President

Ryan Miller looked great in his first game back from injury. The Buffalo Sabres starting goalie was cruising towards a victory, perhaps a shutout as his team was winning 2-0 in the second period. Then, resident agitator of the Nashville Predators, left wing Jordin Tootoo, decided to test his boundaries against Miller.

Let’s take a look at the incident.

Tootoo clearly lost the puck and jumped in the direction of a sprawled Miller. Unlike the Milan Lucic incident, every member of the Sabres on the ice — including Paul Gaustad — decided to jump Tootoo and further protect their goalie from injury. In other words, all heck broke loose on the ice.

Ryan Porth of Smashville 24/7 reported, via Twitter, that Tootoo never meant to hurt Miller. Joshua Cooper of The Tennessean added, via Twitter, that the winger would face disciplinary action. Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff was quotably unhappy about the incident. On a related note, Why did Miller not go to the quiet room?

Seeing as running the goalie has become a hot topic this season, one can only expect Tootoo gets the book thrown at him. However, the number of games remains to be seen. As usual, we leave our readers with a vote; Where does your virtual Shanahammer fall?

By Alexander Monaghan
President

Jhonas Enroth backstopped the Buffalo Sabres to yet another win tonight, shutting out the below-average Carolina Hurricanes offense. The rookie has now won seven of his 10 appearances, improving his already stellar 2.19 GAA and .926 SV% to 1.94 GAA and .935 SV%. Without those wins the Sabres most certainly would not be sitting atop the Northeast Division, they might not even be in the playoff picture. As of this writing he has only accounted for one of their seven team losses which makes his case for team MVP.

Furthermore, Enroth’s improved peripherals now place him in the top five in both goals against average and save percentage while only padding his stats with his one shutout. Only twice has the Stockholm, Sweden native allowed more than three goals with one coming in mop up duty as he relieved Ryan Miller following the infamous Milan Lucic collision. His talent is now being seen on a national level leading local media to speculate on his potential accolades. Bill Hoppe of the MSG Network, via Twitter, suggested that Enroth win the Calder Memorial Trophy. Sadly, he will not win such a prize.

It would take a relatively poor showing from this season’s rookie skaters for Enroth to win the Calder, or even become a finalist for that matter. Last season, the rookie crop produced three 30-goal scorers, four 20-goal scorers and a few other deserving defensemen and goalies. This season is no different with current first overall pick Ryan Nugent-Hopkins leading his team in scoring while Craig Smith, Luke Adam, Adam Henrique, Matt Read and Colin Greening all have made an impact on their team’s respective top lines.

By not nominating Corey Crawford, Michal Neuvirth, James Reimer or Sergei Bobrovsky as finalists, the voters set a big precedent for the standards of the trophy. Perhaps the fallen play of Steve Mason — the last rookie to take the Calder — plays a part. Perhaps the voters are taking into consideration the competition among starting goalies and their backups.

It’s no secret that there are more than 30 capable starting goalies in this League. Ray Emery was good enough to backstop the Anaheim Ducks to the playoffs last season but now plays second fiddle to the aforementioned Crawford. Cory Schneider, Jonathan Bernier and Enroth all are taking advantage of every opportunity given to them in order to get more starts. Playing solid between the pipes is no longer seen as a feat. Most teams simply need a capable netminder (See Sanford, Curtis) in order to stay competitive.

Such is the case with Enroth. In a similar situation to Crawford, Neuvirth and Bobrovsky he is currently backstopping a strong team, one capable and previously expected to succeed prior to his hostile takeover. With Miller in nets, they were contenders, Why would that change with a rookie with solid AHL numbers?

Nevertheless, Miller is sidelined indefinitely but probably gets back into a few more games this season. Despite his struggles with concussions over the past two years, coach Lindy Ruff continues to make it very clear that this job remains Miller’s to lose. Therefore, Enroth may not even make the case to compete to win the Calder, not that he would win it anyways. His best bet would be to go for the gold and remain in the top five which would automatically put him into Vezina Trophy consideration. The Vezina is clearly a more attainable goal for an ascending rookie netminder, right?

Regardless, stay tuned for the 23-year-old to get yet another start tomorrow night against the Phoenix Coyotes as he looks to win his third game in four starts and eighth win in nine starts while further decreasing his impressive counting stats.

Alexander Monaghan
President

By Teravolt (Talk)

On Saturday night, Ryan Miller took a big-time hit at the hands of Boston Bruins forward Milan Lucic. The hit, which was rendered at the 13:12 marker of the first period, knocked the starting goalies’ helmet off but did not immediately knock him out of the game — leading to further controversy. At this point you have likely seen the hit and offered differing opinions on the play. At no point in the rulebook does it state that Miller was out of bounds by playing the puck at the top of the circle yet viewers either feel he was either ‘fair game’ or ‘brutalized’. Certainly a hot topic.

Regardless of your thoughts on the subject, Miller is now out indefinitely with a concussion. Miller left Saturday’s game after the second period, not the first, playing over 26 minutes in the process and furthermore ignoring the NHL’s concussion protocol. If you are unfamiliar with the process, here’s the official statement from NHL.com:

In the past, a player suspected of having sustained a concussion would be evaluated by the team’s trainer or a doctor in the bench area. If a concussion was suspected, the player was moved to a quieter area for further evaluation.

So the thought process at this point is Miller either never knew he was concussed or chose to ignore the protocol. However, what interests me further were his comments to the media. The protocol would further explain that the said player needs to be “removed from the game and sent to a quiet place free from distraction so they can be examined by the on-site team physician.” Miller was neither removed nor free from distraction. In fact, he made himself immediately available to local media in his now infamous rant over Lucic’s lack of respect.

According to John Vogl of The Buffalo News, Miller waited around for the media to arrive just to rattle off expletives regarding Lucic. “However, he sat in the dressing room in a suit until the media arrived following Buffalo’s 6-2 loss.” Once again, protocol dictates he remain away from distraction which certainly includes the team’s media.

We understand that the concussion symptoms did not arrive immediately and would prefer not to argue the merits of his infliction. We’ve seen cases such the David Perron concussion in which a player immediately returns to action and plays well. Sidney Crosby played a game following his concussion. Marc Staal played the entirety of the season after his blow to the noggin. Nevertheless, he either comes out and is unavailable to the media or he stays in without a concussion. It’s that cut and dry. Nobody feeling so poorly would immediately speak to the media — that would and likely should have been disallowed by the Buffalo Sabres public relations personnel.

Mike Harrington of The Buffalo News would further explain that Miller felt worse as the game progressed, which makes sense considering he allowed three goals following the incident. Then again, he already sports a GAA hovering around 3 (2.86) so it could just be an extension to his struggles. Nevertheless, here is how Harrington explains it. From Sabres Edge:

Miller felt increasingly worse during Saturday’s game in Boston after the hit by Milan Lucic and was removed from the game following the second period by Bruins doctors under the NHL’s head injury protocol.

So he felt worse, was removed from the game and put through head injury protocol then waited for the media to immediately sound off on the incident? Something sounds a bit off.

If he wasn’t injured then the team would announce his status as healthy or even day-to-day. If he had a concussion, why wasn’t he brought to a local hospital for further examination? Considering Miller was concussed last season, the team would have made a bigger deal out of his malady opposed to saving the news for the following day amid pointing even more fingers at Lucic.

The Sabres failed to retaliate against their divisional rival and therefore took to the media in which GM Darcy Regier deflected all news from the concussion on Miller specifically to concussions in general. His vitriol, however, appears pointed at the wrong people in an issue that simply is not there. A goaltending injury due to a collision is rare at best. Alex Ovechkin is not suspended for the multitude of times he’s bowled over netminders. Neither is every opposing forward looking to crash the net who is nudged by a defender. In fact, a goalie is typically injured more for fights or pulled muscles than a forward driving the net.

Playing net is a dangerous position. Not only does a frozen piece of rubber hit you at every angle, the opposition is always bearing down on you. There are more than 30 worthy starting goalies in this league enacting a survival of the fittest mentality. Is Niklas Backstrom complaining that Josh Harding is always injured? No, because it guarantees 60 starts per season. Would Cory Schneider be ultimately hurt should he start another game more due to a minor tweak by Roberto Luongo? Again, no because backups deserve to play.

In this instance, Miller’s backup, Jhonas Enroth, might have gotten the starting nod tonight due to simply playing better. For all we know he may have came into the game to awaken a flat team that simply did not react to a fallen Miller. The ‘guilty’ party Lucic reviewed the play ’100 times’ and does not see how Miller could be concussed. From Big Bad Blog:

“I’ve looked at the hit 100 times because he said he got a concussion. I looked at it, and his shoulder hit my chest, so there was no hit to his head. His helmet came flying off, but his head didn’t hit the ice and later on in that period, one of their guys lifted [Tyler Seguin]‘s stick and threw him into the net as well, so who knows what it was? It was obviously unfortunate to hear that he got hurt on the play.”

His coach, Claude Julien, would offer a similar explanation when describing this bang-bang play from his power forward. From NHL.com:

“I saw the same thing [as Lucic explained],” Julien said. “It certainly wasn’t our plan to run him over and for what it’s worth, Looch has done the same thing to one of our coaches [assistant Geoff Ward] last year. He buries his head when he chases the puck, by the time he lifts it up, somebody’s there. Last year was a coach, this year was Miller.”

While this news doesn’t absolve Lucic, it does explain how he did not necessarily get out of the way. He is currently meeting with NHL disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan over the incident which is probably something that would not have happened if Regier did not alter the agenda. The penalty was two minutes on the ice. No match penalty, major or misconduct. In fact, if Lucic’s hit is to be reviewed, the swinging stick of Ryan Miller deserves a look as well since that could have permanently injured Lucic as well.

We should find out the ultimate verdict soon. The two-plus hour delay is actually somewhat telling at this point. Regardless, should Lucic get suspended, Does it open up a wormhole concerning goalies being on or off limits? Something certainly sounds fishy about the entire situation whether it be Lucic’s intent, Miller’s actual injury or the team’s cover-up. At this point there are no legitimate cut-and-dry facts for us to ascertain which makes this perhaps one of the season’s biggest storylines.

One thing is for sure: You’ll want to tune in the next time these two teams faceoff — Wednesday, November 23rd at 7PM EST.

By Alexander Monaghan
President

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The O2 World arena in Berlin, Germany played host to the Los Angeles Kings and Buffalo Sabres on Saturday as part of the 2011-2012 Season’s opening weekend. The Kings looked to carry the momentum from yesterday’s game in Stockholm into Berlin, but it seems the Buffalo Sabres had other plans.

Any momentum the Kings had ran right into a wall.

Luke Adam put the Sabres on the scoreboard twice within the span of 2:20 early in the second period. Adam’s first goal came from a quick wrist shot over Kings goaltender Jonathan Bernier’s glove while the second goal was a tap in on a pass from Thomas Vanek. The Sabres’ other two goals came from Paul Gaustad and Drew Stafford.

The Kings attempted to mount a comeback in the third period, but it would prove to be too little too late against a Sabres team who spent much of the game driving hard at Bernier between the pipes. All four Sabres goals came from between the circles, an area the Kings defense usually excels at clearing out. Both of Adam’s goals were direct results of the Kings not clearing players from in front of Bernier. While it should be noted that it is only the second game of the season, the Kings would be wise to quickly resolve their coverage issues. Lack of consistent defensive coverage cost the Kings several games last season.

Photo Via Getty Images

Anze Kopitar, however, did prove to be the one highlight of the game for the Kings, scoring both goals. If there was any doubt about his performance this season after recovering from a broken leg last year, it is now gone. Kopitar recorded three goals and an assist on the Kings’ European trip.

While he has not recorded a goal yet, defenseman Drew Doughty is showing signs that he is ready to compete this season. Saturday’s game saw him with several close attempts on Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller and logging over 28 minutes on the ice.

Europe bids farewell to the Kings as they are now on their way back to the United States – but not home. Two more road games await the team when their plane lands at Newark. The Kings will have the next few days to practice before taking on the New Jersey Devils on Thursday.

Chris Van Deusen
NHLHS Los Angeles Kings Correspondent
Twitter – @TheCrazyWhls

In June, natural gas tycoon Terry Pegula acquired the Buffalo Sabres. Pegula promptly promised his fans that the Sabres would be aggressive in the offseason. Following the expensive acquisitions of defenseman Christian Ehrhoff and forward Ville Leino, the Sabres’ faithful certainly cannot label Mr. Pegula as “stingy.” The Sabres’ roster currently consists of 14 forwards, 7 defenseman, and 2 goaltenders. Perfect, right? Pegula’s brain trust now needs to shed roughly $3.5 million in order to be in compliance with the 2011-2012 cap figure of $64.3 million.
In looking at the acquisitions, the Sabres are clearly trying to increase offensive productivity.

Ville Leino scored the overtime winner in Game 6 for the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2011 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. The Flyers unceremoniously routed the Sabres in Game 7, 5-2. In 81 games with the Flyers last season, Leino recorded 19 goals and 53 points in 81 games with a stout shooting percentage of 16.2%. The 27 year old native of Finland exploded for 21 points in 19 playoff games in the Flyers’ run to Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final in 2010 and added 5 points in 11 playoff contests (7 against the Sabres, 4 against Bruins) in the 2011 playoffs. Prior to his trade to the Flyers in 2010, Leino struggled to stay out of head coach Mike Babcock’s doghouse in Detroit. He put up 7 points in 42 games in the 2009-2010 campaign and operated at a -10. The knock on Leino has been his 190 pound frame and his inability to protect the puck. Leino displayed a determined attitude with hard drives to and around the net, particularly in the 2010 playoffs. Despite his point production, his detractors noted that he was much more rested than many of his playoff foes due to the fact that Leino dressed for only 13 regular season games for the Flyers to close out the 2010 season. Pegula is certainly paying a premium for a player who has yet to crack the 20 goal plateau in the NHL with a heavily front loaded 6 year, $27 million contract.

The Sabres made a splash prior to July 1st by procuring the rights to free agent defenseman Christian Ehrhoff from the New York Islanders (who had acquired Ehrhoff’s rights from the Vancouver Canucks 1 day prior). The 29 year old German native adds another offensively-gifted weapon to a Sabres’ blueline which already boasts the likes of veteran Robyn Regehr and youngsters Tyler Myers and Marc-Andre Gragnani (restricted free agent), who impressed in the 2011 playoffs. Ehrhoff battled through a shoulder injury in the 2011 playoffs and his defense suffered as he posted an abysmal -13 rating while collecting 12 points. In the 2010-2011 regular season, Ehrhoff tallied 50 points, a career high which tied him for 7th among defensemen. Ehrhoff should help the Sabres’ power play, which ranked 9th in efficiency last season with a 19.4% success rate.

Before being able to compete in the NHL in the 2011-2012 season, Pegula and his brain trust, led by general manager Darcy Regier, need to shed over $3.5 million of cap space. In recent weeks, there have been persistent rumors that the Vancouver Canucks are trying to acquire secondary scoring and have looked to the Sabres as a potential trade partner. Is the streaky Drew Stafford expendable with a cap hit of $4 million? Are the Canucks looking for a versatile, veteran forward like Jochen Hecht ($3.525 cap hit)? If the Canucks and Sabres were to complete a two team deal which would leave both teams cap compliant, the Canucks would need to make a secondary move as they are only $2.637 million under the cap. At any rate, Pegula’s spending has now put the Sabres in a position where they will probably need to shed the salary of a core forward.
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You may reach the author with hip checks, blind side hits, and eye gouging on Twitter @Gordsie.

By David Strehle
NHL Hot Stove Creative Editor

Fans of the Buffalo Sabres should circle February 22nd, 2011 on their calendars as one of the most important dates in their beloved team’s history.  It was on that blustery winter day in Western New York that the Sabres were given a new lease on life when Terry Pegula became owner of the franchise.

The Back Story

Previous owner Tom Golisano had seemingly reached the end of providing positives for hockey in the Buffalo area.  As much as he had helped rescue the club from the dire straights that the Rigas family had left the Sabres, he seemed much more entralled with his political aspirations.  His self-funded political campaigns for Governor of New York were reported to have cost the billionaire, who made his fortune by founding the Paychex payroll-processing company in excess of $50 million alone in 2002, the same year he purchased controlling interest in the Sabres.

Buffalo had experienced a steady progression of improvement during Golisano’s first four years as owner.  The culmination of his time at the Sabres helm came with 110 and 113-point seasons in 2005-06 and 2006-07, respectively, in which the team would go on to lose in the Eastern Conference Finals in both postseasons.

A third trip to the Stanley Cup Finals in franchise history – the first two being in 1975 and 1999 - looked to be just on the horizon.

But Golisano tightened the purse strings on the budget in which GM Darcy Regier was permitted to work.  In turn, Buffalo allowed team leaders Danny Briere and Chris Drury – their respective number one and three leading scorers from the year prior – to walk away via free agency in the summer of 2007.

The Sabres point totals dropped to the low-90′s in the next two campaigns, in which they also missed the playoffs in both seasons.

It didn’t help matters the following year, either when All-Star defenseman Brian Campbell – who was slated to become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2008 – was dealt to the San Jose Sharks just prior to the trade deadline.

There were the ridiculous cuts to the club’s scouting department, to save

As pointed out by CBC’s Elliotte Friedman in a piece he did in February on Golisano’s cost-cutting measures, the Sabres lost a wealth of hockey knowledge from their hockey operations and scouting department during Golisano’s time:

Director of Pro Scouting Terry Martin, who helped make the decision to acquire Daniel Briere, bolted for Colorado in 2006.  Director of Amateur Scouting Jim Benning (now in Boston) and assistant general Manager Larry Carriere (Montreal) left in 2004. 

For almost a decade, the Sabres found a later-round gem in the NHL draft.  There was Brian Campbell (6th round, 1997), Ales Kotalik (6th, 1998), Ryan Miller (5th, 1999), Paul Gaustad (7th, 2000), Dennis Wideman (8th, 2002) and Patrick Kaleta (6th, 2004).  Since then, nothing much, although it’s too soon to evaluate recent selections.

These were acquisitions that just could not be duplicated via Golisano’s alternative use of “video-only scouting”, and the former owner’s excuse to Friedman when interviewed spoke volumes:

“These scouts are traveling all over the world.  All these expenses, could they accomplish a lot more staying in one place with the use of video?  And they believe they can.  If somebody interprets that as not being progressive and being regressive, that’s too bad.  But we think we’re far more efficient and have a much better scouting organization than we did three years ago.”

A message was being sent to the players, and that was if they wanted to score big pay days, they would have to do so in another NHL city.  The team didn’t appear willing to spend the money to keep the core of players together that had gotten them so close to a berth in the Cup Finals, and fears arose as to other stars following a similar path out of town when their time came for new contracts.

Regier was able, however, to re-sign All-World goaltender Ryan Miller to a 5-year contract extension worth over $31 million prior to the 2009-10 season.

It was indeed a step in the right direction, but much more would be needed to get Buffalo back to the point they were in the spring of 2007.

Enter Pegula

“Starting today, the Buffalo Sabres’ reason for existence will be to win a Stanley Cup“, Pegula proudly proclaimed on that February day during the press conference to announce the sale of the team.

Even though the same had been said by previous ownership, it was just lip service.  But there is good reason to believe that he was genuinely sincere.  You see Pegula not only owns the Sabres, he’s also a huge fan.  There is nothing that he desires more than to see his team skating around the ice taking turns hoisting Lord Stanley high above their heads as the calendar hits June next year.

The fourth owner in franchise history made a great move in retaining his GM (Regier) and head coach, Lindy Ruff.  The pair both joined the franchise in 1997 and proved in prior years that when given the financial framework to succeed, that they could do so.

Ruff, the longest-tenured NHL coach, has had to get the most out of the least provided for him for much of his 14 seasons with the Sabres.  Ruff has survived for as long as he has by using a basic formula that seems to work.  His teams protect their goaltenders - in his early years with Dominik Hasek, and then Ryan Miller after “The Dominator” - with a staunch defense and timely, opportunistic scoring.

Pegula with Rene Robert, Richard Martin, and Perreault from late-February. Within three weeks time, Martin would tragically pass away in a car accident. (Photo Credit: Rick Stewart / Getty Images)

Pegula also knows the importance of history, and to make sure to keep a link with the players of the past.

In addition to having current Buffalo skaters with him at the press conference, he also had faces from the past at his side.  He was even getting choked up when looking at a certain legend.

“I’m going to try not to look this way too much,” Pegula said of Sabres’ Hall-of-Fame centerman Gilbert Perreault, who was sitting to the new owner’s right.

His fondness for the Sabres took flight in the mid-1970′s, when the famed French Connection Line of Rene Robert, Richard Martin, and Perreault was wreaking havoc on NHL goaltending.

It’s obvious that the team is his absolute passion.

He’s a billionaire who built his wealth in the natural gas business, and isn’t looking to make any additional fortune through his hockey club - the way Golisano reportedly had.  Two statements Pegula made to the press that day stand out in that regard:

“If I want to make some money, I’ll go drill a gas well.”

“We’ll put the pedal to the metal as capably as we can.  I don’t know if it’s wise to spend to the cap every year.  But we’re not in this to save money, that’s for sure.”

The Moves

Pegula’s actions since his acquisition of the franchise speak even louder than his words as a testament to his aspirations in building a legitimate Cup-contender.

First, Regier worked out a deal in which Buffalo sent defenseman Chris Butler and smallish center Paul Byron to the Calgary Flames for rugged defenseman Robyn Regehr and former-Sabre winger Ales Kotalik.

Regier explained his mindset regarding the move in an interview on the NHL Network:

“We  have a lot of young D in our system.  We’ve drafted a lot of defencemen and they’re developing, and as they come up they need that guidance.  I think with Jordan Leopold and Robyn Regehr, players with a little more experience, a little bit of understanding and a stabilizing influence as well as leadership, it’s critical to the young defenceman’s development.”

The next pick up would also bolster the club’s blue line, when Regier shipped a fourth-round choice in the 2012 draft to the New York Islanders for the rights to pending UFA rear guard Christian Ehrhoff.  The Isles had acquired Ehrhoff’s rights from the Vancouver Canucks a day earlier, but it was apparent that they were not going to be able to sign him before July 1st.

On the eve of free agency, Regier and Ehrhoff’s agent, Rick Curran, hammered out a massive 10-year, $40 million pact.  Ehrhoff, 29, came very close to winning a Stanley Cup in June with runner-up Vancouver, and feels Buffalo will have a real chance at making a run of their own.

“My goal is to win the Stanley Cup,” the seven-year veteran said in a statement released by the organization.  ”And after the offer I received from Buffalo, I believe this is the best place to make it happen.”

With the addition of Regehr and Ehrhoff to a unit that already includes gargantuan youngster Tyler Myers, Leopold, Andrej Sekera, Mike Weber, Shaone Morrisonn, and the recently re-signed Marc-Andre Gragnani, Buffalo looks to have one of the deepest stables of rear guards in the NHL.

Coupled with excellent netminders in Miller and his recently re-signed back up Jhonas Enroth – as well as a group of forwards that are painfully conscious of their responsibilities in their own end - the Sabres appear to have the makings of one of the league’s stingiest squads in protecting their own net.

And there should be plenty of offense for Buffalo to succeed.

When it became apparent that center Brad Richards would likely sign with the New York Rangers, Regier inked another of the bigger named UFA forwards on July 1st when he reeled in former-Philadelphia Flyer Ville Leino with a 6-year, $27 million deal.  The 27-year-old Finn may just be a perfect fit on the right side of the club’s top line with Derek Roy at center and Tomas Vanek on the left.

The Buffalo GM explained the importance that was placed on signing the free agent winger:

“We felt very strongly about Ville, and we felt that it was important to make sure we didn’t allow a quality player like him to slip by us.  He was someone we identified early and moved him to the top of the list.”

Leino would seem to be able to be plugged right into the spot, being a deft puckhandler and tireless worker in the corners.  He may also see power play time, as his ability to come away from the corners with the puck and his passing skills could come in handy with Vanek setting up shop in his office in front of the opposing goalies.

He has also evolved into a clutch playoff performer, as the Sabres know all too well.  Leino’s overtime goal in Buffalo in Game 6 of the first round on Easter Sunday saved the Flyers from elimination at the hands of the Sabres.  The Orange-and-Black went on to take the deciding Game 7 back in Philadelphia two nights later, a game in which Leino scored again.  He ended the series with three goals and four points.  Leino’s thoughts after his signing were interesting:

“It was a tough series and, to be honest with you, I think they deserved to win.  I was looking at their roster earlier on, and I think they made some good additions.  I think we’ll have a good chance to win next year.”

And after the contract ordeal he went through in Philly – where he was going to be signed to a long-term deal shortly after Jeff Carter inked a 5-year extension, but never came to fruition – it was understandably imperative from Leino’s point of view to be locked into a secure situation.

“I wanted to focus on hockey and forget about everything else, contracts, everything.”

The team is hoping that two younger wingers who experienced breakout seasons last year – Drew Stafford (25 years old; 31 goals, 52 points in just 62 games) and Tyler Ennis (21 years old, 20 goals, 49 points) - can continue their rapid development.

With such complimentary firepower up front as former 43-goal scorer Brad Boyes, former 34-goal scorer Jason Pominville, workhorse centerman Paul Gaustad, crafty mighty mite Nathan Gerbe, the pesky Patrick Kaleta, along with Jochen Hecht and Cody McCormick, this looks to be the deepest group of Buffalo forwards in the last five years.

Of course, health will play a major part in just how well the Sabres are able to perform this season.  But then again, that’s the case for 29 other NHL teams, as well.

There is a feeling that something special is about to occur with the hockey team in Western New York; the same sort of feeling when the natives of the area sense a snowstorm is about to hit.

It’s almost unstoppable.

And it’s no coincidence that the positive vibes began once Pegula took over the club’s ownership.  He made a promise to the people of Buffalo that he would do everything in his power to bring a championship to the city, and he has backed up the talk with the bold moves made in improving the club’s roster over the summer.

If you have any comments or questions, you can email the author at dstrehle@nhlhotstove.com.  You can also follow him on Twitter – @David_Strehle