Kennedy Takes Team to Arbitration; Kaleta Re-Signs
NHLHS Buffalo Sabres Correspondent Melissa Kania discusses the Tim Kennedy arbitration hearing and the re-signing of Patrick Kaleta.
With arbitration hearings underway, the Buffalo Sabres met with arbitrators on Tuesday to settle Tim Kennedy‘s case.
A ruling is expected within 48 hours, and the team can either accept the ruling and sign Kennedy, or walk away, letting him become an unrestricted free agent.
Categories: Around the League, Buffalo Sabres, By Teams, Eastern Conference, NHLHS Features, Northeast Tags: Patrick Kaleta, Tim Kennedy
Sabres’ Offseason Moves
NHLHS Buffalo Sabres Correspondent Melissa Kania presents her introduction to NHLHS and an off-season overview of the Buffalo Sabres thus far.
Hey all, this is Melissa, your new Buffalo Sabres correspondent for NHL HotStove. With just over two months before training camp and preseason begins, teams are looking to the future and improving through free agency and – in some cases – trades.
The Sabres entered free agency with a handful of players to deal with, and as free agency began on July 1, they lost two key defense. Henrik Tallinder, who had been a member of the organization since being drafted in 1997, quickly signed a four year deal with the New Jersey Devils. The deal will pay him an average of $3.375 million per year. Defenseman Toni Lydman also signed with the Anaheim Ducks for a deal that will pay him $9 million over three years.
Categories: Buffalo Sabres, By Teams Tags: Buffalo Sabres, Cody McCormick, Derek Whitmore, Henrik Tallinder, Jhonas Enroth, Jordan Leopold, Mike Kostka, Mike Weber, Patrick Kaleta, Patrick Lalime, Philip Gogulla, Rob Niedermayer, Thomas Vanek, Tim Conboy, Tim Kennedy, Toni Lydman
Headshot Patrol: The Panel Takes a New Look at this Controversy
NHLHS writers Brandon Augienello, Dave Strehle and Anthony Curatolo present their thoughts on one of the biggest topics surrounding the NHL: Headshots. The panel collaborated their views, which you can only read here at NHLHS.
Just like life, the game of hockey is forever changing. Too many times when you turn on the television to watch hockey highlights we witness brutality that transcends the sport itself.
Categories: Around the League, NHLHS Features Tags: Alexander Ovechkin, Colin Campbell, David Booth, Eric Lindros, Ilya Kovalchuk, Jeff Beukeboom, Marc Savard, Matt Cooke, Mike Richards, Patrick Kaleta, Paul Kariya, Ron Francis, Scott Stevens, Shane Willis, Vincent Lecavalier
Monday NHL Morning Papers (Eastern Conference)
(hat tip to the boys of Illegal Curve. Thanks to their amazing class and their blessing to take over this feature here at NHL Hot Stove. We hope you enjoy the latest daily series.)
Categories: Eastern Conference, Morning Papers, NHLHS Features Tags: Brooks Laich, Carl Gunnarson, Chris Campoli, Dan Blysma, Jonas Gustavsson, Mike Richards, Nazem Kadri, Patrick Kaleta, Patrik Elias, Ray Emery, Rick DiPietro, Tyler Bozak, Viktor Stalberg
Saturday Morning Papers (Eastern Conference)
(hat tip to the boys of Illegal Curve. Thanks to their amazing class and their blessing to take over this feature here at NHL Hot Stove. We hope you enjoy the latest daily series.)
Categories: Eastern Conference, Morning Papers, NHLHS Features Tags: Alexander Ovechkin, David Clarkson, Dmitry Kulikov, Dustin Tokarski, Garth Snow, Georges Laraque, Ilya Kovalchuk, Jason Garrison, Marc Andre Fleury, Maxime Fortunus, Mike Smith, Pascal Leclaire, Patrick Kaleta, Paul Martin, Vesa Toskala
Here’s to a New Year Without Head Shots
I am certain that an opinion piece of this nature will upset each team’s fans but these head shots have got to stop. Of course, we are all hockey fans and love the big hit, some live for it but there needs to be a line drawn with the increasing speed to the game. These hits need to stop or else hockey becomes a survival of the fittest in which young players stand little chance of establishing a career due to playing scared due to footage from the last gruesome head shot.
While the League’s general managers mull over a rule change, I would like to propose a rule change of my own. Repeat dirty hits will lead to a permanent suspension from the League. The OHL instilled a similar rule when they banned Michael Liambas, a notoriously dirty player, from playing in their League following a career ending hit against Ben Fanelli. This instance marked just another time Liambas made a questionable hit, you cam see another one on first overall pick John Tavares here. The NHL made a similar move with former NHL pugilist Ryan Hollweg, essentially calling any hit remotely borderline until he played his way out of the league.
The moral of my rant will be that these types of players simply do not deserve a paycheck in the National Hockey League. A League where the rest of the world comes to play and play for the sport’s greatest trophies. What kind of message does it send when careers start to end due to these injuries? Do we need Sidney Crosby or Alexander Ovechkin seriously injured before we start to see lifetime bans?
My nominees for a lifetime ban…
Categories: 30 Team Series, Around the League Tags: Alexei Cherepanov, Andrew Peters, Anze Kopitar, Brandon Sutter, Brent Sutter, Chris Drury, Chris Pronger, clar, Clarke MacArthur, Curtis Glencross, David Booth, Dion Phaneuf, Jarkko Ruutu, Jaromir Jagr, Michael Liambas, Mike Richards, Patrick Kaleta, Paul Mara, Petr Prucha
Restoring the Rosters: Buffalo Sabres
I previously skipped over the Sabres, so here they are.
Based on Matthew Pouliot’s series on Circling the Bases, I have decided restore the rosters for every NHL team. Like Pouliot, I have established some ground rules for my selections.
- Each team contains players they originally drafted or signed before any other NHL team. This includes players drafted and not signed, as well as European free agents coming over at an older age.
- I have chosen to leave retired players off the list, and lean toward players in the AHL rather than those deported (KHL, SEL, DEL, etc.).
Essentially I am choosing the best available players for a team to succeed in the current NHL season. All 30 teams will be covered, with grades assigned to forwards, defense and goaltending. After all 30 articles are written, they will be ranked in order. This series’ intent is to reward or shame NHL scouts.
The Sabres rely heavily on their drafting and development of young players in order to keep their payroll down. Due to their restrictions monetarily, the team has succeeded in producing a vast amount of NHL regulars as well as some well regarded players. Overall, there really is no weaknesses to their lineup from the net on out. A mostly young core, this team greatly resembles the team currently constructed but with more depth and much improved blueline.
The lineup for the Buffalo Sabres is as follows.
Categories: 30 Team Series, Restoring the Rosters Tags: Ales Kotalik, Andrej Sekera, Andrew Peters, Brad May, Brian Campbell, Buffalo Sabres, Chris Butler, Clarke MacArthur, Cory Sarich, Daniel Paille, Dennis Wideman, Derek Roy, Drew Stafford, Henrik Tallinder, Jan Hejda, Jason Pominville, Jay McKee, Joe Thornton, Jonas Enroth, Keith Ballard, Mark Mancari, Martin Biron, Maxim Afinogenov, Mike Zigomanis, Nathan Gerbe, Nathan Paetsch, Patrick Kaleta, Paul Gaustad, Ryan Miller, Steve Bernier, Steve Reinprecht, Thomas Vanek, Tim Kennedy, Tyler Ennis, Tyler Myers, Wayne Primeau
