Ville Leino struggled last season. ©2013, Dan Hickling, Olean Times HeraldBUFFALO – Last season, in the first year of a six-year, $27 million contract, Ville Leino bombed. For a cool $6 million, the Sabres received eight goals and 25 points in 71 games, paying out $240,000 a point.
The Sabres initially tried converting Leino into a center again, an experiment that failed miserably. Leino was back on the wing after just a few weeks, generating little as a third- or fourth-liner.
Before the season ended, some observers had already started calling Leino …
Jason Pominville (front) and Thomas Vanek began skating together regularly last season. ©2013, Dan Hickling, Olean Times HeraldBUFFALO – Early in the second period of the Sabres’ 2-1 win Monday, Thomas Vanek knocked Nikolai Kulemin down in his own zone, grabbed the loose puck and zoomed down the left wing into Toronto territory on a three-on-two break.
Vanek then laid a perfect pass over to Jason Pominville, almost without looking, as he stopped at the top of the left circle. Cody Hodgson, meanwhile, was roaring to the crease with a defender, giving Pominville an open look at the …
Cody Hodgson already has two goals in two games this season. ©2013, Dan Hickling, Olean Times HeraldBUFFALO – The inexperience is their greatest asset and most glaring weakness. It excites and worries Sabres coach Lindy Ruff in the same breath.
His top two centers, Tyler Ennis and Cody Hodgson, are true neophytes, veterans of just a combined 235 NHL games.
Ennis only began playing center regularly late last year, his second full season. The 23-year-old was dynamic, though, compiling eight goals and 19 points over a 12-game stretch.
Hodgson, meanwhile, was skating around 12 minutes a night a year …
Mikhail Grigorenko skated 15 shifts during his NHL debut Sunday. ©2013, Dan Hickling, Olean Times HeraldBUFFALO – Ten minutes after the Sabres’ 5-2 opening-day win over the Philadelphia Flyers had ended, Steve Ott was still thinking about that nifty chance beside the net slick rookie center Mikhail Grigorenko had created for him.
Sure, Ott was excited about his power-play goal that opened the scoring just 11:07 into his Sabres debut. But the opportunity that had gotten away was still playing inside his head at bit.
“I kind of feel bad. He set the table,” Ott said Sunday …
The Sabres said in June prospect Mikhail Grigorenko would have a chance at an NHL roster spot. ©2013, Dan Hickling, Olean Times HeraldBUFFALO – Thanks to the agonizingly long NHL lockout, 281 days have passed since the Sabres last played a game. Thankfully, the team will finally start an abbreviated training camp today. The season opens in just a week.
So what’s changed in the last nine months? How’s this group different from the high-priced, ninth-place team that was built to win the Stanley Cup in 2011-12?
The Sabres got tougher, acquiring Steve Ott to be the talented sandpaper presence they’ve sorely lacked for …
Tyler Ennis became a top scorer after switching to center last season. ©2012, Dan Hickling, Olean Times HeraldBUFFALO – The eight goals and 19 points Tyler Ennis generated over a rollicking 12-game stretch late last season could just be a harbinger, he believes. The center’s March exploits might’ve signaled the first signs of his impending superstardom.
“I think I’m ready to explode,” Ennis said Sunday, a day after signing a two-year, $5.625 million contract hours before the NHL lockout started.
Of course, Ennis and the Sabres can’t even play right now.
Instead of prepping for training camp this week, Ennis …
BUFFALO – Last month, Steve Ott and Mike Weber heard a rumor Ott could be joining his close friend with the Sabres. The two laughed, and then resumed working out together at the gym.
The mere thought of Ott coming to Buffalo resonated, however. The gritty forward was cognizant the Dallas Stars might be looking to deal him.
“Could you imagine?” the friends asked each other.
On July 2, about two weeks later, Ott missed a call from Dallas general manager Joe Nieuwendyk …
Mikhail Grigorenko will compete for an NHL spot during training camp. ©2012, Dan Hickling, Olean Times HeraldBUFFALO – On Wednesday, the day the Sabres signed slick Russian center Mikhail Grigorenko to a three-year, entry-level contract, general manager Darcy Regier encountered a slew of prospects while visiting the players’ lounge inside the First Niagara Center.
Luke Adam, Marcus Foligno and Brayden McNabb, who all impressed during NHL stints last season, are in town working out. So is Grigorenko, the 12th overall pick last month, and 14th pick Zemgus Girgensons, who inked his entry-level deal last week.
“It’s a good …
Frederick Roy once gave up hockey for acting. ©2012, Dan Hickling, Olean Times HeraldBUFFALO – Three years ago, Sabres prospect Frederick Roy bolted from the game he loved, all the way to Hollywood. The teenager needed a mental break, wanted to find a new passion.
Thousands of miles from home and about a million more from hockey, Roy immersed himself in acting.
The son of Hall of Fame goalie Patrick Roy hired a manager, went on auditions and took classes. He even landed a small role as a background actor in a Disney commercial.
“It was …
Darcy Regier said Derek Roy elected to undergo shoulder surgery. ©2012, Dan Hickling, Olean Times HeraldBUFFALO – The Dallas Stars’ decision to have Derek Roy undergo shoulder surgery and miss four months doesn’t mean the Sabres traded damaged goods, general manager Darcy Regier cautioned.
If the Sabres hadn’t dealt Roy for winger Steve Ott and defenseman Adam Pardy last week, the center, who was originally hurt last preseason, wouldn’t have underwent the procedure.
“We’re very confident in the decision by our medical staff,” Regier said Thursday inside the First Niagara Center during the second intermission of a …