Nolan - Buffalo Hockey Beat

Reeling Sabres blown out by Penguins, can’t help goalie Ryan Miller

BUFFALO – Wednesday wasn’t an Olympic audition for goalie Ryan Miller, Pittsburgh coach Dan Bylsma said hours before his potent Penguins throttled the hapless Sabres 5-1. He’s judging Miller on his body of work, not one game.

Bylsma, Team USA’s coach for the upcoming Sochi Games, knows what most NHL observers know: Miller’s played splendidly most of the season under the most trying of circumstances.

The Sabres’ third straight loss illustrated that. Once ... Read the full article

Instinctive game allows Sabres’ Tyler Ennis to showcase more offense and grit

BUFFALO – Tyler Ennis said he recently stopped thinking on the ice. That isn’t a bad thing, though. The slick Sabres center has just been playing more instinctively under interim coach Ted Nolan, allowing his natural talents to take over these past few months.

It’s showing on the score sheet. With an assist on Drew Stafford’s first-period goal in Wednesday’s 5-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins, Ennis has four goals and 12 points in the ... Read the full article

Sabres’ Tyler Myers likely out against Penguins

BUFFALO – Sabres defenseman Tyler Myers will likely miss tonight’s tilt against the Pittsburgh Penguins after leaving Monday’s game early.

Myers (lower body) didn’t participate in the Sabres’ optional skate this morning. The 24-year-old could play Thursday in Ottawa, interim coach Ted Nolan said.

“It doesn’t look very good for tonight,” Nolan said inside the First Niagara Center. “Hopefully, he’ll be ready for tomorrow.”

Defenseman Chad Ruhwedel, a healthy scratch last game, will return. Center ... Read the full article

Goalie Ryan Miller knows his days with Sabres could be numbered

BUFFALO – Forget about the Olympics for a moment. Forget that Sabres goalie Ryan Miller will be playing in front of Pittsburgh Penguins coach Dan Bylsma tonight, a final chance to impress his bench boss at the upcoming Sochi Games.

Tonight could be Miller’s last appearance with the Sabres inside the First Niagara Center.

Rosters freeze 3 p.m. Friday for the NHL’s two-week Olympic break. The trade deadline hits one month from today.

Miller, an ... Read the full article

Sabres’ Ted Nolan relieved Tyler Myers won’t be sidelined long

BUFFALO – Interim Sabres coach Ted Nolan said defenseman Tyler Myers is day-to-day and “a lot better than we thought” after a lower-body injury forced him out of Monday’s 3-2 loss to Edmonton.

Myers could play tonight against the Pittsburgh Penguins inside the First Niagara Center.

Naturally, Nolan, who said Myers “was moving around real good” Tuesday, is relieved

“Some guys get banged up,” he said. “But he looked like he was hurt (Monday) night.”... Read the full article

Sabres’ Ryan Miller hasn’t talked to management much about future

BUFFALO – Days before he heads to the Sochi Games and just one month from the NHL trade deadline, goalie Ryan Miller said today he hasn’t discussed his future much with the Sabres’ new regime.

“Still don’t know what to say,” Miller, an unrestricted free agent following the season, said inside the First Niagara Center. “There’s been a change here. There was a change here before. So it’s like waiting to see what the plan ... Read the full article

Sabres lose game to Oilers, defenseman Tyler Myers to injury

BUFFALO – Fittingly, a tilt between the NHL’s two worst teams started ominously for the bottom-feeding Sabres. Just 32 seconds in, Jeff Petry zoomed past Jamie McBain and beat goalie Jhonas Enroth easily on the Edmonton Oilers’ first shot.

But the Sabres settled down against the hapless Oilers and their porous defense, taking a 2-1 lead before the first period ended.

At times, the “Battle for the Basement” or the “Game of the Weak” – ... Read the full article

Sabres goalie Ryan Miller wanted Team USA Olympic mask to resemble old one

BUFFALO – If Ryan Miller’s new Team USA Olympic mask for the upcoming Sochi Games looks familiar, it’s because the Sabres goalie kept the same theme he used in 2010.

“I thought it was a cool mask last time,” Miller told the Times Herald on Sunday. “I just want to update the colors. I want to do something more traditional red, white and blue. Last time it was like a little off blue-gray kind of ... Read the full article

Sabres’ Ville Leino and Chad Ruhwedel to sit against Oilers

BUFFALO – In Ville Leino’s defense, Ted Nolan said, the Sabres winger “has played in spurts, hit a couple goalposts.”

“He’s just missing here and just missing there,” the interim coach said this morning inside the First Niagara Center. “When those things just keep missing, you look at the overall picture that he’s not playing well at all. But, truth is, he has played in spurts. It just didn’t click in.”

Leino has zero goals ... Read the full article

Sabres’ Linus Omark looking to break out against Oilers

BUFFALO – So far, 11 games into his Sabres career, Linus Omark has been a colossal disappointment, compiling zero goals, two assists and seven healthy scratches for the NHL’s worst team.

But the slick winger will return tonight against the Edmonton Oilers, his old team, after sitting the last three games. The Swede might even skate on the top line.

Clearly, interim Sabres coach Ted Nolan hopes a visit from the Oilers ignites Omark, who ... Read the full article