WNY and Buffalo NY Hockey Coverage
March Edition
Mikhail Grigorenko hasn’t played for interim coach Ted Nolan yet. ©2013, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Mikhail Grigorenko figured he’d be starting a two-week AHL conditioning assignment Wednesday. The 19-year-old Sabres prospect had already dropped his equipment off at the rink and checked into a Rochester hotel when a team front office member contacted him at 10 p.m. Tuesday.
The NHL had rejected the assignment.
Grigorenko drove back to Buffalo and practiced with the Sabres hours later.
What happened?
“You read the rules and see how they work,” interim ... Read the full article
Luke Adam has been dominating the AHL. ©2013, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Luke Adam figured he had fallen out of the Sabres’ plans. The 23-year-old winger, a strong Calder Trophy candidate two years ago at this time, barely received a look during the exhibition season.
The struggling, goal-starved team then refused to summon Adam from Rochester as he began piling up scores and recapturing his old form.
“I think they kind of had their mind made up,” Adam said Wednesday inside the First Niagara Center ... Read the full article
Mikhail Grigorenko practiced with the Sabres today. ©2013, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Mikhail Grigorenko figured he’d be starting a two-week AHL conditioning assignment today. The 19-year-old Sabres prospect had already dropped his equipment off at the rink and checked into a Rochester hotel when a team front office member contacted him at 10 p.m. Tuesday.
The NHL had rejected the assignment.
Grigorenko drove back to Buffalo and practiced with the Sabres today.
What happened?
“You read the rules and see how they work,” interim Sabres ... Read the full article
Brayden McNabb has enjoyed a strong season in Rochester. ©2013, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – The NHL has rejected Mikhail Grigorenko’s AHL conditioning assignment, so the 19-year-old center’s back practicing with the Sabres this morning inside the First Niagara Center.
The Sabres sent the Russian, a healthy scratch recently, to Rochester on Tuesday. Stay tuned for more details. The Sabres said they respect the decision.
Meanwhile, winger Luke Adam and defenseman Brayden McNabb have been recalled from the Americans and are on the ice.
Tyler Ennis isn’t practicing. ... Read the full article
Rasmus Ristolainen played 19 games with the Sabres. ©2013, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Development time used to be mandatory. Before Mikhail Grigorenko cracked the lineup last season, the Sabres hadn’t played an 18-year-old regularly since Pierre Turgeon in 1987-88. Most of their top prospects spent at least one full season in the minors.
But former general manager Darcy Regier, who was fired with coach Ron Rolston last week, dramatically switched philosophies earlier this year as the Sabres started rebuilding.
The struggling Sabres recently became the first ... Read the full article
Mikhail Grigorenko had two goals in 15 games. ©2013, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – In veteran defenseman Henrik Tallinder’s mind, the Sabres’ old regime handed out too many roster spots to undeserving youngsters. Interim coach Ted Nolan and his boss, Pat LaFontaine, know that. They’re working to correct those past mistakes.
“It’s not about getting the spot; it’s about earning the spot,” Tallinder said this morning inside the First Niagara Center after the Sabres reassigned four rookies, three of them teenagers. “It used to be like that ... Read the full article
Mikhail Grigorenko has dominated in junior. ©2013, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – In a not-so-surprising move, the Sabres sent 19-year-old center Mikhail Grigorenko back to the Quebec Remparts late Monday, according to RDS, a Canadian sports network.
Grigorenko has been scratched both games under interim coach Ted Nolan, who has strongly hinted he doesn’t think the Sabres should have four teenagers on the roster.
UPDATE: Grigorenko was just seen leaving the building this morning. Rookie defenseman Nikita Zadorov isn’t on the ice and has ... Read the full article
John Scott said he got “too fired up” Saturday. ©2013, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Sabres tough guy John Scott today called his “Princess Phaneuf” comment about Maple Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf on Saturday a “slip of the tongue.”
“Obviously, a little emotional at the time,” Scott said inside the First Niagara Center following practice. “I haven’t trademarked it. I kind of regretted it.”
Following the Sabres’ 4-2 loss in Toronto, Scott said Phaneuf “bailed” as he approached him. A mini-melee ensued, and Scott received 14 penalty ... Read the full article
Zemgus Girgensons has spent this season playing wing. ©2013, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – As the Latvian national team’s coach, Ted Nolan had one center on his roster for the 2013 world championship.
“We a hand a bunch of players, but no natural center ice men,” Nolan, the Sabres’ new interim coach, said this morning inside the First Niagara Center.
So when Sabres rookie Zemgus Girgensons finished his first professional season in Rochester last year, a campaign he spent playing wing, Nolan put the 19-year-old Latvian ... Read the full article
Robyn Regehr played 105 games with the Sabres. ©2013, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Robyn Regehr and the rest of the Kings had a team function at the Los Angeles Zoo last week, at a time when the city’s infamous traffic was awful.
The players all got there, albeit two and a half hours late.
“Very different living,” Regehr said Tuesday prior to the Kings’ 3-2 shootout loss inside the First Niagara Center, the defenseman’s first game here since the Sabres traded him for two second-round draft ... Read the full article