Menin Aeide Thea—A Buffalo Sabres Dynasty

[AdamJones113]

Rage—Goddess, Sing the Rage of Buffalo's Sabres,
μενιν αειδε Θεα...
That cost the team countless losses,
Hurtling down to the Atlantic Division's cellar,
So many sturdy lines,
Feasts for the Panthers and Bruins.
And the will of [owner] Terrence Pegula was moving towards its end.

Begin, Muse, when the hiring first occurred,
Of the newest Coach and GM, brilliant...

Sabres Hire Coach/GM Akilles Yurevich

—Buffalo, New York.
In an enterprising, if somewhat surprising move, the Buffalo Sabres have hired Akilles Yurevich to coach and more importantly be GM for the rebuilding Buffalo Sabres. Owner Terrence Pegula has expressed confidence in his latest personnel move, which came just hours after releasing Lindy Ruff and signing Ron Rolston, who will now serve in an assistant role.

The new commander of the Buffalo Sabres will have to be like his namesake, the great hero Achilles: he endured 10 years of war before conquering Troy. Mr. Yurevich will likewise have to endure a serious rebuilding era, as the Sabres have not made the playoffs since 2010-11 and have traded away Jason Pominville and Thomas Vanek.

[AdamJones113]

Re: Menin Aeide Thea—A Buffalo Sabres Dynasty

Settings:

Platform: Xbox 360
Game Title: NHL 14 (EA Sports)
Rosters: Default With Real-Life Changes (Some)
Period Length: 8 minutes (20 sim)
Game-playing: I'll try to play every game, but...
Sliders: All Star+ (i.e. my own sliders, based off of Weapon X's sliders)

[AdamJones113]

Re: Menin Aeide Thea—A Buffalo Sabres Dynasty

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Reserved: Stanley Cup Champions
2013: Ottawa Senators
2014: Buffalo Sabres
2015: Colorado Avalanche

[AdamJones113]

Re: Menin Aeide Thea—A Buffalo Sabres Dynasty

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Reserved: Buffalo Sabres Award Winners

2013/14: Bill Masterson Trophy—D Christian Ehrhoff (2G, 38A, 82 GP)
2013/14: Maurice Richard Trophy—LW Matt Moulson (39G, 25 A)

2014/15: Stanley Cup
2014/15: Conn Smythe Trophy—C Tyler Ennis (5G, 22A, 24GP)
2014/15: James Norris Trophy—D Jamie McBain (30G, 34A, 82 GP)
2014/15: Calder Memorial Trophy—RW Nikita Kucherov

[AdamJones113]

Re: Menin Aeide Thea—A Buffalo Sabres Dynasty

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Reserved: Buffalo Sabres (High, For Now) Draft Picks
2013: #10 overall—Defenseman Aaron Ekblad (Barrie Colts, OHL)

[AdamJones113]

Re: Menin Aeide Thea—A Buffalo Sabres Dynasty

Just a quick note before we open the season at home vs. the Penguins.

Next 5 Games:
1. Pittsburgh Penguins
2. Detroit Red Wings
3. New York Rangers
4. New York Islanders
5. New Jersey Devils

Preseason results: I played the first 5 minutes of each game to research line combos and sliders, and in the end I wound up making the sliders favor defense, with goalies improved and shooting sliders decreased.

Preseason Results 2.0:

Spoiler

Surprisingly, we went 4-0. Miller had 3 wins and Tyler Ennis picked up 3 PP goals. Let's see how we do in the regular season, though...

[AdamJones113]

Re: Menin Aeide Thea—A Buffalo Sabres Dynasty

In Wild Opener, Leino Stars as Sabres Beat Penguins 5-3

Buffalo, New York.

The Buffalo Sabres pulled out an unlikely comeback victory Saturday, going from down 3-0 in the first to a convincing 5-3 win over likely Stanley Cup contenders the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Penguins scored 3 in the first, with Evgeni Malkin assisting on goals by Paul Martin and James Neal, followed by a Beau Bennett rebound. Then Ville Leino took over.

Leino scored the first goal with :58 to play in the first. He then proceeded to score again from the exact same place four minutes into the second period. The Sabres then tied the score with a Drew Stafford goal on a two-on-one, assisted by... Ville Leino.

Halfway through the third period, Paul Martin got two minutes for interference. With :23 remaining in the PP, Tyler Myers got the draw on a faceoff and blasted one into the top left corner.
He did it again 5 minutes later on yet another PP (Malkin for Roughing), assisted by Matt Moulson and... Ville Leino.

3 Stars:
1. Ville Leino— 2 Goals, 2 Assists
2. Tyler Myers— 2 Goals (GWG, 2PP)
3. Drew Stafford— 1 Goal, 1 Assist

The Good:
Ville Leino??

The Bad:
We iced the puck 8 times, and we were terrible in front of the net.

The Goofy: Ryan Miller, first 16 minutes: 7S, 3G. Next 44: 18S. (Total of 25S, 3G).

Special Mention:
Luke Adam, third-line center, earned his minutes with good fore-checking, well-placed shots, and two-way play.

Spoiler

I won't write up a summary for every game, but this was just too good not to.

[AdamJones113]

Re: Menin Aeide Thea—A Buffalo Sabres Dynasty

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Red Wings Pull Out 2-1 Win Over Sabres
The Wings led 2-0 after 2 periods, with goals by Kyle Quincey on a Sabres' defensive zone draw and a beauty by Henrik Zetterberg on a great pass from Pavel Datsyuk. Matt Moulson cut the lead in half with a PP goal, but as the clock ticked down Jimmy Howard was superb. With :5 to play, Moulson had a rebound chance, but Howard made a spectacular diving pad save to rob him a preserve Detroit's win.

Miller Posts First Shutout of Season With 2-0 Win Over Rangers
Ryan Miller made 19 saves and Tyler Ennis converted a breakaway opportunity as the Sabres moved to 2-1 on the season. Cody Hodgson put in the security tally with 4 minutes to play, assisted by Tyler Myers and Drew Stafford. Miller made some clutch blocker saves, and the defense did enough right to make up for Buffalo's ugly 0/3 with the man advantage.

[seb170455]

Re: Menin Aeide Thea—A Buffalo Sabres Dynasty

Good luck with your Sabres. Not a bad start for Buffalo.

[AdamJones113]

Re: Menin Aeide Thea—A Buffalo Sabres Dynasty

Good luck with your Sabres. Not a bad start for Buffalo.

Yeah, could be doing a lot worse: we've been playing miserable fundamental hockey—64% pass completion rate.

[AdamJones113]

Re: Menin Aeide Thea—A Buffalo Sabres Dynasty

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Islanders Pull Out OT Win Despite Moulson Goal
Matt Moulson put in a goal to make it 3-2 with 15 minutes to play, but a powerplay goal by Michael Grabner with 4:23 left sent the game into OT. John Tavares made his first point a good one, as he scored the winner to give Buffalo its second loss of the year, first in OT.

Ennis Tallies Winner With :45 To Play
Tyler Ennis scored 7 seconds into the final man advantage of the game on a centering pass from Cody Hodgson to put Buffalo up by the eventual winning score. Matt Moulson scored his team-leading 3rd goal and Ryan Miller stopped 24 shots in a convincing win in the first game of a home and home with New Jersey,

Devils Off Their Schneid as Schneider Turns in a Masterpiece
Cory Schneider made all manner of spectacular saves and Travis Zajac netted a PP goal late in the third period to snap a 3-game losing streak for the Devils. Schneider made 35 saves, while Ryan Miller was also impressive with 27 stops. Ville Leino impressed in the loss, continuing his hot streak with smart playmaking and defensive work.

[AdamJones113]

Re: Menin Aeide Thea—A Buffalo Sabres Dynasty

Sabres Shoot Down Flyers in OT With 2-1 Win
Tyler Ennis scored the winning goal with 1 minute left in OT and Jhonas Enroth made 20 saves for Buffalo's 4th win of the season. Cody Hodgson scored the first goal, and Brayden Schenn evened the score on the powerplay. Michael Leighton made 24 saves in the loss.

Bruins Blunt Sabres in 2-1 Win
Zdeno Chara scored the game-winner and Tuukka Rask made 31 saves as the Bruins pulled out a key win on the road to improve to 5-2-1. Ryan Miller made 25 saves and Matt Moulson opened the scoring, but Milan Lucic evened the score on a PP and Chara put in the winner 10 minutes later.

Sabres Beat Coyotes in OT Thriller
Ryan Miller made 34 saves and Jamie McBain found Matt Moulson in the slot for the game winner in OT, on the powerplay. Mike Smith made 29 saves in the loss. Both teams had a plethora of chances, but neither was able to capitalize. Buffalo logged a season-high 6 penalties, but the PK was outstanding. Buffalo moves to 6th in the conference and stand at 5-3-1.

Spoiler

Scoring Leaders coming up in next post.

[AdamJones113]

Re: Menin Aeide Thea—A Buffalo Sabres Dynasty

Here's the team scoring stats, as promised:

Buffalo Sabres Stats - 1
Skaters	GP	G	A	PTS	+/-	GW	PIM	SOG	SPCT
L. Adam	9	0	1	1	-5	0	2	8	0.00
C. Erhoff	9	0	0	0	+4	0	12	6	0.00
M. Ellis	7	2	0	2	Even	0	0	11	18.18
T. Ennis	9	2	0	2	+3	2	2	23	8.70
M. Foglino	9	0	2	2	-3	0	2	8	0.00
C. Hodgson	9	2	2	4	+6	0	2	31	6.45
N. Johnson	6	0	1	1	+1	0	0	1	0.00
P. Kaleta	9	0	0	0	-1	0	2!	3	0.00
V. Leino	9	2	3	5	+1	0	0	26	7.60
J. McBain	9	0	2	2	-2	0	0	2	0.00
C. McCormick	9	0	1	1	-1	0	0	3	0.00
M. Moulson	9	6	1	7	+2	2	6	29	20.69
T. Myers	9	2	2	4	+4	1	8	5	40.00
S. Ott	9	0	1	1	-2	0	2	14	0.00
R. Regher	9	0	1	1	Even	0	0	4	0.00
A. Sekera	9	0	2	2	-4	0	0	5	0.00
D. Stafford	9	1	3	4	+2	0	0	24	4.17
H. Tallinder	9	0	2	2	Even	0	4	1	0.00
C. Tropp	3	0	0	0	Even	0	0	0	0.00
Goalies	GP	W	L	T	GAA	TOI	SV	SV%	SHO
R. Miller	8	4	3	1 (OTL)	13 GA	486	189	93.56	2
J. Enroth	1	1	0	0	1 GA	64	19	95.00	0

[AdamJones113]

Re: Menin Aeide Thea—A Buffalo Sabres Dynasty

Ott To Be Demoted; Stafford on Block?
By Richard Thornburg Jr.

Rumors have surfaced that Buffalo Sabres' GM/Coach Akilles Yurevich, divorced father of 2, is looking to change up the forward lines. His primary focus seems to be the demotion of Steve Ott. Ott's offense has been anemic: he has 1 assist in 11 games and has missed numerous chances. In short, it would not be at all surprising to this investigative journalist if Ott were placed on the third line.

In other Sabres news, Mr. Yurevich is reportedly shopping first-line RW Drew Stafford. Stafford has had plenty of chances like Ott, by Stafford has also not been a very good finisher. Stafford's seasonal line is not terrible: 1/3/4/+1, but the Sabres are in need of a serious offensive jolt to help star goalie Ryan Miller, who's terrific play has kept Buffalo stay in games.

The Phoenix Coyotes have traded Shane Doan and Steve Sullivan to the St. Louis Blues for young goalie Jake Allen (who, as this investigative journalist knows, has possibly been involved in a drug scandal), J. Schwartz, and some other no-name lowlife.

Networks, here I come.

Spoiler

In case you don't recognize this journalist, watch Die Hard.

[AdamJones113]

Re: Menin Aeide Thea—A Buffalo Sabres Dynasty

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Sabres Down Sharks in High-Scoring Affair

Drew Stafford scored the winning goal with :39 to play and Ville Leino netted an empty netter as the Sabres beat the Sharks 5-3 for their first road win of the season. Matt Moulson added to his team-leading goal total, and Joe Thorton had 2 goals for the Sharks.

Coyotes Equalize, Win in OT

Evgeni Grachev scored and Antoine Vermette netted the winner in OT for the Coyotes' 2nd win of the season. The new second-line trio of Marcus Foglino, Ville Leino, and Tyler Ennis was productive as Foglino scored the Sabres' only goal on a wraparound. Ryan Miller made 36 saves in the loss.

Sabres Capitalize in Shootout For Road Win in Anaheim

Both Jonas Hiller and Ryan Miller were superb, as Hiller made 32 saves to Miller's 30. Both teams had excellent chances, but Cody Hodgson left the game in the third. Ville Leino had the only goal in the shootout to propel Buffalo.