I have been picking the MVP of the season from as early a point as I reasonably can in the season. This is in part to try to determine at which point in the season the eventual MVP emerges. My first pick this season was Thomas Vanek of the Buffalo Sabres. Last week he was surpassed by Patrick Marleau of the San Jose Sharks. I think Vanek has taken over the lead again.
Vanek leads the NHL with 19 points. This is a three point lead over anyone else. His +6 +/- rating leads his team. That is despite having missed one game with a muscle strain.
Vanek is a player who has had all-star calibre seasons in the past. However he does not do that consistently. Last season he posted 61 points, which while good will not put a player in the All Star Game. This is not his first fast start to a season but it is his best start so far. In a short season, a fast start might be a big part of an MVP season. It will be interesting to see if Vanek remains in the race all season or if he i...
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Weingold’s NHL Wrap Up Of The Week
Three Stars of the Week
1. Thomas Vanek (Buffalo Sabres)
via totalprosports.com
Thomas Vanek has been a beast during the last seven days, to be put simply. Vanek has scored five goals in four games last week and has added four assists. With nine points in four games, he is averaging more than two a game over the past week. Also factor in Vanek’s +6 rating, and Vanek has...
Buffalo Sabres: What To Do Anymore?
It seems as if the mid-winter slumber of the Buffalo Sabres is going to last a bit longer than expected this year. The team, after opening 2-0, has lost seven of its last eight games and have, at times, looked like an AHL team going against an NHL club.
It’s clearly not the way management, players, and fans saw the 2013 lockout-shortened season playing out at the start. With...
QCS Buffalo Water Cooler: Sabres Slump Continues
This week’s Water Cooler features QCS writers Bradley Gelber, Jason Davis, and Brandon Hess.
Let’s get into it right away. The Sabres are off to an awful start this year. Just how bad are the Sabres?
The Sabres have struggled out of the gate to start 2013. (AP Photo/Gary Wiepert)
Bradley Gelber: Bad. There will be plenty of people making excuses for the team so I’d rather just...
It May Be Time to Panic, For Everyone Except Vanek
The Buffalo Sabres let another game slip through their grasp yesterday, a 4-3 defeat at the hands of the previously winless on the road Florida Panthers. There is plenty of blame to go around for the atrocious start to the season, but one person who should be absolved of all responsibility is Thomas Vanek. In the loss to Florida Vanek tacked on 3 more points, adding to his league...
Kevin Freiheit: Pardy recalled from Rochester
Adam Pardy has been called up from Rochester and will make his Sabres debut tomorrow night against Ottawa.
BUFFALO, N.Y. (February 4, 2013) --- Buffalo Sabres General Manager Darcy Regier today announced that defenseman Adam Pardy has been recalled from the Rochester Americans of the American Hockey League.
Pardy (3/29/84, 6'4", 226 lbs) will join the Sabres for the...
A Start For The Ages
We know that Thomas Vanek leaves this weekend with an NHL leading 19 points, that news has been well covered. He has carried this team on his back, in a year where the rest of the team, sans Pominville, is struggling to find their offense. This isn’t unusual for Vanek. He is notoriously a fast starter. In fact, over his career, he has more than a point per game average...
GARTH: Ehr On The Side Of Caution
Lindy Ruff would rather err on the side of caution with the health of D Christian Ehrhoff.
Ruff told Howard Simon on his weekly radio show that the Sabres recalled Adam Pardy from Rochester as a precaution.
Ehrhoff suffered a muscle related issue in Sundayâs game vs. Florida. Ehrhoff will take the skate in Ottawa and will be evaluated after that.
Better to be safe than...
More chances, more goals and more losses
There isn’t all that much to sum up with the Buffalo Sabres at this point. Another game, another night allowing four goals and yet another loss. This is the same broken record that’s been playing for this entire 1-6-1 stretch.
Due to injuries, Adam Pardy made his Sabres debut and Lindy Ruff also chose to get Jhonas Enroth some action although the result on the scoreboard...
GARTH: Clear The Ehr
Christian Ehrhoff took that game day skate this morning and will play tonight after sitting out the Ottawa game with a muscle related ailment. Mike Weber also took the skate today, after having sat out Wednesdayâs impromptu practice due a maintenance day. Weber has acquitted himself well with the performances that he has delivered since he stepped into the lineup last weekend...
GARTH: No More Mulligans
âWe got all the way to 3-1, and played stupidâ.
Thomas Vanek nailed it. Again. It seems like these days that Vanek is the only Sabres who exhibits any form of consistency on a game to game basis. With Vanek, weâve grown accustomed to knowing what weâre going to get from him. The same canât be said about many of the other guys on the Buffalo roster.
...
GARTH: Hotel Pardy
Adam Pardy knows the ropes. You pass the same people on the way down as you meet on the way up.
When Sabres training camp broke, the team waived Pardy to AHL Rochester. He cleared waivers and immediately dug into his tool box in search of the solution to get himself noticed by Darcy Regier. He pulled on his boots and started moving masses of humanity with his broad shoulders. By doing so, he...
Travis Yost: GAMEDAY: Ottawa Hosts Struggling Buffalo
Make sure to follow Travis on Twitter!
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Injuries may have left the ranks of both the Buffalo Sabres (3-5-1) and Ottawa Senators (5-3-1) depleted, but head coaches Lindy Ruff and Paul MacLean remain confident in their respective clubs.
Such confidence may be justified with a victory on Tuesday, when Buffalo and Ottawa do battle at Scotiabank Place.
Buffalo arrives to the...
Stars Of The Week
NEW YORK (February 4, 2013) -- Buffalo Sabres left wing Thomas Vanek, Pittsburgh Penguins left wing Chris Kunitz and Vancouver Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo have been named the NHL’s ‘Three Stars’ for the week ending Feb. 3. Continue reading "Stars Of The Week"
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February 07, 2013







