Henrik Tallinder is coming back to Buffalo!
@ShanV11 all of the defenseman.
— Trending Buffalo (@TrendingBuffalo) July 7, 2013
Here are 7 (unconfirmed) offseason targets of the Sabres heading into the 2013-14 season.
Dmitri Kalinin – Age 32
Dmitri Vladimirovich Kalinin is currently playing for the SKA Saint Petersburg of the KHL.
UPSIDE: Unclear.
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Alexei Zhitnik – Age 40
Oleksiy Mykolaiovych “Alexei” Zhitnik has played more games in the National Hockey League (NHL) (1,085) than any other Soviet-born defenseman.
UPSIDE: Blistering slapshots from the point to the corner.
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Doug Bodger – Age 47
Bodger is a Canadian defenseman in the NHL. Selected by the Pittsburgh Penguins ninth overall in the 1984 NHL Draft he would play in over 1,000 games in the NHL with the Penguins, Buffalo Sabres, San Jose Sharks, New Jersey Devils, Los Angeles Kings, and the Vancouver Canucks.
UPSIDE: Always seemed like a good dude, right?
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Phil Housley – Age 49
Phillip Francis Housley is an American defenseman who played for the Buffalo Sabres, Winnipeg Jets, St. Louis Blues, Calgary Flames, New Jersey Devils, Washington Capitals, Chicago Blackhawks, and Toronto Maple Leafs. Housley is currently the assistant coach for the Nashville Predators.
UPSIDE: Has played more NHL games without winning the Stanley Cup than any player in NHL history… so he’s due.
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Hannu Virta – Age 50
Hannu Virta is a Finnish defenseman. He was named the best defenceman in the Finnish Elite League (SM-liiga) four times(!!), and was a five-time all-star. He also won the Jarmo Wasama memorial trophy as rookie of the year in 1981-82.
UPSIDE: Probably tight with Teppo Numminen because all Finns know each other.
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Bill Hajt- Age 61
William Albert Hajt is a defenseman who played in the NHL from 1973 until 1987. He is the father of Guelph Storm assistant coach Chris Hajt who played six games in the National Hockey League for the Edmonton Oilers and the Washington Capitals.
UPSIDE: Experience!
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Tim Horton – deceased
Miles Gilbert “Tim” Horton played 24 seasons in the NHL for the Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Buffalo Sabres. He died in an automobile crash while being chased by police in St. Catharines, Ontario, in 1974 at the age of 44. This season, he would be 83 years old.
UPSIDE: Everywhere he goes, Tim Horton injects energy into the people around him.
All info was acquired from Wikipedia, making it true.
Funny? Not really. Strike one.
Tasteless? Sure. Please refrain from using Tim Horton as your punchline. Strike two.
Ignorant? Absolutely. Strike three.
Let me splain. Think back to 2010. Think back to when Myers won the Calder Trophy. Recall with whom he was paired with that year.
Fast forward through the succeeding three seasons. Recall how Myers went from sophomore slump to “wtf?” to possible bust. Now try and see if you can figure out a correlation.
Yes, correlation is not necessarily causation, but if bringing in an old teammate can possibly rejuvenate a once promising career that is clearly about to implode, what would you do?
This one’s a no brainer…for anyone that wants to use their brain.
@gebobs Your comment at least somewhat redeemed this ‘article’.
@gebobs Myers isn’t getting paid enough with that ridiculous salary to perform on his own? Like a big boy?
@TonyStarx If only it was that simple, Leino would be a first-team all star. I just don’t understand the criticism for this move. We lost 4 defensemen from last year and with Hank, we’re back to a full complement of veterans with a few rooks on the farm. We have a guy in whom the Sabres have invested, as you say, big money who has seemed to lost his focus. Why wouldn’t you try everything in your power to right that ship? Criticize Regier all you want for not going out and signing some scoring punch. In my opinion, the free agent market is thin and overpriced. Chances are good if he jumped on someone, we’d be saddled with another Leinoesque contract. Prime example…Columbus signs Nathan Horton for $37M/7 years. He didn’t do much in the regular season and played lights out in the playoffs. Sound familiar? The big difference between him and Leino is that at least Leino doesn’t have a bunch of concussions which will probably affect his career.Sure they are well under the cap, but they don’t need to spend for the sake of spending. Clarke MacArthur got $6.5M/2 years for the love of Pete.
@TonyStarx If only it was that simple, Leino would be a first-team all star.
I just don’t understand the criticism for this move. We lost 4 defensemen from last year and with Hank, we’re back to a full complement of veterans with a few rooks on the farm. We have a guy in whom the Sabres have invested, as you say, big money who has seemed to lost his focus. Why wouldn’t you try everything in your power to right that ship?
Criticize Regier all you want for not going out and signing some scoring punch. In my opinion, the free agent market is thin and overpriced. Chances are good if he jumped on someone, we’d be saddled with another Leinoesque contract.
Prime example…Columbus signs Nathan Horton for $37M/7 years. He didn’t do much in the regular season and played lights out in the playoffs. Sound familiar? The big difference between him and Leino is that at least Leino doesn’t have a bunch of concussions which will probably affect his career.
Sure they are well under the cap, but they don’t need to spend for the sake of spending. Clarke MacArthur got $6.5M/2 years for the love of Pete.
@gebobs Myers isn’t getting paid enough with that ridiculous salary to perform on his own? Like a big boy?
@gebobs Tallinder has been a trash can since he left Buffalo. He’s not gunna revive his career here.
Let me splain, your a fan boy who doesn’t follow hockey. You like safe, familiar names. I bet you wanted us to sign Briere again too. Tallinder is gunna be a hard hit on our salary cap and stunt the growth of our promising young defensmen by wasting a valuable roster spot. If you think Myers is gunna get better because Tallinder is back your an idiot. Way too many people in Buffalo think that Tallinder was the only reason Myers was good. if thats the case get rid of Myers. If Myers gets better, which i believe he will, it will be through hard work in off ice and offseason activities. he just needs to mature mentally and physically. He’s got good coaches around him to guide him through that. Tallinder can help there, but any veteran d man can, Tallinders not special. this is nothing more than Darcy trying to build a mediocre team for some reason. There were so many better vet dmen free agents and he sat there and did nothing and watched our division all get stronger around us. not even just dmen, he didnt make an attempt at any FA. Dont get your hopes up this is gunna be a rough, rough year.
this article btw wasn’t tasteless or ignorant and pretty funny.
@Cody716 I not only follow the sport and have since they were the Bisons, but I’ve played it for decades, and have coached at various levels. Was even once offered a position to coach at the D-1 level (though I had to turn it down due to relocating to Atlanta). So no. You’re off base. Way off base.How is Hank a hard hit on our cap? We still have $12 million space after taking on his contract. And if he doesn’t work out, bury him in the AHL like they did Kotalik.
Do I think Myers will get better because of Kotalik? How the heck should I know? I’m just telling you what the most logical explanation is for the move IMHO.
So who in our division has gotten stronger in free agency this year? Boston? They lost Horton and Ference and they swap out Jagr for Iginla. Montreal? They lost Ryder. Have they signed anyone? Toronto? Lost Komisarek and Mark McClarkthur 😉 and paid through the nose David Clarkson, $37M/7 years. That’s a wash at best talent-wise and for double the money.
If you don’t think using the great Tim Horton as your punchline is tasteless, I gotta question your fandom.
@Cody716 I not only follow the sport and have since they were the Bisons, but I’ve played it for decades, and have coached at various levels. Was even once offered a position to coach at the D-1 level (though I had to turn it down due to relocating to Atlanta). So no. You’re off base. Way off base.
How is Hank a hard hit on our cap? We still have $12 million space after taking on his contract. And if he doesn’t work out, bury him in the AHL like they did Kotalik.
Do I think Myers will get better because of Hank? How the heck should I know? I’m just telling you what the most logical explanation is for the move IMHO.
So who in our division has gotten stronger in free agency this year?
Boston? They lost Horton and Ference and they swap out Jagr for Iginla.
Montreal? They lost Ryder. Have they signed anyone?
Toronto? Lost Komisarek and Mark McClarkthur 😉 and paid through the nose David Clarkson, $37M/7 years. That’s a wash at best talent-wise and for double the money.
If you don’t think using the great Tim Horton as your punchline is tasteless, I gotta question your fandom.
@gebobs hanks a hard hit because we should have any of that salery on our cap. regier should have used that towards a real player. Boston is still a strong team and much better than Buffalo, Montreal gained by losing Ryder, and yes mr. hockey they signed Briere and traded for Parros. They also hired a Superb goalie coach to focus Price and great youth who proved their potential last year. Toronto is in a better position than Buffalo, Komisarek is another gain through loss and McArthur really… I also think you forgot Detroit will be in our division along with Tampa (both who are better teams) and Florida who can potentially finish ahead of us as well. If you think thats tasteless your hypersensitive. I tell much more offensive jokes daily. I wouldnt say Hank is an Upgrade over either. I didn’t like Sekera and Regher wasn’t bad, this is also a Tallinder who has been hurt and played like garbage when available. just cause we dont expect to win the cup next year doesnt mean we should waste money on trash players we could have signed any one of the vet dmen available for a long term deal up to 5 years so we’d have 5 yrs or more with a really good veteran dman as apposed to a half season with this trash can
@Cody716 The only thing that’s tasteless is using the memory of a revered player from Buffalo’s history to get a cheap laugh. If making jokes about a guy that helped get the franchise on its feet and who died tragically driving home from a game in Toronto is hypersensitive, then guilty. No need to bring it up again.
Let’s be clear. I said Hank was an upgrade *defensively* over Regehr and Sekera. That is undoubtedly the case. Regehr was awful last year. He played with no heart. He had the fourth worst Corsi in the league among defensemen.
And Sekera had his worst year as a pro. From: http://www.diebytheblade.com/2013/6/18/4439836/2013-buffalo-sabres-report-cards-andrej-sekera
“Sekera had the third worst Relative Corsi mark on the team, meaning the opposition outshot the Sabres while he was on the ice more than almost anyone on the team. He doesn’t hit much, with only 30 in 27 games, and had almost twice as many giveaways as takeaways. He contributes a bit on both the power play and penalty kill, though not much compared to other blueliners.”
No doubt Montreal and Boston are ahead of the Sabres. Nothing short of a complete retool is going to change that. And that takes time. Unfortunately, the Sabres have just finally realized that it needs to be done, several seasons too late. This isn’t going to happen overnight.
I liked Gerbe. I never thought he would amount to much, but he had heart. Unfortunately, heart only gets you so far. The Sabres are moving away from little finesse guys and getting bigger. On defense, the Sabres were lousy last year. Regehr was dead weight. Sekera, bad season, but has potential. I don’t think adding Hank and McBain are going to make them much better, but they can’t get much worse. Hopefully Weber and Myers especially will find their way.
Right now, the best defensemen on the team might be the two krauts. Not a good sign.
No one is more frustrated about the Sabres (and the Bills) than me. Long suffering fan, no doubt. I sure as heck wish Regier would go out and use some of that cap to upgrade the forwards. I wish to heck he would have used his power under the new CBA to dump Leino and his salary. Stafford too. Upgrade those two, and we might be a force to reckon with in the division. And the Sabres have plenty of cap left to do it.
@Cody716 @gebobs Cody, no player the Sabres could have gotten for Talinder’s salary would change any of the realities you listed. The best we can hope for is that somehow he makes/helps Myers play like he did as a rookie. If that happens, and it’s definitely a possibility, they will have replaced an overpriced slug (Tyler Myers 2012) with an All Star level Defenseman (Tyler Myers 2009). It’s worth the gamble. Plenty of upside, not much downside.
@Wagoncircler He wont have any effect on him. What fantasy world do you people live in? Why sign anyone If we cant do anything? Why not let Pysyk or Ruhdwedel take that spot and get there game up to NHL level? 아이고!!!
@Cody716 I’m pretty sure he won’t have any effect on him, but it’s a low risk gamble that people are making way too big a deal of.
It’s become obvious that Myers is a high maintenance diva, but it looks like we’re stuck with him, and as such, anything that might get him playing well for even a little while, even if it’s just to get his trade value out of free fall, is well worth the minimal risk.
Myers, by all accounts, is lazy kid who would rather play video games than work out. The smart play ids to try to get him motivated for a short term burst and then find a sucker overpay for him. He’s not the kind of guy who will ever be consistent. It’s just not in his makeup. So we need to try to pretty him up like a used car and deal him.
@Cody716 @Wagoncircler Why are you asking us? We don’t run the team. As WC said, it’s low risk. Hopefully, Myers will see this as a message to get the lead out. He needs to come to camp this year ready. If he doesn’t show some dramatic improvement, it might be time to cut bait.
@Cody716 I agree Tallinder isn’t the answer to the Sabres problems. He’s long in the tooth. But he’s still a good stay-at-home defenseman. And if there’s anything the Sabres need, that’s it. The defense was putrid last year. As old as he is, defensively Hank is still an upgrade over Sekera and definitely Regehr. This team isn’t going to go to the finals next year. Nothing was going to make that happen.
Spot on gebobs, miss you on the Range
@RockstarBuffalo Hey man! I still go there occasionally. I suppose you should check out BillsZone if you haven’t already. Just don’t tell uppy or JLB. 😉
Give me Schoenfeld or give me death!
Give me Schoenfeld or give me death!