Take a look at the divisional leaders around the NHL and you’ll find a bunch of the teams you’d expect. New Jersey, San Jose and Washington won their respective divisions last season and we knew that Chicago had all the makings to be one of the best teams in the NHL. But in the Northeast, we have the non-descript Sabres dominating big 4 teams with deep pockets by a full 10 points in the standings. So what is the secret to the Buffalo Sabres’ success? As much as I want this to turn into a 1980’s movie with Michael J. Fox, I’m not sure I can muster up that much greed, selfishness and lack of height in one article. Seriously, what is it that they are doing that has them dominating their division and competing for the Eastern Conference crown?
The first thing to realize is that these aren’t the Buffalo Sabres of three seasons ago. In the 2006-07 season, the Sabres were one of the highest scoring teams of all time. Guys like Daniel Briere, Chris Drury and Brian Campbell lead an offense that was clicking on all cylinders for just about every game for 7 months en route to the Presidents’ Trophy. They reached the Eastern Conference Finals two seasons in a row and were one of the most exciting teams in the league. But tons of firepower, salary caps and a small market don’t exactly go together like hippies and veggie burritos. Whether they wanted to break it up or not, they had little choice. It was time to think about how to build the NEXT incarnation of the Buffalo Sabres.
Of course, there are a few important elements that remain from the successful teams. Head Coach Lindy Ruff is in his 12th season in Buffalo. He’s lead the team to the Stanley Cup Finals, the aforementioned President’s Trophy, four Eastern Conference Finals AND he won the Jack Adams Award following the 2005-06 season. Next month, he’ll be an assistant coach for Team Canada at the Olympics. If you were going to make a short list of best coaches in the NHL, Lindy Ruff should be one of the coaches on the list.
Interestingly enough, the complete change in team philosophy is built around another player that was part of those 50+ win teams last decade: Ryan Miller. The talented goaltender is leading the league with a .935 save percentage. He’s 3rd in the league with 2.04 Goals Against Average. He plays huge in the butterfly, has extremely good rebound control and has a team in front of him that is quick to collapse around the crease. At the halfway point of the season, he’s a strong candidate for both the Vezina and Hart Trophies. Unless a giant meteor hits upstate New York, he’ll be the starting goaltender for Team USA. Quick question: How many times will we hear Miller’s name mentioned with Jim Craig’s?
Aside from Miller, the Sabres have other players that are still around from those powerful teams. Guys like Jason Pominville, Thomas Vanek, Tim Connolly and Derek Roy are still wearing the banana slug Buffalo Sabres logo on their jersey—although they’re doing so with different expectations and responsibilities. While they used to make up the very powerful secondary scoring of the HSBC Center, now they are depended on to stay healthy and fill the nets every night. So far, they’re doing a good enough job of both to lead a successful team.
“Before the season I felt if Buffalo could stay healthy this year they’d be able to do a lot of damage and so far that’s the case. Of course they still have Tim Connolly and Derek Roy who will break eventually.” –Pension Plan Puppets
As those players are now the scoring leaders, something had to change. Even though they have all matured in their all-around game and become (arguably) better professionals, they were 2nd, 3rd and 4th liners for a reason. Without the salary cap space to replace the type of firepower they lost, the Sabres needed to rethink the way they approached the game. There needed to be a fundamental shift in philosophy.
“The Buffalo Sabres are the second best team in the Eastern Conference, three points back of Pittsburgh for first in the East, yet have no player with more than 32 points this season.” –StayClassy.net
Nowadays, you won’t find any Sabres at the top of the scoring list. When you look at their scoring as a team, they are right in the middle of the pack (15th). The weakest part of their team has, in fact, been their ability to score with the man advantage.
“Without question, the biggest overall weakness for the Buffalo Sabres has been their power play. The Sabres PP unit is currently humming along at 18% as of this writing, which is good for 16th in the NHL. Every other phase of the game has been excellent…” –Andy Boron from Die By The Blade
So what has been the secret to the Sabres success this year? The answer can be found in the last bit of Boron’s comment concerning the power play woes. “Every other phase of (their) game has been excellent.” Once they get a lead, they’re one of the best teams in the league in shutting down the opposition. 18-0-0 record when leading after two periods.
Even though their PP has been average at best, they don’t lose the special teams battle because their penalty kill is so good. With guys like Jochen Hecht, Mike Grier, Tyler Myers and Henrik Tallinder leading Buffalo’s PK, they are 5th in the league at 86.0% and 2nd best on home ice. They are 3rd in the league giving up only 2.25 goals per game. You aren’t sure that defense is the key to success? The only two teams holding their opponents to fewer goals per game are the Chicago Blackhawks and the New Jersey Devils (the top 2 teams in the entire NHL).
Another one of their keys to success is the way the team is built. They might not have any high-end guys that make SportsCenter every night, but they do have solid two-way players littered all over their roster. Mike Grier might not be the best player in the league, but he’s a great fit for a team that plays a defense-first system. Drew Stafford will put up points while being defensively responsible and having good size.
At last look, these were the types of lines that they were putting out on the ice for 15-20 minutes per game:
Connolly-Pominville-Hecht
Stafford-Gaustad-Roy
Vanek-Grier-Tim Kennedy.
Instead of being built around high flying guys that are going to put up 100 points, they have guys up front that are defensively sound and have the ability to score 50-60 points. Spreading the scoring responsibility has been their answer to losing the perennial all-stars they had only a few years ago.
But the most important key to success is the type of hockey they play on the ice. These days, a player like Paul Gaustad represents the type of team that the Sabres want to have. Gaustad, while flying under the radar from 99% of the sports watching public, is one of the best defensive forwards in the game. He’s among the lead leaders in faceoff percentage, has the ability to play against the oppositions’ top lines and has the type of grit that embodies a defensive oriented team.
“If GM Brian Burke is serious about building a team rather than a collection of names, then Gaustad is a quintessential role player to that end: The best faceoff man in the NHL this season and a player of impressive versatility.” –Greg Wyshynski (Puck Daddy)
On the back end, they’ve assembled a group of defensemen that can play a responsible game to protect their goaltender. Tyler Myers was supposed to be a stay-at-home guy (and very well may be throughout his career), but he’s currently 4th in all rookie scoring AS A DEFENSEMAN. The 6’8” rookie is currently one of the leading candidates to win the Calder Trophy with his stellar defense, large workload and surprising scoring.
Sabres fans: Please pray they don't concuss themselves celebrating a victory...
They have defensemen like Toni Lydman and Steve Montador that make up a solid pairing. Craig Rivet is out there trying to shut down the opponents’ superstars (recently Phil Kessel for Toronto and Paul Stastny for Colorado). But to really understand what Rivet brings to the team, look no further than his leadership qualities. He’s wearing the “C” in only his 2nd year with Buffalo.
When it comes down to it, the greatest asset the Buffalo Sabres have is that they know who they are. Look at their leadership on their team. Craig Rivet is the Captain with Derek Roy and Jochen Hecht wearing the “A”s. They are a defense first team, with guys that can kill penalties and play a quick transition game to keep their opponents on their heels. They don’t pretend to be something that they’re not—and that’s much rarer than you’d think.
Looking around the league, it appears that they have a similar formula for success as the Phoenix Coyotes. They have three lines that can play very strong two-way hockey, a defensive system that is dependent on all 5 skaters on the ice (not just defensemen) and a goaltender that is playing well enough to be considered for the Hart Trophy. If you just ignored the cities involved and thought about that kind of team, you would EXPECT them to win more than they’d lose. Buffalo and Phoenix are proving that to be true.
The Sabres will look to continue their success as they start their season long 7-game road trip. It’s a trip which includes a West Coast swing for games in Phoenix, Anaheim, Los Angeles, San Jose and Vancouver. Their leadership knows that they’ll need to stay true to their fundamental principles if they want to continue their winning ways during their trip through the Pacific Division. Captain Craig Rivet pulled his team together before they left Buffalo to lead the team the way a team should be led:
“We just want to keep things going… We want to make sure that our heads are in the right place, that everybody’s on the same page and we’re all moving in the same direction. That’ll get us the best chance of picking up some wins on this road trip, so just want to make sure everyone’s on the same page.” –Craig Rivet (The Buffalo News via Sabres Edge blog)
It sounds like they have it all figured out. As long as they continue to play the way their team is designed to play and they keep getting outstanding goaltending from their netminder, they aren’t going anywhere. Sure, the Penguins, Capitals and Devils will be there like we expected—but don’t sleep on the Sabres. They might just be the best TEAM of the bunch.
Matt Reitz is the Editor-In-Chief here at ViewFromMySeats.com and former NHL Writer for ProHockeyTalk on NBCSports. When he’s not shoving a mic in the face of NHLers or explaining why home teams should wear white, he’s usually trying to figure out what song to play next on his iPod. It’s a never-ending job.
