SB Nation - Matt Ellis

Game Preview: Pittsburgh Penguins @ Buffalo Sabres

Rafal Ladysz — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 17:31:27 -0000

1 day ago: Buffalo Sabres defenseman Andrej Sekera, of Slovakia, left, congratulates Sabres left winger Thomas Vanek, of Austria, center, after his goal as Toronto Maple Leafs left winger Jason Blake skates past during the third period of the NHL hockey game in Buffalo, N.Y., Friday, Dec. 18, 2009. Buffalo won 5-2. (AP Photo/Don Heupel)

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Winning isn't achieved by the deserving side sometimes and the Buffalo Sabres found momentum at the hands of both goaltenders Friday. Ryan Miller made the ~~big~~ routine saves and Vesa Toskala fumbled a Toni Lydman shot that would have went wide of the net leading to a second period onslaught. Toronto was intense, quick and the better squad but succumbed to Buffalo much like they in turn do to the Ottawa Senators. With the Senators and Bruins both losing, the Sabres have extra breathing space in the Northeast Division.

Food poisoning or not, the Sabres need to have a sophisticated plan for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Marc-Andre Fleury isn't going to gift wrap a goal and he can steal a result too. And where Niklas Hagman and Jamal Mayers missed prime scoring chances, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin won't. These two teams split the season series in 2009 with both winning once on the road.

Ten thoughts on the game below.

First and foremost, Paul Gaustad made his much appreciated return to the line-up yesterday racking up 19:36 in ice time, a plus-one rating and went 12-for-15 in the face-off circle. It was really evident how much he was missed in the last department during his absence. Gaustad's presence is assuring because you always know what you'll get from him and that's a lot if I may say so.
Crosby is having some year with 22 goals and 20 assists in 34 games. On pace for 52 goals, he's added another dimension to his game by firing the puck 128 times on target or 13 less than Alexander Ovechkin albeit he competed in seven more matches. Regardless, Crosby is staggeringly threatening with this new approach.
Miller was brilliant in fending off Toronto so Patrick Lalime will start for Buffalo. In his last game, he stopped 39 Chicago Blackhawk shots for his first victory of the season and has to be looking forward to a second large task in the span of eight days.
Sergei Gonchar has 19 points in 23 games but the Penguins have another exciting offensive defenseman. Alex Goligoski has an impressive 17 points in 25 games along with a plus-12 rating bringing excellent offensive instincts and knowledge. When Gonchar retires, look for this kid to quarterback the Pittsburgh powerplay for years. Sorry Kris Letang.
Buffalo's closest forward to consistent production has been Derek Roy who has ten points in the last 11 games. He had a goal against the Maple Leafs as did Thomas Vanek and the Sabres could use their top levels if they're to one-up the Penguins.
Pittsburgh welcomed Chris Kunitz back last weekend after a one-month layoff and he has two points in three games since. Playing with Crosby and Bill Guerin, the winger is a gritty individual who can hit hard and provide some offense.
Suffering a concussion from a dirty Jarkko Ruutu check, Patrick Kaleta is out again. Nathan Gerbe remains questionable with groin issues. Pittsburgh has a clean bill of health throughout the roster.
Jordan Staal has 14 points in 16 games, Malkin has 17 in 14 and Guerin has 12 in 16. Pittsburgh thrives on the powerplay usually and the Sabres must keep their feet moving to avoid any lazy infractions.
The line of Gaustad, Adam Mair and Matt Ellis was flying yesterday with their fore-checking, cycling and work along the boards. Ellis scored his second marker of the year and for a guy that works as hard as he does, it was well earned.
Pittsburgh and Buffalo are close in a few categories like points, wins, special teams, shots on goal per game and face-off percentage. A back and forth affair is expected between two quick squads that can counter-attack in a heartbeat.

Buffalo hasn't shown worry to facing the more gifted NHL clubs because after all, they are in that position themselves currently. Lalime will look to prove that he can take the reigns in Miller's days off and that would make the season more comfortable for all. Easier said than done when Pittsburgh has no injuries at all.

Crunching Numbers: Sabres Have Best Fourth Line in NHL

David Oleksy — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 02:04:27 -0000

The Buffalo Sabres were able to rebound from their disappointing loss last Saturday by shutting out the New York Islanders 3-0. Two power play goals and the best fourth line in hockey were the difference for the Buffalo Sabres. It was amazing to see how good Patrick Kaleta, Paul Gaustad and Matt Ellis were in the victory. They were so good they actually had more ice time than the top line of Derek Roy, Thomas Vanek and Drew Stafford.

This video of the Gaustad goal is the perfect example of how hard working that line was. I should have probably put up a video of Kaleta who had a remarkable seven hits in the game.

		Game Stats
#	Player	Pos	TOI	+/-	FO%	Hits	GV	TK	BS
4	Steve Montador	D	17:17	0	-	0	0	0	1
9	Derek Roy	C	12:42	0	100%	0	2	0	0
10	Henrik Tallinder	D	18:06	1	-	1	2	0	0
13	Tim Kennedy	C	15:14	-1	100%	0	0	0	0
19	Tim Connolly	C	19:16	0	-	0	0	0	0
21	Drew Stafford	RW	13:29	0	-	1	0	0	0
25	Mike Grier	RW	15:51	0	-	0	0	0	0
26	Thomas Vanek	LW	11:47	0	-	0	1	0	0
28	Paul Gaustad	C	15:14	1	76%	1	0	0	0
29	Jason Pominville	RW	19:28	0	33%	0	2	3	2
34	Chris Butler	D	22:21	0	-	2	0	0	1
36	Patrick Kaleta	RW	12:18	1	-	7	1	0	1
37	Matt Ellis	LW	11:59	1	100%	0	0	0	0
41	Clarke MacArthur	LW	13:52	0	100%	0	1	0	0
44	Andrej Sekera	D	17:31	0	-	0	0	1	0
52	Craig Rivet	D	19:42	0	-	0	0	0	0
55	Jochen Hecht	LW	16:43	0	33%	0	2	1	0
57	Tyler Myers	D	21:13	1	-	0	0	0	3
TOI = Total Time on Ice				GV = Giveaways
FO% = Faceoff percentage				TK = Takeaways
Hits = Total Hits				BS=Blocked Shots

			Even Strength Individual Stats						Even Strength On-Ice Totals
#	Player	Pos	EV TOI	G	A	Shots	S A/B	S Miss	SOGF	SOGA	SOG Diff	Tot SF	Tot SA	Corsi
4	Steve Montador	D	16:48	0	0	2	0	1	11	8	3	20	10	10
9	Derek Roy	C	9:21	0	0	0	1	2	3	4	-1	11	7	4
10	Henrik Tallinder	D	14:57	0	1	2	0	0	12	2	10	16	9	7
13	Tim Kennedy	C	15:14	0	0	1	0	0	9	6	3	16	7	9
19	Tim Connolly	C	13:30	0	0	2	0	0	6	8	-2	11	15	-4
21	Drew Stafford	RW	10:07	0	0	1	1	1	4	6	-2	9	9	0
25	Mike Grier	RW	13:05	0	0	2	0	0	9	4	5	13	5	8
26	Thomas Vanek	LW	8:44	0	0	2	1	1	3	6	-3	8	10	-2
28	Paul Gaustad	C	11:15	1	0	3	0	1	12	3	9	17	7	10
29	Jason Pominville	RW	14:20	0	0	0	1	1	6	8	-2	12	16	-4
34	Chris Butler	D	17:17	0	0	0	2	0	8	9	-1	18	15	3
36	Patrick Kaleta	RW	12:18	0	0	0	2	0	11	3	8	19	6	13
37	Matt Ellis	LW	11:59	0	0	6	1	1	11	3	8	20	7	13
41	Clarke MacArthur	LW	12:14	0	0	1	0	0	4	8	-4	8	14	-6
44	Andrej Sekera	D	17:02	0	0	1	0	2	10	10	0	20	13	7
52	Craig Rivet	D	15:34	0	0	2	1	0	4	6	-2	13	13	0
55	Jochen Hecht	LW	14:52	0	0	4	0	2	9	4	5	15	5	10
57	Tyler Myers	D	16:26	0	1	0	1	1	13	7	6	19	13	6
EV TOI = Even Strength time on ice								SOGA = Team shots against while on ice
EV TOI = Even Strength time on ice								SOG Diff = Difference shots on ice
S A/B = shots attempted and blocked								Tot SF = Total shots including blocked/missed
S Miss = Shots missed the net								Tot SA = Total Shots Ag. Including blocked/missed
SOGF = Team Shots while on ice								Corsi = Difference in Total Shots

The Corsi number is a statistic that what created by Sabres goalie coach JIm Corsi. It is the difference in total shots for and the total shots against. It factors in all shots that were on net, attempts that were blocked and shots that missed the net. The idea is that it is a better reflection on a players two-way play because it shows puck possesion as opposed to only shots on goal.

Notes

Patrick Kaleta had seven hits. That is the most for a Sabres player in a game this season. Without looking it up, I want to say the previous high was four.
Kaleta and Matt Ellis were both a plus-13 Corsi Rating in the game.
Thomas Vanek had the least amount of ice time on the team. The fourth line played more than the first line.
Five players had a 10 or better Corsi Rating
Matt Ellis had six even strength shots on goal.
The Sabres dominated.

Sabres shock world, beat Panthers 5-2

Whale4ever — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 02:37:01 -0000

Cats coach Peter DeBoer following the Sabres' ~~13th~~ 4th goal: vowin' revenge and stylin' to boot.

Sabres vs Panthers coverage Die By The Blade

Panthers win! If one leaves out the first period...oh well...if you've got to fall, make it hard.

Buffalo earned this from the start, chasing Scott Clemmensen at the 1:56(!) mark of the first period, off goals by Mike Grier and Jason Pominville (PP, ). Enter Tomas Vokoun; clear skies?

Not a chance: Matt Ellis and Tyler Myers continued burying regular-strength pucks until Steve Reinprecht's backhander at 14:11 from Michael Frolik and Rostislav Olesz cut the lead to 4-1, but the damage was done.

Well, not quite: Buffalo's Thomas Vanek, the Sabres' leading scorer from a year ago, was obviously feeling lonely. His goal at 16:48 lent proof.

The second period was a far different arena; the Cats had some pluck, but no one was getting the better of Buffalo's Ryan Miller (41 saves). Not nearly the train wreck of the first, Florida had a targeted sense of purpose, but the Sabres were able to stifle any semblence of a comeback. Hats off.

Cue the third, and other than Nathan Horton letting the faux trade rumors get the better of him, it was more of the same. A late goal by Olesz, assisted by David Booth and Ville Koistinen, did nothing to change the outcome. Horton, however, became the consummate Team Guy, taking on Patrick Kaleta, not once, but twice; upon the end of the primary penalty, Horton decided to Make It Count, getting tossed in a meaningless blowout.

NOTES: Yuck. This was disgusting. Embarrassing. Where to go from here? We discussed a few different possibilities in the live blog this evening, but ultimately, who should be called on the carpet? When does Pete DeBoer and his coaching staff take responsibility for the mess that Florida finds itself in? I remain convinced he's The Man to deliver the Cats to the promised land, but it's been a long gestation period. He wasn't here for the nine years previous to his arrival, but the club has looked woefully under-coached. There has yet to be a game this season which the Panthers have earned from the start. Can't win much that way, or so a manual I read told me.

Whatever: nicely done, Sabres. You made this one suck with a capital "S". Two points.

Game 7: Sabres vs. Panthers Preview

Zachary Zielonka — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:00:33 -0000

More photos » by Mark Humphrey - AP

2 months ago: Buffalo Sabres right wing Mike Grier (25) leads his teammates, including left wing Tim Kennedy (13) to the bench after Grier scored a goal against the Nashville Predators in the third period of an NHL hockey game in Nashville, Tenn., Saturday, Oct. 10, 2009. Grier's goal gave the Sabres a 1-0 win. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

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How the Sabres come out and react to this game will be telling in how this season will go. The team is coming off their worst performance of the season against the Atlanta Thrashers on Saturday night and they need to respond with an effort against a Florida Panther team that has been struggling since they have come back to North America.

The Sabres seem to be getting healthier with Thomas Vanek looking to be close to 100% after suffering what appeared to be a rib injury against the Red Wings. Matt Ellis should also be in the lineup after missing the game against the Thrashers. That means that Adam Mair is going to be the odd man out to be a healthy scratch again this season. The second man out would have been Paille before we sent him to Boston.

In the case of the Panthers, Scott Clemmensen is going to get the start after impressing in Florida's last win against the Philadelphia Flyers. Clemmensen stopped 25 of 27 shots in the win and appears to jump start the Panthers better than Tomas Vokoun had. In terms of scorers, Stephen Weiss and Micheal Frolik are leading the Panthers in scoring with four points a piece.

Keys to the Game:

Sabres: Jump out early. This team needs to regain the swagger they had in the first few games and the Panthers are the team for that to happen against. If the Sabres can get an early lead and continue to pressure the Panthers, they should be able to control the pace of the game.

Panthers: Strike first. If the Panthers can strike first and quickly, it will be interesting to see how the Sabres react. After the Sabres fell into a two goal deficit against the Thrashers, they tightened up their game and outplayed the Thrashers for the rest of the game, they just could not overcome the early deficit. The Panthers can do the same thing especially if Clemmensen plays as well as he did against the Flyers.

Crunching Numbers: Sabres Breakout Offensively Versus Red Wings

David Oleksy — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 13:00:38 -0000

More photos » by David Duprey - AP

2 months ago: Buffalo Sabres' Clarke MacArthur (41) shoots the puck under pressure from Detroit Red Wings' Justin Abdelkader (8) during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Buffalo, N.Y., Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2009. (AP Photo/ David Duprey)

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A lot of good things happened for the Buffalo Sabres in their 6-2 victory over the Detroit Red Wings. The Sabres exploded for four goals in the second period and scored a total of five even strength goals in the game. The production came from throughout the lineup as well, with Vanek getting two, MacArthur scoring one, Kaleta scoring one and Gaustad scoring the final goal.

The game was pleasing on the scoreboard and for some players it looks good when you look a little bit closer at the stats. The lines were adjusted on the fly because of the loss of Thomas Vanek in the second period but overall it was easy to see trends. It was nice to see the Connolly line with MacArthur and Pominville finally break through and start creating some chances.

		Game Stats						Even Strength Individual Stats						Even Strength On-Ice Totals
#	Player	Pos	TOI	+/-	FO%	Hits	BS	EV TOI	G	A	Shots	S A/B	S Miss	SOGF	SOGA	SOG Diff	Tot SF	Tot SA	Corsi
4	Steve Montador	D	17:28	0	-	0	2	17:01	0	0	4	0	2	8	6	2	12	12	0
5	Toni Lydman	D	16:49	0	-	2	0	14:28	0	0	0	0	1	7	3	4	10	8	2
9	Derek Roy	C	17:34	3	70%	0	0	12:56	0	3	3	0	0	8	4	4	13	9	4
10	Henrik Tallinder	D	20:33	5	-	1	1	19:12	0	0	1	0	1	14	6	8	17	14	3
13	Tim Kennedy	C	14:41	-1	56%	2	0	14:41	0	0	3	0	0	8	8	0	11	13	-2
19	Tim Connolly	C	18:30	0	45%	0	0	14:21	0	0	1	0	2	7	3	4	11	4	7
21	Drew Stafford	RW	14:00	2	-	0	1	10:31	0	0	0	1	0	7	4	3	11	8	3
25	Mike Grier	RW	15:19	-1	-	3	0	14:44	0	0	2	0	0	8	8	0	10	13	-3
26	Thomas Vanek	LW	7:54	2	-	1	0	7:54	2	0	3	1	1	5	4	1	7	5	2
28	Paul Gaustad	C	13:55	2	71%	1	2	8:56	1	0	3	0	0	9	3	6	10	7	3
29	Jason Pominville	RW	17:59	1	100%	0	0	13:54	0	1	3	1	0	8	3	5	12	5	7
34	Chris Butler	D	22:38	-1	-	0	0	16:28	0	0	3	0	0	11	10	1	16	12	4
36	Patrick Kaleta	RW	10:05	2	-	4	0	9:31	1	1	1	0	0	10	3	7	11	7	4
37	Matt Ellis	C	10:47	2	-	0	0	10:47	0	1	2	0	0	10	5	5	11	11	0
41	Clarke MacArthur	LW	17:56	1	67%	1	0	15:41	1	0	2	0	0	9	3	6	15	5	10
52	Craig Rivet	D	20:24	1	-	1	0	15:39	0	0	0	0	0	14	6	8	17	8	9
55	Jochen Hecht	LW	16:11	-1	60%	0	0	15:02	0	0	1	0	1	9	6	3	12	12	0
57	Tyler Myers	D	22:08	3	-	1	0	17:28	0	1	1	1	0	11	7	4	15	14	1
TOI = Total Time on Ice						FO% = Faceoff percentage								SOG Diff = Shot difference
EV TOI = Even Strength time on ice						BS = Blocked Shots								Tot SF = Total shot attempts on ice
S A/B = shots attempted and blocked						SOGF = Shots for while on ice								Tot SA = Total shot attempt ag. While on ice
S Miss = Shots missed the net						SOGA = Shots against while on ice								Tot Diff = difference in total shots

The line of Kennedy, Grier and Hecht had their worst game of the season based on Corsi numbers but they played against Datsyuk quite a bit last night. The numbers are not perfect but the Corsi rating does give you a gauge of how players are playing.

Many people feel this stat is more accurate a gauge of performance than the plus/minus stat is. For example...Matt Ellis and Paul Gaustad get a plus one because they were on the ice for the Kaleta goal although they were irrelevant to the play. Kaleta obviously had a good game and Gaustad was pretty good as well but Ellis had a zero Corsi rating on the game. It doesn't mean that Ellis had a terrible game but it does mean that his plus-2 rating might be misleading.

Henrik Tallinder is another player I want to look at. I don't want to discount how well he has been playing lately because he is starting to remind me of the old Hank but the numbers show that he wasn't as dominant as his plus-5 rating makes us think. The Wings fired 14 shots in the direction of Ryan Miller while he was on the ice which means that the combination of inaccurate shots and good goaltending by Ryan Miller helped Hank earn his plus-5.

Sabres Need Adjustments to Improve Offense

David Oleksy — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 22:09:13 -0000

More photos » by David Duprey - AP

2 months ago: Buffalo Sabres' Derek Roy (9) skates with the puck under pressure from Phoenix Coyotes' Adrian Aucoin (33) during the first period of the NHL hockey game in Buffalo, N.Y., Thursday, Oct. 8, 2009. (AP Photo/ David Duprey)

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Count me in as one of the people that loved the way the Sabres played following the lockout. They had a high powered offense that lit up the scoreboard at a record pace. They were also winning games and made it to the conference finals two seasons in row.

Since that time the Sabres have missed the playoffs two consecutive seasons and the offensive has been inconsistent. Every once in awhile you see glimpses of the team that could score goals on command but mostly they manage just one or two goals like they have the last two games.

It's easy to look at the game last night and point towards the numerous chances they created but the end result is what matters. Reality is that this team needs some help offensively. The help they need is right there in the room with a couple of key changes to the lineup.

I think we can all agree that Tim Kennedy and Tyler Myers have earned their spot in the lineup and should not be replaced. Kennedy was not a big factor in the game Thursday night but he looked great last Saturday. He has all the skills to be an outstanding contributor for the years.

With Kennedy becoming a regular in the Sabres lineup they have an opportunity to recreate that offensive magic they had a couple of years ago. Players like Drury and Briere helped that team become a powerhouse but it was the secondary scoring that made them great. They were able to roll four lines on a regular basis and they received offensive contributions from everyone. This team needs a couple of tweeks to be just as good.

Through two games, the Sabres have used traditional lines with a two scoring lines, a checking line and fourth line that is a mixture.

Scoring 1 - Vanek-Connolly-Roy
Scoring 2 - MacArthur-Kennedy-Pominville
Checking - Hecht-Gaustad-Grier
Line 4 - Kaleta-Ellis-Stafford

With the current lines they have players out of position and others that aren't being utilized properly. Stafford is a waste of talent on the fourth line and Kaleta and Ellis are both playing out of position. The first move would be to send Ellis to te press box and play Paille. Paille in the lineup would immediately improve the Sabres offense. He isn't going to score 30 goals but he has much more offensive talent than Matt Ellis.

I would also move Derek Roy and Paul Gaustad down in the lineup while moving Drew Stafford up to a scoring line. My new lines look like this...

Scoring 1 - Vanek-Connolly-Pominville
Scoring 2 - MacArthur-Kennedy-Stafford
Checking - Hecht-Roy-Grier
Line 4 - Paille-Gaustad-Kaleta

By moving Pominville and Stafford up the team will maintain their two scoring lines. I would argue that Pominville would make the top line better because he is naturally a winger unlike Roy. Stafford would be better utilized playing with Kennedy and MacArthur than he is with Ellis and Kaleta.

Derek Roy might not deserve a demotion to the third line but he would give that line an immediate offensive presence. It might also help Roy become a better player because he might shoot more when he is the best player on the line. I think playing with Grier would also force Roy to be more accountable in the defensive zone.

There are many people that would argue that Paul Gaustad is a fourth line player. That argument is futile because that is exactly what he is. He is a hard working player that holds others accountable. He will never be accused of taking a play off but he will never be confused with Thomas Vanek in front of the net either. Gaustad would make an excellent fourth line player while he is a marginal third liner. When you combine Goose with Paille and Kaleta, they could be the best fourth line in the entire league.

The opportunity is there for the Sabres but they need to make a couple of subtle adjustments to return to their high powered offense. With three goals in two games it is clear they need to do something different, let's see how they handle it.

2009 NHL Free Agency / Teams by Cap Space / Unsigned UFA's and RFA's

Robert L — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 19:19:41 -0000

This is a listing of NHL teams by order of remaining cap space as of July 4. The Islanders top the list with approximately $23M left to spend. The Sharks have just under $2M remaining. The list is helpful in determining which team are closest to filling out their 2009-10 lineup. As one can see, there is much work to be done at both ends of the spectrum. The numbers figures are based on totals given by NHL Numbers.com.

1 - New York Islanders: $23.265 (18)

UFA: Andy Hilbert C 28, Dean McAmmond C 36, Mike Sillinger C 38, Thomas Pock D 27, Yann Danis G 28, Joey MacDonald G 29.

RFA: Nate Thompson C 24, Jeremy Colliton C 24, Jamie Fraser D 23, Jack Hillen D 23.

2 - Phoenix Coyotes: $21.972 (18)

UFA: Brian McGrattan R 27, Dmitri Kalinin D 29, Ken Klee D 38.

RFA: Nigel Dawes L 24, Joakim Lindstrom C 25, Enver Lisin R 23, Scottie Upshall R 25, Daniel Winnik C 24, Keith Yandle D 22.

3 - Atlanta Thrashers: $19.599 (15)

RFA: Eric Perrin C 33.

UFA: Kari Lehtonen G 25, Colby Armstrong R 26, Jim Slater C 26, Boris Valabik D 23.

4 - Nashville Predators: $17.913 (16)

UFA: Radek Bonk C 33, Scott Nichol C 34, Greg de Vries D 36.

RFA: Ryan Jones R 25, Antti Pihlstrom L 24,.

5 - New York Rangers: $16.436 (13)

UFA: Blair Betts C 29, Mark Bell L 28, Patrick Rissmiller C 30, Paul Mara D 29, Derek Morris D 30.

RFA: Christopher Higgins R 26, Ryan Callahan R 24, Brandon Dubinsky C 23, Lauri Korpikoski L 22, Nikolai Zherdev L 24, Corey Potter D 25.

6 - Anaheim Ducks: $14.295 (17)

UFA: Rob Niedermayer F 34, Todd Marchant C 33, Francois Beauchemin D 29, Bret Hedican D 38.

RFA: James Wisniewski D 25.

7 - Tampa Bay Lightning: $14.295 (17)

UFA: Matt Pettinger L 28, Wade Brookbank L 31, Jason Ward R 30, Marek Malik D 34, Josef Melichar D 30, Cory Murphy D 31, Noah Welch D 26.

RFA: Martins Karsums R 23, Radek Smolenak L 22, Matt Lashoff D 22, Matt Smaby D 24, Mike Lundin D 24, Karri Ramo G 22, Mike McKenna G 26.

8 - Columbus Blue Jackets: $13.313 (20)

UFA: Chris Gratton C 33, Manny Malhotra C 29, Michael Peca C 35, Jason Williams C 28, Christian Backman D 29.

RFA: Jiri Novotny C 25, Marc Methot D 24, Ole-Kristian Tollefsen D 25.

9 - Dallas Stars: $13.193 (19)

UFA: Sergei Zubov D 38, Brendan Morrison C 33, Joel Lundqvist C 27, Mark Parrish R 32, Landon Wilson R 34, Tobias Stephan G 25, Darryl Sydor D 37.

RFA: Mark Fistric D 23.

10 - St. Louis Blues: $12.295 (22)

UFA: Trent Whitfield C 32, Dan Hinote R 32, Jay McKee D 31, Manny Legace G 36.

RFA: Brandon Crombeen R 23, Chris Porter C 25, Steve Regier L 24, Roman Polak D 23, Jeff Woywitka D 25, Marek Schwarz G 23.

11 - New Jersey Devils: $12.129

UFA: Brendan Shanahan L 40, Kevin Weekes G 34, Niclas Havelid D NJ.

RFA: Travis Zajac C 24.

12 - Toronto Maple Leafs: $12.022 (20)

UFA: Brad May L 37, Bates Battaglia L 33, Andre Deveaux C 25, Boyd Devereaux C 31, Jeff Hamilton C 31, Kris Newbury C 27, Ben Ondrus R 27, Jay Harrison D 26, Jamie Heward D 38, Martin Gerber G 34, Olaf Kolzig G 39, Curtis Joseph G 42.

RFA: Jeremy Williams R 25, Justin Pogge G 23, Jaime Sifers D 26, Ryan Hollweg C 26.

13 - Chicago Blackhawks: $11.797

UFA: Aaron Johnson D 26.

RFA: Cam Barker D 23, Troy Brouwer R 23, Ben Eager L 25, Colin Fraser C 24, Kris Versteeg R 23.

14 - Colorado Avalanche: $11.654 (15)

UFA: Joe Sakic F 39, Ben Guite R 30, Brian Willsie R 31, Andrew Raycroft G 29.

RFA: Kyle Cumiskey D 22, David Jones R 24, Cody McCormick C 26.

15 - Montreal Canadiens: $10.454 (16)

UFA: Alexei Kovalev F 36, Saku Koivu C 34, Alex Tanguay L 29, Robert Lang C 38, Mathieu Schneider D 40, Tom Kostopoulos R 30, Mathieu Dandenault D 33, Patrice Brisebois D 38, Francis Bouillon D 33, Marc Denis G 31.

RFA: Tomas Plekanec C 26, Matt D'Agostini R 22, Guillaume Latendresse R 22, Kyle Chipchura C 23, Gregory Stewart L 23.

16 - Los Angeles Kings: $10.285 (21)

UFA: Derek Armstrong F 36, Denis Gauthier D 32, Kyle Calder L 30.

RFA: Jack Johnson D 22, Teddy Purcell R 23.

17 - Washington Capitals: $9.720 (15)

UFA: Viktor Kozlov C 34, Alexandre Giroux C 28, Bryan Helmer D 26, Brent Johnson G 32.

RFA: Jeff Schultz D 23, Shaone Morrisonn D 26, Milan Jurcina D 26, Eric Fehr R 23, Boyd Gordon R 25.

18 - Buffalo Sabres: $8.976 (16)

UFA: Matt Ellis L 24, Dominic Moore C 28, Andrew Peters L 29, Teppo Numminen D 40, Maxim Afinogeno F 29,

RFA: Andrej Sekera D 23, Drew Stafford R 23, Clarke MacArthur L 24, Patrick Kaleta R 23.

19 - Florida Panthers: $8.405 (18)

UFA: Ville Peltonen L 36, Richard Zednik L 33, Jassen Cullimore D 36, Nick Boynton D 30.

RFA: Anthony Stewart C 24, Steve Eminger D 25, Tanner Glass L 25.

20 - Carolina Hurricanes: $8.083 (18)

UFA: Ryan Bayda L 28, Dennis Seidenberg D 27.

RFA: Tuomo Ruutu C 26, Anton Babchuk D 25.

21 - Vancouver Canucks: $7.282 (18)

UFA: Mats Sundin C 38, Jason Krog C 33, Rob Davison D 29, Ossi Vaananen D 28, Curtis Sanford G 29, Michel Ouellet R 27.

RFA: Shane O' Brien D 25. Kyle Wellwood C 26, Jannik Hansen R 23.

22 - Minnesota Wild: $6.296 (20)

UFA: Stephane Veilleux L 27, Krys Kolanos C 27, Marc-Andre Bergeron D 28, Kurtis Foster D 27, Martin Skoula D 29.

RFA: Dan Fritsche C 23, Benoit Pouliot L 22, Kyle Brodziak C 25, Josh Harding G 25.

23 - Edmonton Oilers: $6.404 (20)

UFA: Ales Kotalik R 30, Dany Sabourin G 28.

RFA: Liam Reddox L 23, Gilbert Brule C 22, Ryan Potulny C 24, Rob Schremp C 22, Denis Grebeshkov D 25, Ladislav Smid D 23.

24 - Detroit Red Wings: $5.554 (16)

UFA: Darren McCarty R 37, Aaron Downey R 34, Chris Chelios D 47.

RFA: Jiri Hudler C 25, Ville Leino L 25.

25 - Boston Bruins: $5.340 (18)

UFA: Stephane Yelle F 35, P.J. Axelsson L 34, Manny Fernandez G 34.

RFA: Phil Kessel F 21, Matt Hunwick D 24.

26 - Ottawa Senators: $4.649 (22)

UFA: Mike Comrie C 28.

RFA: Brendan Bell D 26, Brian Elliott G 24.

27 - Pittsburgh Penguins: $3.137 (19)

UFA: Mike Zigomanis C 28, James Connor L 26, Miroslav Satan L 34, Petr Sykora R 32, Janne Pesonen L 27, Philippe Boucher D 36.

RFA: Paul Bissonnette R 24, Tim Wallace R 24, Ben Lovejoy D 25, John Curry G 25.

28 - Calgary Flames: $3.053 (19)

UFA: Todd Bertuzzi R 34, Andre Roy R 34, Rhett Warrener D 33.

RFA: Dustin Boyd C 22.

29 - Philadelphia Flyers: $2.125 (20)

UFA: Josh Gratton L 26, Boyd Kane L 31, Andrew Alberts D 28, Lasse Kukkonen D 27, Martin Biron G 31, Antero Niittymaki G 29.

RFA: Jared Ross C 26, Danny Syvret D 24.

30 - San Jose Sharks: $1.774 (16)

UFA: Claude Lemieux R 43, Jeremy Roenick C 39, Tom Cavanagh R 27, Alexei Semenov D 28, Mike Grier R 34, Marcel Goc C 25, Tomas Plihal L 26, Lukas Kaspar L 23.

RFA: Torrey Mitchell C 24, Thomas Greiss G 23, Brad Staubitz R 24.

Matt Ellis: 2008-2009 Report Card

David Oleksy — Sun, 24 May 2009 11:00:14 -0000

It's time to put the finishing touches on the 2008-2009 season for the Buffalo Sabres. Here is a complete report card of every single player that played a significant amount of time with the Sabres this season. Thanks to Japers Rink and Mile High Hockey for the inspiration.

Matt Ellis

#37 / Left Wing / Buffalo Sabres

Height: 6-0

Weight: 207

Born: Aug 31, 1981

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2008 - Matt Ellis	45	7	5	12	4	12	0	0	2	0	73	9.6

Key Stat: Ellis finished the season as a plus four. That stat does not clearly show how good he was in the defensive zone. Ellis led the team with only 1.32 goals allowed for every 60 minutes he was on the ice. Despite not being an offensive player is +0.66/60 minutes was behind only Chris Butler and Tim Connolly.

Interesting Stats: Ellis had scored only three goals in his NHL career, a total of 70 games, before this season. This season he more than doubled that total with seven goals scored in 45 games.

Fun Fact: Ellis scored seven goals this season to increase his career total to 10. Despite having scored only 10 career goals he managed to score in back-to-back games twice this season. He netted a pair of goals on January 3 against the Bruins and followed that up with a goal in the Sabres next game against the Ottawa Senators. The second time he managed that feat came in the final two games of the season.

Line Combos: (Limited to 5 due to limited space)

Adam Mair - Daniel Paille (147 shifts - 0 points)
Patrick Kaleta - Andrew Peters (123 shifts - 0 points)
Patrick Kaleta - Daniel Paille (95 shifts - 1 point)
Paul Gaustad - Jason Pominville (93 shifts - 3 points)
Patrick Kaleta - Adam Mair (92 shifts - 0 points)

Report: Ellis was picked up on waivers as an insurance policy for the Buffalo Sabres. By the second half of the season he had played his way into the lineup as a regular.

He seems to be an ideal checking line forward. He puts up some points and he is responsible in his own end. It's difficult to gauge just how good he is because he was used sparingly by the Sabres.

2008-2009 Salary: $475,000

2009-2010 Status: UFA

Vote: It's time to grade Ellis for his play in the 2008-2009 season. Every player has expectations so vote based on those expectations. If a player played to their potential they should receive a "C" if they exceeded expectations they would receive a "B" or an "A".

Discuss: Did Ellis do everything he was asked to do with the Sabres this season? Would you consider bringing Ellis back next season? Would you like to see more toughness from Ellis?

Up Next: Paul Gaustad

Poll

What is your grade for Matt Ellis

A

28 votes

B

77 votes

C

56 votes

D

5 votes

F

1 votes

167 votes | Poll has closed

Matt Ellis and the rest of the Sabres Free Agents

David Oleksy — Mon, 18 May 2009 03:16:23 -0000

Somehow I forgot to add Matt Ellis to the original list of Free Agents. I'll add him to this summary of all the Sabres impending free agents.

Patrick Kaleta (RFA) - Read Post
Clarke MacArthur (RFA) - Read Post
Andrej Sekera (RFA) - Read Post
Drew Stafford (RFA) - Read Post
Max Afinogenov (UFA) - Read Post
Dominic Moore (UFA) - Read Post
Andrew Peters (UFA) - Read Post
Jaro Spacek (UFA) - Read Post
Mikael Tellqvist (UFA) - signed with Ak-Bars Kazan in KHL.

Restricted Free Agents

Patrick Kaleta - 2008-2009 salary: $ 491,667

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2008 - Patrick Kaleta	51	4	5	9	1	89	0	0	0	0	35	11.4

Kaleta is going to be relatively cheap for the Sabres to re-sign. Kaleta fills a definite role in the NHL and is too valuable to let go. He is the type of player that you either love him or hate him, but he is effective at what he does.

Clarke MacArthur - 2008-2009 salary: $522,500

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2008 - Clarke MacArthur	71	17	14	31	-4	56	5	0	0	2	108	15.7

There is definitely some concern that MacArthur could draw some interest on the open market. The Sabres would be able to match if he signs an offer-sheet with another club but they may not have the money to match an offer. C-Mac is a guy to keep your on as free agency approaches. There are plenty of teams that are interested in a young guy that scored 17 goals.

Andrej Sekera - 2008-2009 salary: $675,000

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2008 - Andrej Sekera	69	3	16	19	-11	22	1	0	1	0	84	3.6

Sekera is likely to get a raise from the Buffalo Sabres next season. His lack of confidence at the end of the season probably cost him a big payday and an opportunity to sign an offer-sheet. He will likely be re-signed to a two or three year deal for just over a million per season.

Drew Stafford - 2008-2009 salary: $984,200

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2008 - Drew Stafford	79	20	25	45	3	29	9	0	0	2	183	10.9

The Sabres will try to do everything they can to re-sign Stafford but just like MacArthur, finances could get in the way. The Sabres are well aware that they have a valuable commodity wit Stafford and will likely trade him away before July 1 if they don't feel they can sign him.

Unrestricted Free Agents

Max Afinogenov - 2008-2009 salary: $3.33 million

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2008 - Maxim Afinogenov	48	6	14	20	-7	20	0	0	0	0	93	6.5

Max is long gone. No need to say anymore.

Dominic Moore - 2008-2009 salary: $900,000

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2008 - Dominic Moore	81	13	32	45	-2	92	4	1	1	0	165	7.9

The Sabres won't re-sign Moore. He wasn't the player the Sabres had hoped he would be after they acquired him from the Toronto Maple Leafs at the trade deadline. At his current price tag of $900K he would be a great player to have around but he is going to get much more than that next season.

Andrew Peters - 2008-2009 salary: $525,000

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2008 - Andrew Peters	28	0	1	1	-2	81	0	0	0	0	10	0.0

You know all my feelings on Andrew Peters. I think he will be re-signed but I'm not really sure why.

Jaroslav Spacek - 2008-2009 salary: $3.33 million

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2008 - Jaroslav Spacek	80	8	37	45	2	38	4	0	0	0	130	6.2

Spacek is going to get way too much money for the Sabres to re-sign him. I wouldn't quite rule it out at this point but would consider it unlikely. Spacek was probably the best D-Man on the team this year but someone else will have to fill his skates next season.

Matt Ellis - 2008-2009 salary: $475,000

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2008 - Matt Ellis	45	7	5	12	4	12	0	0	2	0	73	9.6

Matt Ellis did everything he was asked to do this season. The Sabres will try to re-sign him if the price tag is right. I think Ellis future is entirely up to Ellis. The Sabres will try to re-sign him but Ellis may want to go play elsewhere.

Sabres Eliminated From Playoffs

David Oleksy — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 03:16:51 -0000

More photos » by Gerry Broome - AP

8 months ago: Buffalo Sabres' Derek Roy (9) scores on a penalty shot against Carolina Hurricanes goalie Michael Leighton (49) during the third period of an NHL hockey game in Raleigh, N.C., Thursday, April 9, 2009. Buffalo won 5-1. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)

Browse more photos »

I sat here for a couple of hours thinking about how I was going to sum up the Sabres season in this post. We all know the season has only one game left after the New York Rangers officially eliminated the Sabres by beating the Flyers 2-1 at Madison Square Garden.

I decided that I'm not going to write that post tonight because we have the next couple of months to talk about everything that went wrong for the Sabres and what they need to do differently. Tonight is about a dominating effort, in a hostile environment, against the hottest team in the league.

Although it was a dominating performance by the Sabres, they needed a little bit of luck as well to beat the Canes 5-1. The Sabres generated almost no offense in the first period but managed a perfect 2-on-1 with Tim Connolly and Jason Pominville and Pominville rifled it over the shoulder of Cam Ward.

The second period was all Sabres as they forced the play and simply outworked the Canes. Matt Ellis scored the Sabres second goal and it was a perfect example of the hard work the Sabres put in. Jochen Hecht scored for Buffalo and Jason Pominville scored his second to basically put the game away in the second period.

Derek Roy scored his 28th goal of the season on a penalty shot after he was hooked on a shorthanded power play. The Sabres were holding on to a 5-0 lead and tried desperately to get Ryan Miller a shutout but Eric Staal scored a power play goal with just 30 seconds left in the game.

Rangers Continue to Haunt the Sabres

It was a 4-2 Sabres win against the Rangers on February 21 that sidelined Ryan Miller for over a month and a 4-2 loss to the Rangers two weeks ago that put the Sabres playoff hopes on life support. Tonight it was a 2-1 New York Rangers victory that officially ended the Sabres season.

The Sabres beat the Rangers three of the four times they played them but in the end the Rangers had the last laugh.

Roll Call

Roll Call: qdloser, Joan O., D.O., Fucilli5, dfderie, DamageInc95, coolman856, tripl21
Total Users: 8
Total Posts: 173

Name	# of Posts
Fucilli5	48
D.O.	41
DamageInc95	32
Joan O.	26
dfderie	8
coolman856	7
qdloser	6
tripl21	5

Up Next

The Sabres finish off the season with a home game against the Bruins. It is a special start time of 4PM on Saturday.