With the 2011-12 Buffalo Sabres ending in disappointment and after a few weeks for us to gather our thoughts, it's time for us to issue our report cards on the season. Over the next few weeks, we'll grade every player that wore a Buffalo Sabres uniform in 2011 and 2012, from Luke Adam to Mike Weber.

Introduction: If you read the fine print at the top of this post, you'll notice a little phrase that says, "We'll grade every player that wore a Buffalo Sabres uniform in 2011 and 2012," and thus, we arrive at the man who didn't actually play a full game for the Sabres, but only saw the ice in relief: goaltender Drew MacIntyre.

MacIntyre has spent a career bouncing around the AHL, and this season, he ended up serving as the backup to Amerks starter David Leggio. Though he did make the Sabres trip to Europe as the emergency third goalie, MacIntyre was officially called up to the team on November 14 upon Ryan Miller's injury to serve as Buffalo's bench door opener in place of Jhonas Enroth. After making two spot relief efforts, MacIntyre was sent back to Rochester on December 2, and stayed there for the rest of the season. After the break, we'll talk a bit about both his NHL and AHL seasons, considering that this would be a pretty pointless post if we only looked at MacIntyre's two half-games. And away we go!

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Here's your daily dose of Buffalo Sabres tidbits and nitpicks, on this, the day the Stanley Cup Finals finally get under way.

- Which team should Sabres fans root for in the Finals and why? [Buffalo Wins]

- A season in review for Derek Roy. [Sabre Noise]

- The 8th Scouting Session with Jeremy White and Kris Baker focuses on American-born players. [WGR]

- The Sabres have been confirmed as having two meetings thus far with defensive prospect Cody Ceci. [Ottawa Citizen]

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Happy Memorial Day weekend, folks. There will be only one big link post this weekend, so we stuffed it with enough links to get you through 3 days. Now go outside and grill something!

- The Dominator wants to come back to the NHL?! At this rate, Buffalo will be able to retire his jersey sometime during the 2025-26 season. [The Buffalo News, BSN]

- A great article by Joe on how to improve the Sabres social media. [Buffalo Wins]

- A season wrap-up at the goaltenders, through spreadsheets. [The Hosers]

- Mark Pysyk's Edmonton Oil Kings bowed out of the Memorial Cup yesterday. Next stop for Pysyk: the Amerks. [Sabres Prospects]

- A look at AHL free agent Drew McIntyre. [Sabre Noise]

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Happy Friday, folks. Here are your Buffalo Sabres news and notes, collected in time for you to watch the sunrise.


- Brad Riter offers a blueprint for replacing Lindy Ruff. [Trending Buffalo]

- A season in review for TJ Brennan. [Sabres.com]

- And one for Mike Weber. [Sabre Noise]

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Here are your daily dose of Buffalo Sabres links for Thursday, May 24.

- The fourth advanced stats article on WGR focuses on Luke Adam. [WGR]

- What to do with the second of the Sabres two second round picks. [Sabre Noise]

- It's that time of year. Time for mock drafts, I Mean! [The Ruff Writers]

- Does the World Championship need an overhaul? [Two In The Box]

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Good morning Sabres fans - here's your daily dose of Buffalo Sabres news and notes to start your day off right.

- What's the off-season plan for the Sabres? [TSN]

- Another Scouting Session with Kris Baker, this time focusing on Mikhail Grigorenko. [WGR]

- Tyler Ennis has won the Sabres annual Play Of The Year vote - next stop, TSN! [Sabres.com]

NHL Playoff News:

- The Los Angeles Kings will represent the Western Conference in the Stanley Cup Finals after defeating Phoenix in OT last night. [NHL.com]

- One of the year's most entertaining playoff games produced a Stanley Cup finalist, an irate loser and a controversial ending. [ESPN]

- Coyotes’ Mike Smith believes Dustin Brown should be ‘done forever’ for Rozsival hit; slams Game 5 officiating [Puck Daddy]

- Kings deliver tickets to Rainn Wilson, a.k.a. Dwight Schrute, in Jell-O. If you're a fan of The Office, this is nothing short of phenomenal. [CBS Sports]

With the 2011-12 Buffalo Sabres ending in disappointment and after a few weeks for us to gather our thoughts, it's time for us to issue our report cards on the season. Over the next few weeks, we'll grade every player that wore a Buffalo Sabres uniform in 2011 and 2012, from Luke Adam to Mike Weber.

Introduction: Ville Leino was a massive bust. That argument cannot be denied and it's not what this article will be about. The argument around Leino, I believe, is just how big a bust was he - can he improve on last season or is he simply a sunk cost at this point?

Leino was acquired via free agency - at a hefty price - to be the Sabres newest center. Then, the team discovered that he was a terrible center, and he subsequently bounced around on various lines all year, never really getting comfortable with his line mates, and finished the year as one of the team's most universally despised players (Brad Boyes says hi.) Let's dive in a bit more deeply to Leino's disappointing season after the break.

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We've got your Buffalo Sabres news and notes right here, including reactions on the resigning of Alexander Sulzer, and thoughts on Jason Pominville's first season as captain.

- Hey, the Sabres re-signed Alex Sulzer. It's a good move at the right price - turns out Darcy does have discretion after all! [Sabres.com, SB Nation]

- Reactions to the Sulzer signing. [Buffalo Wins, Two In The Box, Sabre Noise]

- Darcy Regier updated John Vogl on his offseason plans, including the fact that he's still looking for a center. [Sabres Edge]

- How was Jason Pominville's first season as captain? [WGR]

- Sabres/Amerks center Paul Szczechura has signed with Prague of the KHL. The Sabres can still retain his AHL/NHL right by giving him a give him a qualifying offer. [Sabres Hockey Central]

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Here is your daily dose of Buffalo Sabres news and notes to start the week, though unfortunately this week we must begin with a heavy heart. The blue and gold lost a member of their family as former first round pick Paul Cyr passed away on Saturday.

- Former Buffalo Sabre forward Paul Cyr was found dead at age 48 from a heart attack. [Sabres.com]

- Rick Jeanneret is undecided about retirement, though he did earn an honorary doctorate over the weekend from Canisius College. [BSN]

- A season review of the Sabres rookie call-ups. [Sabre Noise]

- Mark Pysyk's Oil Kings opened the Memorial Cup with a win. [Sabres Prospects]

- NHL owners only have themselves to blame for a CBA that needs to be redone. [Buffalo News]

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With the 2011-12 Buffalo Sabres ending in disappointment and after a few weeks for us to gather our thoughts, it's time for us to issue our report cards on the season. Over the next few weeks, we'll grade every player that wore a Buffalo Sabres uniform in 2011 and 2012, from Luke Adam to Mike Weber.

Introduction: Much like Batman, Zack Kassian became an idea that transcended the man himself in the minds of many Sabres fans. A first round pick with big size, the toughness of a Russian bear, and scoring touch to boot? Sign me up!

Unlike Batman, however, Kassian never quite lived up to the idea of himself here in Buffalo. While he certainly laid out some impressive hits as a Sabre, he never really seemed to enjoy using his physicality, and didn't seem to be the aggressive pinball on the ice that the Sabres drafted. After being traded to Vancouver at the deadline, many Sabre fans moaned and groaned about how the team would never recover from losing Kassian's unique blend of size and scoring, or at least the idea of what his size and scoring might someday become. Whether Papa Kass will grow into the Milan Lucic 2.0 that Sabres and Canucks fans wanted still remains to be seen, but let's examine his first NHL season after the break.

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With the 2011-12 Buffalo Sabres ending in disappointment and after a few weeks for us to gather our thoughts, it's time for us to issue our report cards on the season. Over the next few weeks, we'll grade every player that wore a Buffalo Sabres uniform in 2011 and 2012, from Luke Adam to Mike Weber.

Introduction: Cody Hodgson was not, I think, solely acquired to help the Sabres make the playoffs this past season. I believe that Darcy Regier acquired him to fill the void of "#1 center" for future seasons. Much like he gave up the future potential of Zack Kassian to acquire Hodgson, this was a move made for the 2012 season and beyond.

That belief makes it tough to grade Hodgson for this season. Not only did he only play 20 games for the Sabres, his offensive production dropped off after the trade, whether to a new team, new city, or the rookie wall. However, the kid is part of the team (and hopefully a big part) so we'll take a look at his numbers after the break.

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Happy Friday, everyone - unless you live in the US, Canada, or specifically Phoenix. The Coyotes went down 3-0 last night to the unstoppable juggernaut that is Los Angeles.

- Do the Sabres struggles trace back to how Lindy Ruff handles his players? [Two In The Box]

- A season in review for Jhonas Enroth. [Sabre Noise]

- The memorial Cup tournament begins today. [Sabres.com]

- Andrej Sekera helped knock Canada out of the IIHF World Championship. [WGR]

- A season in review for Amerks stud Phil Varone. [Sabres.com]

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With the 2011-12 Buffalo Sabres ending in disappointment and after a few weeks for us to gather our thoughts, it's time for us to issue our report cards on the season. Over the next few weeks, we'll grade every player that wore a Buffalo Sabres uniform in 2011 and 2012, from Luke Adam to Mike Weber.

Introduction: Let's get the elephant in the room out of the way first - Jochen Hecht missed 53 games this season thanks to two separate concussions this season, and he has now had three concussions in the past year. While he has expressed tearful desires to return to Buffalo, there's a better than average chance that he won't be, and his head injuries have made his future as an NHL player come into doubt.

Hecht is (was?) the longest tenured Sabre, being acquired by the team via trade in 2001, and was the consummate "Lindy Ruff forward" - hard working, responsible in his own zone, with a mild amount of offense. He loved taking shots from horrible angles, and helped balance out the Euopean-to-North American quotient on the Sabres roster. Though he had an abbreviated campaign, let's take a closer look at it after the break.

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Here are your daily dose of Buffalo Sabres links, toasted to perfection. Remember that whole lockout thing a few years ago? Yeah, there's a chance we might have that again.

- Andrej Sekera is playing great for team Slovakia in the IIHF World Championships. [Sabres.com]

- Comparing the Sabres to the Final 4 teams in the playoffs - where does Buffalo fall short? [Buffalo Wins]

- What can the Sabres do to make a run at Lord Stanley's Cup next season. [BSN]

- Mark Pysyk - remember the name (Ed Note: FAME!) [The Hosers]

- The NHL has filed termination notices for its current CBA, meaning that it will have to be renegotiated this offseason. [WGR]

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Here's your daily roundup of Buffalo Sabres news and notes. Remember Terry Pegula? The guy with lots of money? Just when you're done thinking about him for a little while, he goes and buys 90,000 sq feet of new grass to put outside his F'N Center.

- Terry Pegula is paying for brand new sod and trees to be planted along the waterfront outside the FNC, replacing the current "abandoned lots" that are so reminiscent of Buffalo. Sabres.com]

- The sixth Scouting Session with Jeremy White and Kris Baker looks at what will happen if the Sabres keep both first round draft picks. [WGR]

- We're getting into some serious supplemental discipline changes here. Like, dissertation-level serious. [The Hosers]

- Ubiquitous Twitter presence @FakeDarcy has won Artvoice's Best Twitter Feed Award for 2012. Here is his acceptance speech. [Buffalo Wins]

- BSN is trying to eradicate the last of the slug logo. [BSN]

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Today's daily links feature last night's action, coaching changes, and an example of Cody Hodgson's great character.

- An article diving into Cody Hodgson's character, and the fallout from his departure from Vancouver. [Cave]

- Here's what the Sabres should do this offseason. Boy, I hope Darcy reads this before the draft! [The Hockey Writers]

- Jhonas Enroth talks about what it's like playing in the IIHF World Championships for the home team. [Sabres.com]

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With the 2011-12 Buffalo Sabres ending in disappointment and after a few weeks for us to gather our thoughts, it's time for us to issue our report cards on the season. Over the next few weeks, we'll grade every player that wore a Buffalo Sabres uniform in 2011 and 2012, from Luke Adam to Mike Weber.

Introduction: Nathan Gerbe has always been a fan favorite in Buffalo, a city that loves to root for the underdog, the big heart, and - in this case quite literally - the little guy. However, Gerbe has failed to live up to his lofty collegiate accomplishments while playing in the NHL. 2012 was another year filled with injury and disappointment for the diminutive forward from Boston College, but let's look at things a bit more in depth after the break.

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Here are your daily Buffalo Sabres links to jump-start your Monday morning.

- Mark Pysyk has captained the Edmonton Oil Kings to the WHL Championship, now it's on to the Memorial Cup. [Sabres Prospects]

- Vulgar Statistics for the Conference Finals. [Black & Blue & Gold]

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It's your daily dose of Buffalo Sabres links for this hockey-tastic weekend. Washington and NY have a Game 7 tonight, and then Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals between Phoenix and LA is tomorrow.

- The Sabres goal of the year is down to the Final Four. [Sabres.com]

- Talkin' about RFA's Alex Biega and TJ Brennan. [Sabre Noise]

- Steven Shipley is finished in the playoffs [Sabres Prospects] but Mark Pysyk is heating up, scoring the GWG on Thursday. [Sabres Prospects]

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Happy Friday, folks! Her are your daily Buffalo Sabres tidbits in order to fuel your weekend festivities.

- What do the advanced stats say about Derek Roy? [WGR]

- Brian Duff gives his look around the league. [Sabres.com]

- Why Bulldog wishes the Sabres were more like the Flyers. [WGR]

- Are you suffering from Playoff-itis? [The Puck Stops Here]

- Jerome Gauthier-Leduc is still tearing up the playoffs. [Sabres Prospects]

- A look at what the Sabres may do with their second of two first round picks. [Sabre Noise]

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With the 2011-12 Buffalo Sabres ending in disappointment and after a few weeks for us to gather our thoughts, it's time for us to issue our report cards on the season. Over the next few weeks, we'll grade every player that wore a Buffalo Sabres uniform in 2011 and 2012, from Luke Adam to Mike Weber.

Introduction: No player, with the possible exception of Tyler Ennis, excited Sabres fans this season more than Marcus Foligno. The former fourth-round pick couldn't make the team out of training camp, and was seen as little more than a replacement body on the checking line when he was called up from Rochester. After one lackluster game in December, Foligno came up again in March and was paired with Tyler Ennis and Drew Stafford, and, well, you know the rest.

Marcus was a revelation on offense and a force to be reckoned with physically. He looked a lot more like his old man than anybody was ready to believe, but just how good was his end of the year tryout? Let's dig a little deeper after the break.

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We've got your daily Buffalo Sabres news and notes, bite-sized for your convenience. Like popcorn chicken, only less gross.

- Jay McKee: Finding passion behind the bench. [WGR]

- A look at goaltender David Leggio's first season with the Amerks. [Sabres.com]

- The 5th scouting session with Kris Baker and Jeremy White. [WGR]

- Mark Pysyk is doing well. Yippee! [Sabres Prospects]

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Here are your Buffalo Sabres daily links for hump day. We've got Sabres cap talk, hockey tats, and most importantly, some team called the Flyers is now out of the playoffs.

- Let's check out the Sabres cap situation - it looks much like my monthly budget. Tight. [WGR]

- The Sabres crease grows crowded with the Nathan Lieuwen contract. [Two In The Box]

- A re-evaluation of Darcy Regier. [Sabre Noise]

- Updates on the baby Sabres still in the playoffs. [Sabres Prospects]

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Here are your Buffalo Sabres daily links, featuring the few players from Buffalo tat are participating in the IIHF World Championships.

- Andrej Sekera helped Slovakia defeat the USA in the World Championships. [Democrat & Chronicle]

- Grading the sabres defensive depth. [Two In The Box]

- Commentary on comments. [Sabre Noise]

- The Sabres have started a goal of the year bracket, you can check out the goals and vote right here. [Sabres.com]

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Here are your daily Buffalo Sabres links to start the week off right.

- Want to know Kevin Sylvester's thoughts on the playoffs? Then click the red thing just to the right. [Sabres.com]

- Joe doesn't like it when people tell him to stop whining about Danny Briere. [Buffalo Wins]

- Did you know that Thomas Vanek is Austria's highest paid athlete? The more you know. [Sabres Edge]

- Baby Sabres update: championship edition. [Sabres Prospects]

- A Vancouver perspective on Zack Kassian. [Bleacher Report]

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With the 2011-12 Buffalo Sabres ending in disappointment and after a few weeks for us to gather our thoughts, it's time for us to issue our report cards on the season. Over the next few weeks, we'll grade every player that wore a Buffalo Sabres uniform in 2011 and 2012, from Luke Adam to Mike Weber.

Introduction: Tyler Ennis is one of the most intriguing players on the Buffalo Sabres roster heading in to next season. Ennis had a fantastic run at the end of the year offensively, but spent much of the season trying to recover from injury. Most Sabre fans have pinned their hopes for next season on Ennis picking up right where he left off, and evolving into the #1 center - or at least close to it - that the Sabres have been searching for. But can he stay healthy enough, and can his production remain steady enough?

That's a big question that will go a long way in determining whether or not we'll still be watching the Sabres at this time next year.

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Happy Friday, folks - today is a great day for a few different reasons, but today is also the start of the IIHF World championships, featuring the best players the world has to offer, unless they're still playing in the NHL playoffs, or are sitting out due to injury, or just didn't want to go. But still!

- Thoughts on Ryan Miller's intelligence, and some advanced stats to boot. [DGWU Sports]

- A third option for the Sabres 1st round draft pick. [Sabre Noise]

- A short preview of the World Championships. [Sabres Edge]

- What are the USA's medal chances at the World Championships? Pretty good, apparently. [USA Today]

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Here are your daily dose of Buffalo Sabres links to help you get through Thorsday.

- Buffalo Sabres season awards. [The Hockey Writers]

- In a nice twist, here's a post grading the departed Sabres and call-ups. [Two In The Box]

- A Sabres season wrap-up for defensemen. [The Hosers]

- Some prospect notes as the junior playoffs continue. [Sabres.com]

- Some Western New York youngsters were taken in the USHL draft. [Sabres Edge]

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TJ Brennan performed admirably for the Buffalo Sabres in his short debut this season. He's a former second round pick with a cannon of a shot and plenty of potential, but there's one question that I'm sure he's thinking about this summer:

Do the Sabres have a spot next season for TJ Brennan?

Buffalo will have at least five solid incumbents returning next season - Tyler Myers, Christian Ehrhoff, Robyn Regehr, Andrej Sekera, and Jordan Leopold. Mike Weber will also be back, and Marcus Foligno made a strong case that he deserves to be with the big club next season and is expected to challenge for Mike Weber's starting spot. Oh, and the team will certainly explore resigning Alexander Sulzer after he performed so well for them down the stretch.

All of this is well and good for the Sabres, but it leaves Brennan as the odd man out. If Sulzer resigns, Brennan would once again find himself ninth on the organizational depth chart and would be looking at starting the season for the Amerks.

That's not necessarily a bad thing for the young defenseman, or for the Sabres organization. He'd get another year of seasoning in the AHL instead of riding the pine for Buffalo, and would continue to absorb the wisdom of Sabres University Professors Ron Rolston and Jay McKee. At the end of the 2012-13 season, the contracts of Leopold, Regehr, and Weber will be up, and Brennan's path to the NHL will be much more clear.

What do you think Sabres fans? Is a 100+ mph shot enough to give the kid a shot to make the Sabres next year? Or does he need more seasoning?

With the 2011-12 Buffalo Sabres ending in disappointment and after a few weeks for us to gather our thoughts, it's time for us to issue our report cards on the season. Over the next few weeks, we'll grade every player that wore a Buffalo Sabres uniform in 2011 and 2012, from Luke Adam to Mike Weber.

Introduction: Before this season, TJ Brennan was probably best known for having a cannon of a shot - he previously won the AHL hardest shot competition - but Sabres fans had the chance to see him in eleven games this season. Brennan was the ninth defenseman for Buffalo, and while he didn't look terrible in his short NHL debut, he didn't do anything to set the world on fire, either.

His AHL stats are impressive as Brennan was tied for seventh on the Amerks in points with 30, including 16 goals. After the break, let's dig deeper into TJ's rookie season.

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