What is likely to happen this off season in Buffalo

I'm fully expecting the biggest change this off season with the Sabres will be the retirement of the slug and the roll out of two new jerseys for 2010-11.

Last off season, Larry Quinn said they did a thorough top to bottom evaluation of the organization and that led to another "Status Quo" type approach to the off season with the core remaining the same and Regier banking on growth from within.

I fully expect the Sabres to approach this off season like they did last off season.

Larry Quinn won't relieve Darcy Regier of his duties and Darcy Regier won't relieve Lindy Ruff of his duties.

I expect Derek Roy & Tim Connolly wto return as the top 2 centers on this team.

The Sabres will likely re-sign Henrik Tallinder to a contract that will appear good this summer with Henrik having a solid 2010-11 season, but will not look as good a year or two down the road.

I would hope that Mike Grier and the Sabres can agree on a new deal.

Toni Lydman might walk as an UFA and the Sabres will either replace him from within with a guy like Mike Weber or they'll get this year's Steve Montador (read a cost effective UFA).

They might deal Drew Stafford, but I doubt it.

Adam Mair, who was waived mid-season, might go to be replaced with Cody McCormick who played well in the Boston series. Matt Ellis is an UFA this summer and he may not be back, as well.

Zack Kassian might earn a roster spot.

Jhonas Enroth might get a shot to back up Ryan Miller or they'll sign another in the glorious line of UFA backups of Lalime and Thibault.

What I'm not expecting is for Regier and company to reevaluate how they want to build their roster and have a lot of turnover with regards to the top 6 forwards and a spot or two on defense.

While many believe that the NHL has slipped on it's commitment to getting obstruction out of the game and the formula for success that worked for the Sabres in the first two years after the lockout will not work as well moving forward, I don't see the Sabres coming to that conclusion this off season and making drastic moves.

I don't see them moving Roy and/or Connolly to get bigger, grittier top 6 centers.

I don't see the Sabres addressing their need for a PP QB defenseman by paying a king's ransom to Toronto for Tomas Kaberle.

I don't see the Sabres trying to acquire a power forward/leader top 6 winger like Shane Doan or Jarome Iginla to improve the playoff scoring of their top 2 lines.

In the end, I don't see the Sabres management "playing out of character" this off season to try and make the fundamental changes to the roster that many outside of the organization believe need to be made if this team is to improve in the postseason a year from now.

On the positive side, how many people felt like Regier built a team that was capable of winning the division this season?

RIP 2009-10 Sabres

TBN has post-game audio from Lindy and a bunch of players (including Tim Connolly....)

They also had a little podcast from their trio on-site.

Bucky Gleason also has a decent column on the cracks in the Sabres foundation.

To me, it comes down to the Sabres best players weren't their best players in this series.

Thomas Vanek was solid for me when he was in the lineup with 2 goals 1 assist and +1 in around 7 periods of play.

Ryan Miller was good to great in the bulk of the series.

But, Tim Connolly and Derek Roy will likely be two of the whipping boys for this series. Jason Pominville will more than likely get thrown into that mix, as well.

Moving forward, here are the things that I think the Sabres need get done:

1) They need to get a back up goalie that can play 25 to 30 solid games next season. There was an interesting stat that I read somewhere (I think it was in The Hockey News, but I'm not sure) that the latest Stanley Cup winning goalies all played around 60 games or fewer during the regular season. A rested Ryan Miller would be nice going into the playoffs.

2) They need a head coach that will play the back up goalie 25 to 30 games next season.

3) They need 1st & 2nd line centers that can produce in the playoffs. Tim Connolly isn't that guy. Derek Roy might be able to be the 2nd line center IF they can get a stud #1. But, I'm not 100% sure of that.

4) They need a PP QB defenseman that can make the PP hum. While #3 will help, I think they need a defenseman that can run the PP from the back end. Although, could Tyler Myers be that guy in a year......... Darcy will likely bet on it.

5) They need a shutdown defense pair that can lock down the other team's top line and can kill penalties.

6) Tyler Myers needs a defense partner that can log huge minutes. While Henrik Tallinder looked pretty good on Myers' left this season, I would venture to bet that it was a contract year mirage and I hope the Sabres aren't sucked in. The dream for me would be to lure UFA-to-be defensive monster Anton Volchenkov from Ottawa.

7) The Sabres need Darcy Regier to "play out of character" (I know I'm beating a dead horse with this one.....) and do more than make minor tweaks to the roster this off season. To me, the core of this team is about 50/50 with Myers, Miller, Vanek, and a boatload of good young players (Ennis, Kennedy, Gerbe, etc.) and role players that can get it done (Kaleta, Hecht, McCormick, etc.). They just need a few moves in the right areas to make this team more "playoff ready".

UFA-to-be the Sabres NEED to keep: Mike Grier. Dude blocked a shot with his head. 'Nuff said. Runner up: Matt Ellis. It was tough to come up with a runner up. But, if they can get him back at his bargain basement price, he is a useful role player.

UFA-to-be the Sabres NEED to let walk: Henrik Tallinder. He has contract year written all over him. Runners up: Patrick Lalime & Raffi Torres

Player under contract that most needs a change of scenery: Drew Stafford. Hopefully the Oilers still love him and would give up their 2nd round pick for the guy. Runner up: Paul Gaustad. The Sabres need an upgrade at all their center spots.

Portland Pirates that need to be Sabres in 2010-11: Mike Weber. The Sabres need Weber to step up and fill the whole that will be created if/when Tallinder and/or Lydman walk as UFAs. Runner up: Cody McCormick. Who didn't like what he brought to the table versus Boston?

One guy that a lot of people love that needs to pick it up in 2010-11: Paul Gaustad. Dominating the faceoff dot is not enough. Goose needs to pick it up from his physical play to his offensive production. Runner up: Jason Pominville. 24 goals and 62 pts is not enough for a guy making $5.3M per year.

Big move that is most likely to happen this off season: Lindy Ruff not signing a new deal with the Sabres. I don't think that the Sabres will let Lindy walk. But, I do see Lindy getting fed up and perhaps moving on to a team like the Devils or Flames. Runner up: Tim Connolly gets traded. There are enough teams out there with needs for an offensive minded center (Calgary perhaps...) that Regier finds a home for Tim Connolly.

Big move that is least likely to happen this off season: Sabres acquire a big time #1 center via trade or free agency. Fans will dream of adding guys like RFA Niklas Backstrom in Washington, UFA Patrick Marleau in San Jose, or some other options. But, I don't see Regier and the Sabres being that aggressive this off season.

Most likely game plan for the off season: Same Old Sabres. I fully expect another Darcy Regier era off season where the team makes a tweak here or there and hopes to improve largely due to growth from the players already in the organization and not by importing top 6 forwards or top 4 defensemen from outside.

I hope I'm wrong.

Although, I thought the Sabres didn't do enough this past off season to win the division, so.................

The bandwagon is getting lighter

Perhaps this Tweet typo from the Sabres.com twitter feed is a sign of things to come.

Or the fact that Cody McCormick is the guy that is getting called up in the event that Matt Ellis can't go after getting blown up by Johnny Boychuk has people down.

On the bright side, at least there is practice ice in Western NY!

Seriously though, I'm not THAT worried.

Sure, the guys that Lindy will run out on the top two lines tonight have combined to produce 1 goal and 3 assists so far this series.

Sure, the Sabres powerplay is 0 for 12 this series.

But two out of the three games in this series have been the really tight, low scoring, one goal games that I've expected.

And even Game 3 was a one goal game before the empty netter for the Bruins.

But the Sabres can win this series. Even without Vanek, they can win by only scoring 2 or 3 goals per game. This team has enough talent to score 2 or 3 a game against this Boston team.

They just need Tim Connolly to end his 20 playoff game goalless drought.

They need their PP to show some signs of life.

They need their best forwards to be their best forwards.

Will it be easy? Heck, no.

But this team does have the players to win 3 out of the next 4. They just need to bare down and get the job done.

Now is not the time to panic

With Thomas Vanek going down with a "lower body injury" and the team blowing it's first lead after 2 periods all season, more than a few members of the media and fanbase in Sabreland want to hit the panic button.

But I'm not and here's why:

The Sabres scored 3 goals against Boston with Vanek out for the final two periods.

Ryan Miller and the Sabres defense is not going to continue to give up 4 goals (plus an empty netter) against this Bruins team.

Sure, Vanek is likely out for Game 3 and might not be the same if/when he returns.

Sure, Tim Connolly's playoff goalless streak is at 19 games and counting.

But, this team has enough scoring depth to score 2 or 3 goals per game. And that SHOULD be enough to get past the Bruins minus Marc Savard.

Vanek at the disco

Buffalo became the only home team in the Eastern Conference to win Game 1 with their 2-1 win over Boston last night.

Outside of getting dominated in the 2nd period, Game 1 went as well as the Sabres could hope for.

Thomas Vanek scored for the third straight game after returning from his "lower body" injury.

Ryan Miller was his stellar self with 38 saves and was there when the team needed him in the 2nd period.

Tyler Ennis, Tim Kennedy, and Tyler Myers didn't look like wide eyed rookies.

Craig Rivet blew one past Rask for the game winner.

The Sabres made it 31 games this season where they closed things out without even getting to OT when they are up after 2 periods.

This series likely will continue to be one where the first team to 2 or maybe 3 goals wins. Heck, there might even be one or two 1-0 games.

But, it's nice to have that 1-0 lead and looking at the Pens, Devils, and Caps being in a 1-0 hole.

I don't want to dream too much, but Sabres-Habs with Flyers-Sens would be a nice Eastern Conference Semifinal draw for the Sabres..........