The Legend Grows

Kassian's first game as a Sabre saw him get an assist.

Kassian's second game saw him get a goal.

Then last night Zack jumped to defend the honor of Nathan Gerbe and he dropped the mitts for the first time in his NHL career.

And I doubt it will be the last.

Other takes based on the news of the day:

Sabres loses 2-1 to the Isles - Memo to the rest of the roster: You can't win by only getting offense from the top line and good goaltending.

Hockey Independent calls Ville Leino the second most overpaid guy in the NHL making north of $4 million - Awesome........

Bucky Gleason honors Jim Kelley by speculating that the Sabres and Ducks are talking trade involving Ryan Miller and Bobby Ryan - I doubt that Bucky is connecting those dots accurately. Too many teams are in on Bobby Ryan and Miller is still the face of the franchise for that deal to happen.

Chris Botta says that the Ducks and Sabres are talking trade, although maybe not involving Bobby Ryan - This makes more sense since it opens up a variety of trade options with the Sabres perhaps getting tougher (Brookbank or Parros to Buffalo for a pick) or the Sabres getting Toni Lydman back, or any other combination of potential deals. There were Ducks scouts in the house for the Sabres-Isles game last night. So, it has to be bigger than just Ryan Miller potentially going to Anaheim since he's still out of the Sabres lineup.

Are we having fun yet?

We're 23 games into the season and the Sabres are three points behind Toronto (really????) for first place in the division with a game in hand.

Not bad, but not kill everyone by 4 goals a night great, either.

Here are some quick takes on a variety of things going on in SabreLand:

- So a reporter in Edmonton heard that Ryan Miller wouldn't object to a trade out of Dodge.

My take: Who cares? He's a pro athlete with a limited NTC. What else would a player do if he were traded. Personally, I want Miller to A) Get Healthy and B) Get Back to Being a Stud #1 Goalie

- Lucic runs Miller and the Sabres wait until the next game to try and beat him up.

My take: Lucic is tougher than anyone on the Sabres, so it didn't really surprise me. And if Patrick Kaleta weren't afraid of a Shana-ban, I would have expected him to run Boston's Vezina Trophy Winning goalie through the end boards.

- The Sabres injury list is long and distinguished.

My take: I like what young guys like Tropp, McNabb, Brennan, Szczechura, and Kassian have brought to the table on recall. And the whole "Legend of Zack Kassian" was awesome with Zack doing a good job to live up to the hype with a goal, an assist, and six hits in his first two NHL games.

- Has Ville Leino replaced Tim Connolly as the new whipping boy?

My take: He is my whipping boy. He was brought in to produce more than 6 pts in his first 23 games in a Sabres uniform. Plenty of people want to be patient and especially see if he produces in the playoffs. But, if he can't produce in October and November, can he be expected to produce big time in the post season?

- Vanek (tied for 4th) and Pominville (tied for 6th) are both in the top 10 in the NHL in points so far this season.

My take: It's nice to see two of the Rochester leadership core are doing what they are expected to do. And then some. Drew Stafford's production has tailed off. Derek Roy got off to a slow start. Paul Gaustad didn't address the Lucic situation in a timely manner. But, Captain Pominville and Thomas Vanek have combined to be one of the top 1-2 punches so far this season and you can't complain one iota about how they've played this season.

- Luke Adam is 3rd in the NHL in rookie scoring.

My take: Who saw that pleasant surprise coming? I didn't. And I may be overly optimistic, but I could see Luke Adam staying top 5 in rookie scoring for the whole season.

- Jhonas Enroth is the #1 rookie goalie so far this season.

My take: He's the only rookie goalie getting enough playing time to qualify amongst the Save% Leaders. But, his .925 Save% puts him between Marc-Andre Fleury and Pekka Rinne amongst the league leaders. That's not bad company for a goalie to keep.

Up Next:

The Sabres host the struggling NY Islanders. The Islanders are going so bad that their owner had to give the coach and GM the good ole public sign of confidence today given Washington and Carolina gassing their coaches yesterday.

Maybe the Sabres can blow out the Isles and get another head coach fired?