Defenseless against the Ducks

The Sabres were the better team in the first period, but allowed 20 shots against in the second, and put together very little offense in the third to lose to the Ducks.

Lalime was in net, but played very well, and kept the Sabres in the game for far longer than they should have been. Buffalo's main problem was their lack of experienced defensemen. The team was down to just Rivet and Lydman for last night, and Rivet had 12 minutes of penalties so his on ice contributions were even further limited. Until the team can get healthy Buffalo either needs to overpower their opponents with offense or they are going to lose a few games.

Kaleta had the games first goal, and played really well, in part because Anaheim plays a physical game which is one of Kaleta's strengths. The other goal came from Rivet, off of a rebound from a shot by Gaustad. Paul also had an assist on the earlier goal as well.

Official Three Stars

Chris Kunitz

Scott Niedermayer

Chris Pronger

My Three Stars

Chris Pronger (one goal, plus one, five shots)

Corey Perry (one goal, five shots)

Patrick Kaleta (one goal)

Pacific Division

The Pacific division is set to be one of the toughest divisions in the NHL this coming season. The division's top two teams in Dallas and San Jose are almost guaranteed to make the playoffs, and a third is likely to do so as well.

#1 Dallas Stars
Stu Barnes may have moved into coaching, but the bedrock of the Dallas Stars is in goal. Marty Turco is the best goalie in the league, and is more than capable of carrying the team. However he now has the supporting cast to help him. Dallas doesn't have many big names (besides the aging Mike Modano), but has solid depth all around, and a talented forward in Brad Richards. That said, an injury to Turco would end their season.

#2 San Jose Sharks
This team is also able to benefit from top quality goaltending, and have the league's second best goalie in Evgeni Nabokov. The team however is weaker as a whole. They have lost both former Sabre Brian Campbell, and current Sabre Craig Rivet from their defense, and instead are going to have to rely on the overpriced Boyle. Up front the team is based around it's veterans like Jeremy Roenick, former Sabre Mike Grier, and the very talented Jonathan Cheechoo.

#3 Phoenix Coyotes
The desert dogs are a team on the rise, and have a shot at making the post season this year. They need to hope that goalie Ilya Bryzgalov's success last season was not a fluke, and that they can get better production from their younger players. They have also brought in Olli Jokinen from Florida, who while very talented leads the league in games played without a playoff appearance.

#4 Anaheim Ducks
While stocked with good players, this is a team that may be too dysfunctional to have a phenomenal season. They have a good shot at getting third in the division, but won't be able to get into the top two. The team is over the cap and is still trying to get Teemu Selanne onto the team. While stocked with good players like the Niedermayers and Gigure in goal, the team has also traded away other top line talent like Andy McDonald.

#5 Los Angeles Kings
The Kings being at the bottom of this conference shouldn't surprise anyone. They have a young team, a number of goalies that nobody has heard of, and a history of finishing last. The team is barely over the cap and has no expectations to do anything.

See also the reviews of the Central division and the Southeast division

Buffalo wins the brawl, loses the game

The Sabres lost a fight filled game to the Ducks 4-1. The Sabres didn't play well at all in the second period and managed only three shots in those twenty minutes. The powerplay for Buffalo wasn't good at all, as the team was almost scared to shoot the puck, failing to do so at even the most obvious of opportunities.

The Sabres did much better with their gloves off. Peters fought Parros twice, coming even in the first match, and decisively winning the second, even taking an opportunity to mock Parros' ridiculous eighties style mustache. Gaustad took an opportunity to beat on Bertuzzi. There was plenty more hostility between the teams, but nothing that was a clear fight, although three penalties were assessed after the end of the third including a ten minute game misconduct to Pronger.

Hecht played well as always, scoring the lone goal for the Sabres, marking the 8th straight game that the Sabres scored first after failing to do so for 13 straight.

Also, Ryan Miller played against his brother Drew for the first time in the NHL, but I can expect the Buffalo News to run with that story, so I'll let you all read about it there...

Official Three Stars

Todd Bertuzzi

Andy McDonald

Chris Pronger

My Three Stars

Andy McDonald (one goal, one assist, plus two)

Jean-Sebastien Giguere (played well in net)

Paul Gaustad (beating up Todd Bertuzzi is always good)

The rest of the league

Although the Sabres are really stumbling to start off the season, their rivals up in Ottawa are doing rather well. The Senators have gotten off to a 3-0 start, including two wins against Toronto. Chris Neil is already back to his cheap hits after injuring the Rangers Sean Avery with an elbow to the head. Granted there is a difference between Drury and Avery, but there is doubt that Neil's primary focus on the ice is not to play hockey, but to injure the opponents.

Out west the Ducks have already played five games and will be up to six the day before Buffalo takes to the ice for game number three. If they keep up this pace they will finish the regular season by the beginning of February.

Down in Philly Daniel Briere is having a good season so far, posting up 4 points (including 3 goals) after only two games. The team could well be 2-0 if they didn't kick a goal into their own net last Saturday.

2-1 Colorado is appreciating second year player Paul Stastny who is starting of the season even better than Briere is. After posting a hat-trick in the season opener he now has 4 goals and 4 assists after only three games.

Two games into his rookie season top draft pick Patrick Kane picked up his first point (an assist) for Chicago against the Red Wings, then went on to score the winner in the shootout. Even this early in the season it is hard to see anyone else winning rookie of the year...

The Season Starts

Buffalo is one of the last teams have it's season opener tonight, when they play the New York Islanders. Kotalik is still not expected to play in either game this weekend, but the Sabres should be favorites to win both matches.

Elsewhere the Ducks have already played three games this season, and have come out with a win, a loss, and an OT/SO loss. One tally in each category to start the season, and not looking as good as they did last year already.

The Senators are the league leaders in the early going, after twice beating the Toronto Maple Leafs. As long as the Sabres can sweep the leafs themselves, this really shouldn't put Buffalo back in the standings any.

Second year forward Paul Stastny who should have won the Calder last year, had a hat-trick in the Avalanche's season opener against Dallas, but saw his team shutout yesterday against Nashville.

Buffalo's former captains are getting off to a fast start this season. Briere has already scored twice for Philadelphia, and Drury has a game winner for the Rangers.

NHL in London

The NHL started the regular season with a pair of games in London, England this year. The games were between the LA Kings and the defending Stanley Cup champions, the Anaheim Ducks. The Kings upset the Ducks in the first game on Satuday 4-1, but Anaheim came back to win Sunday's match 4-1 themselves. Anaheim has already fallen behind the great start they had last year, but still have 80 games to go and have plenty of time to still win out the west. Most teams start their regular seasons towards the end of this week.

The Sabres first regular season game is on Friday against the New York Islanders. Roy actually lead the league in points during the preseason, lets hope that massive productivity continues through the rest of the year.