Still Undefeated

Buffalo keeps on winning on the strength of their special teams. The Sabres have still allowed no goals against while on the penalty kill, and added two more powerplay goals in the first period to give themselves the early lead.

Clarke MacArthur got another goal, Ales Kotalik scored his fourth, and Vanek incredibly scored his sixth of the season already. Afinogenov has looked good, and Spacek put together a solid game, scoring the first goal, and getting three shots on net. Ryan Miller looked a bit shaky, as he probably should have had both of the shots that he let by him.

Buffalo was very disciplined not taking any penalties until the end of the first, and the only bad one, was the diving call on Kaleta. Still Buffalo allowed two goals against, the second to former Sabre Steve Bernier. MacArthur was on the ice for every single goal in the game, for and against. Vancouver sat Roberto Luongo, their captain and all star, but given how dominant Buffalo was it would have been unlikely to have made a difference.

Official Three Stars

Thomas Vanek

Ales Kotalik

Jaroslav Spacek

My Three Stars

Thomas Vanek (one goal, two assists, seven shots on net)

Ales Kotalik (two goals)

Jaroslav Spacek (one goal, one assist, plus two)

Luongo to be the first goalie captain

The Vancouver Canucks have named goalie Roberto Luongo as the teams captain. Traditionally goalies have not been allowed to be captains. In fact the NHL even has a rule that states that "No goalkeeper shall be permitted to act as Captain or Alternate Captain". Somehow I think that Luongo is going to remain as a goalie this season (he is the seventh best in the league).

So does this blatant disrespect for the rules mean that Ryan Miller has a possibility of taking on the role of captain for the Sabres this season? Last year he acted, and was viewed as, the de facto captain and may do so again this year. However will Ruff (himself a former assistant captain) go against years of tradition and allow Miller to wear a letter. Furthermore what happens when the backup plays a game? Does the team just have their captain sit on the bench for the entire game? I don't think that it will happen in Buffalo, at least not with the number of qualified leaders that the team already has.

On a completely unrelated note, the Buffalo Sabres have signed a five year deal with Coca Cola. This will give Coke "exclusive pouring rights within HSBC Arena", in short you will have to buy your Pepsi elsewhere.

What is going on with Bernier?

Steve Bernier has been getting quite the tour of the NHL lately. After playing for a number of years in San Jose, he got traded to Buffalo last spring for Brian Campbell. Most analysts felt that a change of location would do Bernier good, and that Buffalo was a good fit for him. After finishing out the season for the Sabres instead of being resigned as a restricted free agent, he was traded to Vancouver for draft picks. Before he could get a deal done in Vancouver, he signed an offer sheet from the St. Louis Blues, but later had the offer matched by Vancouver.

Either Bernier is the most wanted player in the league, or the least wanted. Still Vancouver at least seems committed to him, and playing on a line with the Sedins should be a good fit for Bernier.

Had Vancouver not matched the deal he signed with the Blues, the team would have only received a second round pick as compensation, which is less then the second, and third rounders that were traded to Buffalo for him in the first place.

His contract is $2.5 million for one year, and while he is a good player, I'm not sure he is worth that. As such I'm glad the Sabres had traded him out for the two draft picks instead of the one we would have received instead. With the mass amount of right wingers that made trading him possible to begin with there is no way that Buffalo would have signed him for more than Gaustad is making.

Buffalo and Bernier both appear to have made out nicely from all of this. However if this is how the restricted free agent market is going, I want Paille signed as soon as possible, and am really glad that Paul Gaustad is not going anywhere anytime soon.