Author: Buffalo Winter

Sporting their black and red bison head logo sweaters last night the Buffalo Sabres scored six goals in one period for the second time in one week as the Sabres shutout the Kings at home 6-0 in another impressive offensive output.

Buffalo did not score six goals in the first period and coast to victory instead they played a tight defensive game while killing off the first two penalties whistled in the game into the second period and then seemingly scored at will in the third period.

Mr. Anderson earns his first shutout since March of 2019 which was against the Sabres, as the Kings fired 40 shots to Buffalo’s 31, both teams were 50% on faceoffs and Los Angeles earned 22 blocks for the game highlighting the wide SOG disparity during the game.

Los Angeles tagged with two penalties at the end of the second and beginning of the third period provided a 5 on 3 that Buffalo scored immediately on to get the onslaught started and after four consecutive Buffalo power plays the Sabres earned their third penalty of the game.

This was a sit at the edge of your seat game even after Buffalo scored the first goal less than two minutes into the third period on the power play and after being heavily outshot in the first two periods this game was nowhere near being won.

Halfway through the third period Buffalo goes up 3-0 aided by Mr Olofsson and JJ Peterka’s even strength goals tallied 13 seconds apart and three minutes later the Kings take one penalty right after another that Buffalo capitalized on to forge a 5-0 lead.

With less than ninety seconds remaining Mr. Asplund carries the puck into the zone and passes to Mr. Olofsson who one-handed puck handles across the front of the net and as he goes past backhands a pass to Mr. Krebs at the top of the blue ice for goal number six.

Buffalo begins a three-game road trip versus the defending Cup Champions Thursday night then to Arizona to take on the Coyotes in their “home rink” Saturday night culminating with a visit to sin city hopefully Jackie Vegas who is on IR will be healthy enough to play.

This is exactly what the Sabres needed to end a winless stretch in what was the second-highest offensive output of the season for Buffalo, striking quickly and often along with a solid physical effort and pushback made for one entertaining game.

Highly praised Tyson Jost arrives in Buffalo and during the first shift of his first game becomes involved in a tone-setting fight that Sabres commentator Mr Ray remarked was good to see and that it makes a huge impression on his teammates.

Head Coach Granato highlighted that fear and hesitation were what was holding us back and the addition of Mr Jost with the return of Mr Girgensons and Mr Samuelsson was apparently the tonic required to dissipate that issue.

Racking up 38 SOG and killing six penalties while scoring seven times, maintaining good sticks on the defense, dogging the puck, and sticking up for each other is the style of play we saw in the first ten games of the season.

Tonight the Sabres host the St. Louis Blues in the first game of a three-game Thanksgiving Home Stand which includes the visiting Devils and their outstanding game and ends with the Lightning striking as Tampa Bay visits here along the Lake.

When the Buffalo Sabres began in 1970 my family had one black and white television set in our home and I did not have any say on what we watched, so I had to listen to most all Hockey games on my transistor radio.

To this day I still listen to most NHL team’s radio broadcasts and for the most part color analyst are entertaining, here along the Lake we have one of Buffalo’s admired, respected, and well-liked former players in Mr. Rob Ray who since 2012 has done color commentary for Buffalo.

An Ontario native from Stirling Mr. Ray was a monster when he came to play for the Rochester Americans earning well over 400 PIM while on average scoring a point every second or third game his first season.

Drafted seven spots after Buffalo selected Mr. Mogilny in the 1988 NHL Entry Draft Mr. Ray was called up from the Amerks in 1989 and scored his first NHL goal on the first shift of his first game for the Sabres.

Authored a book titled “Rayzor’s Edge” on the life of a small-town Canadian boy dreaming and working towards playing in the NHL and finally reaching his goal with descriptions of his life before and during the NHL, interesting and insightful for Sabres and Hockey fans alike.

Mr. Ray was a player that caused the NHL to institute a new rule and altered the way NHL players wear their sweaters or suffer earning a game misconduct prompting fans to refer to this as the “Rob Ray Rule” professionally referred to as “Rule 56. Fisticuffs” from the NHL rule book.

Mr. Ray explained how players would cut pieces of their equipment so that it would rip away in a fight, spray silicone on their arms or sew Velcro into their equipment so nothing would fall off during the preamble to fisticuffs causing the other belligerent to get penalized.

His reputation prompted ESPN to call upon Mr. Ray to do a television commercial about Sportscenter’s security, he was the security officer that pummeled a deliveryman with no identification and pauses to say “Hey Coach” as Mr. Melrose walks by, very funny and can be viewed on Youtube.

The first Buffalo Sabres to earn the 1999 King Clancy Memorial Trophy for the player who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and had made a noteworthy humanitarian contribution to his community Mr. Ray was and still is most deserving.

Mr. Ray’s acceptance speech in 1999 had a joke about how at these NHL awards shows he usually just helps Dominik carry all his trophies and makes sure he gets home alright.

Humble Humanitarian

Contributions to Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, the Make A Wish program, and President of the Buffalo Sabres Alumni Association Mr. Ray’s compassion and generosity have touched so many lives positively and his humble remarks that the kid’s smiles and the thanks from the families are his trophies.

A well-rounded and talented individual Mr. Ray offers informative and at times hilarious insights while commentating on the games that have made listening to the Sabres almost as much fun as when we watched Mr. Ray play.

Dave Dryden was the backup goaltender to Gerry Cheevers on their Toronto Marlboros Major Junior Hockey team in the late fifties and early sixties this true journeyman goaltender has played for no less than 15 different teams across seven leagues.

Dave was an inch or two shorter than his younger brother each was over six feet tall and well-educated and both had a passion to play in net but their career paths were completely different as well as their skills and talents.

Few fans realize that Dave contributed so much to the goaltender position as far as equipment innovation but even fewer people know that he also was an amateur photographer that worked with a small Toronto company called Telecraft Films that created highlight content for the Sabres.

His camera/helmet gear looks so cumbersome and barbaric compared to what technology is available today, ironically the film footage shot by Mr. Dryden was not used in the movie it was meant for.

Mr. Dryden played in 10 games with a three-goalie rotation during Buffalo’s Inaugural NHL Season and earned decent stats across the board, in his second season with Buffalo, he played double the amount of games as Mr. Crozier’s only backup goaltender for the season and did not do as well. 

Mr. Dryden’s third season with the Sabres was the charm as he was over 900 save percentage, a 2.65 GAA, and three shutouts, earning a 14-13-7 record as the backup goaltender as well as starting Buffalo’s first two playoff games.

Mr. Dryden’s fourth and last season with Buffalo at 32 years of age became the starter earning a 23-20-8 record on a team with a 32-34-12 overall record.

Mr. Dryden jumped to the WHA Chicago Cougars and then became an Edmonton Oilers player where he remained and was part of their first season in the NHL where Mr. Dryden was one of six goaltenders for Edmonton and played 14 games winning two and retired from playing after the 1979-80 season.

An average to good goaltender Mr. Dryden should not be remembered as a footnote or in the shadow of his brother but as a major NHL innovator of modern goaltending equipment and as a journeyman NHL goaltender who earned positive statistics as well as an outstanding WHA goalie.

I was a 12-year-old boy when Mr. Dryden left my boys for the WHA, and now in my later years I have watched him leave again, and although I never met him I have included the Dryden family in my thoughts and prayers.