Not so fast.

During last night’s game against the Winnipeg Jets, Ryan Miller’s desperate attempt to stop a puck that got by him was successful, as he reached back with his stick to make an incredible goal line save on Tanner Glass.  Unfortunately, it was not enough as the Sabres lost the game by a score of 4-1, their fourth loss in a row.

After a change in ownership and several off-season acquisitions, the Sabres were supposed to be contenders in the East this season.  Instead, they now find themselves sitting in 11th in the conference, nine points out of a playoff spot.  Yes, it has certainly been a disappointing season for Buffalo, and it doesn’t get much more disappointing than losing a game when your goalie is making saves like this one.

Hat Tip – [NHL.com]

Jhonas Enroth

The Sabres headed into the playoffs on a roll, largely due to the play of Enroth.  They continued on that roll last night, thanks to a perfect 35 save performance from Miller.  The Sabres would only score on goal throughout the 60 minute game, but that was all they needed, en route to the 1-0 victory.

Heading into this series, goaltending was expected to be a key factor.  The Sabres have themselves a proven goaltender in Miller, while the Flyers ae left to rely on a relatively inexperienced netminder in Sergei Bobrovsky.  Bobrovsky did all that he could last night, stopping 24 of the 25 shots he faced, but that still wasn’t good enough to out-duel Miller, who earns our “Stat Line of the Night” for Thursday, April 14, 2011.

Besides helping his Sabres to a 3-0 shutout victory over the Maple Leafs, he made a trick shot that seems almost impossible, especially for a goalie.  The little hole in the boards behind the goal is there for photographers to get clear photos of the action as it occurs.  The announcers point out that the hole is so small and high up, that in practice the players screw around trying to put the puck in the hole, but can never really do it.  Yet Miller seemed to have no problem at all.  It looks like he aims right at that thing and just pops the puck through.  Unfortunately the photographer on the other side took it right in the face.  He didn’t get slashed in the head or anything, but it doesn’t look fun for him.

The announcers are hilarious about it too (no, I don’t mean those goofy Canadian accents, although those are funny as well), continuing to point out how lucky the photographer is that he got hit in the face instead of having his camera get hit.  I’m sure the camera is expensive, but that bruise looks pretty painful, doesn’t it?  Also it was definitely a classy move for Miller to make sure he was alright and then give the cameraman his stick after the game.  Thankfully there was only one guy to take the stick, so no fights broke out over it.  I mean you never know with hockey fans.

Total Pro Sports – With the start of the 2009-10 NHL Season upon us it’s time to take a look and see how each team stacks up. As per the norm, each preview will be broken down by division in order of how we think the team will finish.

Lets take a look at the Northeast Division for the 2009-10 NHL Preview.

1. Boston Bruins

Despite the loss of Phil Kessel the Bruins are still a very talented team and should win the Northeast Division for the second year in a row.

Boston is just littered with players who can put the puck in the net. Marc Savard, Blake Wheeler, Michael Ryder, Milan Lucic, David Krejci and Patrice Bergeron make up the top 6. Keeping in mind that doesn’t include players like Mark Recchi, Marco Sturm and youngsters Vladimir Sobotka, Brad Marchand and Zach Hamill.

The Bruins defence looks just as good lead by the Big “Z” himself Zdeno Chara. Dennis Wideman and Derek Morris will help Chara with offensive production from the blue line while players like Andrew Ference and Mark Stuart will give the team some solid defensive play.

Tim Thomas will look to post another 30+ win season and capture back-to-back Vezina Trophies and the highly touted Tuukka Rask will strut his stuff as the team’s backup.

2. Montreal Canadiens

To say Montreal’s 100th season was a disappointment would be an understatement. However, they’ve made a lot of changes to their core and appear that they’ll be a tougher team to play against.

The Canadiens made a big trade to acquire Scott Gomez as their #1 centre then went out and signed Brian Gionta hoping the two can rekindle the magic they had together in New Jersey. However, their big signing came in the form of Mike Cammalleri who will be looking to develop some chemistry with Tomas Plekanec.

Although they lost hard-nosed defenceman Mike Komisarek to the rival Leafs, the Habs defence looks solid. Andrei Markov will lead things from the point a long with Roman Hamrlik and Jaroslav Spacek. Paul Mara, Josh Gorges and Hal Gill add some good depth and Ryan O’Byrne will make things interesting with his toughness.

Carey Price took a step backwards last season and will look to find some of the magic he found during his rookie season. Jaroslav Halak proved last year that he’s a solid backup and capable of filling in if Price goes down due to injury.

3. Ottawa Senators

Just like the Canadiens, the Senators 2008-09 season is one they’d like to forget.

Upfront Ottawa looks pretty good, especially their top 6. Jason Spezza, Daniel Alfredsson, Alexei Kovalev, Jonathan Cheechoo and Milan Michalek highlight the top 6 group. Mike Fisher will be asked to be the 2nd line centre but is more suited for the 3rd line. Shean Donovan, Nick Foligno, Chris Kelly, Chris Neil and Jarkko Ruutu make up a solid bottom 6 that’ll be tough to play against.

They don’t have one name that really stands out on defence, but as a unit they should be effective. Anton Volchenkov, Chris Phillips, Chris Campoli and Filip Kuba make up a decent top 4 with guys like Brian Lee, Erik Karlsson, Alexandre Picard and the surprising Matt Carkner battling it out for the 3rd pairing.

The Sens are hoping to finally get some stability in net with Pascal Leclaire and Brian Elliott is a solid backup and able to step in if Leclaire falls to injury…which could very well happen.

4. Toronto Maple Leafs

Despite the improved blue line and addition of Phil Kessel I still see the Leafs finishing behind the Sens this season.

Phil Kessel highlights the Leafs forward group, however he isn’t expected to play until mid November and that’s if everything goes according to plan. Mikhail Grabovski, Nikolai Kulemin and John Mitchell all had successful rookie campaigns in 2008-09 and will look to improve. Jason Blake had a nice rebound season and Niklas Hagman could end up scoring 30 goals if he stays healthy. Viktor Stalberg has looked great in camp and preseason and should be an interesting wild card to keep an eye on.

Defence is definitely Toronto’s strength. They have a solid top 4 with Tomas Kaberle, Mike Komisarek, Francois Beauchemin and Luke Schenn. Which leaves Ian White, Mike Van Ryn, Garnet Exelby, Jeff Finger and Carl Gunnarsson to battle it out for the 3rd pairing.

Vesa Toskala will look to rebound after a sub par year and Jonas Gustavsson will look to show why people were calling him the best goaltender not in the NHL last year.

5. Buffalo Sabres

The Sabres managed 91 points last season and were ever so close to making the playoffs. However, looking at their defence I see a disappointing season ahead for Buffalo.

Upfront the Sabres don’t look too bad with Thomas Vanek, Derek Roy and Jason Pominville. Pominville did suffer a set back last season only collecting 66 points and the team will be looking for Drew Stafford to step it up as well and improve from his 45 points from last season. The ever talented Tim Connolly managed 47 points in 48 games last year but never seems to be able to stay healthy.

Defence is where this team really struggles. Even as a unit I don’t seem them being able to stop other team’s top scorers. Craig Rivet, Henrik Tallinder, Toni Lydman and Steve Montador are solid defenceman but wouldn’t consider any of them 1st pairing material. Youngsters Nathan Paetsch, Andrej Sekera and Chris Butler will be battling it out with Joe DiPenta for the final spots.

Ryan Miller will look to post his 5th consecutive 30+ win season and will have to stand on his head if the Sabres are to challenge for a playoff spot again this season. At 35-years old Patrick Lalime is on the downside of his career but is still a fairly reliable backup.

We’ll thank The Score Blog for this interesting story about how LeBron James Skills Academy turned into a no-photography zone after King James was posterized by the high school phenom with a two-handed dunk.  Gary Parrish from CBS Sports described the incident as follows:

The word when I arrived at the LeBron James Skills Academy was that Monday’s best highlight came in a pick-up game featuring the college players and James himself. According to the collection of NBA scouts and other folks here, Xavier’s Jordan Crawford dunked on James pretty good. So I had to find out whether it was true.

“It happened, and it was bad,” said Michael Gilchrist, the top player in the Class of 2011. “That was something to see.”

Sorry I missed it. [CBS Sports]

When Parrish began looking for more information on what he had missed, he found it from freelance photographer Ryan Miller.  Unfortunately, there was no video to accompany the explanation:

Turns out, there were at least two cameras rolling Monday night when Crawford dunked on James during a pick-up game here at the LeBron James Skills Academy. It was a two-handed jam, the kind that would’ve circulated quickly on YouTube. But Nike officials eliminated that possibility shortly after the dunk happened by allegedly confiscating tapes from various cameramen.

Worth noting is that there is no policy against filming at the LeBron James Skills Academy, and Miller said he had been filming all day without incident. Nobody ever told him to stop. Nobody ever said there was a problem … until after Crawford dunked on James.

“LeBron called Lynn over and told him something,” Miller said. “That’s how I knew his name was Lynn. LeBron said, ‘Hey, Lynn. Come here.’”

Minutes later, Miller said Merritt demanded his tape. [CBS Sports]

So now we are left here wondering just how mythical this dunk was.  We are tired of seeing LeBron James highlights, featuring him hitting a shot from on his ass, or from an impossible angle.  Give us what we want Nike and LeBron.  WE WANT THE TAPE!

Hat Tip – [The Score Blog]

Ending (Feb 22nd)

Total Pro Sports – This week’s NHL Power Rankings sees a very familiar face…umm logo…re-take the top spot and the Ducks flying south.

NHL Power Rankings Movers And Shakers

The biggest Shakers in our NHL Power Rankings this week were the Anaheim Ducks falling 4 spots to land at #20.

The second biggest shaker was the Los Angeles Kings who dropped 2 spots to end up at #24.

The biggest Movers in our NHL Power Rankings this week were the Vancouver Canucks, Minnesota Wild and Pittsburgh Penguins all moving up 2 spots to sit at #11, #17 and #18 respectively.

Lets take a look at the rest of the league: NHL POWER RANKINGS for Week 20.

Rank	Team	Record	Change	Comment
1		40-8-9	1	Look to be back on track after winning all 3 games last week.
2		39-13-8	1	Solid week for Henrik Zetterberg collecting 2 goals and 3 assists for 5 points in 3 games.
3		38-17-5	-	7-2-1 in their last 10 games. Alexander Ovechkin appears to be in fine form after getting under the skin of Sidney Crosby in their game against Pittsburgh.
4		38-19-3	-	With Martin Brodeur set to return from injury the Devils will look to challenge the Bruins and Capitals for top spot in the East.
5		40-12-8	-	4-4-2 in their last 10 games.
6		35-18-6	1	Collected 5 out of a possible 6 points.
7		34-16-8	1	Outscored their opponents 12-4 in their 3 wins but had a hard time scoring vs Minnesota losing 2-1.
8		31-17-9	-	Great week for Mike Richards posting 8 points and being named the NHL’s 1st Star.
9		31-22-7	-	Putting the drama behind him Alex Kovalev re-joined and lead the Habs to a 5-3 win over the Sens collecting 3 points.
10		31-23-7	-	Will be interesting to see how the players react to the firing of Tom Renney and the hiring of John Tortorella.
11		30-21-8	2	On a 4 game win streak including an emotional 3-2 shootout victory for Mats Sundin over his former Leafs team.
12		31-23-6	1	With both Thomas Vanek and now Ryan Miller out of the lineup due to injuries the Sabres will have to dig deep to keep their playoff hopes alive.
13		30-21-8	1	Great week for Tomas Vokoun posting two shutouts in the Panthers wins over the Devils and Bruins.
14		30-24-6	-	Went 4-1-1 during their busiest stretch of the season playing 6 games in 9 nights.
15		31-25-5	-	On a 3 game win streak with Matt Cullen scoring a hat-trick in the Hurricanes 5-2 win over the Avalanche.
16		29-22-7	1	Have fared well so far with Brad Richards out of the lineup going 2-1 last week.
17		30-24-4	2	Went 2-0-1 against three tough opponents in the Flames, Red Wings and Blackhawks.
18		29-26-6	2	Despite their loss to the Capitals, the Penguins appear to be a better team with Sergei Gonchar in the lineup which is great news as they try to push for a playoff spot.
19		29-25-5	1	Currently on a 3 game winless streak.
20		29-27-5	4	Were able to break their 3 game losing streak with a 5-2 win over the Blue Jackets.
21		28-28-4	-	Steve Sullivan scored his first 2 goals in almost two years in the Predators 6-2 loss to the Red Wings.
22		27-28-5	1	Put together back-to-back victories over the Thrashers and Kings.
23		25-26-8	1	Congratulations goes out to head coach Andy Murray who collected his 300th career victory in the Blues 2-1 win over the Predators.
24		25-24-9	2	Have gone 1-3-2 in their last 6 games.
25		28-31-1	-	Nice week for Ryan Smyth who posted 2 goals and 2 assists for 4 points in 3 games.
26		22-27-9	-	Chris Campoli had a solid Sens debut posting 2 assists in their 5-3 loss to the Canadiens.
27		22-26-12	-	Suffered two tough shootout losses to the Blue Jackets and Canucks and almost faced the Rangers in one too but managed to beat them in OT.
28		20-28-12	-	Are 1-3-1 in their last 5 games.
29		21-33-6	-	Will be interesting to see who else the Thrashers trade away before the deadline as they build towards next season…and beyond.
30		18-35-6	-	The Islanders will look to continue stock piling picks and young players/prospects as the deadline nears.

Be sure to check back next week with our NHL Power Rankings for Week 21.

This week’s honorable mention goes to Ryan Miller of the Buffalo Sabres. Last week Miller put up 2 wins while posting a 1.30 GAA, .958 SAV% and a shutout in the Sabres win over Toronto. Ryan had a sub par season last year compared to his usual standards, but he has rebounded nicely this season with 26 wins, 2.45 GAA, .920 SAV% and 5 shutouts in 45 games so far.

Lets take a look at the NHL Fantasy 3 Stars for Week 18.

3rd Star – Marian Hossa (RW), Detroit Red Wings

If Marian Hossa keeps up this kind of production he’ll easily be this summer’s most sought after free agent. Hossa scored 6 goals and added 1 assist for 7 points with 2 of those points coming on the power play. He also registered 18 shots on goal, one game winning goal and a plus/minus rating of plus-6.

2nd Star – Jonathan Quick (G), Los Angeles Kings

It looks like the Kings have found their new #1 starter until Jonathan Bernier is ready to step in. Last week Jonathan Quick collected 3 wins while posting a 1.67 GAA, .950 SAV% and a shutout in Los Angeles’ victory over Ottawa. If you’re looking for some goaltending help but don’t want to give up a lot Quick might be your guy as he has 10 wins, 2.38 GAA, .920 SAV% and 3 shutouts in just 18 games so far this season.

1st Star – Mike Green (D), Washington Capitals

Now to reveal the secret everyone has been waiting for. Last week’s #1 Fantasy Star is…Mike Green! Okay, I admit that isn’t a shock to anyone, but I do find his current 6 game goal scoring streak amazing. Green put up 4 goals and 2 assists for 6 points with 4 of those points coming on the power play. He also had 6 penalty minutes, 8 shots on goal, one game winning goal and a plus/minus rating of plus-1. With this recent surge it looks like the Norris Trophy finalists will be Chara, Boyle and Green.

Remember to check back in next week to see who the NHL Fantasy 3 Stars will be for Week 19.

The Game: Montreal Canadiens @ Buffalo Sabres, (NHL)

The Pick: Buffalo Sabres (-130)

The Reason: The Sabres have been on fire lately and should be able to take care of an inconsistent and injury filled Montreal team at home.  Ryan Miller is currently riding a shutout streak of 126 minutes and 52 seconds.

The Game: Toronto Raptors @ New Orleans Hornets, (NBA)

The Pick: New Orleans Hornets (-3)

The Reason: Both teams will be missing their All-Stars, Chris Bosh is out for the Raptors and Chris Paul will likely be out for the Hornets, but the Hornets will be able to win this one.  Each team is currently on a 4 game losing streak, but as we have seen before the Raps love helping teams get back in the win column.

The Game: Orlando Magic @ Indiana Pacers, (NBA)

The Pick: Indiana Pacers (+6.5)

The Reason: All-Star Jameer Nelson is out of the line-up with a serius shoulder injury, so look for the point guard combination of T.J. Ford and Jarrett Jack to put up some big numbers.  This is the riskiest play of the night, but it could pay off big time.

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The Game: Toronto Maple Leafs at Buffalo Sabres, (NHL)

The Pick: Buffalo Sabres (-220)

The Reason: The Leafs have not played good hockey lately and the possible return of Ryan Miller means big trouble for the buds.  Toronto teams are really struggling now, so start betting against them and start making some money.

The Game: Pheonix Coyotes at Detroit Red Wings, (NHL)

The Pick: Detroit Red Wings (-330)

The Reason:  The Wings have not been playing good hockey lately, but a game against the Coyotes is just what the doctor ordered to cure their losing ways.  The return of Henrik Zetterberg and Thomas Holmstrom to the linuep tonight will be a big boost for the wings.

The Game: Los Angeles Lakers at Toronto Raptors, (NBA)

The Pick: Los Angeles Lakers (-7.5)

The Reason: The Raptors suck at defense and Kobe can score at will.  This one could get ugly, so take the Lakers to win big.

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The Sabres failed to score less than 3 goals in any of the periods and Drew Stafford led the way scoring a hat-trick in the 10-2 rout. Sadly the game was played at Rexall Place where the fans were, I am sure not pleased with the effort. It is clear that this team has alot of maturation to do, the level of consistency is not where it needs to be. They do not have the leadership in that locker room that resembles a playoff calibre team.

When Pronger decided to depart for warmer temperatures the void for a No. 1 defenceman was filled by Sheldon Souray. In my opinion Souray is old NHL, clutching, grabbing, hooking, holding, he does not have the foot speed to keep up with some of the best forwards in the game. Although he has a great shot from the point and is a power-play specialist, he is not a No. 1 defenceman in the NHL.

The Oilers later decided to trade away Captain Canada, the heart and soul of the Edmonton Oilers, based on a contract difference of approximately $500,000, whether the Oilers thought it was time to move on is debatable. They then traded away key role players like Raffi Torres and Jarret Stoll, guys that will not put up 80+ points but do all the little things that playoff teams need (winning face-offs in your own zone, taking the body, good fore-check).

So what do we have left, a veteran goalie that seems to play well from time to time, a bunch of highly skilled forwards that need time to develop, third and fourth liners that have a hard time staying healthy (Fernando Pisani, Ethan Moreau, Zack Stortini), and a coach that cannot motivate his players to raise the enthusiasm on a nightly basis.