Buffalo Sabres

Having lost 13 of their past 16 games, the Buffalo Sabres are in need of change. Trading center Derek Roy is one possible solution, but it shouldn't be done simply for the sake of making a trade.

Darcy Regier will face his second summer with his pockets loaded by Terry Pegula. Last year, despite making some good additions like Robyn Regehr and Christian Ehrhoff, he gave Ville Leino a six-year, $27 million contract. 

Leino is an extremely questionable addition at that price because he was coming off a marvelous season playing in the first line of the Flyers after being buried in the Red Wings.

There may be nothing scarier in the sports world then taking a razor-sharp ice skate to the face and/or neck. Simply horrifying.

That’s the reality Buffalo Sabres forward Nathan Gerbe faced Friday night when his teammate Paul Gaustad fell and his skate clipped Gerbe’s face.

While players like Ryan Miller, Thomas Vanek and Derek Roy may get most of the publicity, they may not be the ones who are the catalysts to get the Buffalo Sabres to the next level.

That particular reasonable actually lies in the hands of a rookie. By season's end, fans and hockey analysts could be touting Luke Adam as the biggest difference maker for the Blue and Gold. 

Last night, the electrifying Buffalo Sabres stepped into the First Niagara Center for their first true home game of the season. 

It disappointed in every way possible. Sitting in section 108, where my family has held season tickets for almost 10 years now, the entire experience of last night's game was possibly the most forgettable I've ever had as a fan. 

It wasn't just the players whose energy was lacking either.

This Buffalo Sabres need to avoid a rough start to their season.

They came out strong and won their opener in Helsinki against the Ducks 4-1. That's something they didn't do last year. 

The biggest reason why the Sabres won is Thomas Vanek, who scored two goals and added an assist. Both of those goals were on the power play.

The Buffalo Sabres are beginning to shape themselves into a Stanley Cup contender with young players who wear their hearts on their sleeves.

Youngsters Tyler Ennis, Nathan Gerbe and Tyler Myers put the most into every on-ice shift and are beginning to shape the team's identity.

In the future, prospects such as Zach Kassian, Marcus Foligno and Marc-Andre Gragnani will hopefully buy into this new direction for the Sabres.

Last season, it wasn't until March 6th that the Buffalo Sabres jumped into the Eastern Conference's playoff picture for good. For the first 150 days of the 2010-2011 NHL season before March 6th, the Sabres were outside of the top eight for all but three of them—the first three days of the year.

This entry was taken from TJ's blog: Hockey Heaven, NY.  Head over to read more about the Sabres and the NHL!

Following the NHL's year-long lockout during the 2004-05 season, perhaps no franchise was looked upon more favorably than the Buffalo Sabres. The Sabres were viewed as a team on the rise that was able to adapt to the NHL's new style of play quicker and better than anybody else.