It was reported yesterday that the Buffalo Sabres and Tyler Myers were closing in on a contract extension and now it’s official; the team announced via Twitter they’ve agreed to a seven-year extension with Myers, who was entering the final season of his entry level three-year contact.
Financial terms were not immediately made available by the organization, but TSN is reporting the deal is for $38.5 million, which includes a $10 million signing bonus payable on July 1, 2012. The report says Myers will be paid $2 million in the first year of his deal, followed by $6 million in the second followed by $3 million annually.
Myers, 21, won the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s best rookie in 2009-10. Last season he slumped early but still finished with 10 goals and 37 points. The 6-foot-8 defensemen is expected to be a main staple of the blue line for many years to come.
The Sabres had previously locked up youngsters Jhonas Enroth and Andrej Sekera to multi-year deals and with the additions of Robyn Regehr, Christian Ehrhoff and Ville Leino, the organization will head into the 2011-12 season with potentially one of their best teams in several years.
Buffalo opens the NHL season with a pair of games in Europe beginning October 8.
Buffalo Sabres owner Terry Pegula certainly wasn’t all talk when he said he’s committed to bringing the city multiple Stanley Cups. He opened up the vault to bring in a trio of new talent with Robyn Regehr, Christian Ehrhoff and Ville Leino. Reportedly, he’s making sure one of his own is in for the long haul as well.
TSN’s Bob McKenzie is reporting that the Sabres are close to finalizing a long-term deal for defensemen Tyler Myers that will pay him about $33 million over six years.
Arguably the team’s most talented player, Myers won the Calder Trophy for the NHL’s best rookie in 2009-10, scoring 11 goals and 48 points. Myers struggled early last season before putting his game together late and finishing with 10 goals and 37 points. Myers had a goal and five assists in Buffalo’s seven-game playoff loss to Philadelphia this past spring.
Tyler Myers blasted a slap shot from above the right circle past Florida Panthers goaltender Tomas Vokoun;s left shoulder into the net with just 4.5 seconds remaining in overtime, propelling the Sabres to a 3-2 and remaining one of the league’s hottest teams.
The Sabres have now won three games in a row since losing at Pittsburgh in their first game after the All-Star break and are 7-2 in their last nine games.
Ryan Miller started his 30th consecutive game in net for the Sabres and stopped 24 shots.
Mike Weber and Thomas Vanek also scored for Buffalo. Jason Pominville added a pair of assists.
The Sabres moved within two points of Carolina, who lost Thursday to Philadelphia, for the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference and Buffalo also has three games in hand.
The Sabres are off until Sunday when they host the New York Islanders as they start a stand that’ll see them play seven of their next eight games at the HSBC Arena.
Prior to the Buffalo Sabres Wednesday night’s contest against the New Jersey Devils which saw Lindy Ruff coach in his milestone 1,000th game, Ruff told the media he’d trade the 1,000 games for two wins.
He got one of them by the time this one was over.
After being tied following regulation and overtime, Thomas Vanek scored for Buffalo in a shootout. Meanwhile, Jhonas Enroth made two fantastic stops on Jason Arnott and Patrick Elias. Down to their last shot after Tyler Ennis failed to clinch things, Devils captain Jamie Langenbrunner scored to extend the shootout to extra skaters. Derek Roy immediately scored for Buffalo and with New Jersey having a chance to prolong it again, Ilya Kovalchuck completely lost the puck and never got a shot off, resulting in the Sabres taking the 5-4 shootout victory.
Unlike last season when the Buffalo Sabres jumped out the gate smoking and eventually skated their way to a division title, there hasn’t been a lot of positive things to write about this time around. The team has lost four in a row and five of their last six. They currently sitting at just eight points, tied for worst in the NHL with Florida and Edmonton.
There’s plenty of blame to go around. Many are thinking Lindy Ruff, who’s been the Sabres head coach since 1997, has finally lost his team. For whatever reason, there seems to be little consistency on the ice and at times, little effort. Perhaps most bothersome is a lot of players barely seemed bothered, at least visibly, by the losses that keep piling up.
Cleared but Not Out: 10 Thoughts and Observations, First Week Edition
The NHL season has started, and for Buffalo Sabres’ fans, it’s been somewhat of a rude awakening. The team kicked off its fortieth season with promise, overcoming an Ottawa Senators club that’s had the Sabres in its back pocket for years with a gutsy 2-1 victory. Unfortunately, that’s right where the good times ended. Over the previous five games before finally coming to life in Atlanta Wednesday night, the Sabres had recorded one solitary point and have looked listless at best and lifeless at worst.
♦ The standard bearer for the lack of effort has been Tim Connolly. Despite starting the season on a line with the team’s two best offensive wingers in Thomas Vanek and Jason Pominville, playing less competitive minutes behind Derek Roy and having a cushy spot on the power play, Connolly has tallied only one goal and three points in seven games, to say nothing of his minus three rating and leading the forwards in giveaways.
Just like last Saturday night against the Blackhawks, the Buffalo Sabres put forth a solid road effort. Unlike the losing result in Chicago, Buffalo was rewarded this time. The Sabres skated into Atlanta Wednesday and dominated, taking a 4-1 victory to finally end their winless streak at five games.
Three players the Sabres are heavily counting on to produce offense finally scored their first goals of the season; Tyler Ennis, Tyler Myers and Thomas Vanek. Cody McCormick also scored for the Sabres, who outshot Atlanta, 40-17.
The goal by Vanek was his first in 22 shots on goal this season.
Defensemen Chris Butler and Steve Montador each had two assists for Buffalo. Montador left the game late after being cut with a high stick, but appeared to be alright.
Ryan Miller was stellar again in the nets for Buffalo, stopping 16 of 17 shots. Only Tobias Enstrom managed to put a puck past Miller at 1:47 of the third period.
Buffalo is back home, where it’s winless on the year, to host division rival Ottawa on Friday night before traveling to New Jersey Saturday.
It’s remarkable what five-plus months without hockey can do to your psyche. New players come in, old ones leave and buoyant fans permit a sense of optimism to creep in no matter the situation.
And when it came to the Buffalo Sabres opening their season this month, confidence was flooded for good reason. Despite their premature exit from the NHL playoffs, Buffalo captured the Northeast Division last year and looked pretty good in doing so.
However, for the 2010-2011 version of the Sabres in the early going, it’s been a new season with familiarly frustrating results that are reminding everyone exactly why last year’s postseason ended so untimely.
Bounced by the Boston Bruins after failing to capitalize on opportunities at times, while flat-out failing to show up during others in their embarrassing six-game series against Boston, this year’s Buffalo team were supposed to be better.
After back to back springs of prematurely hitting the links early, The Buffalo Sabres were one of the regular seaason surprises of the NHL 2009/2010 season. Instead of a borderline playoff team relying on streaky forwards and an unproven defense, the squad handily captured the Northeast Division title behind strong team play, the brilliance of rookie defenseman Tyler Myers and Ryan Miller’s emergence as the best goaltender in the league.
Unfortunately, the team fell back to earth in the playoffs, as key injuries to Thomas Vanek and Jochen Hecht put the offensive load on Derek Roy and Tim Connolly, who wilted under the pressure.
The defeat at the hands of the Boston Bruins raised significant questions about the team’s toughness and resiliency and an offseason devoid of blockbuster additions did little to silence the Sabres’ critics. However, although there are a lot of familiar faces donning the blue and gold this season, it will be a new team taking the ice in 2010.
Defenseman Tyler Myers of the Buffalo Sabres has won the Calder Memorial Trophy for 2009-2010, awarded “to the player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition in the National Hockey League.”
Myers received 94 of 133 first-place votes and 1,178 points, outdistancing Detroit Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard (778 points) and Colorado Avalanche center Matt Duchene (755).
Myers not only won an NHL roster spot as a 19-year-old, he posted statistics befitting an established veteran. The 6′8″, 222-lb. defenseman led the Sabres in ice time per game (23:44), three minutes more than blueline partner Henrik Tallinder who ranked second. He shared second place on the club in plus-minus (+13) and was fifth in scoring (11-37–48). Myers ranked at or near the top in several rookie categories, including average ice time (first), shorthanded time (first, 3:04), assists (first), blocked shots (first, 137), plus-minus (T-second) and points (third). He also was one of four rookies to play all 82 games.
Buffalo Sabres Tim Kennedy was placed on the United States roster for the World Championships currently taking place in Germany. Unfortunately for the South Buffalo native, it’s been anything but a pleasant experience thus far.
Kennedy has been held scoreless in his first two games, a theme that’s become too common with the rest of his American teammates. The U.S. has scored just two goals total in a pair of overtime losses to Denmark and Germany.
Over the two games Kennedy has managed just one shot on goal while averaging 13:30 of ice time and is a minus-one.
Center Matt Duchene of the Colorado Avalanche, goaltender Jimmy Howard of the Detroit Red Wings and defenseman Tyler Myers of the Buffalo Sabres are the three finalists for the 2009-10 Calder Trophy, awarded “to the player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition,” the National Hockey League announced today.
Members of the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association submitted ballots for the Calder Trophy at the conclusion of the regular season, with the top three vote-getters designated as finalists. The winner will be announced Wednesday, June 23, during the2010 NHL Awardsthat will be broadcast live from the Pearl Concert Theater inside the Palms Hotel Las Vegas on VERSUS in the United States and on CBC in Canada.
Everyone would’ve excused the Buffalo Sabres Monday night had they took one on the chin against the Boston Bruins. They were facing a team playing in front of a charged home crowd who’s on the fringe of an intense playoff race.
To make matters worse Buffalo was facing a team they only beat once in four previous tries this season without four regular forwards. Raffi Torres, Patrick Kaleta, Thomas Vanek and Tim Connolly were all out of action.
So when David Krejci opened the scoring just under eight minutes into the game against a seemingly outmanned squad, it was assumed the rout would be on.
During our pregame preview earlier Thursday we stressed that the Buffalo Sabres needed to get off to a better start against Tampa Bay if they wanted to end a three game losing streak. Entering the game Buffalo was second last in the league with just 59 first period goals on the season, so it was crucial to jump out in the game’s first 20 minutes.
Boy did they ever.
Jason Pominville scored twice and Tyler Myers added another as the Sabres erupted for three opening period tallies en route to a 6-2 victory over the fading Lightning.
Pominville closed the scoring with 34 seconds remaining to pick up his second career hat trick.
He hasn’t made mistakes often during his exceptional rookie season, but Tyler Myer’s gaffe near the end of regulation proved to be costly to his team. With Myers in the penalty box to begin overtime, Brian Rafalski scored on a slap shot 31 seconds into the extra session to give the Detroit Red Wings a 3-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres.
Myers accidently flipped a puck over the glass with 1:13 left in regulation to draw a delay of game penalty.
“You hate to see those but it happens.” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said during his post game press conference.
The Buffalo Sabres get to enjoy the cozy confines of HSBC Arena one more time tonight before heading to the road for five consecutive games. They’ll try to pick up their fourth straight win as they play host to the Minnesota Wild.
After falling off track with consecutive losses in their return from the Olympic break, the Sabres seem to have things going right again. After failing to score more than three goals in 10 straight games the offense had an explosion by their standards Wednesday night against Dallas, netting four goals and adding an empty netter in the final seconds.
Tyler Myers had a career-best four point night and recent call up Mark Mancari scored a goal and set up the game winner as the Buffalo Sabres won their third straight game, defeating Dallas 5-3 Wednesday night at the HSBC Arena.
Myers, who had just two points in his last 13 games wasted little time getting on the board, scoring just 55 seconds into the game. Buffalo hadn’t scored more than three times in 10 straight games but matched that by the end of 20 minutes, and they’d need every one of them.
Dallas scored three times in the first against Ryan Miller, who was uncharacteristically shaky Wednesday night. But for once it was his teammates who bailed him out.
The Buffalo Sabres started poorly against the Boston Bruins Tuesday night and ultimately it cost them a valuable point in the standings. The Sabres fell into a 2-0 hole in the first period before battling back to tie and force overtime, but the Bruins prevailed in a shootout and the Sabres have now left the ice five straight games without getting two points.
With Ottawa winning against Calgary, they’ve now overtaken Buffalo for first place in the Northeast division. Each have 72 points but the Senators have more wins to put them on top.
Buffalo Sabres defenseman Tyler Myers, who led all rookies in average ice time per game (24:42) and ranked third in scoring with 10 points (four goals, six assists), has been named the NHL Rookie of the Month for January.
Myers edged Colorado Avalanche forward Matt Duchene (6-3–9 in 12 games), Philadelphia Flyers left wing James vanRiemsdyk (5-6–11 in 14 games), New York Islanders center Rob Schremp (4-7–11 in 14 games), Detroit Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard (6-3-4, 2.26 GAA in 13 games) and Washington Capitals goaltender Michal Neuvirth (5-1-0, 2.38 GAA in nine games) for the award.
Myers tallied points in eight games and logged more than 25 minutes six times, helping the Sabres post an 8-3-3 record. He scored just 23 seconds after the opening face-off in a 5-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning Jan. 6, recorded his first NHL game-winning goal as part of a three-point effort in a 3-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs Jan. 8 and opened the scoring in a 7-2 win against the Phoenix Coyotes Jan. 18.
In early November we wondered how the Buffalo Sabres (now 19-9-2) would look at the end of the month. After their fall from grace last year at about that time, one couldn’t help but worry that the same fate might be in store for Sabres fans, especially after losing two of their first three games that month.
Never you fear, Buffalonians near and far, the Sabres appear here to stay. Since those two losses, they have won 11 of s17 games, and have held fairly consistent at first place in the Northeast. Most importantly, they’ve found a way of breaking slumps before they became a serious problem.
There’s no mistaking when the Toronto Maple Leafs come to HSBC Arena tonight to take on the Buffalo Sabres, they’ll be doing so as the inferior team. They’re off to another miserable start, wining only 1 of their first 10 games. That’s not good news facing a Buffalo team that’s hotter than the Florida sun they recently visited.
The Sabres are ready to get cozy at home after successfully winning all three games on their road trip. They did on both ends of the spectrum, dominating Florida and New Jersey early en route to easy wins, and coming back for two points after trailing Tampa Bay in the waning seconds.
Buffalo owned Toronto in 2008-09, winning five of the six times the teams locked horns and none of the results being within a single goal. If the Leafs have something to hold their hat on, besides the usual plethora of fans that venture from Canada to invade the arena, it’s that their lone win in last year’s series came on Sabres’ ice (a 2-1 win on December 12, 2008).
A collective– and expected sigh of relief was felt through the Buffalo Sabres nation Thursday as it was announced that star rookie defensemen Tyler Myers would remain with the team and not be sent back to Juniors. The organization had until after the ninth game to make a decision.
Buffalo has for a long time been less than stellar in their defensive zone. Perhaps it began with young prospect Dmitri Kalinin, who never truly developed to be the player the organization hoped he be.
The blue line was lacking even more after the Sabres traded Brian Campbell to the San Jose Sharks for Steven Bernier and a first round draft pick. At the time Campbell was touted as one of the top defensive forces in the league and it signified a serious lack of commitment in the Buffalo organization to foster any real sort of dominant defensive presence on the team. That, plus they didn’t want to pay him.
So after tonight the drama ends. Buffalo Sabres’ rookie defensemen Tyler Myers is playing his ninth and final game against New Jersey, before general manager Darcy Regier must decide to keep him and have his rookie contract kick in, or send him back to his Junior hockey team, Kelowna.
Since we pride ourselves here at Buffalo Sports Daily on making bold predictions, we’re going to put our hard-earned reputation on the line and conclude Myers is going to stick around. We think he just may have a future in this town.
The Buffalo Sabres were all-but-done. Down 2-1 in the waning seconds, Drew Stafford took a shot with 16 seconds remaining from a bad angle that still got past Tampa goaltender Mike Smith to tie the game. Neither team scored in overtime and the game went to a shoot-out. After 11 Sabres and Lightning skaters failed to put a single puck past Smith or Ryan Miller, rookie Tyler Myers took stage.
Myers, who now has about as good a chance of being sent back to Juniors as Dick Jauron does of becoming Buffalo’s next mayor, lit the lamp and the Sabres completed their improbable comeback win. Buffalo moved to 6-1-1 on the season and have won each of their three road games.
A sampling of web-links reporting on the thrilling finish..
Count me in as one of the people that loved the way the Sabres played following the lockout. They had a high powered offense that lit up the scoreboard at a record pace. They were also winning games and made it to the conference finals two seasons in row.
Since that time the Sabres have missed the playoffs two consecutive seasons and the offensive has been inconsistent. Every once in awhile you see glimpses of the team that could score goals on command, but mostly they manage just one or two goals like they have the last two games–though they haven’t lost in regulation either yet.
It was reported yesterday that the Buffalo Sabres and Tyler Myers were closing in on a contract extension and now it’s official; the team announced via Twitter they’ve agreed to a seven-year extension with Myers, who was entering the final season of his entry level three-year contact.
Buffalo Sabres owner Terry Pegula certainly wasn’t all talk when he said he’s committed to bringing the city multiple Stanley Cups. He opened up the vault to bring in a trio of new talent with Robyn Regehr, Christian Ehrhoff and Ville Leino. Reportedly, he’s making sure one of his own is in for the long haul as well.
Tyler Myers blasted a slap shot from above the right circle past Florida Panthers goaltender Tomas Vokoun;s left shoulder into the net with just 4.5 seconds remaining in overtime, propelling the Sabres to a 3-2 and remaining one of the league’s hottest teams.
Unlike last season when the Buffalo Sabres jumped out the gate smoking and eventually skated their way to a division title, there hasn’t been a lot of positive things to write about this time around. The team has lost four in a row and five of their last six. They currently sitting at just eight points, tied for worst in the NHL with Florida and Edmonton.
Cleared but Not Out: 10 Thoughts and Observations, First Week Edition
Just like last Saturday night against the Blackhawks, the Buffalo Sabres put forth a solid road effort. Unlike the losing result in Chicago, Buffalo was rewarded this time. The Sabres skated into Atlanta Wednesday and dominated, taking a 4-1 victory to finally end their winless streak at five games.
It’s remarkable what five-plus months without hockey can do to your psyche. New players come in, old ones leave and buoyant fans permit a sense of optimism to creep in no matter the situation.
After back to back springs of prematurely hitting the links early, The Buffalo Sabres were one of the regular seaason surprises of the NHL 2009/2010 season. Instead of a borderline playoff team relying on streaky forwards and an unproven defense, the squad handily captured the Northeast Division title behind strong team play, the brilliance of rookie defenseman Tyler Myers and Ryan Miller’s emergence as the best goaltender in the league.
Defenseman Tyler Myers of the Buffalo Sabres has won the Calder Memorial Trophy for 2009-2010, awarded “to the player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition in the National Hockey League.”
Buffalo Sabres Tim Kennedy was placed on the United States roster for the World Championships currently taking place in Germany. Unfortunately for the South Buffalo native, it’s been anything but a pleasant experience thus far.
Center Matt Duchene of the Colorado Avalanche, goaltender Jimmy Howard of the Detroit Red Wings and defenseman Tyler Myers of the Buffalo Sabres are the three finalists for the 2009-10 Calder Trophy, awarded “to the player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition,” the National Hockey League announced today.
Everyone would’ve excused the Buffalo Sabres Monday night had they took one on the chin against the Boston Bruins. They were facing a team playing in front of a charged home crowd who’s on the fringe of an intense playoff race.
During our pregame preview earlier Thursday we stressed that the Buffalo Sabres needed to get off to a better start against Tampa Bay if they wanted to end a three game losing streak. Entering the game Buffalo was second last in the league with just 59 first period goals on the season, so it was crucial to jump out in the game’s first 20 minutes.
He hasn’t made mistakes often during his exceptional rookie season, but Tyler Myer’s gaffe near the end of regulation proved to be costly to his team. With Myers in the penalty box to begin overtime, Brian Rafalski scored on a slap shot 31 seconds into the extra session to give the Detroit Red Wings a 3-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres.
The Buffalo Sabres get to enjoy the cozy confines of HSBC Arena one more time tonight before heading to the road for five consecutive games. They’ll try to pick up their fourth straight win as they play host to the Minnesota Wild.
Tyler Myers had a career-best four point night and recent call up Mark Mancari scored a goal and set up the game winner as the Buffalo Sabres won their third straight game, defeating Dallas 5-3 Wednesday night at the HSBC Arena.
The Buffalo Sabres started poorly against the Boston Bruins Tuesday night and ultimately it cost them a valuable point in the standings. The Sabres fell into a 2-0 hole in the first period before battling back to tie and force overtime, but the Bruins prevailed in a shootout and the Sabres have now left the ice five straight games without getting two points.
Buffalo Sabres defenseman Tyler Myers, who led all rookies in average ice time per game (24:42) and ranked third in scoring with 10 points (four goals, six assists), has been named the NHL Rookie of the Month for January.
In early November we wondered how the Buffalo Sabres (now 19-9-2) would look at the end of the month. After their fall from grace last year at about that time, one couldn’t help but worry that the same fate might be in store for Sabres fans, especially after losing two of their first three games that month.
There’s no mistaking when the Toronto Maple Leafs come to HSBC Arena tonight to take on the Buffalo Sabres, they’ll be doing so as the inferior team. They’re off to another miserable start, wining only 1 of their first 10 games. That’s not good news facing a Buffalo team that’s hotter than the Florida sun they recently visited.
A collective– and expected sigh of relief was felt through the Buffalo Sabres nation Thursday as it was announced that star rookie defensemen Tyler Myers would remain with the team and not be sent back to Juniors. The organization had until after the ninth game to make a decision.
So after tonight the drama ends. Buffalo Sabres’ rookie defensemen Tyler Myers is playing his ninth and final game against New Jersey, before general manager Darcy Regier must decide to keep him and have his rookie contract kick in, or send him back to his Junior hockey team, Kelowna.
The Buffalo Sabres were all-but-done. Down 2-1 in the waning seconds, Drew Stafford took a shot with 16 seconds remaining from a bad angle that still got past Tampa goaltender Mike Smith to tie the game. Neither team scored in overtime and the game went to a shoot-out. After 11 Sabres and Lightning skaters failed to put a single puck past Smith or Ryan Miller, rookie Tyler Myers took stage.
Count me in as one of the people that loved the way the Sabres played following the lockout. They had a high powered offense that lit up the scoreboard at a record pace. They were also winning games and made it to the conference finals two seasons in row.
