Today In Hockey » Sabres

Kennedy to Stay with Sabres

Melissa Kania — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 00:18:33 +0000

NHLHS Buffalo Sabres Correspondent Melissa Kania reports on the arbitration hearing of Tim Kennedy. The Buffalo native will be staying with the team for one more year.

Just over 48 hours later, the results of Tim Kennedy’s arbitration hearing are in.

Arbitrators announced a 1-year, $1 million deal for Kennedy with the Sabres on Thursday.

In a normal case, the team would have 48 hours after the arbitrator’s decision is announced to either pick up the contract, or walk away, allowing Kennedy to become an unrestricted free agent.

However, Kennedy’s case is different because his award is too low. The new CBA has a minimum walk-away figure for this year of $1,611,180. The figure was originally $1,042,173 when the CBA went into effective, and has increased based on the league’s average salary increase.

Since Kennedy’s contract is for less than that, the team does not have the option of walking away, confirming that the Buffalo native will remain with his hometown team for at least another year.

Kennedy had 10 goals and 16 assists in 78 games last season, including three game-winning goals. The 24-year-old spent most of the 2008-2009 season with the Portland Pirates of the AHL, where he tallied 18 goals and 49 assists, as well as 67 penalty minutes.

Melissa Kania
NHLHS Buffalo Sabres Correspondent
mkania@nhlhotstove.com
Twitter: @melissakania

Free Agent Round-up: Part 1

Mike Chen — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 18:31:08 +0000

Quick hits and reactions from the day's bigger news so far:

-Philadelphia Flyers restock their defense: By re-signing Braydon Coburn and trading for Andrej Meszaros, the Flyers now have one of the most impressive -- and expensive -- defense groups in the NHL. Meszaros was a bit lost in Tampa Bay when he was asked to be more than he could; in Ottawa, he excelled when he was behind guys like Zdeno Chara. With Chris Pronger and Kimmo Timonen ahead of him on the depth chart, this could revive Meszaros' career. It also gives Philadelphia two good sets of power play blueliners.

-San Jose Sharks find their goalie: Last year, Antero Niittymaki platooned with Mike Smith in Tampa Bay and was the more consistent goaltender despite constantly being deluged thanks to a poor defensive system. Now he gets to play with a conference finalist; more importantly, the Sharks get a relatively cheap goaltender to platoon with young Thomas Greiss. Look for the duo to split the games 50/30, with the majority going to whoever grabs the proverbial ball and runs with it. It's a low-cost solution that gives Doug Wilson some flexibility to add on to their blueline and it probably won't take their goaltending down too much from Evgeni Nabokov.

-Defenseman shuffle: Sergei Gonchar lands with the Ottawa Senators, but committing those types of dollars ($16.5 million over three years and a no-movement clause) to a guy who's edging close to 40 seems iffy in my book. There's no doubt Gonchar will help the Senators power play but this screams to me of GM delusions of grandeur. Now, with Zbynek Michalek signing with the Pittsburgh Penguins, they get a leading shot-blocker and a strong defensive presence. Michalek wasn't much of an offensive option with the Phoenix Coyotes, and he'll be a significant step down from Gonchar. He'll get an opportunity to develop that aspect of his game for sure, but right now it looks like Kris Letang and Alex Goligoski have their work cut out for them. Remember, the Pittsburgh power play sank with Gonchar's injury, so this will be a huge challenge for the Penguins moving forward.

-Alex Tanguay returns to Calgary: It wasn't too long ago when Calgary Flames management gave a Darryl Sutter sneer at Tanguay, but they must have realized that offense has to come from somewhere. Tanguay's shoulder was never at 100% in Tampa Bay, as his shoulder hampered his season which created a downward spiral effect that destroyed his confidence (including his share of missed open nets and posts). Does going back to Calgary help him because of his familiarity with some of the players or will it revert to previous toxic feelings? At the price Calgary paid ($1.7 million), there's not much risk.

-Toronto builds depth: The Toronto Maple Leafs got a top-six forward in the Kris Versteeg deal (despite sacrificing future depth), then signed quality checker Colby Armstrong. This fills up necessary slots for the Leafs but it doesn't answer any big questions. Versteeg can look brilliant at times and he can be maddeningly frustrating; Armstrong offers plenty of grit, but his hands can't follow his heart. A second-liner and a third-liner won't turn things around in Toronto just yet. With Versteeg's hit-and-miss play and the spotlight of the Toronto media, I'm guessing we'll see him in Ron Wilson's public doghouse at some point in the season.

It's lunch time here on the west coast. I'm sure Ilya Kovalchuk, Evgeni Nabokov, and Anton Volchenkov will all sign in the ten minutes I'm away to grab a burger.

Jesse Connolly: Wides Heads for Sunrise, Horton and Campbell Shipping Up to Boston

HockeyBuzz.com — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 00:19:54 +0000

Notorious for being a play-it safe, tire-kicking, conservative General Manager, Peter Chiarelli may have made a move more bold than any other transaction throughout his tenure as the resident shot-caller for the Boston Bruins. Today, the B's shipped defenseman Dennis Wideman and the 15th overall pick in this summer's draft to the Florida Panthers, acquiring 25-year-old winger Nathan Horton and cen...

Adam Kirshenblatt: Your 2010 Hockey Hall of Fame Choices/More Trivia

HockeyBuzz.com — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 05:42:51 +0000

Later today the Hockey Hall of Fame selection committee will meet in Toronto to decide who will be Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. This year is a special year for this due to the fact that this is the first time women can be Inducted. From what I understand the rules are up to 4 players, 2 women, and at least one builder and ref can be Inducted, but it does not always have to add up to that...

Dan Spiegel: Horton Likely On The Move

HockeyBuzz.com — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 17:17:02 +0000

Call him what you want: Lazy, underachieving, disinterested, overrated, future star, etc. Nathan Horton's time as a Panther is apparently coming to an end. Both Buffalo and Boston have been rumored to be destinations for the talented, yet streaky winger/center. Tim Connolly or Derek Roy would be coming back to the Panthers in all likelihood (probably Connolly, because of better size) from Buffa...

Dan Spiegel: Horton Likely On The Move (for Connolly? Roy? #2 pick?)

HockeyBuzz.com — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 17:17:02 +0000

Jon Jordan: Time to Move On: A Heartfelt Goodbye From JJ

HockeyBuzz.com — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 23:01:39 +0000

After much careful thought and several discussions with people whom I trust wholeheartedly, I have decided to resign my position here at HockeyBuzz to pursue other opportunities. This may not catch very many of you by surprise, as the mulling of this decision in my head for quite some time has probably been noticeable to even the casual observer with hints here and there in recent months. It...

World Cup: Team Territory Percentage

Hawerchuk — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 23:57:22 +0000

Streeter Lecka - Getty Images

9 days ago: JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - JUNE 12: Lionel Messi of Argentina pulls the shirt of Peter Odemwingie of Nigeria during the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa Group B match between Argentina and Nigeria at Ellis Park Stadium on June 12, 2010 in Johannesburg, South Africa. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)

View full size photo »

Our stats feed reports the relative territorial ownership by each team in each game. It seems to roughly match up with what I watched, but I can't say that I watched closely enough to say that it's correct:

Team	Territory	Shots For	Shots Vs
France	55.8	20	7
Mexico	52.6	16	10
England	51.9	18	12
Ghana	51.7	15	14
Argentina	51.7	20	12
Slovenia	50.7	7	10
Greece	50.7	6	17
Australia	50.6	11	34
Germany	49.4	17	11
South Korea	49.3	17	6
Algeria	49.3	10	7
Nigeria	48.3	12	20
Serbia	48.3	14	15
United States	48.1	12	18
South Africa	47.4	10	16
Uruguay	44.2	7	20

Any opinions on the accuracy of this metric are greatly appreciated.

Mike Augello: KABERLE RUMOR SMORGASBORD

HockeyBuzz.com — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 00:02:05 +0000

The Stanley Cup Final concludes either tonight or with a Game 7 on Thursday night. After that, there will be just over two weeks until the world of hockey gathers in Los Angeles for the NHL Entry Draft on June 25-26. In between those two significant events, there will be only the rather banal NHL Award ceremony and a never ending cavalcade of rumors to look forward to. Depending on what you hear,...

Jon Jordan: The New Guy: Reports Tab Boucher as Lightning Bench Boss

HockeyBuzz.com — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 12:40:21 +0000

According to Montreal online news source, Rue Frontenac, radio station CKAC and, later, TSNâs Bob McKenzie, general manager Steve Yzerman and the Tampa Bay Lightning are set to announce Guy Boucher of the AHL Hamilton Bulldogs as the eighth head coach in franchise history. There has been no official confirmation from the Lightning as of yet but word is a formal announcement will be forthcomin...