BUFFALO
Barrett Hayton Jersey Womens , N.Y. (AP) Three years after bottoming out, the Buffalo Sabres found a way to achieve a new low.A 4-2 loss to the Ottawa
Senators on Wednesday night assured Buffalo of becoming the NHL’s first team to
finish 31st following this season’s addition of the expansion Vegas Golden
Knights.”Honestly, no. I don’t think anyone really envisioned this, certainly
not myself being on the outside coming in,” said Jason Pominville, the former
Sabres captain who rejoined the team last offseason after being acquired in a
trade with Minnesota.”With the group we had, I still don’t believe we should be
where we’re at. But we are there. And things got to change.”First-year coach
Phil Housley was defiant when asked if he ever second-guessed what he signed up
for upon being hired in June after the Sabres cleaned house last spring.”I
believe in this organization. I believe in our management. I believe we’re going
to turn this thing around,” Housley said.And yet the Hall of Fame defenseman had
to acknowledge how difficult this season has been.”This is just where we are as
a group,” Housley said. ”Let’s be honest, we have a long way to go.”Having
already extended their franchise-worst playoff drought to a seventh year, the
Sabres clinched last place for the third time in five years – they were 30th in
both 2013-14 and 2014-15.Their fate this season was sealed in losing their home
finale in a matchup of two of the NHL’s worst teams.Matt Duchene scored his
team-leading 27th goal and the 30th-place Senators upped their total to 67
points, five ahead of the Sabres, who have just two games left.Max McCormick,
Ryan Dzingel and Alexandre Burrows, with an empty-netter, also scored for the
Senators. Craig Anderson stopped 32 shots, and Ottawa improved to 2-8 in its
past 10.”We play for each other
Michael Grabner Jersey Womens , we play for our fans, we play for the crest on the front,” Anderson said of the Senators’ objective to not finish last.And
the Senators won with a roster depleted of numerous regulars, including captain
Erik Karlsson, who remained in Ottawa to be his wife after the couple’s first
son was stillborn two weeks ago.The Senators scored three straight times after
Buffalo’s Ryan O’Reilly opened the scoring on a breakaway goal 30 seconds
in.McCormick tied the game 2:26 later by tipping in Mark Borowiecki’s point
shot. Duchene scored 3:14 later by blasting in a shot over Chad Johnson’s left
shoulder after teammate Ben Harpur broke up Sabres defenseman Rasmus
Ristolainen’s clearing attempt at the left boards.Dzingel made it 3-1 at the
3:21 mark of the second period, seconds after a tripping penalty against
Buffalo’s Marco Scandella expired. Dzingel collected a loose puck in the right
circle and used Sabres defenseman Casey Nelson as a screen to sneak a shot under
Johnson’s right arm.Johnson stopped 30 shots and Kyle Okposo also scored for the
Sabres in closing Buffalo’s home record at 11-25-5.The Sabres’ league-worst 11
home wins matched a franchise low for any year, including the lockout-shortened
48-game 2012-13 season, when Buffalo went 11-10-3. Buffalo also went 11-19-9
during a 78-game season in 1971-72.The Sabres’ final four home losses came
against four of the NHL’s five-worst road teams: Arizona, which entered the day
27th, Detroit (28th), Ottawa (30th) and Montreal (31st).”I expected a lot more,”
O’Reilly said about Buffalo’s record. ”But you can expect all you want. It comes
down to doing it and getting better. And obviously, we got worse.”NOTES:
Senators RW Bobby Ryan did not return after sustaining a lower body injury in
the first period. He was hurt when teammate Jean-Gabriel Pageau fell back into
him after being checked by Buffalo’s Jack Eichel. … Sabres C Zemgus Girgensons
will miss the final three games with an upper body injury. … Senators RW Marian
Gaborik missed his seventh consecutive game, and Boucher said the player is
visiting a specialist to determine the severity of a nagging back injury. …
Corey Syvret made his debut as an NHL referee. Syvret played for OHL London in
2006 when he lost a fight, decisively, to current Sabres forward Jordan Nolan.UP
NEXTSenators: Continue season-closing three-game trip Friday night at
Pittsburgh.Sabres: Open season-closing two-game trip Friday night at Tampa Bay.—
Liz Knox didn’t get a chance to rest.A day after making 24 saves to backstop her
team to a road win and then flying home from Boston, the goaltender for the
Markham Thunder worked her day job as a carpenter from 6 in the morning to 3 in
the afternoon
Marian Hossa Jersey Womens , took a 10-minute nap, went for a four-mile run and squeezed in a workout before dinner.”If we were making a living wage,
it’s not a big deal because I can sleep in today and go to the gym when I’m
ready and have the facilities there to train,” Knox said. ”If it’s your
full-time job, then that’s your full-time job and you can pay for your rent and
everything else on top of that.”For now, playing women’s hockey professionally
in North America isn’t lucrative enough to be a full-time job, save for the U.S.
and Canadian Olympians who earn money from their national federations. In the
aftermath of the U.S. winning gold at the Winter Games, several players have
used their platform on a whirlwind victory tour to make the case for one
professional league where there are currently two competitors: the Canadian
Women’s Hockey League and National Women’s Hockey League.”I don’t play in the
CWHL or the NWHL so I have no personal preference,” U.S. shootout hero Jocelyne
Lamoureux-Davidson said. ”For women’s hockey to continue its traction is to have
one league, whether that’s a merger or an entirely new league that supports both
the U.S. and Canada in one league, I think is going to be really important in
the next season to somehow make that happen.”Current and former players have
taken to social media to promote the concept of (hash)OneLeague that could pay
long-term dividends for the sport. It’s a complicated issue muddled in the
uncertainty between the CWHL, NWHL and NHL with, so far, no obvious path
forward.The compelling journey of the U.S. team from its fight for a better
contract from USA Hockey to its thrilling victory against Canada at the Olympics
brought positive attention to women’s hockey that is now in danger of being cut
short.”After the Olympics, all the conversation was: `Why can’t I watch this on
a day-to-day basis? Why can’t I watch this every weekend?’ Well, you can’t
because the talent is split right now between two leagues,” said Knox
Adidas John Moore Jersey , one of the co-chairs of the CWHL Players Association. ”Merging is probably never going to work. There’s just too many
differences between the two leagues and that’s been evident from the very
beginning.”The CWHL , now in its 11th season, has seven teams split between the
U.S., Canada and China. The NWHL began in 2015 and has four U.S.-based
teams.What also divides the two are salary and bonus structures.The NWHL has
paid its players a salary from its inception: Between $10,000 and $26,000 in its
first season to between $5,000 and $7,000 now. The CWHL previously focused on
paying staff and player travel costs before committing to paying players
starting this past year – anywhere from $2,000 to $10,000, with a team salary
cap of $100,000.”Our framework has allowed for us to maintain sustainability and
measured growth, and that trend will continue,” said Brenda Andress,
commissioner of the nonprofit CWHL, which has partnered with NHL teams in
Toronto, Montreal and Calgary. Partnerships can include financial
assistance
Adidas Jaroslav Halak Jersey , marketing and promotions, ice time and office space.The NHWL is on better financial footing than it was last season,
when the league was forced to cut player salaries in half to avoid the risk of
folding. It now has an affiliation with the New Jersey Devils for financial and
other support, and Sabres owners Terry and Kim Pegula purchased the Buffalo
Beauts to make them the first team not owned and managed by the league.”Team
USA’s thrilling victory over Canada for the gold medal captivated the nation and
showed a glimpse of the potential for women’s hockey in our country,” a Pegula
Sports & Entertainment spokesman said. ”We believe that women’s hockey has
an extremely bright future and are heavily committed to doing our part to
continue its advancement.”Neither league would address any notion of specific
merger talks.”One of the founding principles of the NWHL is to advance women’s
hockey,” NWHL Commissioner Dani Rylan said. ”If anyone has a formal plan or ever
wants to discuss how we can take the business of professional women’s hockey to
the next level, the NWHL will always engage with them and do what’s best for the
game, the players, our supporters and fans.”Knox and others would love for the
NHL to step in and run a league like the NBA has with the WNBA.NHL Commissioner
Gary Bettman’s stance on women’s pro hockey hasn’t changed since the NWHL was
established. It’s a position he recently reiterated on Calgary’s 960-Radio by
saying the two leagues must first sort out their situations.”Having two leagues
makes it more difficult for us to get involved,” Bettman said. ”If there were no
leagues, we’d probably start one under the NHL umbrella, and I’ve told both
leagues that. But I have no interest in competing with the existing leagues. I
think that would be counterproductive.”Andress said the CWHL has always believed
in the need for one league called it ”where the future of the women’s
professional game has always been heading.”No one’s quite sure what that would
look like.”Your guess is as good as mine,” said U.S. captain Meghan Duggan, who
has played in the CWHL and NWHL. ”It would be awesome if we could work together
and if they could work together and figure out a way to get everyone playing
under the same umbrella.”U.S. forward Hilary Knight, who is back in the CWHL
playing for Les Canadiennes in Montreal after two seasons with the NWHL’s Boston
Pride, said whatever it looks like, it’s vital for the growth of the game to
have a single league that pays a living wage.”If I have a child and I’m going to
sign them up
Adidas Steven Kampfer Jersey , if they were to take this seriously, what’s the career path? If they fall in love with the game, what career path are they
going to have?” said Knight, who signed with Montreal last week. ”Is there going
to be a place for them to play after college if they’re not going to be in the
national team program or whatnot?”Right now, those are unanswered questions.
Even though Knox is Canadian, she can’t help but be happy that the Olympic
championship won by the Americans has put the one-league conundrum in the
spotlight.”That’s the biggest voice that we have right now in North America,”
Knox said. ”The stuff that they’re doing right now and helping to promote the
idea that we could all play in one league is really, really important for the
growth of women’s hockey here in North America.”It’s an effort borne out of
frustration for players who want nothing more than to play with and against each
other in the same league instead of being forced to choose. They know fans also
have to split their attention, which isn’t necessarily a sustainable way to
build the popularity of women’s hockey.”A lot of people only discover women’s
hockey every four years at the Olympics,” Knight said. ”We’re here every single
year, every single day training and there’s places that you can come see us, but
we just don’t have those marketing dollars, those resources behind us to really
bridge the gap between a product and the consumer. Hopefully combining efforts
would help take care of that and we can get some big names on board to help fix
that problem.”
