FanHouse Teppo Numminen

Welcome to the NHL FanHouse 2008-09 season preview. While other sites are previewing "30 teams in 30 days," we decided to take advantage of the extra time off before the start of the season to bring you all 30 previews over the next three weeks. We're counting down in reverse order of finish from last season in each conference every weekday from now until October 3. Look for an Eastern Conference preview every morning and a Western Conference preview every afternoon. Click here to read them all.

Who's In: Patrick Lalime, G (FA-CHI), Craig Rivet, D (Trade-SJS), Teppo Numminen, D (Return from Heart Surgery)

Who's Out: Joceyln Thibault, G (FA), Dmitri Kalinin, D (FA, NYR), Steve Bernier, RW (Trade, VAN)

What's Changed: Not a whole lot, frankly, unless one considers the number of players the supposedly stingy Sabres have under long-term contract now. That, coupled with the lack of tragedy during training camp (*fingers crossed*) should help lighten the mood in the room just a bit. But, honestly, that's just the way this organization wants it (especially in comparison to last year's off-season). With 20 of the 30 people who suited up for the Sabres in 07-08 having been drafted by the team, this is the textbook example of a team that promotes from within.

Recently extended GM Darth Regier believes in building via the draft and come what may that's going to be how he does it. I'm sure nothing has made Regier happier than resolving the dual-affiliation with Rochester which has been hampering their ability to develop prospects properly. During this summer they finalized changing their AHL affiliation to Portland and retained the same staff that helped feed Anaheim a Stanley Cup.

It's been in the works for a while now, but yesterday the parties made it official by agreeing to a one-year $1.1 million contract to bring more-than-veteran defenseman Teppo Numminen back to the Blue and Gold for 2008-09. It seems the stumbling block was the outstanding grievance that Numminen filed with the NHLPA over his suspended salary from the time he began practicing with the team in November of last year:

As part of the deal, the Sabres reached an undisclosed monetary settlement with Numminen to resolve a grievance the player filed against the team in November. The grievance was over the Sabres suspending him without pay in September after doctors ruled he required surgery following a routine checkup at the Cleveland Clinic.

Numminen claimed the Sabres owed him a portion of his $2.6 million salary once he was allowed to practice with the team on a non-contact basis in November. The Sabres didn't activate Numminen until the final week of the season, and he played 16 minutes in Buffalo's regular-season finale against the Boston Bruins.

The grievance didn't deter Numminen from expressing hope that he would return to Buffalo for a fourth season, something he told management in April.

I'm glad that things have worked been worked out like adults in the end, as I suspected all along they would be. The 'cheap' and 'amateurish' Sabres could have taken the grievance all the way to arbitration in order to prove a point or further do Bettman's dirty work in undermining the relevance of the NHLPA, but instead they must have felt that Teppo's presence in the locker room was worth working out a deal now so that he could get properly prepared for training camp, which is just a few weeks away.

The Sabres now have 7 defensemen on the roster and only Andrej Sekera is capable of being sent down without clearing waivers. 8 if one includes Mike Weber. Sekera's the odds-on favorite to make the team out of camp, but with Teppo on board I expect a fierce battle for that spot. It's not in anybodies interest to keep both Weber and Sekera with Paetsch and Numminen on board. The kids need minutes on the ice to learn and they'll get a ton in Portland as the #1/#2 guy, as opposed to the #8 guy in Buffalo.

Ta,

After perusing my long-time internet mate Kris Baker's (known to one and all as "Bakes") excellent SabresProspects.com, I got to thinking about the present and future of the Sabres blueline, especially given the real possibility of the Return of the Numminen (cue the John Williams bombast!). As Bakes put it here:

... the financially responsible Regier would be wise to wait until training camp to further evaluate his defensive corps and really find out if Teppo is needed.

The "wait" isn't all about the dollars. It's about icing your best team. If Andrej Sekera has advanced himself into Buffalo's top-6 ahead of current #7 Nathan Paetsch, it would seem that a Numminen signing would automatically send 21-year old rearguard Mike Weber to Portland (AHL) to start.

Weber and Sekera really grew up a lot after the trade deadline last season, logging very solid minutes (16+) and posting almost gaudy plus/minuses given the Sabres inability to keep the puck out of their own net (242GA --22nd overall). He's exactly the kind of defense man we Sabres fans have been salivating for since Jay McKee left. But, with Craig Rivet in the fold that need has lessened, if only marginally. The obvious choice if Teppo is signed is to send Weber to Portland until he's needed.

But, as Bakes suggests, is this the right move? With development-coach extraordinaire, Randy Cunneyworth moving up to the NHL (Signed as asst. coach in Hotlanta this weekend), would Weber be best served germinating further in the AHL as opposed to learning by Rivet and Numinnen's example and experience, not to mention Asst. Coach James Patrick? I'm honestly not sure. It almost seems to me that Regier should bring Teppo back as much to be a tutor for his 3 up and comers as he would as a player.

It's been a just under a year since the first day of training camp for last season, where it was discovered that Sabres defenseman Teppo Numminen could no longer wait to have his heart condition (valve replacement) corrected. That, in itself, was shocking enough, but to compound matters was the subsequent 'suspension' of Numminen by the Sabres later that same day.

For a management that had already had heaped upon it the scorn of an entire league for their (mis)handling of their high-profile Free Agents, this seemed the final straw in their credibility and respectability. How could they be so heartless (all puns intended, of course) as to suspend and refuse to pay a man who was going through such a thing? It seemed no one had anything nice to say about the situation, and, predictably GM Darth Regier was anything but verbose about their decision, knowing full well that no matter what he said the political fall-out was pre-cast.

Last week on WGR, Regier made it known that negotiations were in progress with Numminen about his returning to the club. Now, the Sith Lord of Western New York doesn't talk about these things unless it's a near certainty, and with today's article in the Buffalo News, it seems even more likely that Teppo will be back wearing a Slug and I'll still be able to refer to him as the Last of the Marx Brothers.

"We've had discussions with the Sabres and we've certainly made progress but there's nothing done yet," Baizley said Tuesday by phone from his Winnipeg office. "We've heard from other teams and we're plugging along at it but 'Tep' likes it very much up there and Buffalo is his first choice, no question."

And now it's time for Tom to gloat just a little bit.

Every day from Monday to Saturday, The Ice Sheet will take a look at the biggest stories in the league that happened on the ice and elsewhere the night before.

Let's face facts, folks. The NHL All-Star game is a giant bore, and the skills competition no longer holds as much interest as it used to as the novelty has worn off.

Well, some great news for fans as it appears the NHL is taking a page from the NBA's Slam Dunk competition. The hook? A shootout competition which will showcase the NHL's best and brightest showing off their slickest moves while schooling the likes of Martin Brodeur.

The shootout will feature three players from each conference. They will be allowed to start from anywhere on the ice, even behind the net they are shooting on. The competitors will get two chances each. The judges will score the move anywhere from a 1 to a 9. If the player scores, he'll get an additional point, allowing for the possibility of a perfect 10. All six All-Star goalies will take a turn in net.

The two players with the highest scores from each conference will showdown in the final. Once again, they will get two attempts each. The single best score (ie: one 10 beats two 9's) is declared the shootout champion.

This, along with other tweaks, will give the NHL's skills competition a much needed shot in the arm. The Sports Network (TSN) has been campaigning for this sort of competition all season, and, amazingly, the NHL listened.

I can't wait to see some moves that can top Marek Malik's between the legs roofer, Robbie Schremp's lacrosse moves, or Jussi Jokinen's 'drag and drop'.

The big story of this the second night of the 2006-07 season is the long-time captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Mats Sundin finally tying Darryl Sittler for the most goals in a Leaf uniform at 389. Sundin scored at 15:44 of the second period to get the Leafs on the board after they went down 2-0 on a fortuitous TV timeout gave Dany Heatley his 3rd goal of the young season. Up until the moment I'd have to think that referee Chris Rooney was not welcome in any bar in the GTA when he dis-allowed an apparent Alex Steen goal after Jason Blake undressed Wade Redden and made contact with The Gerbatross, who was excellent in the win making 41 saves. Check Scarlett Ice's recap for the details.

Personally, that was a terrible call.

Sundin is just 4 points behind Sittler for the all-time Leafs scoring lead. For a blow-by-blow report, with snark a plenty, check the comments on the Gameday Post at The Battle of Ontario.

After taking a 2-1 lead into the 3rd period the Florida Panthers proved that just because it's a new season doesn't mean they've learned to win on the road as the Rags put up 4 in the 3rd to blow them off the ice at the Garden. Guess who got the Game Winner? Who else? Then the Danny Briere undresss Mark Smith behind the net (where else?) to score the Flyers first goal of the season. Then he scores the game-winner on a gift play off a horrendous change by the Flames.

To steal from our fearless NHL Fan House leader, "I'm bleeding here."

While at home this weekend I spent a bunch of time thinking about the Numminen suspension, especially in light of GM Darcy Regier's comments on Friday. I blogged my thoughts in detail at Sabre Rattling this morning, and, in short, the response has been less than enthusiastic for my position. What I find interesting in all of this is the perception of the situation. David Lee of redblackhockey commented the perception of it being discplinary, when obviously that is demonstrably false. But, that, in the end, the only thing that can be laid at the Sabres' feet is the 'perception' of cruelty, as opposed to a demonstration thereof.

puckstopshere decided to take a different approach, citing this as precedent for even more foul play on the part of nefarious NHL teams who will use this as a means by which to suspend players for, of all things, contracting the flu. Check the exchange in the comments to the SR post for details. Sad to say, but a lot of lost time was incurred by my employer and his over this and neither of them paid us to do that. But, in the end, his arguments amount to nothing more than supposition and hyperbole.

In essence, he agrees with Tom Benjamin, who is forever setting up straw men to knock down if he can do so to make an NHL owner look bad. The question Tom raises, which is why should the insurance company pay for this type of illness, in the case of the Oilers keeping Pisani on the payroll, because the Oilers want him to be, is a good one, and Tyler Dellow has the answer in the comments:

As we're all aware, at least for a while, teams were insuring players contracts against injury. The coverage provided was limited; players had to miss a lot of games before it kicked in and it was expensive. I would be shocked if that kind of insurance applied to something like this. I would suspect that the loss has to be the result of an occurrence, which is probably defined as something that happens in the course of a game or practice.

In short, it wouldn't. And, for that matter, Tyler agrees with me in that Teppo's injury is not, ultimately, the Sabres responsibility. Furthermore, I'm certain that this was discussed by all involved and it was agreed upon to take this course of action. If it wasn't, then Teppo wouldn't be talking about returning to the Sabres and Regier wouldn't be talking about him doing so. I've asked this question before and I'll ask it again, "If the Sabres and Teppo are okay with this situation, why can't we be?" Why is it that people feel the need to think the worst of someone and not the best?

In the end, all of this serves as a massive distraction to the real issue at hand, which is that a man, by all accounts a good and peaceful man, is about to undergo a life-threatening surgery. Wouldn't it make more sense to demonstrate our appreciation for him tangibly as opposed to spending all of our time trying to sharpen what are obviously ideological axes, mine included?

Ta,

Yesterday it was revealed by the Buffalo Sabres that defenseman Teppo Numminen would require heart surgery after an undisclosed issue was uncovered during his physical with team doctors. This morning it has been reported by the Buffalo News that the team has suspended Numminen for failing to report in adequate physical condition.

"The NHLPA was notified today that the Buffalo Sabres have elected to suspend Teppo Numminen without pay," NHL Players Association spokesman Jonathan Weatherdon told The Buffalo News. "We are currently reviewing this matter."

Numminen this summer signed a one-year contract worth $2.6 million. Sabres General Manager Darcy Regier said the guaranteed contract was not insured, meaning the club would be on the hook for the whole amount had it not suspended him.

I'm sure that this is the crux of the issue here. From what I've been able to piece together the Sabres are at or over their projected budget for this season and saving themselves Numminen's $2.6 million was probably deemed necessary.

The speed with which the club reacted to this situation is something I'll be interested in hearing the explanation for. I would be hard-pressed to believe thatboth parties had not discussed this possibility when the contract for this year was negotiated. It would only make sense given that it wouldn't be insured. Therefore, either this move by the organization was always on the table or the physical pointed at something which would hold Numminen in breach of their agreement. I'm just vamping here, trying to make the facts fit the situation.

The BN article goes into some speculation as to the nature of the problem, it possibly being a valve replacement procedure now deemed necessary by doctors. But, again, no one knows anything at this point.

Also, HF Mod Buffaloed brought up the situation with Max Afinogenov when he suffered a concussion in Russia during an off-season:

A few years ago the Sabres suspended Afinogenov when he suffered a concussion in Russia and couldn't pass the pre-camp physical. I'm not sure about this CBA, but under the old one it was required that the player be suspended. A big deal was made out of the Sabres mistreating Max then and nothing came of it. This is standard procedure.

I'm sure that Regier will address this issue at some point today, most probably during Schopp and the Bulldog's radio show on WGR550 this afternoon.

UPDATE: In the meantime, Teppo talked with WGR's Paul Hamilton this morning.

Ta,

From the Buffalo News this afternoon:

The Buffalo Sabres reported for physicals today and already they are down a defenseman. "After undergoing examination in connection with his preseason evaluation, the Buffalo Sabres medical team has determined that defenseman Teppo Numminen requires surgery to correct a cardiac condition," General Manager Darcy Regier said in a statement. "Teppo was not at training camp today because he was meeting with team physicians regarding the matter."

This will make the 3rd surgery regarding the 39 year old defenseman's heart in 4 years. One has to wonder if this will be the end of an 18 year NHL career that has seen nearly everything except a Stanley Cup. I know that I'd hate to have him leave the game like this, but if it has to be this way, then better this than what happened to Jiri Fischer.

Given that they haven't even taken the ice yet as a team this season the Sabres are now without any of the players that wore a letter last season barring injury. It seems that given their meltdown against 'Twa in the Eastern Conference Finals, maturity is going to be the prevailing issue to open the 2007-08 season. It's as if the Hockey Gods are saying, "No veteran leadership for you... grow up now!"

As for the team defense, well, there goes Dmitri Kalinin's safety blanket. Nathan Paetsch should be considered a lock for a starting position, if not Top 4 material. As well, Andrej Sekera better be prepared to push the rest of the defense corps at camp, because with Numminen out of the picture, possibly permanently, he's next on the depth chart. The falloff after that is a little scary to say the least, even though there are a number of promising younglings in the pipeline.

Ta,