One: “Here, they want the defence to go much further up ice. That doesn’t affect me as much … but I know I’ll have to cover for [partner Tyler Myers].” Two: “[Lindy Ruff] plays some different systems here, including a 1-3-1. I’ve never played that before. In Calgary, we always played a 1-2-2 … As the left defenceman, I’ll be the one [farthest back], but it will still be new for me.” Three: “They play an attacking collapse in the defensive zone … Everywhere I’ve been, there is always supposed to be one defenceman in the front of the net. Here, when the puck goes below the line, both defencemen and a forward pursue, with another forward going to the front.”

Based on what Regehr told Friedman, defensemen on the Flames were instructed to play a safe, traditional, style.

We know Lindy Ruff instructs his defenders to try and become part of the offensive attack. Active defense is what people always say about the Sabres. Its clear Ruff believes the potential scoring boost is enough to justify the risk involved with a poorly executed attack. Most of Regier’s recent personnel decisions pertaining to the defense have been suited to maximize the benefits of using this type of system.

Let’s quickly review some of the changes made to this defense over the past two summers. The Sabres have traded away or allowed the contracts to expire on Tallinder, Lydman, Rivet, Butler, and Montador. Of the departed, Montador was probably the only real threat to join the rush into the offensive zone. Meanwhile, in that same time frame, the Sabres have signed or extended Leopold, Myers, Sekera, Regehr, and Ehrhoff. Excluding Regehr, the defenders the Sabres have committed to are most effective when they’re skating up ice with control of the puck.

Let me put it another way. Of the five best skaters on the Sabres, are four of them defensemen? Of the five best shooters on the Sabres, are two of them defensemen? Total subjective questions, I know, but how many teams can be legitimately asked the same?

It’s a unique group, built to play a very specific type of defense. If Myers improves, they might even be elite. Myers is obviously the most important player to this unit — he’s the best all around player and is effective in all situations — but I’m most intrigued with Sekera heading into the new season. Aside from Myers, Sekera is probably the most balanced defender the Sabres have.  He certainly has plenty of NHL experience and he’s just now reaching the prime of his career. I think if Sekera can stay healthy, he can and should be a major difference maker.

I always have really high hopes for Sekera. I think he’s incredibly talented. It’s not only his fluid skating and his athleticism. Sekera can be patient and inventive with the puck on his stick in a way that’s quite uncommon, even at the NHL level. He’s deceptive. What makes him an especially gifted skater is not that he gets to pucks quickly, which he does, it’s how quickly he can turn and change direction. This makes him more effective than most away from the puck. He’s a perfect fit for Lindy Ruff’s defense. He can attack and recover.

The problem with Sekera has been his streaky nature. Sometimes he’s an extremely positive force, efficiently clearing pucks from the Sabres zone and joining the rush up ice. Then other times his scoring production flat-lines and he becomes something of a liability in the Sabres end. Sekera gets into trouble down low when the game slows and he has to battle for pucks or cover players away from he puck. He’s not a great stationary defender.

I don’t know enough to say exactly how he can improve other than to say he just needs to become a more reliable player.

I immediately thought of Sekera when I learned the Sabres had hired Teppo Numminen as an assistant/specialty coach. I think what Numminen provided as a defensemen is the exact element that’s missing from Sekera’s game. If Numminen can help Sekera be a bit steadier in certain areas of the ice and limit the turnovers, the sky is the limit. Every year I hope that Sekera will find a way to become a more consistent player, maybe Teppo can finally help him reach this level.

The Sabres clearly believe in Sekera’s upside. The simple fact that Butler was part of the package the Sabres sent to Calgary for Regehr is a positive acknowledgment for Sekera. For the past couple of years, Sekera has battled Butler for one of the final spots in the line-up. Now that Butler is gone, the Sabres have a lot riding on Sekera. He’s a veteran. He’s the most tenured blue-liner on the Sabers roster. They need Sekera to be a strong contributor every single night. He’s kind of a leader now.

I love the idea of pairing Myers and Sekera together. I know Regehr appears, on paper, to be an ideal fit with Myers and maybe he is but, I don’t know, Sekera and Myers seem like a pairing that would make both players so much better. They’re the future. Let them grow together. If Myers and Sekera play even-strength hockey together for something like 60 games this season, I predict their individual plus/minus ratings will finish somewhere around +25. I really believe in Myers but I believe in Sekera too.

My attention always seems to be drawn to Sekera. He’s deceptively flashy. When Sekera is playing his best, watching him can evoke the same emotion as when I watch Mike Vick run circles around a defense or see Floyd Mayweather dance around some unfortunate boxer. It’s partly an appreciation for his athleticism but it’s also partly about his style. I’m definitely overstating all of this now.

Anyway, I’m just not ready to assume Regehr is going to be a lock-down defender right away. I don’t trust Weber or Gragnani yet. I don’t think Leopold is totally reliable the Sabres end and I have no idea what to make of Ehrhoff in that part of the ice. Myers and Sekera are the guys I’m counting on, especially early in the season, to keep things settled until everyone adjusts to their new role.

Myers is not a concern. Sekera, I hope, will prove the same should be said of him.

I’ve been waiting to put something together on Tyler Myers until I got a chance to see him over an extended period of time. I didn’t want to rush to judgment. He’s a rookie and he’s a defensemen. It’s always difficult to judge either of those players separate but together, it’s extra tricky.

I remember before the season started all that was really being said about Myers was that he’s tall and he’s a great skater. I was more than a little skeptical mostly because I questioned whether his strength as a 19-year-old coupled with the adjustment from amateur to the NHL level would be too much to overcome so early in his professional career. Obviously Myers has proved me wrong. So what has made him so successful?

When you talk about rookie forwards there are a number of different ways to describe them, all of which are usually based on their ability to score. It’s usually just that simple. If you think about it, it’s pretty clear what makes a forward effective. But for defensemen, their first job is to prevent others from scoring. There isn’t a true quantitative measure of how well a defensemen is playing that compares to how well scoring valuates forwards. The nature of the position of defensemen suggests that the moments of the greatest value to the team are the defensemen’s actions without the puck. Not to understate their responsibilities with the puck, but so much of hockey for defensemen is positioning both of the body and the stick.  That’s determined, in my opinion at least, by a player’s fundamentals, instincts, and physical attributes.

I wouldn’t mention the following if I didn’t think it were applicable but I probably watch the Maple Leafs play more than of any other team other than the Sabres, of course. There are some ridiculously talented writers out there that cover the Leafs who I love reading. One of the things I’ve noticed from watching the Leafs and reading some of the poorer Leafs’ bloggers is that many of them tend to overrate Tomas Kaberle. I think it’s probably because he makes a lot of smart decisions with the puck but I’m always shocked with how frequently he gets caught out of position without it and how frequently the Leafs’ bloggers ignore it. People fall in love with his scoring production, accumulated mostly from secondary assists and very smart outlet passes, but he’s actually a liability in the Leafs’ zone. I’ve been saying the same thing about Brian Campbell to my friends for years.

Myers is different. His fundamentals and instincts are tremendous. At this point in his career, Myers is still in safe-play-right-play mode, kind of how Butler was playing last year, instead of playing-your-own-game-on-the-threshold-of-your-limitations mode, kind of like how Butler is playing this year. That style has worked better for Myers than it ever has for Butler because he’s so much more physically gifted. Even though he, Myers, doesn’t really have the core strength to physically control the middle of the ice yet, his reach alone makes him a very effective defender.

Then there is his puck carrying ability. He’s not a very fluid skater but his long, powerful strides tend to surprise people with how fast he gets going. I mean, how many critics and fans have watched Myers skate in awe, saying things like how can a guy so tall, cut and turn so fast? I’ve thought long and hard about this and I think I have an answer: it’s his balance. If you watch Myers, he skates in a really forward position, almost like he’s crouching or leaning over the puck. He gets really compact and then his leg strength takes over. Myers’ reputation for years has been that he’s a fast skater. For that reason, it’s tough to really question his leg strength. Upper body and core strength, definitely, but not his leg strength. Unlike most other players that get labeled as great skaters, Myers’ feet don’t move very quickly in comparison. But Myers doesn’t need to burst like a small forward. Once he gains some speed and gets in that forward-lean position, how can opponents check him? Myers has the wingspan of an NBA player and the balance/leg-strength to dig in and make deceptive cuts when he needs to.

Speaking of cuts, has anyone else noticed how well Myers pivots with the puck in his own zone? I’m talking about the moments when a forechecking line is bearing down on Myers and Tallinder and instead of forcing the puck up the middle or dumping it out along the boards to what will almost certainly result in a quick turnover, Myers back-peddles, turns, and swings the puck over to Tallinder. Smart and safe. The kind of play that Jim Lorentz probably spits up his soup over when watching the game from his home. How is Myers able to do it better than other defensemen? I think he does it by utilizing his great balance, his ridiculous reach, and his deceptively powerful leg strength. How he stays so calm and composed in those kinds of pressure situations, your guess is as good as mine.

As for how far down Myers is on my list of defensemen-I-would-want-on-my-team-for-the-next-five-years? Ignoring salary and including potential over the time period, I don’t think that there are even ten other defensemen in this league I would take ahead of Myers. I watch a lot of hockey and I don’t exactly say things like that very often. I guess you’ll just have to trust me on that though.

This team has talent issues, plain and simple.

When the Sabres were near the top of the standings, back when they had Drury, Briere, and Campbell, they played an aggressive offensive minded style of hockey. It worked because the Sabres overwhelmed teams with their offensive zone pressure. The defense wasn’t relied upon to do much in comparison to most other hockey teams other than provide a strong outlet pass. So smart players like Numminen, Tallinder, and Lydman flourished on the back end.

Now, without the same caliber of talent in years past, the Sabres employ a more defensive minded game plan. There isn’t a single defenseman on this team capable of bearing down, taking the puck away from an opponent and making a smart pass. For the most part, the defense is an above average skating group and that is certainly an asset. But only against teams that have poor puck possession is this defense really designed to play against. The upper echelon teams can do whatever they want in the Buffalo zone and accumulate a tremendous amount of shots on goal because the defense is almost incapable of taking the puck away.

In addition, Buffalo’s forwards are not particularly great in their own zone like, say, a team like Dallas. There are guys who I consider to be above average defensive forwards like Roy, Pominville, Connolly, and Gaustad, but there are also players who either don’t understand their defensive responsibilities or are just not talented enough. A disturbing trend for Sabres fans is watching Kotalik, Paille, Mair, Kaleta, Ellis, among others, just get pinned down in their own zone night in and night out. When the puck is sent up the boards and the winger has to deal with a pinching defenseman, those guys are no match. They are defensive liabilities every shift.

The Sabres don’t have the talent some other teams have. Should we be very surprised with that? The Sabres have the 7^th lowest payroll in the league. Take away Maxim Afinogenov’s current cap number and the Sabres pay less on their players than five teams in the NHL (Los Angeles, Atlanta, Nashville, Phoenix, Toronto). I’m happy that the Sabres are being financially responsible, but you can’t honestly tell me that their competing for a Stanley Cup this year when they spend so little on their players.

The Sabres have a defensive system in place where they try to mix young developing defenseman with cerebral older veterans. If you look back, you see it in every Sabres team since Lindy Ruff’s been coaching here. The Sabres prefer a quick skating, puck control type of defense. It works well if you have the right players. But the effectiveness of this defense is also directly dependent on the forwards and defenseman playing within the system.

That means that the players need to play with a lot of effort. The Sabres win when they play harder than other teams. That’s fine, I’m confident with Lindy Ruff’s ability to motivate his players but this is the National Hockey League, everyone is literally a professional. As an organization, you can’t expect your professional team to outwork every other professional team in order to win games.

There’s been a lot of talk around Western New York about lack of effort from the hometown team. Some say Lindy Ruff may have lost some of the players in the Sabres dressing room. I say BS. I think this defensive unit, and by extension, this team, is in a transitional period that is unlike any we’ve seen before from a Regier/Ruff team.

I noticed something in the Tuesday night Ottawa win that I haven’t seen from this team in a long time. Think back to when there was about seven minutes left in the third period and Ottawa was pushing for the tying goal. Ottawa was bringing pressure and the Sens’ forwards were swatting at Miller’s pads, trying to chip in an easy goal. The Sabres had been outplayed the entire third period. While Miller was trying to secure the puck, Craig Rivet absolutely bull-dozed two Ottawa players out of the crease, one with each arm. Rivet just overpowered the Senators with strength and aggression. It was the kind of aggression that leaves a memorable impression for opposing players. A scrum ensued and Rivet proceeded to announce to any opposing player within arms reach that he was not very pleased at the overall complacency and lack of respect Ottawa was showing his team. Now they know that if they want to take shots at Miller, there’s a tole that has to be paid and Craig Rivet will not forget to collect.

If there is one disturbing weakness that the Buffalo defensive unit has had over the years, it is their physical game. In particular, the physical play in front of their own net. In particular, the physical play in front of their own net during the playoffs. Sometimes you just need to have bigger and stronger guys on your team. There was no one bigger or stronger on the ice Tuesday night than Craig Rivet. He’ll always be there to test you, asking, do you really want it that bad because if you do, I’m going to punish you in the process.

It was a statement from a man still trying to earn his stripes on this team. But really, with further play like that, just hand this guy the keys. The Sabres saw it, the fans saw it, and you can bet that everyone wearing Ottawa jersey saw it. He’s already the captain and now we’re learning why. This is the guy that Jaroslav Spacek was supposed to be when they signed him in the ’06 summer and the guy that the Sabres have been missing on this team for years: a tough, gritty, passionate defenseman.

Any team worth discussing in this league has a clear and obvious advantage playing at home. Being consistently good at home is always part of the foundation with which every great team is built upon. And the best way to get victories at home is to create a dependable defensive unit.

Winning teams have identities on defense, often inspired by one or more standout players. Think about Detroit. Nick Lidstrom is a standout defenseman. He skates well, he’s smart with the puck and no one is better at positioning themselves in the defensive zone. That team and that defense, has an identity and it’s lead by Lidstrom.

Think about Chara in Boston or Phaneuf in Calgary and now Campbell in Chicago. Those teams win and are particularly successful at home with those guys dictating the tone of the game. Those players always have an effect on the outcome of their games.

Rivet will never be as dynamic of a player as the aforementioned. The guy’s 34 years old. But I like what he brings to the Sabres. He’s a difference maker and I wouldn’t mind seeing if the Sabres could pair up Mike Weber with Rivet in the future.

Sometimes I feel like the Sabres marquee players are sometimes afraid to battle with teams when they don’t have any competitive energy or physical support. A guy like Craig Rivet gives the Sabres both of those things.

Don’t believe me? Well, check out the following numbers. The Sabres record is 13-7-2 when Rivet is in the line-up this year. They are 7-8-3 when he’s not in the lineup. At home, the Sabres are 8-3-1 with Rivet in the line-up. The three losses came against Ottawa early in the season, Columbus when Lalime let in 4 goals on the first 8 shots he faced, and against Philadelphia later in November. With Rivet out of the line-up, at home, the Sabres are just 3-6-1.

After Rivet’s play, with 6:33 to play in the third, the Senators who up until that point had thrown 9 shots on net, managed only two more for the rest of the game.