Sabres notebook: Kennedy tries to be quicker on draw
UNIONDALE — Tim Kennedy's daily beatings have temporarily stopped.
The Buffalo Sabres' rookie center has been undergoing a barrage of poundings in the faceoff circle at the end of every practice or morning skate. The former left winger needs to learn how to compete in the dot at the NHL level, and the Sabres have Paul Gaustad teaching him.
Gaustad isn't just good. He's the best in the league. He's won 69.1 percent of his draws this season, a full 5 percent better than second-place Scott Nichol of San Jose.
Kennedy, who was at 36.5 percent entering Saturday's game against the New York Islanders, obviously has trouble keeping up.
"It's a real hard skill," Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. "Tim is finding it tough. He's a winger that has been thrown into the center dot. We make him go up against Paul most days. It's not easy. He gets a little frustrated, but I think what Paul's doing is working with him, trying to teach him the little tricks that he's learned over the past couple years. It's tough when you go in against the best guys in the league."
Gaustad, though, was sick most of last week and missed his second straight game Saturday. He also skipped a couple of practices, meaning Kennedy's training has been a little easier with guys such as Adam Mair and Jason Pominville.
"I've been working about 20 minutes after practice each day," Kennedy said. "It's not as easy as it looks. There's skill that goes into it and strength with some guys in the league. I'm just trying to get better each day."
Kennedy, as expected with someone learning a new job, has had ups and downs. He entered Saturday with four games above 50 percent. He's also had nights like Friday's 3-2 win over Toronto, when he went just 1 for 6 in the circle.
"We defined that as one of the areas we wanted to improve," said Ruff, whose team was 17th at 47.4 percent last season and entered Saturday in 11th place at 50.8 percent.
"We felt if we could have the puck more, it starts with faceoffs," Ruff said. "It may give us 3, 4 percent more playing time with the puck instead of going chasing it. I think that part makes a difference."
Kennedy hopes having a quality teacher will make a difference, too.
"Paul is around the top of the league, so he knows what he's doing out there," Kennedy said. "He's a great guy to hear what he has to say and how he goes about things."
The Sabres' record of 8-1-1 following Friday's victory gave them the second-best 10-game start in team history. The 2006-07 club tied an NHL record by opening the year 10-0.
Buffalo never trailed during the win over the Maple Leafs, continuing a trend in HSBC Arena. During their six home games, the Sabres have been ahead or tied for 301:05 of 362:42.xleg
The Sabres' minor-league club, the Portland Pirates, will play in the arena Nov. 12 against the Rochester Americans.
The Sabres have announced a free ticket offer for the game.
Fans can receive a free 100 Level III ticket if they purchase a ticket to one of the following Sabres games: Friday versus Philadelphia; Nov. 20 versus Boston; Jan. 9 versus Colorado; Feb. 5 versus Carolina; Feb. 13 versus San Jose; March 12 versus Minnesota; or March 24 versus Montreal.
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