Sabres notebook
Butler happy with his spot and role
The Buffalo Sabres’ dressing room is filled to the brim in the wake of the expanded rosters allowed after the NHL trade deadline. With one too many healthy players, defenseman Chris Butler simply has a chair in front of a wall and doesn’t have one of the cushy wood stalls.
And he’s got no complaints about it whatsoever.
The Sabres’ lone rookie thought he was getting a three-game look in December and instead has played so well that he never went back to Portland. Butler was a plus-2 entering Saturday’s contest against Atlanta in HSBC Arena, his 34th appearance of the season.
After Saturday’s morning skate, Butler joked to a reporter that he had the “luxury stall” in the room.
“But I know one thing.” Butler said. “I would much rather have a chair here than a stall in Portland.”
Butler is averaging nearly 17z minutes per game and has cracked the 20-minute mark nine times this year. He was in the lineup for the second straight game, as 40-year-old Teppo Numminen was again a healthy scratch.
“This has definitely been a surprise,” Butler said. “I was under the impression I was going to come up before Christmas and go right back to Portland. I thought that was the greatest thing in the world. Then it’s kind of dragged on and dragged on—and in a real good way.”
“Butler has played very well,” said coach Lindy Ruff. “We’re looking for a little bit more size, a little bit more strength. These are not easy decisions, not easy on Teppo obviously. But with the mobility factor and getting up ice, we’ve looked at Chris in some situations being maybe a little bit better.”
Even though he’s just one year out of the University of Denver, one thing that’s impressed the Sabres is the 22-year-old Butler’s ability to bounce back from a bad shift or a bad game and not let mistakes drag him down mentally. He struggled early in the Jan. 28 loss at Calgary for instance but was a stalwart the next time out three days later at Phoenix, playing nearly 30 minutes.
“That’s the reason he’s still playing, the reason he’s still here,” Ruff said. “We think that he can make a difference. Every player is going to have bad games. It’s how you respond, how you bounce back. He’s proven in some situations when he’s had a tough outing he’s able to come right back and play well.”
Butler said his father has always pushed him to shake off trouble spots in his game.
“One of the biggest things he taught me is that everybody makes mistakes, you have a bad shift, a bad game,” Butler said. “There can be goofy bounces and you can’t let that stuff bother you. That mental toughness to secure your spot is something I’ve really worked hard at.”
Butler has played a simple style in the NHL, staying close to home and not pushing the offensive zone too much because the speed of NHL skaters.
“In Portland, you do something against a fourth-line guy in that league and you can get away with some things and maybe try a little more,” he said. “I’ve learned not to do that here and the whole thing has been a dream come true for me.
“I never would have thought I’d play 35, 40 games or whatever many it ends up. It’s been awesome and I don’t think it’s going to set in until the summertime when I look back at it and say, ‘Wow, that really happened.’ ”
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Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller missed his ninth straight game due to the high ankle sprain he suffered Feb. 21 against the New York Rangers and Saturday’s contest was thus the 200th man game the Sabres have lost to injury this year.
The Sabres have had 15 players miss time due to injuries and Miller’s situation is the 10th ailment to last at least nine games.
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Thursday’s win over Florida gave the Sabres a 10-2 record this season when wearing their retro blue sweaters. They’re scheduled to wear them four more times, starting Friday against Philadelphia . . . The Sabres and Thrashers complete their season series April 1 in Phillips Arena. . . . In addition to Numminen, the Sabres’ scratches were Matt Ellis, Clarke MacArthur, Andrew Peters and Nathan Paetsch.
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