Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) – The Buffalo Sabres have settled on Devon Levi being in Rochester to be the Americans' starting goalie going forward. That has led to Eric Comrie being called back up to the NHL to be the No. 2 to starting netminder Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.
With injuries on top of being waived midseason, this hasn’t been an easy season for Comrie. What has put a smile on his face is the birth of his daughter just a few weeks ago.
Comrie has only played seven games in Buffalo this year, in addition to four games played in the AHL.
With the Sabres, the 28-year-old started the season with a great game, a 24-save performance in a 3-1 win over the New York Islanders. After a home loss to the Montreal Canadiens, he got injured halfway through a game in New Jersey against the Devils on Oct. 27 and missed eight games.
His last game with the Sabres was Dec. 5 in a 5-3 loss to the Detroit Red Wings. The Wings scored two goals in the first period and two more in the second to take a 4-0 lead.
Overall this season, Comrie is 1-5-0 with a 4.01 goals-against average and an .863 save percentage. In Rochester, he was 3-1-0 with a 2.26 goals-against average and a .934 save percentage.
Comrie was very honest about his feelings on Friday when speaking with me. He still very much enjoys being around this group of guys, and is hoping for an opportunity to play for them again. He admitted, it still hasn’t been easy.
"It was difficult for a little while there," said Comrie. "It was hard getting sent down, it was an unfortunate event, and it is what it is. But for myself, I went down there and just tried to find the love, and really tried to enjoy the game as much as I could."
Sabres head coach Don Granato is always preaching for his players and his staff to stay in the day and stay in the moment. Comrie mentioned he can’t go back and change anything, and Granato thinks Comrie is an example of that concept of staying in the moment.
"He’s a perfect example of it. That’s how he’s had to live his career, and really survive," said Granato following practice on Friday. "It’s how you handle these things is an example of if you’ll ever play again in this league or not. There are thousands of players that could be in this league, but they’re not because they couldn’t handle those things.
"He stays in the moment, stays focused, grinds through it, he doesn’t allow his confidence to fall. So Eric has persevered through lots of challenges in his career, and he’s gotten better at handling it and better at staying focused. That’s why he’s still here."
The Sabres don’t play another back-to-back situation until March 6 and 7 when they go to Toronto and Nashville. It may be awhile until Comrie plays again.
The Rochester experience did get Comrie some much-needed game action, and he says he needed it.
"It helped a lot," Comrie said. "I played very well down there, and had some really good games.
"I’m not sure when or if I’ll be called upon, and you never know. But I just did the best I could down there and coming back, I work hard in practice every single day just to be ready as best I can."
Comrie didn’t have to do this alone, as he carpooled with Jacob Bryson every day. Comrie says it helped having some friends surrounding him down there, including guys like Tyson Jost, Riley Stillman and Kale Clague.
Yes, Comrie is close to the players and likes Buffalo, but he also wants opportunities to play. He says that’s why he was, at least, open to the idea of being claimed when he was on waivers.
"You always want to be in the NHL, so it was a situation where I was like, 'Either way is a good situation, because if you get claimed, you get to go somewhere and play. If you don’t get claimed, you get to go down to the minors and you get to play and find your game a little bit,'" Comrie said. "Either way, I wasn’t going to be too upset. I just live moment-by-moment, and I enjoy what I have in front of me.
"I think I do a good job of that, because I’ve been claimed a lot. I know what it’s like."
We all know living in the moment isn’t easy, no matter what you’re doing in life. Comrie says having his first child helps a lot.
"I try my best to do that, but it’s always hard," he admitted. "I mean, every human being on this earth knows it’s hard to live day-by-day. I think having a baby actually put things in perspective, and it makes you enjoy everything a little more. You’re just so happy every time you go home and get so see someone you love so much, and it makes me so happy. It does put things into perspective a lot."
Buffalo’s home record so far this season is 27th in the NHL, which is almost worst in the league. That’s a points percentage of .460.
Last season, they were also 27th with a points percentage of .463. That means it’s not a fluke.
The St. Louis Blues are coming off their break Saturday afternoon in Buffalo. The Blues own the second Wild Card spot in the Western Conference, tied with the Nashville Predators with 54 points. The Calgary Flames are currently one point back.
In their last game, the Blues lost to the Columbus Blue Jackets, 1-0. Before that, they had won three-consecutive 4-3 overtime games, and also had a 4-3 regulation win. They had won four-straight 4-3 games, and were also riding a five-game winning streak.
Back in November, Buffalo went to St. Louis and lost, 6-4. While Jordan Binnington made 42 saves in the win, Granato didn’t like too many parts of that game.
"We’d love to do what we did offensively, and we’d love to clean up the sloppiness on the other side," Granato said. "I think we thought the game felt really easy. We generated a lot, and I thought we let up or played careless, thinking we were in a good rhythm, creating chances and scoring. If you let your guard down against a team that can execute, specifically on the transition like they do, that was a mistake."
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It’s funny that the Sabres are 22nd in league scoring and the Blues are 26th. Yet, they combined for 10 goals in that game in St. Louis.
Things are also even defensively, as St. Louis allows 3.10 goals per-game, while Buffalo allows 3.12 goals per-game.
Binnington is 17-13-2 this season with a 2.92 goals-against average and a .908 save percentage.
Robert Thomas is 23rd in NHL scoring with 52 points in 49 games. The All-Star center has 35 assists, which is 20th in the league.
Join Brian Koziol at 12 p.m. EST on Saturday for pregame coverage on WGR, as you'll hear from Granato, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Comrie.
