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I don't think it's hope in this case. I'd classify it as "expectation", not hope. In the case of older players repeating career years, yeah that's hope. You hope they can reach that level again. But for younger players, it's just expectation and the reality of how players progress. They usually don't peak with less than two seasons total played. I don't take issue with Adams expecting ("hoping") that these young players will improve.... because they should improve. You expect them to; they don't come in as a finished product. Where I do take issues with Adams and his attitude towards the younger players is him continuing to have such a large young core AND not sufficiently supplementing it with enough of the right veterans to show the kids how it's done. It's semantics, but I think it's an important distinction to make. Also, I'd prefer to never be put in a position of defending KA ever again 🤢

Threaten them with a harassment lawsuit?

Frankly I'd guess NHL players would be more predominantly in line with a more "old-fashioned" line of thinking. For players not looking to live fast and loose and have a long time girlfriend; locking them up isn't exactly inconceivable. Players in hockey, do tend to be of Christian origin and will use the motifs and typical behaviors in everything from interviews to what charity work they do. You also have the interesting circumstance of Europeans tending to be more secular however the ones that aren't tending to be more outwardly religious. To sum it up, I don't really see Power or Thompson's marriages and religious overtones being an issue as I wouldn't be surprised if many of the players are at very least passively religious.

GMKA seems to think the goaltending metrics will improve if they play better team defense. Is there any evidence to support this?

The interesting complement to my post above, is that Lyon is kinda the opposite of UPL. Hes a guy who can get leaky when the team is playing solid hockey, then stand on his head when things break down. The key to making the playoffs might be having the right goalie in to match whatever Sabre defence decides to show up.

I think one thing that got overlooked in the big losing streak last season was how it effectively broke UPL. After a slowish start, he had an excellent November with a .926 SP and a GAA under 2. To my eyes, he reacted to the losses piling up in December by trying to do too much, overextending and getting caught out of position and his mechanics reverted to the AHL UPL. I think he’s an average goalie who can win a lot of games behind a structured defence. At least that’s what he showed 2 years ago. But he can get inside his own head and he’s out of his element when things break down. I think his success or lack thereof will hinge on the predictability of the play in front of him.

I have a collection agency or something calling me 3 times a month to get my brother's contact info. How do I stop them? ...without giving them that information, obviously

Well that is certainly high on the reasoning for sure

Truer words LOL....

I am not sure about worst... I think we are closer to the over all worst defensive play to include defenseman and forwards playing two way... I clearly an no where near enamoured with our goaltending... but, I am interested to see if it overall looks better if we have more of a two way team...

Better than: Philly Possibly better than: Carolina (Andersen is frequently injured) Pittsburgh (Silovs has potential and Jarry is Russian Roulette) Columbus (Merzlikins has declined greatly the last 3 years and their back up I have never heard of) Red Wings (Gibson, which version shows up and for how long?)

This is our best hope: that the talent on this blue line has experienced enough that it can realize its potential.

Nah man, that's not unfair. There's a lil shade being thrown there. "Trad" is in part used with regard to the "trad wife" movement which is ... something. "Trad" in general is just a cheeky, young person's way of saying "sorta old fashioned" and a societal outlier in this increasingly secular, cynical world. And such. And as I acknowledged above, there's part of my wondering that involves (sorta sh1tty) speculation that these young #followersofJesus husbands and fathers are not optimal for developing vibes in an NHL locker room. But I don't know that. I don't know anything here. This is a thought project.

They'll still be able to generate offense off the rush because they have such dynamic defenders. Buffalo has 4 of the top 31 5v5 assist creating defenders in the NHL now: Dahlin, Kesselring, Byram, Power. I think losing Peterka will hurt rush creation but adding Doan probably helps cycle creation. Hard to say what their scoring will do overall as Quinn and Benson are wildcards and I don't expect Norris to shoot at 8% like Cozens. Still, Buffalo probably scores a few less than last year, if that comes with a drastic reduction is goals against, than cool. They can, but "hope is a ***** strategy"

Absolutely true, but you’re projecting this on to Peterka without any evidence it was actually the case. Also, you have experienced 14 years of dispiriting losing. The JJ Peterka-era Sabres have gone 117/109/14. Poor little baby, who could blame him for quitting after living through that nightmare? ***** JJ Peterka

The term you started it off with felt derogatory to me. If I read something into that which wasn't there, that's on me. I'm not around teenagers or 20 somethings, so I have no idea, but it does seem like most of these labels wind up being used that way.

Don't forget Doan & Kesselring. They don't have a ton of time in the NHL yet either and could certainly improve their scoring this year.

I am not sure it is possible to have a conversation this nuanced on the internet and have it be productive.

KA’s dream of internal growth from Benson, Kulich, Quinn and Power can make up 10 goals. I still think he hasn’t done enough in regards to team building and instilling team toughness but they should be able to generate offense.

We also said we wouldnt trade Cozens, Mitts and Peterka....the only one we did say was Byram lol and he is still here

Marriage, no Kids, yes

I just want to know if marriage will toughen him up by any amount? Again, he will never be Pronger but there is a lot of room for growth, give us 10% more Owen.

Local radio station just played Sweet Leaf, this song represents the rock and roll lifestyle that Sabbath was all about plus a basic, thunderous sound.

Dust has settled and it appears the goalie carousel has stopped. I like Lyons and think Buffalo did a good job bringing him in, but did they actually improve the goaltending? Do we have the worst goaltending in the East? If not, who would you rank below us? How would you rank all 16 Eastern teams? To help this along... I limited to 5v5mins and 1000 minutes or more of TOI. That's roughly around 17 games played which helps eliminate some of the other fringe goalies. UPL ranks 53rd with -12.6gsaa (goals saved above average). Alex Lyon is at 42 with a -4.77gsaa. This is out of 58 qualifying goalies. Now we should note that I am not looing at GSAA based on TOI so Lyons has less but he also has half the toi.

Out from Buffalo: Cozens, Peterka, Clifton, Lafferty, JBD, Reimer In for Buffalo: Norris, Kesselring, Doan, Timmins, Danforth, Lyon It is roughly around 50goals out and 40goals in.