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They don't have anyone who brings the puck up ice and you're scared. Sure, you're wary of TNT, but you just go and take away his space because he's got reach but not control. He doesn't create space because he's really only a threat to shoot, not to make otherworldly passes or breeze past you. Now... not every team has a player that creates space. But the Sabres really, really need one. And yes -- a goalie would be nice.

Everyone loves a kid line. But when they debuted together in 2005-06 their ages were Vanek-22, Roy-22, Afinogenov-26. Benson-21, Kozak-23, Östlund-22 are babies by comparison. (And they don't have the support of 3 other good lines, an excellent balanced D-corps, and Miller -- and a good coaching staff with Ruff in his prime and still with the fire within.)

Increased share of electricity production from expensive forms of electricity production (solar, wind) is also contributing to increased costs of electricity.

Scoring wise Tuch is a top 10 RW and top 50 of all forwards. Add his PK ability and he is a top line, but not an elite forward. FYI he is the Sabres top scorer (pts wise) and is 50th in the NHL (forwards). Colorado has 2 players in the top 10 and 3 in the top 38. We have a ton of middle 6 forwards and and 2nd pairing D of various quality, such as Power, Byram, Samuelsson, Doan, Benson, Norris, & McLeod. Quality is the issue. Mcleod, for example, is a high end 3rd line center, but a low end 2nd line center. The real issue for the Sabres, besides bad management and goaltending, is the lack of elite talent.

I won't be surprised to see Tage back at wing, but his defensive play won't really be the reason.

We'll find out for sure what Ruff thinks once they're both in the lineup together.

That's amazing. Benson totally would.

Maybe I should start following my local team more closely.

yep and most on here do not want us playing a goon on the 4th line. They really need a fighter as Tage nor Dahlin should be fighting. This elbow was without a doubt 5 and a game...end of story. As long as we do not use anyone who can fight teams will continue to do this kind of crap without worry...

In program management, cost and schedule variance at the 15% mark of a project's timeline are difficult to overcome. So if a project is overrunning at 15%, barring some radical change, the project will end in the red. I think the Thanksgiving benchmark is a similar thing: By November, a team is what it is, and barring a radical change, that's hard to alter. If there's any hope for the Sabres, it lies in the fact that the Sabres to this point have lost more games to injury than most teams. If they can get healthy and stay healthy (looking at you, Josh Norris), maybe they can overcome the slow start.

Never start anyone on the road.

Could that suggest the team has no confidence in UPL so they feel they need to play a much tighter defensive game to limit scoring opportunities because they feel they are going to end up in the back of the net more often?

Lots of environmental impact to this AI. Just like the bit coin "harvesting" BS. Increased electricity demand due to AI data centers is driving up electricity costs all over the country.

It didn't end up on camera, but Dahlin did actually give Meier a couple of cross checks after the play. Yes, that's all he did, but honestly don't see him EVER getting into a fight; he isn't that guy that'll drop the gloves. And, no, it wasn't enough of a response. Not in any shape or form. But it wasn't AS pathetic as people are making it out to be. MHO. YMMV.

No, it's the other way around: UPL has the lower GAA with a similar Sv% so UPL is facing fewer shots.

Perhaps Ellis doesn't give up big rebounds like UPL is so prone to do so he faces less shots because of that? UPL has had one of the worst rebounds over expected metrics for years now. Like we are talking 120th or higher out of 133 goalies.

But that's one more thing this crew watches but don't get right. Brind-Amour doesn't ride a goalie until he loses a game and then run with the other guy until he loses. He picks the guy he expects will get them the W in the harder games and then spells him in the easier ones; and if one starts playing particularly well or particularly poorly, the determination of which guy will get them the tougher win changes. They really don't seem to twig to the WHY of what successful teams do. They get the WHAT, but because they don't get the WHY, they can't replicate that success. One of my classmates a long time ago in a statistics class, who simply didn't get it, when seeing the grade they earned on a test complained "but I followed all the steps." No, you didn't, because you put it down to a recipe that needed to be followed exactly when it fact it was a set of guidelines that had a lot of if/thens in it. It isn't do 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and then profit; but rather if A then B, if C then if D then E and if not D then F and if not C then G and if not A but C then H. Personally expect Ruff understands that, but isn't going to do the X's and O's at this point in his journey and the guys he has working for him can't do the X's and O's at this level because they simply don't understand the WHY of what they're trying to do. Right now, in net, still believe UPL has the highest ceiling but he also has the lowest floor and too often he plays closer to his floor than the ceiling. Lyon is calm and can get in a groove, but giving him 1 game every 4 weeks will never see him in that groove again. Ellis is an unknown, but he's good at squaring up and then finding a way to get a body part in front of the puck but he still can resquare himself pretty quickly. Personally, would be treating Lyon and Ellis like the Canes treated Gerber and Ward back in '06, and throw UPL in every now and then (but sooner than 4 weeks later) and see if he can recapture that lightning in a bottle he had for a couple of months so long ago. It makes sense to trade one of them, but don't want Adams being the architect of that deal.

I had an error in the post you quoted and corrected it, FYI.

Hawes can block. So can the FB. There are several ways to slow down the pass rush coming from the outside. I remember the role of chip blocking the DE was one of the many things that Thurman Thomas did with excellence. He could slow down the pass rusher, peel away and get open. Thurman had a way of making the reception while squaring himself forward to make the first defender miss. We don't have a back like that but Ty Johnson a decent receiver, I think they should consider using him to chip block and flare out for quick reception. Unleash Ty or Cook or Harris in the old Thurman role.

Sadly, despite all the hub bub about their lack of response to just about everything (mostly stemming from Noesen’s hit on Tage last season, which ironically Tage settled against NJ), this is still the same team full of non responders. It can’t be a decision making process. It needs to be instant unbridled rage. The kind that gets you 17 minutes in penalties because you lose your *****. Dahlin being out there (again) when it happens and stick taps are the response is pathetic. Does the teams attitude stem from his indifference? Just looking for answers.

I don't think they are going to move any of them. The January schedule comes into play here. They have back to back weeks with 4 games. They have 15 games in 30 days. I think they expect one of the goaltenders to get hurt which is not unrealistic given how many goalies do end up on IR at some point in the season. I agree the goalies are mediocre. I do think it's up to the offense to score more than they have been to win games. We are not going to win many like we did last night but we got a little bit of luck. We were due.

Who knows If the lineup change was a way to send his two “leaders” a message, but when asked about it post-game, he mentioned the usual things like balance the lines, something about face offs, and ended with “get more energy”.

I wanted to smack Brady in the head last week for not using the TE or a RB to help chip block the Houston DEs. He seems to get lost in his gameplan. I think Brady has done a poor job this season and if he gets the LSU HC job I hope he goes and I wish him the best. Today is going to set the tone for the rest of the season. They can win and rise up and make a run, or they can crash. They absolutely need to stop turning the ball over and win the turnover ratio today. They will need the defense and special teams to step up. Looking for better preparation and a better start.

He Tuch’d him in a funny place. Personally, I’d let him Tuch me anywhere. Also, never start UPL on the road

Predictably unstoppable. You wouldn’t think those two words should go together, yet there was every single Kotalik shootout attempt. People are throwing around the idea that the team wants to play better in front of Ellis and not UPL. I feel like the numbers say the exact opposite. UPL has the worse save percentage but the best goals against average. I’m. It going to dive much deeper, but that to me says he’s facing the least amount of shots of the 3. But yeah, as you’re suggesting here, it’s mostly a wash across the board. We have 3 of the same guy, at least statistically.