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AND, it saves Terry a bunch of money in hotels and in meals (per diem).

It sure seems like Östlund has taken a job from Kulich right now. Until they figure out the 3 goalie situation they will have to release either Dunne or Kozak. Dunne might be the one waived and is the most likely to survive and make it back to Rochester. I think Kozak would be picked up by another team if waived.

Dunne has been a nice surprise, but he's very clearly the choice. He's not getting claimed, but if by some chance he does, you move on. That's a piece that is much easier to replace than anyone else.

Can hope for W's in all of them, but can't realistically expect a W in Edmonton or Seattle. Edmonton, because they're rested, at home, and a tough matchup without the last line change, and the Sabres rarely win out there. Seattle, because until the Sabres actually beat them, they haven't done so and there's little reason to be expecting that 1st W. Calgary should be an almost automatic W, because they're really bad and for some reason the Sabres play really well in that barn. Could see them getting the W in Winnipeg, but after playing so horribly last night, they'll be looking to make up for getting embarrassed. That'll be a tougher game to steal than it should be. Could see them winning in Vancity or Filly, but can also see them laying an egg in either or both. Won't be what they need, but am expecting 2-2-2; maybe 3-2-1 with the 2nd OT loss turning into a SO win. And if Winnipeg is determined to make up for yesterday, 2-3-1. (And combined with the Minny game last week, would give them a 7 game stretch at or above 0.500 on the road. Which could give them a huge boost of confidence to at least do close to that on the road moving forward.) The wildcard is how much of a bounce do they get should Norris stay healthy through the whole trip and play like he did yesterday.

Offensive acumen doesn’t run strongly in the Mathilda bloodline. His dad was a solid defensive centre with strong leadership skills but his offensive game wasn’t strong even at the junior level. I’m sure his son is stronger offensively but doesn’t sound strong enough for a top 10 pick

The Kesselring move may be easier if one of the goalies just takes over the net and makes the others expendable. For now, I don't think you can send Östlund down. Norris just returned and if he goes back out again on the trip... we're probably starting Jordan Greenway as top line center again 🤢. Östlund gives some flexibility to the lineup that they need imo.

2-3-1

Cozens: 8g, 8a, 16pts in 25games with a -11 (Norris is at +/-0)

The Sabres are 9-5-2 at home, but only 2-6-2 on road. Philly is the next game. They are 14-8-3 (8-4-2 @ home) Wpg is next. 13-12 overall (6-5 @ home) Calg is the 3rd game. 9-14-4 (4-4-2 at home) Edm is 4th. 11-10-5 (5-2-2 at home) (This is the 2nd night of a back to back) Van is 5th. 10-13-3 (3-7-1 at home) Seattle is the 6th and final game of the road trip. Sea is 11-7-6 (6-3-3 at home). I believe the Sabres need to win at least 4 of these games to slowing climb back into the race in a crowded Eastern Conference. Calg and Van are the obvious should win games. Wpg without Hellebuyck is very beatable (as we just saw). Now just find away to beat Philly or Seattle and the road trip will be a success. I doubt they’ll beat Edm on the back end of a back to back with the Oilers having rested for 3 days.

Expecting we'll get a better feel for what that line will really be bringing tomorrow night in Filly. Hoping Norris is the PPG player that was billed as his ceiling, but he had to have adrenaline out the wazoo yesterday finally getting to play for the 1st time in 2 months and getting to play against a team that simply didn't have anything in the tank. The very 1st game LaFontaine played for the Sabres, they looked like the best team in the league (they weren't, at least not that season). Thornton's 1st game as a Snark was one of the very few W's that team got in Buffalo and they might've been able to beat an all star team made up of the '77 Habs, the '82 Aisles, and the '85 Eulers that night. And who was the scrub the Sabres got from SJ that got 2 goals in his 1st game as a Sabre and then nearly never scored again for them. That wasn't Norris' 1st game as a Sabre, but considering his health issues and how long he'd been out, it kind of felt like it was. If he gets a goal and an assist tomorrow, we could have something special (at least for the 40 or so games he plays each season).

It's hard not to get excited for this team with him present. With his defensive play and offensive skill/finishing ability... he really ties up the lineup nicely. I'm excited for what could be, but also just waiting for the other shoe to drop with another injury.

Norris returned last night with a hell of a game, and to make room they sent their 7th defender. But their about to go on a 6 game road trip and won't have the luxury of a quick trip down the 90 if you suddenly need to dress another defender. To further complicate things, Kesserling is skating. No timeline on when he returns, but they will need to make a spot for him when he does. If you call up a 7th defender this becomes easy to deal with. Last night they kicked the can down the road another day, but can they afford to go on this trip without a 7th defender? It seems like they have to make another roster move before leaving for Philly tomorrow. The easy answer is Östlund. Not because he's the right choice, but because he's waiver exempt. I think he's justified staying up, and the other options don't bring what he has added to the roster. I think he's slotted into Kulich's expected role fairly well. They have 3 goalies. That's the obvious cause we've been dealing with all season. Do they waive Ellis and just move on? St Louis will grab him right back (if someone else doesn't). Do you try to trade one? Have they been trying to trade one? A trade isn't likely to just happen by tomorrow night unless they have been close on a move. If they waive Lyon I'd think he'd get claimed by someone, possibly just as a rental like what happened to Reimer last year. The other options are Dunne or Kozak, but both would need to clear waivers. I think Dunne has a better chance to clear than Kozak, but maybe I'm overvaluing Kozak or undervaluing Dunne with how well he's played for us this season. Personally I'd dress either Kozak or Dunne over Greenway, but I don't see that happening. They seem to like Greenway more than I do. I think his contract makes him hard to move. I'd probably waive Dunne (though I'd prefer to waive Greenway, but the Sabres won't do that) What's your move?

That is just so hard to get past! He just looks frail. I just hope they does not prove to be the case going forward.

Well, there is that. He has done a very good job. I would go so far as to say he's done a great job. But I realize many (most) would say he has not been great because of the playoff disappointments. Maybe it's my landing in middle age. Maybe it's paying more attention to certain aspects of the games. Maybe it's the Hamlin incident and the ambulance coming onto the field for Micah (among others) during my time as a STH (which dates to Josh's 4th season (2021-2022)). For whatever reasons, I feel exceptionally aware of how hard a game pro football is. Brutal, really. And winning a game in that league? As hard as it gets.

Having another proven NHL caliber finisher in the lineup makes a big difference. Need people to take advantage of these generated chances!

sounds like it was probably a deep bone bruise from taking a puck to the ankle. Now he just needs to fall in love with a girl named Allie and they can get married and live happily ever after like in The Notebook!

Would expect him to be on the trip, but not activated unless there is an injury/illness. Would have to relook at the rules, but believe he could be activated on an emergency basis should a D go out due to illness or injury in warmups, as they'd be below 6 healthy D on the roster. (Haven't looked at the details on that in a long time, so that might not be allowable, but pretty sure it would be.) But that would only help with the roster crunch for a day or 2.

If this remains the case long-term, Utah will probably move him at some point. It could also be a case of matchups or a player having a periodic poor game. I was recently looking at Connor Timmins PT (playing time) and he’s averaging a career best 19:30 a game. This is a 3 minute a game increase over his career PT and he’s earned the extra PT with his play this season. However his game to game TOI (time on ice) varies significantly from a low of 14:06 to a high of 24:36. When I looked at the games with the low TOI, I saw games where either he was struggling or the Sabres were behind early and Ruff added shifts to Byram, Power and Dahlin to get more offense. I wonder if something similar is happening with JJP. In games that Utah is trailing, JJP gets more TOI to create offense, but in tight games his TOI diminishes to protect the lead. They do seem to be giving him a higher % of Ozone starts than we did and his PT per game is down over a minute than last year in Buffalo. I’m still not thrilled with the trade, but there is no denying that Doan has made a very positive impact on the team. I’d have rather kept and signed JJP and had Adams make a McLeod type trade for Doan. We are down .3 goals per game vs last season and I believe losing JJP is a factor in the downturn.

Metsa sent back down yesterday… maybe that tells us everything we need to know about Kesselring. I know Metsa is the easiest one to send down if Östlund plays, but maybe it’s more than that. Did they say anything about Kesselring not making the trip?

I wonder if they leave Kesselring home for the roadtrip and wait until they get back to plug him in.

In that case, I think Östlund is here to stay. Him staying in the lineup after Norris’ return tells me everything I need to know about him.

There are a lot of interesting projects when it comes to energy storage, including thermal energy storage (molten salt,etc). The most reliable and efficient form of course is Hydro, but it requires a significant amount of land to do it at scale. Batteries have come a long way since the first BESS I put into the grid, which actually was a molten salt BESS, but the energy density is lower than lithium and only makes sense in some applications. Energy storage, IMO, is the next area for significant tech advances but lacks the investment from companies, schools, and governments. So far the market has looked at standard solutions for various conditions because that is the best way to secure sales once its ready for market. Conversely I see a big opportunity to identify and develop multiple types of storage that makes sense on a regional basis, depending on the geography, weather conditions, and grid demands.

Josh Norris in his Sabres career: 5games, 3g, 2a, for 5pts

All I can say is that top line of Benson-Norris-Thompson looks like it's going to be a menace to the rest of the NHL for as long as it can stay healthy and intact.

One thing that I believe is overlooked about Norris is that he's only 26. If he can somehow find a way to get past the injuries (not likely, but you never know), he's a not only a really talented player, but he has a lot of years ahead of him. He was certainly a difference maker on the ice last night and a huge addition to the power play.