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I don't know. Have the Mammoth played any physical teams yet? The Western looks like the weaker conference.

We don't have Jacksonville Icemen thread so I'll just leave this here...

I don't hate Peterka. I always liked him more than Quinn but I hope he gets booed hard and there is a little heat to this game. Hats off to any Sabre who runs him hard. Doubt Sabres can win though. When you compare top lines at the moment they look so much better. Going to need a big game from Lyon.

They were obsessed with replacing someone for the whole Guentzel Necas Rantanen debacles. The guy they might really be missing though is Brent Burns. That old dude keeps chugging along. They are still good but I can't see them being any better than before and likely they don't get out of the division. Florida is interesting because with their injuries a little bad luck and they could miss the playoffs. If they make the playoffs though they could win the cup. If one or two teams in the division get hot they will have trouble though. The door is open for the Sabres (or someone else) to seize the moment but I doubt Adams will do anything to make sure that happens.

6-2 will do that....wait...

I enjoyed when the NFL trade deadline transactions were nonexistent. Now, every moron on the internet is screaming from their rooftop that the Bills suck, Beane sucks, and the Bills are doomed.

The car detail was probably the breaker. That Delta Sonic OP location is closed.

While things sort of feel like last year, maybe the difference here is sustainability. You just knew the wheels could fall off at anytime last year. That said, we are entering November now and we all know what that means, so my final judgement will be at the half way mark.

So what are the lineup changes tonight ? Come on, I need info ! ( Talking off shoe and slamming on table ..)

Yes, and yes.

Bills hardly had any cap space. Getting a star WR for the minimum and a free car detail wasn't enough.

GMKA working the trade deadline phones for the Bills this year...

All this means it is early in the season and so far there is a lot of parity. To soon to draw conclusions, just win games and avoid losing streaks.

From the NY Times: "16 teams in the race That’s the number of clubs in the Eastern Conference either in a playoff spot or within one point of being in. Yes, that means every single team in the conference is in that situation. Yes, that is kind of ridiculous. This is the first time every team in a conference has been this close to making the playoffs 200-plus games into a season since 1995, a lockout-shortened year that was almost over by that point." So, are the Sabres better this year, or is every team mediocre this year?

The goaltending is better and the defense is worse. It's an 11 goal GSAx swing to the positive (better goaltending) and a 6 goal increase in xGA (worse defense). It's interesting to note that the number of shots blocked is up, but as are the total number of shots (382 this season vs 356 last season). The increase in total shot volume is ~7%, but the increase in xGA is ~18%, suggesting the increase is not proportional and consists of higher danger chances from last season. But this doesn't match the eye test for me. I don't think the Sabres are a particularly good team--and the analytics largely back this--but I don't believe the defense is worse (the goaltending is absolutely better). So down the rabbit hole... Across the full season last year compared to the full season this year, the xGA for Buffalo is higher this season--but this is also true for the league. So what about goals vs xGA for low danger shot attempts? Turns out, Buffalo is pretty good this season--way better than league average--at stopping low danger chances. However, they were actually not terrible last season either (better than average, but not as good as this season). What about medium danger goals vs xGA? Well, turns out last season Buffalo was terrible. Absolutely terrible. This season? Well, basically the same. And high danger goals vs xGA? Buffalo is doing well this season vs being near the bottom last season. Last season, xGA per 60 make up was .93 low, 1.04 medium, 1.41 high. This season it's .89 low, 1.06 medium, and 1.59 high--again, suggesting the defense is worse and the goaltenders are simply stopping high danger chances. Now, if we accept that Buffalo is facing (and stopping) more high danger chances, it again suggests defense declined YoY, so why does the defense at least appear to look better? I think it's because high danger attempts come in clusters courtesy of rebounds and scrambles. If the puck goes in the net on the first try, there's no subsequent "inflation" of the total xGA--and this also explains why there are more shots this season. The goalies are stopping the initial shot this season and that's the difference. Side note, since the mention of the PK being much improved, the actual number of penalty minutes is roughly equal through the first 12 (100 this season vs 105 last season), so that's likely to be genuine improvement and not a statistical outlier caused by differences in sample size.

Maybe it is.

like I said, its hockey.

Yes Cagary are pretty bad...the Bruins ran Carolina's goalie at onepoint and there was no respomse. Not sure why they (Carolina) thnk adding Ehlers is going to help them beat Florida...another soft player is not what they need.

But is that change actually in place yet? I feel like we've never seen any clear stories on what pieces of the new deal went into place right away and which wait until next year.

At least we don't have to worry about what the jets can do with so many first round picks. They can keep on doing jetsy stuff.

Any improvements to his goaltending ability sure were subtle.

Peterka is tied for 74th on the all-time Sabres scoring list with Yuri Khmylev (150 points). He trails Tyler Myers by a point. Maybe not a video, but definitely a PA callout during a TV timeout in the first period.

They are playing well enough to get my attention again. The injuries are a concern but I like the fact that they are fighting through it like they should. They seem grittier, which I love, with Benson and Doan being drivers of this aspect of the game. It’s a marathon not a sprint so they need to get through some rough patches and build a team oriented mindset. When healthy there will be a confidence and depth that was missing for many years. Let’s go Buffalo!

I was thinking more of fans booing him, rather than a video tribute.