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Ellis, Lyon.....UPL.

I have no idea, and sadly, neither does the coaching staff. Ellis is the guy we know the least about, as he's only played a handful of NHL games. Outside of getting shelled in one or two games (which all of them have) Ellis seems to be demonstrating the most upside. He seems to have quicker reflexes and is more capable of making a clutch save. Lyon appears to be the most technically sound, but has the least upside and the least physical ability. UPL - very hard to get my head around his game. All I can say is that he rarely make the save that he isn't supposed to. If it's a breakaway, 2 on 1, guy alone in the slot, etc., the puck is as good as in the back of the net. These goals are not really the goalie's fault, as the defense allowed a bad situation, but he never rises above it and steals one.

Yes the puck hits Tuch's glove; but yet CGY's 1st goal did the same and went directly in. Both cases had a player unintentionally on purpose touch the puck with his glove and create a goal. However that somehow equates to a hand pass for us and a "deflection" for CGY. McDavid's tying goal was not clean by any means; Draisital kicks the leg out from Lyon. If you want to say that Byram pushed him in, ok, but then shouldn't the goal where Thompson got shoved into the goalie, a while back, despite his great effort be ruled the same? Same could even be argued for the one where Benson was somewhat steered into a goalie. Then we have the Tuch and Quinn commentary which is where I always get a kick out of the all of you NHL/Ref defenders and how its obviously always the Sabres fault. You guys can hate the owner and be bitter about the playoff drought but that doesn't equal sounding less like a fan and more like you are just rooting against them. Quinn did try to fight through it; it isn't easy to keep balance when someone is trying to surf on your jersey. If the refs saw it as a flop then I have at least 2 earlier calls on us where Oilers flopped at much less. Including the call on Dahlin in the 3rd. As for Tuch, he cross-checked the guy then went over him with strength. A make-up call doesn't matter there, just call the cross-check if that's the case. They happened within 5 seconds and no puck possession had changed yet. To call a hook on that play makes zero sense seeing as Tuch's stick had literally nothing to do with the play. You can't "hook" a guy with your arm in hockey. What I'm sick of is the Sabres seemingly getting wacked with Goalie Interference calls to the letter while we see teams against us get far more leeway in similar circumstances. I'll live with a non-icing call if they can better the offside challenge 1. NO Timeout prior to asking for a challenge 2. The Offside must of occurred within 30 seconds of the goal and is voided if the opposing team gains full possession (not a touch, like a pass or attempted clear) 3. Refs have 1 minute to find this; if not the call on the ice stands

Hope so. Diggs hasn't been particulary anything to write home about the last 4-5 games; but he'll have his A game on Sunday.

Tough question to answer because IMHO UPL is adequate, even kinda good, at home but isn't close to good enough on the road. At home, especially if the team can be limiiting chances early like they often do, would go off the board and say it's UPL. On the road, one of the other 2. Expect most will say Ellis, but personally expect it's likely Lyon. They're different, but the results there are fairly similar. Just believe that Ellis playing a more controlled game gives him an edge; though can see wanting Ellis' reflexes to try to steal you a save. And, should he continue to get regular action, expect he could pass Lyon (if he hasn't already) with more experience at the NHL level.

Chemistry is very important for the success of any organization, and that certainly applies to the on-field/court/ice product of a professional sports team. Every team needs high skill guys, physical gritty guys, intellectual guys, leadership guys, younger guys, veteran guys, etc. It's getting the right mix of each that the great GMs can do. Then it's on the coach to get the best of out each individual and also out of the group. I thought Granato did very well getting the most out of individuals (lots of guys having "career years" while playing for him), but not necessarily out of the team as a whole. Ruff in the 90's got the most out of the team. Guys like Drury, Briere, Dumont, Pomminstein, etc. were not first team All-Stars, but were clutch players who worked well together as a team. Having Dominick Hasek and prime Ryan Miller certainly helped a lot, but all of those guys mentioned (and others) made a lot of clutch plays to win hockey games. Not sure I can put my finger on what's happening right now, but whatever it is, it's certainly not working.

So, does Benford track Diggs all over the field as he has with opponent's best WR's for the past 4 weeks or so?

I wouldn't but Pronman would https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6858899/2025/12/10/nhl-draft-2026-top-prospects-gavin-mckenna/

Who?

You're joking, right?

https://www.ctvnews.ca/atlantic/nova-scotia/article/cape-bretons-colten-ellis-surprises-young-cancer-patient-with-goalie-stick/ Was this not reported in the Buffalo media?

The dude has never made the playoffs, if public speaker embarrasses him more than that, sell the damn team.

Where do you get the notion that people want to see him get in front of the mike in order for him to publicly embarrass himself? Where do you come up with such nonsense? It's recognized that he's not much of a public speaker. So what! That's not a big deal to most people. That isn't the reason why the overwhelming majority of people have so much scathing criticism of him. As you note, people are clamoring for him to hire competent staff and then give them enough resources to adequately do their jobs. Retaining KA, after six years of abject failure, is the source of much of the criticisms directed toward this owner. The problem has nothing to do with how he speaks as it is how he acts. The record speaks for itself!

Lol, I've seen this happen once or twice.

The dreaded 22 or worse, 24 pointer 😂 I used to play daily with my grandparents, great aunts & uncles. When grandpa went on oxygen full time I played every night with him for years. I miss those times.

I can’t wait to hear what Ray has to say during the next DeTROYit game.

Yes, and the stick was still well on the Eulers side of the line when it stopped making contact with the puck. It was in fact a blown call. Not the 1st that game; not the last. And, personally, believe that IF they are going to review a significant subset of plays that should've resulted in a whistle to end the play after a goal has been scored then they should review ALL non-judgement calls as to whether play should have been stopped when they lead directly to the goal being scored. They can have somebody watching the game determining whether something is questionable and MIGHT require additional review in real time just like they claim they do with all plays that result in the puck traversing near the net. So, on that 1st goal, have somebody upstairs or in TO beep down and say, uh guys, that puck wasn't close to being over the red line when it was shot into the zone. It was an egreious error and it had a significant effect on how the game played out past that point. It literally led directly to the Eulers' 1st goal. Had the guy who shot it down the ice played it with a high stick that didn't get called, they would've been able to call the goal back. What's the material difference in how the puck was transferred to the goalie from one case to the other. Review them both or review neither of them, but just be consistent. And would be ok with going back to none of that being reviewable, if that's the way they want it to go; though personally would prefer to see them fix the replay system (as it CAN be a useful tool) rather than get rid of it (and they aren't getting rid of it, no matter how much you want them to). But it is dumb to have stuff like a potential hand pass or the puck hitting the net above the glass being reviewable and not other major potential misses that can result in a team letting up ever so slightly because their players KNOW the play is about to be whistled dead. Not overly germane to this discussion, but a blown icing call in OT very possibly cost the Sabres a chance to get thumped by the Red Wings back in '98. They changed the video review rules because of other events of that game, but didn't alter that aspect of the review.

Yes, I like Doan. I like how he plays. He is the kind of player you should have been building around all along. I feel for him because in time he will lose his love for hockey. The Sabres organization does not understand how you build a culture. It is simple as that. Two things to consider. Heard Hamilton today pointing out in their entire history they have only hired an experienced GM (experienced as a GM) twice. Scotty Bowman and Punch Imlach. Two eras in which we had a good hockey team. The eras that made me into a Sabres fan. Very telling. The second you won't like because I heard it said at the Bruins post game presser. Quote from Sturm that says everything "that's what good teams do. They don't complain. They just go out and work." Have you not noticed how much complaining Ruff does? How Sabres players constantly look to refs for calls. Everyone complaining and looking for someone else to fix the problem. Good teams just get out there and WORK. Pegula does not understand any of this.

Forsberg lost an edge there. No one is intentionally running a goalie during a shootout attempt. But it does make me want to suggest a rule. If you intentionally run a goalie in a shootout, your team automatically loses. edit: Hell, forfeit the loser point too.

Well you shouldn't have dealt me 2 5's, a 4 and a 6..........and then I cut for another 6 so I'm feeling ok 😉

But what you said was Doan should be on a different team.

Because I do not think Pegula will sell the team and thus I do not think the core philosophy will change and I do not think the organization will change at all. It's possible they go a little up or down and some people get shuffled around but I have no hope that things will ever improve. Don't get me wrong, I WANT them to improve, but I'm also a realist.

As of today, JJ Peterka is 12-11-23 in 31 games, 4th in points on the Mammoth. Josh Doan is 10-22-22 in 30 games, 4th in points on the Sabres.

100% Add this to his, already, waaaaay too long a list of deficiencies that, in summation, equates to an individual who is as close to me hating, without 1) actually meeting them and 2) them having no direct impact on my life, other than their perpetually $hitting on one of my preferred forms of entertainment. Seriously, I FU#K!NG LOVE the Sabres, and it's his mistreatment of this team, be it intentional or not, and the subsequent denaturing of this once proud and entertaining franchise, which has produced these toxic feelings within Life can be tough enough, sports entertainment is supposed to be a temporary escape from those life-stressors. Who is getting ANY enjoyment from witnessing Adams' "opus"??? I suppose tragedies are a form of entertainment, for some? What's worse is he isn't showing any sign(s) that he's ever going to actually figure out what it is that this team really needs, nor does it seem that IF (and it's a big if) he did somehow did "figure it out" he would know HOW to pull off what needs to be pulled off in order to drag this pathetic franchise out of the ashes of irrelevance??? However long he's had to right this ship has been, logically/traditionally waaaaay too long, and his continued tenure is nothing more than an additional layer of frustration Realizing this leads to me asking myself, "WHY TF do I even bother wasting my time watching this f#ck show?" Love & loyalty, and they are a real bit*h during the lean times. My rational side screams "run away from this mess!!!" But love and loyalty don't always see, eye to eye with logic... So, here we are; the witnesses to a sunk ship that we all share deck space upon!!! 😃 This drought era has been something else, for sure 😬 Even IF unca Terry actually spares us any further indignation from his enormous mistake of hiring/retaining GM Adams, do any of you have any belief that his next hire will produce better results? His previous examples don't provide much confidence IMO The last best years were the Drury-led ones, and that really does feel like a whole other lifetime ago....