Jump to content

All Activity

This stream auto-updates

  1. Past hour
  2. Yup, when they lost Drury, Briere and to a somewhat lesser extent, Dumont and Grier, they lost a lot of good old fashioned grit. The core of homegrown Sabres that followed could not keep the team going forward.
  3. They made the playoffs back-back. Are you really blaming ruff, regier when both had a owner that wouldn't let them get any good players or spend money to get better and let the star players walk out the door.
  4. Why? Why not let him continue to help a team make the playoffs? Is it just for the home stand?
  5. They made the playoffs once, after black sunday. The dreaded “Core” of Roy, Stafford, Pominville, Myers, Ennis, etc. were equally as insufferable to watch, and were the very reason “the tank” became a strategy. Believe me, it was here before Pegula, as much as I dislike the guy.
  6. After thinking all season that firing Granato was not warranted, I've changed my mind. The team is not playing to its potential. Half the time it seems unprepared. He has some skill at developing young players, and I appreciate his patience, but the results are not worth it. Fire him.
  7. If its on NHL Network then I'm pretty sure I cannot stream it on ESPN+. This great new cable package (sarcasm intended) that my wife just bought is missing key sport channels and instead added 50 other channels of fluff. I am going to have undo her best efforts to negotiate a lower bill. It takes me back to the early-mid 70's when I father proclaimed "no way am I paying $10/month just to watch television when I can watch it for free". He later found out you can watch R rated movies on HBO and that tune changed.
  8. Roofing is too hard. How about sold Chevy's, or opened a restaurant, or moonlighted for State Farm (yes that means you Derek Smith).
  9. Who logged in as @PASabreFan? What is this? Sarcasm veiled as optimism is my guess.
  10. The game is on NHL network as well. The only game on the NHL slate tonight! They sure picked a beauty.
  11. Someone to consider on day 2 of the draft. Prep school kids are really hit and miss but in the 2nd round this is good bet to at least make the show eventually.
  12. Night Train's call goes through but only because it's one number off from Travis'. A master impressionist who worked directly under Frank Caliendo, NT is able to convince Tay Tay to send nudies. From there, blackmail and a secret meetup at the Microtel just south of Springville. Outside? None other than Woody.
  13. We have a game tonight. Against the Devils of New Jersey.
  14. Then the Caps come to town on Tuesday. The Wings will have lost to Tampa the night before. Sabres slide into a tie with Detroit, two back of Warshington.
  15. Iginla has a long way to go and I am not done going through players by a long shot. For me right now, Iginla sits just outside my top 10 and I think he will end there most likely. There are guys who are also tenacious with better skills like skating, that should be considered over Iginla. Berkly Catton for example is a more skilled player with high end talent. I think some of the doggediness that Iginla has is missing but it would be a mistake to think that means he isn't effective in puck pursuit or doesn't care. He has all the skills and manipulation and smarts and it is unlikely he will be there but he would be a guy I would want Buffalo to take. Catton is a level above Iginla. Right now for forwards my ranks would look roughly like this: Celebrini, Demidov, Catton, Lindstrom, Iginla, Greentree, Helenius, Eiserman, Nygard. I think there is a break after Demidov and another one after Lindstrom.
  16. The only good thing coming Is i get to drink again on Easter I remember when ville leino destroyed easter and buffalo signed him to a horrible contract lol
  17. No lol those teams actually cared and made the playoffs let's not compare the ruff ,regier teams to this crap
  18. I still remember how Josh Mora looked at young Taylor Pyatt.
  19. Today
  20. Adams? This culture was here way before Adams, I distinctly remember Derek Roy and Jason Pominville and their “how’s my hair” brand of hockey, way before Ruff and Regier were fired.
  21. Why do I like Iginla anywhere from about 9-12 (I think he goes top 10)? For me it comes down to things I look for in prospects. Seth Jarvis, Zach Benson, Tij Iginla, Jack Quinn (who I was late on). I believe that in the NHL time/space is the most precious commodity you have on the ice because if you take away time/space, that takes away everything else. This means that I tend to value the types of players that are on step 3 when an average player is on step 1. Basically a lot of players are able to think "I am here, I am getting this pass, I am going into that space to my right" when I want a player who is "the pass is coming, options: cut right to space, cut left across my defenders hands, keep this line and dry to forecheck. Each one of those will result in these moves by the other players" That 6th sense that Sam Reinhart used to always seem to be open. That is one of the first things I want, can they think ahead. Tij seems to do that, there are a bunch of plays where he has mapped out the next few moves and is executing at a rapid pace, thats really good. If they can think ahead that leads into the 2nd thing I want: manipulation. Can you dictate reactions with your skills to get where you want to be. Zach Benson is the prime example of this and Peyton Krebs is the prime example of not this. Benson baits, switches, cuts, stops, starts, whatever all in an effort to manipulate the time and space he has. Krebs pretty much just goes straight at you. Tij Iginla very much has some of the advanced manipulation qualities we see in Benson. There is fakes and dekes but they have a very specific purpose. You drop your shoulder for a net drive and then suddenly explode around behind the net to feed a pass into the slot. You have a defender on your back to you fake a cutback and then use your momentum to spin inside the defender and get the puck to the net. The 3rd thing I want: tenacity with and in pursuit of the puck. This board famously equates size with grit, it fact most of the NHL does. If you are 6'3" or bigger you are a power forward. Tage and Tuch aren't really power forwards. One of the most tenacious and gritty forwards we have is again Zach Benson. He is dogged on the puck, he is dogged in pursuit of the puck. He uses the manipulations he has to shield or take the puck back. He plays at pace. Now Zach has slipped a bit and I think because of his age and size (size does matter at times) he just wasn't ready for an 82 game season but that's okay. Tij Iginla has the best metrics in this draft at puck retrievals and takebacks among the forwards from what I know. Benson was 2nd last year. In fact last year, Benson was closer to Bedard in these metrics than the 3rd place guy was to Benson. Tij is a bit lower than Zach but still, if you want to be harder to play against, find these guys. The 4th and final thing for this post (I could go on a long time): production. If you don't produce at the jr level you don't produce at the NHL level. Sure you can find some far flung examples but stop thinking you are getting the exceptions to rules. You aren't. Tij Iginla plays in the WHL which is currently my favorite canadian jr league. Unlike the Q, they play something closer to the NHL style. Unlike the O, I think the offensive systems in the W are better. In the WHL I limited to 17 and 18yr old skaters and sorted by goals. Tij Iginla is 2nd. He outproduced former 14th overall pick Brayden Yager by 12 goals. Now pick224 is no longer so I can't see the breakdown of primary and secondary assists anymore but as a 17yr old with an aug bday, Yager had 1.31ppg which puts him 8th for 17/18yr old and 4th for his class where he is the youngest. Wrap up: Prospects IMO need 4 things, the brains to be on step 3 not step 1, manipulation abilities to prepare space, tenacity on and off the puck, and the production. Sure they need all the skills too but we already know that. Tij Iginla has all of the things I would be looking for in a player. His Aug bday makes me feel that his runway is long too and that the 1.31ppg he put up in his 2nd WHL season, might be eclipsed next year. If the Sabres manage to pick 9th-11th, he would be a solid target and a worthy pick.
  22. No. It’s not true. Linus simply says “ it was time to leave Buffalo”. Meaning, he wanted out, and money wasn’t going to change that. If this organization does not make more effort to improve, more players will do the same.
  23. I don’t get all the Tuch complaints. Last year was a career year for him. This year, with all the trouble this team has scoring, he is on track for his second best scoring season. He has played through several injuries, he has become an excellent penalty killer, he still plays a physical game. Tuch is the least of our problems.
  1. Load more activity
×
×
  • Create New...