Kelly the Dog

It's surely not a lock that he is even a decent #1 goalie. But it also seems to be pretty much general consensus that 23 is the beginning of an NHL career for a goalie. He's 23. Murray's followed him for seven years. There is no question he and his scouts watched every goal and bad foal he let in the last couple years.

Murray tried to get Lehner for 31 with the Legwand contract included. Bryan Murray said flat no. I truly doubt, since the Rangers were turning down a #1 for Talbot that GMTM could have waited Bryan out and got Ottawa to cave. He likely knew this. Then he had to decide the difference of the 21 vs the 31 pick. Murray said he went to all of his scouts and asked them if they thought the difference between the 21 guy would be significant from the 31 guy and his group of scouts all agreed that it would be marginal. You may not get the exact player you wanted but the guy you would get would be very comparable. He wanted the guy so he got him. It sounds like solid reasoning not being fleeced. And five years from now he would be Robin Lehner.

Yup. That's why I can't see him sticking. I assume he is a buy out. I doubt any one will trade for him.

When GMTM first came in he said he wants big tough players who play hard and who other teams hate to play against. GMTM clearly wanted Kane and he went and got him. He clearly wanted Lehner as his goalie and he went and got him. He clearly wanted O'Reilly and went and got him. He clearly wanted McDavid and he did EVERYTHING he had to do to ensure the tank and went and got Eichel. He got rid of all the guys who may turn out or who were soft or problems or streaky. We will find out whether he has the right eye for talent although that is what he is known for. The guy has a plan and he carries it out. This has been fun.

I really didn't want to lose Zadorov, but after thinking about it for a bit, we hadn't had big tough defensemen that kicked ass in so long, we were getting Risto and Z and imagined them as a killer pairing for a decade. But we traded Myers for Bogosion who is a big strong killer. So the idea of Zadorov is lessened quite a bit. We have two big killers. We still have Weber and Gorges who are pretty tough. If we still had Myers, losing Zadorov would have pissed me off a lot more.

He would have to prove He was God though. He couldn't just pick up the phone and say, "Hey, Pete. God here. What do you think about trading away that #1 overall to me and my minions."

I'm over the initial hate. I don't think Legwand has any affect whatsoever on the team or even the deal. It's Terry's money for one year. Ultimately we got our number one goalie for 2-3 years at least. He's 23. He's big and talented. Murray was the one that scouted him. If in three years he's not very good the trade sucked. If he's good the trade was a decent trade, no more no less. If he is a top 10 goalie it was a great trade and he is growing with all the other young players we have. Hopefully we keep the goalie whisperer.

I'm actually curious as to whether it's some type of league rule that the GMs or whomever is announcing have to say "Buffalo selects" or "Buffalo Sabres select" in order for it to be official.

"You know who." Three words.

Does ACTM also have ZFG?

One of the very best things about Eichel is that he doesn't really seem to have an obnoxious Boston accent.

http://www.buffalohockeybeat.com/williamsville-native-dennis-gilbert-ready-to-be-drafted/

There were some pictures of him doing drills on twitter. Not sure how well he fared yet.

Eight goals is eight goals. I'd say draft him in the 6th round. Some guys are late bloomers. Plus, guys like Ovechkin would never score against us.

If it's an intentional snub I am all for it, although it's probably an intentional snub because the Snews has become unbearable and unreadable with all of Gleason's and Harrington's incessant whining. It reminds me of a scene from Fargo where Steve Buschemi was like the third weirdest guy in the car at one time. When Sully is the third most optimist writer on the staff covering the team, you know you're in trouble.

Um, I have news for you. You may want to sit down for this. Salem the Cat was not actually a real cat. He was a cat actor playing the role of a cat named Salem. I'm not even sure that was his real voice. If you look real close, it almost looks like they put another cat's human voice into the actor cat that played Salem.

Screenwriter, script doctor and professional drinker in sunny but godforsaken los angeles.

I understand the lying about the 30th place. It's something he had to do. I don't like it but I totally understand it and there wasn't really anything else to say. What I would truly like to know, however, is what his conversation were behind closed doors with Nolan about this precise issue. Did he lie to Nolan at all? Did he simply say, "Ted, you know the situation, you just play to win each night" and just leave it at that? Nolan almost had to confront him about Psyck. I assume that in other years, Murray would have sat down with the coach and argued with him over player decisions, but this year he simply wanted Nolan to fail (like most of us did, out of pragmatism not spite) so he didn't mind the bad choices. But I still wonder what he actually told Nolan about getting rid of all the players. Maybe nothing. He did say before the season in public that he is going to try to get assets for everyone of our impending FA.

Bill Hoppe says it appears they retained Irbe.

Interesting you said that. I am older than most fans here. I was 12 when Gil was drafted. Hasek was incredible but not even close to Perreault as my favorite Sabre ever. I would argue that Gil was even a better talent and player than Hasek even though Dom was one of the greatest goalies ever. But I wonder what it would take for McEichel to top Gil as my favorite player. He would have to be Crosby AND win the Stanley Cup and that might not do it.

My CORSI number is now 18! I can't wait to root for them to win tomorrow.

My personal CORSI number is 12. I have done seven shots. Missed three for various reasons. And the girl I'm with has blocked two.

The Jackets sure can pass the puck. This game should be 5-2 already.

I can't wait to see him play with a really good center.

That was one helluva play by Nakita.