carpandean

There are roughly 1.2 million people in the Buffalo area versus about 0.73 million in the Winnipeg area. There are about 1.2 million people in all of Manitoba. Toronto (6 million) is 1 1/2 hours away from Buffalo and there are another million people in Rochester (a little over an hour away), many of whom are Sabres (Amerks) fans.

Hopefully, we won't find out. :(

OK, trying to find something to make things feel better. Ask yourself this: what is the chance, now, that the Sabres hold on to 30th? Call that p. If we assume that Edmonton is out (even if they lose all 6 games after going 5-1-2 in their last 8, the Sabres would have to go 6-0-0, 5-1-0, 5-0-1 or 4-0-2 to pass them), then the chance of McEichel is: McE = p + 0.335(1-p) Optimist? p = 0.75 --> McE = 83% Neutral? p = 0.50 --> McE = 67% Pessimist? p = 0.25 --> McE = 50%

I know that we say that players won't tank, but those Coyotes players are making me wonder. I thought Gagner was supposed to be fast and talented. Saw him blow two or three opportunities because he looked like he didn't care to catch up with the puck.

Anyone else in Roch got a black screen on MSG w/ TWC?

I like the idea. "No goal; the puck was directed in with a high skate."

Personally, I have been talking about Eichel more, even calling it a race for Eichel with a bonus shot at McDavid. I am absolutely assuming that McDavid will not be a Sabres; it's beyond wishful thinking (counting on beating at best a 1 in 5 chance) to do otherwise. If he comes here, that's great, but it won't be weird to see him in another uniform. If we hold on to 30th and end up with Eichel, I'm expecting a bunch of idiots to laugh about how our tank didn't work, to which I will reply, "it worked exactly as expected."

I don't think that the league wants players kicking at the puck with their bladed boots while high price goalies are reaching their arms out for it.

Just trying to be as conservative as possible about our chances. Of course, they have excuses, too. Insurance policy? If the Sabres start winning, have Lindback fake an injury.

With so few games left, there's a big range of potential outcomes from tonight. Best case, Edmonton would be virtually eliminated from 30th (Sabres would have to go 6-0-0 and the Oilers 0-6-0 due to the tie-breakers, in which case they Sabres would almost certainly finish in 28th) and Arizona would be up 8 (minus the game-in-hand) with six games left. With the ROW tie-breaker, the Sabres would be able to go 4-2-0, 3-1-2 or 2-0-4 and still clinch even if Arizona loses out. Worst case, the Oilers get back within 7 and the 'Yotes would be within 4 (minus the game-in-hand), meaning things would come right down to the wire. It would be down to 2-4-0, 1-3-2 or 0-2-4 in their last six to clinch with Arizona losing out and the Coyotes could reach the 30th spot in the teams' 79th games (they could be tied on points after the 78th, but Arizona would have more ROWs.) The Sabres still face Toronto (checked out), Islanders (not playing well), Blackhawks (trap game for them?), Carolina (not great), Blue Jackets (hot lately, but not great for the season) and the Peguins (will they be playing for anything or looking forward to the first round?) Arizona's opponents are a little tougher: Sharks (home-and-home), Flames, Canucks and Ducks.

That was in reference to a post the other night that got a bit of a response. I (somewhat) jokingly said that I was still nervous about Carolina (eliminated later that night) and Toronto passing us. I will be nervous about the remaining two right up until they or we are eliminated.

OK, I'm not nervous about the Maple Leafs (other than the lottery, of course) anymore. We now have a maximum points of 62 with a max ROW of 19, below Toronto's current 62 points and 24 ROW. Bottom three finish guaranteed.

I'll admit it, I was firmly clenched for the whole last half of that period. Now that it's over, I can say that I liked the push back and the whole effort by the boys, but only now that it's over. ;)

Yup.

Man, I clicked on the Yotes game and it was 1-0 Arizona with 12 minutes left. Less than three minutes later, it's 1-3. And the replay showed that Crosby pushed it in with his skate, but they still allowed it under review.

We have 8 games left and 48 points, so right now our max is 64. Arizona has 54 points (with a game going on right now.) If they win this one and the one against us, then they would have 58 points. If we lose tonight and the head-to-head, both in regulation, then we would have 48 with 6 games left for a max of 60. The soonest that we can clinch in April Fools Day against the Leafs (a loss would take us to 58 max and one less ROW than the Yotes could get.) What could go wrong there? ;) Now, want to know when the earliest that Arizona could clinch is? :P

Douchiest move by a prospect ever.

This year is exceedingly rare. The best prospect in 10 years is coming out in combination with another one of the top prospects in the same generation (if not 2nd best, close to it.) The closest thing to that before was 2004 when Malkin and Ovechkin came out. Despite all of that, only two teams - Sabres and Coyotes - really made an effort to degrade their on-ice performance through player moves. The Oilers did a little, but not nearly as much (their best players were much too young), and the Maple Leafs' players have checked out, but I wouldn't accuse their front office of purposefully tanking. We haven't seen anything approaching what just those two teams have done since pre-2004-05 lockout, despite higher odds than what they have now. This is a perfect (s**t) storm that is unlikely to be repeated even without any changes to the system.

We know that the players won't do it. We can't even get our players under long-term contracts (Ennis, Moulson, etc.) to do it and they would stand to benefit far more from a successful tank than another teams' players would stand to benefit from derailing it. Too many players on that team would not be in comfortable positions (long-term contracts), themselves, so they will play hard for their own best interests. Losing a game on purpose (not just thinning the roster, but actually playing on the ice to lose) is morally reprehensible and no GM/Coach is going to walk into the dressing room and say, "let's teach these tankers a lesson tonight, boys; go out there and lose one for the moral high ground." Team-wise, the only exception seems to be Toronto, whose "stars" are mailing in every game. As for roster manipulation, it can be done when rebuilding by trading off players for future assets (even that takes time, not to mention an open trading season), but there's not much that can be done in the short-run to affect one game. They are limited in call-ups and there would certainly be outrage from the players if some of them are sat in favor of lesser players just to prove a point. I don't see any of them doing much more than playing the backup goaltender. Not to mention one heck of a "playoff" beard.

Data has to be a little thin for high-end NCAA players (compared to CHL players). Not that there aren't any (Toews, Heatley, Vanek, etc.), but Eichel's producing (point-wise) at a higher level than even those few data points. Tough to infer what he's going to be capable of.

Depends on who gets 'em. I'm not worried about Carolina anymore. The Maple Leafs are 12 ahead with a guaranteed tie breaker and if the Sabres get 13+, they'd likely be passing us for 27th, anyway. I'd just prefer that they not be sticking around. Now, if I were an Oilers fan (and maybe a Yotes fan), I'd definitely be concerned about them. And, on some real, "Around the NHL" news: the Hamburglar got flame-broiled by the Rangers tonight.

Not bad (the outcome, not the game, itself.) I'll take it.

It won't be. Kane is coming, Reinhart is coming, etc. Some of the best players on the team are still kids. Plus, we have a lot to trade with.

As I said earlier, that's why I couldn't watch this game in person. I can't change how I feel about the outcome, but it's not fair to the players to cheer against them in their own building.

I say yes, but I'm watching the NHL scoreboard, so my only basis is the number changing to a 3.