carpandean

That's 8 points in the last 6 games for the Oilers. Hope they keep it up, so that we can at least stop worrying about 28th (1 in 9 odds of McEichel vs. 1 in 3 for 29th.) They've got some tougher games coming up.

Oilers blew a three-goal lead, but our boy Roy won it on the PP in the third. Two points and an ROW. :thumbsup:

Coyotes with an unexpected OT win (still an ROW) against Detroit. That certainly helps the cause.

29, 21, 29, 27, 7, 8, 26, 25, 9 Not conceding, but those are the current ranks of the Sabres' remaining opponents.

Would be tough to lose him, but if taking him out allows for a real quarterback to come in, then they'd have to seriously consider it. The drop on D wouldn't be nearly as big as the rise on offense.

No doubt that Ted is playing a "bend, but don't break" system that lets teams take lots of shots from the outside, but limits their prime chances from the middle and in close. It's their only hope. They aren't going for possession or Corsi or anything like that, because they couldn't hope to compete that way, but rather for survival and the hope that they can capitalize on the rare PP, odd-man rush or garbage goal. Keeps games close (annoyingly so in the case of OT/SO's), but over the season hasn't won much. Unfortunately, it won't have to in order to finish out of 30th.

Stafford was even more productive with the Sabres in 2010-11 (over the whole season, but especially during the middle of the season) with centers like Roy and the Tin Man than he is in Winnipeg. Then, he signed his contract. Maybe this time will be different, but I wouldn't bet money on it.

What's ridiculous is that the game was tied late despite that kind of differential. Admittedly, though, the Stars did take a lot of shots from 20 feet away that hit (were "blocked" by) Sabres players.

Might not is an understatement. As I've said before, the tank race is actually for Eichel with a bonus shot at McDavid. 30th gets the 2nd pick (Eichel) almost surely (not the precise mathematical a.s., but 80%), 29th gets the 3rd pick most likely (66.5%) and 28th gets the fourth pick more likely than not (55%). Each has a shot at McDavid (20%, 13.5% and 11.5%, respectively), but there's a 55% chance that someone outside of that group gets him.

Loved the result and applaud the effort. I did a crazy, freaky, throwing all four limbs in the air dance when the clock hit 0:00.

While I doubt that it is fixed, I'm not sure why something that important isn't done under the watchful eye of KPMG Pete Marwick (or the like), just as the NY lottery drawing is.

These. There likely isn't much doubt that McDavid will and should be #1 and, likewise, Eichel will and should be #2. At this point, with only a three point lead, a game-in-hand and two head-to-heads, finishing 29th is quite possible (28th is still not ruled out either), which would give them a 66.5% chance of having to pick someone else. He would be smart to scout the remaining choices (as well as players in their system) and the most convenient place to do it is in Erie. I will be pissed if they manage to hold get the #2 pick, only to trade down.

Wouldn't matter. If the Sabres went 1-7-2, then they would have 47+4 = 51 points, while the Coyotes would have at least 50+2 = 52 points. Now, if they go 2-8-0 with both wins coming in regulation to the Coyotes, then Arizona could finish lower (51 vs. 50 if they lose out). If some combination were to leave them tied in points, then the Coyotes currently have a four ROW lead in the first tie-breaker. If the Sabres manage to win four more in regulation than the Coyotes, then I don't see them finishing with as few points as them (would put them at 55+ points), especially if two of those ROW are the head-to-head games. So, for all practical purposes, I would say that the Sabres will have the tie-breaker, if it matters. I don't see the Coyotes picking up more than 3 points in their seven non-head-to-head games, so assuming two regulation Sabres wins in the h-t-h's, they can't afford to pick up more than a point or two (if even that) in their remaining 8 n-h-t-h games. I hope that I'm surprised in the h-t-h's (even if that just means two OT/SO wins), because otherwise they're probably screwed.

I laughed about this the other day when I saw some clips of lacrosse goals. Their goalies looked ridiculous kicking at the ball. Could you imagine if NHL goalies only wore basic (skater) shin pads on their legs and they made the goals twice as tall?

Anyone doubting the McEichel effect need only look at my Tank chart to be convinced. I picked the 65-point line because (if I remember correctly), all but one 30th-place team since the 2004-05 lockout had finished below it and (more importantly) only one non-30th team had finished below it. It is looking like there could be four teams below it this year. We're still below last year, but it's getting close. They finished 1-7-2 in the final 10 last season, which would actually guarantee them 30th this year too, since it would mean that Arizona would have won one of their head-to-heads.

No doubt. Most likely will decide who gets 30th. I just posted this in my Charts thread, but here's the last stretch:

Just watched that goal (below). Wow, f'ing ridiculous. If that type of thing gets them 30th, I'm going to go ballistic.

Personally, I prefer uncommon names to extremely common ones (having lived with one myself), but not really stupid, goofy ones. Names like North, Apple, Unique and anything on this list are just mean to give a kid. Bohdi, on the other hand, doesn't bother me at all. Less common (though, the type that could become a fad name), but a real name.

Perfect game. Good effort by the good guys, entertaining, and the young guys showing that the future is bright ... ... but 0 points. ;)

Fun question: if the Sabres were to end up in 29th behind Arizona, what would you think of the following pre-lottery trade? What would Arizona think? What would have to be added to make it possible (if at all)? Trade: If Arizona wins the lottery, then the teams keep their own picks. Otherwise, they swap picks. Net result, Arizona's chance at McDavid goes from 20% to 33.5% (basically, from 1 in 5 to 1 in 3), since they get it if either they or the Sabres win the lottery, but they otherwise get the third pick. The Sabres get Eichel. I might have seen it working with last year's odds (Arizona chance at McDavid would have gone from 25% to 43.8%), but probably not with this year's odds. Even then, it would have taken a GM with a lot of balls to take that chance. Still, fun to think about.

They're in danger of slipping out of home-ice advantage, haven't played since Tuesday and won't again until next Tuesday, so I can't imagine them starting anyone but Rinne. Nolan suggested Hackett might go, but Lindback used to be a Pred, so who knows who we'll have in net.

Five minutes of searching at the time also revealed that he hadn't played center since his second-to-last year in the Liiga ("Finnish Elite League") and that the new coach that he had in his last year there attributed his substantial increase in output to being switched from center to wing. He was as much of an NHL center as Gerbe was.

I know they play the (currently) 30th-place team twice, so there's that. ;)

It's weird, I have been stressed about all of this since the Boston game, but then I had a sudden calm this afternoon and just knew the Devils would win. I'm still on the ledge, but my toes aren't quite as far over the edge.