Taro T

There likely is - Hamilton f'n with people. He also bumped Dahlin to the 2nd pairing. (And yes, Power-Byram technically started the game on Saturday. But the 4th line started the game on Friday. Don't mean much.)

So in SportsNet's eyes, the Eulers are the new Loafs? That's a LOT of faith in Jeff Skinner. 😉

Umm, Bryson was filling in on the 4th line because there are 3 injured F's in the top 12 and the 2 spare F's (1 of whom is Kulich) were inserted into the top 2 lines at this practice. But, yes. Before too long into the season they are likely going to need to either break up Power - Byram or move Samuelsson up a couple of pairings. Jokiharju has only ever looked like he might be a 2 when he was paired with Scandella and the rest of the D were playing like hot garbage. No matter how great a guy Henri might be nor how good he may look in practice going up against the Sabres top 2 lines; he simply isn't a 2 and isn't strong enough in his own end to make him a passable fill in at that role. If Power and Byram continue to look like they're gaining chemistry with each other am expecting they'll be pretty much forced to flip Muel and Henri and drive @Thorner to distraction with a L-L top pair, a L-L 2nd pair, and a R-R 3rd pair. Just fear that they'll give up too many scoring chances with Henri on the ice against other teams' top lines unless they significantly shuffle the F's around to make sure they have defensively responsible F's going against the other teams' top lines and they likely don't have a deep enough roster right now to make that happen.

Well, this is pretty much the same Devils team (plus Pesce and the 2nd Hughes and Markstrom) that finished with 112 points 2 years ago. And Florida is the defending Champion. They're not a SC contender right now. But can they beat out 6 of Tampa, Detroit, Ottawa, Washington, Filly, Pittsburgh, and the Aisles? Can they? Yes. Will they? Remains to be seen but if they get their heads out of their bippies at home and wake the #### up when on the power play they have a legit chance to do so.

Great job, Goober. Had a 2-0 lead. Blew it in the 2nd and did absolute jack squat in the 3rd. Have seen this movie before.

We're comfortable. 😉

It would be nice if Hambone or somebody that watches practice would say if they're still working on that atrocious drop pass to start EVERY entry that ends up with everybody but the puck carrier stationary at the blue line. Honestly thought with getting rid of Ellis that would be a thing of the past. Apparently because it can work against AHLers, Appert hasn't come up with an actually plan to gain the zone. Wasn't thrilled with Appert being the only addition to the coaching staff besides Ruff. If they're still running that God awful drop pass against the Kings, will have my new whipping boy.

Presumably that would be their initial ask. And because teams would now be dividing the player's share across 24 contracts rather than 23 (plus however many injury/suspension callups) for each team, they'd presumably want that spread over 54% or so of HRR rather than just 50% of it. They'll also want a piece of expansion fees, so, though this should be a fairly uncontentious negotiation; will believe it's easy and smooth when it's actually signed and ratified and not a moment sooner.

That potential CBA modification would be a great thing for Sabres for the short term until one of the real young prospects is ready for prime time. Wonder how much of a change to the split the players would want for it?

Umm, no, in that scenario if they're bringing Levi up, it's because UPL needs a rest. You don't have a "hurt goalie" to put on IR in all likelihood. Or are you cool with them losing games by starting Reimer when Levi would've given them better goaltending? The team has a window to make the playoffs this year; but they need several things going right for it to happen. Getting very good goaltending is one of those items they'll need to do so. Reimer will not consistently give the team very good goaltending. It's possible UPL and Levi will have issues there as well; but of the 3, the one least likely to consistently give high quality starts is Reimer. They don't have the luxury of playing their 3rd best goalie in place of their 2nd best goalie. Said 2nd best goalie possibly being their best goalie when all is said and done.

Only if they were going to skate one of the D up at F (or run 11-7) unless both Benson and Peterka are good to go come Thursday. There's only 13 non-IR'd F's on the roster and 1 of those missed Saturday's game and another likely wishes he'd missed Saturday's game as he missed almost 50 minutes of it.

And PuckPedia has Gilbert on the Sabres roster again. So, looks like they jumped the gun on that move. They are showing Aube-Kubel on the IR. Officially 13 - 8 - 2.

Do you not understand that anytime they brought Levi back up to be a Sabre they still would've needed to waive one of Gilbert (who, per Puckpedia seems to have been waived today as he's not listed on the Sabres 23 man roster; so they could keep Kulich up with 3 forwards having been injured in the 2 games against the Devils), Bryson, or Krebs everytime they brought Levi up. How would that have sat with the guys in the dressing room. Granted that guy would only need to clear waivers once every 10 games he'd been up w/ the Sabres or every 30 days he was up with them; but doubt that'd sit particularly well with them. Also, if Levi did beat Reimer out and it sure seems he did; what message does it send to him and the rest of the team that they send him down to Ra-cha-cha until it's time for his next start? It stinks that they lost Reimer. And they do seem to have a credibility issue around the league. But really expect that jerking guys around ISN'T the way to restore the credibility. (Winning is the way to restore it.)

Nuts. In UPL & Levi we trust. (They'd better stay healthy.)

No. But Puckpedia is listing all 3 injured F's as being "day to day" with an expected return date of the Kings game for whatever that is worth. (Considering the Sabres website doesn't even mention that Rousek, Clague, and Reimer were waived yesterday; it would appear to be a more accurate source than the direct from the horse's mouth site. 😉 ) Also, though haven't seen anywhere that Gilbert was waived to the Amerks, he's listed at PuckPedia on the Non-rostered Reserve list so apparently he got waived today (as teams have to be down to 23 rostered players later today). So, at least for now, Kulich is a Sabre, Gilbert is an Amerk and the Sabres technically have 14 F's but 3 of them are nursing injuries. EDIT: And it turns out Gilbert wasn't sent to the Amerks. Instead Aube-Kubel was put on IR.

Going to hit up Lima and Mexico while you're at it?

On another positive note, they USED to be good at home under Ruff and go on a short homestead once they get stateside. Also, the Kings in Buffalo are USUALLY (wasn't the case 2 years ago but was again last year) the Sabres b*tches. Probably about the best possible opponent they could hope for after the overseas trip. Win that; find a way to beat the defending Champs and you're getting close to being back where you need to be.

Could be a bit of gripping the sticks too tight; but personally expect a lot of the problem was not having faced legit top line competition since last April. They settled down as the game went on. Yes, a significant amount of the improvement in shots and chances was due to score effects; but they seemed to be skating with the Devils even in the 2nd significantly better than they'd done in the 1st. IF that was a significant portion of the issue today, they should be much more competitive from the get go tomorrow. (So, easy enough to see whether it may be plausible or not.)

Yes, that is what the NHL.com website states. But the games on October 4 and 5 are technically outside the regular season schedule and are considered "International Games". The "Regular Season" technically starts on Tuesday October 8 and the Sabres had to play a game by October 10th which conincidentally is the date the Sabres NA portion of their schedule commences as they host the Kings. And, for purposes of calculating player salaries the RS runs from October 8 - April 17. So, sure, the regular season started on the 4th. But for most all the operating metrics the league uses, it starts October 8. And, just for kicks and giggles, IF the regular season DID officially start on October 4; 30 of the 32 NHL teams would be violating 16.3.b of the CBA which requires all teams to play at least 1 game by the 3rd date of the regular season. Nobody other than Buffalo and Joisey play on the 4th, 5th, or 6th of October.

For 2 teams it has started, but the roster cut down date isn't until Monday and the NA portion of the RS begins on Tuesday. So, in a way, no, no it hasn't happened. And today was just a really truly bad dream that will just go away (like the last 13 years) ... (OK, so that IS pretty much a bridge too far, but you get the point. 😉 )

Considering he was seen in a leg brace, not surprising. Guess Krebs gets to show what he's got. 😞

True. But win tomorrow and they're tied for the lead in the race for the Presidents Trophy. Ugly game. Seemed they weren't ready for the Devils speed which is the downside of playing all preseason against 3rd liners and AHLers. Come out tomorrow ready to get push back and let's see what happens. As much as we've been hoping that they'd come out flying these 2 games and it'd set a tone for the full year; these 2 games weren't likely to set the tone for the full year. Win tomorrow and then do their normal shellacking of the Kings in Buffalo and all is back to doable. The plus coming out of tonight is the Devils MIGHT come out a little flat expecting it'll be a cakewalk based on how this one went. Not throwing in the towel before the league season has even officially begun.

Really didn't think you needed to go on line to get one; but pretty sure you can find a lot of really prime "catches" here.

Wtf does the Golden Golfer on the shirts have a jock on its head?