Taro T

Mitts and Tuch need 1 more point each for big milestones.

1 more point for 60.

Hopefully this is Botterill's final parting gift to the Sabres.

You're in for spending a lot of nights in that old barn. The only real perks besides slightly cheaper tickets than window prices as dibs on PLAYOFF TIX are the Blue and Gold Insights (did 3 of them this year after only 1 each of the 2 previous seasons), 20 percent off in the Sabres store and Sabres bucks, an appreciation gift - this past season a nice Miller tribute plaque along with a pin and a scarf; last year it was a blanket. There typically is only 1 gift, so you and your buddy have to decide who will end up with it. 2 years ago, for the 50th anniversary season it was a set of 4 glasses. You also might get invited to the rope line or possibly riding the Zamboni in intermissions. There's a couple of other minor perks, but that's pretty much it. Hopefully you're in an area with a good bunch of people. You tend to get to know the people that are regulars. We were lucky. Only had 1 dink sitting next to us in over 1/4 of a century. (Of course he was there 2 seasons, grr.) Have fun with it.

That's the way we were told the story. Whether the league actually told him Connolly wouldn't be able to play in the playoffs without playing any regular season games or if that was an excuse for not having tried to add more at the deadline is a question for another day.

They surely did. But did they really promise him 7 out of 9? That seems a little excessive.

Different styles of players, but the Sabres have their Pronger and Neidermayer here right now. Expecting them to lock both of them up for the long haul.

For whatever reason they don't seem comfortable in what Comrie brings. Or, reading it the opposite way, maybe they believe the injuries he's battled through aren't quite healed (or maybe they were exacerbated in the Habs game) so they're shutting him down to have him healthy next season. Don't know. Either way, want to see Varlamov paired with Levi next year and hopefully one of the other 2 can be snuck into Ra-cha-cha. Comrie probably has the better chance of getting through waivers. (Provided Winnipeg isn't desperate for a backup. They seem to have a love hate relationship with that kid.)

And had they only added Power, am nearly certain Johnson would've signed. Probably still would've without the Stillman signing and the reports of trying to land Chychrun. But it looks like the probability that Adams will bring in a top 4 guy combined with everybody else they have that is 3rd pairing or tweener quality is going to scare him off. So, as we say on our beer league team: #### that guy.

And where and how they deploy Greenway will likely effect how and where they deploy Mittelstadt. Prior to Thompson playing through his injury but not being able to play C effectively, would've expected that yes the most likely usage of Greenway would be either in Okposo's slot or Olofsson's but seeing how the lines worked being all jumbled; could see a lot of different permutations of how they are deployed. And those could change based on opponent and whether the game is at home or on the road as well. If they want Greenway as some muscle for Thompson (Tuch is a very good power forward, but don't see him as a deterent to somebody running Tage; Greenway could be that guy) could see them running lines similar to what they did last night but with Girgensons having 2 different linemates (Savoie and a 4C to be brought in this Summer). Honestly, could see Greenway in a slot on pretty much any of the 4 lines depending on just how balanced Granato wants things and also where he thinks the muscle will have the most positive effect.

Cool for the Levi news. As somebody else posted, this makes a statement about where Comrie and UPL fit into next season's plans.

Right. So he can sign a new contract after the new league year begins and that will take effect in '24-'25. But why the Q's about Power in the Johnson thread?

Expecting 7-8 year deal signed this summer. He's one of the guys that Adams has been keeping his powder dry to sign. Expecting Dahlin gets an even bigger deal that will be the full 8 years. Expecting Mittelstadt to get a 4-6 year extension. Could see them wait until next year to extend Jokiharju.

Milestone watch: Skinner and Tuch playing for 80 points. Cozens 70. Mittelstadt 60. Olofsson 30 goals and 40 points. Okposo 30 points. Krebs 10 goals. Hinostroza (if he gets in) 10 assists. Clague 1 goal. All need from 1 to 3 to reach those milestones.

If he'd rather play in college 1 more year than get on with his life, then good luck to the team that signs him as a FA. They'll need it.

Because the players all have very sharp knives on the bottoms of their feet and if they start kicking at the puck, players WILL get sliced by those knives. The rule serves 2 purposes. 1, it keeps to the spirit of the game which requires players to use their stick to propel the puck. And 2, it is a MAJOR player safety issue. The Sabres have been involved in 2 separate games where a player had his jugular sliced by a skate. Was at 1 of those 2 games. It was VERY sobering wondering if we'd just seen a player die before our eyes. Really not looking forward to seeing them end up in a 3rd such game. That doesn't even get into the players that have had other injures caused by cuts from skates.

In.

That stupid 10 goals against game and the handful of extra goals against the Bruins the previous week pretty much doomed the dream of having a positive GF/GA differential.

Really don't want to see 3 goalies in Buffalo full time next year. It puts too much of a constraint on what the team can do once injuries hit either the F's or D.

Locked into the 13th seed pre-lottery. Go out and get the W and finish a mere point out of the playoffs and a mere 8 points out of what is necessary to guarantee a spot in any year but 1970. (NHL 0.600) Would prefer Comrie start tonight, but expecting UPL. (Actually would prefer Levi but just don't see that happening.)

Will be sad to see Dubas leave the Loafs. Would be fine with him moving to Pittsburgh. THAT's the guy that needs to stay in conference.

Disagree. Hextall is actually pretty decent at this GMing thing IMHO. Filly's been flat out horrible since he left. And, it's tough to argue against trying to keep the window with Crosby, Malkin, and Letang open as long as he could do so. Can't see any of them in other uniforms and the cupboard has been barren since long before Hextall showed up.

Which is nuts. Thought they were hanging their hats on the very slight possibility that Giroux's stick might have nicked the puck. Didn't believe it did, but it was close (at least from seeing it on the Jumbotron). They also showed the angle the ref saw it from and how he could even for an instant say it wasn't a distinct kicking motion defied credulity. We've had that ref before and he flat out is very bad at his job.

Glad Hextall is out. Sad Burke is out. Hopefully Hextall ends up out west somewhere.

Minir point. 63rd pick. 3rd last of the 2nd round as the original 31st and 32nd picks of that round will be bumped back 1 slot. (Yes, he was originally taken w/ the last pick of the 1st round but since then another team joined and each round now has 32 selections rather than 31.)