Taro T

Pretty sure their official cut down day is Monday Oct 7 like the rest of the league. So, technically even the guys staying stateside and playing the Pens, BJs, and Detroit are "Sabres" and not Amerks or ECHLers or Juniors. At least for another week and a half.

Not a fan of Jokiharju on the top pairing. Yes, he looked great against AHLers, which he should do as he typically looks great against 3rd & 4th liners but not so much against top 6 opponents. Hopefully getting him into Ruff's system he can look like he did back when Scandella was his partner when he 1st came to Buffalo. But expecting we'll see either Power or Samuelsson paired with Dahlin by the time October ends. (Or possibly even he ends up w/ Adams plan and Byram is Ras' partner.) Still consider him a rich man's 5 or a poor man's 3/4. Definitely don't want him as a 2.

Heck, the Sabres don't even need to get good to get him into the Norris conversation. Until he was playing through the back injury 2 seasons ago he was in the conversation and the Sabres were merely relevant. If the Sabres get actually good, he's a finalist at minimum.

Don't see it as being all that surprising. He definitely is in the mix but personally expect he needs an injury in the top 6 to get that opportunity. Rousek is next in line if there's an injury on the 4th line. (Not sure which one gets brought up w/ an injury to the McLeod line.) The only mildly surprising thing IMHO is Clague got the call to be the 9 over Johnson. But with those 3 and Reimer, there is a spare for top 6, bottom 6, D, & G on the Euro trip.

You're late to the conversation. The OP had said that having all 3 of Dahlin, Power, and Byram on the same team would cause all of them to have lesser scoring because they'd each be taking time away from the other 2 and keeping them all from being true #1's. So, this discussion wasn't so much about who would play with Ras but rather how them all being on the same team affect each of them relative to being on different teams. You're late to the conversation. The OP had said that having all 3 of Dahlin, Power, and Byram on the same team would cause all of them to have lesser scoring because they'd each be taking time away from the other 2 and keeping them all from being true #1's. So, this discussion wasn't so much about who would play with Ras but rather how them all being on the same team affect each of them relative to being on different teams.

Agreed that having Dahlin around will shave points from the other 2. But do not agree that either will materially reduce what Dahlin does. If anything, they will help him be even better because once they develop (in theory) they should allow Dahlin to get some breaks from ALWAYS having the toughest matchups.

Having Power and Byram around will not shave anything off Dahlin's stats. Having Dahlin around will likely shave points off the other 2 as he'll get the top PP ice time. But, at least 1 of them might get a bit of a boost from having him around as the one(s) that don't end up partnered with Dahlin will be facing softer competition than the guy that ends up his partner.

There was almost no way that Johnson wasn't going to be an Amerk to start the year. Just found it interesting that they're giving Clague the reward for being the good soldier by letting him go over to Europe rather than the young RJ. It makes sense that Clague is 9 on the depth chart because if you've suffered 3 D-men out, you probably want a more veteran presence stepping in. But it is mildly surprising as IMHO Johnson is the better player at present.

Heard somewhere yesterday that the Pens weren't going to play their top top guys but they will be putting an NHL lineup out there. Also, looks like Clague is the 27th guy going over to Europe as both Rosen and Johnson are playing tonight. Interesting that they'd rather have the vet should things go kerplewy on the back end rather than Johnson.

Those sweaters were literally made in the same factory. They should be quite similar. The Breakaway jerseys are trash and it remains to be seen how the quality of the good jerseys hold up when Fanatics starts making them themselves in a season or 2.

Uber is your friend.

Only focused on Cozens on the PK on the Benson penalty. He was out there with Thompson and he did a very good job of staying where he was supposed to be. Extremely small sample size (~30 seconds) but he was doing what he was supposed to for at least that segment.

Oh, there's reasons. We're just not allowed to tell you what they are. 😉 Suprised you didn't make the trip to do the doubleheader.

Good to see <_< the refs still have whatever resentment they had for Benson last year. (If we weren't EVER good enough to play in the NHL, why should YOU at all of 5'9" and 165# get to do so as a mere teenager. Well, we'll show you. Off to the box with you.)

The team's energy level seems to be lower when Tuch isn't in the lineup. (Doesn't help that Dahlin isn't in there either.)

Nah, had both the goals been BJ goals, then it could've been the worst 20 minutes. ;)

And now we know what the deal was with the audio. When Dunleavy is on a break, so is the Sound Engineer. And then some.

Disappointing that there's no sound yet. It looks like a nice tribute to the Gaudreau brothers on the video. They seem to be taking this moment of silence thing a bit too seriously. RIP Johnny and Matt.

Yupper. Was just looking to post the same comment. No sound yet.

Sabres website.

About 2,000 more people than would've been in the barn had they kept it a 7PM start. (And, it should actually be a fun game to be at. The Sabres will have essentially their NJ lineup minus the 2 captains & Levi starting over UPL and the BJ's will have an AHL heavy squad.)

If Rodrigues with his limited skill set could become a passable C, wouldn't be shocked if Quinn could also do so. And, giving Cozens some help at C in his own zone could be a part of why Benson remains on that line and Peterka on Thompson's line. Thompson is better in his own zone than Dylan is, so only having Tuch helping carry the C responsibilities in zone is typically enough assistance; whereas Cozens gets 2 very savvy W's to help him make it work. Playing C by committee isn't the worst thing to have happen. Plus, in Cozen's behalf, he entered the league under Krueger and has spent the bulk of his career under Granato. He hasn't even been on the ice for a full week with Ruff teaching him some actual systems to be playing. 4 years worth of bad habits won't necessarily be overcome in the 1st 4-6 days. But am kind of interested in how the board is starting to see Cozens as a W (shoutout to @mjd1001 for putting in the work to move that needle); when he came into the league that he'd ever move to W was a very unpopular opinion.

Very good question. Wondering if keeping Tuch out is to make sure he doesn't get an injury like in camp last year or if it's to see what Benson can do on the top line (maybe both)? If Krebs fits into that slot, it's simply a case of making sure Tuch stays healthy and seeing how Krebs does in a 'you slide into any slot that there's an opening' role. If not, would expect they'll see how Benson does in the forecheck role on that top line. It also could be their opportunity to see what Zucker can do on the 2nd line rather than putting him out there with McLeod and Greenway like most of us expected. Either way, expecting we won't see Tuch until they face Joisey. He'd made it sound like his line wouldn't be playing that game against Munich. (Didn't say that exactly, but what he said gave that impression IMHO.) (So much for the thought they'd keep the lines together all preseason. Of course, with that top line getting 3 goals, and them having been together the last ~ 2 months of the season, expecting Ruff knows what he's getting from the Peterka - Thompson - Tuch line so that one doesn't need to be together all 3 games.)

Makes sense.

No, but the logos and numbers are glued on and the material of the shirt itself has a very weird feel to it. It almost feels "greasy."