Taro T

He can't w/out drawing an extra 2 minute minor. 46.6 Helmets - No player may remove his helmet prior to engaging in a fight. If he should do so, he shall be assessed a two minute minor penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct. Helmets that come off in the course of and resulting from the altercation will not result in a penalty to either player.

The Sabres did not win the trade. Thompson was nothing for the 1st 3 years post-trade and he was the only useful piece returned for a Selke winning Conn Smythe winner. Thompson was their 3rd rated prospect. He could've been had for a lot less than the Sabres gave up for him. The Sabres finished dead spanking last 3 years after they traded ROR away. As great as Thompson will turn out to be the 3 years of trash hockey we were subjected to has to be included in the ledger.

Great win. 2 items. 1. Said before this game that UPL could cement his spot on the roster today or get himself back on the road to Ra-cha-cha. Anybody doubt he cemented his roster spot? 2. During the broadcast Dunlevy said there were a lot of NHL Brass at today's game. Did Cozens do enough today to get himself set up as the 3rd Sabre All Star? Doubt it, but it would be sweet to have him join Thompson & Dahlin in Lauderdale.

Well, until his last 5 games would absolutely have agreed UPL goes back down when Comrie got back. Still kind of expect it, but he could make that a really difficult decision. And IF he stays it's either Hinostroza or Clague going down, more likely Vinny.

The durn pregame show didn't record right. Only got 1 minute of it. 😞

Interesting. Really thought they'd go w/ Anderson. Guess they want to see if UPL should stay up or go back down when Comrie's conditioning stint is done. This game very well could decide his future for the next 4 months.

Expect they'd send either Hinostroza or Clague down if they feel UPL has earned a roster spot. With Vinny being the more likely Amerk as they'd be playing w/ fire having only 6 healthy D. Until 2 weeks ago would've had no issue sending Krebs down, but he's playing well lately. Neither Quinn nor Peterka will see the AHL again unless it is clear the Sabres won't make the playoffs on deadline day AND the Sabres really wanted to give them some more playoff experience. (Can't see that being the case, but it's remotely possible.) (Would still lean toward Anderson getting a mysterious ailment that put him on IR but expect Adams & Andy are too honorable to game the system like that.)

The really interesting part of this game IMHO is the chess match of the line matching. The Kid Line had trouble against the Bergeron line but did well against the Hall line in the 1st game. The Mittelstadt line played well against the Bergeron line but had troubles with the Hall line. Expecting the B's will try to keep those matchups that worked well but it'll be interesting to both see how/if Granato counters and also if the B's will try to match top lines or let their checkers handle the Thompson line & try to win a shootout.

Mesy Balls Benoit. Who did you think? (Houge was a wing, btw.)

Though Jokiharju is typically paired w/ Power, there's a VERY good chance the #1 defensive D-man minus Samuelsson is Lyubushkin. And if he's healthy, expect Granato will make that adjustment were Samuelsson out. And he & Dahlin, & Jokiharju could cover Muel's absense longer than Power & Bryson, & Muel could cover Dahlin's absense. But for 1 or 2 games, expect Dahlin's absence would be covered better. Beyond that, not a chance.

Ruin Bruins.

And, considering how many French heritage players had prominent roles on the Sabres, it's blatantly ridiculous. Now, an anti-####ty French player bias, pretty sure it was historically there though having Benoit as a key D-man during the tank era shows they got over it for a while.

Actually, Thompson is the guy most likely to get you the lead. Which is why for A SINGLE game, you're probably more likely to suck it up & get by without Dahlin. There's a reason that horrible 82 game season Ralph Krueger was good at getting bad teams farther than they should've been in short international series. Keep the other team away from your net & goalie & take advantage of breaks & PPs. It's a LT losing strategy, but can & often does work briefly. For a full series, would much rather have Dahlin. BUT with him only missing ONE game would rather have Dahlin out than Samuelsson. ESPECIALLY when you consider how much deeper everyone will dig for a short time aatthe loss of one of them. They all know how much Ras brings & will bring it up even higher to make up for it. That can't be sustained, but for 60 minutes, it absolutely can be.

You hope to get 1OA in a year it's a no brainer, but there are still weak years & years where there's a muddle at the top. Personally find it interesting that the 2 years the Sabres weren't just the worst but also weren't trying to be the worst & they coincidentally won the lottery too they ended up w/ a franchise D-man. But when they tried to stink, they ended up w/ the 2nd pick & a guy that didn't live up to expectations (for reasons beyond his control). Total aside: Also found it interesting that Benoit Hogue complained that the Sabres had an anti- French bias even though the 1st 2 times they had #1OA they chose French Canadians & their most famous line was the FRENCH Connection & then shortly after his gripe their highest scoring player ever was an American of French decent. And Donald Audette did very well here too. And was brought back to help w/ a playoff run after leaving earlier. They also had guys like the Sauves & Guevremont & Savard too as big parts of the team. Maybe they just had a bias against French players that were entitled & sucked? E.g., Benoit.

Started downhill very early 20's. Had done cross country for a few years & skated forever. Once the kid finally twigged onto going faster allows you to maneuver, it got a lot more fun.

ONE game to win? Would expect w/ the fire power up front they can weather ONE game without Dahlin better. A full series? Want Dahlin's magic on offense & solid play on D.

1OA has a great pedigree. Yashin, Daigle, & Yakupov all say 'hi.' 😉

Subban played well tonight. 1st period was slow but game was entertaining after that.

2-2 through 1, 8-8 through 2. Bandits chased Hill in the 3rd and won 18-13. It was theJosh Byrne night as he ended up 1 goal shy of Steenhaus' Bamdits record of 8 goals in a game. His 1st 4 were 2 PP & 2 PK goals. Pretty sure the last 3 were even strength. 3 shorties for the Bandits & 1 EN. Believe the MD 20-20's only had 2 PP goals. They were 7 of 11 their first 2 games. (They might've had a late one. Lots of penalties in the 4th both ways.) Good game for the good guys & Vinc played well but he can definitely be beat high over his left shoulder. That killed them against Albany. It was better tonight, but still an issue.

We're just at the end of the 1st & will be switching to the Bandits for a while, but that shot by Jobst to tie it at 1 was nasty. And Weisbach had a nice feed to him.

Bandits look to go above 0.500 tonight as they host Halifax at 7:30PM. Game is on ESPN+.

This week's #1 song is by Better Than Ezra. Coming in at #2: Ezra.

Agree on the 7/8 designation. In his last game as an Amerk, similarly he made a very nice play stealing the puck from a guy who was open back door to prevent the tap in. So, he does not give up on plays, but he does create more high danger chances that he should. Still expect he's probably getting the benefit of the doubt that comes from being the new guy, but Granato talks very highly of him & he's giving him the opportunity that comes w/ playing 2nd pairing. Will be interesting to see if he comes out when Jokiharju is healthy or if Bryson gets yanked. Still expecting it to be Cale. Wondering if/ suspecting his getting to play 2nd pairing is a function of Granato wants Henri on the 2nd pairing when he returns so Bryson/Lyubushkin is the preferred 3rd pairing and he wants to get those 2 experience together and he realized in the losing streak that pairing bad D together leads to really bad things so Buusch doesn't get to bump up to 2nd pairing until the bench is shortened to keep Bryson & Clague separated.

If you don't remember what you posted, why should @PromoTheRobot? 😉

We should be hearing soon if he's an Amerk or if somebody put in a claim on him. Hoping he clears but doubt we see him in the Sabres lineup again. But the 2 way contract only comes into play if the acquiring team also tries to waive him. Presuming, of course, somebody claims him. Not close to a given.