Taro T

Her high voice was natural. FAR better than Beth Moins (sp?) attempt to do pbp w/ Marv Alberts' deep voice which she does not have.

Anybody know when "video scouting" officially was put to rest?

Thought the same thing about 15/9. Hope you're right.

It's absolutely a WIP thing. But, IMHO they don't panic. They get outplayed significantly, but honestly don't see panic in that. See a better team finally dictating. But that better team couldn't do it earlier. Why not? My money says it's because the weaker team busted it's arse but the matchups finally wore them out. Considering we essentially haven't seen that at home lends credence. Would love to hear your thoughts on why it happens on the road but not at home. Change my mind.

Don't you mean Fagan? Minus Becker, it's a solo act playing his old band's stuff plus a little Nightfly & Kamakiriaid.

The 1st goal wasn't as bad but was also weak. The team deserved better, but the Sabres were right in who they called up, bad as he is.

If you were offered a Sabres sweater, who would you choose? Would you go Mitts, Cozens, or Dahlin? Or would you go off the board with Tokarski, Rousalainen, Jeanneret, or other? Thinking of going RJ.

Art routinely berated any fan that disagreed w/ him. Which was basically anyone w/ a functioning cerebral cortex. That he had no problem ####ing on kids calling in to his show really highlighted what a (sad example of a) human he was. The tiny tot was not something for Buffaloanians to celebrate. He was one to denegrate.

Except it doesn't seem to be a panic. They don't overskate (in general, though on the Detroit tying goal they did overskate) nor do they totally fall back into 5 men below the circles. Seems to be more of a running out of energy. Which, again IMHO, goes back to the other team getting the matchups they want & the overmatched Sabres not being able to match that for 60 full minutes. The ONLY time that's happened at home for close to a whole period was in the 2nd period of the Bolts game and Granato righted that ship in the intermission. That it doesn't happen at home often but regularly happens on the road says that matchups are a factor. IMHO. YMMV.

And yet E-Rod leads the Pens in scoring. Hmmpf. Nothing to write home about indeed. 😉

The author also explicitly states that she painted that at the end of the article.

Yes, in general he is not making major adjustments in game, though he will make them between games (see Boucher being Hagg's partner now, not Dahlin's). And he will refocus them in game to a degree as well- the TB 3rd period was much better played than the 2nd was. Honestly don't know that the lack of adjustments is not by design. He's told all these guys that they can play any situation & is walking that talk IN A YEAR WHEN DEVELOPMENT is at minimum the 1A priority w/ winning either 1B or 2. And even w/in that, he's benched Hayden in crunchtime while Bjork & R2 Rou2 took a shift, so it's not like he can't see the obvious and respond to it w/ guys that won't be here LT. Unless he flat out tells us that he'll coach differently when the priority shifts to what it ALWAYS should be which is winning, we can only assume whether he will or won't make those in game adjustments. This kid expects he will (and will have several months at minimum of actual game play in those situations of all the guys, which is the luxury of what not caring whether you win or lose brings) when he gets there, but you may be right that he won't / can't. Don't believe you are correct though. (And if that take is misguided, that you actually do believe he'll adjust when the focus has changed, then not sure why the handwringing.) He's thrown away at least 2 points & possibly 3 leaving Skinner out at the end of the Loafs game & playing him in OT one of the games (Devils IIRC). But LT, how many points did he gain getting Skinner at least back to a semblance of the good version of himself?

The legal way in the States is via AHL.tv, specifically w/ either the Amerks package ($64.95 for all Amerks games w/ home or away audio) or the full league pass which is something like 2-3x the single team package price. Pretty sure that's the provider in CA as well, but our Canadian friends would know who it is for certain.

Aren't they? It isn't EVOLUTION, it's Perterkalution. 😉

At "only" $65 for the Amerks only package, it's still a pretty decent deal. No commercials is also nice.

No they (1/2 & 1/4 season STHers ) aren't eligible for SabreBucks. So don't expect they will get the Amerks TV. But again, doesn't hurt to ask. They also won't get priority to buy Heritage Classic tix.

But if Tokarski goes down, especially w/ Anderson out, expect much poorer results. (Though the effort will still be there.)

Free for Sabres STHers that did the full season this year. (Not sure about if it's also available to 1/2 season holders or those that deferred. Expe t not, but doesn't hurt to ask.) And the nicknamed is pronounced Oopy.

Will be really interesting to see if he can maintain the elevated play level.

It would also be nice to see what Tuch can do on this squad. They literally may have their entire 1st line out w/ injuries. (And, technically their #1 goalie & 1/2 their top pairing, though still want to see Jokiharju & Dahlin separated when he returns.) Hanging around/ above the NHL 0.500 mark is a nice accomplishment given the entire backstory of this squad though in a small sample size.

And that's the example of where it blew up in his face in that instant, but likely will be better in the long run as Skinner actually believes his coach has faith in him & won't be sulking or overthinking a 1 shift demotion.

That, Cozens having his coming out party last Friday night, & Eakin actually settling in this year gives the spine a bit of resiliency. None of which were givens, but all of which reflect well on the coach. Speaking of Eakin, it's amazing how many guys don't settle into a new roster until their 2nd season.

We'll see when Jokiharju comes back whether Granato gets it or not. But at least for now, Dahlin is playing w/ 1 of the 2 kind of defensive D-men on the roster. (Hagg is an actual defensive D-man, but at this stage of his career, Pysyk pretty much is too.) It's not like there are many options at present.

So, 2 more years. 😉

True. Especially when them reaching their potential can allow them to be more than just a cog in the system. More than a few coaches miss that nuance. Granato doesn't. This is absolutely a development year as evidenced by letting pretty much everybody get time in all situations. Though he isn't an idiot about it, certain lines & pairings get more opportu items in high pressure situations than others, e.g. when their protecting a lead late Miller & Bryson will get 75% of the ice time as in his view they're the best pair he has for that role. But it will be interesting to watch for how & how much that mindset changes when winning is the clear #1 goal & there isn't a 1B goal next season or very late in this season (please let that last 1 not just be wishful thinking).