grinreaper

The Sabres, what with their salary cap room and ability to lock up younger forwards on controlled contracts, have a window that should allow them to beef up their defense. They have the harder to find puck moving defensemen that can captain the PP. A couple nasty guys to fill out the defense would make their high flying offense look even better.

Bring Reggie in to replace HCDG and make these guys the energy line:

There was a lot of good hockey being played by the Sabres in the 2nd & 3rd periods. It was very entertaining but once again they ran into a hot goalie.

Observation: Opponents are collapsing around TNT and not letting him use his reach around the net.

Sabres dominated play in the 2nd period while the Jets just toyed with them.😁 Jets not very aggressive on the PK. Krebs playing well again and will really be a good Sabre. An average goalie for the Jets would be behind by at least 3 goals.

Don't you know, we have to be big, speedy, skilled and shoot the puck through those 1" openings.

I guess you didn't get the Crayola 64 box for Christmas, eh?

Out of curiosity, if the Sabres play as fast and skilled as they are capable of will the Jets be in trouble?

# 90 was an anomaly. As a player he was pretty much complete. Played well in both ends of the ice and was a magician on faceoffs. I still remember a game in which the Sabres were ahead by one in the waning minutes. The Sabres were in a shell and iced the puck like 5 times with RO of course winning every one. His leadership came from his play while the Captain, skilled as could be, had an on/off button that he wasn't afraid to use. Today, #21 and his line mate #28 aren't even in the same zip code skill wise when compared to #90 & #9 but their work effort shows what leadership is all about.

Like 50 shades of gray?

I was just sarcastically referring to the size of deer in NJ.

Those NJ pinelands seem to have a lot of petting zoos.

Name the HOF Goalie that had a career GGA of 3.38 and Save% of .887. Do it without looking it up.

I knew we had something in common. .

Okposo is not a "has been". That line keeps the puck in the opponents end for long periods of time. If they had better hands that could put the puck in the net they would be a feared line in the NHL. Right now #28 & #21 are teaching Krebs what it takes to stay up with the big club and his play since being on a line with them has improved dramatically.

My point exactly.

So, Florida was the Presidents Trophy award winner last year and a damn tough team to play against. Over the offseason they made some major player trades and switched out coaches. Why? Teams in most all sports compete for a championship by being excellent over a stretch of time and then getting lucky or injury free that gives them a real shot of winning it all. Systems and players tend to need to be matched up in order for management and coaching to be able to fit those players into their style of system. Indiscriminately changing the players, coaches and/or schemes over a period of time is what brings about long stretches of little success. Looking at the major sports leagues it has become apparent to me that the most destructive policies for franchises to take is to switch coaches and systems without giving what they have in hand a chance to develop and prosper. It's even more of a problem when potential players are being drafted many years before they are developed into the type of players they will be when they become adults.

It's easy to talk the talk but skip the walk. Making the playoffs this year would be well, sorta nice. The Sabres are being built and developed as a high scoring speedy team that excites the fans and fills the seats. Their physicality doesn't need to be measured by hits on their opponents or goonish tactics. They need to beat the ***** out of their opponent by using their speed and hockey skills to embarrass and outscore them. I'm not saying that they should be wimps but there's a time and place for everything. Protecting teammates and paying back dirty hits should be a part of their game but done at a time of their choosing, not at the time some goon wants to draw them into an "even up" penalty. Talking about issues that have been around for years is futile unless they are not being addressed. One of the things I hear often is that the Sabres are not a physical team because they often get outhit. That's a statistic that may mean something or may mean nothing but without context is meaningless.

The Sabre's talent needs further development more than anything else. It seems like posters here with the first whiff of a weakness on the Sabres or God forbid a loss, immediately start claiming that the sky is falling. This is a young team with tons of skill that is still in the development process. The Sabres may or may not make the playoffs but if they do make them they're most likely not going very far this year. GMKA & HCDG are on the same page and it appears that their goal, along with ownership is to build a team that will be in Cup contention for a long time. This is the kind of rebuilding that excites me. I don't need the hockey people making decisions that are nothing more than shortcuts to just good enough results that will save them their jobs. We're lucky to have ownership that finally realized that you can't build long term success with one year contracts to the likes of Taylor Hall.

Yes. Hard to sell a community on an expansion team that only wins 17 games or so.

I agree.

Vegas was a good team because they chose experienced players wisely and bought into the coach's direction. Nothing different from what I posted.

Expansion teams have the advantage of no hefty contracts that weigh them down. They start out with a lot of veteran players who have a decent floor but a lower ceiling than the average team. They are perfectly capable of competing well but it seems as if they fool themselves into thinking they are better than they are and will take shortcuts to gain what they think are the magic pieces that will get them over the top.

Why? They are not a small team and usually play to their identity. Any more size might be a detriment to the way they want to play.

Ran into a hot and lucky goaltender. The Sabres just as easily could have won 7-4. Think back people to the expectations prior to the season. This team is close to being a powerhouse and will be a contender for years to come. Enjoy the process and development of a team on the rise.