grinreaper

The Sabres are making good passes and playing quick. That's a key to their game.

Taresenko is wearing an "A". Hmmn. Hasn't he requested a trade?

71 needs to be traded.

If the Sabres are going to play this fast I've got a good excuse to get a new TV with a faster repeat rate.

What with St Louis's colors and not being recently used to the Sabre's Red & Black I get momentarily confused watching the game. They showed a closeup head shot of #72 for the bad guys and I thought that they had made a mistake because it certainly didn't look like Tage.

Tage seemed to be thrilled to get that contract after only a year of being so impressive. He doesn't seem like the type but I hope he doesn't feel underpaid and resent that contract after a couple more years. In reality the Sabres showed a lot of faith in him to give him that contract so soon. If Samuelson continues with the play that he's shown then GMKA is going to look like a mini genius. It's a far cry from the 2 year bridge contracts that they've given out in the past.

Anyone feel that their souls were too high a price to pay for that kind of a turnaround?

Sabres played quick and generally were beating Montreal to the puck regardless what Marty had to say during intermission.

Quickest 3 goal against start to a game in Habs history.

Asplund with a stick check and steal in the defensive zone in last minute of 1st period. That guy knows how to defend. Could he turn into the next Craig Ramsey?

Dan found some excitement in his vocal chords.

Constantly changing coaches and schemes was what the Bills did for years. A perfect example was when Greg Williams became head coach he decided to change the defensive scheme. The Bills defense had ranked #2 in the NFL in the previous year. When asked about why he was going to change he stated that his defense had ranked #1. Well, he didn't have the players for a 4-3 and it showed. I'm thinking that if a study was done on long term successful pro teams that the one factor that would stand out would be continuity of management/coaching.

Just looking at things in a general manner. The Sabres believe they have a lot of potentially good to great players in their pipeline and also on the present Sabres. If they believe that their path to rebuilding this team is the correct one they also must believe that there will be several players that are presently in Buffalo and in 2-3 years players in Rochester or in Juniors will be worthy of decent contracts with some that are on the hefty side. The young players that are presently playing for the Sabres have to play so that management can see what they have. At some point in time there are going to be more NHL quality players either on the Sabres or in their system than they can give playing time to. At this point in time they need to have had enough experience working with them to make decisions on who to keep and who to trade (I'm thinking they'll trade a multitude of young players for a bonifide star in his prime). To have filled up the roster with veteran players would of course block the young players from developing but make it difficult for management to know what they have. They would also be fielding players that might be either on the end of their hockey career and just playing out the string or knowing that they aren't in the Sabre's future plans. So, with the above said anything different than a goaltending or defensive tweak would be contrary to their rebuilding scheme. The Sabres have been criticized for years for their failure to become a winning franchise. I believe that the main reason for this failure is the many changes in management and philosophy. They need to let their plan play out for once and carry it through.

I hate losing but the expectations here prior to the season was that this was a development year and predictions were a season with maybe 80 points or so. Watching the games I get the impression that many of the players are somewhat tentative up to the point when they get behind and need to throw caution to the wind in order to catch up. There is a ton of talent on this team but it is young and too inexperienced. Tage will be elite and a league wide star and far outplay his contract. Dahlin is just coming into his own and will be a perpetual Norris candidate. Power might challenge him in the future. Samuelson will be our defensive rock. We have several young forwards on the team now who will blossom and make this team a contender. We have a pipeline of players that every team in the NHL would envy. The future is bright but we can't succumb to the temptation of quick fixes. When watching the games celebrate the wins but focus on the individual player's skill and development. Losses like tonight's will be much easier to take when it becomes apparent that the Sabres are on the path to becoming a powerhouse. BTW, Don Granato is the coach that this team needs at this point in time. Whether or not he's the guy that could take them to the Stanley Cup is to be determined but calls for a coaching change like a Barry Trotz (who is a fine coach for a mature team that needs a firm hand) might bring about some immediate progress but in my humble opinion would keep this team from reaching its potential.

I still think Disco is cool.

The Sabres are in a position that they can field a defense like Nashville had a few years back. I'm not saying it should be done right away because we need to develop our young prospects to see what we have but I would guess that we should have enough ammunition in a year or two to be able to make some moves for a really good defenseman or two. A top notch defense and (hopefully) a Levi and Portillo playing really well would really be something.

I don't remember Samuelsson being injured prior to this latest injury. He's the type of defenseman we sorely needed/need. Borgen was somewhat similar and losing him was a shame.

The younger goalies need to take a page out of Anderson's book and focus on anticipating puck movement and where the shot is going to come from. I assume that Anderson has lost a bit of reflexes due to his age but his positioning has generally been very good.

Is it time yet to garage my Corvette and bring out my SUV?

Something that we've heard a lot of over the years is that the Sabres are poor at developing their own players. Usually the criticism has to do with rushing them to the big club and putting them in a position that ruins their confidence. Right now the Sabres are being deliberate with their young players and focusing on getting them to play the right way and expecting that approach to eventually turn into wins. I've seen them dominate for stretches this year, even during this losing streak but breakdowns, puck luck and stretches of poor play have done them in. I personally believe that the players we have or most of them can progress to the point that they are really good players. I'm not saying that we shouldn't make a deal for the right defenseman or power forward or a center who is really good at faceoffs but it would be foolish to send multiple prospects away for one player. Management has made the decision to go for a rebuild and the Sabres have a ton of prospects that could turn this team into a powerhouse. Stopping short of playing this out to the point of really seeing things through to the development of our prospects could be just as bad as Murray's attempt at a shortcut.

As was mentioned earlier the Sabres passing was poor and they tried too many low percentage passes that were "cute". They need crisp, accurate passes that make the other team work their ***** off and tires them out on their shifts. When they make it too easy for the other team to get control of the puck they are the ones getting tired out doing all of the chasing.

Bjork was out in the last 2 minutes.

If the Sabres pass well they're most likely going to win. When they aren't passing well they start playing as individuals.

You are absolutely correct. Instead of simple passes to their teammates they attempt to make low percentage fancy passes that get intercepted.

I know, all those other teams have winning records. -)