R_Dudley

If not for TV this season this team would be nothing.

Thomas Vanek.....

One, two, three, four We don't want your F'in bore. Five, six, seven, eight, Give us hockey that can be great!

I missed the boston game thread and they did so well I missed the Montreal thread. Interesting reading both after the fact. The tale of two cities the best of times and the worst of times, yep thats the sabres. Not sure what team I'll see today either. So Lindy tried to re-invent himself again this offseason, kinder gentler. I want to see him take charge and get this team to play within itself. For me that starts with Miller and the Defense. I don't care if they win 1-0 in a SO I want to see Lindy start with establishing some consitency having the defense play stay at home defense till the other lines and players sort them selves out. Coming off 3 games in 4 nights that should not be hard to establish since he himself said he wants no more pond hockey. I'm still seeing too much of that. If he does not know how to get his team to eliminate it than he does not deserve to be coaching a NHL team. Let's Go Buff-a-lo !

I agree with all here he still appears to be making bad decisions, looks tentative, bad reads etc. on the ice however that can be learned and a better pairing as some suggest could certainly stabilize that. However this does not concern me as much as a point Drane makes that he just does not look as smooth, balanced and comfortable on his skates. I do not remember him ever looking as awkwards as he has at times in his skating and balance as he has this season. Is he still growing, did he put too much muscle on in one place and not another ? What ever happened with Terry's comment after the team purchase that he would spare no expense and employ trainers for individual training of players in skating, speed, fitness etc. Do we know if they employ any ?

thx any more detail on Regehr's injury and/or update on Ville ?

Hey 'Oh! ;)

This is not easy but I'll try something different, some positives. Grigs scored his first and made some nice plays and showed good instinct. Foligno I thought had his best game of the season creating and mucking it up out there. Sekera looked reaaly good and was the best D man out there. Weber did not look bad for his first game back and Brennen was invisible which is not bad for his first game this year(e.g no bad bone head plays) They were able to apply decent pressure for extended periods of time when they were down and were able to tie it up. They got a point. Wow this was hard and I'm trying hard for more but thats all I can get out now.

QFT

Okay true enough problem is this is not the first time we have seen this ending is it.

I beg to differ we still have yet to play the Bruins, Sens and Canadians who are all playing better hockey than this team right now. If they keep this up their playing for the cellar in their own division.

Sons basketball game tonight 8pm, will have to dvr the game. Will check score when I get home and decide if I should watch. Okay Grigs pressure is off your staying score that first one. Let's go Buff-alo.

Interesting article about Kadri on development of young players. http://www.tsn.ca/to...egel/?id=414640 Some good snippets/points I noted: "Of the 30 first round picks in the 2009 draft, 22 have played at least 20 games in the NHL, nine have logged 100 or more and five have totaled 200-plus. Quite simply, after three years of predictable stops and starts in the organization, now is the time for Nazem Kadri (56 games) to cement his future" ""I'm getting the luxury of having what Dallas has developed," he said. "The things that he was doing in the American Hockey League proved to us that he could play in the NHL, but there are things that were keeping him away in our minds that was going to cost or [had the chance] of costing the hockey club at this level. He's been able to recognize some of those things and again it goes back to the Marlies coaching staff. They're the ones that have developed him and we're basically the benefactor of that." Reinforced in this arcticle and said by many here, it takes time for a 1st round talent at that age to develop and it requires focused coaching, communication and system that supports that. Too bad he cannot attend Sabres university in the AHL this year because I think that absolutely would be the best place for him right now. Sans that option I am now of teh opinion if he can get that working with the Sabres than I say keep him up.

Center Ice with a very small finished basement with the only large HD TV in the house. One small loveseat, table, a full bathroom and easy access to the extra fridge via the integral garage. Oh and a small walk in pantry where Dad keeps a couple bottles of medicine (1 bourbon, 1 scotch) for sippin if beer is not my fancy that night. No computer though which is why I seldom post during games.

QFT, Between this and Angry Levin's ;) hidden ball trick, priceless. Back to "That Aud smell's" question with a variation. Was that the same last year ? Adams calling timeouts and running the plays from teh bench and Lindy looking kind of interested over everyone's shoulder ?

Yeah seeing it in print it does. Maybe it's more about putting your self at more risk because your thinking/trying to do what coach wants you to do vs. just playing through the contact (through the whistle so to speak).

This is a huge issue. So Our best faceoff guy right now is the Rookie % wise. What better way to use him rigth now while the rest of the team is sucking than for crtical faceoff's. Didn't we use Goose that way just slipping him out for faceoff's. Some of this team's problems mirror the problems I see in a coach that appears lost with how to manage a game, the bench and provide creativity and a spark for his team. Gerbe on the top line is not creative.

That and maybe that we also can't afford an injury right now because that's what happens to our guy's on a regular basis. I do agree with a lot of your posts but this is not one one of them. This team under Lindy consistently never finishes a check. Just watch our puck pursuit we work harder to go around a guy than through a guy in pursuit of the puck. Playing hard gets you more room on the ice and better scoring chances and sometimes PP's with penalties by other team. When this team does try and play hard they get hurt because there is right way and wrong way to play a physical game and this team is not coached to play that way period.

All righty than. Back at it. I see a classic Ruff road game playing not to lose coming. Hope for great goaltending push for OT hope to win in a SO. Problem is that hasn't really worked for them last season. Watched some western games last night(EDM-CAL, LA-PHX, Ducks-Preds) and they appear to be playing at a different speed and level. Please BFLO can I at least see some consistent effort/persuit on the puck. Well at least we got hockey back, not sure what lines or team we are going to see today but I hope it's a winning one. Let's go Buff-a-lo!

Actually forgot he can watch a few games from the press box before playing that magic 5th that forces the decision. It's a great idea and makes perfect sense therefore that automatically eliminates it from the one they will use. ;)

Well security obviously considers you; A.) a person of interest B.) security risk Of course those on the board here know the answer is A.

Watching some other games last night during the play by play for the Jets game they said as long as someone drives the net it creates space and opportunties for the puck handler. I was then looking for that in other games and sure enough saw that it seems like pretty basic approach in the offensive zone to have somone drive the middle lane/net and take the defensemen with him and to have the another along the boards looking for the best play. Is it me or does it seem only our top line(26,19,29) does that regularly and the 2,3,4, line sabres almost always have all 3 forwards cycling the wall instead of one taking the middle.

You need a coach that adjusts his system to take advantage of your players skills vs. imposing your system on them for this to happen. This QFT Considering over half these guys stayed home during the lockout I expected them to come into the shortened season in the best shape of their lives, especially the ones we were counting on, Ennis, Stafford, leino, myers, foligno, sekera, etc. Oh and yes please enough with the Gerbe experiment, it's a great story and all against all odds but it is not helping this team in todays game.

Yeah this is a head scratcher. He defintely has nothing to prove in the Q but could benefit from the 25 minutes a game of ice tme in all aspects of the game (PK,PP, 5 on 5) assuming we can influence his junior team to develop him that way. Problem with that is also what i heard in LR interview on Sabres site is that some of his hesitation and misplay can be attributed to the different system he was playing in Q vs Sabres. Does 9 minutes a game of the Lindy Ruff line shuffle improve him more that 25 minutes of the Q all around play ? That is the question. I could also mention the various theory's already floating around this board on whether LR develops or regresses players. So all that said, since he is an 18 year old and I don't want to Ruff up his confidence I say send him back down to let him play more to his natrual abilites and continue to build his confidence before he is systematized by LR. Oh and spend some peg'mula to bring in a vetran center to fill the need they have for some depth.

Not true of everyone and backed by my post in yesterdays game thread. I knew they were not as bad as there record indicated and Buffalo was not as good as theirs. I am interested in understanding this Sabres team this year. As other's have said this team already has looked eerily familar to some previous dysfunctional under achieving teams we have seen before. I can't tell yet what Lindy's plan is for this team this year assuming he has one. Puck possesion fast paced or defense first score off the breaks. I am also concerned that some of the players we are counting on do not appear to be developing/maturing. So a home game after a stinker in front of your home crowd with a chance for redemption. I hope to see us out hustle the other team for pucks, finish checks, drive the net, show the PP has a clue , do not leave this game on Miller and have the 2nd and 3rd lines chip in on the scoresheet. Let's go Buff-a-lo !