tom webster

You are assuming that they did not try to improve the goaltending, which I believe to be an incorrect assumption. I have always been of the belief that trying isn’t good enough and they have to do all they can but in this case I believe they have. It’s not fantasy hockey, you can’t force a team to help you or count on outsmarting someone who has lost interest. As someone else stated, none of the free agent goalies were worth considering. They fell under A) too expensive B) not an upgrade C) not interested in coming here. Further, I believe they thought they had a deal but a couple of circumstances out of their control delayed or ended the transaction. Now they have to decide if they want to part with certain assets or hope that the current goalies are good enough.

It’s four games and only 6 teams have scored more goals then them. The facts don’t equal your narrative. On top of that, in this league you are lucky of you get 50 goals from their bottom 6. So on average, you should have about 2.4 goals from your bottom 6. But like I said, it’s only been 6 games.

Bottom of roster isn’t seriously weak. True issues are #2 center and in goal. All the underlying numbers have been very good for three of the four games. If Skinner converts a couple of his chances, this team would have won three of four games against the two best teams in its division.

This is just a plain, ridiculous statement considering how well they played the last three games while Skinner can’t buy a goal and Eichel is still playing through his injury. The goaltending will be an issue but if it’s fixed, this team will contend for a playoff spot.

I know it’s a short season but let’s not get carried away. They have played well the last three games. Hope they win but losing isn’t vital.

I know its innocent and not meant the way it seems, but any discussion about Hutton and how this effects Sabres should not be in this thread.

You young ones don’t remember the “hit heard round the world” when Mike Stratton crushed Keith Lincoln but that hit changed the tone of the game and led to the Bills first championship.

What is incredible to me is that they are in the AFC Championship Game and I don’t feel they played anywhere near their best game yet, especially on offense.

I started yelling.

Yeah, can’t believe Tucker had so much trouble. He’s money in Pittsburgh which is usually the worst. Yep

I agree with this but I’m betting on second scenario and more confident then last week which kind of scares me

A) Tucker kicks 8 times per year in Baltimore, Cleveland, Pittsburg and Cinci, not exactly summer conditions and Pittsburgh is notoriously one of the worst places to kick B) he actually has shown signs of human this year as he missed three including one last week. C) I try not to judge, but counting on Tucker to struggle may be one of the worst takes ever D) this game won’t be that close. Buffalo 37-21.

You have to remind me to tell you the whole story if we ever get to a game together,

FTR, I haven’t seen any of it. Just what I was told last night. There were drinks involved so who knows. I saw today Vogl agreed, though, so there’s that.

Not much question about but I will tell you one thing, I gave Katherine Webb McCarron a ride to the stadium and I can certainly vouch for their taster in woman.

Hutton has been great through camp. You can’t keep talking about earning spots and not play Hutton. If he plays well to start, it will reinforce their position on the price they are willing to pay for an upgrade. If camp was an illusion, they might be quicker to up the ante.

I wonder who could drink more between Namath and Stabler?

Williams might still be active but you want someone that knows how to pass block especially against a blitz heavy team.

And eventually be disappointed that he is what he is. But you are right, we would have known yet.

There is no doubt that eventually talent trumps everything, but when building a foundation, how you treat people and getting the right people is important. I was attacked before for saying this but KO is a guy that is beloved in the locker room and plqyers in the room and players around the league notice how you take care of guys like him. I liken him to Phil Villapiano. The Bills got crushed in that trade. Bobby Chandler was awesome. But guys like Vilapiano, Isaiah Robertson and Conrad Dobler were vital to the franchise turnaround even though they were all backups by the time the team was a contender.

Like everything else, those ratings are just one evaluation method. Tage, is primed for a huge year. Cozens and Skinner together will make up a better then average third line. KO is clearly good enough. Rieder will be a valuable role player that is better then that rating. That leaves two spots you are concerned about and clearly Buffalo has a higher opinion of Eakin then most. Lazar is a former first round pick who has accepted his role as a checking center/ face off specialist. All that being said, R2 will be up by mid season if he ends up having the ability you think he has. I personally feel Asplund will be a better pro then Casey but if you are right, Casey has a chance to earn his ice time if he isn’t part of a deal for a goalie. Finally, and our resident analytics guru’s can verify if they have the right data, analytics has resulted in teams relying more on their top two lines for a larger portion of ice time and offensive production. The more important difference this year is that we have a potentially top notch number two line. I love your passion and appreciate your opinion. Isn’t it great that we will soon find out which one of us was closer to right. I’m quite sure we both want the same results from the team.

I’ve said it before, this is not the season for experimentation. If they prove worthy they will be given a chance and furthermore, Casey has shown no indication that he can be better then Lazar.

Considering Cozens is playing second PP, I can guarantee you he is not a placeholder

Again, I understand the mis-trust given the last few years but RK has such a better rep outside Buffalo. Another article today in Athletic where 22 GM’s have him tied for second among likely coach of year candidates. They are trying to create a program where guys earn their spots. In addition, this year there is even less room for error. If he gets his game going he will be back up. In the meantime the veterans have a role to play. Jack has continuously talked about the need for veteran presence.

What he also fails to mention is that Trotz first two years in Washington where spent realing in the offense. They went from one of worst defensive teams to being sixth in the league in goals against in first year under Trotz and it took a couple years before players became comfortable and before they turned it around and won Cup there was friction between OVI and Trotz. It’s a similar story to Hitchcock and Modano.