nfreeman

Yes, I realize that he was hurt. That gives me some reason for hope that he'll improve as he heals. But I don't think his "numbers" make a GD bit of difference. He's been a complete JAG this season. Again, I think it's reasonably likely that his mediocre play has been injury-related. If not, though, and if this is all the Sabres get from him, it's a disaster.

Heck yes Dahlin should be included. I'd bet Lindy thinks so too -- he sure didn't hesitate to throw Dahlin under the bus after the loss to Florida. Dahlin has the huge contract (something like top-3 in the NHL for defensemen) and the C. He's supposed to be their best player and be a force all over the ice every night. I'm still waiting for him to deliver even 1 game like that. He's been OK -- nothing more.

It's well past time for the Sabres to get what they need from: Dahlin Samuelsson Cozens Quinn Those are supposed to be 4 of their core guys, and each has been a big fat zero this season. I'm interested to see the reshuffled lines, but let's not kid ourselves: Lindy is doing this because the poor play of Cozens and Quinn has forced his hand. Dahlin did seem to be moving better and more assertive with the puck vs Florida, but he needs to bring it on both ends and he needs to be a leader. That's what an $11MM captain is supposed to do. He's been miles away from that level this year. The good news is that I do not expect them to come out on home ice like they aren't aware that an NHL game is going on. They will play hard. We'll see. If they win tonight and the new lines look good -- which they might -- they'll be 1 under DeLuca .500 with reason for optimism.

Let's keep the politics in the politics club please.

Good post. I'm kinda struggling with how to think about Diggs at this point. He was my favorite guy on the team, and I have his jersey, but I couldn't bring myself to wear it to the game I went to earlier this year and I don't think I'm going to wear it to the next one either. I'm just so disappointed in the way he conducted himself towards the end here. He put his grievances, whatever they were, before team success. And the fact that the Bills were willing to take such a huge cap hit to get rid of him tells me that he must have created an intolerable situation behind the scenes. He was exactly what they needed when they got him, and I think he made a huge positive difference in JA's development into the Terminator, but he squandered a ton of goodwill with the diva act. And it wasn't an act -- I think he really was an unbearable, self-absorbed diva. All good things come to an end.

I agree with all of this except the part about NAK -- I think a guy in his situation is pretty happy about getting a shot with a "higher" slotted line -- kinda like a promotion. Whoa. He's a young player who has shown great potential but who is off to a slow start. It would be insane to trade him at this point.

Well it's good to see your smiling face again! Back posting so soon -- I wish the Sabres were half as tough as you are.

Ugh. Hang in there sir. We're thinking of you.

OK, so they've played 4 home games, and played better in each one than in any home game last season that I can remember. Lindy has them focused and determined from the opening faceoff, not to mention playing with much more speed and structure. They've found a good chunk of their scoring touch, and the top line looks terrific. Quinn and Cozens are still out to sea, though, and goaltending has been spotty after a strong start. Now they're facing the defending champs who have one of their stars back and will probably start their top goalie and bring their A game. They had a bigger crowd on Saturday than in the previous game, and the fans had a good time and went home reasonably happy and excited. I'm guessing they'll have a decent crowd again tonight. Come on boys. Play hard from the get-go, give the fans another W, maybe dress Gilbert so he can pummel a bastard panther and we'll be on our way to a home ice advantage, with loserville getting smaller in the rear-view mirror.

McD can coach my team as long as he wants. He's going to get the Bills to the promised land. Maybe even this year.

So no change in the lines. That’s OK with me. I think Cozens’ line is going to start showing up.

This is the kind of home game where, last season, a respectable crowd would've shown up and been massively disappointed by the Sabres coming out in a coma for the first 30 minutes, ultimately resulting in yet another awful loss where the fans left the arena disgusted with the team and vowing not to waste hundreds of dollars on that crapola again. So far this year the Sabres have played well at home. If they deliver a rousing win today it will help in the standings and in convincing the fans to return. Bring the passion boys.

I think @mjd1001 has it right -- this is going to work itself out. Cozens IMHO has already started to look better, Quinn is too good and too determined to just fall off the table and disappear and Benson is going to get healthy. For that matter, Kulich is a fast, relentless bull who is also going to keep coming. It may take a little while, but they will start producing. Also, I can't believe the OP didn't include a single Mittlestadt recrimination. What is happening here?

Serious question -- and while I'm not a spring chicken, I'm not old enough to know the answer, and I don't know if anyone here is: before this song, was "vibes" a thing? Or did the Beach Boys coin the phrase?

I agree that Kulich has looked pretty good. My point was more that McLeod's line has been quite good, and presumably (although I don't really know) has been drawing quality opposing lines, so replacing Zucker with a rookie, who doesn't have as strong of a 2-way game as Zucker does, could disrupt them.

Fair enough, and I agree that Cozens looked better vs Dallas, but that line has still produced a big fat zero. I'm fine with giving Zucker, who looks like he still has a pretty solid well-rounded game, a chance on that line.

As I said in the GDT, I thought Power was great on both ends vs Dallas. I also think he's been very good all year and that there's a good chance he's in the process of taking a major step up this season.

Interesting. So if Benson and NAK are out, which looks to be the case, Zucker and Kulich are both still in but are essentially trading spots on their respective lines? If so, that maybe shakes things up in a positive way for Cozens and Quinn, by giving them a seasoned pro on their line, but also maybe in a negative way for McLeod and Greenway by giving them a rookie on their line.

Another look at TT's goal last night:

This is pretty much where I am on Cozens. Yes, he's got too many games under his belt to just explain everything with "he's a young player" -- but OTOH he's grown up in a highly dysfunctional environment. He's also 23, has a ton of tools, and is one of the few Sabres who burns to win. That intensity is a really important component in a winning team IMHO. He's finally getting real NHL coaching and I think he'll respond well. I thought he had his best game of the season last night vs Dallas. FWIW, he played over 17 min last night -- 4th-highest among forwards and more than TT or JJP. He also hasn't gotten much help from his linemates -- although I think Quinn will also come around with more time with Lindy. In the meantime, I think McLeod's line will continue to get about as much ice time as Cozens' line, although I'm sure this will fluctuate game to game.

Great win - best one I can remember since beating Boston right around New Year’s in 2022-23 to get to DeLuca .500 on a long ricochet pass from Dahlin to Tuch to tie it at the end of regulation and then I think Cozens made a great play to set someone up for the GWG in OT. UPL was great. I think Lindy will start him again vs Detroit. I thought Power and Byram, especially Power, were great, and especially in the D-zone. Signs of life from Cozens, Dahlin and the PP. The PK was also very good, although Dallas’ PP is about as bad as the Sabres’. Nothing from Quinn though. He seems to have lost his mojo. I think he’s only had 1 good game all season. TT is looking like he did 2 years ago — a no-BS star #1 center. And he got to shoot the big gun tonight on the great feed from Power, who made another one on McLeod’s goal. McLeod is looking like a great pickup. That’s 3 strong showings in 3 home games under Lindy. Keep it up and the fans will return. In the meantime, if they beat Detroit they’ll be 1 under DeLuca .500 with some solid momentum. Go Sabres!

Your hockey posts are good but you need to stop mocking other posters if you want to be here.

Keon Coleman is rapidly becoming one of my favorites:

both of these are obnoxious. Do not communicate like this here.

OK, so there are slumps, and there are injuries, but Dahln is 24 and this stretch of 7 games -- almost 10% of an NHL season -- is by far the worst he's ever played. From the Athletic after the win over Chicago, to which Dahlin contributed zero: He's gone from "the next Bobby Orr" to "15% better than Bryson." WTF is going on?