nfreeman

Yes indeed. This too. No one is going to trade for ROR's contract, but I can see some or all of these other guys getting shipped out. But not until the end of the season. Dudacek is right, IMHO, about JBott being methodical. He'll evaluate everything, not panic, and take the steady progress approach.

I suppose I should be more precise: no one is going to give them a top-10 pick or top-pairing defenseman for either of them.

At this point, no one is going to give them anything good for Reino or Nylander.

I think I read that McNabb was healthy-scratched last game (and that Vegas generally has a surfeit of defensemen).

The ceaseless Mittlestadt jokes are really getting tiresome. Separately: with all the complaints about Tennyson: does anyone have any #fancystats on him? I'm curious as to how he and Beaulieu have done in that regard over the past couple of games.

Well, you don’t mess with a man’s SabreSpace account.

Welcome!

Both Lehner and CJ might be closer to Marty Biron "really good backup" ceilings than "true #1 guy" status. I wasn't terribly impressed with Ullmark a couple of years ago, but maybe. In the meantime, CJ should start tomorrow night and, if the Sabres win, he should start again on Friday. Lehner just hasn't earned the automatic reclaim of the #1 slot.

Cool.

Wow. Awesome story. Thanks.

Just looked at Prudhoe Bay on the map. That is impressive. Did they see any White Walkers?

I'll disagree with this (easy to say, of course, based on the results). I thought the Kings were the somewhat better team vs the Sabres, but I thought the Sabres were the somewhat better team vs the Ducks. The Kings almost ran the Sabres out of the building in the 2nd period. I also think the Sabres have been getting a bit better every game since the NJD/NYI debacles. And maybe I'm kidding myself, but I think it's because Howie knows how to coach them.

I'm curious: has anyone here ever seen Hudson Bay in person? What's the furthest North anyone has been? For me, it's Mont-Tremblant in Quebec. (Or Ireland, I suppose.)

So, after a couple of creditable efforts vs LA and Anaheim, it looks like: - Howie still likes Kane on with Eichel and Pommer. - Pommer has been able to keep up with Eichel -- and has been making one smart veteran play after another. - Zemgus has played well as a top-6 winger. - ROR has struggled mightily in producing offense but may be coming around. - When KO returns, we'll likely see Zemgus-ROR-KO as the #2 line. - Larsson has seized the #3C slot from Reino and while he doesn't really create many chances, Bailey-Larsson-Reino looks like it has potential. - The move back to wing seems to have agreed with Reino -- he's created chances with both Larsson on the #3 line with Bailey and with ROR and Zemgus on the #2 line. - Bringing in whipping boy Gorges has undeniably stabilized the D, leaving Antipin as odd man out for now. - Scandella looks terrific and like an ideal partner for Risto -- who looks OK but not much better than that. - Beaulieu has great hands and feet and after a couple of trainwreck games has stabilized. - His partner, Tennyson, has come out of nowhere and is now a 16-18 min per night defenseman who gets 2nd-unit PP time. - As many of us suspected in the preseason, Scandella-Risto is the clear top pairing, with the minutes being allocated among the other 2 pairs on a game-to-game basis depending on how the game is going.

I thought Zemgus was also pretty effective tonight.

Completely agree. I expect to see Ocho. Other notes: - that was by far the best 200-foot game I’ve seen Eichel play. - Scandella is officially the Sabres’ best defenseman. - Another solid game by Beaulieu — not even one awful TO, I don’t think — and, yes, Gorges. - Reino made a number of crappy plays with the puck but he didn’t quit and created a number of chances too. - Good for Bailey. He’s got another opportunity, probably earlier than expected due to KO’s injury and general team suckitude. If he keeps bringing it like that he won’t get sent down again. - Signs of life from ROR, although not so much in the offensive zone. Still, it feels like it’s coming. - I liked the psychology move by Howie in having the new leader Jack and the struggling vet leader ROR on at the end, plus the ornery earned-his-spot Larsson. - Vegas baby Vegas.

It took a Beaulieu-like turnover to get Reino off the schneid, but we'll take it. Now ROR needs to remove head from rectum. 20 more minutes boys. Let's get a W under the belt and get a little better each day.

Minor question for the Ontarians: would Haliburton qualify as “Northern Ontario?” I tend to think of “North Ontario” as closer to Hudson Bay — but I could be out to lunch on that. As for CH: good luck to ya, kid. I’m glad you made a good bit of cash before this was taken away from you.

Thanks NS. You're a good man with a kind soul. Much appreciated and I hope I can learn from you.

I wonder if Anaheim will rest Gibson and start Millsie.

OK, but the GWG last night was unacceptable, and of a piece with him falling apart in the SO every GD time. I am pretty close to deciding that he is not the guy long term -- and I am 100% glad that they only gave him a 1-year deal. He can still turn it around this year, but right now he's not earned the #1 job next year IMHO.

The plan is this: 1. Despite a weird watching-a-train-wreck quality that the troll had, he is gone. 2. Everyone else is, again, requested not to introduce politics -- including via random remarks about political figures. I agree with most of this, although I thought B-loo looked pretty good last night -- I saw only one really bad play and quite a few solid ones. I'm much more worried about Risto and McCabe -- I'm seeing very few positive plays from either of them -- although to be fair, Risto did play a ton of minutes and the Sabres were much sounder than previously, so he should get some credit there. Still, I don't see any plays out of either of them that contribute to quick, crisp offensive starts. Risto in particular seems to make one bad pass after another. I liked him with ROR and Moulson/Reino last night -- didn't really like the change to putting Kane back with Eichel and Pommer that we saw in the 3rd.

Beat me to it. He's made the playoffs twice (zero series wins) in his 9 NHL seasons, and once in his last 8. And yes, continuous losing -- especially self-inflicted -- begets more losing.

Yes indeedly.

I like those lines, although I'd prefer a faster guy on with ROR and KO -- which I'm not sure the Sabres have.