nfreeman

Well, that was an extremely disappointing showing by the Sabres, who got outplayed — although not as badly as yesterday IMHO — by the Devils for most of the game and then basically panicked and quit in the third period when they fell behind 2-1. Also a poor showing by certain posters who felt the need to bring politics into this thread, although I appreciate the vast majority who left it alone. I’m out walking the dog now, but will take further steps on this when I get back to my computer. In the meantime, I wonder if someone can tell me exactly why Dahlin is making $11 million a year.

Well that was a huge disappointment. They started OK but NJ’s forecheck took over the game about 6 min in and the Sabres got completely worked on both ends for the next 20-25 min of game time. Then it was 3-0 and the game was over. And they aren’t doing anything this year if TT and Tuch don’t start playing like they give a crap. From the Athletic: I think we’ll see Levi and Kulich tomorrow and I’d guess Lindy ripped them a new one after the game.

Awesome. Enjoy and please post from Prague and from the games! Photos would be cool too.

Well, I've had high hopes for Rosen, based mostly on his AHL production last year and the reported speed/skill package, but from the limited amount of preseason action I saw, Kulich, Helenius and Östlund are all better than he is. I did not like Rosen's decision-making in the offensive zone at all. Hopefully another year in the A will help.

Top 50 30+ goals Yo Mamma

Great post. 2 very different stories, each well told and very believable. Yeah, baby! Yeah! I believe, and have said here a few times, that when losing gets ingrained into a franchise, it takes a truly dynamic and special personality, or maybe a couple of them, to wrench it out of the mire. With the Bills, it was Jimbo and later McD (although to get them to excel, Jimbo needed Thurman and Marv, and McD needed JA and BB). If someone is going to do it for the Sabres this year, I think it's going to be Lindy. Current range on a percentage-below-cap basis? Or absolute dollars? Or other?

My recollection is that Hutton, who was JB's big swing, stunk from the get-go. Comrie had a few flashes (and to be fair, Hutton probably did as well), but certainly was a complete washout. Probably KA's biggest individual failure -- both betting on Comrie and, as you point out, not fixing it earlier. Hutton was a bigger fail, as he got a 3-year deal from Botterill while KA only gave Comrie a 2-year deal, but of course he ranks pretty low on the laundry list of terrible Botterill moves.

I trust Lindy's judgment, and Dahlin is probably their best player, and he plays hard, but I gotta say I was hoping for a different reaction from Rasmus than what we saw in this video. He was humble and appreciative, but also kinda soft-spoken and unassuming -- "Let's do something good." I kinda wanted something like "You guys aren't going to like me all the time. We haven't been good enough. We need to start coming out determined to win every GD night."

I think I just saw somewhere that Kulemin is attempting an NHL comeback after being gone for 7 years.

My MIL is 85 and has been a smoker for about 70 years. She is still quite sharp and very tough -- largely constructed at this point of whisky and leather. Her mom lived to be 99. I'm 100% confident that my MIL would live at least that long IF she would quit smoking. But noooooooooooooooooooo. She smokes, and she lies about it, and she has COPD (not lung cancer), and she ends up in the hospital with difficulty breathing every 6 weeks or so -- which requires her kids to drop everything, miss work, travel to another city (3 of the 4 kids have moved away), sleep on her couch and take turns taking care of her, dealing with the hospital, getting her home and watching her. She also refuses to have a health aide visit her even a few times a week for a couple of hours -- she doesn't want them in her house. That of course means it falls on her kids to take care of her every time this happens. And when pressed about smoking or about having a health aide visit her, she throws a tantrum. Good times!

In the brief snippets that I’ve seen Rosen, I’ve seen a number of flashes of skill and speed, but he seems to make the wrong decision whenever he has the puck in the offensive zone, resulting in a turnover – it’s reminiscence of Middlestadt in his first three or four seasons.

JA is absolutely the league MVP at this point. And other teams are starting to think about Joe Brady as a HC. BUT their next 3 games are very tough: at Baltimore at Houston at NY Jets ...and for that matter the 5 after that are no walk in the park either. Go Bills. What a great freaking team they are, and fun to root for too.

Here's some good news:

Actually Perreault and JA are kinda comparable.

Interesting question. Kulich’s ceiling IMHO is probably in the same ballpark as Peterka’s — ie a powerful, fast, goal-scoring forward who scores 30ish goals per year and sometimes 40, and pressures the opposing defense, although isn’t much of a playmaker or a defender. That is still a very valuable NHL player. Benson, OTOH, doesn’t strike me as having that kind of goal-scoring potential or speed or strength, but could become a great 200-foot “glue guy” who does everything well, and some things exceptionally well, and has a bit of an edge. A bit of Bergeron and a bit of Marchand. Also a very valuable player. if I have to pick one, Benson looks like the better bet, mostly because he’s already had a pretty solid rookie year and Kulich hasn’t been able to make the NHL roster yet. But the story is far from fully written.

Beach weekend with old friends upcoming!

2 years ago he definitely was, and probably better than top 15 for that matter. Last year? Not so much. He has a ton of skill and I think a pretty good attitude. He’s pretty fast once he gets going. Not sure about his hockey IQ either way. Durability is also an open question. We’ll find out this year.

I was never a fan of his, but he does seem like a good guy and a good family man. I'm glad he got to play a long time in the NHL, make a ton of cash and skate around the rink with the Cup. Enjoy the next phase KO and be well.

Here's a great story about Christian Benford, who evidently grew up in the environment depicted in the all-time great HBO show "The Wire": https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5699837/2024/09/19/christian-benford-bills-face-tattoo/

Donnie was one of my favorite Sabres. What a great tandem he and Sauve made.

JFC.

From the Athletic: I sure hope he feels better and is back at practice tomorrow. Jeez.

Well done TG. Good man.

Good. It's too soon IMHO to give up on Krebsie, although I don't think he has the hands to play in the top 6. I can still see a ceiling of a solid 3C. I definitely want to see how he develops under a real coach. He's 23 and has spent the bulk of his NHL career in a highly dysfunctional organization. The waiver discussion is interesting. If Krebsie isn't any better than he was last season then he's a definite candidate -- and although Darth makes a good point about CBJ, I think the 2nd year would scare away most teams and likely cause him to clear waivers. But at the start of the season, I'd expect Levi to get sent down and Rousek to be waived down to Rochester.