Two or less

Here's a story to cheer you up... http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/soccer-dirty-tackle/one-solitary-udinese-fan-showed-genoa-team-match-230323815--sow.html#more-17127

And he was great last Friday against the Flyers farm team in his first, and only win.

Despite having a solid game tonight, i also don't think Leggio is a future NHL netminder. I think teams should always be on the look-out for the next great thing, but i do think Sabres have a pretty solid arsenal of goalies. Knapp is Leggio's backup. He will need much time to determine how good he can be. He was solid at the college level. Nathan Lieuwen was magnificent in the WHL, and during the Travese City tournament last year when the Sabres won. He is currently in ECHL, only because of numbers (Knapp beating him out to backup). Then, the Sabres have Linus Ullmark, from last draft, who has dominated every level he's been at. Recently he's been promoted to the Swedish Elite League with MODO (the most famous Swedish team (alumni: D.Sedin, H.Sedin, P.Forsberg, V.Hedman, M.Naslund, ect) and has played very well in the 2 games he has played for them. He's only 19, playing in a pretty solid league full of men. And then, we have "Mr.Zero", Andrey Makarov, who plays in the WHL and has an incredible resume of results from WHL, WJC, ect... sabres.com on Makarov- http://sabres.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=647349&navid=DL|BUF|home Side topic on the Amerks- very small example size, and i know he's young, but in the 3 games i have been to the past two weeks, i have been left very unimpressed each time with Jerome Gauthier-Leduc. He was an offensive wiz coming in, but he does a real poor job bringing the puck up the ice, he creates nothing, and seems like a liability in his own zone. Kid just looks lost. He is very young though and sometimes it takes longer to develop but guys in his age bracket Pysyk and Sundher show signs each game of what their potential may be. They may have a poor shift here or there, but sometimes to show flashes of what may come. Nothing like that from Leduc (in the games ive been to). Thoughts?

Brennen won it in the 6th round of the shootout btw 1-0. Guys that impressed me- Sundher, Pysyk, Brennen, Foglino, and Porter. I thought they all had very solid games. Girgensons was solid too, essp late. That penalty he took late in the game probably saved the game for Rochester. That was a easy goal for Abbotsford. Leggio was solid all tonight too.

I guess. The game Curtis Brown scored in overtime vs. Philly was pretty loud. Stu Barnes game vs. Pittsburgh too. And i don't mean just the goals, the entire games. The loudest i've ever seen a Sabres game (granted, havnt been to many of the memorable Aud games but been to the Aud) was Game 1 of the Flyers series after the lockout. The Umburger game. Way before the hit, or before the Briere OT goal, that arena was buzzing like never before.

These are definetly some ugly lines. I have no problem with Flynn getting big minutes as he's earned it. This team put too much faith in Mancari, Adam and Varone IMO to lead the way. Varone didn't have the best stats last season but in the last 40 games of the season he was one of the better players in the league after a really slow start. So, i'm sure the Sabres brass expected a big season from him.

Joins Doug Janik and Jason Pominville. Although, reading inbetween the lines, Mannheim may know something (via Pommer?), since losing Pominville back to Buffalo with lockout ending, they are using his cash on Hecht now... i highly doubt they can afford both Pominville and Hecht for the long haul...

^^ Very very sweet.

I am not sure what fans want to be done differently in Rochester? To say "win" is easy, but at what cost? The article states that the defense has been struggling all season without a veteran. Last season, everyone was cussing at veteran Morrisson who "didn't care", as he was collecting his big paychecks. Now, they have a bunch of prospects. When i went to the game last Friday vs. Adirondack, the defensive pairings were Brennen/Biega, Pysyk/McNabb, and Finley/Leduc with Drew Schiestel playing a "rover" between defense, offense or just sitting for a long time because there is no room for him. If they did sign a "veteran" who sits? They made a commitment to these players when they drafted them. They are trying to develop them and give them every chance to succeed, as they promised them on draft night when they selected them. The quote " the Sabres had no plans for any roster changes if the NHL ends its lockout" is useless. He has NO IDEA if they will or will not make moves. Will they make moves to only benefit the Amerks? Prob not, and they shouldn't. Is there a chance the Sabres make roster moves, and AHL players are added as fill-ins and prospects are send away? Um, yeah, that actually is a very good possibility. Either way, NOBODY with any type of position will come out and say "YES, we will make moves". It takes 2 to tangle, even if they were close on a deal, and waiting for the lockout to end, the other team may get a different off, or just change their mind. And then the guy is called a liar. Why are the Amerks struggling? David Leggio, who many for some reason always thought he could be Miller's backup if we traded Enroth, is not a good starting goalie, even at the AHL level. Very solid backup for the AHL. Problem is, he is our #1. Atleast now Buffalo knows what they have in him, at the cost of losing, however. Phil Varone was considered a "sleeper" when he signed as a undrafted free agent, and gets lots of 1st line and PP time... and has 2 goals and 5 assists? Luke Adam should be a NHLer by now (if there was no lockout) and he looks over matched at the AHL level, despite him having a pretty sick game when i went. Jon Parker gets lots of ice time, and is ECHL quality. Frederick Roy had a monster development camp with Buffalo, is slowly adjusting to AHL. Sometimes it takes time, the Sabres owe him that time. Mark Mancari last 3 seasons he's played in the AHL scored 30 goals each time. This season after 21 games? 3. I am not going to blame the Sabres for not filling the roster because I believe that is ridic. They have no room for additions because they have a good group of prospects that need playing time. However, i will say maybe Ron Rolston isn't a good AHL coach? I don't know, just wondering...

Really think this is where the lockout will finally come to an end.... Per John Shannon- Link-

HD is the best thing to ever happen to sports. Also, kinda funny, i just saw Brandon Shanahan totally dive on a play late in the first period. He didn't get the call though. Oh, and, such such sexy jerseys by the home team.

12:52am Meetings over for the day.

I know this post is out of place, but idc, as someone said, this is like a GDT. How severe is Hogdson's injury and if NHL season starts around December 22nd, will he be ready?

We're officially in Day 82 of the lockout.... Very true. And maybe the source isn't being all too honest, and keep a level head incase something hits a bump?

Kind of a buzz kill. But i'm still optimistic.

This is wild. I'm glad to be spending this night refreshing twitter and reading commentary live on Sabrespace. We should make a pool on when a deal is struck. I'm optimistic. I say in the 2am hour...

Per multiple reports, owners have left the meeting 13 minutes after returning from dinner.... lol very bizarre.

LOL... someone just texted me this a few minutes ago, as me and a few pals already take deadline day off from work and we always realize we did it for nothing.

I think you're rushing Armia a bit too fast. He's currently sitting out in Finland with a concussion. With the North American game being more physical then in Finland, and him having a concussion problem, i would suspect Armia will play in Rochester for a extended amount of time before he comes up to Buffalo.

They won't start this early. They'll need about 10 days of training camp, but it will take a few days for all the paper work to be signed before they even start camp. Doug McLean said he's heard if a deal is reached in next 24hr, they'll try to play a 58 game season, starting December 22. I also from other media on twitter that they may hold off until early January (2nd i believe), and play a 48 game season.

Great news. While I think the owners/player meeting will get all the pub, i think the Monday secret meeting is what sealed it. They knew they had to play and realistically, they needed a deal done before mid-Dec if they wanted to play a single game this season.

I hope they do this Monday classic Sabres night a tradition even beyond the lockout. Not during the season but during the summer months.

Must be watching other teams then the Bills.

Thought this was interesting. I copy and pasted this from Buffalo BlueandGold facebook page. I hope they dont get upset at me stealing their ######.