Marvelo

It was pretty rushed; unfortunately I'm not a master of small talk. I asked him about the Sabres though and he offered that personnel comment up. Asked him about Chad, who he specifically mentioned. He said he's an excellent skater but he can't check the big boys. I offered up a comparison w Tory Krug and he said he's a different kind of player. Then I mentioned there's a whole culture of hockey players like Chad coming out of California and he said, it's from roller hockey. Didn't get much more out of him than that; he looks solid, "Canadian strong." Very polite, soft spoken but intense. I did interrupt his workout so I kind of stepped back a bit after that.

Maybe the players you mention really pile it up against "bums" but when push comes to shove and the overall competition is tougher, they can't do it individually and the team that surrounds them are put together in an inferior way. It's survival of the fittest and in hockey it's the ultimate team game.

I suspect it's a polite Canadianism for lack of talent.

I just went to the Gold's Gym in Milford, MA and was stretching and saw this guy working out with battle ropes. He was really going at it hard and fast; exceptionally strong, and I thought: Wow. So I took a closer look and he had a Rochester Amerks t-shirt on. I asked his name and it was Maury Edwards, who had a cup of coffee with the Amerks 4 years ago. He's a 28 year old D-man (5-11/176) in the ECHL and now the German leagues. He said he played with Chad Ruhwedel, the Sabres have a "personnel problem" and he picks the Blackhawks to go all the way. Looking into it, this guy was a 2nd Team All American while at UMass Lowell, has all sorts of accolades in his career and is now at 28 a star in the German leagues. UVM Coach Kevin Snedden said about Edwards: "…Edwards' shot is harder than any human alive." He's a power play specialist with a big shot. I would ('ve) liked to see the Sabres give a guy like this a shot, as opposed to the usual suspects we've had lately like Strachan, Benoit, Meszaros. hope he succeeds somewhere and I just said brushed shoulders with greatness.

Of the group you mention, Vanek (31), Nash (30), Pominville (32), Parise (30) and St. Louis (39) are all north of 30. While it's true Getzlaf and Perry are 29 and so is Ovechkin, they are perennial monsters as is Hossa and Patrick Sharp. Crosby is an old 27 on a declining team. I find it interesting that players like Kucherov, Tarasenko, Tyler Johnson and Johnny Gaudreau and even Sam Bennett are having success in the playoffs. Overall the legs are the wolf and it depends on who you are surrounded with. I see unknown fresh young players having greater offensive roles than the older guards whose legs and/or hearts are dead by this time of year.

I honestly believe that Vanek and Pomers are finished as playoff performers. Once the playoffs go into overdrive, they simply can't compete anymore.

It's funny, at the start of the playoffs there were tons of former Sabres on the first round rosters. After this second round if things go as expected, there will be none.

Thomas Vanek is now Toast Vanish.This Minneapolis Star-Tribune article puts the icing on the Austrian pastry: http://www.startribune.com/souhan-vanek-s-vanishing-act-a-glaring-flaw-for-wild/302862471/?recirculation=section&section=sports_wild The problem is, the Wild picked him up in the twilight of his career. Thomas has never been an effort player. He now has even less stamina than he did in the early years. With all the controversy and tumult that has surrounded him, he has become hated wherever he goes. The playoffs are a different game altogether than the regular season. Vanish can't play up to the level of intense playoffs…He might be better off on a bottom feeder like Edmonton where he can collect gravy and not have to be bothered with the playoffs. Pominville too is sadly lambasted in the comment section. In Vanek's defense, he has been racking up assists and to me an assist is as good as a goal. This is being lost among Wild fans. But goals are what he's being paid for and he's not producing goals. Since being traded away from the Sabres, he has become an assist player. Somehow he hasn't been able to work himself into a position to score and the reflexes have slowed down, as well as his desire and passion. Don't know what happened to Thomas Vanek. But Pominville and Roy have gone south at about the same time too. It's the way of all flesh.

I don't watch the Ducks; they're on the west coast. I didn't get the package this year because of the suckitutde. If you're a casual fan of course you've never heard of these guys. Keep it in perspective. You have over 21,000 posts. Not too many people breathe being a hockey fan like you. I've heard of players like Beauchemin, Cogliano, Etem. I know Beauchemin was with the team a long time, got traded and came back. But if you're a GM, you don't go after these guys; they have built this squad with a bunch of non-stars. They fit into a formula. They are interchangeable. That was my point.

Wishful thinking but I don't understand the type of player who would go from a perennial cup contender to a team in chaos who has no reasonable chance to even get to the playoffs for a few years...The guys who go for the money...we've seen that in Leino and Ehrhoff...they're not leaders, which the Sabres desperately need. When things go badly, this type of player totally disappears.

Amazing thing about Anaheim...you look up and down their roster and besides Perry and Getzlaf, you've never heard of any of these guys. And they're going to win the cup. It's like a formula they've hit on over the years because they've been successful year after year.

they picked up criminals and low-lifes, approved by Emperor Pegula. I can see the Bills tanking like the Sabres under his leadership. Whaley is a bum.

Chestnuts from the Terrence J. Pegula file: "From this point forward, the Buffalo Sabres' reason for existence will be to win the Stanley Cup." "Winning is not a goal, it is a belief," "(Winning a Stanley Cup) is a three-year or less process."

maybe the Fighting Morons.

Alexander Hill, the prime suspect in a quadruple killing, bizarrely gave a TV interview to Buffalo news station WGRZ-TV while he was on the lam. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/man-lam-killing-people-tv-interview-article-1.2201543

I'm so discouraged being a Sabres fan. From sheer bad luck to devotion to mediocrity, to faulty character "superstar" players to complete and utter mismanagement to things that IMO that have been rigged, I'm convinced the Buffalo Sabres were born to fail. This McDavid thing is the cherry on the S--- cake. I'm completely disgusted. I'm not sure I can continue.

Detroit is about to oust TB in the first round. They're up 4-0 tonite and hold a 3 games to 2 lead.

Hitchcock might be available if the Blues fail again fo advance out of the first round. (3 years in a row) Poetic justice: Ruff to Dallas, Hitchcock to Buffalo. I'd take Hitch.

at least he's a Sabres fan. :)

I work in writing/animation and P/T take care of my dad.

I am ANGRY!!! I feel like we've been CHEATED. TWO YEARS in a row. I feel like as Buffalo, we can't win. Things are rigged against Buffalo. A S_hole like Edmonton has had four cups already, now they have four overall #1 picks in six years. I don't know much about Eichel; he's doing things against college kids; but I do know that Connor McDavid was THE PRIZE and we should have been entitled to draft him based on our finish and we didn't because of some CROOKED DEAL, not unlike NO GOAL. I just feel it's in my right to express this as a Buffalo fan for many decades: whether it's the league or in the stars, Buffalo is always destined to come in second At Best. It's Charlie Brown trying to kick the football TIL THE END OF TIME. Deal with it. Just like NO GOAL, just like THANK YOU SABRES, just like WIDE RIGHT, Buffalo has reacted with shock and dismay. The good losers. Heads hang dejectedly, hands holding heads. Classy losers. It's all right again this time, we compensate, we got another generational player. The fact is the Sabres should have EKBLAD and McDAVID by now. Just once, I want to see anger among the Buffalo fans, not just by useless internet comments but by actions. I want to see rioting in the streets, like the St. Patrick's Day Riot when Clarence Campbell showed up in Montreal for a game after he had suspended Maurice Richard for the year for striking a linesman. I want to see PASSION translated into actions. I want to see Gary Bettman COWER the next time he comes to Buffalo. I would've said in previous years I am angry and I want an investigation but sadly more and more I realize what George Carlin said is true. They don't investigate themselves.

I'd ride Lindback. You never know when you uncover another gem. You have to give him a chance. Anyway the main thing that matters is the Defense.

Have noticed that Eichel with the heavy shot can score from outside the paint and McDavid mainly scores inside the paint. Nonetheless, you never know what Murray will do, especially if Edmonton can't sign McDavid.

Bank on it: Buffalo never wins it all.