ska-T Palmtown

My older sister used to sit on the couch and watch every game we could (in the 80's, none of this fancy streaming hootenanny). She would keep track of the game in a spiral notebook with colored markers for the teams - just like keeping score at a baseball game ... she knew the stats - followed the team ride or die. Just texting with her, she was not even aware they played tonight 😞 "Oh ... I gave up on them"

then the super crappy breakout pass for icing ...

I wanted to give you angry, shocked, sad, and haha - so you get a cup!

He made the really smart play holding the puck for a second to spring McLeod ... then he <checks notes> yeah, skated hard and got back in the play.

Down 1-0 since you joined ...

oh no ... 4th string goalie.

Not disagreeing, but I think we'd have a pretty full 3rd line if that was the official struggle bus.

JJ is one of the reasons why I still hold out hope for Cozens and Quinn. We all know JJ can do it, but he has looked pretty lost lately, too. Maybe being asked to at least think about defense is really harshing their collective vibe?

It was a decent crosscheck to the hips ... but he definitely went down more easily than you'd think.

i'd take 2-3 more Zucksies at the same age ...

ok

dude.

i kinda feel like Rayzor is getting REALLY tired of this shiznit

and just like that, these bastards suck me back in

I'll be the first (maybe other have already?) to admit that this team has my emotions yo-yo'ing all over the place. I love the Buffalo Sabres as my hometown hockey team. They are in my blood, they are in my DNA and I will always be happy when they win a game. But this endless cycle of "omg! we might be dece ... nope. oh." is just effing with my head. I am a positive person by nature, but these MFs got me wanting heads to roll 😞

Son of a biscuit - I wanted to put something about that in there; he showed against the best of his peers that he could do it. Too busy making memes for the the game day thread!

So I think Terry and I have about the same amount of professional hockey experience ... zero. Both huge fans. If I had buh buh buh billllllions of dollars and my other sports team was making me money faster than my hasbro scrooge mcduck money counter could count, the last thing I would want to do is be in the weeds with the hockey team. But, perhaps this is why I am not a billionaire in the first place?

when a very moveable object meets and extremely weak force:

Yes. This. IF we had done a better rebuild and had a few more Zuckers zuckering around, some of these "kids" would have their fingers crossed they might play their 100th NHL game this year ... not 300th. I love the dude, but Benson would be playing his final year in the WHL if he was in a team with slightly above NHL talent AND execution. Too lazy to verify, but I would wager a modest amount that Buffalo has more games played by [whatever age] by 1st and 2nd rounds not drafted in the top-3 overall than all but 3 teams, at most. And my suspicion is that those other teams are also kinda lousy right now.

So more like this?

<quote trimmed to save space> To be fair ... if I got to practice with Barkov and Brady in FL, I think I'd be able to move up from D to C in my beer league in a year or two 🙂

I want to agree, because I love the Buffalo Sabres and want them to win soooooo effing bad. But ... sports are littered with high draft choices oozing raw physical skills that could just never piece it together at the pro level. Their abundance of natural skills usually gets them by quite easily at the lower levels, but in the pros they seem to lack the mental acumen to make the quick decisions/reactions to allow them to really apply their skill. I think a big thing working for him is that he does have 300 NHL games under his belt at such a young age. If it does not break him, perhaps that extra experience can prove useful for upping his "hockey IQ". What frustrates me the most, whether with or without the puck, I see him turn the wrong way too many times. With the puck, he will try a tight turn into the defender and without he will spin the wrong way and the guy gets away clean.

It does not HAVE to be the way it looks. Players could appropriately respond when they are shown 3 hours of game film of them sucking up the joint. But, at this point in time, this is what it looks like for Lindy's Sabres. So be it. Hopefully getting moved to wing in favor of a 20 yr old rookie center (Lord help us!) will reignite the fire under Cozens.

I am genuinely worried about Benson and Kulich - which is most of the reason I want Kulich to go back to the AHL. Imagine, you are out there busting your balls in the corners, getting loose pucks and you look up and none of your linemates are ready for a pass or you play an angle perfectly as the lead forechecker and your lazy-arse teammate is not in position so there is no turnover. I would not be surprised if you subconsciously start to dial it back a bit from time to time. Benson's hockey instincts appear to be very high and I do not question his character, I don't think he is doing it on purpose. In the business world they talk about being on a row boat and some employees are rowing hard and other are not; the hard rowers see the slacker and think (not always consciously) "why I am I rowing so hard if everyone else is not" I think we still lack the players to stand up and yell "Look how hard effing Benny is rowing! Y'all MF'ers better row harder, too!" At least Lindy calling out Tage and Dylan for not playing center the right way might be the beginning of "row or get out of the boat"