Mango

A lot of the time you see a team on the rise drop in prospect rating because...well...players become players rather than prospects. I put the Sabres at 105-110 points this year. That is my pass fail line. If they hit that and have the number one prospect pool to go with it.....Look out NHL!

This is where I am at. I really like this pick, but it feels like we have 10 top 6 F prospects.

I’m over the Eichel stuff. He needed to go. We needed him gone. Everybody is better for it. FWIW I was at Britesmith the other day and a guy at the bar worked with a some kids org. He paid Eichel for a kids event and Eichel was “THE WORST” Sabre he ever worked with. He regularly bids on player appearances at kids events. He did the absolute best minimum at the bowling alley. Jack and Reinhardt spent most of the event drinking in the corner alone.

They are pushed against the cap, with a mediocre at best prospect pool, and one of the oldest rosters in the league. They have peaked at squeezing through the first round of playoffs. They have enough talent to be good, but if nobody internally has a viable plan how to rebound from their current set up they need to bring somebody in who does.

It’s funny you mention this. I was just in Buffalo last weekend staying at a friends place on the lower west side. We were indulging in some of the devils lettuce and hanging out on the porch when I decided to order a pizza. Just Pizza was listed as both closer and 30 minutes quicker than La Nova, but came a full hour late, missing 2/3 ingredients, and was half cooked. Short story long, I had the same issue at their biggest rival. Haha.

A lot of boys on the team that need to become adults and grow into their adult bodies. Physicality is a big reason why I liked the line shake ups at the end of the year. Every shift there was somebody on every shift who made that line tougher, with a skill player or two that made them smoother. Not to compare the two, but the Pens had a lot of success splitting Malkin/Crosby. I would have no issue with those lines being our core going into next season, and putting Tommers back as 1C situationally.

Admittedly I haven’t listened yet. But I think there’s likely an agreement that the Sabres need to be a more physical and stronger hockey team. The discussion around hits are whether or not that’s a good metric. They’re almost separate conversations.

I agree with you. I am totally guessing but probably a few factors. - Bryson..... - Joker - Rumor has it Dahlin might be a little banged up and has been carrying this defense seemingly by himself for 80 games now. Probably an accumulation of some guys sucking and Dahlin being exhausted. Somebody has to play those minutes

That comment wasn't lost on me either. It wasn't pried out of them either, no "how does he like the team?". Just a pretty simple "Welcome to Buffalo" and they offered a "Thank you. We love it. The people. The team. etc."

I am hoping we don't need it. The team showed enough this year that fans need to start showing back up. I no longer live in Buffalo, but I hope fans show up to send this team off for the season and say good bye to Anderson. They deserve it.

I was in NYC yesterday for work and shotgunned an extra night to catch the Devils game where I was lucky enough to meet and spend some time chatting with the Levi's. I was in the lower bowl but the opposite side of the ice, so I wandered to the Sabres side for warm ups. It was me and maybe a dozen Sabres fans or less. I notice the woman in front of me has a blue 27 jersey on. I politely wave and say "Welcome to NJ Mrs. Levi. Your son is maybe my favorite person in the city right now" Mr. Levi walked up behind me and chimed in with "He is her favorite person in the city too". We talked for maybe 10-15 minutes. They were remarkably kind and down to earth people. They love Buffalo. Levi is loving Buffalo and the guys in the locker room. They raved about the people. They don't anticipate Levi switches his jersey number. It hasn't come up once in conversation. I mentioned 27 is the same as Tre's and the Tre White Goaltending Academy. They didn't know anything about it, but they loved it. They proactively said that Devon would love to do a sequel commercial with Tre and Marty. So if you see or hear anything, know where it came from! I didn't want to blow up their spot so we had a pretty casual conversation, but it was funny; more than a few Sabres fans while walking past commented about how they (the parents) bought Levi jerseys as if the parents were just normal Sabres fans.

I totally agree with you. I was disagreeing that you thought the FO wouldn't be able to help themselves and will sign him. I think GMKA passes.

I am on the same page. Except I think the line in my head is 35 games, but hope he proves to be able to handle more. A few weeks ago I thought it was a slam dunk he would spend time in Rochester. But I don't know how they do that at this point. He is by far the best goalie on the roster today. But maybe they want to bring him along with Savoie, Kulich, Johnson? Which isn't the worst idea I guess? Anyways, I would put resources into bringing in a netminder who can is better that is substantially better than what we have already seen from Levi and make him chase him all season for the starting job. Top Levi out at 35-ish games, but hopes he proves to have the chops to take the starting goalie be end of year.

The dust has settled, I am out of NJ. What a wild season of ups and downs. This was the most fun I have had watching a hockey season in a decade, so thank you Sabres. As the team gets better, my standards will change just like they did with the Bills. But for now I really enjoyed this ride. Go Swords!

2:49 left in the 2nd. Sabres outshooting 24-18. But NJD has 16 blocked shots to Buffalos 4. A significant part of this game.

I’m not giving up hope. Just trying to do my 1/7th.

It looks like me being here is bad luck, but there isn’t enough time for me to get home.

Thoughts live, I don’t know how it looks on TV. - We were the better team to open the period. We didn’t look at all like we played down the road yesterday. We lost the middle but won the bookends. - I’ve been on the “get more shots on net and clean up the mess” train this team. Our need to set up the perfect opportunity can bite us in the butt. Not tonight. We need to slow it down and hold possession. -NJ fans are weird. They have a Danny Devito hype video. But it’s not even from anything recent. Like, it legit looks like he filmed it on the set of Twins. It has to be 30 years old. Also, sometimes the fans chant two different chants. Not call and response. Just, like, multiple things happening in different corners. - Devils fans near me think that Levi and one more offseason for the Sabres makes the EC murderers row similar to the QB situation in the AFC.

Screw it, I’ll catch you losers at the game. LFG!!!!’

The "Cleaning Fee" in NY/NJ area is always insane. $75 for a bedroom comes out to like $225 per night after taxes, cleaning fees. Hotels are cheaper. I have some unfortunate medical debt at the moment, nothing crazy, but enough to be annoying. I get paid on Q1 this month which is good, but we have some vacations and stuff planned as well. Plus I just bought a new snowboard, boots, and bindings 2 weeks ago since it was end of season. So it isn't a matter of "can" it is a matter of "should" I drop an extra couple hundred bucks on a ticket and a hotel today.

I am actually in NYC today. Debating going to this one, but I really don't want to pay for a hotel....Ugh....

I LOL'd. ....am I the only one who ever thinks about the fact that LOL'd is supposed to be L'dOL

If we win tonight, the arena better be absolutely exploding in Buffalo Thursday.