TheAud

So for those of us stuck in Delta airlines hell in LaGuardia airport and only following the game online...did Gionta retire or what?

But wouldn't it be so Buffalo for Ullmark to come up and impress McPhee with a 30 save shutout and then get plucked instead of Moulson, Bogo, Ennis, etc?

This is Ullmark's tryout for Vegas

I like Carrier more than Larsson or Girgs in terms of potential contribution for next year. I really feel like Bylsma mis-used him. He's an agitator, forechecker, and can help with scoring. He seemed to bounce between 1st and 4th line with zero PK or PP time. Of course he had the injury too. But isn't it weird he saw so much time with ROR and Kane (I think) yet couldn't crack 9 minutes of ice time per night? Anyway, I think if he could get comfortable on a 3rd line and get 12-13 minutes per game, maybe including some PK time where his speed would be useful, I think he's a solid contributor.

I was faced with this sort of scenario prior to Christmas last season. I had gotten a Ristolainen jersey as a gift (my Mom won it in a raffle, and it happened to fit me) but my then-girlfriend (now wife) wanted one and didn't know a single player at the time except Eichel (she knows most of the roster now). However we were already committed to Eichel jersey's for both my then 11 year old daughter and my wife's sister. So...she had me explain the characteristics of every player on the team as we looked at their jersey's in the Sabres store. After I described 15 players or so, she picked one. O'Reilly. So far it's proven to be a wise choice. At this point no additional money will be spent on Sabres gear or tickets until the coach is fired. Last time I did this was during the year or more preceding Darcy getting the axe.

27-6 shots on goal. Advanced analytics says "this is not good".

Shortie

The Kane penalty was absurd. The guy gets whacked not 5 feet from the ref who's staring right at it. My only complaint was Kane's response he needed to absolutely level the guy then tell the ref this is going to get worse if he's not going to protect him.

I am sure that's Alex's perspective. I don't think it really matters though...NHL debut will be exciting enough. Probably could have used him yesterday and then he'd face his brother today.

At least they didn't pick a game for his NHL debut that has extra pressure or scrutiny...like, oh, I don't know...against his BROTHER.

You guys remind me of the bit about people that speak two languages are called "bi-lingual" and people that speak three languages are called "tri-lingual" and people that speak only one language are called "American". BTW my wife is tri-lingual and I am American.

Those damn capitalists...

This is fantastic...thank you for sharing. I hope your avatar namesake lights the lamp a couple of times tonight in your honor!

Zemgus on the board....and I'm done. 5 stinking minutes and I can't stand watching anymore. Reminds me of the tank years.

Just turned the game on before the goal. Then just saw Bogo turn it over. Made me laugh it was so bad.

From the bottom of the Sabres notebook column in BN today: "Defenseman Josh Gorges reached the goal column Friday, leaving Justin Falk and Nicolas Deslauriers as the only Sabres without goals this season. It’s Gorges’ work without the puck that earned Bylsma’s praise. “He’s been the card-carrying member of how we want to play with being tough, aggressive, physical and putting his body on the line for the team,” Bylsma said. “That’s got to be the mantra for our team.” ...as opposed to dudes who can skate and pass really well. I want more of those guys.

I'm not disagreeing, but the people with money to buy season tickets and so forth do not live in Elmira. They live in HH or Corning. So the extra 10-15 minutes drive each way during crappy winter nights makes a difference. This isn't like the NHL where people will drive hours to go see a game. I love hockey and live in Corning but the 30 minute drive each way is enough of a deterrent to keep me from going to weekday games. I mean, it's the ECHL. And downtown Elmira isn't a 'destination' to say the least. But in the big picture, no, it probably doesn't matter. I was just thinking of reasons why the team isn't as successful as it seems like it might otherwise be.

Two underlying issues with Elmira team: 1) The ice plant needs to be replaced and it's a big ticket item (maybe $800k?). Chemung County was willing to go 50/50 with the City of Elmira but the city has no money whatsoever and the council unanimously voted it down. The result is the arena itself isn't necessarily viable for an on-going professional hockey operation until this gets done, despite the overall arena itself being quite nice for ECHL. 2) The team has had trouble making ends meet for years. I am not sure if it's the current owner or the prior one, but he was a local guy who had made a fair amount of money in business and as a sort of charitable thing he basically fronted the operation, made major capital investment in the arena (beautiful indoor and outdoor scoreboard/signage) and created a community board or some such thing to try to figure out how to make it sustainable long term. I know a guy who was on the board and these were smart, dedicated local people but the reality is the Elmira area is too economically depressed to support the team. If the arena were in Horseheads or Big Flats maybe there would be a chance but it's not like Elmira is that far from there.

Root for losses: 1) increased chance DD gets fired in the off-season 2) better draft pick/lottery odds Root for wins: 1) it's fun when your team wins 2) build a culture of winning I don't know....I'm sort of in mini-tank mode because of Bylsma

Oh, that's clearly important. I mean, why would he sign with Florida Panthers, Rangers/Islanders, or Sabres since the NFL team's in those cities have been unable to usurp Belicheck and Brady? Actually, by that logic he wouldn't sign anywhere but Boston or maybe Pittsburgh or Seattle. Oh wait, there is no NHL team in Seattle. What were we talking about again?

After reading your post, I just thought about it, so yes that's possible. It's highly unlikely the Sabres will win 5 or more in a row in the real world however. If not for your post this thought would not have entered my mind since it seems like they haven't won 5 in a row since Donnie Edwards was in net although it probably hasn't been that long.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLlLtSG7xe4

Lehner is really bad at shootouts. Got it. So without 31 saves against 32 shots, the game doesn't get to a shootout. If the Sabres could score more than 1 goal at home in 65 minutes, it doesn't go to a shootout. If Jack or Samson scores, the shootout continues. But let's just focus on one thing here.

I'm all for upgrading from Rob Ray. He's a meat head with the occasional insight or funny story but generally just throwing out cliches and occasionally utter nonsense. Marty is pretty good but his accent also drives me nuts. However we really should address the bigger travesty: Brad May droning on like a hungover, stammering, nincompoop during intermissions. Actually, intermission might be a good place for Ray who would be an upgrade over May.

You know, we were all hoping for the day to come when the Sabres weren't sellers at the deadline. I didn't see it playing out this way though. :unsure: