dudacek
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Posts posted by dudacek
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I ***** hate the Rangers and all the national ballwashing of Mike Sullivan, Adam Fox and their decrepit forward corps.
Id like to see the Sabres start off by giving them a good curb-stomping that launches New York on an inexorable march to a bottom 5 finish that ends with Drury looking for a new job.
Let's go Buffalo.
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17 minutes ago, CallawaySabres said:
I’d be happy to just bring in an actual starting goaltender. It’s pretty crazy that every other team in the NHL has two of them. 🤣
Well, if you want to get technical, Sabre goalies combined for 153 NHL starts last year. 😜
Don't imagine many teams have more.
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Sabrespace was already taken. 😜
You guys know we're utterly predictable and the biggest bunch of curmudgeons in the Sabrehood, right?
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10 hours ago, CallawaySabres said:
Am I the only person who thinks it is a gigantic red flag that Levi cannot crack the starting goalie lineup with the garbage they have on the roster?
I mean, UpL is out and he is STILL not one of our top 2?? What happened to this guy?
Why have they not traded for a starting goalie? Give up prospects and 1st rounders for all I care…
They have pretty clearly made an organizational decision that he was starting the season in Rochester regardless.
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Jesus, didn’t think Tuch would be the last man standing.
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So very quietly, with the opening night rosters in place, the Sabres have come in at $2.1 million under the cap.
They've spent more than 20 other teams.
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31 minutes ago, mjd1001 said:
I get your point.
But "we were outworked" can also sometimes be nothing more than "we aren't as good as them".
Personally I don’t think outworking anyone is enough for this crowd any more. Or being exciting and explosive. Or thumping bodies.
I don’t know that we’d even recognize those things if and when they happen.
It’s only about winning enough games to make the playoffs.
Anything else is meaningless.
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16 hours ago, Brawndo said:
Mike Leone mentioned today that the decision between the AHL-WHL for Mrtka is day to day
I wonder if their thinking is kinda like some of ours: “if you’re going to use him a lot Mike, you can keep him. If not, we’ll send him down.”
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30 minutes ago, Weave said:
I would like to bring up that Hockey Writers assessment again. Specifically the comment that Ellis’ AHL team had to use a specific defensive system to take advantage of his strengths and weaknesses.
I am going to go out on a limb and assume that the defensive system going into this season would be one that benefits a taller goalie (UPL) and plays to the strengths he brings. For at least the start of the season, we are using two goalies that are not considered big goalies, and likely play a smaller goalie game. I am really curious if this has the coaching staff making changes in system at the brink of the start of the season.Considering Lindy was talking about implementing (planned in the summer) changes during camp while he knew UPL was in doubt and Lyon was the other guy, and that there is no indication UPL is going to be out for an extended period, I kinda doubt they are suddenly changing again.
I think the kinda changes he was talking about were aimed at limiting high-danger chances, which ultimately should benefit goalies of any size.
But I think your premise that the system was designed with UPL in mind is a strong take.
To borrow a Josh Allen-ism, UPL is exposed most when he has to play hero puck.
Behind a stable, predictable system I think he can deliver starting calibre goaltending.
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39 minutes ago, Broken Ankles said:
Who are the seven? You have UPL, Lyon, Georgiev, Levi (who signed a one way but we knew was earmarked for Roch) and now Ellis. Although Puckpedia has the Ellis contract as a two way. And they have Ratzlaff and Leinonen as two way.
You’ve got it right.
i was not talking about 1-way deals. I was referring to the 50 NHL contract slot limit as opposed to AHL-only deals.
Typically, a team carries 2 of 23 in the NHL and 2 of 20-ish in the AHL, and some teams carry a 5th in one of the “taxi squad” slots.
It’s not often an NHL team is forced to go to a 5th goalie, so they will often rely on a trade or sign an AHLer when they get into an emergency situation, like the Sabres did with Houser a few years back.
Edit @DarthEbriate thanks for doing the legwork.
Definitely PTOs and I’m pretty sure junior players (slide) don’t count toward the 50-contract limit.
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16 minutes ago, DarthEbriate said:
But it still doesn't excuse finding someone else for a PTO. Or call Houser and say, "AHL contract waiting for you --- just 3 weeks in preseason Buffalo. Then, guaranteed money and you don't even need to report to Rochester or Jacksonville."
Through it all there were no blockers, and now Levi isn't just blocked, he's been encased in AHL carbonite and dropped into the Pit of Carkoon on some planet furthest from the bright center of the galaxy, behind 50-60 other goalies.
I would say given their respective track records Georgiev was a swing with a much higher upside than Houser.
As low as my opinion of him is, I can’t imagine there was a higher-upside option out there available at the price.
And that includes guys like Reimer. Lyon already had “safe” covered and “safe” would likely still be available come October.
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1 minute ago, JoeSchmoe said:
Other than Georgiev, and his immediate family, I feel like most people would be happy with Adams for upgrading.
Yeah, I thought Georgiev was gonna fail from the beginning, but I’ve got no issues with trying, failing and quickly moving on when the alternative was doing nothing except crossing your fingers UPL was going to be OK
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31 minutes ago, Pimlach said:
It sure seems that Adams loves to work on, 5/6/7/8 defenders, fourth line forwards, and backup goalies. Could that be why they don't get better?
I'm not prepared to dig in again, but the number of 6-9 defencemen that have come through here over Adams' tenure is off the charts long.
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57 minutes ago, bob_sauve28 said:
Buffalo loves their Sabres. It's that simple
You don't have to be a winner to get loved by your fan base
This is interesting to me.
I'd say for a large portion of this board it's more of a love-hate relationship: most seem to care deeply but it's not a warm and forgiving win-or-lose kinda love, more the love of a repeatedly let down or betrayed spouse or parent.
Very few around here are the "we'll get 'em next time" types.
I have no frame of reference for the more typical fan in and around Buffalo, but I suspect Sabrespace is not reflective of the "typical" fan.
But I think back to the '80s Canucks teams of my youth who had a similar level of success to the Adams Sabres. Sure plenty of fans grumbled and tickets were easy to come by, but generally they still loved their Tony Tantis, hated the Flames and Oilers, and were ready to jump back on the bandwagon given the slightest opportunity.
Those kinda fans just kinda fade when things aren't good, whereas most Sabrespace types stay invested and spend their time venting to their online friends.
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8 minutes ago, Brawndo said:
Power is skating in a non contact jersey and Alexandar Georgiev is not on the ice. On waivers perhaps?
It's almost like the couldn't get him to sign a PTO, so they paid him a year's salary to essentially be on one.
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I've read mixed reviews of Jack Quinn's pre-season, so I thought I'd add Marty Biron's take from Sabres Live last week:
Marty said that after watching him practice for a few weeks, he's flat out predicting 30 goals.
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Wasn't going to spend any time worrying about a Tuch deal until the evening of the regular season.
(Checks calendar)
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I think they can thank Josh Doan for this is.
Kid was working that Tim Horton's drive-thru window hard.
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49 minutes ago, DarthEbriate said:
The eye test says both: Bryson and Georgiev can go. Johnson won the #7 and personally, I'd keep Kozak as he can give you better, more versatile forward minutes as center or wing -- he's a Danforth type.
I know Ruff loves Geertsen, but ... you have to dress him every game to actually be able to use him as a deterrent, and that's hardly likely because a 5-minute forward is almost useless in today's regular season games. (Florida/Tampa's silly exhibition over the weekend was exactly that -- an exhibition. They'll be civil in all the games that matter where their top lines are dressed.) Plus, Geertsen is hardly a deterrent -- Noesen won't be intimidated by him. They'll do a faceoff-based fight this season and that'll be the end of it.
I don’t disagree with you.But I’m pretty sure Lindy Ruff does.
I said in the summer that Geertsen was targeted - by Lindy - to be used in this specific role, I’ve seen nothing to change my mind.
This is a coach who has already got - from his own mouth - three Swiss Army knives on the roster (Danforth, Krebs and McLeod).
It’s a coach who likes to roll his top 9 hard and use his 4th liners situationally.
And it’s a coach who sat Andrew Peters on the bench for 55 minutes a game, and played him 55 games a year.
I’d say it’s less deterrent than it is response, but Geertsen is getting the final roster spot.
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7 minutes ago, DarthEbriate said:
I'm surprised Kozak hasn't been waived to Rochester yet. He's not a guy that should get claimed because every team has 1-2 Kozaks. But if a team is dealing with injuries, I could see it being 50/50 of losing him. He's not going to score but he does the little things right and is positionally sound. We saw how much calmer the bottom 6 looked when he was in the lineup last year vs., say, Lafferty.
He’s the next shoe to drop. Probably as soon as Thursday when Power is cleared to play.
The next one is the interesting piece; Who goes first when Greenway or Kesselring is ready: the 3rd goalie or the 8th defenceman?
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1 minute ago, LGR4GM said:
Idk, they have more info. They may have thought there was going to be a chance of a longer issue and wanted insurance.
Seriously they should waive Georgiev and keep Ellis.
I can’t see any circumstance where that isn’t the plan unless the both play and Georgiev is dramatically better.
Why would you claim Ellis otherwise?
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Damn, listening to Lindy’s presser (which happened before Ellis became official) he is not happy with Lyon or Georgiev.
After listening, I’m convinced this pickup is a clear indictment of the camp Georgiev and Lyon have had and the team’s lack of faith in them.
They must have really been committed to Levi starting in the AHL.
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Power on IR is unexpected.
Gotta think he and/or Kesselring have to be close and this is prudent paperwork.
Or are they really OK with being one undercooked piece of chicken from starting Mason Geertsen on D?
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13 minutes ago, RochesterExpat said:
Because goalie development is so weird, he's not really what I would call a "career AHLer" but from a purely literal standpoint that's a true statement. As for the bit about UPL competing, I'm sort of a "ride the hot hand" fan. If he ends up getting games and posts consecutive shutouts, I'm all for letting him run the table. But as for the career AHLer bit, he turned 25 yesterday, did his full QMJHL experience, and then went to play ECHL with AHL call-ups over the last four seasons. Last season specifically he was given the starting job in the AHL and he was going back to be the starter a second season. That's honestly a pretty normal track for a non-elite goalie.
Normal teams don't carry more than two goalies. The Blues aren't going to waive Binnington and Hofer signed a contract extension in June and has played as Binnington's backup for 30 and 31 games the last two seasons respectively (and, funny enough, posting better numbers than Binnington), so he's not getting waived either. The reality is Ellis doesn't have a shot at cracking the roster without an injury. He's just untested.It's worth mentioning each season he showed progression while playing for a terrible team. You need only look at his playoff line last season to see how much he was carrying Springfield: 3GP, 1-2, 2.32 GAA & .933 SV%.
The only thing we should be asking is whether or not Georgiev is worse than a 25-year-old goalie who has never played an NHL game. His preseason wasn't bad. He got a shutout again Chicago (didn't play the full 60) and got a shutout against the Stars (again didn't play the full 60). From a purely numbers standpoint, he was their best goalie in the preseason. So I'm honestly okay keeping him as the backup and waiving Georgiev.Why does a sad part of me think this is mostly about what he did in his last 5 appearances?
It’s Isak Rosen’s U18s all over again.
Sabrespace Season Predictions 2025-26
in The Aud Club
Posted
You're just getting optimism from me today.
Zach Benson, Josh Norris, Jack Quinn and Owen Power will have career years.
Justin Danforth and Shane Doan's boy are going to be more popular than anyone imagined when they were acquired.