LTS

Given that the Sabres can't beat Jake Allen it would make sense to try and get him. 🙂

It was your post that talked both quantity and quality that I was questioning. I'm not talking anything other than trying to figure out which it is you wanted. Your post contradicted itself talking both quantity and quality with your last line insinuating that somehow Adams should have got 3 NHL goaltenders. The entire distillation of my point is that injuries to your top 2 goaltenders, whoever they are, is usually pretty damning for a team. So no matter WHO you have as those goaltenders, they aren't making saves if they can't play. I asked questions in my original response to you and you've yet to respond to them. Your only hope was trying to twist words around. You still have not answered the original questions. It's honestly not worth talking about any further. Clearly you are fixated on trying to make a point of some kind. Pimlach at least debated the three NHL goaltenders. I still don't agree with him because nothing is proven, but at least he was addressing the issue.

It wouldn't matter who Adams traded for Hellebuyck. The point of the post you made was saying he hadn't done enough to overcome injuries to two goalies. That was what I was questioning. If he had given up Rosen and Savoie for Hellebuyck then he'd not have them now to give up for a third goalie. Your original post was focused on how many goalies the Sabres had that were "NHL" level. Any my question was, you can go get two goalies that are NHL level, both can still get injured, and you'd still be in this spot. New Jersey has 3 goalies. You are pointing to Daws. Let's just say he's as proven as Levi is at this point. The argument of "promise" on a goaltender gets shot down around here in relation to Buffalo criteria so it doesn't hold for another team. So New Jersey has Schmid, who has part of 1 season with some success and has looked like crap this year. 1-0-1 in 3 games (so he must have been pulled) - .863 SV%, 4.07 GAA. Whereas Comrie is at .914 and 2.45. He's 1-1 and we know why he didn't finish the third game. So Schmid had success last post season. Binnington won a cup in his first year called up to St. Louis and has been crap since. Bottom line, NJ has one goaltender in Vanacek who has been reasonably good and two unproven young goaltenders. If Schmid gets to age 26 and is an NHL goaltender, then great, but he can't be anointed one yet. My passionate defense of Adams? I didn't defend Adams. I asked what people expected him to do which was "more than trying". We all know he tried and was unable to make it happen. So i requested people to respond with what they perceived would have been good. I'll freely admit that Adams could probably get any goaltender in the league if he wanted. I am sure a trade of Thompson, Cozens, and Dahlin would get him ANYONE. But the question is, how stupid should Adams be to go acquire a goaltender? No one ever seems to answer that question. They just critique the lack of result without analyzing what it would take to get the result they would be happy with. And in the end? it would not matter. As I said, if Adams had been able to get two NHL goaltenders without giving up too much it would not change the fact that if BOTH were injured, you'd still be on #3. Do you think the Devils Daws would hold up? He might...but it's absolutely a crap shoot. What makes Daws any better than Levi? But for the real kicker on here, let's analyze the TB Lightning, who has a goaltender who has played 7 games so far this year with a record of 4-1-2. That goaltender has a .925 SV% and 2.56 GAA. Hell, based on those stats that would be an NHL goaltender the Sabres could use... of course on this forum there was a whole lot of speculation that TBL would go get a goaltender and that they should be interested in Comrie or UPL... because people all know Jonas Johansson was not an NHL goaltender... Oh.. but apparently he is. The inevitable response is... oh but the Lightning are able to play better defense in front of him. And if that's the argument you want to make then the natural counter-argument is.. and has been.. until the Sabres skaters play better defense in front of their goaltender... every goaltender will not look NHL ready.

Wwhat do you do more than trying? Are you once again advocating that Adams should have gone full stupid and made a deal so lopsided against the Sabres that it would hurt the team overall? What is "more than trying"? That high price for Hellebuyck would look really bad if Hellebuyck was injured. Let's say he manages to fleece GMs and makes the most sweetheart deals in the world for the Sabres and brought in ANY two goaltenders that would actually make YOU happy. Then both of them get injured. Would you still be making this post? Of course you would, because you are actually blasting a GM for not having THREE goalies on the roster that are "NHL" level. Which teams have that luxury?

Whoooooa. The whole bowl is great. Perhaps not 20 minutes later.. but at the time?

First bolded: Why not? They won. They didn't get hosed by the officials or anyone. They beat Ottawa. They may have bent, but they did not break and they won. What else is the definition of deserving to win than winning? Second bolded: When did the Senators tie the game? I must have missed it. They only blew 3 of the 4 goals they were leading by. Now, can we talk about Stutzle? He'll be a solid representative for Germany on the 10m platform event in Paris this summer.

I think the whole game is a thin margin, but coaches who don't properly use the talent on the field are what decide those margins. Talent certainly plays into things as well. They play off each other to be certain. One of the biggest issues i see is that the Bills want to pressure the QB by bringing extra people, and that works, if you pressure the QB. But, with a sketchy defensive backfield and no pressure you are running the wrong play calls. That said, if Ken Dorsey calls a great play and a receiver runs the wrong route, or Allen uses his progressions incorrectly, it's not the coaches fault.

Just came across this.. I don't recall it being posted. https://edge.nhl.com/en/home Some pretty cool stats on there. It might be getting beat up right now since the site was working and now is flaking out a bit.

This is quite possible as they are likely associating your location to where your IP address hits the Internet. So, if your service provider is hauling traffic back to Suffolk then you might appear (to them) to be there. Of course this is not how they should be determining where you are. There are far more accurate ways of determining location. And executives wonder why television viewing is down and continues to decline...

I think Adam Gase saw things no one else saw though. https://images.app.goo.gl/QEsn57ZHfS8A5fTb9

But... see below. The conversation was best in WNY.. the point I was making. Be nice if we could keep ourselves in check and have a conversation on the topic and not just interject with whatever we feel like saying. Might as well jump into a conversation about Granato as a Sabres coach and then begin talking about Mike Babcock. Dino is average at best to me. Sticky Lips.. not at all. Good Smoke has its moments. Route 96 in Farmington had some really good brisket when I was there once. But I generally don't go past my own smoker for BBQ in Rochester.

And how he busted ass to get back to the bench when the opportunity came up is another example of his experience and leadership. He's a great addition. Loved tonight. No need to say much more than I hope they realize that's how you have to play hockey. Isles were on a back to back though. I need to that kind of hockey from the Sabres on a fresher team. But, great that they could set a solid example of how to play tonight.

Typical response. But you did in fact say Dallas. Fine, you mean south of Dallas? Since we'll be literal, how far south? Like Argentina? And it still doesn't address my other point that you aren't even answering the question asked. You're welcome. For me playing that is. Given your ignoramus response though you'll be having a conversation for 1 from here on out.

I am a Fat Bob's fan, but I've only been there twice. No. This is just patently false. It's like saying you need to go to Buffalo for good wings. I've had bad BBQ in the South. See above. I've had ridiculously bad BBQ in Dallas. The statements are probably true that on average your chances of finding good BBQ in those areas is greater than in Buffalo. But it does not mean an individual location cannot be just as good as any location anywhere else. And.. quite frankly.. even if it were true. The original question was the "best" BBQ in WNY.. so even if the "best" is not as good as the "worst" in the South or in Dallas, it would still be the "best" in WNY.

This is the impact of a veteran presence in the locker room... on defense. He's right, and they all know he's right. I don't think he's saying anything the coaches aren't already aware of and in agreement with. He's just delivering it much more pointedly. I think that's one of the reasons he is here. To be that delivery person and play an interesting dynamic for how to coach the younger players. They might not listen to the coach, so let's bring in someone they will listen to. Love it.

Love this response.. thank you. I think Granato will get there.. and I think he'll break "not good enough" at some point but he's pretty judicious with that kind of criticism. You and I share the defensive zone coverage concerns and if he does not address it that will be a big mark against him. I still think he can get it done. Probably about the only difference between our thinking (and I am okay with his learning talk, for now).

I don't watch the show.. but that video was pretty good.

It's 100% true. You are certainly not the norm. It's especially true if someone has signed up for something like Fubo, YouTubeTV, etc. where you are starting out almost at $100. Most people don't cancel and resub, although that's the smart play. Similarly, most streaming services (non-linear) are designed around a few key programs and they space them out just enough to keep people from unsubscribing. It's no accident that Loki Season 2 started right after the last episode of Ahsoka. Subscriptions are easy for people to set and forget and then they get baked into the budget. People stop questioning them. I have no doubt gym memberships really opened the eyes of executives... so many people have them and never use them.

I am curious what you want Granato to do. The insinuation seems to be that because he does not say the things you want him to say that he accepts losing. I think Granato accepts that losing happens. I think Granato's approach is just different. I don't think anyone shows up at the rink and says "Hey, it's okay if we lose today, it's not that important." Granato's approach is to help them understand where mistakes are being made and to improve so that they improve their chance of winning. This is as opposed to the types of coaches who go out and say "We need to play harder." Okay... but playing harder doesn't necessarily fix the problems. It's like the Little League coach who yells at his outfielder "You gotta catch the ball Jonny". Jonny's all like "No ***** coach, I don't drop them on purpose." That's not coaching.. that's just yelling at players. That job belongs to the fans and the media.

I get it. But even coaches who speak straightforward end up coaching losing teams and getting fired. Pick ANY coach... take your favorite coach, the one you think would be the absolute right fit from your personal view, let them say what they want to the press to make you happy. I guarantee they still end up fired, the team doesn't necessarily win either. That said, we live in a world where every word spoken gets recorded and then analyzed over and over again. I think there's a large part of delivering a controlled message to avoid controversy. In the end, kicking garbage cans doesn't always get results. It might... but just as often it does not.

Negative.. not even balding.

Failure is only failure if you don't learn from it. That's how you build on it. Perhaps they did not do enough to achieve a victory but that only means there are things to be learned. No one wins at everything they do all the time. And for the record, every single playoff game is not a must win. You can lose 3 of them in any series of 7. You may not want to lose them, but it is possible to do so and still be successful. That's just the plain truth.

I have no ability to support what I am going to say... But this makes me happy. There is something about Craig Anderson that resonates with me.

So far, I am in this boat with him. He's enjoyable to watch and I don't say it about a ton of players. He's where he needs to be ALMOST all of the time. Now, give it another 20 games and some of the new car smell might wear off. It only matters for timing of contracts and payouts. The downside is that potential that he starts strong and bottoms out in the first season or that his sophomore season isn't as good for some reason. There's an whole host of potential negatives that could come into play. But, as long as he can play as a 3rd line player or better.. there is no downside.

Curious.. although I think I'd like Greenway in there around the net given his size and the way he's been going. That's a power play with a few too many passers and not enough shooters. In fact, I think JJP is the only shooter there. Benson probably would shoot, but he's not in the right spot to be a shooter. At least VO is oot.