LTS

Talk about an incredibly biased viewpoint. Kane has earned a contract... he wants to be the one who decides on where he will play next year. What evidence is there that Kane ever wanted to stay here? Has he even said the standard UFA quote? You know “of course I want to be here, we have to see what works out.”

I’d recommend you stop looking at this team from the passenger side mirror. :) This team is closer than people on here believe. We’ll see how much closer after this trade deadline.

This was why Arizona got Kuemper. That sealed it. It would be interesting for Calgary to get another goalie from Arizona.

Now he’s worth a first?

But how will you beat scissors?

On the bright side.. the Sabres have the players capable of running things. They just need the high-quality supporting parts now. The goaltender is in Rochester already.

You have really lowered your standards if you are dismayed that the organization doesn't have Vanek-Roy-Pominville-Miller-Gaustad 2.0 in Rochester. I mean, it's not like this board didn't want that core group jettisoned.

I don't believe Borgen ever played for the Olympic team... that tells me they preferred to have Wisniewski in the lineup as a pure power play specialist over this kid. I'm not too concerned at this point.

I'll watch once i get home from hockey. Or I won't watch... it really depends on how the game starts out and where its at when I turn it on.

Oh man... that's classic.

Hah... that's just too perfect. :)

Well.. it helps when it's the first ever gold... :) Bode Miller commentates like a skier. The dude is just so deadpan about everything. He sounds like a guy who is used to rocketing down a hill at 70-80mph on a sheet of ice. I wonder if his heart rate can get above 50. :) He's extremely insightful though. I've barely watched the Olympics this year mostly because NBC blows and it's always figure skating, either showing it or talking about it. The past few nights I stayed up to watch some things but last night I was too tired and I have some kind of cold coming on so I went to bed early. I really wanted to watch USA v. Canada... but given how i feel this morning it's best that I did not. I hate shootouts to win a tournament game/playoff game and especially in a medal game. That said... way to go ladies.. Team USA gets the win and that's awesome.

The (MY) assertion was that it took time for them to get it. They may not be executing it 100% but they didn't even understand it early in the season. They were still playing the Bylsma way or so it appeared. Then they tried to pull a defender into creating a 4 man rush but because they had no clue what they were doing they kept turning the puck over leading to odd-man rushes the other way. We now see them hitting that 4th defender much more often and it leading to zone entry. This happens less and less these days. They can still execute the system and fail on the ice. After all it's one thing to be in position and another thing to not have the ability to put the puck in the net, or keep the puck on your stick, or execute the pass that's required. There are two parts to this... understanding what to do and being able to do it. I would only state they understand what to do and that there is some talent needed to be able to execute it all the time.

And extend Kuemper for 2 year, $3.7M contract.

C'mon, you know enough about hockey to see a completely different team on the ice now than the beginning of the year. Just because they aren't winning doesn't mean they aren't playing better.

An interesting read... probably well suited for the Winter Olympics of course. https://amp.usatoday.com/amp/350369002?__twitter_impression=true Norway is dominating these Winter Olympics with a unique approach to sports I can't find the direct link.

I see no problems with Reinhart. He's been playing as we would expect him to since Jan. 1. He's looked good and more comfortable with how he's supposed to play and where is supposed to be on the ice. Ristolainen is an interesting case. I think he's simply trying too hard at this point. There's no doubt he feels the need to be more than he is and as a result he's placing more pressure on himself and also trying to do more than he's capable of doing. Frankly I think this plays out in how he wants to get chippy with people. I think there's a level of frustration in his game that he takes out on the opposition. He's not mentally sharp because he's still over complicating his game. These might be things that clear up as the D and goaltending get shored up. They might not be and he may end up only being a 3/4 D. I don't think he needs to be moved from the team. There is a need for another top level player. The question is when does that player arrive? I would think that we see Botterill go after one of them in the off-season. I think Mittelstadt is tabbed to be another but not for 2 years. So, next year improve via a UFA signing (or hoping one of the current prospects pans out) and then the year after you see the top 6 begin to bleed into the top 9 and that's a good problem to have.

Don't stop him.. he's on a roll. Terry was the 4th shooter, not the last shooter. But facts be damned in this narrative. It's important to note how the coach was wrong and not how a group of players tried for 42 seconds to make sure Wisniewski got the puck on a one-timer to win it in OT and never managed to get a shot.

Wow.. this thread is still going? Housley is not the problem. The core group of players (whoever they are) are not the problem. The problem is the absolute lack of secondary scoring, the sub-par defense, and goaltending. This team is worse this year because they had to learn a new way to play and it took some time for them to get it. Whether it was through willfully resisting Housley or just getting everyone up to speed, who knows. There were also a ton of new faces on the roster in secondary roles. This team, with Eichel, would be winning a few more but we've seen a general uptick in the way they play. The problem remains their ability to score from the bottom 6 and struggles on the back end that expose a goaltender who lets in soft goals. There are issues in the locker room I am sure. I am sure that some of them perhaps have been laid to rest via communication. Some of them may pertain to Lehner and/or Kane and hopefully those will be removed soon. Once this team can ice a 3rd line that requires the opposition to pay attention things should change.

I suppose it's normal to bring the focus locally but the reality is that this game happens every trade deadline. We're a bit more attuned to it this year because the team still sucks and there is a big name tied to the trade board in Kane. Hextall is playing the game and I highly doubt he's had no discussion of picking up big name players, whatever he defines those as being. There's a varying degree of what people would find acceptable as a return for Kane. The reality is that if he won't sign here then ANYTHING is acceptable or else he walks for free. The math is easy, 0% of acquiring an NHL asset versus anything greater than 0% chance. If Kane goes for a 4th round pick now and he could have gone for a 4th round pick in December there is no net change in what the Sabres receive in terms of future considerations. Botterill gained having a body on the roster for a few more months to keep people in Rochester as he wanted. By the way, by picking up Mrazek it allows the Flyers to move someone like Neuvirth in a trade. The Sabres acquiring Neuvirth as part of a trade package for Kane allows them to potentially move Lehner to another team who doesn't have a goalie to send back. Pure speculation of course but the possibility is there.

This is why Housley kept shouldering the blame for their performance? He couldn't put it on McCabe's shoulders. I wonder if the whole team needs surgery.

Mine turns 14 in 2 weeks. If he's with adults he's polite. When he's with his friends they are all idiots. If I hear racist or sexist crap or anything of that ilk the last time he sees the Xbox will be when I body slam him on it. In other news... no one has been traded. So this is the kind of crap we talk about. :)

Welcome to the Glass Menagerie.

Yea.. I hear my son on the Xbox all the time. I thought it was just him but then we were at a hockey tournament this past weekend and they were all sitting in a room watching each other play FortNite and talking to each other the same way. It disgusts me but there's not much I can do about it in that setting. I jump on my son's case when he gets obnoxious... and if he doesn't listen I cut off access to the Internet for the Xbox and he gains a new appreciation of the power I wield in my own house. :)

You can. It makes you sound petty and judgmental on things unrelated to hockey, but you can certainly say it.