LTS

Sadly we'll never know if they would.

Right. You can't check a goalie outside the crease but incidental contact is allowed. I've seen a goaltender called for interference but in this case it's incidental.

Well, if there is no crowd it's not as bad as if thereis a crowd that's quiet. They can be faulted for not being there but I think that's as loud as that many people can get.

Only for challenging offside.

Outside the crease. But that will be no goal because..

Your EiCHeL team?

Well. That's just great.

No way McCabe should have reversed that regardless of the puck hitting the official. He had the space to go up ice.

I've seen better ice at a cubic zirconia convention.

Cross-checking - The action of using the shaft of the stick between the two hands to forcefully check an opponent. Defined as exactly what Kane did. No one has to fall down for it to be a penalty.

Kane, two hands on the stick, stick to back, pushes and extends arms. Also known as a cross-check.

That's a penalty all night long. Stupid play by Kane.

Maybe the Sabres are cursed by a Nolan again.

Nolan with a really stupid play. Like monumentally stupid. Keep him off the ice the rest of the season.

Do beer goggles make hockey look better than it is too? Find out at 11!

He had a nice pass off the corner to get it to Kane. He didn't miss the net. That's heady.

Yea.. he looked like I did at age 16. Like many kids do at age 16 or 17 or 18...

You are so full of crap. You know the Deslauriers of the world can't even get close enough to the McDavids of the world to slash them. Beyond that, I thought we firmly established there are no Deslauriers of the world. He's in a class all by himself. :)

I get the feeling that bottom 6 could be interchangeable. Simply exchange Pommers with Nolan and you've reversed the two lines.

Works for me... I don't care. I haven't watched much hockey after being out of town the past week. I just want to see a game tonight and drink some many beer(s) with it.

The small forward thing was valid 2-3 years ago. Size is less relevant in the game that's being played today. I'll take the "shifty, smart, crafty, and can skate" piece. That's the critical component. I'll be curious to see what he can do. This is definitely a way of the team figuring out who will be here next year.

I watched the OT goal... Eichel can't get beat by Crosby on the boards. I'm not sure I like the rotation where Kane goes low and Eichel goes to the front. I think that creates an unnecessary change in coverage. It got me thinking however that the strategy might be to try and get Jack higher in the zone as often as possible. If you consider that for a moment and then watch the next sequence you'll see that Eichel notices Beaulieu coming down and then Eichel turns away from Sheary. Beaulieu then peels away to move back to cover the high Pens player and that leaves the gap open for Sheary to score. I wouldn't be surprised if Eichel expected Beaulieu to cover Sheary and then the plan was for him to follow the pass from Crosby to the high Pens player in the hopes of causing a turnover (using Eichel's long stick and closing speed). The coverage was blown and a player like Crosby will make you pay for it. None of this dismisses that the coverage was blown (one way or another) and that they need to improve. I was just hypothesizing given the interesting change of Kane coming down low behind the net to take Crosby. If that's the case I can understand it the thinking but I don't like it. Eichel can't be some primadonna just left to float around in the hopes of getting a loose puck and racing down the ice to score. I think he should have stayed on Crosby and forced him around behind the net. Also.. I might need to watch more of the replay. :)

Met Dave Andreychuk one time. The guy was super classy and down to Earth. No doubt a model of putting in a ton of hard work to get results. He is big, but it's tough minutes standing in front of the net.

Will miss the game. Out of town at a conference. Not sure I'm upset about it. Probably less so when I get to the vendor dinner and everything is on their tab. Then again. I love hockey. For those who will watch, I hope the Sabres show a new side tonight.

Response time. Eichel had a crap penalty... He needs a goal now.