LTS

I'm not sure how you think he's going to do better. Where does the "better" come from? UFA signings? Maybe. Trades? If he trades Reinhart at best he's getting prospects or picks. If he trades Kane I would hope for a solid D roster player in return and more. But you can't project it yet. Still.. MASSIVE changes aren't coming because they can't. Okposo isn't being traded. ROR? maybe. Eichel, not a chance. Moulson? nope. Bogosian? Nope. You can buy those players out but that doesn't net you a player.. it frees up space that has to be replaced by an AHL player or a signing from somewhere. I just added some of the AHL players to the roster.. who's left? If he can pull more for the UFA trades than I believe he can then perhaps there are more changes, but it's limited right now. You say Bogosian being here is unacceptable. Do you propose to buy him out? If his salary is not impeding the Sabres roster signings then they might as well keep him (if they can't trade him). If buying him out is more advantageous then perhaps it happens.. we just need a body to fill the space. It's gonna be a JAG though. I agree... Kane nets the most.. and especially if they trade him soon. It's just hard to project who that player will be... so I filled with what is available from the team.

Great goaltendering can equalize or even compensate for moderate to severe Defense struggles and potentially offensive struggles... But bad D can also make a good to great goaltender look really bad. If you can play more loose because you know the freak in the mask behind you will bail you out then it can be a huge boost to creativity and risk taking. If however you feel he's nothing more than a guy wearing a colander over his face then you're apt to play way more conservatively. It's all in the ebb and flow.

Might see if I can secretly stream the game while I am temporarily on assignment in Greenville, SC. I'll be at a company dinner and it doesn't look to be a place that has all the NHL action on big screen TVs.. (or any NHL action, or big screen TVs). Hoping for the best.. but the Lightning are so damn good. Keep the faith everyone.

High Ankle Sprain? I didn't mean to project prioritization.. just the roster. You can believe he's not leaving the island... you can try all you like. But he's leaving there. A roster with a group of forwards who can provide secondary scoring is nice. If Fasching/Bailey/Smith can't get it done then there will be some pain for a bit longer. There's not much else you can do about it. Every UFA with value will be dumped at the deadline to provide picks/prospects for the future. If Botterill wants to keep Pouliott he'll be signed before the deadline. I just don't see it happening. Lehner is an RFA... they can go dumpster diving for a goaltender next year but they'll put ALL their eggs in the Ullmark basket and I don't see that happening.

It's a good point that speaks to other issues. Did the coach make that big a difference or is there some other rift between the players that is keeping from from working together like they did last year? I mean, you put out the same 5 guys you think they could replicate last year's success. If I were the coach I would simply say, do what you did last year... it sure as hell wasn't broken!

When I look at what Botterill said on his interview the other night.. it seems that everything this year is to get to next year. They learn what they have and put themselves in a position to build in his eyes (not Murray's). So, I don't think E-Rod gets called up except as an emergency. Next year's roster looks a lot like some combination of: Eichel - Reinhart - Nylander ROR - Okposo - Pominville Girgensons - Fasching - Bailey Larsson - E-Rod - CJ Smith Ristolainen - Scandella Bogosian - Beaulieu McCabe - Antipin Guhle Lehner and Ullmark in goal Gone by the end of the year are the UFAs: Pouliot, Kane, Gorges, Nolan, Falk They'll pull some picks or prospects that will prime Rochester for the next few years. I think he'll still trade a few other players if he gets the right deal... Oh.. and somewhere in there I would put Tavares' name. It's going to happen.

Nice. I looked there but could not find it. I'm either blind or it was added after I looked. I'll go with blind (that's what my wife tells me) I think that's the case. Botterill will go after new players to stock up Rochester. He'll likely clear space on the Sabres roster for players who are doing well in the AHL. I'll find a better thread to post in for next year.. I think we have one.

They need to move more. Right now the entire power play is predicated on getting Eichel the puck and having him miss the net. I would split him and RIstolainen and have them QB two separate units from the top. I would still use an umbrella model but i would move my top 3 around a lot more. The high-slot and net front have to be more active as well including dropping the puck down low behind the net to pull the top two defenders closer to the net and opening up space for the shot from the top. Eichel and Risto can get the shots through and can move around the line. Right now I think the PP1 unit advances with either Risto or EIchel looking to bring the puck in the zone and far too often they are slowing themselves up trying to figure out who's going to carry it. So.. I would probably look at the following units: PP1 - Ristolainen, ROR, Okposo, Pouliot, Kane - I'd put Okposo in front of the net and Pouliot in the slot. Kane on the left, ROR still on the right and Risto up top. PP2 - Eichel, Antipin, Reinhart, Moulson, Girgensons - I'd put Reinhart in front of the net, Girgensons in the slot, Antipin on the right, Moulson, on the left, and Eichel up top. If Bogosian is back I put him in for Antipin. I don't trust Beauleiu and I think you need a defensive presence on the PP even if its not at the top. Perhaps they end up reversed.. who knows. The last thing is I think they need to attack as a 5 man unit with speed. Both Risto and Eichel can elude the first forechecker leaving it to be 5 on 3 at the blueline. If the attacking players are standing at the blue line it makes it easy to stop. Ideally the first forechecker wants to get to the puck carrier before the red line to prevent the dump. So if you can elude that 1 on 1 and then dump it in with 4 players attacking with speed it should result in possession. Once you've established that you can gain the zone with speed it will force the 3 on the blue line to stop standing there as long as vacate earlier. At that point you identify which player is open and pass to them just across the blue line to gain possession. RIght now they are slow and lost on zone entry and either forced to dump it in with no attacking speed or they pass to a guy inside the blue line who is easily covered because they attacked with no speed.

I can't find a link.. honestly, who knew finding a replay of the Buffalo Sabres pregame show would be so hard? Botterill speaks a lot about the AHL and its development. He's asked about Guhle and brushes it aside by saying he's the #1 guy in Rochester and logging minutes and all situations and that's where he needs to be this year to help the team. I think he mentions Ullmark's play as well and has no intention of bringing him up if he can avoid it. It really sounds like the players who are pulled up are done so as not to disturb a core of players he wants learning the system in a lower key environment and learning to win and have success and then bring that up to the Sabres next year. He has this year to play with whether the fan base agrees or not.

I refrained from posting during the game... like I did last night. Didn't matter tonight. They played well. Risto scored the team's first goal by a D this year.. on his own net. The 2 on 1... well and the SH. They did show times of keeping Montreal in their own end. But Montreal is another crappy team. Tuesday night's game will put the Sabres on notice. Tampa Bay is about as close to perfect this year as they can be. It's all about next year. Botterill said as much last night during his interview. There are guys here filling a spot. He'll trade those he can and get assets to begin building HIS team next year. We're along for the ride and have to argue with each other for the best or worst of the night. C'est la vie!

It's a skill.

Looking forward to tonight. Montreal has been better but not great. They are tied both giving up 79 goals in 23 games. On the bright side Buffalo has scored 2 more goals than Montreal! Price could be the difference maker tonight for Montreal. I'd like to see a continued effort.

And they suck this year.... as far as I can tell the Sabres weren't playing last year's team. Also, the Sabres beat them both times last year. All of which mean nothing to the fact that the Oilers are a mess this year and people are waiting for McLellan to get fired.

Watched what I could of the game. ND has an unbearable camera angle that I should have remembered from watching other ND games. It's so low and the field of view is horrible. I saw some nice things from Middlestadt on the ice. No goals. It was a tight game and some big saves. The ND goals were a fluke goal that deflected off a defenders stick and then a defenders helmet to go over the Gophers goalie's glove and an empty netter. Middlestadt goes after the puck like a maniac and he's very quick. Good to see he's keeping that going at the college level.

Great, you don't like them. You've made it abundantly clear. Feels like you are chastising me for relating what people in the world are saying. Sorry for mentioning that people in the world have a different opinion than you. Or people just like different things than you. Good god. Kill the messenger. For what it's worth apparently they make sense and are appealing to a lot of other people in this world. It's not my fault, go blame them.

Not sure if Buffalo still seats them down there. In 2007 the NHL allowed teams to put goal judges somewhere else in the arena and many now work from the press box. Given that the light signifies nothing anymore (helloooooo review (or not reviewable)) it's mostly just a symbolic measure. It was a good game against a crappy team. Edmonton's defense is worse than Buffalo's and overall the team sucks too. McDavid did nothing of note but he's been battling an injury from what I read. Not sure if he's 100%, he sure wasn't tonight. I think Edmonton is a great example of something REALLY rotten. At least the Sabres had a conversation on accountability. Right now Edmonton looks like they couldn't care less about playing the game.

They are getting rave reviews all over, even outside of Buffalo.

The understated benefits of Jaromir Jagr. http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/flames-jagr-teaching-gaudreau-think-like-superstar/ I think Jagr would have been fantastic for Buffalo. Also... Torts on forward line creation.. http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/john-tortorella-forward-lines-bunch-bs/ Always good for a chuckle.

It's really boiling down to him understanding what kind of player he needs to be both in the game, each shift, and off the ice, all the time. He clearly doesn't get it yet. He appears to be harboring some expectation of entitlement to being a great player. Right now it's clearly his head that's the problem. If not already posted in the Around the NHL thread I will link to an article on Jagr's influence on Gadreau. I'll still be watching tonight, but I will also flip the Minnesota vs. Notre Dame hockey game too (thanks for pointing it out!)

At least he's involved in the play and touching the puck. Moulson and Leino were barely doing that. I think he's still there but he's not going to create on his own. San Jose is still at the bottom, although the Sabres are last in GF/GP. Either way.. yes, they are terrible at scoring goals.

You're wonderfully passive aggressive. I've stepped back from my statement in the GDT. I've never said my hockey knowledge is complete, it is not. You should not infer that it is. It's forcing a narrative when it doesn't apply to this play. Pure and simple. He's in the right position despite having been on the ice for over 2 minutes. He's conserving energy because the puck will be in his zone assuming Williams does not score. He's doing EVERYTHING right. Regardless of anything else he's done, his play, in this instance, is absolutely correct. Does he float? Yes. Is he lazy? Yes. Was he lazy here? No. If you insist on labeling him as a lazy floater on this play then you really are pushing the narrative.

Ok. Then. Nolan again eh?

Imagine the furor when they give his nameplate the Okoposo treatment.

That's a rather nice play.

He was clueless early on. Lately I've not even seen him move and they toss him. I'm sure he's not winning favors right now. Still can't stand the rule. Slows the game down too much.