LTS

However the Sabres player held his line and the Bruin skated into him.

Well, at least the Carubba Collision will be legitimate this time.

That's a pretty lame interference call. The D doesn't have to get out of the way.

You don't put the prep in prior to posting. You can't just show up and expect to create a good post.

I think this team is a reflection of its fans.

I love the Buffalo fans who show up to the game. They are way better than those who only complain about the team on a forum. Go Sabres Fans!

I love this game. I get to listen to RJ. And Lehner is entertaining.

Wes McCauley is the ref. Maybe we can get a killer penalty call. So you know game on.

It's cool stuff that I think you are just beginning to scratch the surface on. Keep it up.

The media creates controversy to grab eyeballs. Hamilton is wrong on Ristolainen, pure and simple. I have no concern and regardless of this year (where everything is still coming together) I've seen enough out of Ristolainen to believe he's going to be extremely good for a long time. I think, at times, hes actually trying to play TOO physical and not smart enough. It'll come... the underlying skill set is there.

And still managed to salvage an OTL. Technically they are 1-4-2 which, while not great, is better than 1-6 and puts them tied with NYR and above MTL and ARZ. Tack onto that three of their losses are against teams that are in the top 6 in the standings (NJ, LAK, VEG) and the picture changes even more. Now, take into consideration that they gave up 3 PP goals to the Kings which is actually uncharacteristic for the team. So is it really that bad?

Well, he's not lighting it up right now. So why not? I am sure there are a lot of reasons. At this point, with the way the Sabres are performing I am not sure I would pencil in anyone for any position definitively.

No matter anything else. If the bolded above is not true at the end of the night then it's going to be a sad night.

The correct side for a winger is not dictated by this handedness. It's dictated by his style of play and his comfort level. I hated playing RW as a right handed person. This was also driven by the fact that my right eye is stronger than my left so playing on my right side I was not able to see the ice as well as playing off-wing. In addition, I preferred to have my stick on the inside of the ice surface, it gave me better shot angles. Not everyone is that way of course, but there are players who prefer playing the off-wing.

This all day long... ALL DAY LONG. Montreal has to be close to a change at the GM position... has to be.

I have to believe there is something other than Antipin's ability to play hockey that is keeping him off the ice. And this could be one of them.... You are hanging out a GoDDs place and he'll be guest posting for you all night? Or he's visiting you? Or you are sharing your screen to him remotely and he'll be posting?

Okay. Personally I think there were players who accepted that the coach/GM combo were going to be there through the season and decide to make the best of it and those who couldn't do it. Personally if you know the coach isn't going anywhere in-season then you really should just suck it up and play. I don't think Gionta was a fan of Bylsma however. Perhaps he accepted that they had to make the best of it under him and frankly that would be what I would expect from a leader. "Okay boys, it sucks, we know it sucks, but we can't let it bring us down." If people didn't want to listen... oh well.

Based on what information do you come to that conclusion?

The coach doesn't determine the components he has to work with. The coach can only pull from the stock he was given. Granted he does need to put them together properly. The coach is the tinkerer but to make the analogy fit in your description the coach would tell the components where they need to be to be optimal based on reading the factors around them. The components would have to move themselves there to create the successful configuration. So to take it further, the coach provides the room design and the suggests the places for the components to be, but if the components don't look at the room guide ahead of time they'll spend too much time in the wrong positions trying to figure out where they are supposed to be.

If you don't read the stereo instructions and can't get your surround sound configured properly is it Yamaha's fault? I think that's about as succinctly as I can put it.

It's not dumb. Let's be real here. The same posters spew the same negativity about the same things in every thread. The situation sucks, we all agree on that. No one wants the Sabres in this position. However, the continual negativity about the situation just sucks the energy out of me. I don't have the will to fight it anymore. I feel like we're resigned to a bunch of people just bitching and moaning about the situation rather than looking for positives. If it sucks and all you have left is to bitch about the players, etc. then take a break. Why bury yourself under so much negativity? I know, I know, it's every posters right to share their opinion. It doesn't mean it doesn't wear on other people. I'm to the breaking point personally. Perhaps because this season I have been checking the forum more often than I have in the past so multiple times a day I log in and see the negativity. It's a negative situation but that doesn't mean it needs to be compounded with more negativity in posting. I don't want to use examples because honestly I don't want to call anyone out right now, I don't have the energy to have that battle. However, people are here taking shots at this or that and I all I can think is.. "This team is this team. The people on it are not changing, not as fast as you would like anyway. If you just want to sit here and complain about it day in and day out then that's being negative. Stop back when something changes." I feel like I am at work when people just can't stop bitching about the underlying culture issues day in and day out. It's an absolute drain of energy and it does nothing to change anything except create an even more negative atmosphere. Perhaps I used the forum as a way to stave off the garbage at work... and since the forum hasn't been the place I hoped it's compounding the problem... who knows. (welcome to my in post self-realization moment). So all this time Mike Babcock's key to coaching was to use EASports NHL series feedback system? The coach evaluates you in 5 game blocks. Who knew.

Who else is gone that was a supposed leader on the team? It seems like all the leaders are still here so wouldn't they be patsies of Dan? Secondarily, and perhaps I missed information somewhere, why is there this perception that Gionta was all on board the Bylsma and Murray train? Finally, with Housley putting it into the media it does one thing. It opens the avenue for the press to begin to dig away at the players asking them what he means. Players don't want to answer those questions at all. Housley just made sure that press interviews are going to be that much more annoying for the next week or so until every player has had to answer that question to the media. It's not for the fans... not in the least. Who feels better today about the team's lack of success based on Housley's comments? Statements for the fans go more along the lines of, "We're still getting everyone on the same page and there are moments when it clicks and when it doesn't. We have room to improve, everyone has room to improve, and the guys need to put in that extra effort to get on the same page."

I did not witness the ending.... I'm still good. ROR started scoring. Reinhart has two now (regardless of how they are scored). We have 3 players in the top in scoring. The PP finally clicked, the Sabres scored in a 5 on 3. The biggest issue now is pulling it together as a team. Their defensive zone coverage is bad and that takes knowing where you need to be at all times. They are still making mistakes when pushing the play up ice. Vegas is a team that is playing with ZERO expectations. They have no baggage. They are ALL players who were not kept by their prior teams so they have a collective chip on their shoulders. They are a team that is playing for its city right now. I'm not surprised at their energy levels. I wouldn't suspect it to last into December but if it does good on them and if it does then it makes this loss to an "expansion team" that much more understandable. The Sabres do have a lot of work to do. Housley is right about that. They do need some players as well. The D is just not good enough but we already knew that about this team. I still think if Falk and Bogosian are healthy they are in the lineup and the team is more solid on the back end. I'm still concerned why Antipin hasn't been played over Beaulieu... I'd say Tennyson but it seems he's doing just enough to stay in the lineup.

The head coaches job is to make sure the players have the tools they need to succeed and then to put their resources together to make the team succeed. The HC can ask a player to study video but he can't MAKE it happen. He can enact consequences of being under prepared but he can't make the players do anything. I think the players have all the information they need. Video coaches are breaking down the games in real-time. They are offloading video into usable packages for players who can then watch the video on their mobile devices/tablets, etc. I would find it hard to believe if the players don't have their video information within 60 minutes of the end of a game. They will already have what the need for the upcoming opponent as well as break downs of specific targeted work areas from the game that just ended. Bylsma's problem was that he watched too much video. At some point you have to break it down into usable information that can be studied and processed during the real-time of a game. If you have a breakdown of your opponents tendencies that goes 10 decision points down you will have far too much in your head to play effectively. It has to be distilled into what can be processed quickly by the player on the ice. I think that's where Bylsma overcoached the team.