LTS

Curious to see how their game back goes. Probably going to miss the game... unless it happens to be on a TV wherever I am tonight and I can sneak in peeks while out with my wife. More likely we end up at a place with no TVs though. Here we go.. the next week will provide us something to talk about either way.

I guess I didn't mind it, but as I understand it you have some grappas that are made the traditional way (the crap leftovers of the grapes being distilled) and then you have some that actually use the grape. So the comparison tends to be like drinking non-premium tequila and premium tequila. Non-premium can be up to 49% non-blue agave, premium is 100% agave. Drinking distilled table sugar is hideous (hell drinking fermented table sugar is)... I'm not saying it's the smoothest stuff out there either way but the cheap stuff is cheap for a reason. More stems and crap than anything else.

I have a hard time accepting a comparison based on points. I think there are some skilled players in NCAA to be certain but top to bottom I'd say the talent in juniors is better. Just curious where your average age of NCAA comes from. Are you saying most players are seniors (and old ones at that?) My senior of college I would have turned 22 near the end of the hockey season. Regardless, playing against lesser skilled "men" doesn't change things. If guys are too slow to keep up with Eichel they are too slow, being stronger won't help. You might get the top NCAA team beating the top Junior team.. but how fast does that fall off? Does #2 vs #2 yield the same results? I think the top to bottom skill level is better in Juniors. After all, does anyone believe overall USA hockey is more talented than Hockey Canada? USA Hockey might be able to put the best 20 skaters together but skaters 21-100 might not compare at all to 21-100 in Canada.

Haven't had grappa in awhile, what do you recommend out of the liquor stores? I think the last time i had it was in Vegas... so who knows what the hell I had then.

I don't think Jack's hockey sense is bad. I think his common sense is bad. I believe he sees everything out there but he believes he's able to do more than he really can. He isn't recognizing that what worked in the past doesn't work the same now. He is making fewer unforced errors, so he's learning. This is, I believe, a byproduct of a single college year and not playing in juniors or a higher tier Swiss league like Matthews. Jack played against medium talent overall in college whereas Matthews and McDavid were playing against med-high talent in the other leagues. They had to adjust sooner than Eichel. The NCAA is not equal in competition yet.

UFA market.. if you have a good UFA you can probably move it for some picks.. after that it gets dicey on handling rosters into next year.

There are probably two things I can think support it. The players enjoy a time away from the rink and can do family/party stuff. Yes, the season gets crammed up elsewhere, but that's okay... because... It helps support the argument of shutting down to play in the Olympics. Which they also want to do...

http://www.diebytheblade.com/2017/2/21/14694648/sabres-trade-phone-anaheim-ducks For what it's worth... I don't see any way that proposal happens from that article.. Fasching and a 2nd for Manson?

I have learned that my son made All County Orchestra so I will be attending that performance in Fairport until about 3pm. Then I plan on hauling butt to get to Buffalo for the game. I'm down with meeting up before (if it aligns) and after. I'll probably consider booking a room anyway.

Mother Nature queued up some seriously good temperatures for you while the Sabres are not playing. Take advantage of it! Besides, given all the complaints around here about how they play you can use this week to watch other teams play and improve your knowledge of what other teams are doing. Where is the downside?

http://www.tsn.ca/can-we-have-a-rational-discussion-about-hits-to-the-head-1.676558 It's a pretty good read on the entire situation.

The problem for Evander at this point in time is that he's not a UFA this year. He's got to get through an off-season without incident and put up points next year before GM's go all in. The Sabres have the control here which is good.

The question is not missing out on the playoffs... but just how long they stay out. I don't see it being too long.

Well, I'm home. Coached my last youth hockey game today and the kids won. We beat a team who had beat us earlier in the year. My son goes to school with two of the kids and one was trash talking the past month about things. Son went coast to coast to score the game winning goal and the last kid he had to beat was the one who was trash talking him... he beat him clean and buried it. Yea.. it's a good day win or lose for me. It'll be a GREAT day if the Sabres do their job. Can't wait.. started my pre-game early. Getting some wings.. just in case. Let's go.

Another game where the Sabres get outshot but still manage to put pucks in the net enough to make it interesting? I hope so! Patrick Kane playing at home...he'll be ready to go.

Baptiste and Bailey will be up with the team next year. It's a progression. Just the way it goes. I love Baptiste. So sad to have missed this game and on top of it be inside an ice rink for a youth game. Outdoors, watching the Sabres would have both been better.

I know where you are going, but applying today's knowledge back to the draft at the time it happened you have to accept that Montour was looked over 54 times before drafted right? So, a lot of GM's didn't think he'd be where he is today. Simple litmus test for your thinking... where does Tom Brady get drafted if every GM knew then what they know now? Here's the thing. While Kulikov has not worked out it's not because he's not good. Who foresees a player breaking his tailbone because of a gate flying open when he hits it? How often does that ever happen? Do you think that if Kulikov never injured himself in that way that he would have improved the D? I believe it. I didn't quote one other post but you mentioned how Edmonton had to trade a top forward to get a D to shore up their woes. Well, this is exactly what we are talking about here. Trading a top forward to get a D to shore up our woes. It happens. It's not like Edmonton has taken a massive setback because they traded away Hall. We assume the Sabres will have that set back. However, if the D is improved and it allows the Sabres to begin getting out of the zone more and change their breakouts then do we expect our talented forwards to score? I would.

He did get interference if I recall correctly. I would have tacked another 2 on for charging and his final 2 for roughing. Indeed. No harm in having a conversation, listening to the explanations and then saying it was not an intent to injure and the call on the ice was enough, at best they could have called charging but that's with the benefit of slow motion. The good news is that Wheeler came back after the concussion protocol so at least it wasn't worse.

Sadly this game aligns with a youth hockey game so I'll miss it (see this is why *I* hate afternoon games). Go Sabres. I enjoy watching the Blues play so I'm a little bummed I will miss it.

Are you blaming Kulikov and Bogosian for failures in the first half of the season (each has missed 26 of the 58 games the Sabres have played) or do you mean the whole group in the bolded part. Just trying to make sure I understand. As for the draft pick usage. I understand your point. I'd have to get more in depth to know who was passed over at each round when he picked a forward. At the same time, the Sabres have some forward prospects they can move for some D prospects I guess.

1:46 of the video you can see both of Malkin's feet in the air making contact with the head. https://youtu.be/UKfOuiRY8Io?t=1m46s

I don't need every player on the team setting up their teammates. Having a guy who can put the puck in the net is important and he's doing it. I haven't gone looking but things that would be interesting is his goal to assist ratio (not just this year) compared to some other big names as well as the average number of assists on his goals. That said, the guy has 19 goals on a team that is 22 in GF. Does he score more or less on a team that generates more offense? I wonder if Murray told Kane that in order to be able to move him sooner Kane would need to play better. :)

Look, there's plenty of reasons to go around and some blame can fall on many shoulders. The defense should be better, however the defense development timeline was conceded to the forward depth issue. The defense will be improved and that part of the game will go away. However, the Sabres needed far more forwards than they did defense and in order to get a few of those forwards Murray had to weigh giving up a pick or prospect that could be a D in exchange for grabbing a forward who would really help the team succeed. One can argue the 1st rounder for Lehner, but if Lehner has a better D do we believe he'll benefit and then he'll be the #1 goalie and that first round pick will be long forgotten. I don't this this is a mess, it's a situation where everything cannot be improved at once. The coach on the other hand needs to have players who can execute. Outside of Gorges this year I'm not sure any of the D on the Sabres are egregious at their position. Blaming the D for giving up shots is ignorant regardless of the coach. The defensive corps is comprised of 2/5 of the players on the ice. Many shots originate from players not covered by a defenseman. If the forwards are a defensive zone mess (they are) then they, in theory, could be to blame for 3/5 of the shots taken. If Bylsma is coaching his forwards to collapse (he is) because he believes his D need that additional help then he creates that opportunity for those shots to get through. At that point, if you are going to collapse you better be good at shot blocking. Quickly scanning... the Sabres are about 17th in blocked shots. So, they can't block shots and they aren't doing anything to stop the shots from coming in from the point and most games when I see shots attempted the other team has a LOT more than the Sabres. None of it is surprising given that you can't shoot if you don't have the puck. I'd actually love to see a chart of where shots are attempted against the Sabres. All of that to say... Dan is trying too hard to compensate for the perceived weakness of this team and its not working real well.

Okay.. I can get behind this game. Can't wait.

Possible alternative theory: The Sabres have a respected veteran who is a pending UFA. As a responsible GM I would ask him what his preferences were with regards to being traded and since he has a list of teams to make sure who those teams were. Also, this conversation about him being traded took place quite awhile ago as I understand it. if Gionta moves it will likely be with his blessing and the knowledge around the NHL would be that Murray honored his opinion and his position before making the move. As it was stated to me, the chance to play for another cup isn't necessarily high on his list compared to staying in the Buffalo/Rochester area. It's possible Murray could say screw that, but I just don't think that happens in this situation. If however, a great deal comes along that would help the Sabres I could see Gionta accepting the deal to help his hometown team for the longer term. It's the kind of person he is.