LTS

Okay then... I'm sure it will be a game of hockey tonight... woot.

I like Dunleavy. I don't really want Hamilton calling games. He's not terrible but I don't like him all that much either. That said.. when you started I thought perhaps you meant Hamilton could replace Koziol.. how Koziol has a job is beyond me. He's terrible to listen to and sounds distracted all the time.

Yep.. I have Hoss' ticket. So, party zone. Love it. I was wrong also, I will be on the road around 2:30pm so I should make Gabriel's Gate with no problem.

I'm not saying he is, just that he could be. It's not about vocal, but it's clear that he isn't always out there going at 100%. I watch more than a handful of times in any single game where he plays lazy. Either his nonchalance in trying to get through defenders, his looping around after missing with a shot, his back check. He's capable of doing all of it. I've seen him work harder than most anyone else on the team when he WANTS to... but he doesn't always appear to WANT to. That said, it could be Kane. It could be ROR. It's hard to say really. It could be Lehner... quite possible. It could be that they all despise the coach or there are those who don't like Bylsma and those that support him and that creates factions in the locker room. Whatever it is.. it's real.

A player with pride and passion for the game like Lehner is only going to bite his tongue for so long before he's going to go outside the locker room. You say he should keep it in the room but the odds are very good that's what he has been doing and it's not had an impact. There is a time when you have to let it fly in the open. The thing is, he's right. There are Sabres out there mailing it in right now. They might not like him taking it public but if they aren't responding internally maybe they will get a little sick of being asked about it from the media and do something about it. I have no doubt that Murray is aware there is a locker room problem. The question will be what gets done about it in the off season. The fact that a move hasn't been made that would address it may speak to just where the problem lies. Murray could move Kane if he wanted to so I doubt it's him. Is it Eichel? Is it the coach? Is it with some other player that can't just be moved in season? Maybe. I am sure we'll find out soon enough. Not a lot left with the season.

If Deslauriers or someone plasters Perry can we agree it would be a draw in terms of satisfaction derived from the game? Other than that.. I've not got much.. Go.... Sabres.

Sorry, just got back from business trip in Atlanta and did not have time to check the boards.. Here's my situation. I am in on Amerks 3/24 - I can free up my afternoon as needed and I would recommend the Genny Brew House although that will require some transportation to get to the game whereas the DinoBBQ and a few other places would not. I am in on the Sabres 3/25 - I am bolting my butt out of Fairport just about 3:30. I am going to try and lock down a hotel room that night (most likely at the rink) so I would drive there and then take the metro back up to the Gate and join everyone as quickly as possible. I have to confirm that, but I will make every possible effort to be at gabriels' gate by 5pm.

Great read and the article contains some great insights into how Bylsma wants his team to play and just how easy it is to defend against. Perhaps. I wonder why they want to keep him around. I don't think he'll be here next year and perhaps it would be the media frenzy of firing two inept coaches so close together. The Sabres still have holes, we know it. So why not play out the season with Bylsma and close the holes and fire the coach at the end of the season. No excuses, he's had his lineup now and they are doing worse. Maybe Murray told the players that in the locker room. Who knows.. it's incredibly dysfunctional in my opinion. If I was certain I was going to let someone go I would do it. It's not like if he's fired at the end of the season we're all going to forget Rex Ryan. It still fits the owner learning curve. 1. Keep what you have and evaluate. 2. Try to hit the homerun and hire a big name with flash (make fans interested) 3. Realize that bad coaches are bad and go about creating a real team. We're gonna get step 3 for the Sabres this summer. I'm sure we won't hear about it before it happens.

He's awesome and having a hell of a year. Insane number of points.. it would be cool if he led the league.

This is getting more awesome as we go.

No power. No known time of when I will have power. Okay then. go Sabres....

We lost power around 4:30pm and is still out. The line is down across the road at the end of the street. They blocked the road off but my guess is that it'll be awhile before they consider us a priority over some of the other areas. I have a tree down on one of my out buildings.. appears to be minor damage. I drove in to work today. Wife and kids are home with the dogs. we have a gas fireplace and a real fireplace... we'll survive.

Ahh I didn't catch that it was for the Amerks game. Hell yea I am in... why not.

Too ambiguous. The guy may not like dealing with Murray for many reasons that don't have anything to do with Murray being a competent GM. Was Murray handling that role for Binghamton or did the owner have to deal with Murray's decisions on who he sent down?

So MODO mentioned the Amerks game Friday night. Is there interest? Do I need to get myself a ticket there too?

I'll likely miss the game tonight. Not necessarily a bad thing... Go Sabres.. always Go Sabres.. never stop. Go Sabres.

So... the thread is littered with all kinds of flaws aimed at the officiating and also the Sabres suck. I only watched part of the game as we had people over but I saw a team that seemed to be getting screwed by the officials. I did also see a team that plays too defensively (and manages to NOT be defensive while doing it) but I don't know that I can sit there and lose my mind over the game. Oh well... it's probably good I didn't see it. I did see the high stick goal. That was garbage but of course it was allowed. The only thing I needed to know was that the shot was trending above the cross bar, was deflected and managed to squeak in just under the cross bar. So, how do you contact a puck 6-7 feet out from the net and deflect it down so it goes just under the cross bar without putting your stick ABOVE the cross bar. Yep. Love to find some good photos of this one.

This made my day.... thanks for sharing man.

I should be sobering up from brunch right around then. That should be a mess... :) Glad the Amerks won last night but dear lord they outshot Bridgeport by nearly 3-1 and had to win in overtime. Good news? The D had 3 goals (2 by Bodie and 1 GWG by Fedun). The bad news? There was some very Bogosian like D play allowing passes across the crease for goals. Okay.. so.. go Sabres?

Regardless of what happens in the game... that GDT starter was epic enough for me to feel good. I'll miss tonight's game as I will be at the Amerks game instead. Enjoy!

I can get you a meet and greet with Rachel if you'd like. Otherwise.. is there interest in the Amerks game too?

What drastic moves? There have been very few trades in the league this year because of salary cap and expansion draft. It's not complacency, it's a lack of environment that invites the change you seek. I don't have a problem with Murray yet. I can understand each move to this point. So, in order to get Benn, a lower tier defenseman the Sabres would have had to given up a 4th round pick (Vatanen was a 4th round pick) and another D player. So, give up a pick that could be Vatanen and then get another D and give one away. Now presumably they could have traded Franson away and received a 4th round pick. By my math that gives the Sabres Benn for Franson, retain their 4th pick overall, and be down 1 D in the organization overall because they would have had to move... Nelson? So they deplete their D depth more and they upgrade from Franson to Benn? This is a good move in your eyes? As for Davidson, who is he replacing? Who is Murray giving up? Is he trading away Ennis for ... what? a lesser Foligno? Does that improve the team? They sound like moves to make moves. Damn right. Montreal is a team that stinks of a GM who is trying to save his job. He fired the coach and the team could only get 4 forwards to score goals for them in February. They are hanging on by a thread and Therrien is going to try and goon his way through the playoffs. Gorges? Yes. I am sure he had a very solid influence on Ristolainen's development. Franson fills a hole. The book is out on Lehner, he can look lights out, or he can look knocked out. But in the same breath you talk about the D being all kinds of crap and I see a lot of goals that can be blamed on crap D. If you removed 50% of those and you keep his soft goals the Sabres would still be winning more games. This team has competed with and beaten the best teams in the NHL. They are capable of doing this and we all know it. The lack of effort and execution in Colorado and Arizona is not on the coaches, it's on the players. They looked like crap. I don't like Bylsma but I'm not going to pretend the players were out there putting in the proper effort either. Coaches don't blow 2 goal leads like the Sabres just did. They flat out stunk it up on the ice and it wasn't the "system".

Well, here's the deal. Whiteboard 1 - used for ROR/Okposo pairing strategies Whiteboard 2 - used for Eichel/Reinhart pairing strategies Whiteboard 3 - used for Gionta line strategy Whiteboard 4 - used for Moulson/Ennis pairing strategies Whiteboard 5 - defensive pairing details Whiteboard 6 - shooter tendencies for goaltenders Whiteboard 7 - Motivational quotes Whiteboard 8 - a board filled with puppy drawings for Deslauriers Whiteboard 9 - a board with a TV bezel drawn on it with a hand drawn picture of PHam sitting at a desk so he can feel like he's on TV I don't see the problems here.

It'll happen tonight for you. You won't remember it because it's your birthday and you have tomorrow off. You'll post the same thing here the next game you go to and we'll all laugh but you won't know why. Enjoy the game :)