LTS

I say.. when everyone is tired. Call in the Brute Squad and go Old Tyme Hockey... Line brawls, rack up the minutes, beat them until their whites become their reds... Or you know.. just go score a bunch of goals.

Why do all points get argued in a vacuum? The Sabres have had long term injuries to many of their top players this season. Does anyone deny that having ROR, Eichel, and Kane add a significant punch to the lineup? We can't judge Kulikov's impact yet because he's been injured too much this season. But it's probably safe to say that it's not insignificant. I'd go hunt down man games lost to injury but I hate that stat overall because losing a 4th line player isn't the same impact as missing Eichel, etc. That said, the Sabres have a lot of man games lost to injury and they aren't to their 3/4 line players. I think we need a thread that establishes the base foundation for arguing points on the forum. Take a question and debate it until we have an agreed upon foundation. For example, is Moulson a bust? Well, how much do factor in his presence for helping Eichel develop last year and bringing in Okposo this year? Do you agree that if you remove Moulson from the team you remove his salary (better served by X player that they would have definitely been able to sign) and they would have not signed Okposo either. Would that 1 player make up for Moulson/Okposo? If the Sabres hadn't been able to get Okposo would they have signed Shaw? These are all factors that play into the entirety of the debate. Unless we somehow agree they do not.

I guess it's a good thing I am still getting over this freakin cold... otherwise I am not sure a Friday evening out would not win over watching the Sabres game. (Can't always guarantee there is a TV where I'll be). Looks like I'll be watching. At least for a little bit.

This is a good point. He's a proven leader that can play up and down the top 9. He's a great option for a team looking for a piece to solidify their chances. He has Cup winning experience. I could see that happening and I could see him returning to Buffalo as well.

The drop pass is employed by many teams and the Sabres power play has been in or around the top 10 all season. Honestly not sure what we are complaining about there. The purpose of the drop pass is to get the 4 defenders lined up standing still on the blue line defending the 4 guys standing still. If you attack with speed you can chip by and attack. Of course that never happens because a D has to drop to protect against that and most of the time the guy attacking with speed will see which D drops and go to that point. The idea then is to gain the blue line and dish to the open attacker standing at the blue line where the defender left. If you attack up the ice with 2-3 the defending team can match you man to man and has a greater chance of breaking up the play. The thing about coaching... coaches can improve a team only so much over the base talent level. However, they hinder a team at a rate much lower than their base talent level. If every player were rated on a 1-10 scale with 10 being the highest talent level.. I'd estimate that a great coach at best can raise the play 1-1.5 points of a player where as they can reduce it by as much as the whole amount. Right now, I think Bylsma is reducing the talent output of this team by a 2-2.5 margin.

Go with the last option.

I also misread your post as pads and not pants. Less dubious changing pants than pads... I do remember the pants problem. :) It's been a rough day. The Sabres better not let me down tonight.

Haha... yea.. what a joke. Not too long ago they had a discussion on a high speed rail line. Louise Slaughter was asked how it would fund itself in year 5 and her response was "Let's build it first, then we'll figure that out." Brilliant business sense right there.

Mid-season pad changes? Did I miss something earlier in the year where this was the plan?

I'm thinking and I can't answer this myself.. Do we think Murray would throw Bylsma under the bus on the radio? I get the feeling he wouldn't. All he really said about Nolan was that they never spoke right?

The video was played there and was awesome. Having played nearly every version of EA Hockey since 1993 it resonated with me.

Man.. it takes serious strength to be able to post that. Thank you for opening your heart to us. The game be damned... your mother is your mother and you said it so well. Take care of her, take care of yourself. We're here for you when you need it. You have my deepest sympathy. And yes... ###k Cancer.

The twitter battle over the San Diego Chargers move to LA and their lame new logo has been fun to watch with the Lightning and the Stars getting in a good chirp. http://www.bardown.com/the-dallas-stars-got-in-on-the-la-chargers-chirping-with-a-new-logo-1.649199

I need something better than last night... need it. Also.. hopefully better officiating.

Yea. I think he's a power forward skater. He's very north/south. He does have that body twist and ability to make himself small. His acceleration/deceleration are incredible and I think that has a lot to do with his success. He can be full speed, take just enough off to screw up the timing of a hit and then accelerate to be through a space... most of the time. His acceleration is well document. Insanely good and it's deceptive because he is a quiet skater... he looks like he's floating.

Awesome. This is my heaven...(not that I get to experience it yet)

They are not solely related to that. It is many times with the puck. Allow me to retort.. no, not really, just clarify. I did not mean to insinuate he doesn't know what he's doing. He very much knows what he's doing. He's a damn smart hockey player. The problem, as I see it, is that he is too determined to make something happen when it won't. If, in the future, those plays that never happen for him now begin to happen because he was able to continue working at it, then great. If they are just plays that never get made then he needs to become wiser. I can't answer which it is yet. However, I do wish at times he wasn't practicing that mentality on the ice in a game. Call it him being Jonathan Livingston Seagull... we just don't know if eventually he'll pull up in time yet, until then it can be painful to watch. The thing with Eichel is that he's an elite passer and an elite shooter. I'm not sold on him being an elite skater yet. He's a damn good skater. So, the question is, will he be the one who dishes or gets dished too. Perhaps a better way to put it is that most of the time I see Eichel skating like a power forward compared to a dangler. Hell, I might not even be right on that.. I might just be spewing my consciousness at the moment.

It's an interesting thought.

Overall the game was good. Philly was quite sloppy which certainly helped the Sabres. The call on McCabe was absolute garbage. The ref called that because the attacker didn't score and just assumed it had to be because he hooked him. Garbage and that screwed Nilsson because I firmly believe he was getting a shutout. Eichel has his moments where he's magical and then he has his moments where I wonder if he even knows what he's doing. That said, that backhand upper corner shot attempt... I noticed at the end of warmups last Saturday when waiting for everyone to clear the ice he just kept working that shot and the forehand shot in the upper corner over and over. That's how you get that good at it. The lineup kept moving around tonight which was a bit hard to follow but overall I definitely like the game. The passive attack in the 3rd killed me and the Sabres are still caught in their own end too much. But it's a win so I will take it.

The Avs can keep asking for it, but unless someone gives it up they remain the same team and that can't last. That's the whole problem with waiting until suck to make a trade. The acquiring teams don't have the pressure. It's ownership and the GM in Colorado that have the pressure to do something. Either that or there needs to be a lot of patience.

Keep in mind that the Devils Neutral Zone Trap was implemented during the era of the two-line pass (at least I think that's the case). So, the design would be to clog everything between the top of the zone and before the red line. Once the two line pass was removed the neutral zone became bigger so the collapsing area had to be focused to include blue-line to blue-line. If you slide up more and press your two defenders up to the red line more you are playing the angles and hoping that a guy doesn't slide behind you on a timing play (see Moulson's opportunity in the WPG game - also, the first time I've really seen the Sabres use the troll the blue line get the pass tactic in awhile). Also commonly used and of course remembered is the left wing lock tactic which uses the LW as a 3rd D and focuses the forecheck from the RW and C. You can use it the opposite way as well of course and I would suspect you would do that depending on the opponent stronger wing. All in all, anything but aggressively forechecking two forwards in the offensive zone is going to lead to clogged ice in the neutral zone...

This reminded me of an article on The Players Tribune. It was OEL's article and he references a small thing Lidstrom did on a play. It's not by accident. It blew my mind because it made me think of all the other little things that you don't ever notice without that high end hockey sense. http://www.theplayerstribune.com/oliver-ekman-larsson-nhl-arizona-coyotes/ Look part way down to the description of the OT winner PHX vs. DET and his description and evidence of what Lidstrom does on the play. It's pretty cool.

One thing that I have advised kids to do is get a shooting mat (or use a stick handling ball) and practice stick handling while watching TV. They have a tendency to get glued to the TV and after awhile the feel becomes more natural. If they stop looking at the TV when its on and only stare at the ball/puck then it's a win.. not for hockey skills but at least they aren't glued to the damn screen anymore. :)

Next season perhaps, but Eichel carrying the puck is likely to either drive the net or he'll pull up wide and hit a trailing winger in which case the slower speed will help out! :) But I see this as a lineup to gain possession and get it to Jack to score. Gio will probably cycle a lot in front of the net (he's pretty good with deflections) and Foligno will work the walls and those two have worked together pretty well lately I think. I'll be watching...can't wait for more hockey.

I'm not sure that I would agree with saying they are equal. They are defensive schemes though. There are variations of each but a 2-1-2 puts two forwards in on the puck carrier, definitely not a trap system. The first forward's job is tie up the carrier and the 2nd forward's job is to retrieve it. The 1-2-2 which the Sabres switched to immediately following Gionta's goal can be aggressive or passive. This puts 2 players back near the offensive blue line in an attempt to cause a turnover on the break out pass or squeeze the rush into the neutral zone where 4 defenders are standing. The passive 1-2-2 is very much a trap style. You also have to account for the positioning and whether they are looking to hold the puck in the opponent end or cause the turnover in the neutral zone. In the case of the 3rd period they were content letting the breakout pass get up the ice but they used their 4 defenders to cause the recipient to begin going east-west and slow the attack. Of course they didn't do a great job of playing the style... they never do. That was my observation from the game.. I still would love to see an "all-22" style video site for hockey.