LTS

That's awesome.

Hooray.. a game I can watch! Let's hope it's a game I want to watch. It should be.. it's hockey. Nice to get ROR back.. hopefully it doesn't mess up the chemistry but my guess is they will be flying because he's back and the pressure will be on. ROR/Kane and Eichel/Reinhart are good 1-2 combos.

Oh my lord I cannot express enough how awesome this for you guys. I mean... wow.. ... I tried to type for awhile and stopped... just... awesome.

Missed the entire game (hockey tournament) but catching that OT goal is just making me silly. There's no real way to describe it. He barely touched the puck to get it through there...I am sure once he saw Ward go down that he would have to open up a bit to move across the crease to take away the backhand further towards the post and he just dropped into the spot where that opening would be. Unbelievable.. that's some vision.

Sven Andrighetto - what a name.... Other than that the Habs can bite it. Hoping for a Sabres win! I need some positives right now...

Distance traveled is generally referred to as the amount of time the player had to accelerate or decelerate prior to the hit. So, a player who covers a good distance of ice and the continues to maintain speed by still power striding and then checks an opponent will get called. This is why the "glide path" is often discussed. At a certain distance prior to the hit the player is expected to stop driving their legs. If however, the player checking only has 5-10 feet and takes a few strides to make the hit it is generally not seen as charging because the player could not attain full speed. You can't make it a black and white rule as the referees don't have a measuring tape and a speedometer on each player. So, it's there and the players generally know it means that if you cross the width of the ice to hit someone without gliding into them you will get called for charging.

Good stuff. I think one particular item really caught my attention. The concept of getting pucks north.You’ve gotta know what situation you’re in. If you have no play, it’s get the puck north and go to work. And, if there is a play to make, you’ve gotta make it. It kind of puts the onus in everyone’s hands.” it sounds like they are supposed to observe the blue line defense and then either carry it or dump and chase. They might not be perfect at making those reads but it would seem to fit what I see a lot of. Almost like the field possession game in football. When you can't carry it down the field yourself you need to know you should punt it and then put pressure on them in their end.

He's a Leafs fan... your statement is illogical :P The Leafs only need to be last by 1 point.. I'll take them being last by as many as possible! Good to see you around sir!

Automatons should not play hockey. It's not fair.

A game I can watch! Looking forward to it. I have respect for the Rangers. I like them almost. Go Sabres... all day long.

Well.. I still hate the Leafs.. so that counts right? Go Sabres! Won't get to see this one... hockey.. ugh.

I don't think so. Jack was on the ice to end the OT and was visibly gassed going back to the bench so I would think he was checking to see if Eichel had the steam to go right away. For what it's worth my son called the lack of pass a good decision by Pysyk. He said the defender's stick was close enough to the lane that it might have caused a turnover coming back 2 on 1 as both Eichel and Foligno were up the ice. He said he would have hit Foligno as well. Granted that was from section 318. :) I didn't see the video for a better angle. A couple of in person observations. During warm-ups Eichel was toying around with his team slamming into the boards.. they were joking and laughing. Seemed like there is some honest chemistry there. It was nice to see. Risto was involved as well. The crowd really is just there to observe. No surprise. I think people feel conflicted as if they should cheer or not. Like it's not allowed. There was a 6 year old (or so) sitting in front of me and the entire 5 minute OT he was chanting Let's Go Buffalo. That was awesome! When the shootout started people around me were going to stand up and were told by others not to... wtf is that? Get your butts up and cheer! My son got to hear the goal song.. so there's that. It's pretty damn awesome in person.

When your phone is autocorrecting McNabb to McCabe you probably have a hockey problem. :) That was why they traded Laich. I thought it was obvious!

Too damn sweet! Even after 5 years of aging.. but it's tasty. It's a great bottle to share with 5 friends.

I firmly believe you can tell the direction of the team by its special teams. The Sabres PK and PP have been ranked much higher this year. This should be because they condense their talent and can be effective. In 5v5 play they have to spread it out a bit more. The good news is as they fill in those final pieces the talent is less spread out. Players are in their effective role and the corner is turned. It's defense right now and I would bet anything that gets taken care of in the off season.

Yep. Huge Eagle Rare fan here too.

It's on live for me. Can't wait! Just love being able to get my son to a game. Of course after I bought tickets I was offered two tickets this morning... sigh. Oh well. Enjoy the game. I know i will.

I think they put Fasching in the top 6 right now and that's not where McGinn is slated. I would picture McGinn being 3rd line. They still have a logjam on that line but I think that will be broken open in the off season. Carrier has looked great. The last Amerks game I was at he looked terrific. He'll get his shots next year. It depends on who they move off the current roster before I could attempt to predict that.

I agree with this. I have thought all along the idea was to make a stride towards improvement. it's a methodical process. 2014-15 - Move out the last of the pieces and lose. Your coach is gone and you know it. You are going for the top pick to get some talent in the door. 2015-16 - Begin the build Hire your coach of the future - implement his system Bring in the key pieces you want moving out the assets you don't want (ROR, Lehner, Legwand, McGinn) Begin the talent evaluation process against the coach you believe you will be keeping Talent evaluation - juggle lines, places players in new situations, see who floats, who sinks, who can be moved on from and who has to stay for the final build Make your final moves - McGinn and Weber off to contenders - this makes current players happy to see guys who they respect or are friends with get a shot If you win you win, if you lose you lose. The overall goal is to see improvement this year while learning who has what it takes in a real hockey system. 2016-17 - Begin the winning phase Move as many players as you can who you want to move on from Drafting high again The team should improve further and contend for a wild card spot or better. I believe this has been exactly how it's played out the whole time. It explains what appear to be maddening roster moves, lineup combinations, etc. I don't think they are concerned with perfecting the winning so much as analyzing their assets for a better fit in 2016. Murray's message has been fairly consistent this entire time that said basically.. if we win that's great, if not we're going to have a shot at the top 3 picks.

Yes.. while in Buffalo. Clearly they have all known various systems. Sorry, I was unclear. I general point was the guys who have been in Buffalo were accustomed to certain things and that has clearly changed. So the new guys come into the environment and are indoctrinated into the all-new culture immediately whereas those who were around before have to acclimate to it.

Penguins Social media getting their game on... https://twitter.com/penguins/status/705561350362308608

Absolutely. Murray is demonstrating to his players that he does indeed GAF... when he can. I think McGinn and Murray have an understanding. Clearly the Sabres needs outweigh any irrational desire to sign McGinn at all costs. Murray has a role for McGinn (not where he played this year) and that brings with it a salary expectation. McGinn may get an offer from another team for a different role that warrants more money. It might work out, it might not. But I am positive that Murray would sign him if McGinn's hopes don't come to fruition elsewhere in the UFA season. Murray and Bylsma showcased McGinn this year to improve his stock and move him to a contender. The market value at the deadline was low across the board so it doesn't look as impressive but if McGinn was on the 3rd line all year he wouldn't even have had a chance to be moved or at best it would have looked like a Pirri move.

That's not much of an analysis. Panarin has played with Kane and Anisimov 74.5% of the time. How many games have Anisimov and Kane missed this year? GP: Kane (66), Panarin (64), Anisimov (65). Add to that Toews (65), Shaw (66), Teravainen (62), Hossa (54) - and you can see a pattern develop. The top forwards have not been shuffled around for two reasons.. one.. they win, and two.. no one is injured much. Let's look at Edmonton.. using McDavid is ridiculous.. HE was injured most of the year and Harrington still uses 4 other forwards to make his point? Larkin's % - Let;s look at top forwards GP: Zetterberg (64), Larkin (62), Tatar (63), Nyquist (64), Abdelkader (64), Sheahan (63), Glendening (63), Richards (50), Dasyuk (49). So, a few high-end forward injuries but Larkin is only at 44% The Sabres top forwards? ROR (59), Eichel (65), Reinhart (62), Kane (54), Ennis (23), Gionta (62), Foligno (58), McGinn (63), Moulson (64). The Sabres have had more injuries. Lastly, and perhaps more importantly, the number of new players in the lineup for these teams also has some impact. The Sabres injected 5 new forwards into their top 9. The Red Wings, Oilers, and Blackhawks did not. The combinations will settle themselves out. Perhaps the shuffling will continue to be a problem, but there has to be better evidence given than what Harrington used.

A change in system can make an employee look worse than they are. Kane, ROR, Reinhart, Eichel, have only known the Bylsma system. The rest of the team has had to adjust to these changes in training. I don't think we can say Moulson's ability is gone yet. I do recall that in the pre-season everyone was pretty high on him when he was playing with Eichel. Things clearly changed... perhaps he did not progress as much as the others at the beginning. He's not playing great, no one is arguing that, but to throw him out the 10th floor window is a touch over the top at this point.

Oh stop it. Seriously. This nothing like a tank. It doesn't fit into that definition, not even the one found on urban dictionary. The team is improved. The team still lacks the overall depth to be better than they are now, especially with injuries to top 6 forwards like Ennis. Losing is not tanking. It's a a fair evaluation of the talent on this team. This team is ranked near the top 10 in PK and PP. No, really, they are. I can't stand the use of the word tank. It's nothing like it. It's not remotely close. It has to stop. I gotta avoid this thread from now on. It's a like a freakin' social club for hockey fan emos.