LTS

Nice. My kid should the Amerks bench during their warmups. He's playing a game or scrimmage at 4pm there as well.

It should be high. Murray doesn't have to do anything. Other teams want some of his players but he's going to have a crappy team no matter what. He's in control. It's not like Murray needs to make a move to keep his chance at a #1 draft slot. If Stewart were lighting it up then perhaps he'd be gone. :)

Now that's how sports are supposed to work!

If this was after the Sabres visited one might develop some conspiracy theory that the Sabres are trying to get the Blues to struggle and drop in the standings.

Well, to be fair, did you think they would carry the Time Warner Sports Network? :) I'd love to meet up there. My kid actually plays prior to the games on two upcoming Saturday nights. Nov. 8 and Dec. 20. They play from like 4-5:30. The 8th is a scrimmage but the 20th is a real game so that will be cool. We're usually there after that for the game since we are already in the area. Let me know. I can usually swing a Saturday.

I grew up hating RJ. His voice was too shrill and rubbed me the wrong way. I was a Ted Darling fan through and through. The funny thing is that RJ has paid so much tribute to Ted Darling as the voice of the Sabres and now I can't imagine anyone BUT RJ as that voice. It's truly unfortunate the battle he is going through. The last article said that he had completed his chemo and was waiting some tests to see if they got everything. His throat was raw, barely spoke, slept a lot. Typical for this treatment. Dunleavy really has been a fantastic replacement in my opinion. He's no RJ, but he's no John Gurtler and frankly... that makes everything okay. After Ted Darling you immediately realized how good you had it when you heard Gurtler. Even then, I still was not an RJ fan. But when he finally hit the TV broadcast I became enamored. No idea why... but now he'll forever be the voice I associate with the Sabres.

Absolutely. And if ever there was a picture that summed things up so well. Bruce MacKinnon's (Chronicle Herald) cartoon is about the most perfect I've ever seen.

I was busy frying wings and some home made potato chips so I was partially watching the game. However, I noticed that San Jose failed miserably in the 2 man forecheck which allowed the Sabres to break the zone easier. That said, I noticed numerous times that Sabres players waited another split second to make a play and rather than force it into a turnover the ice opened up and a real hockey play could be made. The team started well with shots on net.. and finished poorly. Oh well. In the end, they won. Nice. Also, not checking this thread until much later after the game and a few drinks makes the early pre-game comments way more entertaining. You are all a band of pessimists, you should be ashamed of yourselves! :)

We look at this team and see losses and sad play, etc. It may turn around. For what it's worth, the Sabres have played the following teams with the following records: Anaheim (2x) - 6-1 (Tied 1st in the NHL) - w/ Montreal and Nashville (no kidding!) Los Angeles - 5-1-1 (Tied 4th in the NHL) - w/ Calgary (no kidding!) Chicago - 4-1-1 (8th in the NHL) Boston - 4-5 (Tied 11th in the NHL) Columbus - 4-2 (Tied 11th in the NHL) Florida - 2-2 (22nd in the league) Carolina - 0-4-2 (Tied for 29th with the Sabres) Perhaps things will improve when they play the middle of the pack. They still look completely outmatched against the top teams in the league. They are still lost out there. They sure as hell aren't moving. I've never seen a team stand still as much as they do, in every zone. They aren't supposed to beat teams like Anaheim or LA or Chicago. They do look bad, and they should against those teams.

While Weber is a moron for sliding his butt in the way of the shot, the slow change by Stafford allowed Anaheim to have that rush. Watch him skate slowly to the bench when the shot goes wide.

Perhaps if they also let their marketing people finish college taking real classes they would know better?

Not sure what you are referring to here. Under Nolan, under Rolston, and in the end under Ruff the Sabres were horrible at clearing the zone and it's because they insist on placing wingers on the low half-wall and fling the puck to them with no speed and a defender hanging on their back. If they don't do that they also ice it or throw it out to center for a turnover. You'll notice that when the D doesn't immediately flip the puck up the boards or go back and forth but instead waits a half second the Sabres will make a short chip pass to a forward in the circle and they are more likely to be up the ice. They looked better in that period. The Getzlaf/Perry combo beat them and that was Perry racing from just above his own goal line and knowing that Getzlaf would hit him with a great pass and boom. Hodgson wasn't going to catch up, no chance. Myers did however have a nice takeaway from Perry after a strong board battle. Myers looked pretty good. The Sabres are still stiff and letting pucks bounce off their sticks. They need to loosen up more and let it come to them. More to come. Quick update. They have the winger nearer the blue line. Same result.

I read the Dreger thing as his commentary based on the situation or reflecting the Detroit thoughts. I don't think Dreger is commenting on Buffalo in and of itself. Clearly, if Detroit asks what it takes and Buffalo responds and no deal is done then the price was not right and the only way Detroit refuses is if the price is too high. I wouldn't read anymore into Dreger's comments than that. As for the rest, stupid things have happened in the NHL. I'll just watch.

It absolutely can be drawn up on a whiteboard. There are plenty of those whiteboards out there if you want to find them. Every system has its fundamental tendencies and those are written up. The trap, the lock, all of them are diagrammed and good teams execute them the majority of the time. There are naturally points of the flow where its not possible to execute the system and that's when the next level of thinking has to occur. A team needs to adapt briefly and then return to its system. The breakout is another great example. There are countless different breakout methodologies and each of them have strengths and weaknesses. They are chosen based on the style of play you expect your opponent to be using. Are they bringing two forecheckers down low? Are they sending only one? All of that is based on the skill and ability of the players on the team of course. A slow team isn't going to execute any stretch plays and so the opposition is more willing to adapt a 2 man forecheck and give up the "long ball" so to speak. A team that has shown it cannot pass cleanly will also find the pressure upped. This is no different that football and attempting to up the pressure on QB who is a slower decision maker. You lessen their time and space and they make mistakes. It is about work ethic. In practice, if they are not working towards hitting 100% of their passes where they need to be then they will continue to play that way. If they continue to not focus on what they need to do then they will continue to suck. Work ethic is not hustle and commitment, but if you practice at a high level then you will have a greater tendency to play at a higher level. Work ethic is a commitment to work and attention to detail. Hustling to the wrong spot does no one any good at all. They have them, they can't execute them and this is what brings us to the most important piece of this discussion. All of these players are aware of the systems, the positioning, the plays, the coverages, the first level of thought and the second level of thought, etc. that go into playing hockey. All of them. The difference is their physical ability to execute, their mental ability to properly apply the thought process in time, and how their overall ability to do so compares against the ability of the opposition. Right now, some of the Sabres are capable of playing at the highest level but it won't necessarily show because they have to overcome their teammates inability to play at that level. Much like a short-handed team generally does not take the offensive, playing with even 1 lower skilled player will reduce the overall effectiveness of the unit on the ice. Just like the star WR doesn't shine against double coverage, the star player won't dominate when becoming the focus of the opposition. If I'm facing three people who want to hurt me and one has a lead pipe and two have feather pillows I am going to focus on the guy with the pipe.

I'll stay up for awhile and watch. It's what I do when I can. The outcome will be what it is. Not much else to say I guess.

Probably sorted out by some of the other discussion but while he's on the Sabres he can't go to the KHL. Well, I suppose he COULD go but that would create quite the fiasco. That article and subsequent information really shed a lot of light on the entire situation. Interesting that the Sabres didn't just put that out there so people knew. I am sure they are trying to work out the exception with CHL and thus the comments on he's too big to play there. After that, I think they have to realize that waiving Meszaros is the best thing they can do and leaving Zadarov on the roster is the best thing they can do.

Frankly I think it's safe to say that no player is off limits given the right scenario. I would put the number of players on the roster quite a bit higher. I think MOST of the players are ones he wants. I would say 3-5 players are the ones he does not want. He said he had his players this year. We can relive what this team should have done when Pegula took over but the fact remains that there was a permeating belief that the ownership under Golisano allowed for the debacle with Briere, Drury, and Campbell. Right, wrong, it doesn't matter because it's conceivable that Regier got a pass on that. They made decisions that we can clearly see now as not being necessarily the correct ones. It doesn't matter anymore though. It happened. Now is what matters and where the team goes from here.

Hard to predict. It's amazing how many RFAs the Sabres have next year too. That's a lot of contracts to sort out. However, looking at UFAs, you can begin to see what will change. This year: Stafford, Stewart, Mitchell, Kaleta, Meszaros, Benoit, Strachan, Neuvirth, Enroth (Of that group, right now? Perhaps MItchell gets resigned). in 2015: Weber (seeya!) In 2016: McCormick, Gionta (Gionta will retire at that point) The only long term contracts are: Moulson, Ennis, Hodgson, Myers, and Gorges. Next year (2015) Forwards: Moulson, Ennis, Hodgson, Girgensons, Larsson, McCormick, Gionta, Grigorenko, Armia, Deslauriers, Foligno, Free Agent? Defense: Myers, Gorges, Ristolainen, Pysyk, McCabe, Free Agent? Goal: Lieuwen, Makarov, Free Agent In 2016: Forwards: Moulson, Ennis, Hodgson, Girgensons, Larsson, McCormick, Gionta, Grigorenko, Reinhart, Armia, Foligno/Deslauriers (if resigned), Free Agent/Free Agent? Defense: Myers, Gorges, Ristolainene, Pysyk, McCabe, Zadarov? You can project out even more and it gets dicey. Some of those players will be traded at some point I am certain. The Sabres will be able to sign a few higher profile UFAs and as such trade a few prospects who are ready to play for another NHL team. But that looks to be the path.

The restaurant doesn't decide to decline it so why should they be embarrassed?

Cowboy fans know what it's like to have your home games seem like a road game now. Yes. $5? I'd be there. If nothing else you can watch the Sharks. Perhaps you can see Scott score! Let's take your thoughts here for a moment. If you trade away the only talented players on this team what are you left with? Why do you think that's an improvement? What is Murray getting for Girgensons that will improve this team more than Girgensons? There's no rationale behind your statement. Think about it, you are saying to trade away one of the only players that other teams would want and at best we'll get a chance to draft another prospect and prolong this rebuild. How does that work? How does that not get you kids with potential who are 2-5 years away? Same for Hodgson. If you are so positive of your assessment then it stands to reason that people who work in the NHL are even more aware of his shortcomings. Why would ANYONE trade for him? What GM is saying, gee, there's this guy who has no heart. You can't rely upon him for much. He might be okay, and oh by the way he has a $6M price tag. Gee let's get him. Not one of them. It's bad, this is the truth and nothing will change that. No trades are going to fix it. UFA signings will only slightly improve it. This team may seem like it's far from improving but I don't think that's the case unless all of the prospects they have bottom out. They are sellers again this year but they have no one to sell to. This is part and parcel of how things have to be. At least they held the Bruins to under 40 shots and nearly outshot them for the game. I know after 2 periods they had a positive 8 Corsi. At least they were getting some pressure on the Bruins. There's a long way to go and I'm not expecting anything more than a lot of losses and very little goal scoring. It is what it is. The players traded away have yielded the potential to turn the team around in time. The players traded away were not getting this team anywhere anyway. So, the decisions were either to stay with a group of players who couldn't get the team near the SC or trade them away and build a new group who might. Either way there was going to be losing and heartbreak. Either from making the playoffs and sucking enough to lose in the first round or just sucking enough to lose. Only one of those decisions however leads to potentially winning in the future.

There are a lot of crude things I could say about your standards right now, assuming that statement is true. But I won't.. Let's just say that finding a razor blade in your Halloween Milky Way would be better than eating what they call pizza at that place. It's so bad there that I've forbid my kids from going there for parties.. not just their own mind you, but anyone's.

Not sure how they end the night, but they were only ranked 27th at the beginning of the game. This means there are a few others who also suck mightily with them. Thoughts.. 1. Drinking makes it all better. 2. Ristolainen looked the fool out there tonight. He can learn a lot from being knocked over, knocked around, and out of place tonight. 3. Mitchell whacks Svedberg's stick in the first. This is attitude. This is what they need to do. Mitchell also hustled fairly well tonight. I liked his play. 4. Deslauriers won't stop, move him up for more ice time, Mr. Foligno won't notice the demotion. 5. Myers did not have a great game, but he did actually cut to the net tonight. 6. Stewart played about as stupid as a player can. Looks like he's starting to mail it in in favor of a 1 year contract ANYWHERE next year. 7. Splitting up Benoit and Meszaros only serves to weaken two lines rather than eliminate one weakness. 8. Corsi ratings are clearly not weighted for shots on net. 9. Drinking makes it all better.

It's all highly interesting. Only time will tell if this group of players can actually play like they care. As for Nolan, it's highly conceivable that Murray wants him gone. He was forced to accept him and he was forced to offer Nolan a contract of substance. He was a new GM, stepping into an extremely volatile situation, and having an organization spurn a long time favorite in LaFontaine. Nolan is tied to LaFontaine but more importantly he is tied to bringing a hard working team to the ice. He represented hope and Murray would not start of his relationship well with fans if he were to eject Nolan. So, offer him the contract knowing the kind of person he is. Bring in players like Meszaros and Benoit who are clearly not helping this team at all. Watch the show unravel and Nolan explodes with his teams effort. Let's be real, the offense is bad, but Meszaros and Benoit are a complete joke. I feel that replacing those two players would improve things immensely. It's no coincidence that the Sabres won the one game that Meszaros was not on the ice. So, you set the coach up for failure, to a certain degree. He loses it, can't get the team to win, and Murray can either fire him or watch him resign. The fans won't care because he obviously couldn't produce. Bring in the coach Murray wants and see what happens. It doesn't matter how long this takes this year either because Murray has the patience. The goal is the 2015 draft. Odds are LaFontaine didn't like that idea either, but Murray could accept it. No tin foil hats, but everyone has to admit that it's a bit odd the Sabres keep playing a guy who is the lowest in the NHL for +/- and shown no ability to do anything on the ice. McCabe and Pysyk are available and they are sent down? Pysyk is an immediate upgrade... Nolan is trapped as well. If he speaks out too much he'll forever be banned from the NHL ranks. He's kind of got to take whatever comes his way at this point I would say. It's all conceivable, how true? We'll find out.

So, at an even for +/- is it fair to say he's winning his battles? The Sabres forwards are unable to put themselves into positions to break out of the zone. This has been a long standing problem. I understand what you are saying but when you play for a team as bad as the Sabres were last year and appear to be this year it will skew things no matter. There are no comparisons to be made when a team sucks this bad and cannot score. You can't use comparisons to other players because right now the Sabres are a statistical outlier. They suck, bad. I think Myers upside is that the is a legitimate top NHL defense man. The fact that he is 6'8 is irrelevant to me. It just means he has a longer reach. I look at his play and I see him doing a lot of things right as far as what D should do. His lack of scoring doesn't bother me because the entire team can't score. The opposition is doing well to try and limit his puck rushing and they can because there generally are no other Sabres on the ice capable of opening up the opposition. No team fears the speed or skill of the Sabres, nor should they. No team plays afraid of the Sabres. They can afford to take huge risks in forechecking because they know the Sabres are likely going to not burn them. The comparison is to watch how teams play against better teams and then see the more aggressive style they play against the Sabres. When you've been on this team as long as he has can you really question the need for a shrink?

Any game against long time conference rivals is good. Show some pride, show some effort, don't take crap. I didn't get to see too much of last night's game but it seemed as though the Sabres took a few cheap shots. If nothing else they need to adapt a knock the crap outta the other team attitude. Hopefully some day.