LTS

Penance is a bitch.

So.. I love automatic for convenience and I love manual.. for when you know... I don't feel like being lazy. I have shifter paddles I can engage.. no clutch.. it's not bad... not quite the same. But.... I can override the shifting :)

Wait. So my point is that Buffalo fans love hockey so much that they commonly rank higher in viewership of games that occur in other markets. This board wouldn't swing that needle one iota either. Clearly, Buffalo has a passion for hockey. Those fans, that you refer to, are not the ones who show up in out of market television ratings. All the rest of the fans will be watching Sabres hockey this Thursday. I don't see Thursday night football meaning enough to impact TV viewership in Buffalo. They will line up against playoff baseball until they choose to not play in October. Games are almost every night, if not every night, in baseball. They cannot avoid conflict with MLB. Then again, opening night for NHL is tomorrow, not Thursday. However, I recognize that a LOT of teams are playing Thursday. So let's analyze who is playing and the impacts. Columbus @ Buffalo - It appears that there Columbus may have a sizeable Colts fan base judging by a quick Internet search (there is a radio affiliate in Columbus for Colts games). Columbus is a football market too. NJ @ Philly - Philly opens the night before but it is their home opener - no impact, I don't see NJ swinging on this one too much. Anaheim @ Pittsburgh - I dunno, an inter-conference matchup to start the season? I think Pens fans will be full swing and the SoCal MLB contingent might have a Dodgers game if they they aren't Angels fans (Anaheim). No impact. Montreal @ Washington - Football doesn't exist in Montreal, not NFL anyway :) - Washington? The Nats could be playing so I'll concede that. Boston @ Detroit - no impact from a football standpoint on these fan bases Florida @ Tampa - You have to have fans before this matters. Rangers @ St. Louis - Cards could be playing, No conflicts in NY though. Ottawa @ Nashville - Sens fans are tuning in and Preds fans... well, see Florida @ Tampa above. Chicago @ Dallas - No real Chicago sports conflicts and while Houston fans show up in Dallas for football games, they'll probably not impact Stars viewership. Colorado @ Minnesota - No one wants to think about football in Minnesota and they are Peyton drunk (or high) in Denver. Calgary @ Edmonton - NFL, MLB, what? Winnipeg @ Arizona - Winnipeg is in, Arizona? Hard to say but perhaps some influence. I think the NHL is safe. Just me. Again, they could not have known who would be playing in the MLB playoffs so you have to discount that right away. I did all of this because today is slow at work, not to pile on against you.. just having some fun. I just want hockey on TV.. now.

If true, I am fine by that. Two guys were brought in specifically to change the culture in the locker room and the third guy chose Buffalo over all other markets after only a brief stint here. One guy is a hometown player (close enough) and the other guy completely insulted Toronto to play here. They are all going to be here for a few years and can continue the leadership beyond one season. All are veterans, all work hard. Complaints, I have none. There's little doubt that awarding C's and A's to guys who are continually walking out the door does nothing to cement a culture in the locker room. It may also signal their opinions on Stafford, but I'm not going to read into it too much.

Perhaps because Buffalo fans have been shown to watch out of market hockey games more frequently than the citizens within the town they are playing. Who, in Buffalo, is going to pulled away for football? The baseball argument can be rejected since October is playoff baseball and there are games pretty much every night of the week. Much ado about nothing in my opinion. The season opener for the Sabres with Reinhart in the lineup will be well attended and viewed in Buffalo and by Sabres fans everywhere.

I think you are going too far here. Nolan preaches hard work and was very impressed with Grigorenko but to assume that means that normal hockey business doesn't get in the way is a stretch. I think Nolan, Murray, and Grigorenko are all on the same page. The kid clearly has made HUGE strides in his attitude, work ethic, and capabilities but hockey is a business and there is a strategy in what the Sabres can do at this particular point in time. The Sabres want to evaluate their near ready players against a full time NHL squad. So Reinhart and Zadarov are likely to get the 9 game nod. In addition, the 9 game tryouts of two junior players reduces the chances of the Sabres winning (unless they out perform expectations, but realistically, it's lower at least in this situation). So, the Sabres help their overall standings for next year with a perfectly viable strategy to reduce chances of winning games. Grigorenko surely hasn't earned his spot above Ennis, Moulson, Stafford, Gionta, and Hodgson. So, he's in Rochester. Lastly, for a player who has been screwed by the prior regime I think there is an ounce of psychology in what Nolan is doing as well. So, he might be overly effusive because it helps reduce media scrutiny, it helps improve confidence at a time when Grigorenko needs that confirmation. I really hope Grigorenko makes it tough for the Sabres to keep him in Rochester.

I think it will be Gionta. He's a "hometown" guy. He was the "C" in an extremely tough hockey market where they don't particular care for non-Francophones leading their teams. I think Gorges gets a letter as well. My final choice was Stafford based on longevity and commitment to the team. I figured it might also help his trade value. :) I debated Moulson and Ennis but they lost to Stafford.

I get that feeling that Stewart will have a great year and get traded and then return next season. And I don't have a problem with that.. not at this point in time. I've liked the way he's played so far.

As soon as I heard it on the audio broadcast I knew it was supposed payback. That's garbage. It's situations like this where the NHLPA needs to be involved and shut that crap down. LaRose is a crap player, out of the NHL for a year and he thinks that is going to help his case to make a team. Go home, stop playing, you suck. As for the rest... I stopped listening because the audio feed kept dropping from my phone. They lost.. go figure. Get me to next Thursday. Reinhart will still get at least 1 full NHL game I think, just so they know how he is against a full time NHL line up.

SRSLY? Best hockey market in the country and they can't be bothered to give us some TV coverage? BS. Radio only is for 1976.

I'm not worried about them lighting up the NHL, it's not going to happen against NHL caliber talent. However, in order to compete you have to play sound positioning and see your opportunities and the Sabres definitely did that last night. They had extremely good puck support. There were only a few instances (in what I saw) where the Caps were free. If a Sabre was pressured he had an outlet to a teammate. Certainly these opportunities won't be as prevalent against a full NHL squad but at least they had them. If this team overachieves this year then I guess it's a good thing the NHL changed the draft lottery rules right?

Yes. It looked as good as it sounded. Truthfully they looked solid. There was a lot of puck support, a lot of smart plays with players in the right position for breakouts. They weren't perfect and near the end they might have been a bit TOO selfless but they look like a team and that matters a lot. It was entertaining to watch. Now, let's see how they are against a full NHL squad.

Truthfully I think he'll be rotated around based on performance. I didn't put him in the top 6 mostly because I was going down the list and came to him 7th. :) Weber has had problems with his coverage and performance and has been scratched before. No reason to not expect it again.

Looking at who's eligible to be sent down, etc. Moulson - Ennis - Stafford Hodgson - Girgensons - Gionta Stewart - Mitchell - Foligno Flynn - McCormick - Deslauriers Myers - Meszaros Gorges - Benoit Pysyk - Ristolainen Enroth - Neuvirth That's 20, 3 scratches are: Weber, Kaleta, Strachan Extra Forwards: Larsson - he's a 3/4 line call up (no waivers) Grigorenko - he's a 1/2 line call up (no waivers) Extra Defense: Ruhwedel - Callup #1 McCabe - Callup #2 Zadarov will be in Juniors. Because he can be. I wouldn't be surprised if they give him 9 games (they still can this year right?) Reinhart will be in Juniors. Because he can be. I wouldn't be surprised if they give him 9 games. They'll have Pysyk out until 9 games is up (or send him/Risto down) to make room for Zadarov for his 9 games. With Kaleta and Larsson out for an indeterminate time period they will have room for Reinhart for now. Larsson can be sent down and Kaleta is out for a few months so that makes it easy for the first 9 games. This allows for maximum roster flexibility. It allows players who need to develop now time to do so and puts those players who can wait a year back into the appropriate spots. You can argue all you want about what is best for the player but I don't see Zadarov getting worse in Juniors. He doesn't need to be in the NHL now. Absolutely nothing they do will be about this year. Zadarov may benefit from playing in the NHL, but it will start his contract and it will change the Sabres timelines. He's going back to Juniors and he should already know it. I think Larsson, Grigorenko, and McCabe will see significant time in Buffalo this year due to injuries.

By the way. How come the Leafs don't get fined for player selection when they put Orr on the ice to start a fight with Weber after he hit Kessel?.. oh yea.. MFT.

He won't be on the opening roster if they decide to give Reinhart his NHL games before sending him back to Juniors. The other thing to keep in mind is who has to clear waivers and who does not. Grigorenko does not. This provides roster flexibility and that is important. They aren't going to send a guy to Rochester who needs to clear unless they are certain they don't care if he gets picked up. They do have to ice a team in Rochester as well. He'll get his opportunities this year.

It's not really the stores fault. The brewers release the beers using the same rationale as the fashion industry and by the end of the season, when you want that style, it's gone, replaced with something you won't want for another 2-3 months. And yep, that brewery does it right. There are some who get it.

A farce and that writer should be suspended for ignorance and non-factual reporting. Mitchell's hit occurs in every game of every season. It's two players initiating contact on their way to play a puck. Nothing is ever called and Mitchell did nothing wrong to warrant a penalty. Franson, from the appearance, did not have himself braced for contact. Mitchell hits his hip area and Franson loses his balance.

The actual "blackout" jersey was revealed today. It's nice. Really nice. Great use of the blue to bring an electric tinge to the uniform. http://video.lightning.nhl.com/videocenter/console?id=634016

I'd highly recommend Copper Legend from Jack's Abbey Brewing. Great Oktoberfest. By and large every one of their beers are fantastic.

Lightning unveil their third jersey... or not. http://video.lightning.nhl.com/videocenter/console?id=633714 Well done!

Do we need more cod or sole in here?

Yes, I am being somewhat ridiculous in that that last point. I also don't want to argue they have no place, but to argue that a coach is screwed because he ignores them is also troublesome. They can, but they extrapolate that data across all zone entries. So, as a coach you better know that Team X actually excels at standing up players at the blue line and that Team Y excels at the dump and chase. It's how you apply the knowledge that matters. Of course, if you watch game film on another team (or someone else does) and provides the visual analytics without the statistical breakdown you'll probably still know that Team Y sucks at standing up at the blue line. Do you really need analytics to show that the Sabres D have given up the blue line easily over the past few seasons? They've been called out on it repeatedly. :) It doesn't mean Roy even was aware of the stats right? He could have just said, hell no one will expect this. I'm not saying analytics are not important, I think they are. However, they have to be used properly and no one should ever give them more credit than they deserve. An intelligent person makes use of all available information, applies their own values to each and then makes a decision. The result is what matters. Ultimately it can become game theory. You make a change in an algorithm to impact results and you have to change your mind set when someone else makes a change (or did they?) Does it account for when the stick breaks when taking the shot?

Humanity is on this kick to explain everything and in order to do so they need to build a model. Ultimately, all the data scientists in the world will finally model the universe. Until then, everything will be imperfect. A model is only as good as its data. The data is influenced by various factors and those factors are determined by the data scientist. The sum collection of data may be incomplete, may be misinterpreted, may be subject to bias. What is possession? One would imagine it is the amount of time a team remains in control, so how is that measured? Does a team lose possession when puck glances off an opponent stick during a pass? Why not? Is that a failing point of your model? What if I did count that and made it a category of "grade A possession / grade B possession". Ultimately you can get bogged down in it and end up basically determining what a good coach can see because he's with these players day in and day out. His entire basis of experience is more than anything any data scientist has put into a model. Think about it. He sees the game a certain way and up to this point a data model has never included or tracked that factor. Coach has 20 years of experience seeing this factor day in and day out. The model either has to be manually updated to include this factor from every game over that same time period or else the data scientist has to say from here on this is important but it lacks the context. I'm not a stats genius but I do firmly believe that relying solely (soully? :)) on data is also a mistake. Until the model can factor all aspects of life it will be fallible. Yuri had a great point. I've watched guys playing hockey who can barely skate continually frustrate the hell out of a great skater who normally dominates. Why? Because the great skater has been taught that other great players will attempt to play a certain way. The less skilled player doesn't know this and he's doing whatever he thinks is good. I think you can use stats to compare players over the long term. I think Ted Nolan knows which players play better defense, score more, take better faceoffs, etc. He's not consulting his analytics book during the game to see what instructions to bark out to Ennis while he enters a 1 on 1 with Subban.

I didn't see it posted through out the thread and it's late but the game was on the radio on 1520 in Buffalo. I picked up parts of it while driving around Rochester yesterday.