LTS

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.

Look.. as far as I am concerned, if you can score goals by dropping the puck in goalie's sweater you're a rock star. Pysyk is so good he gets goalies to score for him.

Absolutely. Now, I know I'm not an NHL coach nor a revered strategist, but I'd like to think that if on your breakout play your winger is only going to go to the center of the ice then that defenseman on the other team is still going to be a problem. Therefore, the breakout fails. Therefore, Phil does not get the puck. Therefore, Phil does not score. Perhaps he swung his purse at the coach? I think the Leafs should trade for John Scott.

Hooray, real hockey! So, I think any player that can be sent to Rochester without waivers will be there to start the season unless there is irrefutable evidence as to why they should be in Buffalo. I expect the Sabres to maintain roster flexibility. In addition, they'll need to clear roster spots over the first 9 games for a few junior players (Reinhart, Zadarov). On the bright side I see we have MacKinnon in camp this year. ;)

Pysyk, the Unsung. He's the kind of guy, who at the end of his career, you'll say. "He did all that."?

Cassidy said that Zadarov would be back in the next game right after the game he was benched. Yea, at least now those who make the roster will understand what to expect for the season. And for the prospects who don't, they have no delusions about being greater than they are.