LTS

It means that in all games where a team gives up the first goal they ultimately lose more games than they win. Give up the first goal in 10 games - you lost at least 6 of them. The refs need to call the penalties that cause the ice to appear clogged when its not.

I agree. The dude is quite smart and to read about him doing his work while traveling with the hockey team, etc. That was great stuff. He found his way to stay around the NHL and you can't blame him for that but he clearly doesn't like it. He just loved hockey and wanted to play. There's just too much to like about him and given that his teammates have always spoken highly of him you have to figure that he does his thing and people respect him.

Just read it.. came over here to share and you had it up. I cannot recommend an article more. That is some Grade A material right there.

I would imagine it was a lot like that. The basic breakouts are all the same but you have to put everything together. It was abundantly clear he could not get all the players on the same page because there were no pages. Anyone can look at a bunch of formational charts and say.. "Play the umbrella", "large box", etc. But it takes someone with skill to be able to blend the system to adjust to the talent you have on the ice and the individual abilities. He didn't have that. Rudy? Rudy actually knew football. Rudy's problem was his size, not his intellect. Nolan simply does not have the capability to be an NHL coach.

I hear Flynn and Mitchell are available!

Yea... that might be a sign of some poor decision making.

This hit is hopefully the act needed to cause a serious discussion to occur. Concussion symptoms are not always physically apparent right away. It can take hours before a noticeable change occurs. That said, he clearly was hit hard enough to be in discomfort of some kind and when a player reaches for his head he should be removed from the ice as a precaution. Perhaps the NHL should go so far as to allow a healthy scratch to enter the lineup in place of a player who sustains a suspected concussion. In this case the hit occurs right at the Nashville bench. I could picture Wideman not being about his senses and thinking it was a Nashville player going off for a change and that he might as well get a shot in on the guy as Wideman exits the ice. I don't think he knew it was a ref. If he did and his mind was clear he would know that carries an automatic 20 game ban. His post-game explanation was a joke and that doesn't help but right now if it comes out that he has a concussion then nothing he says should be taken too seriously. Marty Biron talked about it pretty well on WGR this morning. The absolute shame is that he was not removed from the game. Frankly, the head coach should be suspended a minimum of 5 games for failing to remove a player. Fine the medical staff, I don't care. There has to be some accountability given. Either way.. this has a chance to get a lot uglier.

Well.. that's pretty awesome. I'm not saying about them being a good coach but at least they generally know the game of hockey. I am on the ice a few nights a week with a former NHL player as well in a coaching capacity. I wouldn't put him in the same capacity as Neidermayer or Lorentz.

I agree with that. What I meant to portray that it would be in my mind all the time that I wouldn't want to sound like an idiot. I mean, my hockey experience is nothing compared to his. I didn't mean to imply that he would be that way.

Too bad it's the house league or I would have coached against him this year. We've played the Hawks travel team 3 times. I can't even imagine what it has to be like for the coaches. I'd be concerned the entire time that I was doing something wrong. Jim Lorentz is here.. judging me. But that's just an awesome story. There's so much good in youth hockey (there's bad too). When you get the good it really helps you understand and appreciate what an awesome game it is.

Says the man with the Jack Eichel quote in his signature.

Who will do the play by play for NBCSN tonight? The really important questions must be answered!

My mistake.. I see that the Sabres have 1415 SOG this year and have given up 1459. It seems the Detroit game flung the SOG further into the negative differentia but it had been close. I was off on the "many". Last year they had 1984 and gave up 2920. The year before that they had 2156 and gave up 2816. This year averaging 29.5 SOG/game and giving up 30.4 Last year? 24.2 SOG/game and giving up 35.6.

The KHL will take him.

Given that many games they have out shot their opponent this year I'm not sure this is valid criticism. The talent is thin on this team and with 3 of the top 9 players out this is what you will see. Tack on the late trip back from Colorado and you had the makings of a bad game.

:w00t:

Lehner can't save Hawking, he can't save anything. A few bad games and he's getting grilled. Absolutely smoked even.

I love using Rye in my grain bill when brewing. Love Rye Beers.. love rye whiskeys. Rye bread... you're a good man Charlie Brown.

So tonight you two either WIN or Win. Depending on the Sabres outcome. Awesome stuff. Go Sabres!

McGinn is being set up for a good opportunity. Let's play hypothesis time. McGinn was a throw-in to equal the ROR trade but GMTM does not want him GMTM and DD boost his value by playing him top line minutes and increasing his scoring. - McGinn value gets Sabres better trade value. - McGinn gets a shot at the playoffs. - McGinn contract value in the off-season goes up. - GMTM and DD get points with players who see they are willing to do little things for players that have big value. Not bad... Either way.. I've always been a fan of McGinn so I want him here.. but I accept a trade at the deadline with the hope that he comes back. If you love someone... :)

Dumb move. Horrible advice. Don't want him anywhere near the Sabres. Frankly, I think a lot of GMs probably wonder how much of his draft status should now be attributed to MacKinnon and not Drouin's overall ability. Between that and him taking his puck and going home I'm not buying in on him regardless of the circumstances.

I don't know. I look at this team and realize that now they score on the PP which they didn't do last year. I think to myself that when the Sabres can compress their talent into two lines they are able to score. This means that either the rest of the team sucks or they are having a down year, or both. So, I would suspect as they filter in new talent the scoring should increase in 5 on 5. Look at the Bruins abysmal 5 on 5 scoring. I think the same thing is happening there but they are on the decline. Good stuff. Here's the thing though. Different coaching systems might account for some of the reason why the increase is not higher. more below... And here is where I bring that up. What if Ennis and Moulson just do not play well in the DD system? We should expect a decrease in their scoring. Perhaps they were better suited for the Nolan way of life or some other coaching style? It's clear we have some who are flourishing (Risto, Eichel, McGinn, Kane, O'Reilly, Reinhart). A talented player can be diminished by the role a coach requires him to play. We saw this with Ovechkin. We attributed a lot of that to Lindy Ruff too. I don't think all the pieces fit yet. So the 5 on 5 scoring remains improved but not as improved as it could be based on those factors. I don't know how much of it is the coach yet.

I interpreted your increase in rating as coming from the sheer amount of people who voted for John Scott somehow also wanting to watch him play hockey. I suppose there are some fans who will tune in. I know I won't. I couldn't care less about the ASG. Skills competition, yes. Ding ding ding.

With my TV channels fixed I plan on enjoying this game.

Gotta disagree here. I'd be amazed if the vast Internet wastoids actually expend effort to tune into a game. The amount of energy it took to vote for John Scott is far less than it take to actually watch the game. I'm not going to go out and find supporting evidence right now but I'm going to bet we can all agree that People + Internet = Stupid. Simple facts in this. The NHL decided to allow fan voting and over the past few years has seen evidence where something like this would happen. They chose NOT to do anything about it. Why? Well, it sure gets everyone talking, even those who don't follow hockey. The only people who care if John Scott plays in the ASG are fans who are not going to stop watching the NHL. The vast majority of people won't care and won't remember this by the start of March. However, they'll have been exposed to the NHL brand in some way and it might add a viewer or two. As far as what John Scott should have done... it's his decision. Are there any statements made by teammates or other players saying he should decline the honor? Fans voted. He's giving the fans what they "wanted". But at least we have something to talk about.