LTS

Never. Ristolainen is on the path to be a Top 5 D in the league. He's absolutely one of the best D the Sabres have ever had. Coller is an idiot. Pysyk was back for 1 game and was not played for that 1 game. He's not suddenly not playing. Pysyk is the kind of player no one values until he is gone. He doesn't light up the board, he doesn't level the forwards. He simply takes the puck, moves it up ice quickly, and goes about his business. It's too bad most people need big hits or G/A to determine the value of defense. Trade him.. this team will suffer immeasurably. Bogosian hasn't exactly played on a team that lights it up has he? I don't think he's anything amazing and certainly there are far better D that have been drafted at the spot he was but I'm not sure PPG is a good stat on teams that generally don't score much. (If I am mistaken on Winnipeg's scoring ability, then I apologize). I do agree with your assessment on his boneheaded decisions. I've seen improvement overall as of late but there are still many moments where I wonder. Then again, I also wonder how much he is trying to overdo things because he's with McCabe. I like McCabe but he's got some positional issues without a doubt.

Ding ding. Apparently at age 18 every player should be the top level ultra-elite #1, starter who never plays poorly. Not to mention Murray is heralded as a top level talent evaluator. A LITTLE faith would be good, eh? No damn patience anymore. One game back and everyone wants to throw him to the wolves. Imagine if you were banned for one moderately bad post on this forum? Wouldn't that be a hoot? Lehner played fine last night. His positioning was sound. His rebound control was pretty good. The weakest goal in my opinion was the one off the wall. He missed the deflection. He was clearly looking to direct that puck off the stick to the boards to his right and it went under and then in off his legs. McCabe is the reason for the one in front and Lehner couldn't see a thing in the seeing-eye puck from the point. String him up though. He's washed out.

It's a joke. The NHL ASG is a joke. They should have removed fan voting a long time ago (and never included it). The level to which they are stooping with John Scott is insane. Frankly, he should sue them and claim a conspiracy. If there is evidence they asked him to decline and THEN when he doesn't they send him down? Bring it... John Scott suing to be the Commish of the NHL. :) But really.. he was voted in and I do believe they get some money for that right? So are they not depriving him of his ability earn money?

It's a conspiracy to undo what the fans have wanted. :) Strange.. I had postulated what would happen if someone claimed him on re-entry waivers (before I was reminded that those no longer exist). And then this happens....

The Bruins have one the best cheap shot artists in the league. Physical or not everyone is at risk of a season ending injury from that guy. I love any loss by the Bruins. But if the Sabres can just blow them up it will make the booze taste that much better tonight.

McCabe? Did you time warp?

Be careful what you wish for.. as I mentioned above.. you could get the crap that passes for local sports radio in Rochester. For me WGR is award winning compared to that crap.

Yea.. moving would have been a bit tougher given the attendance under normal circumstances. However, we were with the entire hockey team and so that made it almost a no chance type of situation as everyone wanted to be together. Oh well. Not my first nor last game.

That's true.. certainly. Rolling with O'Reilly is, in my opinion, exactly why they believe they will trade him. The goal is to get his value as high as possible. Any team taking him this year is not worried about his long term stats, they want a player who is capable of producing and is doing so at the moment. He's a UFA so they aren't trading for long term production. That will be the responsibility of the team that gives him his next contract. And i would not trade for Drouin for anything.. even Weber. Okay. maybe Weber.

"Shoot the glass." But really.. no love for Robin Hood? He and Morgan Freeman might have been the only reason that movie was almost tolerable. Always loved his work...

Over/under on games played before he's suspended, by the team or the league. What happens if a team outside his division claims him when they call him up? :) Toews name comes up routinely as the player people would take first if they had to start a team from scratch. I think that says all I need about him. Respectable hockey people too.

What incentive does McGinn have to sign anything with Buffalo right now? He's only signing if A) he absolutely doesn't want to leave or B) the Sabres offer him more money than he thinks he can get in FA. Let's assume A). McGinn has the option to return, long term, to Buffalo if he absolutely does not want to leave. In the meantime, he can have a chance at the playoffs this year by being moved. It also allows him to help the Sabres improve (because if he absolutely wants to play here then he's going to be in favor of that). Everyone wins. Risk: someone offers more money than the Sabres (granted this nullifies option A as ever being valid). Let's assume B). The Sabres would be foolish to offer him a lofty, can't say no, contract. He's important, not irreplaceable. So, if they've spoken about contracts (and I would bet money they have). Then they both have a good idea of where McGinn ranks on this roster today and next year. The organization can do right by the player (and in other players eyes) by moving him to a playoff team. The final option is C). McGinn says this is a business. Therefore, he's open to moving to a contender because he has a shot at the playoffs and then he's a UFA who can field all the offers he wants. I suppose you can throw in option D). McGinn will sign a contract favorable to the Sabres now so he has no chance to be in the playoffs this year but has longer term financial stability at a price point potentially below what he could earn in FA or the Sabres would agree to when other teams can bid. I don't see D. But hey.. I'm not Jamie McGinn either.

I think each team should wear whatever it wants.. but if the visiting team steps on the ice at game time wearing the same color uniform they have to slip on the bright orange pinnies. Other than that I have no opinion. The team plays an even number of away games where you get to see the other teams colors, it just happens to be on the road. If you swap it there are still 41 games where you see the other teams colors.. they just happen to be at home.

Yea... some of the group were at the top of the section those would have been nice. I hate when I cannot pick my seat.. Well, it's a sample size of 1 for what it's worth. I wouldn't say the Amerks looked overly impressive as a whole either. I can say this.. Bailey is freakin huge.. so there's that. I mean.. you know when he's out there.

Had the worst freaking seats for the game. Sitting in the corner below the glass level so everything down the ice on the players bench side was distorted or I couldn't even see it. Yay. Left near the start of the third.. I couldn't take it anymore. And from what I saw Bailey skates around in circles a lot and doesn't do much but chew on his mouthguard.

You're not supposed to tell everyone you are packing up in the middle of the night and moving.

unless this somehow saves me from the horrors that are Rochester sports radio then I don't care. I like summer.. when I can get WGR in Rochester most of the time. Fall/Winter I cannot and it leaves me with the hell that is Rochester radio. Sigh.

Wrong sport.. they only take baseball players now.

The Sabres won't be in this position by the end of this season. So I'm good with that. :) I think that's a rather interesting statement. You don't think guys who have made a living in the game of hockey don't look at players strengths and weaknesses? I can't buy that. There's just so many factors that go into why things work and don't work. It's not. Not by a long shot.

There's a certain entertainment value to this. A few years ago the Flyers brought in Brayden from the Kings. Now they are sending his brother back.

Odds would be good they'd be in the lineup this Friday. I'll be there as I stated in the Amerks thread. I have 3 tickets I still need to offload as my penalty for having a kid skate a scrimmage ahead of the game... let me know! Hopefully I can catch some of the game tonight.

He deserves to get hit hard and the fact that it resulted in an injury is chance. It's a hockey game and most of the players in the league are bigger than he is. He's done a good job of protecting himself and avoiding hits but they are going to happen. He probably could have taken the hit more with his shoulder by not turning at the last second. Perhaps he expected Ovechkin to hit the boards in an attempt to just cut him off from getting the puck out of the zone. I don't know, but he pushes the puck with his stick and turns and takes a full hit in the back. Leaving his feet? You clearly need to review the evidence before you make claims. He never left his feet. If the Sabres do not make the playoffs next year it better be because there are a handful teams that were so bad that the 8th place record was ridiculously good. They need to be there. I might accept missing it by 1 point on the last day of the season. Maybe.

I'm just going to go with Yes.

Well, then I won't. But you shouldn't ignore the compression in the standings this year. You should also account for them playing many games against the top teams in the league so far.

Absolutely love the Montreal Winter Classic sweaters. They are so clean. They've always had some super-bright white.. but these things are great. The Boston one's look good from a distance but I am not a fan of the logo. Everything else is nice.