LTS

A few seasons back, when Kane, ROR, Eichel, Reinhart were on the PP weren't the Sabres something similar? The PP was fantastic because they could load all their talent onto the ice at once but when that talent was spread out the team could not score because the drop off in talent was bad... and also the coach was brutal. I think it was Bylsma's last year. Perhaps I will go look it up.

But no one really calls it the flu vaccine anymore right? It's the flu shot because it hopefully prevents the strains they believe would be dominant that particular year. Unlike a vaccine that would actually prevent it right? With all the variants in COVID, will we end up in that scenario? I know we don't know yet, but I keep waiting for them to find a variant that the current vaccines don't work against. Let's be honest. If you are asymptomatic how would you ever know you had anything? I am curious, and I am asking this not to dismiss your point but for understanding it better, have more people been infected with COVID this year than are normally infected with influenza in a given year? Or, what I am asking is that while you are saying 10 times the flu deaths is it also a 10x death rate or just quantity of deaths? I stopped looking at statistics a long time ago. I knew the rate was higher, but expected it to go down as more people were infected with COVID.

And everyone keeps ignoring this comment... Just assuming it's some 45 minute session each time. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. All we know is there were meetings. There could meetings for power play, penalty kill, forwards, defense, goaltenders, etc.

I can watch a pixelated stream of my daughter at her vball tournament, a drunken cameraman streaming my son's varsity game, or stream the Sabres, or all three at once. I feel like I'm not getting much out of the Internet today. On the bright side, Spectrum offered me up a sweet deal to add TV back so I will be dropping Fubo and going back (at least for this year).

I'm sure Eichel will be a game time decision. Skinner? That's a strange one. You'd think he'd be on the ice unless there is some other stuff that's been going on that we've not been privy to. I should be back from the varsity hockey game in time to rock my reverse retro my son bought me for Xmas and watch the game with him. Just hoping his team wins tonight so he's in a good mood. 🙂

You feel like there is something else going on here. By all accounts I thought the Habs were performing well. Toronto and Edmonton are clearly leading but Montreal seemed to be doing well. I'd definitely be looking as the Sabres.

The era of "manliness". It wasn't just pro athletes. Admitting you had a problem was a sign of weakness. Sadly stories like this hit too close to home and I have no professional athletes in my family tree. The alcohol, the buddies egging on a known alcoholic trying to change his life, oh yeah.. plenty of that. I'll have to queue it up to be watched but not sure I will get through it without getting really really angry. Sigh.

No. Other GMs and especially coach I would be. but not Babcock. Do not want.

Varsity game tonight.. spared the agony. All the best kids!

BOO. But that said, you want low taxes, you want low bills, you get less. We lost power here for 4 days and others longer during that insane wind storm. NY isn't run by Republicans. Sometimes Mother Nature just ups and punches you in the face for wrecking her planet.

Yep. After all the comments on Babcock I'm firmly out on him.

Given the commentary on how Babcock treated players perhaps he's not the best choice. The dude has tarnished himself heavily, that's why he's in Saskatoon. The point here is that Krueger ain't gettin' it done and some seasoned hockey coach would be better. This I believe. Especially after the Vogl tweet regarding off-sides in practice. It's clear the "little things" aren't being enforced. it shows on the ice.

What is it about Skinner that makes you think he's a good player? Skinner WAS a good player. Right now, and for a year he has NOT been a good player. There's some concept out there that Jeff Skinner is blameless in this. He's played games with pretty much everyone on the team and continues to produce absolutely nothing. ZERO. If this were Tage Thompson you'd say sit him, he's worthless. And guess what, Jeff will be 6 feet away from Tage tonight.

Yay. A game when I have no varsity hockey games to watch instead. I mean.. Yay? Not sure I'm happy about this.

A female hockey announcer or analyst would be perfectly fine. Not sure why there was any need to discuss how "hot" she could be.

The commissioner can't unilaterally make a season happen. The board of governors voted in favor. The NHLPA voted in favor. The fact that there is a season is on everyone who voted yes. That said, every player also had the ability to opt out of this season and carry their contract to next year. Every player, by not opting out, accepted the potential risks that came along with playing an NHL season. Certainly they made the decision based on the proposed protocols, but each player should also have taken into consideration what the protocols might not prevent and how well those protocols might be followed. The impacts to Ristolainen are most unfortunate. He's one of my favorite Sabre players (not necessarily skill wise). But I can't fault anyone here. He made a decision and put himself at risk and unfortunately he was heavily impacted.

Good News: Another varsity hockey game today Bad News: It's at 4:30pm, so it will be over in time for me to be able to suffer through the Sabres game. Well, I won't suffer. Suffering implies feeling and I don't feel anything regarding this team.

No.. he's getting $8M and I guarantee he gets moved by the trade deadline to a team that has a chance to win. The question is whether the Sabres will get anything meaningful in return.

That's true.. if the pass hits their hands (or sticks here). If the pass misses because the distance says its low percentage or the distance allows too many defenders to be in the passing lane or close the gap.. that's the coach. Right now, what I see is the coach. Hockey is more successful with shorter, small game passes that rely upon puck support and having numbers in areas. You make stretch passes when they are there.... not as a matter of strategy. 10 were competitive? I see the Sabres having benefitted from their power play. Buffalo is 26th in GF/GP. They are dead last in 5v5 goals (granted they have missed games but if you normalize 5v5 per games played they are still very low. 12g, 15GF. Minnesota and Dallas have 12GP, they have 19 and 20 goals respectively. NJ has 21 in 10GP. In short, Buffalo is generating no meaningful offense 5v5 and we are seeing that. Buffalo has 15 5v5 goals and 13 5v4 goals. No other team is even close to about 50% of their offense coming from the PP. If you don't take penalties against Buffalo, you have a great chance of winning.

If I want to be the optimist and positive thinker I would say.. they are playing Montour and trying to trade him. They get more if they have him in the lineup. That said, I'm not that thinker right now. So.. whatever. The decisions here are mind boggling. I like Borgen's game and he should be playing. Perhaps he doesn't skate as well as Montour.. but you know, he defends. 🙂

Any medical studies on the impact of hairstyles and COVID symptoms?

I just hope the Buffalo Sabres have fun tonight. Had to do it.. 🙂 Good to see you back.. and I agree. I'm apathetic at this point.

The Blind Squirrel Theory. It might be on some players, but the strategy being used by the team right now is the coach. It's a bad strategy that they cannot execute. It's a bad strategy overall. It's like blaming a QB for missing 80% of his throws when the OC keeps calling 90+ yd passing plays.

It's a shame my son has a varsity hockey game at 7:30 tonight. Oh wait.. no, it's not! This team has two weeks to make things interesting before I cancel Fubo and tune them out. Last night was an abomination and I am firmly in the replace all coaching staff category. The strategy this team is using is terrible. I'd have to go back a few years to which coach it was that loved a lot of long passes, many east-west, that routinely never hit their mark or get intercepted and if they do connect do so in such a way it causes the pass receiver to slow down too much. Krueger appears to love the same thing. So.. high school hockey it is!

I don't care who plays... if you want to be an NHL player you gotta show up. Time for those players to show up or shut up and ship out. Frankly I hope Borgen proves he should never be out of the lineup and that Skinner plays so well with Eichel that they leave him there.