LTS

There was/is a driving ban correct? Frankly there's no option but to postpone the game. No one should be driving.. The Sabres personnel and players are not essential. The fact that the Bills players somehow were allowed "IN" was stupid too. People just feel like sports should be above so many other things... it's just entertainment.

Why are you very disappointed?

Massive whiteout!

Leadership for the team.. if you've heard his mouth during a game I don't know that he's a role model for the kids.. 🙂 Lots of players do it.. however Skinner pretty much does it every shift and that's why its extreme. Not as extreme as that juniors kid or whatever league he was in that did it all the way up the ice to score a goal.. that was uber-extreme.

I emailed customer service/tickets last night with the question. I'm in Rochester and assuming the weather holds as predicted there's no way I am driving in. I drove in last year to the Sharks game when it had snowed like 9 inches that day. That wasn't that bad.. I am expecting this will be a travel ban. If I hear anything I will post here.

I think he goes back to the normal lines although hopefully he decides to rest Mitts. I doubt he will because it being Tampa coming up. The kid line didn't fare well against bigger teams who clog up the ice which Arizona and Vegas do. They were good against Tampa and I suspect he'll want that combination of speed for that game.

Kevyn Adams sleeping again. The Sabres could have had Danny O'Regan. He's such a great prosp..... oh. 🙂

Next season... not this season unless he's free.

UPL goes back down and if he can't understand the business aspects of the game then it's on him. He's played well, he can go to Rochester and continue to play well and wait for the inevitable return to the Sabres. With Comrie and Anderson healthy he won't play games and that's what they want to see out of him. UPL has had injuries.. I think the Sabres want to see him take on a heavy workload and he'd only do that in Rochester. If that bothers him, then he should have made sure the Sabres didn't need Comrie in the first place.

The other night Jack Hughes was on the ice for 6+ minute shift at the end of the game. Sometimes it just happens and sometimes you ride your players in big situations. Certainly not a long term strategy, but I don't think it's a strategy the Sabres would want. Just like I don't think they want a whole line sitting a period. UPL was fantastic in that game. I'll stop with the Sabres analysis right there. The Knights are a team built to play in the playoffs. They play a heavy game and muck up the ice pretty good. As noted by many, the Sabres will not last in a playoff game. I would agree with that. The Sabres still rely far too much on poke-checks to get the puck. They rely on their speed and skill to "slow" the other team down. But a team that can play a heavy game will have success against them. By all rights, the Knights should have won that game. UPL was the man of the hour. I'm not sure how in the hell Kolesar was not gone for 5 minutes on that hit. That was absolutely laughable. I guess I will analyze the Sabres a bit. The Sabres do not need more scoring skill. They need to add players who can contribute an average amount for a 3rd liner and players who absolutely slow down the top players of the other team. We're all on board with the dump VO and Mitts train... they clearly don't belong on this team any longer. One hopes some movement comes soon... but there seems to remain a league that is not interested in too many trades yet.

Rooting for Canada is like rooting for every Canadian NHL team combined. You can't do that, even if Sabres prospects were on the roster. Although it's good Canada gives us a reason to root against them more. I'll always root for the home team (although Zegras' "C" year was tough for me) and then ABC. Anyone But Canada.

This indicates the challenge the Sabres face. 3 of the teams ahead of them are in their own division. 5 of them are in their conference and right behind them are 3 more teams in their conference. The East is stacked.

I agree with this. Granato is earning a reputation as an excellent coach and the organization is starting to be noticed. Plus, players want to play with stars.. Dahlin and Thompson are that.. and Power.. man he looks really good right now. Then there's the other line.. that is getting everyone's attention.. It's nice.

So Brandon Beane should do something? 😉

That first period was especially ugly.. the Kings dominated but even they were missing passes, the puck was bouncing around way too much. It was like someone forgot to freeze the pucks. Glad to see the 3rd period turn around. They are still giving up chances but tonight at least cleared the net area and weren't out of position too much. Still, Anderson played a great game and I like Clague back there before any of Bryson, Fitzgerald, or Pilut. It would be nice if the Adams can go shore a few things up to give this team a legitimate chance.

Ullmark - historically 2022-23 - SV% .941, GAA 1.77 2021-22 - SV% .917, GAA 2.45 2020-21 - SV% .917, GAA 2.63 2019-20 - SV% .915, GAA 2.69 2018-19 - SV% .908, GAA 3.00 Now, would he make a difference given comparative stats of the team in front of him? SA/GP Bruins - 28.7, 5th best in the league. Sabres - 32, 20th best. Shots/GP Bruins - 35 - 3rd best Sabres - 32.7 - 10th. GA/G Bruins - 2.11, best in the league Sabres - 3.68 - 27th. GF/G Bruins - 3.89 - best in the league Sabres - 3.86 - 2nd. PK Bruins - 85.4% - best in the league Sabres - 70.5% - 28th GA Bruins - 57 - best in the league Sabres - 103 - 26th. Ullmark is well above the league average in SV%. He's benefitting from a very good team in front of him who controls play. Gives up fewer shots, generates more. Scores like the Sabres but shuts down other team better. In 3v4, 3v5, 4v5 scenarios - the Sabres have given up 27 goals, the Bruins 15. No goalie is making up that difference. The Bruins have 4 players that are a negative +/-, combined they account for 23 man games, with 2 players only logging a single game. The Sabres have 11 players that are a negative +/-, combined they account for 189 man games, with all but Sheahan logging double digit or higher games. This team is losing because it's not sound defensively, we all know the 5 players where the problem lies: Bryson (-15), Mitts (-12), Olofsson (-9), Pilut (-4), Fitzgerald (-3). As good as Ullmark is.. right now. He's never been this good and everything points to a very talented team in front of him. I don't even think if he kept his stats even the Sabres would improve enough to be in the playoffs. They'd be better, no doubt.

I give Adams a pass because it was not the plan. I think at that time they might have hoped for more out of UPL but clearly Adams does not believe in him. I have no doubt Adams wishes he had a better goalie situation, but sometimes the now has to suck for tomorrow to be better. It takes a lot of discipline to not go chasing the pretty shiny things. I don't characterize it as a mistake, instead I look at it as the discipline to stay the course and see it through. Something that has not been done with the Sabres in the past decade. I think the evolution of Cozens, Peterka, Quinn is the signal to Adams that now is the time to press forward. I think roster players will be moved and some prospects as well to shore up the goaltending and the defense going into next season. A lock for the playoffs in this division and conference? I'm not so sure about that.

Saw that.. now I can rock the reverse retro and the goathead.. and done.

They are what their record is. Am I doing this right?

And that always comes back to who? Who was the upgrade? I feel like all options have been debated and reasonably shown to not have been possible. Perhaps Husso, but no one knows if it was possible, just that the Sabres did not get him. Ullmark's name is thrown around and until this season was not the starter, did not have these numbers, and routinely was injured. No one would have projected Ullmark to be this, and if he was injured, then people would be complaining that the Sabres did not have ANOTHER goalie.

And therein lies the issue. Those who believe it was as an important a priority and what the organization actually planned for. But then again, the trick is identifying which goaltender would have been the Sabres savior. People tend to look at the positivity of this season and forget that even a year ago, or two years ago, and certainly three.. the Sabres were not a place where players would choose to go. We still debate whether players want to come here today. So.. who are they getting without overpaying.. and if they overpay, what impacts does that have on the current situation?

I was at that game.. sitting up high in the corner where the whole event took place. I still recall how the place erupted when Snow went over and tapped Barnaby with his stick...

This the thing people seem to be missing. The Jets D is ranked higher than the Bills D. They are quite legit.

Bear sucks.. simply suggesting he should have been an option undermines your take. Reilly, I think we all agree, was a tad confusing. This is so unlike the you I remember, even the angry you. There really wasn't anyone good who was available that would have solved the problem. Jake Allen... c'mon man. See my comment on Bear above. Jake Allen suuuuucks. Remember when the Sabres lit him up? Being near the top in scoring in the league is not moving forward? A team that has 109 goals right now after 28 games.. who had in 2013-14: 157 goals, the following season: 161 goals.. that's like 1.96 goals per game... right now they are at 3.89.. that's not progress. Oh right.. the record.. would you rather have the teams from 2013-2015 or this team? Yes, it's been a long time.. the fan carries that weight with them if they so choose. But there are reset buttons in sports franchises, it happens. It wasn't a priority. The priority was building the scoring talent along with the right D. That exists... now It's not so much the more.. but the experience. This team lacks experience to deal with the adversity. The more likely comes with a change in about 3-4 players from this current roster... and then the younger players end up staying in Rochester longer.

I had a 12U player start smacking a teammate in the head with his stick... when I told him to get off my bench he politely said "***** you". That was fun...