Bmwolf21

1st period thoughts: Throw the damn puck on Thomas. Could he look any shakier? Two long periods of NESN announcers ahead. DirecTV, OnDemand, Center Ice - can we please pay a little extra to get just MSG feeds? Or can we pay extra to keep the NESN feed off the air? PLEASE? Our PP is back to looking awful. The secret is officially out - press our guys and they cannot make the play...

Please get Kotalik off the point on the PP. Please.

These NESN announcers are frigging brutal- like always. Cannot believe the amount of whining they do nightly...

Come on, wasn't Dmitri's fault. <_< Boston is taking the play and physically pounding us right now. Starting to see Sabres peeling off the puck early to avoid hits.

Great. Frigging NESN feed. Good to see Andy Brickley continues his subtle whining about the new era of NHL rules. Hey Andy, those rules were changed LAST YEAR... :censored:

I might have to PM SDS or one of the mods and see if they know. I don't get the "file attachment" box in any of the forums.

I don't know. It was called charging, but after watching the replay a couple times, the hit itself is clean - I don't see any charging or elbowing or anything. The only problem is that does come about a full second after the whistle. My quick search of the NHL rulebook didn't turn up any specific penalty for hitting after the whistle, but the online version is pretty watered-down.

The hit itself was clean, the only thing I think they can have issue with is that it came just after the whistle (when the B's touched the puck for the penalty.) I like his flexibility, in being able to handle playing two dissimilar positions, contribute to the PP - how long have we been screaming for someone to get a shot through from the point on the PP? - and I really hope Dmitri, Jaro & co. realize that he is pushing them for ice time.

What did Roy do? :blink:

I threw my hat at the TV for effect... :D

Ugh. Mair. Hope that doesn't cost us the PP. EDIT: Guess not. Looked like we were getting the PP, but who knows with these refs.

Just so no one gets the wrong idea, I don't hate Marty or wish him gone. But facts are facts. He wants to be a starter somewhere, yet hasn't proven himself capable. It's even arguable that he hasn't proven himself as a capable backup in the "new" NHL. He makes $2M per year, which isn't that much for starter, but is quite a lot for a backup. I also don't want to romanticize his salary as Marty simply being lucky that his contract ran out at the right time - he did hold out for more money at the start of the 99-2000 season, missing the team's first 18 games. I guess I see him sort of like I see Kalinin - we have been waiting forever for him to consistently play to his potential, yet he teases us with 32 great stops, and lets in one or two bad goals to cost his team the game. You almost get the feeling like he is a mid-range NFL quarterback who still thinks he can start, but doesn't realize that his career path is heading down the backup route. Dave, what 10 starting goalies would so he is better than? I don't see more than four or five, myself, but I don't see many more than that. I think he might be surprised when free agency starts, because I don't think he is going to be as sought after as he hopes. As for Timmy, I want him back and completely healthy as much as the next Sabres fan. I just don't want to get my hopes up that he'll be back far enough before the playoffs to make a difference, and that he'll be the magic bullet that will cure all this team's ills, which I suspect some fans are thinking. Timmy isn't going to change this team's work ethic, nor does he add any toughness, and those have been the two biggest knocks on the team this year.

And as I (and others) noted, the definition of capable is being stretched here. For $2M, his GAA and SV % should be a lot better than what Marty has put up. Are you really as comfortable with Marty between the pipes as you are Ryan? Great. When? Maybe 6-8 weeks, barring setbacks? You can't put the over/under number at zero. ;) (BTW, I think we'll all be yelling at the TV for at least one bad goal tonight. I hope I am wrong, but...) So what is your take on him? That he doesn't give up as many "soft" goals as everyone thinks, or that we expect too much of a guy most people consider a no.1 somewhere else?

Because the record is the most telling stat for a goaltender... <_<

Honestly I think the chances are better that Buffalo will dress one of the SabreSpace posters before Timmy comes back... I guess the definition of "capable backup" has been somewhat relaxed in recent years... Over/under on number of softies Marty lets in before we remember why he is a backup?

SDS, or someone "in the know" - I cannot, for the life of me, seem to be able to post pictures. I have been trading PMs with evil_otto, and he said there should be a File Attachments box in the new reply screen, located between the Post Options and Post Icons section. That section does not show up on my screen at all. I even logged in through IE (usually use FF) to see if it was some sort of extension screwup that was blocking it, but nothing. Any ideas/suggestions? I am not looking to abuse the pic posting feature, but occasionally there is a pic I'd like to share... Thanks!

For those of you who attended the Columbus game, here is a closer view of the lovely ice-cleaning girls, courtesy of the Blue Jackets website. LINK (EDIT: I am giving up on posting pictures here. I cannot, for the life of me, seem to figure it out. If anyone can help, I'd appreciate it.)

Agreed...that tying goal was the first one that has really bothered me. That being said, I am sold - this team needs to get much tougher, both physically and mentally, before we can consider them a Cup contender...I think it's time to pull the trigger, and start upgrading this lineup. I think Lindy needs to go with a two-fold approach...start with a healthy scratch or two, and also leak a trade rumor or two to the News reporters that the Sabres are looking to deal to upgrade certain areas...make the boys a little uncomfortable. Then if they don't respond, trade their ...

Kick a$$...adding the link now. Thanks.

Good to see Briere showing some heart after the game ends... <_<

Move along, nothing to see here, everything is fine...

Another :censored: goal set up by our defense's inability to clear the puck out of the zone and inability to clear the front of the net. A 3rd-period lead blown for the second straight night... :bag:

Sorry for the hijack, but is anyone else watching on Yahoo? Every time it goes to commercial, it jumps to the next item in the playlist - the frigging Leafs - Rangers game on 1/31...

And Spacek follows it up with a stupid penalty... Looks just like Columbus...two good periods, general stupidity in the 3rd... :censored: :censored: :censored:

:censored: Ryan...