TrueBlueGED

I still find it amazing that a team that can't score thought their best course of action at the deadline was to acquire an expensive backup goaltender. Hey, I can only make fun of us so much.

Not necessarily? I think you can safely be a bit more definitive than that :p

Deslauriers produced the most entertaining moment of this game.

Bogo owes Lehner dinner.

I think this too, but every time I think it I feel I'm only thinking it because everything is relative :lol:

Fedun was a 60% CF that period! :)

Welp part 2:

Welp:

I'd much rather they take Bogosian.

Nope, not anymore. The more moves he makes, the more I think Dean Lombardi was more lucky than good putting together those Cup teams. Edit: This was supposed to be me quoting Swamp saying the Kings aren't that good either.

Oh, he collapsed. Couldn't stop a beach ball. That's not on Bylsma. The extent to which Bylsma can be held accountable for the goals against in the playoffs are that his system was producing defensive breakdowns like we've seen the past ~10 or so games.

This game is so bad it's not even worth me drinking beer to get through it.

That bottom pair is better than the second pair.

Currently huddling to see how they can spin this into "See! We do the same thing every team does." Right, in the grand scheme of things, they're very difficult passes to complete. Add on top of that our defense corps not being especially deft passers, and you're asking for miserable failure.

I just don't think wingers are all that important if we're running a center spine of ROR-Eichel-Reinhart. Furthermore, I don't think non-elite wingers are all that important in the grand scheme of things. Perusing some of the top teams in the league, they have a couple guys and then just piece together the rest with interchangeable parts. I put together a list of the top six wingers by TOI, with points scored this year, for the top four teams in each conference: Washington Ovechkin - 58 Oshie - 45 Johansson - 45 Williams - 38 Burakovsky - 29 Wilson - 16 Total: 231 Columbus Atkinson - 59 Saad - 48 Foligno - 47 Hartnell - 34 Calvert - 12 Anderson - 24 Total: 224 Pittsburgh Kessel - 61 Hornqvist - 37 Sheary - 43 Hagelin - 22 Kunitz - 28 Rust - 25 Total: 216 NYR Zuccarello - 48 Kreider - 48 Hayes - 46 Nash - 33 Grabner - 39 Fast - 20 Total: 234 Chicago Kane - 76 Panarin - 62 Hossa - 39 Panik - 36 Hartman - 26 Rasmussen - 8 Total: 247 Minnesota Granlund - 64 Parise - 31 Zucker - 45 Niederreiter - 48 Pominville - 41 Haula - 22 Total: 251 San Jose Hertl - 18 (in 37 games) Marleau - 40 Ward - 27 Boedker - 22 Donskoi - 15 Labanc - 19 Total: 141 (If Paveliski/Couture play wing, this jumps to 204/191, respectively...but I don't think they do) Anaheim Silfverberg - 41 Perry - 46 Eaves - 41 (deadline move, but w/e) Ritchie - 24 Kase - 14 Shaw - 7 Total: 173 Where do the Sabres stand? Buffalo Okposo - 43 Kane - 39 Reinhart - 43 Gointa - 32 Foligno - 21 Moulson - 28 (Pi, eat your heart out) Total: 206 That list won't be perfect because of trades/injuries/role changes and whatnot, but I think it paints a decent picture of what the best teams have to offer. I think one thing I notice is the teams with the strongest center spines (Pittsburgh, San Jose, Anaheim) are at the lower end of things. Probably not surprising, only so many resources to go around. Different ways to skin a cat. Crude analysis using raw points. Yada yada. Obviously I'd prefer a hockey-playing upgrade from Moulson, and Reinhart moving to center would leave a hole...but we're not far off on raw production from the wings iced by the best teams in the league. A bubble team like Ottawa has Stone, Hoffman, and a smorgasbord of poop on the wing. And I don't think you or anyone else needs to get particularly tingly loins when thinking about our prospects to think we could get ~30 points out of one or two of them playing with our centers. And that's without considering a coaching change. Our wings aren't ideal, but I'm pretty comfortable with where we're at there.

I totally thought it was a mic drop lock :lol:

The system thread got locked before I had a chance to inform Flagg we'd be having sex at the Sabrespace meetup. What an arousing series of posts.

Even if it wasn't luck...how much rope should a Cup nearly a decade ago, with a different team, really buy him?

Confession time: I only read the center spine and legitimately spent a moment trying to figure out who "Givs" was. Anywho, give me O'Reilly on Eichel's wing or give me death.

The Irish live!

You asked if there was a coach who could do better. Well, the Leafs are better. There's a lot of space between where the Sabres are now and being a contender. Nobody is arguing a different coach makes this team hit 100 points and push for a Cup. But better? Yea, I think that's pretty easily obtainable.

It'll only be $9 million. $15 million was the price to fire Ryan, which they had no issue doing. No reason to think it'll be an issue. And I don't want Bylsma fired because he and Jack don't get along, I want him fired because he's bad at his job. Saying it's because of Eichel is spin.

Maybe not for the Rangers. But imagine Sabres-Leafs on the heels of US-Canada? It'd sell. Easy.

If that's the reasoning, why wouldn't O'Reilly sit too? Risto? They get more minutes than Eichel, after all. This screams a coach trying to defuse a public controversy.

If this comes to pass, I'll have my torch lit and pitchfork sharpened.