SabresBaltimore

I have Center Ice through Verizon FIOS. They offer 9 HD channels, and 14 SD channels. I've gotten the Sabres MSG coverage for several games now, one of which was only in SD. In my experience despite Center Ice being available on multiple (all?) providers what's available seems to vary quite a bit. DirectTV has the best service, since they have MSG-B on their package and anyone with Center Ice is able to watch that channel during Sabres games. What's been available on FIOS has changed a lot over the years. For a long time it was typically the other team's coverage only. They also went from 1 HD channel to 3 to 5, and now 9. I'm still waiting for them to get to 14, but at this point I'm not holding my breath. I've found that I almost always gets the MSG feed for Sabres homes games, but it's a crap shoot what's available during away games. Last night I only got the Minnesota coverage. There wasn't even a SD option for the MSG coverage this time. Sunday I got both Winnepeg and Buffalo coverage. Both in HD. I think some of it comes down to how many other games are playing and what channel it's on. If it's on 1-9, it's also in HD. If it's on 10-14 it'll be SD only. Saturday nights tend to be the worst since the most concurrent games seem to occur then.

That's not a bad theory. I wonder if it would make for fewer important games the last few weeks of the season or more. I hate watching a game between two playoff teams slow way down in the 3rd period because both teams are playing for 1 point and a chance at bonus point rather than a win. ROW was supposed to help reduce this, but I'm not convinced it has. It's hard for me to remember since the Sabres haven't been in the hunt for awhile, so I haven't been watching a lot of random hockey games with playoff implications at the end of the season like I did a few years back.

I'd like them to go to a 3 point game system (like they use in international tournaments) instead of the stupid 2+1 system they currently have. Maybe that would make playing for Overtime less attractive since now you're giving up that 3rd point. Of course that now means that Overtime wins are less than regulation wins, and the same as a shootout win, unless you keep the ROW tie breaker too. I have no idea why they didn't just go to 3 points when they changed the Overtime rules. Was it to avoid changes to the records? IE now you'd have a potential 246 points in a season instead of 164 which would mean getting over 100 points in a season would become commonplace.

Not to mention if they went based on offensive output, they should be calling up COLE SCHNEIDER whose 4-6-10 while Bailey is only 3-1-4. If he really believes he belongs in the NHL he should be leading the team. Of course they are only 7 games in, but still.

I'm hoping being sent to Rochester motivates Bailey to play his ass off..

OK. Yeah I don't want to start an argument. I was just trying to follow along. Thanks for the info.

I've always thought win percentage was #wins/total games, so 3-3-2 = 3/8 = .375. That seems to be this DeLuca .500. How do they normally account for OT losses, by points? Like #points/total points so 8/16 = .500?

The DeLuca .500? Is there a thread somewhere that explains it? I tried a quick forum search and got a bunch of Game Day Threads hits, but nothing popped out as discussing what that means that I saw.

Haha. No worries. I noticed it in October too, but I forgot to mention it then. Thanks!

Yeah. 8pm EST start. Not sure why the typo on the desktop wallpaper.

Sabres are 2-0 with a +5 goal differential since my trip home for Saturday's game. I'm taking all the credit. ;) I actually forgot to watch the Wild game on Thursday, but turns out I didn't miss much. Let's hope this momentum continues tonight and we split the season series.

Thanks! Great as always. Small comment though, you have tonight's game listed at 1pm ET but it's at 8pm ET

It's going to be pricey to have to drive up for every home game so this team can get some wins.

Well it's not just for the game. I'm visiting with friends and family while I'm here too. I try to come up for a game in October each year instead of Thanksgiving. Still, I had made these plans before I knew they'd start off like this.

I'm going. Drove 7 hours yesterday for this. 7 hours back tomorrow. Don't let me down boys!

It takes more than 1 person to make a winning team though. The fact that they aren't rising to the challenge yet is pretty disappointing.

The team needs to show some consistency. Ideally consistent with the Edmonton game or the first 2 periods of the Philly game instead of consistent with the garbage/sloppy periods. They obviously have the talent to play well, but have only put together one complete game so far. I was hoping the progress we seemed to make at the end of last season would carry over more this season. I look at guys like RoR and Gionta as the leaders on the team. Losing Eichel hurts, but was he doing more to drive this team than his play on the ice? Or is that just an excuse? The next few games could be telling. 2 home games against some pretty good teams before a timezone hop against a team (Winnipeg) we should take advantage of if we want to contest for a playoff spot this year. It's a long season, but we need to start stringing together some more wins soon, or we'll end up in the same position as last year.

I hope they win this one and take that momentum into Saturday's game against the Panthers, since I'm driving up for the weekend to go to it.

First we have to wait 4 days for another game after a mostly disappointing west coast trip, and now we have to put up with the idiots on NBCSN commentating. Boo! Hopefully the Sabres line changes have an impact.

That true, we benefited from the goaltending matchup on both sides, but they still played with a lot more energy the whole game than in game 1. The Folino-Larson-Gionta line was great on both ends of the ice picking up where they left off last season. Plus the chemistry of RoR, Opsoso and Samson looked promising. I'm having a hard time telling whose being serious about Moulson and whose ragging on him. He was good for us once upon a time and I hope his play through 2 games isn't a fluke. If he can get 20+ goals this season that'd be a huge help, especially early in the season with Eichel and now Kane out. Ennis though is looking a bit lost out there. He seems to be working hard, but not seeing much results. I can see him getting frustrated and spiraling out like Moulson did last year. Time will tell. Not enough data yet to know what we'll be getting on a regular basis.

I always end up missing the West Coast games. I get up at 4am, so a 9pm start is a pretty late for me. I'll probably catch the first period then go to bed. I'll record the rest and assuming I can avoid the score (very easy here since few people like hockey) I'll watch the rest after work tomorrow instead. Calgary is 0-2-1 right now I think, so they are going to be hungry for a win. And Chad Johnson was pretty solid for us, so I expect him to come up big. Definitely hoping we see the Sabres from game 2 and not the lunks in game 1.

My Jersey selection is limited to 2: "Third Jersey" from the Slug Years Pomminstein and my new RoR jersey I got at the home closer last year because I'm a sucker for discounts on stuff. Most of the time I just wear my Winter Classic Hoodie though. I'll probably wear RoR to work tomorrow since I couldn't get away with it today. As much as I want O'Reilly to play every game, I hope he's not rushing himself back and hurting us in the long run. It sure seems that way if he can't take face offs/is limited.

There is an app for NHL.Tv for Android(https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nhl.gc1112.free&hl=en-US), but it's a pay service and only out of market games (ie no Sabres for you since you live in the market area). I'm not sure about NHL.TV, but the cable package always has a 2 week free preview of the hockey package. But that still won't help you with the blackout issue.

Buffalo Hockey Beat (http://www.buffalohockeybeat.com/sabres-notes-rasmus-ristolainen-happy-contract-done/) says it's likely: Although I read somewhere else (I forget where) that even if he plays tonight his time will be limited and he won't take faceoffs "due to the nature of his injury".

Thanks as always!