matter2003

Martin Gerber was the starter in the regular season and posted much better numbers than Ward, but he sh** the bed in the playoffs in 2 starts and Ward played much better the rest of the way. Went 15-8 in the playoffs with a .920 save percentage and 2.14 GAA. Gerber went 1-1 with a .856 save percentage and a 3.52 GAA in his 2 playoff starts although he came in relief of Ward 4 other times, giving up a stunning 13 goals on 90 shots.

I posed this question to ChatGPT and this is what it gives back...Osgood is #2 on it's list, Ward #3 so we were both in the ballpark 🙂 1. Antti Niemi (2010 - Chicago Blackhawks) Niemi was decent but far from elite. He posted a .910 SV% and 2.63 GAA in the playoffs, which are respectable but not stellar. The Blackhawks were an absolute powerhouse with stars like Toews, Kane, Keith, Seabrook, Hossa, and Byfuglien leading the charge. Chicago was so dominant that they let Niemi walk after the Cup win and still won two more Cups with different goalies (Crawford). 2. Chris Osgood (1998 & 2008 - Detroit Red Wings) Osgood was a solid goalie, but he was never considered among the NHL’s elite. In 1998, the Red Wings were loaded with legends like Yzerman, Shanahan, Fedorov, Lidstrom, and Konstantinov. In 2008, Detroit was again dominant, featuring Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Franzen, and Lidstrom, with Osgood simply doing enough to get the job done. His 2008 playoff numbers were great (.930 SV%), but many argue he was just a passenger on a stacked team. 3. Cam Ward (2006 - Carolina Hurricanes) Ward won the Conn Smythe as playoff MVP, but that was largely because there weren’t many standout skaters. His regular-season numbers were bad (3.68 GAA, .882 SV%), and he wasn't even the starter until the playoffs. The Hurricanes were an underrated juggernaut, featuring Staal, Brind’Amour, Cole, and solid defensemen like Wesley and Hedican. 4. Bill Ranford (1990 - Edmonton Oilers) Won the Conn Smythe, but this was still Messier’s team after Gretzky left. Edmonton had Messier, Kurri, Tikkanen, and an elite blue line with Kevin Lowe and Steve Smith. Ranford was never really a top-tier goalie outside of this one playoff run. 5. J.S. Giguere (2007 - Anaheim Ducks) Unlike his heroic 2003 Cup Final run (where he won the Conn Smythe despite losing), Giguere in 2007 was more of a passenger. The Ducks had Scott Niedermayer and Chris Pronger in their prime, plus Teemu Selanne and a young Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf. Giguere had good numbers but wasn’t the reason they won.

Luck always plays a role. many times much bigger than most realize.

Chris Osgood? Won 3 cups for the Wings, finished 2nd in the Vezina once early in his career buy clearly never was even close to being considered one of the best goalies of his era. Red Wings teams just were so good they didn't need him to be great, just make some key saves when they need it.

If anyone ever questions who this team's MVP is and doesn't say Dahlin, they should be slapped.

An invite for them all to go to the club after the game - settle it like real men... on the dancefloor!! "Oh!! Look at this folks! Tage stepping out, shifting gears, driving that Disco Big Rig, blowing that funky horn! Pull into the truck stop and get yourself a Scrapple full of sexy!"

Columbus is +136 on the moneyline meaning the Sabres are favored. 😂 Guess it's a good thing I extract 5-10K a month out of the markets day trading.

Won't matter...they are going to be stopped at win #3 like a brick wall.

Yes...and bring whatever other coach in that will not be able to do anything but lose with this same group of players just like every coach brought in since it started has. When are you going to WAKE UP and realize it ain't the coaches that are the problem here.

And he we go with the Sabres turning what should be an easy win into a nail biter again in less than 5 minutes of 3rd period hockey. SMFH at this team.

Hmm...that makes a lot of sense...if we are leaving a lot more material to be burned that acts as a sort of kindling to start these fires and then we have 78 more days on average per year that are prime to start them, it would only make sense that is a terrible combination.

Yes, there is no "season" anymore for wildfires, the season has become all year round. There are an average of 78 more "fire days" per year when conditions are ripe for wildfires to start now than there were a few decades ago. If this continues, the entire state is going to be on fire at some point.

He told Kulich to get the Bozak

This should be self-explanatory. Sabres are wasting an elite level D-man and an elite-level C. I'm not sure another team in the NHL that has 2 players in this category is outside the playoffs looking in, let alone near the bottom of the NHL It's honestly embarrassing.

Wonder if he has moves like Jagger?

Let's start a new win streak for the New Year.

4th time the Sabres will try to break thru and win 4 in a row this year...last 3 were L's. Can they do it?

They also do a terrible job of passing the puck to players so that they can actually do something with it once they get it...too often it's to the wrong side or a little behind them or in their skates, so instead of actually being able to do something with it quickly, it takes them a second or two to gather the puck properly and by the time they do that, the defender is on top of them.

Just go watch Terry's other 2 teams...they are great.

Then why are teams constantly moving if they all make money? That doesn't make sense. Sure, some can be explained by arena situations, but the majority are because of hemorrhaging money like they had Ebola.

The majority of these players have never been coached properly since they have been in the NHL to play hockey the right way. Ruff not only needs to re-train them to do something they have never done before, but he also needs to untrain them to stop doing what they are used to doing and what they go back to as default. And it's not going to be easy. But it has to be done unless we want to spin our wheels for another 10 years.

Yeah the accountants who have to do tax returns for athletes are definitely worth every penny...filing that return must take days. Interesting how the different sports pay differently. In the NFL you get paid per game so your paycheck would be broken down into 1/17th each week you play. Also, unless you are a star player that has some sort of clause in the contract you only get paid half your normal salary if you end up on IR for those games.

Why would anyone expect 4th liners to be "great" at anything other than slowing the other teams best lines down?

Sabres are in the last wildcard spot as of today.