DHawerchuk10

Indeed....against Toronto too! Perhaps Hutton can score a "real" goal at some point (Mika's goal was merely a pass that went astray, and he was last one to touch it). Hutts can really handle that puck well. On a side note.....although I'm a bit more pessimistic than most of the folks here, I haven't been this pumped for a game in a very long time! I just hope the boys don't burn themselves out within the first few minutes from all the adrenaline.

I always felt bad for Mika. Never thought he got a fair shake, and then his career stalled.

My memory might be a little off, but I could have sworn we were below 500 at some point within the first month or so. And then right around Thanksgiving...boom. We won like 10 out of 12 or something like that. I think Miller was still out too at the beginning of that turnaround, as I thought Marty won like 5 or 6 straight. Briere and Dumont were out with a sports hernia for a month if I recall. In any event.....

This is the hope at least right? Coming from behind like this, and playing one period of good hockey while getting wins is not sustainable. They really haven't played a mostly complete game since the loss against the Rangers ironically.

The '98-'99 team wasn't THAT bad offensively, especially when comparing them to other teams of that era. Its just how people remember it because Hasek was the best player in the game and shutdown other teams so completely. Didn't Satan have 40 that year?

Not really...they were 500 or slightly below for the first month, then exploded. Most of the pundits were picking them to be near or at the bottom, but all you needed was some awareness of the last played year to know they were not going to be that bad. But I don't think anybody expected them to be as good as they were either.

Really?! I think he's been our most consistent player the past few games shift to shift. If Bogosian would stop fumbling D to D passes behind our net, I would compliment him as well.

Correct. Hutton was first star of last nights game going away (save on Kessel was a major turning point). I'm allowing myself to enjoy the moment here, but I'm not that naïve to ignore that for the better part of two periods, we were abhorrent and were totally outplayed by a struggling team. In any event, I think we are getting ahead of ourselves a bit when comparing this team to '05-'06. We are on the right track, and are showing lots of good qualities, but I'm not quite where the other board members are yet with the optimism.

The first name that came to mind was Victor Gordiuk.

Eric Rasmussen?

That does seem very plausible doesn't it? I am with you though....would not like that trade unless the team feels Reinhart is a prime contributor to the locker room malaise.

I suppose we have to agree to disagree. I can certainly agree that good defensive play is hard to quantify and tends to be more observational. I always found though, especially with "two-way forwards" , being considered a good defensive forward is more based on group think perception and reputation than hard reality. I personally watch O'Reilly very closely in the defensive zone because I have an interest in positioning, coverages, and the like, but I don't see anything in O'Reilly's game that screams elite when I compare him to other great defensive forwards like Bergeron. And this is not to say I don't think he is responsible or you can't use him in all situations (you can, which is why I really like O'Reilly), just not among the best or really overly special defensively. Where O'Reilly's talents do have a tangible impact in the defensive zone is his faceoff ability. That being said, I have no desire to see O'Reilly traded unless the Sabres get a monster return.

Methinks you greatly overrate O'Reilly's defensive game. He misses far too many defensive zone assignments for my liking and sometimes lags on the back check (I would concede the guy has his moments, but I thought he was a wreck defensively at the beginning of last season). I think you are seeing the more idealized version of him versus what he actually does.

St. Louis? I would be happy with a return of Dunn and Kyrou quite frankly. Hell, I'd be happy with just Kyrou at this point.

Agree on Hawerchuk (obviously). Where is Zhitnik on this list? Satan is Top 10 in a bunch of categories I think (too lazy to look up the accuracy of that claim right now). No love for late 90's Sabres. I'd take Peca over Briere as well, but that's just my personal flavor, nothing against Danny.

I certainly hope so. Three things that absolutely frustrate me to no end when I watch this team is how slowly they seem to process the game (i.e. no quick puck movement/passing, no consistent sense of anticipation), how they have zero gap control, and how they always try to play the puck instead of the man in front of the net.

I think the key word here is "intend". I'm sure Nashville didn't "intend" on giving up a 1st rounder for Paul Gaustad either. GMs be crazy at the deadline.

Call me crazy, but that might be at the root of wanting to unload O'Reilly from a management strategy perspective. My wishful thinking and personal bias at least hope that is the case.

Yeah, I recall it was kind of a fuzzy situation back then on who was pulling the strings. The years are all starting to blend together too, which isn't helping. It sucks to get old. Ah, yes, the old Beauregard/Ruuttu switcheroo. Funny thing was, I have zero recollection of that being a three-way deal with the Jets. So when it was reported years later that we traded Beauregard, I was totally lost.

Actually, I think Meehan traded for Hasek, and also traded for Fuhr. Muckler took over GM duties the following year, did he not?

Is that sarcasm about the camera angles? Impossible to follow the play with that flying camera.

I seem to remember Randy Wood (who's dandy good), and Donald Audette playing with Hawerchuk quite a bit during the 92-93 season.

I concur with your assessment. With respect to the Sabres, I am not sure if I would have made different decisions quite frankly. I was not fully onboard with the tank either, but as you said, it was easily defensible. For folks so willing to draw and quarter Pegula, what decisions would you have made differently since the tank, and what decisions would you want him to make going forward to improve the team? I keep hearing that he is too meddlesome, care to offer some recent examples? It appears he learned from his earlier mistakes, and set out to hire qualified hockey folks. Perhaps those hockey folks aren't as qualified as many of us thought, but were you honestly against these hirings upon announcement?

My "unpopular" opinion stems from the fact that when the this happens, 90% of the time (or at least this is my perception), the play was more flukey than anything else (puck flipped up at the last second, etc.) I understand your counter argument is that the defensive player has to be more careful, and thus this carefulness leads to more offense (which is rational), but I personally think the rule is just chinsy. The one time I really wanted this called was when Darius Kaspiritis grabbed the puck with this glove and threw it into the crowd during Game 7 of '01 playoffs, and of course it wasn't. Why can't we go back to those division names by the way? These division names based on region are nonsense. I am probably the only one who is pedantic enough to care, but when someone knows who was in the Smythe division, this grants them instant credibility in my book.

-The automatic "delay of game" penalty for a puck shot over the glass in the defensive zone should be abolished. -The "jumping into the glass" celebration is stupid and unoriginal. -Thomas Vanek isn't lazy. -In retrospect, John Gurtler doesn't seem so bad. -Visiting Sabre fans are 2nd only to Visiting Leaf fans in obnoxiousness -The Sabre team that had the best chance to win the Cup who didn't make it to the Finals was the '01 team, and not the '06 team -Tim Murray didn't get enough back in trades for our high draft picks/prospects -Ted Nolan is a better coach for this team than Dan Bylsma -I would still hate Patrick Kane even if he played for the Sabres