DarthEbriate

The Dunne callup made more sense after learning that Greenway was still sick Kulich was newly sick and out of the lineup, coupled with the trade of Gilbert.

Ovechkin is 9 goals away. The Caps' 9th game out on their schedule is a home game against the Sabres. That game is sandwiched by 2-game road trips (at Winnipeg/Minnesota before, and at Boston/Carolina afterward). There is a chance that Ovechkin is the only Capital who takes a shot on goal in that Sabres matchup....

Short answer: Overall, not much -- it's on Darth Pegulas, the EEE mandate, and unqualified GM yes-man-Sheevyn and the culture and roster they've assembled. By Ruff's admission he didn't want the job, but took it anyway. He didn't act on instinct and that is his fault. But... The long answer: This season is Ruff's mess. If he is buddies with Pegula as has been posted on this board and reported elsewhere, then they had conversations before his hire. And my supposition: then they also had conversations before Granato's firing. This makes him essentially the de facto POHO upon hire as he has the most connections and tenure around the league and was Adams' mentor/coach years ago. His uncontested hiring was the beginning of this season's timeline (except HCDG's firing). Because Ruff was the first domino and had the GM's and owner's direct ear, he was complicit and part of the design of every event this offseason and season. And he will be so again once he officially is in the front office at the end of next season (barring retirement). ---- Instead, he should have said, "I'll come on as POHO and here is what we'll do: Adams remains GM/Pegula's sounding board, but I make the hockey decisions. I will make the decision on the Head Coach and new coaching staff, and I will provide the shopping list for players for the GM to execute. And to hell with EEE; if you want to say it's 'Playoffs or bust' then we spend to the cap in every way, shape, and form. We are getting a top-flight coaching staff. It is the Ruff Solo way or the highway, and if you, Darth Pegulas say no to any of these conditions, then your tauntaun will freeze before the first marker, I'll enjoy my retirement, and I'll see you in hell." Then, go hire McClellan or Gallant or whomever and put together the best staff you can find.

The one clear takeaway from this game: Florida is obviously peaking too soon. 1st round exit. It is their destiny.

There was no reason for Cozens' crosscheck and no reason for a fight there. The bodycheck was minimal, just Hathaway being a strong checker. The game was over. If you want to start a fight, you don't pick that guy. What's fun is you can clearly hear someone say "What a ###### idiot. What an idiot," at the conclusion of the fight. They weren't wrong. Note: Cozens wasn't playing all that well at the start of the season before the fight, either.

I don’t know what the Panthers were upset about. Malenstyn gave Kulikov a good solid check. Glad Dunne was there. He’s not an NHL player, but he would’ve wrecked Greer if not for the turtling.

Nope. Tuch still on with JJP.

Benson gets the opening shift with the top line. And the second shift, too. Is Tuch out?

If they get to 10 losses in a row, could GM Sheevyn do anything? No? Oh. Ok. Carry on.

Dunne really isn’t an NHL-caliber player. Sabres get all scrambly. Goal. They looked like the tank squad on that shift.

Panthers such good defensive sticks in every passing lane. And occasionally they pick off an incredibly slow Power pass.

Rosén looks slightly faster this call-up.

It was McLeod, so I can’t blame Norris or Cozens.

Got into a 3 on 1. No shot.

Out worked on the power play.

Muel falls down. Goal, Florida.

100% on faceoffs!

Four starters out for the Sabres tonight. But no Marchand or Tkachuk for the Panthers. Fun.

Tuned into TSN and saw the 1st intermission highlights/spotlight on Cozens. He bumped into people on the ice. Maybe one of those gets credited as a hit in Buffalo. In his first Sens home game: one period, 5 hits. Those were the easiest 5 hits he'll ever earn.

One thing is to see if Norris ever plays with Quinn, and if they do, are they pretty much an automatic goal against. Can Norris bring out the best in Quinn and turn him back into a top-6 projected RW?

The sweater numbers sent to us by the Senator spies pinpoint the exact location of the bottom of the Standings. We also know that the Rebuild of this franchise is not yet operational. With the other franchises of the league spread throughout the standings in a vain effort to promote us, the Lottery is relatively unprotected. But most important of all, we've learned that the GM Sheevyn himself is personally overseeing the final stages of the construction of this roster. Many Bothans died Cozens and Jokers were traded to bring us this information. For Cozens' sake, I hope he doesn't try to pull off a New Guy Fight in his first game for Ottawa to prove all the talking heads correct about his physicality.

Thus, the Rosén callup. Gotta stop all this puking, gents!

Plus, @GASabresIUFAN correctly identified him as Howdy Doody, who is clearly a marionette. Edit: credit added

At the time, Colorado needed a 2C and had redundant defensive depth in Byram. This season, Mitts appeared to collapse under the pressure (not all that surprising) and got the raw end of the deal with the injuries early in the season (MacKinnon/Rantanen/Makar were on the ice together and everyone else got AHL-level players) with their inept goaltending. It was an A+ move for the wrong player. Seems like they applied Bernard-Docker's data to Cozens. JBD is just about due to come back from his high ankle sprain and was on LTIR with the Sens.

My two questions through the end of the season are: 1) How quickly does Ottawa move Cozens to the wing? 2) Does Norris play soundly enough at center that the Sabres suddenly ice an actual NHL 2nd line?