DarthEbriate

Important questions that need answers: We have a Joker in Henri and a Toker in Dustin. Who's our Smoker? The Caps also played and lost last night, so neither team is rested or pleased.

Or we could waive him and hope the hockey minds in Arizona exact the old "The Waivers Strike Back" revenge move... and claim him and his 2.5M salary to improve their PK and get "more veterans" for their team. That'd be nice.

And if Weissbach gets an end of season look with the big squad (before heading back to Rochester for presumably the AHL playoffs), we'd have Linus + Linus.

I was disappointed when we didn't sign him to an ELC coming out of that dev camp, especially since he immediately went to Edmonton and started skating with McDavid. He's got a good motor, he seems perfectly capable of a bottom six role at a rock bottom price. And as many above has stated, it portends of moving one of the veterans on an expiring contract off the roster in the very near future. Sheevyn says: "Execute Order... Thirty-two!"

People forget that while the Devils popularized the trap, they also did it with some very, very good rosters. The 1999 roster could be argued to be on par with the Western powerhouses of Detroit, Colorado, and Dallas. (And yes, it helped them that Lindros was injured for the playoffs). 1998-99 are probably not analytics darlings, true. But that was fun and entertaining, edge-of-your seat hockey. The winning helped.

Ugly all around there.

Wooooooo! Done and done.

Power Tage! We needed that. Now wake up!

Which is good because they were so atrocious at it. But maybe a session on the power play could be useful in the next few days. Poor skating, NJ skating hard and engaging in the forecheck. Gotta respond. Can Granato do what HCRK never could -- get the team to take it up a gear?

Skinner didn't just miss the net there...

Have we stopped practicing the power play?

Good start. But wow, Zacha is just on fire against Ullmark.

It's like when you're personalizing your character. Hmm... should I make my hair taller? Yes. Yes, I should.

This is terrible -- I'm sorry for you and your family's loss.

Got my J&J yesterday afternoon. I was flushed in the face when I got home but felt good otherwise. But... right before bed I could tell something was up. Overnight, I awoke with teeth-chattering chills. Good times. Yup -- the water is the key. I've been good but not great about hydration, but after a pitcher of water with lunch I'm starting to feel more myself. The fun part is it's anything with inflammation is getting hit. I broke a toe probably six weeks ago and had completely forgotten about it. Today, I can feel exactly where it happened. I didn't participate in the morning skate, but I'll be good to go for puck drop tonight. Yup -- I was also told to let the body start the fight and not assist with your acetaminophen/sodium naproxen/ibuprofen, whatever works for you, until symptoms set in.

It must be noted my expectations and reality are rarely in agreement. I still make that trade, too. It was a good trade. We also got McGinn for 2/3 of a season. But it was a big investment of expected NHL-caliber talent to do it in a farm system that had been obliterated as well as part of the tank. The tank forced us to rush Girgs, Grigs, Risto, and Zadorov to the NHL rather than seasoning them all in Rochester, probably doing at least some damage to all of them (most notably Grigs). So then when we needed young guys to step into the lineup on ELCs...they were already in Buffalo or in Colorado. Or Ottawa, Winnipeg, Los Angeles, wherever else GMTM shipped all those picks.

And now, Princess Sabres, we will discuss the location of your hidden Rebel base. <interrogation probe floats menacingly with syringe ready to go>

Faster. More intense. I want to see us start spoiling some playoffs. I need the Rangers to stay good for a bit -- which pains me to say -- but I want them hot. We play Boston and Pittsburgh a bunch down the stretch. I want our kids to spoil either of Boston's or Pittsburgh's season. Preferably Boston.

Thanks @Zamboni for once again making this list. It's a good parallel to the other ongoing threads on Sabres' draft futility. Here's what I expect in the 2nd round: 50% NHL hit rate -- you get a player! At least for a few seasons you get a guy. There are very few stars on this list, so I can't say we should have our ROR, Kucherov, or Aho. But this is how you fill out a roster. And... we did not. No picks early on was GMRegier was trading 2nds for rentals in our charges to 8th of 9th. Then McCabe, who is probably the second-best pick in his draft after Severson. Win there. But then we're in the midst of the tank and have a surplus of 2nds and we get nothing. Maybe the best all-around pick in JT Compher (who is now underperforming in Colorado) who we traded, and the rest: garbage. The trouble is you look at those 2013-2014 drafts where we have 6 seconds, and there's not much there. Aube-Kuble, Montour, Dvorak all would have been nice instead of the Karabacek. But that was supposed to be the stockpile! We were suffering, tanking, and those 6 seconds should've been a young core of a lineup. Nothing for it (and yes, we got ROR out of it, but gave up a ton for him). What really amazes me is by drafting so poorly -- look at all the 2nd rounders we ended up having to acquire via trade. We've had 'em all! Larsson, Montour, Elie, Carrier, Lehner. And signed later: Dalton Smith.

Unnlimmmitttedddd Rasmiiiiiiiiiii!

In my experience there's no such thing as luck. Good against the Devils is one thing. Good against the Islanders? That's something else.

The future will we see. Other ice rinks. Cozens, Eichel, Borgen: old friends long gone. But hopefully soon to return.

We could score more goals if we had more Rasmi!

I'm really looking forward to getting Cozens, Eichel, and Borgen back and see how they embrace some positive vibes and enjoyable hockey.

We need an entirely new level of graphic for the Ras-Trick!