DarthEbriate

An ongoing problem since the tank started. When very good teams turn on the aggression and go to playoff speed, this team doesn't have another gear to match it.

What an awful powerplay, leading immediately to an easy rush even-strength tap-in.

The Concept of Time is an unknown (and EEE). This is how we win!

The Avalanche broadcasters stated that the PP timer does not display on the gargantuan new scoreboard. The audience doesn't know how much PP time is remaining for visitors? Is this real?

All these commercials tell me 'tis the season... to cast modesty aside and toot your own claxon.

Start PP2 for the beginning of the third. They move at least.

Great redirect save by UPL on Rantanen.

Got roped into some last-minute Imperial meetings. Supply problems, labor difficulties. Bein' responsible. Time to start the game! I'll catch up with y'all at the rendezvous point.

50% save percentage. Not gonna cut it for a team with Cup aspirations.

Make it a Mitts Revenge game!

The "have to" is true; the "will they" is yet to be written. The important thing is that the Sabres are not flat at the start or at any point throughout the game. If the desperation and focus aren't palpable, I don't know what they're doing. If you make a mistake, make the mistake going 1000 miles per hour.

Great skater, but a defensive d-man. Mark Pysyk 2.0. Pysyk carved out 500+ NHL games over 11 seasons. I think everyone pretty much wanted Pinto at the time. Bryson is fine as 7-8, until he's forced to play everyday for 10+ games, but Bryson will go UFA this summer and Johnson is likely to step into that role next year unless they just release him from RFA.

It's an age-old discussion, but bringing into its own thread because it can take over every other thread. Prefacing with @Carmel Corn's poorly constructed roster comment and these responses: Pegula was definitely a playoff flavor-of-the-month hunter: Ehrhoff (underrated here, but a solid 2nd pair/PP1 guy) and Leino (good for one series against us). But he was also pretty gung-ho on Regehr, who was tough and balanced. But then, when the centers all dried up and the decision was made to tank.... And Foligno, yes, which brings us to here. I think the real issue at hand here is, they're all, every one of them: outsiders brought in. Foligno is one of these guys, was young, local and cost-controlled, and was given away for the population of Pominville. Maybe if someone offers you 2 firsts for him. But here it's been "savior grinder!" or in the John Scott case "savior goon!". In the case of ROR (totally worth it and played his role perfectly), Kane, and Bogo, they gave up a ton to get each of them. And none of the others are top-6 or top-pair guys, though Kane and Bogo could've been based on draft position/talent, but by the time they were Sabres it was clear that's not who they were. In post-Regier drafts beginning in 2014, in the first and second rounds, the guys you assume will play in the NHL, they've sometimes drafted tenacity -- but often ignored it or went for defensively-responsible, or simply took the de facto player available (and Dahlin, Eichel, and Reinhart all have added grit to their games). And when they have gone that route at forward, it's rarely a 6-2 who projects to 200+# guy. From 2014-2020, the forwards who now would be the heart and core of your lineup... they aren't on the team. Or are playing a line (JJP) too high for their age/consistency. The good news? Lately, they have started to draft for tenacity in the 1st and 2nd round (Karmanos and co.), it's just that those players aren't ready for the big show yet. 2014: Reinhart (not super tenacious, but definitely gritty on offense once he filled out, and always a nose for the net); Lemieux (gritty - but apparently refused to play for the Sabres), Cornel (nope), Karabacek (nope). 2015: Eichel (obvious pick); Guhle (nope) 2016: Nylander (nope); Asplund (a defensive-minded forward, but not especially tenacious and definitely not gritty) 2017: Mitts (learned to reverse-check and battle on the boards, but wasn't drafted as such); Davidsson (known at the time of draft as a tenacious PK/3C potential - but busted); Luukkonen - goalie! 2018: Dahlin (learned to); Samuelsson (physical, though not especially tenacious, until his body started breaking) 2019: Cozens (tenacious as a draft prospect; and could still pan out as such, but he's a line too high and he's always the oldest player on his line); Johnson (defensive technician, but not tenacious necessarily, not gritty) 2020: Quinn (was physically engaged, but have injuries already derailed it?); JJP (tenacious, but not overly physical) 2021: Power (obvious pick, but I think we'd all agree is neither gritty nor tenacious. High-end skill though); Rosen (maybe a bit tenacious at the AHL level, just not ready for the NHL); Poltapov (tenacious, but timeline 2 years away); Kisakov (nope!) -- still too recent to know for sure -- 2022: Savoie (tenacious, not necessarily intimidating); Östlund (defensively responsible as a prospect; smaller); Kulich (improving 200' game, and growing tenacity) 2023: Benson (tenacity incarnate!, but can be overpowered); Wahlberg (known more for skill than grit, but has size); Strbak (definitely gritty) 2024: Helenius (seems tenacious); Kleber (seems physical); Bonus: Ziemer (definitely tenacious).

It's not even here to say that Rodgers is still a really good quarterback. The housecleaning will only be a rearranging of the furniture in the room. Adams as a president role, new GM (which is good, but would it be anyone but Karmanos?), Ruff as a coach or retired/consultant role, Appert behind the bench. Maybe the assistant coaches get shuffled about? Now, that hypothetical would be one more step of separation from the owner to the coach, which could be beneficial for the team construction.

Over the weekend, the Avalanche and Predators did a backup goalie swap of Annunen for Wedgewood. Will the Sabres see Wedgewood make his Avalanche debut on Tuesday? The answer is yes, because he'll either get the start or he'll play after they chase Georgiev and his sparkling .875 sv%.

It's not just a big advantage. It's a ####-ton of an advantage. The 49ers B team is very bad. Watched them last Sunday night and they could've easily lost by 38 instead of 28. CMC has no burst/power this season, either.

He'd be the best player in the trade and is the only Sabre who could conceivably score 40+ this season or next. Gotta stop trading away their most dangerous forwards.

He'll eventually look good, but yes. It's a consistent oddity.

The best looks they've had with the empty net. Benson, Quinn, Krebs, Kulich. That's who is on the ice. Think about that.

Whether you want them to be or not, if you have four top-2 picks those are your franchise players. They might not be hall of famers or the best players in the league, but they're your current franchise cornerstones.

They didn't need luck. They purposefully drafted 2nd overall twice (and poor luck had them finish 2nd instead of first one time), and then drafted 1st overall twice as well. They had and in some cases still have their franchise players.

He's tied for about 100th in salary in the league. He's not paid like an elite player. But... he does need a top-flight winger because JJP is still way too inconsistent for a 1st liner (or even better, to have an elite center playing in front of him or on his line, you know, like an Eichel).

The Isles just did a drop pass on their PP, but it started at the red line and the Sabres were all drifting back into their own zone anyway. It turned into a cakewalk easy entry.

And while he was out injured they won their games. Everyone else didn't rely on him and just went after it. Now they wait for him to stickhandle which his reach inhibits once he's in tight one-on-one. Great effort by Krebs to keep it in the zone.

He's still under team control for quite some time... but once Zucker walks in the offseason (or... let's face it, quite possibly at the trade deadline this season)... how long until Benson realizes he's alone and "doesn't want to be here"?