DarthEbriate

That means next season we're looking at 95-4.44 (for Skinner) as 90.5. Subtract 6 for the TP Discount. 84.5 is up from spending this year. Raise ticket prices to compensate. That'll be plenty to pay JJP and Byram if you let Zucker go. Done and done.

Well, time to head off to a friend's birthday party. She's doing a prom-themed birthday... but... we're not... young... likesay, we remember the original trilogy. Anyway, I may have to dress up, but it gets me clear of Sabres hockey. Do you think the Sabres will attempt to collectively "send a message" in the third period? Like a Torts-team would? (I don't.)

Or at least, he hasn't yet lost his hatred of losing. There's still time for that with this franchise.

Benson with some poor sportsmanship after the goal, but... at least he doesn't like losing.

Sabres broadcast team: Good start to the road trip, eh?

One team wants it, the other is drifting.

If Benson interfered last game, Brink interfered there.

No penalties for elbow, crosscheck, or roughing after the whistle. Nice. Good job, refs. Let them sort things out after the whistle early.

The Phlyers see the size of Buffalo's new scoreboard and raise them the size of the numbers on their sleeves.

Games as head coach it took for each to learn that Skinner is not as good as other options as a top line forward, and if not there, is incapable as a bottom 6 forward: Brind'Amour: 0 games Housley: 70-ish games (Eichel dragged Skinner along, but if you recall, Sheary and then Olofsson finished the season with Eichel-Reinhart) Krueger: Season 1: 0 games. Skinner was not on Eichel's wing. Krueger: Season 2: 0 games. Hall was on Eichel's wing, then COVID took the team apart and in the return on 2/16/21 Skinner was promoted to Eichel's wing in a 3-0 shutout to NYI. It's a trick question: NEGATIVE 12 games -- then he put Skinner on the top line. Granato: Season 1: 0 games. Hall remains on the top line until his trade, and then a few weeks later about 4/11/21, Granato puts Skinner on Reinhart's wing on the top line. About NEGATIVE 13 games for Skinner to rise to the top line. Granato Season 2: NEVER LEARNED! Skinner - TNT - Tuch plays like a 1st line. Granato Season 3: 47 games. Skinner was on the top line, dealt with some injuries, but didn't get demoted until about the LA Kings game on 1/24/24. Ruff: 0 games Knoblauch: 17 games. (Though it's his GM's choice and free agency recency bias) ---------- TL/DR: RB'A, Krueger, Ruff knew when they started. Maybe we need to give Krueger a little bit more credit.* EDM needs to trade Skinner before they miss the playoffs. *No. No, we don't. That's the Sabres 31st All-Time leading scorer.

Dun: I don't see Marchand on the Bruins bench. Must have gone back to the locker room. Ray: No, Dan, his uniform is still on the bench. He appears to have been vaporized. <mug to camera> Ray: This is how we win. ------ Pettersen would be fine, but is yet another LHD who is used to playing the left side with Karlsson. Nyqvist would be OK, although I'm always wondering about him and why he can't stick with any team more than 1.5 seasons.

I hesitate to say the Sabres are a better team than almost anyone. Certainly a higher-skilled roster, particularly on defense. The Flyers have 4 OT/SO wins. They're going to try to make this game into an endless slog and with TNT out, the most dynamic forward on the ice is going to be Michkov. (Followed by JJP/Konecy and then... Benson? Or, given his wheels, maybe McLeod.) You have the solution. The Sabres need to outskate and outwork the Flyers on every loose puck and board battle. Both teams have had a rest day, but the Sabres don't play again until next Wednesday; there is no excuse for slackery.

The Sabres lost 5-1 last season and had a 4-0 shutout to PHI the season prior, and both of those no-show games really stung at the time. But overall, Granato was 8-3-1 vs. the Flyers, including his first win as Sabres head coach.

It's not really in the GM's purview, but what if we made the scoreboard bigger and even more intimidating for opposing players.

Greenway out on a defensively challenged team?

So now I have to only use quotes instead of gifs?

I'll add it to the list.

It's his hockey nickname. https://www.hockey-reference.com/players/f/ferrara01.html

I think Ray Ferraro was on the broadcast.

Where the children dance / to the pipes of Pan (power!) 😇 Quinn Solo. He's not yet had his Solo weekend though where he met all his friends, got his ship and gun, and learned the tough life lessons. It all comes back to a single play last season. I don't recall the opponent or forward. Power defending a one-on-one zone entry. He has the angle and position as the wing moves up the far boards. The wing goes behind the net. Power also goes behind the net... unsure why he felt he needed to drop so low, but he did. At this point, all Power needs to do is stick his butt into the boards -- stops the forward in his tracks, causes a puck battle, and the remaining skaters all arrive in the zone and it's a reset of the action. Power doesn't need to hit the winger; he just needs to stop the forward progress. If it had been Chara, the winger would've been killed. We all know that isn't Power's game, but he needs to stop the play and start a puck battle. Instead, Power stops way off the boards, waves his stick, and the winger proceeds around the back of the net, circles in front and creates a 2-on-1 versus the other Sabres defenseman - Joker or Dahlin or whomever it was had no chance. Tap-in goal.

Exactly. That's what got them into this situation with Samuelsson in the first place. He got 12 games with the Sabres in 20-21, which is about right as a look-see, but they also had Bryson in the NHL the entire year and he played 38 games. They could've both been in Rochester except for 8-10 games. Throwing on the ol' Hindsight Hat, other than "wanting to be here/clearing out the old core" message, they could've just extended McCabe for the 4x$4M (and likely less) he got from Chicago before UFA hit preceding that 2020-21 season. Then, Samuelsson gets bridged and you have a decision this past 2024 summer on whether to re-sign McCabe as Toronto did, or go to Muel on a long-term deal. Extending McCabe doesn't prevent Adams from moving Risto for a temporary Hagg. The team has been lacking a consistent veteran D, until... Clifton? McCabe has been just fine as a #4 in Toronto the past couple seasons and while perhaps overextended on a bad Chicago team, he was still reliable.

Don't look now, but the Sabres PP is running at 30% since they scored their first goal. Zucker on PP1 and running the puck to him below the net, plus Dahlin and Benson returning to health, have been the keys.

The payment was premature, but the money wasn't big given the term. Right or wrong, they envisioned him as a 2nd pair d-man. $4M for a 2nd pair (maybe even 1st pair if he had totally gelled with Dahlin and continued to improve all-around) and top-pair PK d-man on the team is an easy contract, and by the end of his term would be a steal given the rising cap. It's in alignment with Zub, Manson, Tanev/McCabe, etc. The issue is the chronic injuries which weren't yet chronic at the time of the contract. Trouble is, the injuries haven't just taken him off the ice, they've changed him as a player (he's less physical/engaged) and stymied his development/progress.

I missed the second half of the game (Godzilla Minus One is good kaiju, good characters and most importantly, Godzilla looks like a person in a suit even when it's not -- that works well), but the highlights show a lackluster second sandwiched between pretty solid periods. I've seen goalie interference before; I'm not sure Benson's infraction counts. They should have won in regulation, but won in OT instead. McLeod was excellent throughout the first and in the other highlights. Benson being Benson is important, right down to the post-whistle scrums and conversations. They thought they had that steady top-4 stay-at-home guy in Samuelsson, but since 2022-23, his stay-at-homeness has been in the press box with an injury.