mjd1001

Which has always been my worry about Krebs and why I'm not as high on him as so many. As we got to the end of last year, he had started to play a lot better. But more often than now when I watch him, he has the heart, attitude, and knowledge of a first round prospect, but the physical tools don't often match. He was a first rounder for a reason though, I hope he makes this team and is a good player for a long time, but I can't shake the feeling that very often he is just a step to slow getting to where he needs to be or just a bit less physical than he needs to be to win a crucial battle.

There was an aritcle put out either by the Sabres or the NHL saying that all preseason games would be available on Sabres.com. Yet, no where to be found.

I lived in Boston years ago (early 2000's) at the time someone named Dale Arnold was doing the Bruins play by play. He wasn't spectacular, but he did a good job was easy to understand, and wasn't that much of a 'home', pretty respectful to other teams. I actually enjoyed him. Edwards must have taken over for him and is about 15x worse. He is very hard to listen to.

I like this. I don't need it but I like it. Nothing to me looks more un-natural and not like hockey than when a guy comes in on the shootout and just slows it down REALLY slow. Of course, what happens when its possibly a deciding shootout goal and you have a possible penalty (hooking, tripping) when the chaser takes down the shooter. What do you do when you get a penalty on a shootout, and what if it is a close/judgement call?

I'd just rather have them call the cheapshots AND if they missed issue heavy fines for them after the game. That would put an end to it. You don't see that much of it in the NFL, why? The NFL doesn't put up with it and there are fines when it happens.

This was brought up in another thread a month or two ago (maybe more?), but I think it at least is a discussion point.... Patrice Bergeron. There was an article right about the time he retired that talked about the way he was so good on defense from the forward position. One of the key points it brough up (and showed examples) was he would often turn away from a hit at the last minute, NOT finishing the check. Many times when the opposing player is stationary or along the boards and moving, they are not going to be in a position to join the rush forward, so by 'finishing your check' you don't do much to slow them down/take them out of the play, but what you do is you take yourself out of the play by insuring you are that 1-2 seconds later getting back. There was a radio show out of Canada that I personally listed to that talked about this. Now I'm not saying the team shouldn't hit. But when you see a guy have someone lined up along the boards and he turns away at the last minute, often times it might actually be a good thing if he gets back into the defensive zone more quickly.

He will be 34 when his next contract starts, what exactly does he want for his next deal is the question. If I'm Tampa, If he wants an increase in pay and/or more than 2-3 years on a deal, I'm walking away. Even a 3 year deal has him ending that deal when he will be 38 years old. I don't want to be going beyond that at all, and not paying even what he is getting paid now. If they are 100% SURE they will be a legit top 5 team in the league with him on a new deal and contending for the cup, then MAYBE...but I'd much rather re-tool than pay for a still-very-good-but-aging-into-his-late-30's guy.

Its not that big of a deal for me, but I agree overall. Maybe there is something else going on in the building later in the day or the day before? Or the Sabres preferred an earlier game so they could get back to Buffalo in the evening and have a morning training camp practice the next day?

I want them to be better each year than the last. All I really want/expect is for this season to be better than the last. The Cup? When they are 'close' to that, then I will have expectations for it. Right now I don't think they are close to the Cup, so I just want this year to be better than last.

Zegras is 'flashier', he may be more exciting to watch/provide more highlight reel clips. But that doesn't make him a better player. Unless it was a very good bargain, I'm not interested in him...I don't think he would bring in as much as what you might have to move out to get him.

As if people from the right side of the aisle have never done things for the goal of getting votes instead of doing what is right? Laughable comment.

I don't disagree with you in the fact that I WANT him locked up long term. That is the best case scenario in my mind. However, you said he shouldn't be capable of getting top money long term, but if he thinks he should then that is why there is no extension yet. If you don't want to listen to anything less than 6 years (from the Sabres point of view) that may be another reason why there is no extension yet. You can't put the pen in his hand and force him to sign what you want him too. I'm not disagreeing with anything points you make, other than if Dahlin and his agent don't think the same way, THAT is why we are closing in on camp stat with no extension for him (yet). One side is going to have to give in a little bit, lets see which side that is.

He might be betting on the cap being in the upper $90m-$100m range in 2029 when his 5 year deal would be done. If he thinks he is a top 5 D-man in the league then, and in his prime, he will then be looking at a contract closer to $13 or $14m per year then. I'm guessing his thinking is why not get 5 years at $10 or $10.5 now..and then cash in 5 years later when as a D-man he will be in his prime AND the cap is likely to be much higher. From his point of view, long term he probably has more potential earnings going 5 instead of 8. Another thing to think about....Thompson and Cozens are likely to be this teams stars up front going forward. Their deals are done in 2030. If Dahlin signs an 8 year extension, his deal won't be done until 2032. He might want the 5 year deal so he is up again BEFORE Cozens and Thompson are up. He and his agent may not want them to 'take all the money', he may want to be first in line for it.

Would I want a player like Dahlin tied up for 8 instead of 5? Sure do, especially for a D-man where their career peak years go a bit longer. Remember that he is under contract for another year and this extension would start a year from now...so if he signs for 5 years, you have him here for 6 more from the current time. That is a LOT of hockey.

I've always thought Favre was the best comparison for Allen. High energy, throw caution to the wind, reckless at times, very high risk, high reward. One thing you have to remember about QBs like they are....they don't have just 'bad games' or 'bad months'. They have great years and bad YEARS. Look at Favre's career: -Favre won the MVP in 95, throwing almost 40 td's (38 actually) and 13 ints. 0.2 points away from a 100 QB rating. He won the MVP next year in 96 with 39 passing tds. -3 and 4 years later he was bad, (1998 and 99) he had back to back seasons with over 20 ints in each, with one season with a QB rating in the 70's. -2 seasons later in 2001, he is back to being great, almost 4000 yards, 32 tds, only 15 ints, and a 94+ qb rating. -Then in 2003-2005 he was really bad, he threw 67 ints over 3 seasons. In 2005 and 2006, he threw a total of 38 tds and 47 ints over those 2 seasons. In 2005, his qb rating was 70.9. -Then he came back to being great in 2007-2009 to throw for over 4000 yards in 2 of those 3 seasons. In 2009, a 107.2 qb rating, with 33 td and only 7 ints. When you have a QB that takes chances, and after a few years it appears he isn't going to change...odds are he won't change. Again, forget about a good game followed by a bad game, or a good month followed by a bad one. You may get a good year or two (MVP caliber) followed by a year or two where he looks like he is on the way out of the league, only to get back to close to MVP form a year or two later again. There may be no way to 'fix' Allen, now way to 'reign him in'. No guru to change his style. He just may be what he is...and his career might be higher highs and lower lows... more than many of us want.

Its worse than that. For most of the 2021 season (ESPECIALLY the 2nd half) and the first half of last season, he cut down on those bad throws quite a bit. Its not that he is just making the 'same bad throws' as always, he actually has regressed from the progress he has made. One thing I have noticed (at least my opinion) that has changed is the lack of medium-length throws. The throws that travel 12-225 years beyond the line of scrimmage. I don't have any stats to support this, but compared to last season and the season before, it seems like those throws are lacking. Now there are a lot more under 10 years passes or simply chuck it downfield as far as you can. The medium length passing game seems to be a lot smaller part of this offense. (either its not there at all, or it is just a lot less successful than it was).

How about all drafted players have one year shorter? Probably only matters with first rounders, but even if you made all drafted players have a year shorter waiting time, it is a small fraction of all players in the chl.

One similarity to the 05-06 campaing: The previous season the Sabres (of course) did not make the playoffs, but had a young team. 3 of the top 5 teams in the league the season played previously were Boston, Tampa, and Toronto. Buffalo would pass them, as they either had major changes to their rosters and/or an aging team.

Allen played very poorly. It is just one game. My belief all along was he was hurt the 2nd half of last year and it impacted his play, and once he starts playing 'not hurt' this year he would go right back to being a top-5 MVP candidate. But, he made numerous bad decisions. It wasn't just the INTs but he often threw the ball into coverage that a ball should NEVER be thrown into (2 or 3 defenders shadowing his target), while other players were open. He passed up on running or taking the 'almost sure' first down for something bigger that never came to be. He had a very bad game, much worse than I thought. Lets hope this was a one week thing. As for the rest of the team, nothing is really different to me. The OL was "OK" but not great/good. The defensive backfield looks old and slow. The pash rush was improved. Again, not much to take from just one game. Allen needs to get a lot better.

Whatever. Learn to not always need to get the last word in to prove your point. Sometimes I let things go, but not when you are being such ar Hard *** about this. You really need to get a new hobby if the reply I gave you caused this lengthy of a reply. I can't and wont even read all of that. I made my point, don't try so hard to always be right.

You are really reaching to split hairs to prove your right. Aren't you? Settle down a little bit. Stop making enemies by nitpicking on tiny facts and look at the big post overall. If he didn't play it 18... My error but the point still stands he played at a younger age than Sanderson and if he wasn't 18 he was 19. I just guess some people like you don't like being responded to with a different point of view than your own and you will search for a technicality to call someone else out on. Loosen up. It does make talking to other people and engaging in the message forums a bit more fun if everything is in a confrontation. At

What are you talking about. I was replying to your post saying how can Power ask for $9m? Did you even read your own post I was replying too? Of course it is not factually accurate. You asked how he could ask for $9m, and I was giving the case as to how he could ask for more than Sanderson. Follow the chain of the conversation for context people, especially when it is reply to your own post.

I would at this point bridge Power rather than pay him over $9m at this point. But he can justify a bit more. He's not Sanderson, he is slightly better in a few ways: -Sanderson 5th overall pick, Power 1st overall pick. Slight advantage Power -Sanderson started his NHL career at age 20, Power was good enough to start at 18. Slight advantage Power -First full season for each last year, Sanderson 4g, 28a, -6. Power 4g, 31a +10. Slight advantage Power. -First full season, Power given/trusted with about 2 more minutes of Ice time per game. Advantage Power. Maybe those things will or won't matter long term for who is better, but the metrics are what we have now, and all of them are slightly in Favor of Power and his agent will be using them all. If I was Power/his agent, I know I would think based on the above I deserve about 10% more than Sanderson.

If they get Dahlin locked up long term, I'd be 'open' to a bridge deal with Power. That doesn't mean I'd PREFER a bridge deal.....normally I hate bridge deals. But, with Cozens, Thompson, and Dahlin locked up long term I think you have some flexibilty where you can Bridge Power and it won't hurt you as much in the future.

Good point. One of the reasons I have soured a bit on the NFL and the Bills is just the oversaturation. ESPN saying more and more controversial things just to get viewers/interaction/clicks. Social media being full of non stop, often times non-sensical talk about it. The hype, etc. It gets to be too much for me at times. When a sport gets that big (you can also see it a bit in F1 racing and Soccer, even the NBA a bit), it kinda turns me off. I like the NHL in part because there is a little of that, but when you watch a game you can just watch the game and not get hit over the head with all the extra stuff the 'bigger sports' give you.