mjd1001

Much better than what happened for most of the past...oh...years. Now they just need to actually win a few fights. If at best the fights are a draw...or more often than not the Sabres are practice punching bags for the other team, its not much of a detriment.

No one comes to mind so not really anyone is 'good'. I could make a small case for some players though.... I think Tuch is a very good forchecker, which means he plays one part of his game well without the puck. Its basically defense in a different zone. I also know a lot of people disagree, but I think Tage causes so many problems in the neutral zone for other teams, he prevents some things from happening (zone entries are altered). McLeod is not mistake free, but he doesn't make many glaring mistakes and his speed aids in backchecking. I see some good individual play out of Malenstyn defensively, but his numbers don't back that up. So honestly I don't think anyone is 'good' but there are some guys who, when you take their entire game into account, aren't 'bad'. Peterka is one one of them though. All season lone I personally have thought that by far and away Cozens and Quinn were the worst forwards in this respect (Cozens #1, Quinn #2). I don't think Peterka has been in the same class as those 2, but he might be #3 on my list. Statistically, Peterka benefits from having a guy like Tuch on his other wing. For the season, he has played a bit more without Tuch than with him, but Tuch still has been one of his primary linemates on the other wing. With Tuch, on the ice with him, the team allows a goal every 32.3 minutes of ice time, and 26.3 shots against per 60. When he has anyone else on the opposite wing besides Tuch....its a goal every 13.9 minutes of ice time, and 32.3 shots against per 60 minutes.

Rumors were they had an offer for a 1st round pick (probably mid first) and a current roster player. https://www.yardbarker.com/nhl/articles/insider_reveals_the_shocking_package_the_new_york_rangers_offered_to_get_a_young_star/s1_17636_41904897 One of those has now officially been reported by Frank Seravalli, who has revealed that the New York Rangers offered a significant package to the Buffalo Sabres for JJ Peterka, but unfortunately for GM Chris Drury, it just wasn't near good enough to land the talented winger. According to Seravalli, the Rangers offered a first-round pick and a roster player (unknown at this point) for Peterka, but given the prices we saw players going for, it makes sense that the Sabres turned this one down. Over the summer, Peterka will officially become a restricted free agent in Buffalo, meaning that the team will have a big decision to make on his future, and if they can't work out a deal, don't be shocked to see New York and other teams look to pry him away from the Sabres.

On the ice this isn't the same Boston team of course. Don't be afraid of pasts ghosts of the uniform or the city...because the roster you are facing is beatable.

I haven't really put much thought into the list of who is available, But Marner is the only one that I think I'd really 'pay up' for. Of course the team could use some toughness and fiestyness in the form of Bennett. I wouldn't go there though if it turns into a bidding war, I don't think he really is all that good of a player positionally, and that is an area the Sabres need to get much better in, especially from their forwards.

Yeah. I just think Greenway is a very good 3rd liner, I really didn't like him on the Tuch and Thompson line last game. I just thought that is the worst Tuch and Thompson played overall throughout the entire game that they have since the few games they played with Cozens. The line didn't 'flow' well. Maybe they'll be better tonight. I do remember Greenway looking good with those 2 in a game earlier in the year though..so maybe it was just one game. I get what you say about the 2nd line though.

I don't really like Greenway on that Thompson-Tuch line, but with Norris and Peterka still out, what do you do? It looks like for the time being, Thompson is back at center. I like Benson-McLeod-Zucker a lot, but ideally that is a 3rd line, not a 2nd line. Murray's weakness is skating, at least with Quinn and Krebs, you aren't asking him to keep up with 2 speedsters. Krebs is OK skating, but that isn't a lighting fast line. Kozak on the 4th line, I'm not sure exactly how good he is, but I do know when I watch him he doesn't look out of place.

He might just 'dig in his heels' so to speak and become more defiant. Appologies to anyone over 70 on this forum (I'm not there yet but like everone getting older, our daughter certainly likes to remind me I sometimes act 'old'), but as the saying goes....with most older people..... tell them they aren't doing something well or they can't do someting without help and see their reaction. Most of the time, its not productive or good. Honestly, I don't think a survey like this gets much attention from him, and if he did see it I don't think he does anything different. But i DO think in the rare instance where it would impact him, it might be more of a reaction of "I'll show them! I'm going to do things my way and no one can tell me what to do" rather than "wow, I didn't know things were so bad, maybe I should change course."

Maybe the game will be boring. The Bruins aren't as good as usual. The Sabres are riding out the rest of the schedule. No more Marchand, Charra, Bergeron. For me personally it doesn't hurt that I lived in New England for 5+ years and my job is headquartered there, and most of my co-workers are from the suburbs of Boston. But again, its Buffalo vs Boston. Something about the way those 2 uniforms on the ice look playing together, something about the way "Buffalo vs Boston" sounds to many Sabres fans. Its Boston, I'll be watching tonight.

Ok, I disagree with you on the fact that its always the last goals of the game. He is allowing some softies in, particularly in the 2nd period when the games are close. What I will agree with you is...in those games where the team is falling apart, he should be switched out. All these guys are human, and allowing goal after goal when the game is out of hand becauese your team has quit in front of you isn't good for anyone. The season is over in terms of them making the playoffs. I know you STILL want UPL playing most games, but working in Reimer for an extra game or two wouldn't be a bad thing.

Ok, you are simply ignoring that he is letting in goals this year that he was making stops on last year. You can use stats, or you can use the eye test. And you keep coming back at me with its a team game, its about the entire play of everyone on their own zone. I never said it wasn't. I AGREE with that. My only point is he is not playing as well as he did last year. He is allowing more soft goals than last year. To me from what I actually see, that is 100% true.

I know you and I go back and forth on this...and yes, I do agree the shots and quality of shots he has faced are been difficult. But I also think he has not played well. Again, I have stopped personally posting in GTD's about this, but there are WAY too many times a shooter is 20 feet out, UPL is set, facing the shooter, and he simply gets beat. Yes, these guys are NHL players and they can pick corners, so you aren't going to stop all those shots. But he is letting them in at a much higher rate than last year.

I'd need to see a lot more before I give any thought to this being a 'changed team'. Give me a 3-4 winning streak and I might START to pay attention, but not even more than that. I also don't think the locker room disliked Cozens or trading him uplifted the locker room in that kind of way. Maybe, MAYBE guys in the locker room recognized Cozens made a lot of mistakes? Maybe they recognized he simply was out of position a lot and 'not listening' or buying into the coaching? Even then, that is a bit of a stretch and I'd need a lot more to put much credibility to that. I think the comments are just something you say after a win. The rest of the month they have 8 games. Some against teams near the top of the conferences, some against teams fighting for a playoff spot, some against teams out of the playoffs. 2 at home, 6 away. 3 Western conference team. So basically as much of a variety in their schedule as they can get. Win 6 of 8, and I can BEGIN the thoughts of the possibility the team has turned some kind of corner. But nothing really matters until next year anyway.

I think the Sabres not succeeding is why it hasn't happened already. I think if the Sabres were a 95+ point team each of the last couple year, he would be in the norris conversation yearly.

Looking at some of the advanced stats from the game regarding the forward lines even strength: -McLeod-Benson-Zucker was a very good line. 7 shots for, only 4 allowed. 1-0 on goals -Kulich-Krebs-Quinn was good, but only for just over 5 minutes. 5 shots for, 0 allowed. 2 scoring chances for, 0 allowed. -Thompson-Greenway-Tuch not so good this game. 11.5 minutes ice time together. 2 shots for, 7 allowed. Officaial scoring chances were 1 for, 7 allowed.

McLeod is good. I know, there have been players that have had one good year and then never been that good again. But the guy is young. He's one of the fastest skaters on the team. He's smart, he doesn't make a lot of mistakes. Hes on pace for almost 20 goals and 50 points. He kills penalties. Hes a plus player on a negative team. I hope he gets extended for a few years. He looks to be a well above average #3 center.

Hate is a tough word. Is it guys who I don't like personally? Or guys who were awful players? Or guys who's presence here set the franchise back because of the ice time/opportunity they got here? I'll go with the last. I can't think of any players that I didn't like as a 'person', and it would be too easy to pick the guys who played only a handful of games because they weren't good enough. So who do I think hurt the team the most with a sprinkle of not liking how they handled things? 1. Berglund - Just handled the whole situation terribly 2. Sabotka - The anti-blocking someone case. He was one player that SHOULD have been replaced with a youngster 3. Cozens - Hope he does well, tried hard, nice guy. But he hurt the team on the ice, didn't know his role, was overpaid and overused. 4. Risto - Kinda like Cozens above. No reason to hate him as a person, but he hurt the team so much on the ice but kept getting put out there. 5. Bogosian - Never really seemed like he wanted to be here despite being from the area, and his talent was vastly overrated. 6. Steve Ott - Tough guy, was in the leadership group. But for some reason I cannot explain he rubbed me the wrong way. 7. Tyson Strachon - Odd and obscure choice, but I seem to remember he played here one season and was quite probably the worst d-man I ever saw in the NHL. 8. Taylor Hall - Given a big contract and did nothing, then left pretty quick. 9. Kozlov - Understatement to say him coming to Buffalo was a disaster 10. Eric Comrie - Just was awful. He had a few early games were he was good, it sucked me in, I defended him on this board but he kept getting worse, and worse. Maybe not the list for this, but maybe an honorable mention for me would be Eichel. No hatred, but something else. He was one of the, if not the best player on this team during the drought. To my knowledge he never said much bad about the team, his teammates or the city when he was here. So certainly not 'hated' at all by me....its just from day #1...I never quite 'connected' with him as much as I would have thought I would with a 'franchise' guy or a 'semi-generational' guy that we were told he was. I think a drought-era most liked list would be more interesting.

As far as the Sabres playing well vs the top teams, it can seem like that after a win..but... Vs Winnipeg, Washingon, Dallas. Edmonton, Florida, Toronto, Tampa, Carolina, Vegas, New Jersey, and Colorado (most would consider them the top teams?) The Sabres are 6-12 (.333 winning). Vs the rest of the league, 20-27 (.426 winning). So yeah...wins vs top teams are nice, but they aren't better vs them as a whole.

There was an article on NHL.com (I think) about how McKinnon is the favorite for MVP this year. I'm having a hard time thinking he should be over Draisatl. They are both over 100 points already (McKinnon 102, Draisaitl 100), but Draisaitl has 49 goals including 10 game winners this year. He's 'on pace' for 61 goals, almost a +40...and while most think McDavid is the better player, Draisaitl is outproducing him by a decent amount this season.

If I'm not mistaken, Brendan Shanahan is the president of the Leafs hockey operations, and he lived (or still lives) in the NY city metro area. If he doesn't still live here full time, he did for a period of years during his tenure as president.

If you have paramount or access to it, check out "Strange new worlds". One of the best Trek shows ever. The characters are all pretty much likeable, and they went back to the episodic format of the original series and TNG with it. Its easy to get into, even if you aren't up to date with everything 'trek', fun, most episodes are more 'thought provoking' rather than 'stressful' or 'action for the sake of action'.

https://capwages.com/teams/buffalo_sabres I THINK the cap for next season is at $95.5m. The Sabres have about $70.5m committed (included Skinner's buyout money, he counts $4.4m next year and that number goes up to $6.4m the following year) That doesn't count McLeod, Quinn, Peterka, Bernard-Docker and Byram as restricted free agents...as well as Bryson and Reimer as UFA's. So, you have about $25million. Allocate maybe $2m for that backup goalie and 7th/8th D-man that leaves you with $23m $23m for 3 RFA forwards and 2 RFA D-men. I guess it depends on how much they are going to give each of them. If you want to go big-game hunting in free agency for another forward or D-man, you are going to have to make a trade off of your active roster or let go one of your RFA's it looks like.

That would be good to hear and see. It seems like so long ago since this team had a PP that had any confidence in it. Plus, a goal is a goal, doesn't matter if its shorthanded, powerplay, even strength, they all count equally.

Power. He got an assist last night, but that is his first point in 8 games. I expect him to have his ups and downs defensively, but he has vanished from any impact on the offensive end. He also hasn't scored a goal in 20 games, and has 1 goal in his last 32 games.