jad1

Nice to see Dreary Dan had the boys ready for this game.

That game seemed winnable last night, even though Buffalo was down their top defenseman and two of their top six forwards. Maybe one of those guys could have made the difference in a loss that officially knocked the Sabres out of the playoffs. But Blysma needed to teach a guy a lesson for BEING LATE toba meeting. Sitting him a shift, or a powerplay, or period wasn't enough. I guess the only way to drive the message home for a malcontent like Rinehart (who's been played out of position for two years with no complaint), is to embarrass him publically while the team goes down in defeat. Blysma's an idiot. There's a reason none of the stars in Pittsburgh stepped up to back him when he was fired. There's a way to handle this. Alienating a young star and losing a game was not the way to do it.

Especially on the back end of a back-to-back, when Okposo is out with an illness. If O'Reilly or Eichel went down with an injury playing 20+ minutes while this moron was trying to send a "message," firing would have been too good for him.

Eichel has carried this team since the break. What's the message Bylsma is trying to send? 'Thanks for dragging the dead weight that my coaching has turned this team into th last 3 months, but you had a couple of bad shifts and some bad luck, so sit down and watch how the real pros win a game.' Isn't Bylsma the guy who said that he would be disappointed if Eichel wasn't making mistakes?

He played one less minute than Girgensens for the game.

To me, a rebuild is the act of replacing core players. So, in the Chicago case, since Keith and Seabrook are integral members of their Cup teams, their rebuild started in 2002, when Keith was drafted, even though they actively tanked after that. It's difficult to argue that Chicago wins their Cups without Duncan or Keith, so the clock on their rebuild started when they were drafted. Same goes for Brown and Kopitar in LA. Their rebuild started when Brown was drafted in 2003. Despite the top picks that the Penguins made 2003 - 2006, Orpik was a key member of the Cup wining team. As the OP notes, he was drafted in 2002. During the rebuilds, each of these teams fired coaches. Chicago fired their GM. More important than the coach and GM, though, is the on-ice talent. It's that players that make the rebuild successful. The length of the current Sabres rebuild really depends on if you consider McCabe and or Risto core members of a Cup challenging team. If you consider McCabe a core member, it started in 2012. If you don't consider McCabe core, but believe Risto is, it started in 2013. If you consider neither core, it started in 2014. Any of those start dates keep the Sabres within the timeframe of Chicago's, Pittsburgh's, and LA's rebuilds.

I don't know if that's true. If this team had a coach who tried to win games 5-4 instead of trying to win them 2-1, the fans would be much more enthusiastic.

As Dan says, the last thing we want to do is get into a track meet with ANY of those teams. Keep it tight boys!

Risto played over 60 minutes in the back-to-back games this weekend (33:13 Saturday and 29:50 Sunday). He played 25:45 tonight. And as you point out, he's not playing easy minutes.

Most #1 defensemen don't play 30 minutes a game until the playoffs. Risto has been playing that many since October. And he's 22.

Are you freakin' kidding me? Eichel has made mistakes, but has he shown any indication that he's not a responsible player? Taking away ice time from Eichel is just a clueless move by a clueless coach.

He was overplayed the first half of the season. He's shot.

No, but (hopefully) he might have some say on the fate of the coach.

Yeah, a guy searching to cover his lousy coaching with a technicality.

The iconic image of this season has to be Byslma staring down at his feet after an opponent's goal. A clueless man totally out of answers.

Chicago's rebuild was a lot longer than 3 or 4 years. Keith was drafted in 2002. Seabrook was drafted in 2003. Without the two of them they don't win the Cup in 2010.

Well, as long as there's a good reason...

Eh, why bother pulling the goalie.

Jack and Evander will fill out the 4th and 5th spots on Blysma's shootout lineup nicely.

Does that mean that they won't make 3 zone passes back to their own goaltender in OT when Jack and Evander come back?

Girgs has got to get into the game. He's the weakest sabre on the ice.

Not good enough for Fowler, but Murray should figure out what their value is and cash them in.

Defenseman who can't clear the crease or puck and forwards who can't score. Look foward to the 4th overall pick in '17.

Actually Robert's maternal grandmother was a Targaryen, which was used to legitimize his claim to the throne. If it could be proved that Rhaegar and Lyanna were married, and if polygamy was accepted, and if Jon could be proven to be R & L's son, and if Cersei stood aside in favor of a grand counsel to sort all this out, then Jon could be found to be the true heir to the crown. But none of this is going to happen. You're right, the throne is going to be taken by force, most likely by means of a cataclysmic war. In the end, all this talk about rightful heirs is meaningless. Cersei has it figured out, whoever holds the sword, holds the power, regardless of who their ancestors were.

Both could happen. It would be a tidy end to Jaime's arc.