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Mike Harrington‏Verified account @ByMHarrington 7h7 hours ago Embed Tweet Mike Harrington Retweeted ictls1515 Good lord. I know. Only said it about 20 times.https://twitter.com/ictls1515/status/846931743580065794 … ictls1515 @ictls1515 @ByMHarrington Can you make a PSA that the sitting on the bench part was necessitated by Okposo illness, no other scratches, and CBA? John Vogl‏Verified account @BuffNewsVogl 9h9 hours ago Sam Reinhart violated team rule today as punishment was to sit whole game, coach Dan Bylsma says Dave Davis‏ @DaveDavisHockey 9h9 hours ago Dave Davis Retweeted Mike Meiler I swear some of them are going to blame him for Bobrovsky playing well. Everything bad goes back to him and nowhere else. Mike Meiler @mikemeiler Can't believe how many people are upset with Bylsma. There's a lot to criticize him for, but benching Reinhart isn't on that list Dave Davis‏ @DaveDavisHockey 9h9 hours ago Judging the coach for punishment based on an internal team matter, when you don't know the whole story, is just a tad ridiculous. Be better. I can't honestly say I disagree with anything in these Tweets. A 20 year old breaks a team rule this is what happens. If you can't punish him now, how are you going to deal with the team and him as time goes by. In fact I may RESPECT this decision even more because DDB does know he's on the hot seat and he still does the RIGHT thing for the team and the organization.

Although disappointed with how this season has turned out, I'm not yet in the camp that this is all DDB's fault. The problem with depth in the system, the Dmen he has been saddled with and the youth of our best players also plays a part in this. I also think that when we're blaming DDB's system, is it really his system or the team GMTM is building??? Unlike most Eastern conference teams that are smaller, faster and built more on skill, if you do a serious look at the Sabres, size matters. Besides Gionta who may or may not be back next year and Ennis, everyone on the team is in the 200lb range or more. GMTM is building a big Western Conference team and not your Toronto, Pittsburgh smaller, faster model. Even looking at 3 of our 5 best forwards, ROR-Samson and Okposo, fast n' speedy does not come to mind when you talk of their best attributes. Add in Moulson, Gionta, Foligno, Girgensons and Larsson and again fast n' speedy is not in the mix. Do we have some guys in the mix that will improve that going forward??? Bailey, Carrier, Baptiste, Nylander and possibly Guhle but non have shown so far to be above average NHL talent and until they do, the fact is they're not. Last year we were out of the playoff hunt in December and it took a 8-3-2 run at the end of the year to make our record somewhat respectable. This year we were in the hunt until after the bye week. Overall record wise we are not that much better than last year but taking a step back, we're actually much better going forward for the experience almost all of our guys are experiencing (maybe were is better than are) for the first time being in a playoff race with games having a bit more meaning for the opposing team than last year also. If they fire him and go in another direction, I won't be disappointed but a bit more patience and a step up from some of the younger guys, could turn this thing around pretty quickly.

Are you alluding to D4RKSABRE??? He's been getting an awful bad rap this weekend.

MODO, that is one awesome story and adventure, so happy everything worked out for you. Congrats to everyone who chipped in, in one way or fashion to make this all be a happening.

Or maybe you should just leave that Irish Whiskey alone................ :P

Nooooooo that's Blackbeard the Pirate!!!

Is this a GDT or meh thread Now that's more like it!!!

Not quite sure I'd go there but it's always interesting how the CB ratings are when one is supported by a strong pass rush and when one isn't.

The defense gets crucified on this board but the forwards are killing us today. As an example Gionta on that last goal had his head firmly up his butt by allowing Giroux to get behind him. Never saw him until the puck was in the net.

Word to the wise........ Don't bet your avatar on it!!!

Wasted Time by the Eagles Don't know how you guys put up You Tube videos, too dang old I guess or just plain corky

I guess this pre-game nugget was true. We haven't won a game against them this year in 3 tries, even in one of their down years. They have blown a glorious opportunity to get back into the race by the losses to Colorado, Arizona and now the Lightning. Even fans with the most faith that this team will turn it around have basically been invalidated with their recent play, including me.

I'm here, I've been owned, waiting on av to show up in the mail. You've been way too close to that former Bills coach for too long, I'm not a footsie kind of guy..... I hope :blink: Sir you are the winner, you get to pick and choose anything your willing to give me.

Oh shut up....... :P

After nothing short of a catastrophic Avalanche loss, the Buffalo Sabres take on the Arizona Coyotes tonight to complete their 2 game road trip against what appears to be a fellow sibling or weak sister of the league. It appears the NHL refs yesterday took to the occasion by allowing play to look like a rodeo event by allowing what appeared to be steer wrestling, calf roping and bull riding in the final minutes of play. There had to be a boycott called on interference calls yesterday also. The Sabres also blew a golden opportunity with losses by the Maple Loafs, Flyers, Devils and Islanders yesterday to move closer in the standings. Does that loss assure us of GMTM being a seller at the trade deadline??? Besides Jack, Samson, ROR, Okposo and Risto is everyone else up for grabs??? Has Gorges completed an up ice pass this entire year??? The first Avs goal was started by Samson all alone at the Red line and Gorges misses him by 6 yards which causes a counter attack and they immediately score. Was that the worst pass we've seen since Ryan Fitzpatrick left these parts??? Is my avatar about to change??? These are the serious questions being asked by the Sabres faithful. The Coyotes are celebrating their 20th anniversary in Arizona this season. Former Sabres Jamie McGinn is having an off season this year having scored just 14 points so far and recently having his minutes cut. He has scored just 2 goals in the past 27 games. OE-Larsson has 33 points but is in +/- hell with a -21 for the year. They appear to be a mess by having the 2nd fewest points in the league but they are 5-4-1 in their last 10 games. Does Lehner get the back to back again??? It didn't help yesterday for Risto-Kane-Jack and Samson to be a combined -13 in +/- yesterday led by Samson at a -4. Bailey took the team lead in +/- yesterday with a +1 and is now +6 for the year. Bogosian with approximately 20 minutes TOI also was a +1. Bailey to this eye has earned a spot on the team with his recent play. LETS GO BUFFALO ESPN Preview: GLENDALE, Ariz. -- The Buffalo Sabres' two-game trip through Colorado and Arizona could decide whether they are buyers or sellers at the NHL's March 1 trade deadline. After Saturday's 5-3 loss to the Avalanche, the NHL's worst team, the Sabres are trending in the wrong direction. Buffalo is the latest team to emerge from its five-day break with a loss, continuing an NHL trend that has seen teams go 6-13-4 in their first game after the break. The Sabres are six points off the Eastern Conference playoff pace, they trail five teams for that spot and they still must play Columbus three times and Pittsburgh twice in their last 20 games. Those teams boast the league's fifth- and third-best records, respectively. "We only have 21 games left now," coach Dan Bylsma told NHL.com ahead of Sunday's game in Arizona. "We know we have to win 15 of them to get to a mark where we might be in the playoffs." Center Jack Eichel missed 21 games to start the season with a high ankle sprain and the Sabres have been trying to make up ground ever since that 7-9-5 start. Since Eichel returned, Buffalo is 19-16-5 and the biggest difference is offense, with Eichel contributing 34 points in 40 games for a team-best 0.85 points per game. In 18 of Buffalo's first 36 games (not counting shootout goals), they scored one or zero goals. Since the New Year, they have been held to one or fewer goals just three times in 25 games. Bylsma knows the task at hand is still tall. Buffalo doesn't have any games in hand with the teams it is chasing. "Any points (for other teams) are bad at this point in time," said Bylsma, whose team is in the midst of three games in four nights. "There were going to be teams that picked up points and that's the case. Now we have an opportunity. "That's just the challenge for us coming off the break where we have to be on our best." The Coyotes had been playing well until a disastrous road trip through Chicago and Dallas in which they allowed 11 goals in back-to-back losses. Overall, Arizona is 8-6-1 in its last 15 games, but it has dropped three of its last four. "Too many turnovers," coach Dave Tippett said. "We just don't execute well enough to give ourselves a chance. That's the frustrating part for me." Arizona goalie Mike Smith (illness) missed Friday's loss in Dallas but felt well enough on Saturday that the team re-assigned goalie Adin Hill to Tucson of the AHL. Hill had been recalled on an emergency basis on Friday. If Smith can't start, Louis Domingue will play his second straight game with Smith backing up. On the injury front, center Brad Richardson (broken right tibia and fibula) is on injured reserve. Sabres center Zemgus Girgensons benefitted from the bye week. He probably would have missed a couple more games had the team continued playing last week, but he returned on Saturday from a mysterious injury suffered Feb. 6 at New Jersey that he and the team only identified as a "mid-body" ailment. Right winger Sam Reinhart also returned for the Sabres after missing two games with the flu. Buffalo center Johan Larsson (wrist) is out for the season. Right winger William Carrier (knee) is day to day. The Sabres recalled right winger Justin Bailey and left winger Evan Rodrigues from Rochester of the AHL on Friday. The Sabres are likely to ride goalie Robin Lehner in back-to-back games this weekend, given their importance and the fact that he is well rested off the bye week.

With slightly more than a quarter of the season remaining your Buffalo Sabres take on the Colorado Avalanche late tonight. With admittedly an ever diminishing chance to make the playoffs the Sabres must break the recent league trend of losing coming off of the 1 week break and continue its recent good play of winning 3 out of the past 4 games. With 3 of the next 4 games versus the weaker sisters of the league, Colorado and Arizona, the Sabres are in must win territory. With the expected return of Girgensons and Reinhart, the Sabres will be their healthiest coming into this game as they have all season. As the trade deadline approaches Kane, Kulikov and Franson appear to be the consensus picks to possibly go with a recent article of all 3 being on the 40 most coveted players to possibly be traded. Depending on the outcome of the games leading to the deadline will the Sabres be sellers, will Gionta agree to be moved, is Foligno available?? Also speaking of trade deadline a barrage of rumors of the Avalanche possibly going into tank mode by trading several of their young stars including Duchene and Landeskog. Scouts should again crowd the arena checking on both teams roster and play. Interesting Sabres stats P. Play Point Leaders 5V5 Point Leaders SOG Leaders +/- Leaders Okposo 20 Kane 26 Kane 165 ROR +5 Ristolainen 20 Gionta 22 Eichel 157 Bailey +5 ROR 18 Samson 22 Okposo 142 McCabe +4 Samson 15 ROR 20 ROR 140 Fedun +3 Moulson 14 Eichel 20 Risto 138 Carrier +2 LETS GO BUFFALO Colorado Avalanche News Zadarov out for the season with a broken ankle Erik Johnson and Rene Bourque expected to return to lineup tonight Will Jarome Iginla be moved, is he a future HOFer NHL scouts have been attending games in packs, including a total of 24 at the Colorado-Buffalo matchup last Thursday. Five were at the Kings-Avs game Tuesday. While the reason for that involves a lot more than Iginla, it also is an audition, a chance to show that he could make tangible contributions to a team in the postseason. That’s potentially a tough sell, given his single-digit goal production this season and the fact that he no longer is a top six forward, even for the worst team in the league, in addition to getting time at the point on the power play. ESPN Preview The Buffalo Sabres are rested and ready for a playoff push, and their first stop is in Denver to play the lowly Colorado Avalanche on Saturday night. The Sabres (26-24-10) have not played since Sunday and enjoyed their turn at a break that every NHL team has had once in January or February. Buffalo resides in 12th place in the Eastern Conference, but it is just six points behind Toronto for third in the Atlantic Division and the New York Islanders for the second wild card. With 22 games left, points are at a premium, and there's no better place to start a surge than the friendly confines of the Pepsi Center, where the Avalanche (16-40-3) have won just seven of their 23 games. A win might be tough considering how teams have performed in their first game after the five-day break. Entering Friday, the collective record is 4-12-4 after the bye. Saturday's contest is a quick two-game road trip for Buffalo. The Sabres play at Arizona on Sunday before returning home to face Nashville on Tuesday. Buffalo, which practiced in Denver late afternoon Friday, is expected to get forward Zemgus Girgensons back after he missed seven games with an unspecified injury. Girgensons' ailment was classified as a mid-body injury, but coach Dan Bylsma referred to it as a "full-body injury" before the bye. Whatever kept Girgensons out is not an issue now and he is set to center the Sabres' third line against the Avalanche. They are also expected to get back forward Sam Reinhart, who missed two games before the bye because of the flu. The Sabres will need to make a move to make room for Girgensons' return from injured reserve, with Nick Baptiste the likely candidate to return to Rochester of the American Hockey League. While Buffalo is fighting for the playoffs, the only drama surrounding Colorado is if anything will happen before Wednesday's trading deadline. The Avalanche, last in the NHL in points and wins, are sellers if they want to be. There have been rumors for months surrounding nearly every player other than Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen -- two players general manager Joe Sakic has deemed untouchable -- but so far the only move was trading Cody McLeod to Nashville last month. The Avalanche are adding two players to the lineup without making a deal. Forward Rene Bourque is returning after missing 11 games with head and neck injuries suffered against Los Angeles on Feb. 1 and defenseman Erik Johnson is playing after missing nearly three months with a broken fibula. Johnson will be sporting extra padding after a shot by Dallas' Tyler Seguin on Dec. 3 shelved him. "In hindsight, I wish I had it before, but those are the kind of adjustments you make after the fact when things like that happen," he told HockeyBuzz.com after practice Friday. "It feels good and I wouldn't be saying I'm ready to go if it wasn't perfect." One of the bright spots in the disappointing season is the play of Rantanen, the team's first-round draft pick from 2015. After spending most of last season and the start of this year with San Antonio of the AHL, Rantanen has come on strong in late January and February. He has eight goals in the last 14 games, including his first career hat trick against Montreal on Feb. 7. "I feel comfortable after every game," Rantanen said recently. "I'm trying to put pucks more to the net and trying to shoot more, go to the net more. That's how you play well in this league."

As of today the 8th seed is 93 points although as with everything else, things could change. 96 points will get you a top 3 seed in the division and with Montreal falling like a rock, who knows

Oh Mr. Blue, Gorges will be gone, Franson will be gone, your favorite bunker boy will be on his last year. They'll be fine and why do you think Reinhart is going to get anything close to 6M?? He's not getting anything close to Eichel.

Washington +21 Pittsburgh +16 Columbus +14 NY Rang. +12 Montreal +5 Ottawa +5 Toronto +1 Florida +0 NY Isles +0 :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: Boston -1 Flyers -4 Tampa Bay -4 Sabres -5 NewJersey -7 Carolina -7 Detroit -9

I BELIEVE Let's not recreate history too much, Jack wasn't the only guy out the first 2 months of the season. Kane was out for a majority of it also and didn't appear to get healthy until December and Bogo and Kuli also missed the bulk of those early games. They are finally healthy for the first time all year recently. Samson hurry back

I refuse to let you diminish my enthusiasm for the 3 game winning streak and about to be 4, GO SABRES

He had DDB's back...... DDB's got his back and by the way he's been nothing short of awesome lately and the 2nd game in the last B2B wasn't his fault. You don't change a winning formula with a near week off coming up

Wow!!! add that number to the 2nd highest scorer in NHL history's numbers and you get to finally surpass Gretzky numbers...... DOUBLE WOW!!!

Thanks, I feel I'm getting a little better, as an example I remembered to put GDT in the thread title this time!!! Not on WildCard's or Doohickie's level or some others but that's what I'm shooting for.

Not pointing fingers mind you but have you done a complete 180 on this subject?? Been staying away from this because JJ's been doing such a fine job keeping the faith but IMO there is no way they trade him before the end of the season as long as they're in the playoff hunt. If they go down in flames the next few games that percentage rises but after battling back into the hunt, I just don't see it happening. No one is going to give up what he's worth to the Sabres right now. It would send the wrong message to the team fighting for their playoff lives. If they beat the Blackhawks today they may even become a buyer at the deadline.