Thorny

Not many would have imagined Casey as our current best player a couple years ago. Maybe GA But a fair few would have when he was playing that WJC outdoor game in those Bills-esque uniforms. He’s kinda that, now. Closer to, at least

Definitely. I hope it happens - that’s exactly what everyone was saying they wanted / felt we needed when they asked for a vet to be brought in. Clearly, KA didn’t seem all that confident in either back up, either, as we rostered 3 goalies and didn’t play either down the stretch last year. Need to preface by saying ONE GAME but if Comrie emerges as a competent “backup”, but in this case to, say, split starts more less 50/50 with another competent backup (backup +?) with Levi - goaltending could be good enough for now till it gets even better later with an experienced Devon. Will depend on rest of team. Either way, today is encouraging

If we played a game WITH the jerseys but WITHOUT Samuelsson the world would explode

Miller shut out for the new Miller. Levi era good while it lasted

Very.

The one guy who believed in him should take a victory lap while they can if he pulls it off. Speaking of which, where IS John at

/thread

1/1 this year so I’ll use these sparingly: I do see a W tonight This actually does need to happen if we lose, it would be pretty funny EDIT - the thread, not the loss

Definitely I can’t be the only one that thinks of the boarding he received first, ala immediate word association when someone says “Draper” kind of unfortunate

Lol: “Drafted 62nd overall in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft by the original Winnipeg Jets, Draper did not see much NHL action in his early years. He is a rarity in that he played in the American Hockey League (AHL) and NHL before playing junior in the OHL. After playing just 20 NHL games for the Jets in four seasons since he was drafted, he was traded to the Detroit Red Wings in 1993 in exchange for $1.” 1 dollar, Bob

It’s now 116,765th

I always chuckle when people reference that run in a negative connotation haha It was so much fun! A brief reprieve in the desert. I’ll take another one and worry about the rest later. I like wins I take your meaning relative to what came after but…still

Is Cozens really that bad 2 way or just struggling overall? I’ve always seen him as a pretty good 2 way guy but I could be way off the mark

Yup. Completely formative for this young Sabres fan at the time. It’s funny to think I almost certainly saw the best Sabre I (or maybe anyone) will ever see when I was only around age 6-14, but thinking about it, that probably added to the..utter magic more than anything. You couldn’t fail to appreciate the brilliance even as a child- because he was visibly transcendent. Stats, advanced or otherwise, need not apply. I have memories of what in my mind is the literal birth of the nickname “Dominator”, as he made a particularly nice save and some fans held up a sign in the crowd over a bannister. This memory cannot possibly be true - but all good legends deserve embellishment Exactly Gretzky is admittedly sort of an extreme example in that the supporting cast was legendary, but it’s extreme in the sense also that Wayne was the greatest ever, so it goes both ways and fits as well as any example

Guy who can do it on his own without a supporting cast? the list starts and ends with the greatest goalie to ever exist in the history of planet earth, at the one position that can, on it’s best day temporarily be an exception that proves the rule, and even he lost, in the end You should watch him play

I’m sorry I mean this with all due respect as I’m just singling this post out as an example: this meme absolutely needs to die a long, slow death. Did I say slow? I meant quick. Get it outa here. *no one can do it without a supporting cast* that is not part of the criteria for determining a superstar Wayne Gretzky didn’t win a cup once he left the oilers McDavid doesn’t win anything and he plays with *another superstar* Eichel wasn’t counted on in Vegas TO be their best player but that didn’t stop him from BEING their best player. I don’t know if you need a superstar to win. I do know you need to support your superstar to win

“I'm an artist, and if you give me a tuba, I'll bring you something out of it.” - John Lennon I like Granato. I just pray Adams didn’t leave him with merely a cowbell Simultaneously a good excuse for Granato, and following my point on chain of command: no excuse at all for Kevyn Adams

Ultimately falls on the GM, not the coach

I’ll always sports hate Montreal the most/top 3. Inherited grudge. We will win that game because we have to

The issue supposedly being Ullmark’s “demands” is merely a smokescreen for the real issue, which was our failure to meet said demands a miscalculation of the net (result, and the position). Prioritization of a tree before the forest

Fair. My response prob a little too on the nose re my expected content I’d say you are objectively correct where your point is concerned: it’s always driven me nuts but the game quite literally becomes a different one in the playoffs. I literally avoid talking about it out of some sort of “out of sight out of mind” positioning because it truly is a daunting thought

Pulled his groin sitting around like qui-gon during scrape breaks

I refuse to set my expectation beyond making the playoffs. To me aiming for higher is hubris, where this franchise is concerned. I linked a post yesterday I made from 2021 where I proposed a theory re: the potential poisoning of this type of thinking: but deleted it, as it’s too early. But it’s still on my mind

You are a baseball guy, right? I know it’s not the same situation as they had more actual turnover, but the Jays worked themselves into a shoot to improve their D this past offseason, and certainly did so. It just happened to neuter their offence to the tune of actually committing a slightly worse record to paper this season you can tinker, you can tailor, but if they don’t have the right soldiers for the game plan, we might be spying the standings early on