GASabresIUFAN

Bills go from wild card to AFC top seed. Cinn beats KC and SF beats Miami.

I received my mini helmet on Saturday. Irony of irony, they sent me a Casey Mittelstadt helmet.

They have 5 top 25 wins. OSU 2, Bama 3 but the best team they beat was 20 Texas who TCU also beat. Bama also has 2 Top 25 losses while TCU has one (OSU has 1 also, the beat down by Mich).

Reasonable argument, except the team has to show improvement this season to justify keeping this failing plan in place. We currently sit in 26th place in the NHL. Last season we finished 24th and that team had JAGs like Hayden, Eakin, Bjork, Jankowski, Pysyk, Hagg, Butcher, Anderson , Dell and Tokarski playing regular shifts. We moved on from that pile for garbage, added 3 excellent rookies, but somehow got worse overall. Ultimately, it’s because management wasn’t committed to solving the obvious flaws on the team on defense and in goal. The bandaids he signed in those areas, Comrie and Lyubushkin have played like JAGs or worse with bigger paychecks. He left the NHL D depth to two former prospects who are like the guys they replaced, awful. He also left goaltending depth to bust prospect UPL and the oft injured AAAA Subban. That is a firm commitment to losing and it’s not acceptable, especially when you consider that are not any viable near ready NHL prospects at either position.

TCU will still be in. GA takes care of business.

Savoie is the next prospect. I suspect Kulich and Rosen play a 2nd AHL year.

Fixed!

Turns out USC was a one man team. I still don’t think OSU deserves a slot, but they are the likely default choice. Seriously what are OSU’s big wins? A PSU that hasn’t beaten a current 25 team and a mediocre ND. How the crap Big 10 with only 3 top 25 teams would end up with 2 in the playoff is BS. Both Michigan and OSU should be docked for playing such a weak schedule. GA by contrast has wins over4 current top 25 teams in Oregon, TN, SC and Miss St. LSU will make 5.

You seem to have forgotten Christian Dvorak went for a 1st & a 2nd last year and he has never reached 40 pts in a season. Also the Kapenan deal 7 players and picks. Odds are if Mitts gets traded it will be in a larger deal involving players picks and prospects to make the cap considerations and valuations work. Harrington even brought up his name in a proposed Chychrun deal. Admittedly Mitts is struggling this season in both ends 5 on 5. The question is are all those numbers on him, or because of poor line mates or poor defense/goaltending or poor coaching usage or some combo of all 4? I do think he has played to much perimeter hockey ytd and I’d like to see him drive more to the net. He isn’t a small player and should go to the dirty areas. I also think his line in general needs to be more physically assertive. As I’ve said before, I’d like to see DG add Z to the line to add more physicality and north/south play to the line.

Let’s revisit if Mitts finishes this season with 45-50 pts. You better believe if he finishes with 45-50 pts on a 2.5 mill contract and team control, that KA could get a 1st for him. That said he finishes at that level, KA probably keeps him and the people here jump on the bandwagon.

You have zero idea what these guys are worth. None. Mitts is on pace for a 45-50 pt season. Giving his contract $ and cap hit, another year on his deal and RFA status, he could be worth as much as a 1st rd pick. Just because you and others have soured on him doesn’t mean other teams have. Many teams are desperate for skill forwards just as we are for talent on D. Krebs has a ton of talent. So many teams would love to have a forward of his skill set, age (21), and talent in their system. He could easily fetch a D prospect, much like the Nylander/Jokiharju deal. Because we have a system loaded with other talented forwards like Savoie, Rosen, Kulich and Östlund, so many here are ready to move from other talented forwards who haven’t yet reached their potential or are struggling this season. This is a huge luxury, but as we have seen with Tage, development isn’t a straight line. Don’t be surprised if neither guy is moved this season or this off-season as the Sabres have contract control on both players Honestly, I’d move VO, play Krebs at center with Mitts on the wing and find a physical forward to forecheck and create space for them and see how the season plays out. That said, I do think neither player will be here beyond next season, but one never knows. I thought Tage was a bust prior to last season.

Isn't there something wrong with having to feed your kid line to Compher so that your more veteran line gets a lighter assignment? If we are going to get the most out of Mitts and VO while they are still here, DG is going to have to take a page from Lindy Ruff's coaching book and assign them a player like Girgensons who is willing to forecheck and be physical on the back end.

The core is easy to identify - Forwards - Tage, Tuch, Cozens, JJP and Quinn (with Skinner because of his contract) Defense - Dahlin, Power & Samuelsson I know this, you know this, everyone who has watched them play knows this. I think they like Joki in general but wouldn't hesitate to move him in the right real. Girgensons is the most valuable of the others because he plays a physical brand of hockey they need in the bottom 6. As for the rest, including Mitts, Krebs, VO and Asplund they shouldn't hesitate to move. They should move KO to the front office after this season unless he wants to keep playing and if he does thank him for his service and say Buh-Bye. The rest are garbage or roster filler. With the exception of Krebs and Mitts, most of these conclusion we knew coming into this season. Those 2 forwards the jury was still out on and know we pretty much know that we can move on when a prospect is ready. VO's verdict was in when KA only gave him a 2 year deal. He'll be traded by the deadline.

The plan was if Comrie went down or Anderson went down, UPL would split the time to see if he is NHL ready. He isn't and the plan has stunk for 2 years. Ka is to "patient" (read stubborn) to fix the problem. It's abundantly clear that changes on defense and goaltending are necessary but they won't be made.

I received Tage 2 years ago and Asplund last year. As I said, still waiting on this years. Tage has worked out so far. Honestly, I'm hoping for one of the 3 rookies.

I’m pretty sure it’s Asplund. It looks like just like the autograph I received last year. I also donated this year but haven’t received anything yet.

Asplund

The 4th line was also lousy last night. I’d like to see DG shuffle the guys in 3rd and 4th lines to try to reset the chemistry.

The lack of goaltending and the lack of proper D depth goes back to the GM’s lack of commitment to winning. These needs have existed for the last two off-seasons and have yet to be properly filled. The D & G depth acquired by KA over these 2 off-seasons are Pysyk, Hagg, Butcher, Lyubushkin, Anderson, Dell, Comrie, and Subban. Not exactly a roll call of championship quality players. Maybe KA will eventually be committed to winning, but he isn’t right now.

Losing may not be acceptable to the players or even the coaches, but so far KA hasn’t shown yet that losing isn’t acceptable. Until management is committed fo winning the team won’t win.

2005?

Choke

Is Skinner giving figure skating lessons to his teammates. Even Fitz is spinning.

Do we like the shift timer?