GASabresIUFAN

Phew 6 goal lead re-established. I was getting worried for a minute. Now if only VO or Mitts could score.

TNT 4pts from tying Sittler’s 10 pts night.

Gretzky texting Panger about TNT. Now Tage has arrived.

Short side. Wow

We want 6.

I’m shocked

UPL still sucks. Sabres need to get their energy back.

Great stat Jackie. Cozens first Sabres to have 3 straight 3 pt+ games since 1993 (Mogilny and Patty) and 1st player in the NHL 21 or younger to do it since Karlsson.

Sabres now lead the NHL in GF.

Mitts with the excellent back check

I think the TNT producer called the NHL and asked them to spice up the game. Terrible call. Excellent save.

Best trade ever. Way to go Jbot.

Just tuned in. Ooops! Saw the TNT one timer for his hattie.

It's funny that you brought up where to play Chychrun, because after I posted my lineup, I began to think how to best utilize his talents and I kind of decided to make him Bush's 3rd line partner 5 on 5, but to add him to the 2nd PP as the PP QB, allowing Power more ability to "wander" and look for seems in the PK box kind of like he did in Michigan. It would certainly be a much different look than the Tnt lead first unit. I also like the idea of physical but mobile 6'2 220 Chychrun teaming up with Bush to become a physically dominate pair. Thus Samuelsson Dahlin Power Joki Chychrun Bush

One other note on Comrie is that the guy really hasn't played much hockey in the last 3 years. In 2019-20 he only player 27 games across 2 levels. In 2020-21 he played in only 5 games (he was the taxi squad goalie) and even last year he only played in 19 games. That's on 51 games over 3 seasons. His last season carrying a full load was 2018-19 where he played 48 games (47 as the AHL starter) and did well.

He was born in Buffalo and money talks, but generally I agree he is a long-shot. How he plays is what I'm looking for. The key here is to stay to the general plan, but at least be flexible enough to allow that some areas simply aren't going to get filled with prospects right now or that it would be best from the franchise if they were manned by more veteran players. I wouldn't mind making a move for Chychrun right now and see if it works. If he doesn't my guess is we can recover most if not all we paid from a contender at the deadline.

No wizardry just numbers crunching. UPL couldn’t stop the puck in the AHL and historically over 40 goalies don’t fair very well in the NHL. Add that Comrie had never been an NHL starter and only had 28 games of NHL experience and you have a recipe for failure.

The Edm Oilers back in the day often left Grant Fuhr out to dry and he more often then not made the save. I love our up tempo style. It’s exciting and fun to watch, but that makes the need for top notch goaltending and some defensively responsible D even more imperative.

….and the Sabres are allowing 3.68 GA per game.

That would involve trading for competent defensemen. Don’t hold your breath. He might even try to trade for a goalie without trade protection.

I wrote back in July that the biggest issue with this rebuild was the continued failure to address the goaltending. I was told by many that I was wrong, that Comrie was the answer and to wait and see. I’ve also said for well over a year that UPL is a bust. Well here are 25 games into the season and the goaltending, as hard as it is to believe, if actually worse than last year when we gave up 290 GA. We are on pace to allow over 300 goals. Yes defense is part of the problem, yes the forwards failing to back check is part of the problem, but the goalies are also terrible. This rebuild plan can’t succeed until the goaltending is fixed. The sad part is that he probably can’t address the issue until the off-season.

This team is 4-8-1 against teams currently in a playoff spot. 7-5 against everyone else. The schedule for the rest of Dec is very hard. 8 of the remaining 11 games are against playoff teams. If they want to show they have a playoff chance go 7-4 for the rest of this month. Jan is a little easier 7 of 14 are against current playoff teams. February is our easiest month with only 4 playoff teams in 10 games, but by that time the team’s fate will be sealed.

Other than Miller (and Hyde) this is the healthiest the D has been all season. At various times this season we have been without 6 pro bowl D in Milano, Edmunds, Poyer, Miller, Hyde and White. The fact that they have survived at all is amazing. Going 9-3 and leading the conference is even more incredible. The 3 losses were by a collective 8 points and truthfully they could have won all 3. All 3 divisional games are at home. We will beat the Jests and the Fish at home the next 2 weeks and take control of the division. We will also roll the Bears in Chicago. This team is on a mission at this point. The biggest remaining worry is the Bengals at Cinn in 4 weeks. That game could easily be for the 1st seed in the playoffs. If Miller is back by then I like our chances. I have a feeling the Pats game at home will be meaningless. I love Cooks expanded role. Having him as a dual threat out of the backfield adds another dimension to the offense and is why he was drafted. I also like the more controlled Allen and our willingness to grind it out more often. I think that is playoff winning football. My only wish for the offense is to get Knox more involved.

Here is the Sabres current situation for next year Forwards (8) - Thompson, Skinner, Tuch, Quinn, JJP, Krebs, Mitts and VO - Cost 30.7 RFAs - Jost, Cozens and Asplund Key UFAs - KO and Girgensons Prospects - Savoie, Rosen, Rousek (RFA), Weissbach (RFA), & Kulich Defense (6) - Dahlin, Joki, Power, Samuelsson, Bush and Bryson - Cost 15.6 RFAs - Fitz; UFA - Pilut Prospect - Johnson (if he signs) Goaltending (2) - Comrie, UPL - Cost 2.6 UFA - Anderson Prospects - Levi & Portillo The Status Quo approach is to do next to nothing. At forward re-sign Jost, Cozens (my guess is the deal will be 6+ for at least 6 years), Asplund, and Savoie earns a job in camp. This leaves room for Girgensons or KO to re-sign. My guess is Girgensons because of his style of play. On defense, they may re-sign Fitz, but my hope is he brings in real depth. Lastly in goal, in theory he could stick with the tandem under contract. This is not a step forward IMHO A more aggressive approach is needed. At forward - trade VO & Mitts (maybe as early as the deadline). Bring in a solid 2 way forward to help the 3rd line, someone like Miles Wood or JT Compher. Re-sign Cozens, Jost and Asplund. On defense - trade, acquire, sign 2 more veteran D. For example sign Nick Jensen and make a bold deal for Dumba or Chychrun. Trade Bryson away if necessary. In goal try to sign Adin Hill. UPL isn't the answer and Levi will need at least a year in the AHL. Skinner TNT Tuch JJP Cozens Quinn Woods Krebs Savoie Girgensons Jost Asplund Dahlin Samuelsson Power Chychrun Joki Bush Jensen Comrie Hill

Nothing has changed in their odds over the last few weeks