GASabresIUFAN

I'm sure Power has one he can borrow! Even the colors are close.

As to Mule, him being out a month is bad, but considering the way the injury looked he, the team and the fans, should be very relieved that he is only out a month. He's had pretty rotten luck on the injury front the last two seasons. As to Joki, hope he take his time and allows those bones to heal and set properly.

and so the wait continues.

I left the word “seriously” off my post. Sue me! I don’t feel finishing 7th or worse in the Norris voting being seriously considered for the award.

Actually he received votes 4 times and finished 7th, 10th, 12th and 15th. Not exactly in contention for the award. He out-pointed Langway in 1983 (38 to 32) and didn’t receive a single Norris vote.

https://www.nhl.com/sabres/news/buffalo-sabres-defenseman-rasmus-dahlin-named-nhl-1st-star-of-week-october-24-2022-goal-streak/c-336740150

Well here is the Norris history post Bobby Orr. (Orr won 8 straight and finished 1st in scoring the last 7, he missed half the season with injury the 1st time he won). 46 times the award has been given out (2005 no award) since Orr last won in 1975. In 32 seasons the winner was 1st (20) or 2nd (12) in D scoring. 8 more times the player finished in the top 5 in D scoring. The 6 times the winner finished outside the top 5: 2016 - Doughty finished 10th (51pts), 2009 - Chara finished 12th (50 pts), 1998 - Blake finished 8th (50 pts), 1993 - Chelios finished 9th (73pts). Only Rod Langway won without scoring 50 or more points in a full season. In 1984 he has 33 pts (44th) and in 1983 he had 32 pts (46th). The last 4 years the guy who finished 2nd in points won the award. Lidstrom won the award 6 times and finished 1 (3), 2, 3, & 5th in D scoring the years he won. Bottomline to win this award you need to be in the top 2 in D scoring and it helps to be on a top Cup contender.

But both were among the top scoring D. Guys like Pronger, Carlyle, Wilson etc all won the year they were near or at the top of the of the D scoring. I don’t remember stellar D oriented D like Mike Ramsey ever being considered for the Norris. My guess is Rod Langway is the only Norris winner since expansion to win without putting up at least 40 points.

I agree and that should scare the crap out of our opponents. We are rolling 4 lines right now, but really only 3 have made much of a scoring impact. I think once Quinn and or Krebs figure it out, we could be seeing a very similar team to that great 05/06 team where we sent wave after wave against our opponents with stunning results.

Never. Only non-hi-scoring D that I can remember winning the thing was Rod Langway.

When I say injury fill in I mean a few games here and there. If he has to be in the lineup for 20 straight we will regret it. Schenn certainly wanted a “guaranteed” roster spot. Who doesn’t. However he signed an 850K contract, which implies to me there wasn’t exactly a bidding war for his services. Might he have signed here on a two year $1 mill per season deal to be the 7th guy and mentor to the young guys? I think he might have, but we’ll never know if KA even made an offer. He targeted Lyubushkin and seems content with Fitz in the 7/8 spot. That said I thought and still think we need a upgrade over Fitz. Now if Mule is our for a very extended period, I believe he needs to start working the phones to see what’s available and at what price.

This thread deteriorated fast.

What patience with prospects? Perish the thought. Who are you and what have you done with @Buffalonill.

If Mogilny made the cut, how far behind can Andreychuk be? Hawerchuk is now certainly on the list soon. What about Housley? Isn’t he the early prototype for this era’s offensive defensemen? He’s 2nd behind Modano in points by a US born player. (Brett Hull saw born in Belleville Ont). He is also 4th all-time for D in points and goals behind only Bourque, Coffey and Macinnis. That’s pretty elite company.

I went back to last season to see if we could see this breakout by Dahlin coming and the answer is kinda of. Dahlin really had a pretty balanced season last year. He scored at least one point in 37 games and that was pretty evenly divided in each quarter of the season, 9, 10, 9 and 9 games respectively. His points were also pretty evenly divided by quarter 12, 14, 11, & 16. Where the starkest contrast came is Dahlin’s influence on team’s ability to win games. In games Dahlin scored during the entire season the team was a sparkling 18-12-7 (a 95 pt pace), but most of that success came in the second half of the season. In the first half, the Sabres went 7-12-2 (.76 pts per game) in games without Dahlin scoring and 5-9-5 (.79) in games he did. A difference, but only a very slight one. However, in the second half, the Sabres were a terrible 6-14-2 (.64) in games without a Dahlin point but an amazing 13-3-2 (1.6) in games Dahlin had a least one point. This trend exploded in the last quarter when the Sabres went 8-0-1 (1.9) in games Dahlin posted at least a point but only 3-6-2 (.73) in games he didn’t. Obviously the Sabres as a team were better in the second half, but the win/loss stats seem to confirm the eye test that Dahlin’s all around game and his influence on the Sabres ability to win took off in the second half of the season and that he has carried that influence into the new season.

Any news on the extent of the injury?

I have no Italian grandparents, but I’ve known the Billittier family all my life.

RedZone It's been a long weekend. No Bulldawgs No Bills. I've had to decorate for Halloween

Also he was eligible to be sent down without clearing waivers.

I honestly hope Jack thrives in LV and they miss the playoffs. How can a guy dating his college GF from Buffalo and who likes Chef’s be all that bad? Still I’d rather have Tuch.

Actually we don’t. Quinn has the skills to score 40 goals in the league. Our best snipers on wing are Skinner and VO and they are 30 goal type guys. VO is also likely gone after next season and Skinner is now on the wrong side of 30. I can accept that Krebs could be expendable with skilled playmakers like Mitts and Tuch already here and guys like Östlund in the system, but KA is a value oriented GM. The Lyubuskin and Comrie deals illustrate his approach. He has yet to trade any high end young player. It’s much more likely he’d trade Clague and a 2nd next season to add a depth NHL RHD on a shorter term deal. It’s why I mentioned Myers. Here is how I envision a Myers deal might work. Van needs cap relief. We’d trade them Clague and a 2nd for Myers and a 4th with us taking Myers entire contract. Myers steps into the mentor role for Powers like Tallinder did for him. KA could them trade Bishop’s contract to a team desperate for cap relief for other assets. Obviously you don’t make this deal if Samuelsson is only out a few weeks, but if it’s months, a deal like this could become a necessity.

I hope so, but he is a left side puck mover, not exactly known for his D zone work.

No, but his injury, long or short term, is making crystal clear how little depth we have at RHD. I wrote in the off-season that KA should acquire two proven RHD as I had seen enough of Fitz to believe that he is at best an injury fill in. KA signed Lyubushkin and kept Fitz as the 4th right side D. I would have signed someone like Schenn instead and let Fitz anchor a pair in Rochester to protect UPL.

Wow! First Quinn is a friggin 20 year old rookie who tore up the A last year. Tossing him after 4 total NHL is just silly. I understand the Krebs thinking a little more. After all you have to give to get and the depth in our organization is in players with his general skill set. That said he is only 21 and has yet to even play 70 NHL games. As we saw TNT and now Mitts and Cozens it takes time for even high skill guys to blossom in the NHL. JJP has made some fine plays so far, but also some terrible ones. This is what rookies do. You need more patience. We have plenty of other guys to carry the load as they learn the ropes and they will. DG is proving time and again he knows how to get the most from his players. I’d like to a RHD added as well, but KA isn’t moving one of these guys to do it.