GASabresIUFAN

From ESPN https://www.espn.com/nhl/insider/story/_/id/41419134/nhl-predictions-2024-25-scoring-trades-stats-playoffs-awards-leaders "Buffalo Sabres The playoff drought ends The last time the Sabres made the playoffs, "Fast 5" was in theaters, a duet between Katy Perry and Kanye West was the No. 1 song in the U.S. and their coach was ... the same guy who's coaching them now? Wait, that can't be right, can it? Yup. Lindy Ruff returns to the franchise where he coached 15 seasons and finds a Sabres team that hasn't made the postseason cut since 2011. He also finds a team with two pillars on defense (Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power); a collection of young standout forwards in their top six; and a revamped bottom six that brings speed this team lacked under Don Granato. While he doesn't have Dominik Hasek or Ryan Miller between the pipes, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen was strong last season and Devon Levi's underlying numbers showed promise. Look, there is a mountainous amount of stuff that needs to go right for the Sabres to make the playoffs. It starts with Ruff getting a young roster to commit defensively in ways it hasn't before -- something he had success with for a time during his last stop in New Jersey. It requires good health and core players continuing on their growth trajectories. Most of all, it requires a spot opening up for them in the conference from the teams that qualified last season -- perhaps even two spots, if we assume the Devils are back in the playoff picture. So let's call this an "educated prayer." Ultimately, I think enough breaks right for Buffalo for them to emerge from that pack of rebuilders in the Atlantic. The streak ends. The playoff tailgates in Buffalo begin."

Do you realize that Spielberg and co made this affect 44 years ago. (Movie made in June 1980 and released June 1981). Crazy. @Taro T I loved how the guys looked in Germany. Maybe its the Bills rubbing off on me or my Hoosiers at 5-0 (sad my Dawgs couldn't finish the comeback), but I'm getting exciting for the Sabres season.

LIke I said earlier, Jamie Lee Curtis looked better in that outfit.

That about covers the Fedora

It wouldn’t have mattered.

Sabres fans are going to love Lafferty this season. He is noticeable every shift. Levi may already be better than UPL. His reaction time is just so fast.

First German to score in Red Bull’s new arena.

Way to go JJ!

JJ needs to score in the 3rd

They look better on Jamie Lee Curtis.

Tobias Rieder plays for Munich. It’s amazing how few players are still on the Sabres from when he played here. Cozens and Thompson are the only forwards.

Sure, but they needed to have made a better choice. Come on guys. You need to convert those opportunities.

Can the coaching staff get rid of those stupid fedoras? They look like hoods from a bad 1970s gangster movie.

I think they are better than the league profile. They are the best franchise in the DEL and finished 2nd in the Euro Champions league in 2022. I went and read a profile on the franchise after asking the question. My guess after reading the profile is that they are better than most AHL, Liiga and SHL teams.

There’s a little finish. Their poor goalie is under siege.

Obviously the Sabres are a faster and more talented team. They seem to be winning the race to nearly every loose puck. Not finishing so far. Legit question. Red Bull is the Germany top league. What level is this Red Bull team skill wise relative to the AHL, KHL or SHL?

Here is one. Mitts was the ring leader of Bryson, Cozens and new Captain Dahlin. https://www.nhl.com/sabres/video/topic/sabres-embedded/sabres-embedded-full-house-338806648

Then you never watched the Sabres videos.

Mitts, but he is now in Colorado. Like the Dahlin choice. He at least has earned the “C.” He is probably more of an Alpha Dog than you think.

40 shots. Impressive. Ullmark and Tokarski in net for the Sens. Fascinating!

Apparently JJP was 12th in the NHL last season with 25 5 on 5 goals. How many does he score if he gets consistent 1 team PP time?

So basically the same at the NHL Network. The NHL Network also had Dahlin as the 40th best player in the NHL. None of this really matters very much. Produce more points and you go up, produce less you go down. Dahlin had 73 points and he was 7th on the list before 23/24. Now he fell to the 50's and he is down to 11th. If Dahlin gets back to 70 pts and Tage to 80+, the chances of this team making the playoffs go up dramatically.

He was 7th on their list 23/24 & now 11th for 24/25. Here is the current list: top 10 - Makar, Q Hughes, Hedman, Josi, Heiskanen, Forsling, McAvoy, Fox, Bouchard, and Toews. Next 10 - Dahlin, Morrissey, Slavin, Werenski, Dobson, Ekholm, Doughty, Hanifin, Halilton & Seider. Who are you kicking out of the top 10? Forsling? Bouchard? He has his breakout with 80 points last season.

The NHL Network had him outside of the top 20 on their annual best centers list. Mike Johnson did say that Tage was the one player who could vault up the list with a bounce back season. They also had Dahlin as the 11 best D in the NHL. These actually sound about right.

Haven't all NHL forwards spent time at center at some point in their careers be it juniors, college, AHL, Europe etc.... Usually they are the best player on their lower teams and the coaches invariably place them at center because of it. That's not to say that the NHL isn't a whole different level, but it shouldn’t be as hard a transition as people think if the player has a few years on NHL experience. Thompson is a classic example. He was a center in college. Mitts played center in high school, center and wing in college and center and wing in the NHL. Almost all our top prospects, Kulich, Wahlberg, Östlund, Rosen, and Helenius have spent time at center and the wing. I wouldn't mind at all seeing JJP, Benson or Quinn get a look at center. Watching JJP feed Stutzle at Worlds makes he thing he'd excel as a center. I like the idea of Cozens at RW. He seems to blossom there are Worlds each time he plays there.