msw2112

Will he have to miss the all-star game? While the ASG does nothing for the Sabres' season, he earned the opportunity to go and it would suck if he had to miss it. Going to the ASG made a huge (positive) difference in Dahlin's confidence level, but I suppose that, at this point, Thompson doesn't need that type of confidence booster. He already gotten paid and is now acknowledged as a top player in the league. The ASG is a low-contact event, so maybe he can go without further risking injury.

Fandom for Buffalo sports teams knows no boundaries! There are Bills and Sabres fans all over the country and the world! But, more to the point of the post, I would agree that Syracuse is probably the boundary. West of Syracuse is mostly Buffalo fans, Syracuse is split, and east of Syracuse is other teams - Rangers, perhaps Bruins (certainly when you get into Mass) and north of Syracuse could be Montreal fans. (Of course, the Sabres' own Alex Tuch is from Syracuse and grew up a big Sabres fan). Same goes for football. West of Syracuse would be Bills fans, Syracuse is split, and east of Syracuse is a combination of Jets, Giants, etc. In other directions, I don't know. Is Erie, PA Sabres fans or Pens fans? And for Southern Ontario, are there Sabres fans there, or just NHL fans who come to Buffalo because its affordable NHL hockey (versus Toronto) where they can support their favorite teams and players?

Some of the folks here definitely overreact. Just because the Sabres lose a game, it doesn't necessarily mean that they played poorly, lacked energy, got pushed around, etc. It doesn't mean that "Adams is incompetent" or "nothing is being done about the goaltending situation" or "Granato is great at developing kids, but isn't the guy to get us over the top" or "here we go again, another season with no playoffs." Sometimes they face a hot goalie, hit a few goalposts, and outplay the other team and don't get the win. Other times, they play against a really good team and go toe-to-toe with them and lose by 1 goal (or 2, in the case of an empty net goal). Even the worst teams in the league this season (Chicago, Anahiem, San Jose, Columbus, Arizona) have won around 15 games so far, with a lot of season yet to be played, so they are going to occasionally beat another team that is a better than them. For example, there was a lot of doom and gloom on this board after the OT loss in Chicago. I watched that game and thought the Sabres controlled the play most of that game. They played hard. They did run around in their own end a little bit in the 3rd period and got burned for it. They still made it to OT, where they had a 2 on 1 and had the player (Mittlestadt, I think) made the pass rather then shooting the puck, they probably would have scored and won the game. He didn't, the puck went the other way and Chicago scored. So, yes, the Sabres lost to a bottom feeder and many people were up in arms on this board. Meanwhile, since then, they have won 5 straight, including beating the Islanders, a team that they are competing with for the Wild Card, and Dallas and Winnipeg, the top two teams in the Western Conference. Rather than dwell on the result of one game, I am focused on the bigger picture. I like what I see.

I'm out of market and have the NHL Center Ice package. While both the Sabres' and opposing team's broadcasts are options, I have been watching the opposing team's feed quite a bit lately. I'm curious to see what outsiders think of the Sabres. It's been overwhelminghly positive. Last night's Winnipeg TSN crew was gushing over the Sabres most of the game (and rightfully so) and even went so far as to say that the Sabres dominated the Jets in thier previous game and that the only reason the Jets won was that Hellebuyck stood on his head. Most of the other teams' broadcasters are as good or better than Dunleavy and Ray. The only one I saw that I couldn't stand was Boston. Jack Edwards sounds like he's in slow motion and Andy Brickley has that marble-mouthed Boston accent that I can't stand. That said, both were very complimentary of the Sabres, so I have to give them credit for being objective.

I saw the play and it looked like unintentional, incidental contact to me. Regardless of our different interpretations, Cozens definitely came out of it woozy and off-balance and it behooves the team to evalute for a concussion, whether he ultimately sustained one or not.

I had not thought of this, but it is true. The Sabres rarely have a guy parked in front of the net to screen the goalie. Because of this, they need an almost perfect shot to score. Many of the rockets off of Tage's and Olofsson's sticks have been those types of shots, but defenses are adjusting take that away, so perhaps putting a big body in front of the net to screen the goalie will allow some less than perfect shots to find their way in, or to result in a rebound with a guy right there to put it home.

I agree that it can become too static, but Tage is a good skater and VO is a good enough skater that they can create some movement and still have multiple guys who can shoot on the ice at the same time. They don't both necessarily have to "park" themselves in their spot waiting for the pass and one-timer. They can move around a bit to create some movement in the defense, and then one or the other can creep into position for the one-timer when the defense allows it. If the defense doesn't allow it, both Thompson and VO are capable of shooting well and scoring while on the move. Thompson has been doing it all seasons and VO has been doing it quite a bit of late.

I agree. If they adjust the defense to take away one sniper, we'll have another on the other side. Even if VO isn't over there, if Thompson is in his "spot" and the defense shifts that way, it should open up something/someone else. Hasn't Ovechkin been in the same spot on the PP for 10-15 years? And it still works.

I just watched it. Great presentation. Brought back some memories, and Miller was/is a class act. It's also great that the team was able to pull out an exciting and important win. They continue to deliver and excel in these "special" games.

What would the mood be on this board, if, on the Sabres last 2 on 1 in OT, the pass was made instead of the shot taken, and the puck went into the net?

Adams will run the hockey side. Scouting and signing players, signing and managing coaches, draft prep, hockey analytics, etc. I assume that Roth will run the business side. Marketing, advertising, lease negotiations with the city and county, managing arena improvements, TV contracts (with MSG or other), food and merchandise vendors, HR, payroll, tax/finance, legal, IT, etc. There are many aspects to running a business (including a professional sports business) that are separate from the hockey operations and it makes sense to separate them. Problems arise when you have someone from the operations side participating on the hockey/sports side (see Brandon, Russ) and the guys on the hockey/sports side should focus on their side of the house. Kevyn Adams does not and should not be spending his time negotiating with food vendors, making sure the marketing, IT, Legal, HR, tax/finance, etc. departments are running properly.

I don't agree with this. The best way for a hockey player to improve is to PLAY. If the chances of your playing time are reduced by others in the organization and you have the option to go to another organization where your chances to play are higher, I would probably do the same. Also, by going the free agent route, he could still potentially sign with Buffalo if he wanted to. So there's really no downside. It's not just that the Sabres have goalies in front of him - all NHL teams do - it's that they have 2 young guys in his age range, one of whom has a major head start (UPL). The Sabres also invested a relatively high draft pick on a goalie this season. I'm both a major Sabres fan and Michigan fan. I would love for Portillo to sign with the Sabres. With my pro-Sabres bias, I want him to come to the Sabres organization. Looking at it objectively, however, it seems like the best move for Portillo is free agency.

I agree that someone is likely to get injured, given how many games they have coming up in a short stretch of time. That will ultimately self-correct the situation. I didn't realize that Krebs is also eligible, but agree that he's been playing well and should remain in the lineup, and that Cozens and Power are not even to be considered for Rochester (on paper or otherwise), as those two are big-minute regulars in the lineup.

I thought that someone suggested they send Quinn or Peterka back to Rochester, on paper, for those games that UPL is going to start. They don't need to clear waivers. I could go with that solution. Pick whichever one has been playing less effectively at the time. Basically, sit/swap one of them for UPL. Neither one has been terribly productive lately and the Peterka-Cozens-Quinn line has not done much as a line in some time. That may be preferable to waiving Hinostroza or someone else, putting Anderson on IR, etc. They could even alternate them so that neither one sits more than 1 game in a row and both get needed development time on the ice. For games started by Anderson or Comrie, both would be able to play, so each guy may end up only having to sit out 1 in every 3 or 4 games.

For me, I agree with this 100%. If I had paid full price for tickets, plus parking, given up an entire night, etc. I might feel differently.

I live in the western part of the country. I set my DVR to record this game and was planning to watch it after watching my recording of the College Football National Championship game. I got through the (terrible) football game and started watching the Sabres game around 11 PM. For some reason, my DVR had an error and never recorded the game beyond the first 10 seconds of the broadcast. I was pissed for about a minute, then looked up the score and realized that it did me a huge favor. I got 2 more hours of much needed sleep. Based on what I am seeing here, I would have been a whole lot more pissed if I had stayed up well past midnight to watch that sh(% game. Will give it another go tonight with Seattle. I'm guessing that last night's sleepwalk got their attention and DG will have them ready tonight. Plus, Seattle has always given them fits, so I think they will be pumped up to play very well against this opponent.

The fact that there are few/no defensemen is silly. Dahlin belongs in the ASG under any circumstance and it should not be left to chance the way that it is. That video was also awkward, contrived, and silly. I realize what they were trying to do with it, but it just didn't happen. Thompson is obviously a reserved, low-key guy off the ice, and it showed in the video. If I was the Sabres PR/Marketing team, I would have abandoned the idea after seeing how it went. Notwithstanding my comments above, it was earned and well-deserved for Tage, so congrats to him!

UPL has earned his spot and has won some key games for the team against top opponents (the Vegas win being a great example). I like Vinnie, but I think that Asplund is more valuable. The Sabres have more guys with Vinnie's skillset (smallish forwards with good speed and some scoring ability) than Asplund's (a solid defensive forward with some limited scoring ability) and Asplund is younger and cheaper. So I think that you have to waive or release Vinnie, and on D, probably waive Fitzgerald when Joki returns. I don't know if Fitz had to clear waivers to be sent down - but hopefully not. While I hate for the Sabres to lose a decent player, isn't it nice to have first-world problems for a change?

While I know the Bruins are one of the top teams in the NHL this season, I had not followed them very closely. After seeing this post, I looked up Ullmark's numbers and was shocked at how impressive of a season he is having. While I can understand the Sabres making the decision that they did (not offering Ullmark top dollar and term, given his injury history and the developmental stature of the team), imagine where this year's Sabres team might be if they had retained Ullmark.

I guess if they had to send him down to free up roster space, they had to expose him. It seems to me that they hope he clears and goes to Roch and they are not trying to outright release him. I haven't seen enough to know if Fitz and Clague have been better, but certainly this board has been more complimentary of Clague of late, and Fitz does bring a physical element to the team the they need.

I agree. I thought he played well against Vegas, even without the puck. He was forechecking and playing with a bit of a physical edge. He also made a couple of decent passes. Perhaps there is little more to his game than the 1-timer on the power play.

I'd go with whatever Coach Granato thinks is best. He seems to have found a winning formula over the last strech of games. It was great to see goaltending finally make a difference for the team last night against Vegas. Also, it seemed like he had a clear lane to see a lot of shots, so perhaps the defense did a better job of clearing out the traffic.

Very true. Between work, wife, and kids, I barely have time to keep up with the Sabres, let alone guys on the farm team. That's why I come here for information! I'm familiar with Laaksonen, but wasn't aware of his current standing in the organization. Now I certainly am. Hopefully the local kid can make good.

Seems like an odd trade to me. Laaksonen is younger and was at one time thought to be a solid D prospect. Cecconi is 25 and has not made it out of the AHL. To me, that means he has less upside. I suppose the logic is that the Sabres no longer see Laaksonen as a future NHL player and that Cecconi can add more to Rochester than Laaksonen does. The one thing I like about Cecconi is that he's a Michigan Wolverine. Maybe having more Wolverines in the system (to go along with Owen Power) will influence Portillo to sign with the Sabres. (I say that in jest - Cecconi left Michigan before Portillo arrived, so there is likely very little connection.) Upon further review, I also see that he's a local kid from Youngstown,NY and he played with the Jr. Sabres, so further plusses for the kid. Upon my first read, I thought he was from Youngstown, OH. Either way, it looks like the Sabres have given up on Laaksonen.

I don't like this. I enjoy seeing the Sabres play all of the teams throughout the league. I never liked too many games between the same two teams. Save that for the playoffs. I think we play our division rivals more than enough already. I really liked it many years ago when they had the balanced schedule. Back in those days, it was great to see the Gretzky Oilers 4 times per year, twice in Buffalo. Under the current system, we only see the McDavid Oilers twice a year, once in Buffalo. The balanced scheudle is also inherently more fair. If every team plays every other team the same number of times, every team can more fairly be compared to every other team. Currently teams in tougher divisions inherently have tougher schedules and a more difficult road to making the playoffs. I'm sure many will disagree and I do see the benefits of less travel and more intense rivalries with the unbalanced schedule. I just like the balanced system better.