msw2112

When given the proper context, her quote makes sense. If what she is saying in the quote is true, then one of the following is the case: (a) only 10% of Bills season ticket holders are also Sabres season ticket holders, (b) only 10% of Sabres season ticket holders are Bills season ticket holders, or (c) if you combined the two groups into a single group, only 10% of that entity has season tickets for both franchises. It's least likely (a) and most likely (c). Regardless of how you do the calculation, the actual number of people who have season tickest to both teams is the same. I was never very good with math. In terms of interest or "fandom," the percentage is certainly MUCH higher. I think it would be in the 75% range. I'm both a huge Bills fan and Sabres fan (although I live out of market and have season tickets to neither team), and just about all of the Buffalo people I know, either living in the area or ex-pats, are fans of both teams.

The OP's original list of "Sabres" is 11 players: Skinner, Thompson, Tuch, Mittelstadt, Cozens, Okposo, Krebs, Dahlin, Bryson, Samuelsson, Fitzgerald. The full roster is 23 players. I'm fine with the original list. I'd also keep Asplund and Olofsson from the middle list, and add Girgensons and Jokiharju. That gets the list to 15. Add Power, Ryan Johnson, JJ Peterka and Quinn. Now you're at 19. Add 2 goalies - UPL and Levi? More likely UPL and a to-be-acquired veteran, with Levi going to Rochester. That gets us to 21. They would need 2 more players to fill out the roster. 1 could the first round draft pick, depending on draft order and who is drafted. That leaves one spot for an experienced veteran free agent. If our 1st round pick stays in junior, plays in the minors, or in Europe, then we add 2 veteran free agent skaters. Ryan Johnson could also play in Rochester to get some seasoning, leaving one more spot for a veteran FA (Hinostroza could be that guy - he adds speed and some limiited scoring ability). Does that get it done?

This franchise has made more than its fair share of missteps in recent years. That doesn't mean that everyone should throw their hands up and give up. While the Sabres try to follow their rebuild plan to improve on the ice, there's nothing wrong with an initiatve like this to improve things off the ice.

I agree. Nothing beats the "old days" when all you had was hockey, beer, a scoreboard that only the period, the time remaining, and the penalties. (I'm not sure I was even old enough to legally drink beer in those days, but occasionally found one of those light blue SportsService cups in my hand.) The organ was the entertainment, along with fan chants. That said, those days are not coming back, so this thread is interesting, because as long as there is unnecessary nonsense at NHL games, we may as well point out the BEST unnecessary nonsense.

It's too bad - Hutton seems like a great dude and a good team player, but he has not played anywhere close to NHL caliber hockey since his last year in St. Louis and maybe the very beginning of his stint in Buffalo. I wish him well with the Leafs' AHL team - edit: he's being loans to Tucson, Arizona's AHL team, so I wish him well there.

The huge outdoor patio/bar area in Tampa is fantastic, particularly at night, when you can see the city lit up as you are enjoying an adult beverage between periods. Lots of great sights there....The Coyote howl in Arizona is pretty unique. Chicago fans are brutal, but the energy in the building for a Friday or Saturday night game is excellent.

I don't watch a ton of NHL hockey these days, but it seems that whenever I see the Florida Panthers playing, or see hightlights of a Panthers game, I hear Reinhart's name called. He's a very good player there and was a good player in Buffalo. The team really botched that situation, but by the time this offseason rolled around, the damage had been done and a trade was necessary. A first round pick and Devon Levi isn't a terrible return. At the time, Levi appeared to be more of a throw in because Florida is deep at the goaltender position, but he may turn out to be the jewel of the trade. Given the Panthers' success, the pick is going to be in the late part of the first round, so not likely to yield a great prospect.

Hey, now. Let's not overdramatize things. It was FOUR first round picks....And most of those were at the top of the draft. One was our old friend Taylor Hall, who ended up a Sabre anyway and was a huge success with the team. https://oilersnation.com/2020/07/09/throwback-thursday-this-week-in-2007-the-edmonton-oilers-signed-thomas-vanek-to-a-seven-year-offer-sheet/ "Here’s the four players that Edmonton drafted with the picks they would’ve given up: Sam Gagner in 2007, Magnus Paajarvi in 2009 and Taylor Hall in 2010. The 2008 pick was used in a later offer sheet for Dustin Penner."

Casey came on very well at the end of last season under Donny's tutelage. Let's hope he can stay healthy and show continued development.

While the Sabres have a lot of talent in the pipeline, it often takes several years for young players to develop. VO is already developed. He's a proven goal scorer. Keep him, pay him a reasonable but not outrageous salary (he's restricted, so the team has some control) and let him help the team now (this year and into next). I think that he's had a down year due to injuries and the lack of current talent on the roster. When fully healthy and playing with other good players on a regular basis, he's a good NHL player that knows how to put the puck in the net. He's arguably a 2nd-line talent, but if the team improves and becomes stacked with talented forwards (we can only hope), there's nothing wrong with having a player like that on the 3rd line. Back when the Sabres were a good team ('06-'07), they had talented guys on the 3rd line that could score. The 3rd line wasn't just JAGs. If, down the road, the young guys mature, and VO is pushed down or out of the lineup, trade him then. Teams always need goal scorers.

Maybe they are "preserving" him for the trade deadline. Just speculation on my part.

I assume, as mentioned above, that this would be to appease the playes who were denied the opportunity to play for their countries at the Olympics this year.

I don't know anything about these guys either, but the future Sabres roster has a lot of "higher-end" talent projected - Power, Dahlin, Krebs, Quinn, Couzens, etc. You also are going to need solid guys to fill out the 3rd and 4th lines and the 3rd and 4th defensive pairings. It certainly makes sense to take a shot at some of these guys. I assume that if they don't work out in the NHL, they might also be good prospects for filling out the AHL roster in Rochester.

I don't know much about hockey prospects, but Rosen was drafted around where all of the so-called experts had him on their draft boards. So there's that. Based on what little I knew about the kid (basically reading an article or 2 about draft prospects and watching some of the TV coverage), he seemed rather small and his numbers weren't great, so I would not have selected him where the Sabres did. This is truly an "only time will tell" situation. Let the kid develop and see where he ends up. If he's a bust, we can criticize the Sabres then.

If they want to use cap space to overpay a veteran player for the short term (1-2 years), I am OK with that. We need quality veterans on the roster while the kids develop. A goalie would be particularly helpful. What they should not do is take on long-term contracts for overpaid players. I'm glad that Skinner and Okposo are playing well this year and are assets to the team, but their contracts are brutal and we don't need more of those. I'm also OK with some of the cap/money laundering ideas mentioned above to gain some future assets. I don't have the brain power right now to read and understand how it all works, but I get the general idea and think it would be beneficial to the team.

I have had similar trouble picking up the games on the WGR web site or app. You hit the "Listen" button and get some kind of sports talk show, not the Sabres game. In past seasons, I've never had a problem. I did a thread about this a few weeks ago and a fellow Sabrespace member suggested going to NHL.com and the game's Gamecenter, then clicking listen (icon of headphones), and selecting Buffalo-WGR. That has worked for me. The one nuance is that on NHL.com, after selecting WGR, it takes you to a page that says "Videos." You stiil click on the white arrow to start the broadcast, even though you are listenting to audio only, not a video. It works, but it's obviously a poorly designed web page. Why would you launch an audio broadcast from a page entitled "Videos?" But it does work. You just have to overlook the stupidity.

I haven't lived in Buffalo for quite a while, but keep up on the goings on there. Never heard of this guy, but it sounds like he was part of the fabric of the community, so may he rest in peace.

Probably Bryson, Girgs and Okposo. Bryson is a solid young defenseman, and Girgs and Okposo are good veteran players (not great) who provide heart and leadership along with some talent. You need guys like that to mentor the young guys. I think both are under contract. The rest are probably gone, although Vinnie has good speed and some grit and is a decent middle-to-bottom 6 player.

I was never a big fan of this logo and while I like the color combination in and of itself, I don't think it ever made sense to move away from the blue and gold. Their current uniforms are the best looking ones they've had since the 70s. All that said, the goat head/black-red-gray is now nostalgic and I am good with it being a third jersey. Somewhere in the depths of my closet, I have some old goat head hats and t-shirts.

I didn't know Tage had a twin!

Obviously there are some loopholes in our tax system that allow billionaires to be taxed like ordinary folks, but I don't blame the Pegulas for this and I dont think it has anything to do with how they run their professional sports franchises. I also don't think that their failures with the Sabres are tied try trying to make a buck. They have tried a number of different ways to make the team successful (including handing out large contracts to star players), but nothing has worked yet. I think the current course looks promising.

The Sabres are in the early-to-middle stages of a rebuild, which is looking like it is on track. The side-effect of such a rebuild is losing a lot of games. While the young guys develop and the culture slowly changes for the better, they are playing hard and trying to win as many games as they can. They are not tanking - meaning they are not intentionally losing games to try and achieve a higher draft pick. If they were tanking, they would have sent UPL back to Rochester after he started playing well and gone with Dell and Subban. Now, injuries have made a mess of the goaltending situation again, but none of that was intentional. The Sabres are headed for the lottery this season and I believe the organization will do whatever it can to NOT be in the lottery next season (although they still might end up there). In two seasons from now, the lottery will be in the rear-view mirror.

I think the roster, as currently constructed, is short on talent. We have some good players, but not enough difference makers. I have not watched a lot of Sabres games this year, but I did see the third period against Boston. The Bruins entered the period down 3-1. Boston controlled the play the entire 3rd period. When their star players entered the zone, the defense backed up and you just knew the puck will be in the back of the net. And it was. They just took over the game. They tied it up at 3 and won 4-3 in OT. In contrast, I also watched the 3rd period of the San Jose game. The Sabres entered the 3rd period down 3-1. The Sabres controlled the entire period. They skated hard, hit, controlled the puck, controlled the play, etc. Most of the period was in the San Jose zone. That said, they just didn't have enough talent to put the puck in the back on the net when they needed it and lost 3-2. All this said, I do believe that with the incoming talent: Krebs, Peterka, Quinn, Power, Johnson, Samuelsson, Levi, Portillo, etc. and the further maturation of Thompson, Dahlin, Asplund, UPL, and others, and the large number of 1st and 2nd round draft picks in the bank, the Sabres WILL have that kind of talent in the next couple of upcoming season. Trust the process....

If the Sabres were somehow lucky enough to win the lottery again and draft Wright, you give him the opportunity to make the team and if he proves ready, he makes it. If not, he goes back to juniors for more seasoning. Most #1 overall picks come directly into the league, I think, athough I'm sure others on this board would be in a better position to state that than me. In full disclousre, I've never seen Wright play and don't know much about him other than that he's the consensus #1 overall pick next year.

I looked it up. Tage has 1 more point, but 2 more games played. So about the same. I'm not saying that Thompson brings all the intangibles to a team that O'Reilly does, but if Tage contines his upward trajectory and is a solid point producer for many years to come in the NHL, and Ryan Johnson signs with the Sabres and becomes a quality top-6 (or top-4) NHL defenseman, the trade won't look that bad down the road. St. Louis rode O'Reilly to Cup, but that wasn't going to happen in Buffalo. So, while the trade is still ugly at this point, there is potential for it to even out a little bit over the next several years. Also throw in the facts that Tage is 6 years younger than O'Reilly and costs a lot less....