PerreaultForever

EJ maybe, not so sure about Girgs. If Girgs was "in demand" he'd probably have already left here a few times as a free agent.

Why? What do you honestly think a guy who couldn't stay in the Columbus line up will bring us? Ridiculous. Well that's true, team is chock full of babies.

Ya, that would be a difference. I played hockey and love hockey. If Buffalo disappeared tomorrow I could move on. I've stuck with the team since the French Connection days as my number one team but I've managed to stay sane rooting for Boston and others over this time period as well. Managed to have some enjoyable highs that way along with the constant lows. Local residents who cheer local obviously have a harder time with things. I get that. I'd still have a B or C team though, even if I did live in Buffalo.

But you didn't answer the question as to why trade for him? What need does he fill? We could have (for example) just as easily have claimed Anton Blidh on waivers from NY the other day for nothing and had him occupy a bottom roster spot instead of Biro and at half the salary of this guy. He's a low skill high energy guy who occasionally hits people. I see no value in this trade at all.

Which is why I need 2nd, 3rd, even 4th teams to root for. I cannot imagine what it must be like for someone who only likes the Sabres over this last decade. That has to be absolutely brutal.

How? What does he give us that we did not have? What need did he fill?

Yes absolutely. I'm not 100% sure who else they added vs. what they already had but just take Dumba and Durzi vs. Clifton and Johnson and do the math right there.

Size only matters if you use it.

I haven't seen them play much but I think it might have more to do with the D they picked up than the goalie on his own. Consider, for example, how much Minnesota's goaltending has dropped without Dumba and vice versa. He's not the only part of that obviously, they have several D men new to that team, but I do think it's part of it. Ullmark won a Vezina in Boston. Do you think he'd have put up the same save numbers if he'd stayed in Buffalo? Or do you think Aidin Hill would have put up his numbers without their D and Cassidy's system? Everything is connected, and it is most certainly not just "luck".

imo it's not just a slump, he's (comparatively) weak. He needs weight and muscle. Strength training. He's fine in open ice but he is completely incapable of doing anything around the net if opponents assert their physicality. He also is incapable of forcing a player outside if said player uses his body to shield the puck. idk what he did in the off season, but he should have been adding muscle instead. He's a boy in a man's game right now.

me thinks you might be right.

Yes, the "drunken Indian" thing was all racist BS but you're missing one important aspect. Nolan had a contentious and argumentative relationship with his GM and Regier wasn't sure if he'd be able to work with Nolan on Nolan's terms so he offered him the one year deal as a trial for that. Nolan's pride made him refuse it. Regier got lucky with Ruff. Ruff had been a decent assistant and he had Sabres roots, but there was no way to know if he'd be a good head coach or not. He could just as easily have been like Housley.

The problem is all of them, and most of all TP.

Unless the trade was ridiculously good I'd have no interest in trading Dahlin, Tuch, Benson and (although he's off this year I still see the right character in him) Cozens. Everybody else I couldn't care less about.

Here's the quote I found at the Hockey news. "Robinson’s presence on the ice has often been described as uneventful." So, a perfect fit then. (This literally sounds like Columbus wants to clear 1.6 million in cap for some reason and we reach desperately for an NCAA underachiever who it'll turn out Granato probably coached or knows, and it is just another nothing move by our failed franchise)

Totally agree. This is why I haven't been looking at points at all but only points percentage. All those games in hand shake things out in points producing ways. Lots of loser points out there as well. If you look at points percentage only Columbus is below us in the conference. That's our actual standing. Next to last. Next to last in goal differential as well. That stat from the game though (although it wasn't a surprise) really told the tale though. Dead last in the league (even worse than San Jose) in terms of shots with net front presence. The eye test told me, yup, that figures, but seeing it as an actual stat just drove it home hard. You won't win hockey games without guys in front, you just won't.

idk, it depends. I used to follow the draft but I've quit this year because I'm tired of that being our concern so I don't know much about Celebrini. My point would be if this guy is a character guy, if he has the drive that Benson seems to show maybe we are better off getting him BUT, and it's a big but, only if we trade away some of what we already have in terms of prospects and start creating a more balanced roster. So in other words, I'm with you 100% on the surplus and imbalance, just not sure who, or which ones are the ones to keep and the ones to not keep. I'm really not crazy about most of the guys we have waiting in the wings.

and to think, I'm on a Bruins website and a lot of their fans are angry that the Bruins have allowed late tying goals in a couple games (even though they still won in OT) and they think Sweeney has made the team too soft and thus a lot of them want him fired. lol, it's all relative isn't it.

Likely meaning he did not want to sign him to the huge contract Skinner was demanding rather than simply not wanting to re-sign him. That'd be my guess.

Sure, whatever. Who the F cares after watching that Detroit game.

My daughter was visiting tonight so I just finished watching this on replay long after I imagine most of you Buffalonians had already gone to bed. I browsed the thread here and I am laughing at some of the picky things some of you are arguing over, as if they'd make a difference. Some of you think this was a comeback attempt as well, but I saw it more as a case of the Sabres lulling them to sleep as it came so damn easy in the first half of the game. They barely had to break a sweat to go up 4-0 and then they just coasted until they tried to wake up at the end in an "oh crap" kind of way. Sabres are garbage. Just pure and utter garbage through and through. Getting worse, not better. Very interesting and telling stat they put up - Sabres are the bottom of the league in shots with net front presence. Sure enough, 6 on 4 at the end with a desperation situation and still almost no net front presence. Says it all right there. You watch other teams and they are hacking and whacking at the goalies trying everything in that situation and there we are skating around the perimeter. At one point we had 4 forwards all on the same side of the ice and they still kept it on the perimeter. Just insanely bad and SOFT!!!!!!!!!!!! Lastly, I don't care where he was drafted, but Owen Power should be in Rochester and on a massive strength and weight program. He has a big frame but he is a child. He is knocked off the puck easily and he cannot move anyone in front. He is, at times, completely useless and a total liability. He should not have been given the contract he was given. He MAY be good one day, he MAY be great even, but right now he is garbage. Listening to Granato in his bench interview he is either clueless or a liar. More likely the latter, but possibly the former. Season's over.

Ya, I pretty much agree with all of that. Maybe he reads my posts 🙂

You know the thing about Torts is he's really good with dogs and he kind of treats players the same way. He's really hard on you early, he trains you to be obedient, but then when you fetch that stick swiftly and promptly he gives you the best treats. So players that buy in and give the work and effort love the guy and he treats them well. Perhaps even better than other coaches. Only the lazy guys and prima donnas have a problem with him. You look at all the character guys that played for him in the past like Nick Foligno and they all love the guy. He simply sets a standard and then holds everyone accountable. He's a very good coach. I still hold to the theory that if we'd only named ROR captain instead of Eichel everything would have gone very very differently.

Well this is your make it or break game right? You lose this game and it's forget playoffs, the Yzerplan was better than the KA trusted process and Sabres fans get another year of loserhood. You win this game and we can believe we are back in it, the believers can come forward again and proclaim our plan is better and we all get to laugh at Detroit. It is a winnable game as Detroit likes to go wide open (which is our thing) and so if we lure them into that we have a real shot similar to beating Toronto. Goaltending obviously can't have a bad game as they have snipers and the PK has to be outstanding as their PP is their strength. I do not like our chances but you never know. Maybe it's a pivotal moment to turn the season around before it's totally lost. So TP will eliminate himself?

Since other teams will spend to it but we won't, this will hurt the Sabres even more. I'm just in a bad mood having watched Philly beat Pittsburgh again. Philly, F'n Philly with no talent doing better than us already.