PerreaultForever

It's his shoulder not his head. He's had issues with that for a while so a solid hit can take him out.

Well free agents are usually over paid to get them to come/move. That's pretty obvious I think. We over paid Clifton for example and so he came over willingly. We over paid Johnson. (You think he wasn't sitting there in Colorado wishing he wasn't still there, but a year of money for retirement is a year of money) Compher and Copp might be over paid for their offensive production but they are also 2 way players and filled needs on that team in terms of leadership as well as on ice. Compher's best season and Mitts best season are pretty similar though. If you're going to pay Mitts 6-7 like some want you are expecting top scoring numbers and I doubt that ever happens. Right now imo Cozens, Thompson, Skinner, Power and even Dahlin are all over paid for what they've done on the ice. You really want to add one more to that list? How's it working out so far?

I truly believe the culture in Buffalo encourages softness, or at least leads to what we see as softness on the ice. I wouldn't be surprised is after the Montreal game (for example) Granato said "you guys were pretty good tonight but you got into too many physical confrontations and scrums. Don't get sucked in to that. Walk away. Stick to hockey". Cozens was probably told "see, that's what fighting leads to. Don't fight Dylan. Score goals" and so on and so on and so on.............. Players quit on this team and why not?

So you think he's worth Nylander/Reinhart money? Really? Oh it can "work" but does he give you enough for that money? I don't see him at that level.

probably shouldn't have used balsa wood.

This is why I won't jump on the bandwagon after a win or two any more. Right back to being a heaping pile of garbage. Benson and Peterka the only guys worth anything tonight. Maybe they don't know any better yet? So every single guy with the extended big money deal sucked bad. Our best players in general this year are those not rewarded yet. maybe there's something there. They play for the contract but once they have it, why bother? idk, this game was just garbage. Walk in the park for Colorado.

Playing for something meaningful is good for any of these prospects. Good they let Kulich go. What about Savoie?

Very different urban settings. idk what the Washington transit system is like but Ottawa's centers in to that downtown and the downtown is very people friendly. It's not s slum like some American cities. There's more poverty and crime out in some of the burbs. Downtown Ottawa is pretty nice and the land in question is close to the Parliament building and the National Capital Commission parklands. It's a nice area for a city. At least it was when I lived there. Maybe it's different now but I doubt it.

Well, I can see how his agent will demand more as I outlined in the other post but if it's higher than 5ish, if it starts with a 6 or 7 this team will be in trouble down the road.

They are not playing all that great lately imo. I watched the Flyers beat them handily at home a few days back and they didn't impress me as a whole. The key is limiting McKinnon. I say "limiting" because stopping might be asking too much but somebody has to try to shut him down as much as possible and then it's very winnable. We beat them before we can beat them again. But, same as every game from now to the end, we have to bring the high speed hard work effort game for 60 minutes.

As a point of comparison I think JT Compher might be reasonable. Compher got 5.1/5 years and he's 28. Mitts will warrant a similar number with term being the question. He may want a short term if he thinks he can get an even bigger payday in a long term deal when he qualifies for UFA status.

Mitts has been our best forward this season (Peterka is second). He is one of the few forwards who has clearly added strength, applies it, and has worked a lot on his two way game. He has been tenacious at times and as you point out is probably our best face off guy now. All of this could be a problem as his agent is going to pull out those TNT and DC contracts, look at KA's offer and say wtf is this?

With the forwards doing their jobs and playing better defensive hockey Clifton has looked more like he did in Boston. You could also see how quick and on target his zone exit passes can be, which is I assume one of the reasons KA wanted him for a system that relies on that stylistically.

That was an easy win. Not much fight in those desert doggies. I'd guess their win streak was the hot play of Ingram cause this guy was not very good and they were just plain bad as a whole. So it's good we took advantage of that for sure. I can't decide if Robinson is actually good (in which case why wasn't he good in Columbus?) or his style just woefully demonstrates how much that was previously lacking on the team as a whole. Guy goes to the net and he opens up space for linemates. Looks like a good solid mucker and gives us more than Girgs did. Why was Murray called up though? Don't think I've ever seen a hockey player that big play as small as he does. If he's the best option I wonder about our alleged deep prospect pool. Also, I still find myself wondering why is Comrie on the payroll? What is the point of his existence? Well, the road trip is a biggie. Pull together and string a win streak together and there might still be hope.

Strange team. I watched them play Boston and they looked like garbage at first then for a while they were dynamic and dominant. Scored fast and quickly and then they were flat again later. So I guess they go in spurts. idk. Best not to take them lightly though, I think they are better than Montreal was. The physical we brought last game will be harder to do against them. They have some bigger and tougher players on their roster. Again though, you just have to beat these middle of the pack teams to have any chance at playoffs at all.

Different refs and it's a changing game. It's hard to make the transition. All of those hits used to be legal back in the day. idk, eventually it'll be all non contact but maybe I will be dead before we get there.

Trouble with this is they do not collapse towards the net as they do not fear the player below the goal line and if they follow their coaching/scouting they stay in their box and focus on Dahlin while looking for the Thompson shot. If the guy below the goal line can only bring it out himself or pass it towards the wall he's not a danger.

I will tell you one tweak that would help. Have Thompson drift right into the front of the net when the puck is back with Dahlin instead of always standing off to the side looking for that quick wrister. Thompson and whoever is on the other side (Tuch or Cozens or whoever) need to both cross into the middle and sometimes switch sides and in the process create a heck of a screen. Practice that, perfect that, and work on tipping the puck along with it. You do that right and it'll give the opposing goalies fits.

I agree and think it comes down to several things. 1) you have to win the face off in the offensive zone to gain possession and not waste a chunk of time. We have improved on this but are still nowhere near good enough. When ROR was here we had a really good PP and part of it started with him winning the draw. 2) too much reliance on Dahlin and the points. We lack net front presence as we have for a really long time. Good PPs have guys in front moving around but close in obscuring the goalie's vision, tipping shots and grabbing rebounds. It also forces their D in closer trying to box out and that opens up movement outside and at the points. Right now they force us outside and the shots are not as dangerous aside from the odd Dahlin bullet. Remember Kreuger sticking Risto in front? It's been a problem for a long time. Team has lowest shots with net front presence in the league. That's the stat both on the PP and in the game as a whole. 3) Lastly, it's predictable and thus easier to defend. Sabres roles are very easily identified. Teams know what Thompson will do and so forth and thus again, they know how to defend it. You need more motion, rotation and shifting roles. Can't keep looking for the same thing every time. But ultimately, it's that net front that matters most.

imo just bad luck as the other player elbow caught him as he was going down so he kind of took a double shot. Interesting to me is that Perron gets a player safety hearing (which he deserves for using the stick) but a few weeks back Trouba did the exact same thing to Trent Frederik on the Bruins and he just got to go home to his hot tub and relax. The disparity is annoying. Trouba gets away with way too much all the time.

Well, losing the shootout sucks, BUT I think that was the most I've been entertained by a Sabres game in................ idk a decade? More? That was just plain FUN. Sloppy sloppy game with a ton of turnovers that won't cut it against a better team but the energy level, the engagement, the emotion, the pushback. A little too much pushy shovey, I wish more of them would drop them like Cliffy did but the hitting, the physicality and simply not backing down just feels like the dawn of a new era to me. If they bring this EVERY NIGHT this team can truly become something good. I don't want to jump on the bandwagon, I've fallen off too many times before, but this game just felt different. Real hockey. Aside from the shootout, I absolutely loved this game. Not going to dissect a single thing as that'll just spoil the fun of it. Sabres, GIVE ME MORE LIKE THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Beatable team. It is a "MUST WIN" if you want to try to make the playoffs like it or not. A lot of things shake out equal here but ultimately at this time Sabres have more skill, Habs have more grit. If we let them go to the front of the net we might get into trouble. Should be a good game to watch. Hate the Habs.

To the bold, while I didn't and generally don't follow the AHL this speaks to what I was talking about. Stats people and some of the younger fans don't understand or respect some of the subtle character and determination aspects you can see with the eye test even when a player makes mistakes or fails to score (didn't have his stick on the ice maybe like you say) and you can see the work ethic and the effort at key moments. These things matter a lot and are aspects far too often missing with recent Sabres players. idk what Quinn will be but I am becoming confidant that Peterka will be a consistent and reliable performer for years to come. Probably a regular 20+ goal scorer and a 30+ if he has a good/lucky year. On a very good team he'd be a stalwart 3rd liner. On a competitive average team a solid 2nd liner. He will be a player who makes few mistakes, gives a consistent effort, is sometimes not noticed as much as he should be, but will be able to be relied on in good times and bad. I think he has what it takes to be a solid 2 way NHL player.

Cozens had his breakout year because of Quinn? Somebody better memo KA on that. Guess he gave that big contract to the wrong guy. You guys are not remembering last season very accurately at all imo but whatever. Whatever last year was doesn't matter. It's what he does this year when he comes back that matters.

I'm wondering if you mean offensively, scoring, or in his complete game? I was referring to the latter, while I know many of the Quinn fans here are looking primarily at his point total. Peterka last year showed me signs of grit and fortitude, determination, drive, and even a little 2 way ability. All of that matters to me and is why I had him above Quinn and still do. Was Quinn a better complete player in your opinion? It's quite possible Quinn will put up bigger scoring numbers than Peterka in the future, but I'm not convinced he will be a better hockey player.