PerreaultForever

hey, they still have until July 1 regardless. Send him "home". True. Ekblad missed one game against the Bruins and that was talked about by Bruins fans as the "Bruins best game of the series" and not one of them has thought it might have been partly because Ekblad didn't play in it. They lose ANY of their top 4 and they are in trouble.

They definitely do, although Hyman didn't get Edmonton much further (and neither did Evander Kane). Kadri getting suspended was probably the main reason Leafs lost to the Bruins that year. They win that series the whole history might have been different. Colorado missed Kadri this year too. Turned them into a one line team.

and so they went out and did something about it. Will we? and Bennett. and Gudas earlier. There's an old line. I forget who said it. Might have been Tortorella, maybe Trotz, maybe Scotty Bowman said it first but it goes along the lines of "there are players who get you into the playoffs and then there are players who get you through the playoffs, if you have guys who do both you have a shot at winning the cup" and that would be Tkachuk. To me Florida is winning for several reasons, 1. Great goaltending - Bobrovski has re-emerged for whatever reason. 2. Excellent coaching. Game plans have been adjusted to the competitions strengths and weaknesses. 3. Tenacious forechecking and hard work from the forwards. Simple hockey, go to the net. 4. and maybe most important the rather thin D has stepped up and managed to play outstanding hockey. Montour playing at an allstar level. Gudas playing the best hockey of his career. Ekblad is incredibly underrated. The top 4 have managed to turn a perceived weakness into a strength. I keep thinking they will run out of gas but so far no. Kind of amazing. Put all that together and you've got a solid cup run. At this moment, we do not have one. We have some guys who might step up in the playoffs, but not like that.

Maybe they trade Matthews to Arizona 🙂

This is why I've been saying for years the proper way to build is from the back out. You create a work hard culture where everyone contributes (or sits), you get solid goaltending, build up a solid D, and then add the scoring stars. Following the Toronto (or Edmonton) model is a bad idea. You spend far too much money on your superstars and then you don't have enough left for a solid roster, and if your goaltending isn't exceptional you will be sunk in the playoffs. My biggest beef with the Sabres has been based on not properly addressing goaltending first. Maybe now it will be okay if Levi is the real deal, but if he has an up and down development path to still work through, playoffs might still be several years away. Power helps, Levi helps, but it's not enough yet.

I suppose that's possible, but 28 to 29 is pretty late for a development curve. Maybe he just thrives in the sunshine.

The only thing that might make an all star game in any sport interesting to me would be if they had them play a different sport. The Hockey all star game could be a basketball game. The basketball all star game could be hockey. Baseball players could play football and vice versa. Mix and match. Now that might be fun. Otherwise, I skip the whole thing every year and wish it didn't exist.

Well that was a marathon. That game was sweet justice for us west coasters who have to put up with those 4 pm starts all year. A fine evening's entertainment. Huge win for Florida. Will be interesting to see if either team can play decently next game. Hate to say it, but Montour has incredible stamina and/or skating ability. Massive minutes. JBot was right in his evaluation I guess, but I also guess he only plays when he wants to as he sucked in Buffalo and Anaheim wasn't thrilled with him either.

Exactly, so there is a "certain level of performance", but the gap between top countries and bottom is pretty wide. There are improving countries though. The Swiss and Germans keep getting better and will soon have legitimate competitive teams, especially with the way few top Canadian and American players go over. I wouldn't want to have to watch the games in the relegated group (or whatever they call it) though. Maybe get Ted Lasso to coach them and make a TV show, otherwise it must be pretty bad hockey.

If Carolina had Svechnikov they'd be a clear favourite at this point imo but even without him I'd still say they are the likely cup winner. Florida Carolina will be crazy exciting as BOTH teams press and forecheck like crazy so ultimately it comes down to turnovers and mistakes. The goaltending could flip it in Florida's favour, but I suspect their D will fold at this point under the forecheck. A taste of their own medicine if you will. They've gone heavily with 4 and after 2 rounds it'll be hard to keep it going. Burns is also looking like a genius pick up by Carolina. Dallas and Vegas could be the most boring and low scoring event in NHL history if both are playing shutdown at the same time as they have at various points this playoffs. Pretty even series imo. I'd hope Dallas wins (even if I think it'll be Vegas) cause after all these years maybe Pavelski is a nice feel good story if he can finally get a cup, and of course, **** Eichel. If there is a model for building you want to copy here, it is of course Carolina. Like it or not.

I figured they'd interview Karamanos, but also figure they will look at JBot as well. They still think they can keep it going there and probably will favour someone who Syd already knows. Wouldn't be surprised at all if he gets a say in the final decision. Karamanos sure has some fans here though that's for sure. Personally I'm not convinced he's any sort of brains behind Adams. He might be, but it might also just be speculation based on past reputation.

True, but you get chances to overcome a bad bounce or facing a hot goalie etc. Game 7's are often decided by one bounce.

Sabres didn't "rebuild from nothing" though. When they came into the league we already had all of the core players (and then we added Tuch by trading Eichel). If you look at their inaugural roster https://nhl.nbcsports.com/2021/07/21/nhl-expansion-draft-seattle-kraken-reveal-inaugural-roster/ Would you have traded everybody we had for that roster? I don't think you would, so the idea that it was easier for them than us is one I totally disagree with. Anyway, leave it there so we don't annoy the on topic crowd. Game 7 will be fun. I hope the Kraken win, but I don't think they will. Shutting down Dallas' one big line will be key. Grubauer has to be outstanding as well. Game 7's though, anything can happen.

Oh ya, he's really fit in there. Clearly was just a bad fit in Nashville and he has thrived in the up tempo style the Kraken play. I suspect he would have fit in well here too.

Just watched the Slovenia Canada replay. Quinn briefly benched for taking a dumb penalty. Hard to judge Levi as Canada pretty much sleep walked through this easy game and he didn't face much. He wasn't great, but he wasn't bad. Probably had trouble staying awake. I suspect he stays the back up for the bigger games unless something happens.

Oh come on, obviously you can't "prove" something that didn't happen would have happened BUT it's pretty obvious that lack of defensive depth and on occasion bad goaltending cost us a good 10-12 points (argue the number if you want but all we needed was 2) Bit of a picky semantic thing here. So your assertion would be that 2 years ago nobody would sign with us, one year ago only a few would and now lots will, is that it? The "myth" isn't busted, until it's busted. We will see what happens in July.

Well ya, but isn't that just a long way of saying they made smart decisions and built the right way? When these 30ish year olds are getting too old their draft choices could be ready to step in. Isn't that the way you're supposed to stay competitive? We tore down but the difference is we chose to build back up with almost entirely young players or picks and added little in free agency. As a cap floor team we could have spent a little more and been a little better (and we didn't need to be a lot better to make the playoffs).

I keep being told in other threads that the idea that free agents don't want to come here is a myth so..................given that idea, we could have acquired some of their additions. Or, take Bjorkstrand for example. Columbus had to ditch him for Johnny Hockey cap space. As a cap floor team who did we pick up? They tried to win now (and have succeeded) and we chose to develop for the future. Remember, this Kraken line up is only about 1/3 of what they got in the expansion draft. The rest were added as free agents, trades and draft picks. Of course the two situations are far from identical, but IF we'd added a few key FAs we could have been in the playoffs as well.

I've been watching them all year (on and off) and they never seem to quit. They are well led and give maximum effort every night. If they are drafting as well as they are choosing their free agents they will become a force sooner than later.

I can't help it, but I find myself watching the Kraken and thinking this could and should have been the Sabres. Man have they got it right.

Oh ya I know. I worked in those steel mills. It's still part of the identity for sure.

BUT, have you looked at their roster and their salary structure and their relatively empty prospect cupboard? I've already heard Jones say 3 separate times it will take a long time to get to where they want. Tortorella ended the season talking about "subtraction before addition". In other words, they haven't even started their rebuild, they are still in the tear down stage. This could take a decade.

That's the old one. Similar to Pittsburgh. Changed in the 80s/90s when much of the industrial section closed up but the hard nosed gritty working class element stayed. It's pretty much The Hammer now (although in the 80s the punk rock scene did dub it the "armpit of Canada")

Oh, I find the Risto idea hilarious but it's always working around the edges. Problem with that team is simple. Too much money on 4 guys who don't elevate their game in the playoffs. Some of them even struggle in the playoffs. It's a flawed strategy that I hope we do not copy. The recipe for winning now in this league seems simple. Good goaltending combined with speed AND a tenacious forecheck. Worked for Florida but also Carolina. Seattle is building this way too. Hopefully we follow this same idea. It's not complicated, but it is a team concept, not a star concept.

I don't think that matters. It'll be the group with the deepest pockets.