PerreaultForever

Carter and Letang both out. I suspect we also get DeSmith in goal.

When a goalie makes a huge save to keep your team in it, or to preserve a one goal victory, you can admit you just like to argue with me even when you know I'm right.

Oleksiak destroyed Zadorov tonight. I'm sure some people will enjoy that. https://www.hockeyfights.com/fights/n265755

It is quite possible I never will be 100% happy with Granato, that is true. I also see a scenario where Granato takes them to a level but it'll be another guy who comes in to take them over the top. I'm still not sure what "the right way" is for this team. There is more than one "right way" and it's always all about the team being a team but that's maybe an argument for when we make the playoffs. The Bills don't matter to me at all personally so that isn't hard for me either. I barely watch football at all any more and although I did watch some Bills games in my youth because of local blackouts in those days (Miami Buffalo games were memorable back then)I have zero concern whether they win or lose. Sabres to me are VERY different in terms of build and identity and just about everything but I'm sure some local fans would prefer to make these comparisons. I guess what I see as a possibility, one that I want to avoid, is the Sabres becoming the Leafs. A highly skilled and talented team that lacks the desire and whatever else you want to call it to give it their all and win the big games. Time will tell.

"win more, not necessarily now" is kind of an admission of what I've been thinking and saying is their current philosophy (I phrased it harsher as they don't care about winning this year but it's essentially the same). I still don't like this idea. It's a dangerous pathway when you have a fragile culture. imo teaching WINNING first and that LOSING IS UNACCEPTABLE is a huge part of cementing that culture in place. I've read some Tortorella stuff this year and he seems to have a similar idea in Philly and it also seems to be working (even though skill wise they have a lot less talent than the Sabres). Hard work, constant effort, give it your all every night, do whatever it takes. Probably more like lunch bucket Ted Nolan hockey than what Granato's doing but perhaps less emphasis on development of individuals (although they are also playing what kids they have). Seattle on the other hand seems to think they can start winning now. They added veteran talent and can now score. defense and goaltending still lacking so we shall see how that plays out. 3 teams perhaps starting from scratch with 3 different pathways. Will be interesting to see who does the best. (Ottawa, Detroit and NJ could be in this conversation but I don't know enough about them to say)

Didn't see there was a thread already so I posted in the NHL one, so just to reiterate, they can be beat. They should be tired and they already tire in the 3rd. They can score, but they also allow a lot of goals against. Attack them and use our speed for 60 minutes and we can blow them out and make them look like the senior citizens they are.

I've seen the Penguins a couple times this year and they can definitely be beat. They can still score, but they allow a lot of goals too. They tire in the 3rd (age I imagine) and with our speed and scoring if we stay on them aggressively we can win big (possibly in a high score game). This one tonight will make them even more worn down. Get on them early and keep bringing it. re the Bruins, Lindholm is a huge part of their early success. He is playing all star calibre hockey, the best of his career. I'm hoping one day Power will be this good.

True. If you as a player come to terms with who you are and devote yourself to filling a role you can excel in this league in that (so to speak) lesser capacity. Krebs might end up with some limitations but he definitely has hockey smarts and makes good decisions and so I think he can learn a role and be even more valuable than Asplund in time.

But they are. Look, the 2 sports are very different with different dynamics so it's hard to draw a total comparison but the one position in football that can totally shift a team's fortune is QB. Look at the Steelers without Roethlisberger. Absolute rubbish. Look what Brady did for Tampa (before he over stayed his age). Who are the two franchise QBs in the AFC? Mahones and your guy and surprise surprise, they're the best 2 teams. Take the QBs away and those teams are not in any way the same. In hockey, the one position that can totally shift a team's fortunes is goalie. Any Buffalo fan should be well aware of that fact after the Hasek years no? As for the culture, well I've been talking about that for years and years and have often been mocked for it on this board. I was one of the first to say we needed to tear down and move on from the tandem bike duo. We finally did. I think in Pegula terms more out of exhaustion with them rather than a great new plan. "Build with the draft" hardly a new or revolutionary idea.

I'm sorry but how is ditching Eichel, Reinhart and Ristolainen NOT a tear down??????? It most definitely is.

Where would the Bills be without the QB? If the Sabres followed the same model, franchise goalie would have been the first building block.

I don't think there's any question he's arrived and become what we thought he'd become. I'm still not in agreement with the development path Sabres used and misused, and I think it did stunt him a little but he's overcome it and he's there now so all of that is a moot point. He's a star D man and a threat to the other team that needs to be accounted for at all times. Most of all what I like about this year's Dahlin is he seems to be a man now not a boy. He's confident, he's aggressive, and he's got snarl. He's not taking any crap from anybody and is maybe even getting a little dirty. That sort of physical push back goes a long way to letting him play his game at other times. It's infectious too. This team isn't as soft as it used to be. Or at least that's how it appears so far.

It's an owner's right to do what they want with a team. It's a fan's right to hate the owner when they don't do what they want with a team. That small group of fans got pretty loud when the 7th goal went in and were pretty happy going home. Have no fear, if the winning continues the support will return. Buffalo was never a gimmick oriented franchise, it had true hockey fans that loved hockey for hockey and not for mascots or cannons and cheer leaders and all the other marketing bs you see around some franchises. People in and around Buffalo love hockey. They just haven't had any hockey worth seeing for a long time. As for the Pegulas, maybe they finally have it right, but maybe they just got lucky this time. With so many high draft picks and prospects earned by a decade of futility, it would be kind of hard work to stay useless. Eventually it just has to come together with that many first round picks etc. I'm still not convinced in any way that they actually know what they are doing. I think they just keep rolling the dice and sometimes it does come up 7. There's no secret formula they discovered. I'm not a Bills fan but from what I know their rebuild model was very different from the Sabres current one. Sure, you can draw some comparisons between any tear down start over rebuild type things but imo the path they took is very different. So I'm thinking the Pegulas just got lucky and hired better people this time. In the Sabres case, FINALLY.

Krebs isn't a JAG. He's simply a young player who needs to find his role. He's not going to be a top line high scoring forward like he was in junior imo so what he needs to do is develop his defensive game and try to become an effective 2 way player. He may not get there, but it's far too early to give up on him.

Asplund was the one who stood out imo.

Not so much when the fans were chanting "we want 8"

Well I guess the whole "what's wrong with Thompson" thing is over isn't it. Maybe lost in the obvious, I thought we played much better team defense than we usually do and it was very encouraging. Good puck possession but we kept skating, got in the passing lanes, back checked, and basically frustrated them and didn't let them play their game. Well coached and executed gameplan. Also lost in the Thompson show, I thought that was Quinn's best game as a Sabre. Good shot on the goal. Good hit on Raymond. Solid game for him. Big step forward. Krebs on the other hand a big meh. Asplund should not go back to the press box. Fans getting into it at the end. This sort of game will go a long way to bringing them back.

On the other hand, Jersey looking good. Crazy standings at the moment. Colorado not even in the playoffs at this moment. I am however, hoping the Leafs completely collapse.

Good point about Boyle. I forgot about him as a comparable. maybe Tage should watch old Brian Boyle videos to see how he did it. In any event, it's a part of his game he needs to work on.

But it's not wrong. Borgen is a solid 3rd pairing guy with grit and toughness. He is playing well for Seattle, is a fan favourite, and we could definitely use a guy like that right now. So call that a myth if you want to.

I have no idea. I do watch Bruins games and I know they survived and thrived with half their starting D out. They have prospects like Ahcan who can't even crack the line up and get out of the AHL. I know Carolina had enough depth they could give Bear away. I know Philly was fine with Risto out. (actually, they were better, which is a point worth ending on) .

Just WIN and the fans will return. Simple as that. People are still skeptical and afraid of wasting their money on a bad effort/result. Can't blame them. It's been a long road of suffering. Give it time, win, and it'll all be back to how it was. Another cycle of losing hockey however will make that much harder if not impossible.

depends on how you define "quality" I suppose. are you suggesting our D depth is adequate?

I didn't look up the stats but I did notice Mitts was doing better and Tage was terrible. idk, are there any stats on big tall men and draws? I have to wonder if he has trouble getting lower and getting the right leverage in close. Might be why they've tried Skinner a bit. As a team however we aren't very good on them and tend to lose big ones often. A good PP (for example) needs a good face off man so you don't waste that valuable early time and can have offensive zone control right away. Or maybe you don't NEED it, but it definitely helps.

Cozens is carrying his line. Problem is he doesn't have top notch wingers to play with. Peterka is an up and comer and will get there and I see them developing good chemistry in time, but at the moment it's up and down. Cozens is showing me everything he needs to be great with a good line. Good puck possession even in traffic, smart decisions, toughness and grit, competitive attitude. Still needs to improve on his finish but with better wingers he'd look even better. I am not worried about him (or Peterka) at all. Arguably Mitts needs better wingers too, but he's soft and always will be soft imo and once Savoie is ready he's going to be gone or on the margins of this team. What we really need is somebody who can win a damn face off .