PerreaultForever

Or you could have a star player who takes care of himself and earns respect for that. Just saying.

He is most definitely soft, and there's no way they win the cup this year without a LOT of help from the refs (and more) BUT at least a few of the Leafs stepped in when their "star" got involved in something. That is better (for the team) than when Eichel got roughed up and nobody on the Sabres did anything. Fortunately, the current group of Sabres seems different.

Only in terms of the goaltending maybe. Giroux is scoring and some of their additions seem solid, as do some of their kids, but ya, they need to score like 6 or 7 some nights to win. I was just looking at the standings for the first time in a bit and they are crazy full of surprises. Most of all St. Louis tied for dead last with Columbus. That keeps up Ryan's going to lose his love again.

They're healthy. They're well coached, but eventually players start to hate Cassidy. If Jack has a slump and Cassidy rips him for it (as he is prone to do) then watch it all fall apart. If not, I look forward to beating them in the Stanley Cup final.

One would think this will be a very very very fast skating game. Win or lose if we can play with these guys start to finish it'll be another sign that we are for real now.

Sens coming out on the wrong end of a lot of 1 goal games. I'm thinking their goaltending injuries have really cost them and might just ruin their whole plan for this year.

Rope a dope with these guys and find yourself way too far down. Maybe they'll be a little tired, but they skate so much better than Pittsburgh so I doubt it. It's speed against speed and it might come down to goaltending. On an unrelated note, something's wrong with Minnesota. I watched them play the Kraken tonight and they were dreadful. A shadow of what they were last year. They look like a team that has quit on their coach but idk, whatever it is, they are bad right now. If they decide to tear things down I'd offer them a prospect to bring back Marcus.

No I heard he's interested in Ottawa but he'd also be interested in the Kraken if it was a possibility. I don't think it is.

"legit" is kind of a funny word and I'm not sure it applies. Clearly, the team can skate. Clearly they can generate offense and score goals. Clearly they are more of a team than they used to be and have many up and coming players who in all likelihood will get even better. But the question is really are they as good as the elite other teams in the league? Not sure. When we beat them then they will be "legit" for sure but that still remains to be seen. I'm still not convinced we can handle real physical play or tough checking. Maybe. Also not sure if the goaltending will hold up for a whole season. It has to, but idk if it will. They are definitely better than last year, but I think it's still fragile.

Ryan Reynolds also reportedly interested in the Kraken. I guess he's enjoyed owning that soccer team and wants the sport he actually enjoys. Damn celebrities clearly have too much cash lying around 🙂

I kind of think maybe the "rotation" is over. Line up we saw tonight is the line up unless somebody gets hurt or starts to struggle mightily. Vinnie will be the one sitting.

Listening to the Canucks whining it seems NJ is playing a similar fast style to us so it'll be interesting to see who is doing it better when we meet up, but perhaps they are also an underestimated team.

They were stymied, but that's only because they chose to play the game with the pens and let the pens set the pace. Sullivan knew they'd be tired so he had them playing a more defensive game and we respected them too much rather than attacking them. We have built a speed/skill team. We need to use that to win and make teams react to us, rather than us reacting to them.

To the first sentence, the two sports are different, very different. The comparison of goalie and QB is because those are the two players that single handedly can change a team's fortunes. They have the most impact. As for the teardown, you know they would have ditched Skinner if they could so it hardly counts. They kept the young players who weren't broken yet. They ditched the "stars". That's a tear down.

idk why it took them half a game to start really skating but when they did the Penguins got frustrated and started floundering. As one would expect from an old tired team. If we'd skated like the third for a full 60 we'd have blown them out (even with some of the sloppy D plays and odd man rushes). Team clearly coming together as a team, and although imo they didn't hit back enough early on they stood up in the third and didn't let themselves get pushed around. Good to see. Krebs looked better tonight imo. Quinn made some poor passes into traffic on the PP that he has to learn not to try as you just lose possession on those almost always. Maybe Power's best game so far. Showing off for mom I guess 🙂 Cozens just keeps getting better and Dahlin is a dominant force. very satisfying result and a very enjoyable second half of the game.

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.