PerreaultForever

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 .

Yes, Samuelsson and Lybushkin gave us improvement in that area. Problem is we don't have similar guys in the pipeline ready to step in and fill that hole with the injury. Our D pool (both young prospects and competent Fitz level AHL subs) is simply too thin.

Indeed, an area we have struggled in for years now and still are. Fitz was in the right spot and trying but he was outnumbered. Too many players stay on the outside and try to make stick plays and simply aren't physical enough. Pilut was useless in this regard.

I saw the Red Wings Bruins game. They did not impress me. If we play like we did in the 3rd against Chicago we can definitely beat them. Even with the injuries.

I know. beat the Leafs is my point.

Chicago is a very low skill team but they went to the dirty areas with effort and for 2 periods this looked like it would be a disaster. Third period we finally asserted a little physicality and we went to the paint and Thompson played the way I've wanted him to play all along. Use that body, use that size, GO TO THE NET and not just float around the outside looking for snap shots. We need to play like this for 60 minutes. Hopefully the end result drives this home to them and we see that kind of effort we saw in the 3rd all the time. This could have been a disaster and maybe even the return of soft loser identity but as it went, maybe it'll be the true realization for them of what it takes to win in this league. Fingers crossed.

Bruins with their hottest start in franchise history - and they were the ones we were going to catch for the playoffs right? Maybe switch that idea to the Leafs.

Absolutely too early for conclusions. It's an of the moment observation. Everything could change next game. or not. We shall see. I have high hopes for Savoie. About 4 years from now I wouldn't be shocked if he was our top line center. but also, too soon to say.

Nope, they're not good. But the team's not good. Only players playing good or better than last year are Dahlin, Tuch, Cozens, Lybushkin and the goalies. Include Peterka if you want but he has made some rookie mistakes too. Vinnie and Zemgus are kind of same as always but hardly significant. Samuelsson and Jokiharju would be in the list but since they are injured I left them off. Everybody else is worse than last year and not good enough. and worse than that, there's no list of good depth players chomping at the bit to take a job.

That's possible, but do you really think Carolina was worried about the Sabres? I doubt it.

Title should be the PP is crap. Too reliant on Dahlin so too easy to defend. Not enough screening net front presence, lost O zone face offs and poor passing which leads to lost possession. We are a speed team so we should have an even faster moving/passing PP. Skinner should not be part of it. Cozens should be on the first unit.