PerreaultForever

Not sure how the other comment relates. It was about Reinhart I think? I still don't like him as a player, he's just on a good team now. He's not a leader imo. But anyway, the operative words were "at this point". In no way have I given up on Krebs, just saying he has to improve a LOT to become what people want him to become. If he doesn't, Curtis Lazar at best. Pretty much just relating this to the lofty idea that a line of Krebs Quinn Peterka will come up next season and carry us to the promised land. We are further from that than many people think.

That is a lofty expectation/prediction. Power might be, Dahlin will not.

Probably true. I'm always right though 🙂

At this point Krebs looks like he will top out as a Curtis Lazar at best. He has a long way to go and needs to be a LOT better to make a real impact in the future.

always happy to help. Happy new year buddy.

Ya, but his defensive game isn't as good as any of those players. Maybe Chabot, he's kind of sucked this year. The rest are ahead of him, and some are way ahead. I don't want to ditch Dahlin, but I do think it's time we stop thinking of him as a franchise top guy, forget he was #1 overall, and just consider him a second pairing D man. An offensive defenseman with defensive shortcomings/liabilities. Take the pressure off and just let him be that guy.

Ozark finally returns January 21. Counting the days.

imo Skinner should never play above the 3rd line and first chance we have to buy him out, ditch him, get rid of him somehow, we take it. ASSUMING the young players step up and we have a goalie. Otherwise, no.

bit of both. He's definitely not good, but we have almost no concept of team defense.

It is troubling when Tuch is the best player out there. Don't read that wrong, I like Tuch. I think I will like him a lot, but he shouldn't be our best player. It speaks to how lousy this team is. Those of you who believe some sort of Krebs Quinn Peterka line will come up next year and miraculously change everything need a reality check. We are a long long long way from being good.

Haven't seen the Islanders play but something has clearly gone wrong with them this season. No idea what it is, but their record is about the same as ours and most people thought they'd be a lot better. Whatever their problem is, I hope it continues tonight.

If you look in John Madden's coffin you will find a football coach stuffed inside a broadcaster stuffed inside a man. A ter-corpse if you will 🙂 Madden was fun to listen to, even if he could get locked on a phrase and keep saying it over and over and over all game. Two words would get his blood boiling though and those were "immaculate reception".

This team is consistently bad in the 3rd period. You'd think with a team this young they'd be the team blowing past defenders in the 3rd, but they just can't seem to take it up a notch when needed and in fact, often look like the tired (out of shape?) team. This has to change for success. Peterka showed little moments that made me think he will be a solid player for us next season. Krebs not so much. Tuch looked a little gassed by the end but that's understandable after the long time off and first game. Had some really good moments and real enthusiasm. He is the real deal I think (assuming he doesn't lose his love of the game after playing here for a while). UPL has a habit of going down low on his knees too early and too often. If he doesn't correct this, over time, as teams scout him, he will fail as an NHL goalie. Top of the net is wide open and NJ found it a few times. It's a big flaw. Good for Prow scoring a goal. Didn't even know this guy was a Sabre . He wasn't horrible either. Good for him. But we suck. NJ is not a good hockey team and we do not know how to defend. You have to play a guy like Hughes physically. You try to skate with him and he rips you apart, as he did. Murray stepping up was good though. The big guys have to play like big guys and they have to do it all the time. Disappointing.

Yup, the organizers didn't take things seriously enough. Multiple reports of players mingling with fans and the general public. They should have, but didn't, bubble this thing properly. Shame. Was enjoying it.

I just hope this game actually gets played. Missing my hockey.

Bedard is looking like he will be one of those "generational" picks. Wonder how many teams will tank for a shot at him? On the flipside, I haven't been overly impressed with Shane Wright so far. I mean he hasn't been bad or anything, just hasn't done anything to validate that #1 ranking either. Tough game to judge anything by though. Austria is, well Austria. Germany will be a slightly better indicator. Not a top team, but a harder to score against one.

Well if that's what you want I guess you can go right back to the beginning since it's at Tim Horton's field......................................

imo Lambert will need an attitude adjustment to be a truly effective NHL player. Seems a little full of himself and is a bit of a turns it on and off when he wants to kind of guy. Not a hard working team guy. Skilled, but not what I want for the Sabres.

No, Vaive was from Ottawa. I'm saying make it big Dave's day because he was a Hamilton kid. If you want to add someone else you could go Ric Seiling.

Nah, I grew up there. It's all Leafs and Habs with a small smattering of Sabres fans and others. A few more Sabres fans in St. Catherines though as you move towards Buffalo and they will go to it as well. If they're smart though they'd make it Dave Anreychuk day.

Power's offensive skills are better than I expected after seeing him last year in the world championship. He's obviously worked on that and at this level he excels. Drives towards the net well and shoots accurately and quickly. He did, however, look like he was practicing to be a Sabre on the one Czech goal where he ended up turned around and watching the puck go into the net. This reminded me of Dahlin as a Sabre. Yes, the goal wasn't his fault in that he was hung out to dry, but he also didn't take away the pass and just looked a little lost there. He has tremendous potential but I just really really hope this time we bring him along slowly and work on his size and defensive game and then we can turn him into a proper D man. If we just throw him out there and say go score some goals it'll be deja vu all over again. The guy that really impressed me in that game was Mason McTavish. Damn Ducks have either been really lucky or they have one hell of a scouting team cause they seem to be getting a lot of picks right and have a bright future.

Pretty good I think because they marketed the team well. There's a circus, party, entertainment aspect attached to the whole thing, not unlike Vegas shows in general. They'd be like fat Elvis. Not as good as young Elvis, but still pretty damn popular.

Doesn't Toronto get a veto on anything moving closer to T-dot? I think they do, and they'd exercise it. Hamilton tried and failed because of that even when they were backed by Ron Joyce and his Tim Horton's money at the time. Doubt that's changed. Toronto would demand huge compensation which I would think would make any prospective buyers prefer staying in Buffalo. Detroit probably has a say in London too. Saskatoon is definitely too small, Regina would have a rabid fan base, but is also likely too small and definitely isolated. The NHL has very little interest in more Canadian teams. I think only Quebec city has a realistic (if long) shot. Hartford? KC? They already failed so idk. Houston I can't speak to. I know it's big enough, but it's not hockey country. The league wouldn't mind that location, but I'm not sure Houston wants hockey any more than Arizona does, which it clearly doesn't.

It fell apart when LaFontaine went out the door and it's never recovered since. Many veteran and respected EXPERIENCED hockey people have been available over the years (including Rick Dudley) and they have chosen not to put the team in the hands of any of them, choosing instead to hire newbies (to the GM role) who they could presumably control/influence. It's on them.

Okay but where would they move it to? There aren't a lot of cities crying out for hockey teams right now aside from Quebec, and the league doesn't really care about Quebec City as it's a small market. idk, I live in BC so personally, I'm not sure it matters to me if they moved as long as they retained an identity as "Sabres" . It would be weird, but not terrible. Rather they stayed in Buffalo, but I'd take a winning team somewhere else over a loser for another decade in Buffalo.