PerreaultForever

It'll be Tuch.

Tanking is a loaded word and it's hard to say if management intentionally tanked or not. The goaltender situation screams intentional tank but I think it more likely they just screwed up on Ullmark and were left floundering. The rest of it was a tear down and deconstruction but it seems to perhaps have finally solved the cultural issue so one would have to say that ultimately the decision to ditch the big 3 was correct. This team is now on a forward trajectory but how fast that rise is will be hard to say. Depends, quite obviously, on the goaltending and how many of the multiple picks and prospects they hit on. Right now, all the young centers need to go to face off school so maybe what the team needs is an assistant coach with that specialty. Otherwise, add a goalie, a right hand D, possibly a checking center Eakin upgrade and a little more toughness. The rest is on the kids and new core that is already here.

These things take time, and there are ups and downs and ebbs and flows but imo this all started with Tuch lacing up his skates as a Sabre for the first time. I would call it the Tuch Effect. Said for years that we lacked leadership, Eichel was the wrong captain, Eichel was a crap captain, The "stars" were not leaders and the team simply wasn't a TEAM. We now have players with a different attitude, multiple leader types, cohesion and desire. Don't kid yourself, there is a long way to go still, but they finally look and play like a team, and it's a foundational step forward.

Krebs is starting to show real promise. Put him with a sniper and a power forward and we have the makings of another good line. If we use those picks wisely we can still win this trade.

It's not his fault. Edmonton has goaltending almost as bad as ours, a bad D and very little really good depth. Relying on 2 star players and a handful of other okay players to carry a team to the promised land is foolish no matter how good those stars might be, So no, Tippett couldn't have fixed the Eichel-Reinhart-Risto Sabres but he'd coach this group of kids we have just fine. Everybody here should be happy the bruins seem to be falling apart.

Pity about those 2 weeks then, as getting Wright might be the only saving thing to happen this season (apart from Tuch, I like him, he's like the type of Sabre we used to have before Terry bought this thing)

I'm done with you, you're an ass.

See, that's a perfect example of what I've been worrying about with KA f'n up the goaltending situation. You want to create a winning culture, you want to build with the kids, you want a new attitude and enthusiasm and these guys just get another lesson in losing. It's not good. There is no way Columbus should have won that hockey game. When Tuch made it 3, that should have been enough (admirable attempt at an RJ by Dan by the way, Tic Tac Tuch was pretty good I thought). momentum lost with a never should have gone in goal on Tokarski, and then iffy goaltending for the rest and there we are again, loser culture. This is extremely irritating as it was a fun game earlier and this should have been a celebration night. Argh!

I guess you have special status with the admins good for you. You get to repost and manipulate things and be a dick and nothing happens. IF I get back into it I will get muted or banned and have posts removed. Seems fair.

That first unit is long overdue, the second one ...........

Looks like we won't get to see Levi after all so that's disappointing but Power looked very good. He's the anti Dahlin. All the elite skills but such a different player. The poise, vision, positional play, decision making. Guy plays like a veteran and seems to have incredible awareness and hockey sense. He is going to make a huge difference when he gets here.

Reposting this after it was removed by the admins is a real dick move. Whatever dude.

Marchand lost his cool and was a dumbass. He'll get suspended. Rest for the playoffs........ Meanwhile Rask retired, so I guess Ullmark won't be traded back 🙂 Bruins look done though. Don't see them going very far.

Goalie size isn't everything either. UPL's biggest weak spot seems to be high on the glove side. Size not helping him there at all.

I think it is a size bias, nothing more. The Olympics are going to give us a taste of what he can do I think.

It'll be better for him and the team in the long run if he stays there for the rest of the year and takes part in a Rochester playoff run. Hoping we can just play out the year with Anderson and Tokarski.

Definitely will happen, and his size is the one thing he has to overcome but his athleticism is very good so I don't think it's a big issue. He's listed as the exact same height as Hasek was (but if you want to be pessimistic also Carter Hutton 🙂 )

There's a simple answer that skews the stats. Teams see Buffalo and come in thinking it's an easy win and they won't have to work too hard. They fall behind and then they start to take it up a notch. Has more to do with what they do than what we do. We have to take it up a notch when they do, and we don't, or can't. We play horrible team D and often fall apart late as a result. I'm sure the stats show that we are much worse in the 3rd than the 1st most nights.

I have the lichess app on my phone and often play a 2+1 bullet game while waiting for something or even while watching a hockey game that gets boring. I get your addiction totally.

Well that's not what happened and there were no cards crapped out and you just wanted to make your post to make a statement but whatever, the context has been removed by the mods so it's a non issue. So, to direct things back to Devon Levi, he's going to be great. Really hope he gets to shine at the Olympics. Not long to wait now.

Most of you probably don't know much about Nick Cave, and a few of you probably know who the Flaming Lips are but I suspect most of you don't like them, BUT, the kid girl singing this, Nell Smith, is 14 years old ! which just blows my mind and I love it.

The only online game I play is chess. My daughter does wordle though. It's a pretty clever invention. Pity it's going to be monetized.

As much as I love the guy and that team he could take shifts or nights off and did quit on plays from time to time if things got tough. If he'd had the drive and tenacity of say Rick Dudley, or even the work ethic of Craig Ramsey, well, I think we'd have won a couple cups. I certainly don't "blame" him, we'd have never got there without him, but it could have been so much more. That's a very good point. That whole top 5 man unit, plus the goalie were an amazing top combination of skill and discipline. Imagine what those guys would do in the silly 3 on 3 OT we have now. Thinking about it, my vote still goes to Trottier Gilles Bossy. The perfect combination, able to play both ends of the ice, and the perfect blend in that era. Flawless.

I did have fun. Thanks. You only like it when it's in one direction though don't you? Tough to look in the mirror sometimes isn't it? Definitely not, but it's also kind of useful to block a goalie's vision as much as possible and in general it takes a bigger body in front, or at least a tough and unafraid one, but bigger is better. It's still a really funny image to look at Skinner trying to screen a goalie who is simply looking over his head. That was the comment that started this, and it's a funny image and always will be.

Yes, I would like to see VO Tage and Asplund again to see if the early season chemistry was real or a fluke. I thought the combination of that line worked. I'd try Mitts between Tuch and Skinner but it seems Granato wants Mitts paired with the most speed so the whole line can play very up tempo rather than balancing them more. I personally would rather see the top 3 lines balanced as much as possible. Line chemistry is important though. I'd really like to see some stability with the players that they plan to bring back next year. Create those lines, pairings, roles, slot the people in them and build the base of real continuity. It's time.