PerreaultForever

yes we do, but if you get great goaltending, you forgive them.

Reinhart's best game of the season (so far). I thought the best combo of the night was when he was with Casey. So maybe we have the starting point for 2 top lines that are both 2/3 there. Add a couple wingers in some way and we have a pretty good team all of a sudden. Where are the Dahlin critics tonight I wonder? :)

I personally don't want to hear about the leafs. Still hate them and always will. Not the Sabres fault Tavares didn't have Sabres bed sheets Not the Sabres fault they won the lottery with their first (and thus only) intentional tank. Can only hope the big contracts (matthews today) will sink them and hope Tampa takes them out this year and then the Muzzin deal will be an asset loss. Still think their GM looks like Rachel Maddow.

That's true. I was hoping for that. I know I didn't watch them. My hope is that its over now.

Don't like the proposed line combinations myself. Being a one line team clearly a problem but Phil seems set on his idea of rolling all 4 lines all the time and things are spread out too much here to the point I can see none of the lines working. Myself, I would never break up Skinner/Eichel. I'd be trying to build them into a dynamic duo.

Same as any sport, somebody has to be elevated to the mountain as the best ever and they want to make sure that's a face they are happy with. If Brady isn't the anti Kapernick I don't know who is. They had to re-legitimize them so the cheating argument would go away. If the league actually hated them why didn't they strip the title from the filming/signal stealing era? All the cheating and rule bending and what did they get, a fine and a 4 game suspension, big deal. But people remember and now the argument gets muddier and buried. 100th year of the league thing, why not solidify them as the greatest ever, case closed. Conspiratorial? Hell ya, but go over the long list of cheating and find me just one other team in ANy sport with a list of questionable issues like they have. Just one. You won't find it. and besides, always good for a league in this day and age to encourage hate watching. You did right?

Cause he was better than another guy we had at the time. Good guy to mentor kids in Rochester. Utility player. No big deal. He's a 4th liner at best on a good team. Lots of playoff teams call guys up. Showcasing them for potential trades or looking for chemistry. It's normal behavior.

I don't buy that narrative. I think they actually love it. It's not exactly fixed, but it is slanted in their favor. I'd go so far as to say they preferred LA over New Orleans cause they thought that was better for the Patsies chances. The phantom roughing Brady calls, the constant pushing off their receivers get away with all the time, and all the holding their O line gets to do all the time, it all killed football for me over the years and that doesn't include the blatant list of cheats and really bad calls they benefited from over the years. They have had some good teams, but they were made into a dynasty by the league.

I think he needs to shift things around more during the game(s) and stop this set 4 line rotation thing he is set on. I want to see Pommers back on the line with Skinner and Eichel at times. Not cause he is better than Reinhart, but they had chemistry earlier and I want to see if Reinhart can click with Casey. Somebody on that 2nd unit needs to go to the net. We need a little mix and match and double shifting of our best. Right now we are a predictable one line team and easy to check.

I'm not going to get into that cause I lost my love of football. I recorded the game and only watched the commercials (do the same people that own HBO own Bud?). I think it's been rigged to favor the Patsies for a long time.

Flyers are proof of what I am saying. First half of the year they were not that bad but they had no goaltending at all and that led to a lack of confidence, giving up etc. Now they got the kid up and he looks like the real deal and suddenly they are winning the close ones. In the win streak, we were not that good, but we had big saves at big moments. Since then Hutton has let in soft ones often and is rubbish and Ullmark is better but still hot and cold. If we had the kind of goaltending Philly is getting right now (or Montreal or Boston) we wouldn't be having a lot of the conversations we're having. We'd be overlooking some of the issues. Some of those defensive lapses would not be goals against and we'd still be a playoff team. Goaltending is everything in this league.

That holds for the 60s maybe but not the 70s. Unless you count convincing teams like the California Golden Seals to trade away first round picks as cheating.

or he is not part of their plan for the future. Most teams rotate a few prospects this time of year. Looks for scouts and their own assessments. It's normal. Search for potential chemistry. I am surprised we aren't seeing a few more given the crap 2nd and 3rd lines we have but I guess they are more future focused than we are and want to build a winning culture in Rochester first.

Montreal Canadians 60s/70s - and they didn't cheat to do it.

It was a buyer's market last year too. It always is now. I hope it is true that Skinner will want to be here, but if that is the case, why not sign now? I'm sure there is a solid offer on the table.

Yes, this is one. I've also heard it many times in many places. With the tv package I have I sometimes watch the opposing announcers to hear what they think of the Sabres figuring it might be less biased in their favor. I remember the New Jersey guys raving about him as well as others. Even the Boston duo, go figure. You simply are expecting too much from an 18 year old D man. Patience.

here's my question. Has Skinner said he would like to stay?

This is how I see it as well. The goaltending is also not as good as it was then so put the two together and you see losses instead of wins. This damaging players argument doesn't fly. All over the league the view is that Dahlin is ahead of where Hedman and Karlson were at his age. He will be just fine. Give the kid a break, he is JUST A KID.

This is a big pile of meh.

I really don't think a coaching change is the way to go. The structure to build on is in place. The style of play (when executed) is perfect for the direction the league has gone in and will continue to go in. It's a recipe to build on and throwing all that away for a new guy, a new system, etc etc would just bring back all the question marks and no telling how long that would take. The players simply have to be held accountable and we have to realize we were never as good as people wanted to believe during the win streak. We are a little better this year than last year when we were the worst team in hockey. We are on the right path, but obviously it has not moved as far forward as we would like. I have learned to lower my expectations over the years so I don't want another starting over until we actually take a step backwards. Good drafts and FA's, we simply need more talent.

So let's put those two things together..............maybe, just maybe, he needs a better winger. Pominville is not the answer, but remember that stretch back in October. In 7 games, Skinner 13 pts. Pominville 13 points. Eichel 12 points. What was that stat they were talking about during the game? Eichel has more zone entries where he kept possession than anyone else or something like that. Maybe he could be a little more dominant if once in a while his winger carried the play and let him hit the open ice instead of having to do it all alone. If Skinner doesn't sign in the next week or bit, he has to be moved as well, cause if he doesn't sign a solid deal now, he will not choose Buffalo in July. The carpet has already been rolled out.

maybe he should be on the PP, god knows the group(s) we use usually can't get it done there.

Maybe, maybe not. I think if you notice most of the critiques are about how this team is soft, Housley is soft, we need a stud alpha etc. and yet your hope is on our softest D man. Go figure. Gonna disagree on that but no point to keep arguing the same point. Time will tell. I'd prefer if you were right, but I don't think so.

No, we were mounting a comeback just like we did multiple times then, but then a weak goal gave them a two goal lead again. Most of their goals were not difficult stops. If we had the goaltending that Ullmark gave us against Dallas we would have won this game.

Disagree totally. His rebound control was awful. He simply drops the puck a lot lately and shots are going through him that he should stop. He was outstanding in the 10 game streak, but since then he has been a hack.