Marvin, Sabres Fan

I personally had given up.

We should take into account that we are playing a much tougher schedule now than then. Moreover, we were extremely conservative and passive under XHCRK. Thus, it would not surprise me if our defencive metrics are somewhat worse under HCDG even when we equalise for schedule. Moreover, early in the year, an absurd amount of the Sabres shots and goals came on power plays; those _should_ be more dangerous on average. Now, virtually all the scoring is at even strength. One point that gets lost in the statistics (being a numbers guy myself) is that the Sabres are much more aggressive in

The players in the line-up need to learn how to deal with the rougher game. The playoffs are undeniably more physical, so they had better get used to it. I look at these games as a way to separate the wheat from the chaff.

Now *that* is a fascinating thought experiment. Can you imagine the chances which Zemgus and Kyle create actually going in more often than every third game?

Eh wot? The last 2 times the Sabres were over NHL 0.500 after the TDL were 2012-3 and 2015-6. We have been worse every other year.

Sad, but true.

Larsson and Girgensons had better offencive awareness until XHCDDB benched and berated it out of them.

I think this merits a bit more discussion. For this argument, the Sabres could get a variant of the Alexander Mogilny trade. In this scenario, the Sabres also move Reinhart and Ristolainen to build depth and the future. Against this is that Jack has led the only consistently effective scoring line for the last 3 seasons. He has carried the team with Reinhart and a pittance of support. I think you are underestimating how good Eichel has been. The one place where I think you are objectively correct is that we need to stop thinking of Eichel and Reinhart as fruits of The Tank.

More than number, the quality of player on the shelf is staggering.

DSL?

Wow, Earth. Did you have to hit me so hard when I returned?

Who needs protection? If memory serves me right, neither Ruotsalainen nor Cozens needs protection. It looks like the Sabres should protect Skinner, Eichel, Reinhart, Asplund, Mittlestadt, Thompson, and either Olofsson or Bjork. Assuming no forward is lost, Okposo and Girgensons have enough skill that they would not be lost with Olofsson there. Having said that, both Olofsson and Bjork would be very tempting to Seattle. It is virtually certain that one of them will be available. As I personally would protect Dahlin, Borgen, and Jokiharu, I figure that Seattle will take a forward.

Just saw a tweet that Tokarski pointed to the sky at the horn. It was his first win since his father had died and he dedicated the win to him.

It is great watching the kids have fun.

DeLuca 0.500 in last 10: 5-2-3.