Drag0nDan

Eh. I think the captain, under contract for 5 years airing dirty laundry on locker cleanout day is a pretty bad look for a player. He has continued to come off as entitled and uses the media as a power play. I don't think he's a bad guy for wanting out, but if he doesn't get his way is he going to man up and make it work? There's still a good chance he ends up 1C in the fall, is he going to demand a trade (with no leverage)? Hell, when they traded O'reilly the national media picked it up as Eichel is a diva who can't share the spotlight.

They don't want to sell or relocate. There's been a rather large swath of changes made in the last couple of years from scouting, to PSE, to coaching and development. Seems like trainers, team doctors, etc probably also need some new blood. The big issue is a lot of that isn't handled under Adams, who while inexperienced I still trust considerably more than Kim and Terry.

Agreed. That mop top was not a good look.

They're not going to sell the team.

Yeah, he just tends to call it wrong and rob ray will say what it is after the fact.

He's currently shooting at an almost 15% clip in a small sample size, compared to the 2.3% he exhibited in buffalo. His MVP year he shot 14%, and most of his other years he was somewhere around 6-8. I think he's due to regress back to throwing pucks into the glove.

Dunleavy definitely struggled considerably with the video game calling. Not sure if they're still doing that, but he always seems to have no idea why a stoppage occurred.

me too. I've watched this many games! give me what i want!

I think its possible to play good hockey and still lose when you have cozens, borgen, bryson, samuelsson, R2 playing a lot of minutes. That's 5 rookies. Combine that with younger players like mitts, asplund and thompson. And JAGs like sheahan, rieder, and caggiula. They are the least talented team on the ice almost every game.

Yeah.. they had a rough little 3rd period. Reinhart had a brutal turnover that put them in the hole too. He tried to play it cross ice to the dman even though he could see coyles stick in the lane. Either play it into the zone or take it to the wall... cant be doing that.

For me - it was constantly parading cody eakin out there even though it was like 100% clear that he was the worst player on the ice every night.

yeah, you don't have to retaliate right then and there. In fact you don't have to retaliate with that player at all. Level someone else who has the puck.

You only get like a 5% higher chance of picking at 1 anyway. I think a team losing 18 consecutive games and not finishing dead last in a 56 game season is better than the slightly better chance of getting your guy.

Yeah - for the most part I'd say... if you can't lift your hockey bag you probably shouldn't play hockey. But for the vets out there who love hockey, and still wanna get out there? I get it 100% It's like those push carts for golf bags - appropriate once you hit a certain age or have some back problems. You might still get some crap, but we'll all get there someday anyway.

So its not just the Sabres that are terrible at this kind of stuff

Injuries too. Eichel, Girgs, Okposo, Ullmark, McCabe. Games missed by cozens, borgen. They're winning more games and playing more competitively under the new coach. I mean they lost 18 straight games in a shortened season and they might climb out of last? Finishing last guarantees you nothing anyway, so i could (couldn't) honestly care less. There's a few young kids who fall in that top 5 where buffalo will pick - you can't control it. What you can control is scouting the hell out of those kids to make sure you don't end up missing.

he had this memorable one on hasek

You knew that kotalik backhand was coming but he was so good at it

Shootouts and breakaways are always really different. Breakaways you tend to be going full speed right at the goalie, you can play off rebounds too. Shootouts there's a lot more time to think, and goalies are a bit more free. Can cough up a juice rebound and it doesnt matter.

Ugh - don't i get punished enough just watching the current team?

I'm not sure Rolston was entirely to blame there. I think we can all look back on a team captained by steve ott with a leading scorer of cody hodsgon and say that scotty bowman couldn't have done a thing with that pile of garbage.

I'm resigned to the fact that we lose one of those 3, or borgen. I'd like to see seattle take miller or girgs, but I'm not really willing to offer much to facilitate. My list - Eichel, Reinhart, Olofsson, Skinner, Mitts, Thompson, Asplund. D - Dahlin, Joki, Risto. I think Risto has more trade value than Borgen, and Borgen isn't guaranteed gone if we expose him. I also think the team tries to upgrade at defenseman this season - either through trades or free agency. G- Uhh Tokarski I guess...? Worst case in this you lose Bjork or Borgen. I'd be surprised to see them take Bjork tbh, so i see no reason to protect him. Borgen or Miller - depends on the team preference and need. Do you need a young player who projects as a steady bottom pair guy who will block shots or do you need someone to help QB a PP and blast shots into shin pads? Girgs would be a wildcard, but I'd again be shocked if he's taken. The thing is - he essentially replaces Bjork if he's taken anyway as a bottom 6 winger who can play PK.

Its almost like putting this out there so that someone jumps you and takes Etienne.

His numbers in buffalo are also propped up quite a bit from time on the #1 PP unit. Guy was clutch in the playoffs and a better player than numbers on paper will say - but I feel like Eichel scores like 100+ points per season on the same 05-07 sabres

Right? Was there an invincible tryout that we all missed?