JohnC

I don't know who is going to start in Philly. In my opinion, Comrie should start. I'm confident that it is a minority opinion.

His size and physical are irrelevant as demonstrated by the fact that there are goalies with dramatically different body types that do succeed. You are too invested in the notion of prototypical size for a position. It's an outdated concept that some scouts are too enamored with. There are slower players that are better than faster players. There are weaker players that are better than stronger players. etc. etc. There is a fundamental issue that circumscribes the evaluation of a player: How does the player play!

Pegula has made a lot of mistakes during his tenure. However, the hiring of KA has turned out to be his best decision that has consequentially reverberated throughout the organization. The new GM got permission to fire Krueger whose team quit on him. The best decision the new GM made was elevating Granato to temporary HC, and then giving him a permanent designation. That's when the turnaround started.

Attached is a link from NHL.com that has the standings. https://www.nhl.com/standings/2022/wildcard

If Krueger were still here Levi would be sitting on the end of the bench with Skinner.

Was this a full house? It looked like it on TV.

He was a Tasmanian Devil out there. He plays with passion. And he curses a lot on the ice. ☠️

Some quick thoughts about this game: Levi gets the first star. Needless to say he was impressive. What an exciting prospect! Skinner gets my second star. I thought JJ played one of his best games. The Quinn/Cozens/JJ is playing with a lot of confidence. There were a couple of sequences where JJ put on the jets and got ahead of the defenders. The niftiest pass in the game was Mitts pass to Greenway for a score. The prettiest sequence was the Quinn to Cozens to JJ for a score. Cozens is emerging as a player and driver of that line. Getting Samuelsson back makes a difference. The Sabres had few penalties but more importantly no stupid penalties that put the team in a vulnerable position in a tight game. Both teams deserved accolades because each of the teams had the maturity to stay with their game throughout. Buffalo has had a tendency to play more individually when they got behind. Each team stuck with it. The Rangers are a good team. We matched them in both of our last two games with them. Over the last four games the Sabres have earned seven points. I want to see Tage get back real soon. There's a big cascading difference along the lines when he is out. Tomorrow's game against Philly is a big game for us. I'm fond of this team.

That's a great observation. There were a number of plays where there was action on one side of him, and then he responded quickly/instinctly when the threat went to the other side of him. There was little scrambling to his game even when the action in front of him was chaotic. You can tell that he is a student of the position.

I thought what distinguished his play was his good rebound control. His anticipation and positioning were superb. As far as size goes it is irrelevant because his other attributes such quickness, positioning and glove work compensate for his lack of standard size for the position. He may not be big but you can see that he stoutly plays, especially when there is traffic in front of him. He's an exciting prospect who is likely to contribute right away.

You are being fair in your evaluation. I see Joki getting better and solidifying a #4 ranking.

I'm more positive about Joki and his play than most people are on this site. There seems to be a "Mitts Syndrome" here where a player gets negatively labeled and then it sticks even if the play indicates otherwise. It's like a bad first date where the bad impression becomes irretrievable. What I have noticed about Joki is that he is becoming more aggressive on offense. He is getting more confident in pursuing offensive opportunities than he previously did. Another reason why Joki hasn't won enough plaudits from a large segment of the critics is that he is not a banger. He is a smooth skater and a fast skater who is one of our best defenders in chasing the opposition down when it is coming back ahead of us. I still see some upside with him. If Johnson is somewhat similar to Joki in style and caliber of play I would be more than happy.

They are not mutually exclusive. The reality is that our playoff chances are dim. Getting an early peek at Levi, like last year's peek at Power, is the major attraction in this game. If Levi should sparkle in this game and other games as the season winds down, the expectations and anticipations for next season are elevated.

Greenway is not fully healthy. I'm not suggesting that he is anything special but as a third-liner and he adds an element of size and a more physical style of play. It should be remembered that it was coached Don G who advocated for him. The coach believes that he has more to draw from. With respect to either or both Kyle retiring or Zemgus leaving that shouldn't be surprising. All teams are subjected to roster changes. Rosters are rarely the same from year to year. What puts Buffalo in a more favorable position is that it is the lower half of the lines and pairings that need to be upgraded. And that type of player is more easily gotten from the market. Terrific work! 🍺

With respect to getting more experience there are a few young players I expect to make a noticeable step up. A few of them are Power, Krebs, Quinn and JJ. It could be argued that Cozens should be placed in that category. As have been often said internal improvement will undergird our improvement. I don't know what the GM is going to do in the offseason to address the vulnerability at net. I'm not sure he will do anything. What the Chycrun overture indicates to me is that he is very likely to address that unit this offseason. From an overview perspective the roster is already at a later stage of being filled. Give me some names that could be attainable.

With Levi between the pipes, I see his team play a tighter and more defensive focused style of play in front of him. In my opinion, I thought the Sabres played one of their best two-way games in a recent OT loss to the Rangers at home. Not too long ago, the Sabres were one of the most irrelevant franchises in the league. It won't be much of a surprise if the hockey analysts and commentators will be focusing on this game because of our intriguing prospect. How things have changed!

A good sign of what you are saying is the pursuit of Chycrun during the season. He failed in sealing the deal but he made a credible offer. That's an example that he's simply not standing pat and allowing the process to follow through on its own lumbering pace. When he sees opportunities, he's willing to explore them. The acquisition of Stillman and Spellman were not major deals. (Needless to say.) They were in-season smaller deals that added some depth and tweaked the roster in areas of weaknesses. I'm not sure what the GM's thoughts are on the goalie position and what he is willing to do to address it. Maybe nothing? At the minimum he needs to add a defenseman or two, at least 4-5, or better yet a 2-3, caliber players to the mix. I still believe that adding a Saros caliber goalie to the roster will do more than anything to elevate this roster. This offseason is going to be intriguing.

As @pi2000 noted in a post prior to yours the description is suitable to describe Joki. If it turns out to be so, it will be a good pickup. Whether he is slotted to be a 4-6 or 5-7 player, it fills a need and improves the unit.

I understand your sentiments. But I have a slightly different take on how KA is handling his job. What KA has wisely done is not allow the futility of how this bedraggled franchise was operated before he took over to influence how he was going to operate. He had a blueprint, clearly stated it for everyone to understand and has followed it. I would argue that the timeframe that he set (and I expected) for the rebuild is ahead of schedule. I expected/hoped the Sabres to be in the playoff running up to the end of the season. That is what is happening. And I expected/hoped the Sabres would be a 90 pt team when the season concluded. They'll probably fall a little short but they won't be far off. My point is that his timeframe where this team would be at is on a reasonable, if not, accelerated schedule.

I come from an Italian immigrant family. My father once told me to chop the ice before it freezes. He also called out to me and brother and said both of you three bring the garbage cans back behind the house. I'm fine with broken English. It represents my roots. 🍷

If you watch opposing teams' broadcasting crews when they are playing Buffalo, there are many positive comments about how well the team is playing. More importantly, there are comments about the promising prospects for the near future. That wasn't the perception for a number of years. When one gets too too close and is immersed in the immediate, you often don't get the same perception that outside eyes have. It's indisputable that the Sabres are on an up cycle. And outsiders recognize it, maybe more than insiders do.

Was @PASabreFan in the audience hectoring the GM to add more hooligans to the roster? 🤡

Split up the posts. Did he give you any responses that surprised you?

I agree with everything you said but would like to comment further. There is a good reason why he didn't talk about the playoffs when he first took over. In a rebuild for any organization going through such a multi-faceted and complicated task, you simply can't know for sure in advance how the process will work out, especially when you start the process. As you well know, it isn't just wheeling and dealing for players. You have to consider ability to shed contracts, cap considerations, other teams' willingness to trade with you, free agency etc. As an example, the Jack trade was not a simple matter. He was injured and there were issues regarding what surgery he would allow. This trade was an important deal for us because it brought back Tuch, Krebs and a first-round pick. That deal worked out well but prior to the deal none of us, including the organization, could project what the outcome would be. I agree with you that if a Saros deal was offered that required either Savoie or Kulich, our GM would out of hand reject it. However, if Rosen or Ryan Johnson (assuming he signs) were part of a deal, our GM would be more inclined to make such a deal. Would I be willing to offer one of our prized prospects for Saros? I'm not sure. What I can say is that adding a goalie such as Saros would have a major impact on this team. It would immediately change the dynamic of this team for the good. A good "what if" question is: where would the Sabres be in the standings if we had Saros this year? I suspect that we would be talking about match ups instead of talking about the long shot odds of the Sabres making the playoffs this year. I just want to make it clear that our views are consonant on this topic with some small differences.

If you closely look you can see the lips quivering.