JohnC

If TT sits out the next game why not move Cozens to the first line and have Krebs center for Quinn and JJ? Krebs played with these two players in Rochester. And my understanding is that the line thrived when together. Then Asplund can be moved to the Okposo/Girgs line for a short stint. Something to consider?????

There isn't much hitting in an all-star game. It's less than a physically strenuous environment. It's a time and place to enjoy the company of players you have looked up to, and enjoy the food and drink laid out for you. This should be a memorable event for him. Good for him---he deserves the recognition that he has worked so hard for.

Unless they are hurt to the extent that playing them Wednesday would set them back, I would play the three listed players. After this game, the players would have more than a week to heal and get physically and mentally restored. Winning a game against one of the top teams at home would give this team a boost going into the last stage of the season. All hands should be on deck!

They are fast and big. I'm not sure if they have any finesse players on their roster. They are built to be rugged. As I said in the prior post what is impressive about their game is that it is a full-throttle game from the beginning to end. I was impressed.

I was watching a portion of the Carolina/Boston game. Carolina is such a tough team. They are rugged and play hard throughout the game. They are relentless. Their style of play is a playoff style of play. They are really impressive. They reflect their muscular coach, Brind'Amour. I hope that Cozens and Samuelsson will be back when we play Wednesday. This is a good measuring stick game for us.

Jack Quinn and Peterka heating up for the final 1/3 of the season would be exciting. It's not a question of will they, as it is when? How soon? I'm not sure. Just steadily getting better and acclimating themselves to the highest level of hockey is what you want to see. With Quinn more than JJ, you can see sequences of exceptional play where you know he is going to be better than good.

The Sabre play of the game for me was the Krebs to Okposo to Girgs' score. This play reflects how Krebs has played since he centered for Okposo and Girgs. Krebs threw the puck in, he battled for the puck on the back wall, and then while battling for the puck got it to Okposo who was on the right side of the net. He then quickly made a pass to Girgs who was standing alone on the doorstep of the net for the goal. The catalyst of the play was Krebs. This play embodied how he has played a tougher and grittier since joining this elder line. I'm sure many will say that the Quinn goal was the most special play. There is no question that it was an exceptional play by a young player who showed determination in retrieving the puck, and then skating to get free, and concluding the play with a laser shot. I'm not going to quarrel with anyone who prefers making this play the play of the game. What each of these plays manifests is that this team has young players who are getting better and better while in the also contributing to the success of this team.

So do some congressmen/women. 🤡

I agree with you that UPL played well. He gave up a bad goal when he wasn't able to quickly enough get back into position. Big goalies have one major advantage in that there is less open space to shoot at when they are stationary. On the negative side, if you can get the goalie to move, he is going to be disadvantaged. Big hulking goalies such as Lehner and UPL are not very good (sometimes atrocious) in shootouts because the shooter has open space and has the ability to quickly shift to force the goalie to move/respond. The big goalies simply can't move quick enough to react to the shooter. However, I'm not going to complain about UPL playing big. That's why he has been so successful this season. The Sabres played 4 games in 6 nights, on top of having to travel. Added to this rigorous road schedule was the fact that the Sabres played a compressed schedule for close to a full month. I thought the team in general gave everything they got. I didn't see any slackers out there. Adding to the challenge in this game were the numerous marginal penalties called that made this game a bigger challenge. Tired players take those kind of sloppy penalties. Anyone who watched a chunk of the games on this road trip has to be encouraged about this team. We played good teams on their home ice. Not once did I get the sense that we were the lesser team. As @K-9pointed out the second period of the Winnipeg game may have been the best period that this team played this season. It was an eye-popping demonstration on how good this team not only could be but actually is! One observation about this game that impressed me: Tuch is a warrior who played his assss out on both ends of the ice. And in general, this team has heart! You could see the exhaustion on the bench. Yet, when the players hopped over the boards, they were playing at full throttle. Regardless of the outcome, they should be saluted for their effort. I like this team.

Sometimes when things are not working for a line you change the players just for the sake of shaking things. The hope is that there will be a different dynamic. It won't be for long because Cozens will probably be back to centering for the youngsters very soon.

Someone else may have mentioned it but it would be interesting to see Krebs in-between Quinn and JJ. And then put Asplund on the Okposo and Girgs line. It seemed that the Quinn-Krebs-JJ line clicked in Rochester. Just a thought. Are these guys fully naked? If so, then this is pornographic. 🤡

I don't understand the argument that a player was part of the losing culture so that disqualifies his return, especially if he is an upgrade. Mitts, Dahlin, Skinner, Okposo, Girgs etc were also members of the team when the organization was run shabbily. It wasn't the players' fault that this was a dysfunctional organization that had little chance to be competitive. I don't know if McCabe is available. That really isn't the issue for me. What I would like to see is a McCabe caliber of player added to the mix to buttress our defensive unit. The cost shouldn't be too extravagant like a Chycrun deal would be. Our GM added Lyubuskin to the unit without giving up any assets. That was a solid pickup. Now that he seems to be fully healthy that addition looks even better than when he was plagued with nagging injuries.

When you use your credit card in Canada is the bill in American or Canadian dollars $$$? Just curious.

I'm not sure that he wouldn't want to come back. He felt stuck in the losing culture here. He got tired of it, like a number of other players. His sentiments are understandable. Then he signs with Chicago that is now undergoing a major rebuild. I would think that he would be energized coming back to a team that is on the rise. When he left there were no negative comments or whispers about him. It was just time for a change. Putting aside this particular player, it would be beneficial to get a similar type of rugged player added to the roster. Pairing Lyubuskin with a McCabe type of player would be a good addition to the blue line unit.

I would give up a second, or maybe two of them, for him if he was open to coming back. He would be a good partner for Lyubushkin or when needed on the second pair. That would make more sense than pursuing a high asset cost player like Chychrun.

You have every right to feel queasy about this game. The Sabres have played 4 games in 6 days on this road trip. If you include travel days, this has been an exhausting trip. In this month, the Sabres have played 15 games in 28 days. This is a compressed schedule---a crazy playoff type schedule in the regular season. To the Sabres's credit the they have consistently played with energy with only a few heavy legged games. attached is a link of this month's schedule. https://www.nhl.com/sabres/schedule/2023-01-01/ET

Don Granato was on the RK staff. When he took over, he said on a WGR broadcast that even when Skinner was being marginalized by the previous coach, he still was one of the hardest working players in practice. The bottom line is not only were Dahlin and Skinner grossly misused, so were all the players on the roster were. He had an archaic system in the modern world of hockey. Failure was unavoidable.

I forgot that specificity is a requirement. 🍺

Last year, Jack was coming back from surgery. It's still too early to make a conclusive judgment on the trade. I'm more than happy how it has turned out for Buffalo. But that doesn't mean that from a Vegas perspective it wasn't or won't be a good deal.

Excellent analysis. I wouldn't be surprised if Quinn and Peterka make strides this season. And next season I'm expecting much more from them. It's part of the growing process.

Is Erie a Buffalo or Pittsburgh market, or split?

Jack has been hurt. He was out of the line for a period of time. Is the injury plaguing him? I can't say for sure but I wouldn't be surprised. As far as changing positions on any issue, when the circumstances change that is what reasonable and open-minded people do. With respect to the Jack issue there are many people who are resentful of him because he wanted out. And it should be added that the GM also wanted him out. There is an emotion that is colored by hostility whenever the Jack topic comes up. What I can say for sure is that no GM in the league, including KA, would have made a simple Eichel for Tuch trade at the time. I'm a Tuch fan and I have become a Krebs fan. In my view the trade worked out for both organizations.

This is a tricky question. From a talent standpoint I would still take Eichel if it is a one on one deal. However, from a situational standpoint each player benefits from being where they are now. Now if you change the question to include Krebs, Tuch, a first round pick and additional cap space, then from Buffalo's perspective I would say Buffalo. But that doesn't mean from Vegas's perspective that they are unhappy with the deal. I have said before that this trade benefited Eichel and it benefited the Sabres. Each team makes their own calculation.

Whenever I watch the Sabres my eyes tell me that he is the best player on the ice. You make an interesting point about the Krueger fiasco and how it held back his development. Did it set back Dahlin's advancement to this point? I'm not really sure that it did because it appears to me that once the yoke of Krueger was released, the player quickly caught up with matching his talents with his play.

If the trade proposal would have simply been Eichel for Tuch, no GM in the league would have taken Tuch, including the Sabre GM. When all the calculations are done Vegas got what they wanted, and the Sabres got what they wanted.