JohnC

As you are suggesting salaries go up. So when his contract is up and it is time to negotiate a new deal, the player and agent are going to go for a market deal. Players are not dumb. They are well aware that it is a business. They'll get what the market indicates they should get. A discounted deal for one player doesn't necessarily carry over to another player who is looking for a market value. (As you are stating.)

The difference with this Sabre team is that the goal scoring is spread out throughout the other lines and on both PP units. What we are seeing now are teams are focusing on Tage, and trying to get him off his favored spot. The other lines and shooters are picking up the slack.

That's an excellent way of putting it.

I agree with you that most of his saves were in the routine category. But there was a reason for it. If you watched this game and the play of Anderson what became evident (and noted on the broadcast) was that he anticipated where the play was going to go and better positioned himself for the shot. There were few wasted movements and few frantic plays to stop the puck because he always seemed to be in position. His play certainly wasn't of a "show stopping" category as much as it was simply a veteran goalie who played his position smartly. I hope UPL closely observed how the old guy played the position.

He wanted out and the new GM wanted him out. He ended up in Vegas, got the surgery he wanted and regained his health and form. Now he is the best player on a cup contending team. It worked out well for all the parties involved.

I have to give Don Granato credit in the way he has handled Krebs. He has sat Krebs, limited his playing time and then put him on a line with Girgs and Okposo. He made him accountable for his play. What that shift to the elderly line did is force the youthful player to simplify his game and become more of a battler than a floater as a player. It forced the player to value the puck more and lose it less with low percentage passes. When Krebs scored the goal from an Olofsson pass the credit should go to his playing with Girgs and Okposo who taught him how to play a NHL game. Good coaching resulting in internal improvement.

I don't always agree with your takes. However, when it comes to assessing players in Rochester and how they will translate to the bigger league you are one of the main people I listen to. The short history/pattern of Quinn is that whenever he moves up the ranks he has an adjustment period. And then he solidifies his play. It's going to be fun exciting watching the line he plays on getting better and better. Don Granato was recently on WGR and talked about that youth line. He said that during practice this line often chooses to go against the top (Tage) line and then ferociously battles with them. This line is not only talented but it has that competitive ingredient that will make them a force.

Yes, he made some indirect comments about the locker room having factions. Jack certainly wasn't a chummy guy. So what? That doesn't mean that he was a toxic figure on this team as many try to make him out to be. He wanted out just as ROR, Risto, Reinhart, Ullmark, Hall, Montour etc. wanted out. What's evident is that systemic losing is corrosive. That should be a motivating factor giving urgency to building a winning team. The Jack saga is over for the player and for the organization.

I liked the play of Clague in this game. It was solid. When Bushkin and Joki get back the lower pairings should be better. And if you add Fitz to the mix then the lower pairings will be more than incrementally better, and there will be more depth.

It's going to be fun watching the Cozens line grow together. If you ask me who is going to be better between JJ and Quinn (recognizing different styles) I think it's going to be Quinn. He has a better shot and there is more subtlety to his game (my opinion). Cozens is the driver of that line. As I said in a prior post and as you have been saying for a long time, if the Sabres had the caliber of goalie play that was exhibited in this game by Anderson on a regular basis, this team would be a serious team.

For two periods LA played a suffocating style of game that from an entertaining standpoint is soul-crushing. Once the Sabres broke through in the third period the dam broke and LA's style of play became ineffective when playing from behind. Anderson was the first star. Can you imagine if he were able to be a workhorse goalie how much better our record would be? In this game his anticipation was exceptional and he was always in control. The best pass of the game was Quinn to JJ for a score. Krebs got a goal off of an Olofsson pass. Although he didn't score it when he was on the Okposo/Girgs line he has become a better player because he simplified his game because of his association with the two veteran players. He's a younger player getting better. I thought he didn't deserve the penalty he got along the boards. To his credit he hustled back to chase the player down. I thought Olofsson played well. Good goal and nifty pass to Krebs. How many goalposts has he hit this season? This was a good win against a tough team to play.

The biggest difference in this LA game was that we got top-shelf goaltending throughout this game. It has been consistently pointed out by many that the way for this team to move up the ranks is upgrading the goalie position and adding another defenseman or two. I'm simply not going along with your prescription of what ails this team. Adding talent and creating more depth and not softness in play are what's needed. We just disagree. That's okay.

When you have an insufficient amount of talent and compete against more talented teams you are more likely to lose than win. That's been the problem for the Sabres for the past decade. The era of gladiator and goon hockey is long gone. Speed, skill and even toughness are attributes that contribute to winning games. This looking back to the era of Flyer thuggery as a model to follow is a fantasy laid on top of a delusion. Hooliganism is not a solution to anything but more time in the penalty box. The recipe for success is basic: adding more talent.

Your comment reflects a view that is more than a decade outdated. It's a fantasy that has little application to today's NHL. The idea that the Sabres are a deficient team because they lack the ability to fight and adequately respond to assaults makes little sense. The Sabres are where they are in the standings because their roster is not good enough and deep enough to withstand the rigors of a long season against superior teams. This macho gladiator attitude has little to do with making this team more competitive. It's a simplistic solution that isn't really a solution because the on ice struggles this team is encountering is because this team isn't good enough. That's clearly evident to anyone who watches the games with their eyes open. This team needs to add better players. Advocating for more thuggery as a solution to anything is childishly simplistic and utterly stupid.

What happens if either Dahlin or Power get hurt? Both of these players are playing unsustainable minutes.

Pittsburgh was simply the better team. They have a more complete and mature roster, top to bottom. Skinner not playing had an affect on two lines and the PP. This team isn't deep enough to absorb such a setback. It's not an issue of toughness, and it's not an issue of willingness to fight. Our roster is evolving and developing. We just are not there yet.

The Sabres simply don't have enough margin of error to absorb the loss of a critical player like Skinner. The roster is still in the building and developing stage. As it stands the roster simply isn't good enough and mature enough to handle teams that are better and more mature. It's better than what it was but it hasn't reached the tipping point where it can make up for most setbacks.

"Seattle Kraken defenseman Jamie Oleksiak was suspended by the NHL for three games for an illegal check to the head of Washington Capitals defenseman Alexander Alexeyev." Wash Post Skinner got what he deserved.

He didn't disrespect the fan base. You keep saying that is if it is a mantra. After a game in which he was incessantly booed he expressed his displeasure at the fans who booed him. He was candid about how he felt. And that bothers you. The paying customers pay for their seats and are entitled to boo. However, the whining crybabies who booed acted as if they were personally insulted when he expressed exactly how he felt. If you throw shiiit then don't complain when shiiit gets thrown back at you. I don't recall one former teammate who publicly or anonymously disparaged him after he left. While you and others are constantly smearing his character as if it is an established fact, it is not. I'm not saying that he wasn't happy with the situation he was in because he wasn't. I'm not even saying that he was a perfect teammate because he wasn't. But your characterization of him is not fair. He's gone. Get over it.

I thought that the mixture of fans of both teams created a great atmosphere. It created a unique dynamic of the partisans going back and forth. The Buffalo market is a unique market in that it is close to Canada but also Pennsylvania. There is much more to tap into. The best marketing tool is to put out not only a good but also an entertaining team. That's happening now. This franchise is striding forward. The front office needs to be a little more aggressive in searching for accelerants to make the fire hotter.

There is a smart way to stand up for your goalie and a self-defeating way to do it. There are no assurances that we would have won if this incident played out differently. But that's what's disappointing about Skinner losing control. We lost the opportunity to find out on the ice.

This is a general observation about this game. The arena was close to being filled and the fans were into the game. The hockey was played at a high level and the intensity was close to (not quite) playoff level. The team is regaining credibility with a hockey market that was battered and abused. The Sabres are entertaining and they are capable of competing with the elite teams in this league. Considering what has transpired over the past decade or so ,what is happening now is uplifting to what once was downtrodden.

I have been touting Skinner's contributions for quite a while. So my bias is toward him and not against him. But it was Skinner who failed his team. You are right in pointing out that it was Guentzel who slashed Skinner first. And it was Skinner who responded by aggressively slashing him back. (Good for him!) But considering the situation he needed to regain his composure. He lost it and crossed checked him in the neck and head area. It was clear-cut that he crossed the line not only at this critical juncture in the game but also very likely will result in the league disciplining him with a game suspension. Skinner hurt and failed the team.

You present some interesting questions to consider. The main question you propose is: Are the Sabres a good team? As you indicate that is debatable. But there is another way of looking at that issue of being good or not. Another aspect of that issue isn't that they are a good or not so good team as it is that they are an incomplete team. In a rebuilding endeavor you are not realistically going to address all your weaknesses at the same time. What is evident is that this regime has put together two top lines and are close to assembling two top defensive pairs. There are still major voids in the lower pairing corps and in net. How quickly will those voids be adequately filled? I don't see it happening this season. If those vulnerabilities are not mostly addressed this offseason I will be very disappointed.

Whenever the topic of Jack comes up there is a reflexive response by many Sabre fans that color their ability to acknowledge his talent and actual play. He is now the best player on a serious cup contending team. The Jack and organization story/relationship is more complicated than the simplified version that many want to cling to. Could the relationship have been salvaged? Maybe not. But as you point out the thought of a Thompson-Eichel-Cozens center spine would have been an exciting idea to consider. Jack is one of the best players in the league. And many fans are bothered by that reality because they believe they were unfairly jilted. Resentments are difficult to let go.