Punch

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I guess I'm confused as to why there's so much confusion that, to me, UPL brings Youppi to mind. It sounds similar, I didn't think it was controversial.

FWIW, I only know about the Budd Dwyer incident because of the Filter song "Hey Man Nice Shot". I was at the Richard Zednik game, it was utterly chilling. I don't recall how much, if any blood, was evident on the ice but that's probably because I felt totally numb.

I have no problem with referring to him as 6K. Most nicknames are stupid, it's kind of half of the fun. Besides, saying/reading UPL makes me think of:

My initial impression of this new line is Cozens was born to skate with Greenway. And what the Tuch!

What is Tuttle's Corsi?

Through 5 1/2 periods: Benson, Greenway, Erik Johnson and Levi are all legit improvements. Clifton is shaky. It hasn't all come together but this team is better than last year.

I was curious how they'd react to all the hype they've received all offseason. A lot of what I've heard from them sounds like they may think they've already arrived, even if they're saying all the right things. This is still an incredibly young team so I'm not shocked at the performance. I don't think it lacked passion but it certainly wasn't focused. As far as I'm concerned, I expect this to be a learning experience and they'll right the ship in short order.

I'm not particularly worried but I am fairly disappointed. They looked sloppy and slow. Some of that is due to the rust but the Rangers looked focused and disciplined. I'll also allow that some early calls didn't go their way which frustrated them and they didn't respond appropriately. I liked the physicality and expect them to rebound quickly. Let's go, Buffalo.

A jacket for the discerning Sabres fan negotiating his or her way through the Dudley-Muckler transition. I love it!

My interpretation of Dahlin-Clifton is that they were all but penciled in as an opening night pair based on how they'd fared throughout training camp. Obviously, that didn't pan out in an actual game setting: https://theathletic.com/4932149/2023/10/05/buffalo-sabres-depth-projection-zach-benson/

Great post, it has what plants crave.

We will watch his career with great interest.

Evaluating players at different levels (as with a college player like Levi and a professional like UPL) is not a 1 to 1 comparison because they don’t both possess the same body of work. Levi’s development has been much more impressive than UPL was at this same stage. And although UPL has progressed nicely, perhaps even exceeding expectations, Levi’s ceiling still projects higher. UPL may become more consistent and maybe blossom into a long term NHL starter but it’s unlikely his play ever exceeds Levi’s potential.

What kind of car do you drive?

Tage.

He was misquoted, he actually said “Sittler had some good ideas.”

It’s so great what this term now brings to mind.

A well constructed organization will build on and enhance improvements from season to season. Organizations without continuity and structure can flounder in the new season despite whatever success was achieved the year prior. Case in point: Vancouver ended 2021-22 well but is a mess to start this season. The key for the Sabres is to identify ideal workload management for the goaltenders and closely monitor the ebbs and flows of confidence of the young players. It’s pretty clear Granato and Adams are clued in to those developments and have a plan going forward. Whether or not they can sustain it as the year progresses is the question for every team but it’s nonsensical to disconnect the focused start to this season from how they ended last year. There’s clear continuity but it isn’t guaranteed to last. That’s why we watch.

This really was a great line, so kudos to Michelle Girardi-Zumwalt for writing it (and Gare for delivering it): “Your name will hang in the rafters, but your voice will echo forever.” It's terrific that Pergament shared these name, I like to see attention paid to the many people responsible behind the scenes. It's especially fitting in this instance because we've heard about many unsung contributors in technical roles only because of RJ recognizing them on broadcasts throughout the years.

The Sabres can’t trade him if he and his family live in Buffalo year round unless he explicitly okayed it. It would have a net negative effect on locker room morale that wouldn’t be worth whatever draft pick was obtained in exchange. I don’t want to get too Pollyanna-ish but I think KO’s calling is to lead this team and he views that as more noble than getting traded to play for a contender.