Punch

Yeah, I’m not saying I agree but I get it. Being the big men on campus holds some appeal. I don’t think his friend has as promising a pro career ahead of him. Signing Rodrigues was also probably not a great idea, looking back, although he turned out to be effective.

But unfortunately: this.

When I heard about his best friend it made a lot more sense to me to go back. It’s unlikely they’ll ever play together again so I imagine it’s pretty special. The kid is excited to be a Sabre, it’ll happen in his timeframe which is fair enough.

All in all, this may be the best scenario for the Sabres’ flexibility considering Portillo. It would be difficult to pencil both of them in at Rochester and it’s unlikely either would make the Sabres’ roster. I’m really excited to see him at the next level and don’t think he has much room for growth in the NCAA but we’ll have quite a few shiny new toys next season to distract us. Hopefully he doesn’t suffer any setbacks and finds what he’s looking for!

It would be wise to incorporate it into the game day experience in some way, similar to how Gilbert’s rendition of Wonder of You serves as the “end credits”. A major missed opportunity to further cement last night as a foundational moment going forward if it’s ignored.

It’s truly beautiful that this isn’t even the end. We get 5 more home games with Rick before the curtain falls. In a way, that’s what I’ll miss the most. The comfort of knowing I can turn on the broadcast on any random night and Rick’ll be making the call. Here’s to playing out the string in style and to a bright future for the boys in blue and gold.

It’s a testament to to this team’s character that I’m genuinely interested in watching despite the 4-0 (now 4-1) deficit.

In other words, you base your opinion of Kassian on the same "wishful thinking" you accuse other posters of having rather than actually watching him play. Interesting attempt at obfuscating your lack of knowledge by mocking those with informed opinions.

Yeah, watching the slo-mo replay, Kass didn't land a single punch. He's a kid and lulls during his rookie season are to be expected, but he's been invisible for several games. When he was skating with the Sedins they didn't register a single point--- combined. He was moved off the 1st line so Burrows could potentially get them going. He's not even remotely close to the beast that a few posters here are making him out to be. Actually watching Canucks games would be a real eye opener to those expecting he's already got one skate in the Hall of Fame.

There are many interesting perspectives on the length of Ruff's tenure--- one is that Rolston is the first HC to not have coached Dominik Hasek as a Sabre since... Rick Dudley, who was fired in 1991.

Ryan Kennedy ‏@THNRyanKennedy Brian Burke joins Anaheim as part-time pro scout.

Elliotte Friedman: Ron Rolston brings technically sound plan to Buffalo "His attention to detail starts with having to take care of the defensive end first," Brian [Rolston, Ron's brother & longtime NHLer] said. "I was lucky to play nine seasons for a great coach in Jacques Lemaire, and Ron would ask me, 'What does Jacques do here? What does he think about this?' "In Boston, we had a rule: the forwards back-checked the puck and the defence took the middle of the ice away. The goalies knew the shot was coming from the outside. Ron will be like that. He'll set up a defensive system and expect the players to stick with it." Other than that, though, Brian declined to specifically compare him to one of his own NHL coaches. "He's his own man."

The last GDT of the Lindy era was unpinned extraordinarily early. It's fitting for the first post-Lindy GDT to be posted extraordinarily early. Long Live Lindy! Right the ship, Rolston!

The only reason I can see Rolston as interim coach is as a tryout for him. Otherwise, what's the point of simultaneously creating a hole in Rochester?

It's interesting that there was such a quick reveal through RDS and John Vogl that Roy was not contacted. I wonder if he was actually interested in the job.

Matthew WGR ‏@MatthewWGR Source close to Amerks to me right now: "Looks like Ron Rolston is the guy"

He could play the audio for some of the unaired Lindy's Most Memorable Practical Jokes series from the 40th anniversary season telecasts. Actually, I think they started showing them already, around 7:30pm every 3 out of 4 nights.

I wonder if they may have backed off a bit from an asking price close to Del Zotto+ because that's an awful lot to ask considering Colorado's relative bargaining strength. I suppose I'm more confident that Terry is pushing for something to get done than I am in Darcy's willingness at this point. That's my perception of the Sabres chasing the big fish this past summer, anyway. Here's hoping to some good news in the next few days.

An "offensive D-man or proven forward/plus pick" sounds much more reasonable than a top 6 forward and top prospect though the respective values are largely similar. Why do I feel like it's now nearly a foregone conclusion that O'Reilly will be a Sabre?

Ott's response: Steve Ott @otterN9NE @NotBillyHartman you must be lonely on Valentine's day, head to Walgreens they sell lots of Kleenex. #BeatIT

I can't see any team meeting the asking price quoted in the link: "The price tag, however, is steep, as Colorado GM Greg Sherman is asking for a top-six forward and a top prospect in exchange for O'Reilly."

I'm not sure Dater is painting a negative narrative of O'Reilly--- quite the opposite, actually. That particular blog post is subtitled: "The Counter Argument", as in, it is the other side of the O'Reilly case. Dater has regularly been a proponent for keeping O'Reilly, in fact, just 2/12 he wrote: Really, I’m amazed this all happened. A 22-year-old heart-and-soul, two-way center, an absolute rink rat who loved Denver and loved the Avalanche wound up being the final unsigned big-name restricted free agent in the NHL. Really, it’s unbelievable. Shane O'Brien was quoted thusly today in the Denver Post's Avs Blog: “Everyone loves him in here. Great guy, hard worker. He’s one of my close personal friends and I love him like a little brother. But there’s a business side of the game and management has a decision to make and they’re going to make their decisions and we’re going to have to live with that, and Factor is going to have to live with that. That’s the business we live in.” O’Brien said nobody in the locker room has talked negatively about O’Reilly and his holdout.

It's the reason a player like O'Reilly is needed. The 2/3 lines are not running at optimal strength right now--- TrueBluePhd did a good job of explaining Ennis' struggles being due to more defensive zone starts, which is a direct result of no viable defensive centerman on the roster. Having a true 2-way centerman with defensive strengths would make a huge difference to the top 9, IMHO.

Who was the player he had never heard of?