Digger

Because you are suggesting that Eichel could not play tonight's style of hockey (at least that's how I read your post) and Eichel never was coached or played under Granato for the Sabres. That's the reason that I think Eichel would play very well in Granato's system.

Are you not going to give Granato some credit for the style of play tonight?

No I don't agree. A healthy Eichel that wants to play here would be fast and blend in nicely as the first line center for this team and style of play. The question is not worth contemplating at this point though because he will eventually be traded.

Arizona on Saturday..........Sabres moving up in the power rankings. Great job boys.

Play against Canadians or Leafs usually draws in fans of those teams from Canada though and border is still closed. But yes I think it's expected to see more Sabres fans. It's still a NHL game.

seems a bit odd to me. we do see the goal scorer change within the game with tipped pucks at times too.

I appreciate you posting this clip. I had not heard it. I would think though if 5 teams are heavily involved some sort of rumors with names would be leaked (not by the Sabres but by other teams). The insiders have had very little content on Eichel trade talks all the way through this drama.

0.892 career save percentage, 0.890 last season so he's not an established goalie. Let's hope we get some shots through to him and have a great game. Sabres win and Montreal starts the season with 2 losses.

I sense some sarcasm. So we are planning on developing Eakin back to respectability and turning him into a 2nd round pick at the deadline. What a plan. 😔

Wow over $8 Million. I really like the way the Tkachuk brothers play but the contract is pretty steep and the family is pretty tough to negotiate with.

Ruotsalainen would look better on the 2nd unit if he was playing. I hope the power play improves.

Agreed. This time we need to let a GM finish a rebuild instead of firing and tearing down everything the previous GM did. Adams has the floor so we need to let him run this rebuild to completion. That being said I was not a fan of Murray and was not convinced Botts was on track either. I'm on board with Adams.

I'm sure Eichel has direct deposit so no need to come into work to pick up his paycheck. 😏

Ah, the excitement of the first game of the season. I can tell you that I overestimated the Sabres for the last few years (at this point in past years). I have gone into the season opening game expecting great things and knowing that the Sabres will prove the analysts wrong but of course I was wrong each year and we ended up with a high draft pick instead. This year I don't have any high expectations. I hope to see a fast hard working team that does not give up. I expect to see a team that will lose some games but also a team that will come back the next game with a great effort and get a few unexpected wins. I am really looking forward to seeing the team adapt as the season progresses. And for me if they can beat the Leafs, Habs, Rags and Bruins a couple of times this season it will make me smile and once again be patient with the rebuild. Let's go Buffalo. Sabres win tonight 3-1.

Good point. Yes I agree that we will most likely get Montembeault. Hope we play well and their goalie plays poorly for the Sabres win.

I remember a radio interview with TSN or Sportsnet with Lazar but I'm not interested in arguing the point. I really liked him when he was playing for the Sabres and was disappointed that he was traded.

As I recall Lazar really cut up the Sabres after the trade to Boston. That might be okay for Hall to do but not Lazar who is a 4th line player trying to stay in the league. I liked him when he played for the Sabres but I would not take him back.

Yes I can't figure out why Ruotsalainen is not in the lineup unless he's got some sort of minor injury (okay enough to practice but not for games). Then again maybe Granato plans on rotating the spares into the next game. I guess wait and see if more info comes out tomorrow.

Hall would help us win the lottery again but no thanks.

I guess that I don't really care what Eichel is doing right now. Get him healthy or whatever and get him traded. I tried to put this scenario into my everyday life. If as top employee for my company I decided to go to watch a sports event in a box paid for by a competitor company and was caught on tape (so to speak) I would expect to be questioned by management about what the heck I was doing there (even if it was my time off). But if I got together with some other employees that happened to work for a top competitor then maybe it wouldn't be frowned on so much but the optics still look bad and I wouldn't do that. Depends on the job function of course and you wouldn't be sharing any company information. Either way I would not want to be at a sports event with a bunch of employees from a main competitor.

The kid has certainly done well for himself. I know Montreal really likes Suzuki. His success seems to be why Vegas does not want to trade Krebs (so that they don't lose a good prospect again). I think it may have been smarter to wait on this season's results before signing him to a long term deal but I suppose they were worried about the price going up if he has a great year.

This is bizarre. I figured if we needed to pick someone this season as a captain it would be Kyle Okposo. I think it's a big mistake to give it to any of the younger players right now but maybe a rotating C like we did in the past would be okay (but it's a bit of a gimmick to me if that's the plan).

Yes I agree. Sorry my comments meant that we will know a little bit more after the first few games (5-10) because the preseason did not shed much light for me.

That's not surprising. Most of the Sabre fan base seems to agree. No one expects a great year but there are quite a few that expect the Sabres to be better than last place this year. I really don't know what to expect after the preseason. Granato did not really play any line combination consistently. Mittelstadt's line looks set I guess. The power play is what concerns me the most as it has not looked good at all and considering how many goals are scored with the man advantage that will really determine our fate. We will know more after the first 5-10 regular season games are played.

Yes I like that mix better. I imagine that we'll see many combos this season.