Porous Five Hole

I wonder if Bills fans will see this result and calm down a bit? I’m not saying Buffalo doesn’t have stuff to clean up, but losses are going to happen. See Phili laying an egg today at home on MNF.

The Leafs are having blue line issues as well.

🌪️👅

My wife said not to worry about it and size doesn’t matter.

You just fundamentally disagree with the Sabres philosophy. They want their young guns to be playing a role higher than they should be today. The Sabres think that’s the best way to develop their young studs. As for your examples, Stralman is cooked. Schenn is interesting, but I don’t want him playing over Dahlin, Power, Joki, or Mule. To me, Lyubushkin is essentially a better Schenn who plays the game differently. And for better or worse, Bryson is here through next year. So was there really any room for Schenn anyway? Would he want to sit in the press box until injuries happened? On a last place team? I just don’t see it…

I vote Linus Weissbach. He has the speed to play in the NHL.

Owen Power is 19 years old Peterka is 20 Cozens, Krebs & Quinn are 21 Dahlin & Mule are 22 If all these guys were Tage’s age (25) and we are still bad, then I would be concerned. But the team went youth movement/draft and develop. Tuch, Skinner, VO and other complementary pieces aren’t enough to be a playoff team today. It is what it is.

I hear you, but the B’s have the best penalty kill in the league so far.

Sabres PP is eighth in the league. So has the problem been solved? https://www.espn.com/nhl/stats/team/_/table/offensive/sort/powerPlayPct/dir/desc

If you do that, you’re kicking to them and now a FG beats you. No reason to overthink this. JA17 is the QB you would want in this situation where you just need any positive yardage. He just screwed up.

Amerks twitter doing a nice job with the quick and dirty.

Heather later tweeted the Sabres say general soreness for Kyle Okposo. They’ll see how he’s doing in the morning.

Behind this defense? No thank you.

I did not realize this was an ESPN+ game until this afternoon. I am upset that I pay gobs of money to spectrum cable and I don’t have access to this game. And I can’t go to a bar to watch it either. I realize the ESPN+ exclusives aren’t up to the team. And I also realize this is the way that sports are trending. And I think it sux.

Here is a kind of crazy stay while thinking about this week’s opponent, the Viks. So far in their 7-1 start, their opponents have started their back up QB three times in the first eight games. Maybe it’s their fault Josh got hurt 😜

Risto is in the Torturella doghouse.

He can get sent back after nine games, right? Looks like he has only played in six games so far.

The forest through the trees

I felt that way about the Bills once (just give me a playoff wild card game on the road—after 20 years—and my life would be complete). And here we are with the Bills. That gives me have hope that better day are ahead!

Do they not get credit for defeating playoff teams like Calgary & Edmonton on the road? Or is that too far in the rear view mirror for you? Or are we just railing on the Sabres for losing games on the road to perennial playoff-accomplished teams like Carolina and Tampa? Did you expect the Sabres to win either game when the schedule came out? I’m simply saying let’s not overreact to results we probably anticipated to be the case. And in the micro, did you really expect a win tonight down three of the top four D and a half-healthy Lyubushkin? Yes they lost, but how they lost is relevant (close games in a tough stretch). I’m still bullish on Buffalo instead of lamenting that they always lose to the cream of the crop.

While I agree that teams are judged on wins and losses, the Sabres are 1) still in a developmental phase, and 2) the degree of the loss is relevant. Buffalo is losing one goal games to the elite of the league (see FL & sans an empty netter, see TB). That is incremental progress. Their record is their record, but I’ll take 7-5 with the eye on improvement rather than winning the Stanley Cup in 2022-23. Even tho I know that’s the goal of every franchise. I can’t be the only one to ascertain Buffalo is trending up despite seeing this “mess” before. It’s a process to be elite. Don’t let the mess of the last decade cloud the next steps the team is taking.

Agree with Soundgarden. Levi will need to prove it at the AHL level for a time. It would be nearly unprecedented to go from college hockey to the NHL immediately. All aboard the Comrie train for at least the end if next year.

A minor nitpick with your assessment on Girg up to this point in the season. He was directly responsible for the empty net goal against Pitt that sealed the win this week. He scored tonight. He’s a heart and soul glue guy. While he averages 20 points a year, he’s got five points in the first twelve games this season and can be trusted to protect a one goal lead late. That’s not a spot Hiney usually is one the ice for. But I would agree that I am fine with Hiney drawing in for Quinn or Krebs on a given night.

Their QB has been unbelievable. Side note: I root for the Hokies. Hooker was the starter for VT & was very talented, but also very up and down. After a couple of bad games, he had a sideline incident…and it was worse than this tweet shows: He was convulsing…like a bad case of the hiccups, but seizure like. And it went on for a while. It coincided with the fanbase turning on the coach once and for all, and the coach turning on the QB at the same time. He was essentially benched from there, even though he still played some. But the kid has talent. Hooker transferred to Tenn in the off-season and has really lit it up. That doesn’t explain everything (including the fact that the coach who lured Hooker to the Vols, Jeremy Pruitt, was then fired due to recruiting violations). Turns out current Vols coach in waiting Josh Heupel (former Oklahoma QB) has been the real deal so far.