RochesterExpat

Holy hell Mitts. What a shot

Bumblefoot is an unfortunately common issue

If you’re up for the drive to Granbury you’re more than welcome to. Although for that I’d probably want to put it on the projector and not my garbage garage TV.

Sitting in my Turkey hunting chair on the floor of my garage prepping for surgery on our rooster. Strangest place I’ve ever watched a game.

They just said it’s Markstrom in net. That says to me teams aren’t treating the Buffalo of this year like last year. I’d have expect Vladar in net so Markstrom is fresh for Carolina. Interesting.

Is Markstrom in net tonight or are they going to rest him ahead of Florida on Saturday?

So I’m watching the Devils and Islanders game and breaking down positioning with my seven year old son trying to explain backchecking and forechecking. I asked him if he thought a team is likely to win when they have zero shots and the other team has fifteen (which were the shot totals at that point for the Islanders and Devils respectively). He responded with “No, but I know the Islanders are doing their best. I hope they are having fun because they aren’t going to win.” Brutal.

I love this. Give him the challenge (I assume he wants it) and lets put him to the test tonight as well. Everyone is questioning whether he can play a bunch of games as a true starter or not. Only one way to find out. My preseason assumption was a 40/30/10 split between Comrie, Anderson and UPL (give the two extra games to whoever). Craig Anderson played well enough last season when he was able to rest, but you could tell that he was tired some of the nights (or just off). If Comrie can play at least at an above-NHL-average level across ~52 games**, this team is going to be in a much better situation. It leaves Donnie Meatballs the ability to selectively ice Anderson against the blowing it for Bedard crowd as well. 52 games for Comrie 20 games for Anderson 10 games for UPL If Comrie is good to go and wants more than 52 games I'd say let him play. If he wants to play 62 games and we get 10 games of Anderson and 10 games of UPL, I'm all for it. Anderson is not going to be on the team next year. UPL will be in Buffalo next season as the backup as of right now. If things don't work out for him, we want to know now what Comrie is capable of and not be in the situation where we learn he can't really play more than 45 games in a season as it's unfolding. I'd much rather take the risk this year than next. ** The 52 is because last season Andersen and Sorokin played 52, Shesterkin played 53, Gibson played 56, Markstrom played 61, Vasi played 63, Demko played 64, Hellebuyck played 66 and Saros went nuts with 67 games played. Those are the numbers I believe you want from a full-time starter.

I'll take any opportunity to hate on the Leafs, sure, but this one is way too easy.

I love the Boston one.

I weirdly had this exact conversation with my dad yesterday. That draft hyped McDavid and Eichel as both generational talents and able to carry rosters single-handedly with McDavid being the generational of generational talents. McDavid is in a whole other tier from anyone else in the league and that was readily apparent in the third period of the last game. I agree that Eichel is quite a few steps removed from McDavid. I think the issue is that so many teams tanked for McDavid that front offices and scouts were overhyping the "consolation prize" so this idea continues to persist. There was literally no one questioning the first and second picks in that draft. Everyone had it as McDavid and then Eichel. Think of it this way: if you redrafted 2015 over again, who would you take first and second? The answer is absolutely McDavid at #1 and no one is going to argue otherwise. For the 2nd OA, I don't think you're picking Jack. 1st - McDavid 2nd - Kaprizov 3rd - Marner 4th - Rantanen 5th - Aho 6th - Eichel (or Barzal, Chabot, Connor, Werenski, Hintz, Hanifin...) I'd probably pick Jack 6th, but I'm pretty sure you could just as easily argue Eichel over Aho and select him at 5th. You could also make the reasonable argument that he's not going in the top 10 of the draft anymore. The point is that in his own draft class, he's steps removed from McDavid. Eichel is still a supremely talented hockey player. He makes mistakes. Every player does. He takes shifts off. Hate to say it, but most players do (one of the reasons I was bummed we traded Curtis Lazar to Boston with Taylor Hall was because he never took shifts off even when the whole team was taking the night off). I have an autographed Jack Eichel Sabres jersey from his rookie year (no C, just saying) and an autographed game puck. I certainly didn't dislike Jack while he was here and I won't pretend that I ever did. I felt bad for him regarding the surgery, although I recognize fully the team was completely within their rights. I'll admit toward the end of his tenure here I was very lukewarm (at best) to him and I was happy for both the organization (because I thought the return was better than what was leaving) and for Jack Eichel (so he could get his surgery and play for a team that he would want to play for) when he was traded. I wasn't bitter about that like some. I did not appreciate his comments about Buffalo after he left and I'll readily admit it's fun to see anyone eating crow on occasion, but I don't really hate Jack and I don't understand those who do. I usually don't comment on things Eichel-specific because the VGK fanbase on Reddit is arguably second only to the Leafs in how annoying they are, and Buffalo fans with anything regarding Eichel aren't really any better. The loudest voices are the ones that get heard, etc.

Never heard it before and now it is stuck in my head. Thanks lol. Things I learned from trying to pick a song. First, my entire Spotify has somehow evolved into almost exclusively Americana/Country. Second, what isn't country is metal. Third, my mom was seemingly right after all and punk/emo rock was just a 15+ year phase. Since people went with multiple choices, here we go: If it wasn't for the New Jersey Devils already using it, this would be the easy choice. The Gaslight Anthem - Howl is top tier. Since I'm not going to reuse something from New Jersey... 1) The song that would probably not be allowed because the lyrics, but it would be really something to hear it blasting through KeyBank Center. The song is cut to probably the only segment that could be played and even then there's a fat chance it would be allowed. 2) We've got enough Swedes on the team that I'd go with this just to mess with them for a metal option. Great song. Have to use the Swedish version though. Could do "Winged Hussars" by Sabaton for a game if we're handing out tickets to the Broadway Market Good Friday crowd as well. Yggdrasil - Brothers of Metal is another pretty solid banger for metal choice. 3) What I actually used when I played and it was my turn to pick the "warm up" song that was played before the game started. It wasn't just a phase, mom. RIP Chester. 5) What I'd probably choose but I'd have to figure out how to do the dance on ice first. Just can't match the vibe. Honorable mention: I mean, come on. It's perfect(ly bad).

Which is keeping in line with his advanced stats from last year. Must feel good for the Sabres' front office to see.

The 48 shots is oddly misleading because they weren't even close to evenly distributed. After the first 10 minutes of the first period through to the start of the third, Buffalo played well defensively and the game was evenly matched. The problem is Buffalo played half a game where they were even with Edmonton and then played half a game where they wanted to showcase Comrie. Buffalo can't continue to win by playing half games. They show they can play at the level of contending teams, but they aren't showing they're able to do it for the full 60. It's fine to have the odd night off once in a while as it happens to every team--and those are the games you need your goalie to save you--but it can't be consistent. The Ottawa game was misleading because Buffalo had more high danger scoring chances, but everyone remembers the breakaways on Anderson. Otherwise that came was relatively even throughout. Against Florida, Buffalo again played half of a game. This time they played poorly in the second period and couldn't get through the lockdown the Panthers put on during the third. Just my $.02 from the peanut gallery.

First 10 games are teams finding footing and basically an extended preseason. By Thanksgiving we've got a pretty good picture of where teams really belong. By Christmas the media is already deciding which players to sell or buy at the trade deadline.

It's funny, but 15 years ago when I played hockey, I was always told I "took shifts off when they mattered the most" and the ability to "score at will" was never going to get me anywhere if "you just don't want it all the time." I never really understood what my coach was on about and, honestly, I thought I was hot ***** enough that it didn't matter. Oh god I see it now. I am so sorry to everyone I ever played with.

He's very good at positioning himself to protect a puck off the boards and in the corners. It's almost immediate. As soon as he takes possession, he's shifting himself to a defensive possession posture. He's similar when attacking in the corners as he positions himself and his stick to almost naturally impede the path of the puck possessed by another player which is what makes his forechecking so challenging for defense. It's a very stereotypically European style of playing hockey played almost to perfection. It's like a European Alex Tuch, honestly. To build off that though, my only criticism (and it comes with all the verbiage below to explain) for JJ is that he needs to start playing through the body and finishing hits where appropriate--something a large portion of the team needs to do more consistently, frankly. Otherwise we will end up with another Victor Olofsson who remembers he can use his body once every 5 or so games. JJ plays with such great body positioning already that I'm sure this aspect of his game will naturally evolve at this level as he gets more games/seasons in the NHL. I'm not saying the team needs to be out there throwing open ice hip checks on every shift and that I expect JJ to be putting players to the ice. I'm specifically saying this because that weakness of the team as a whole was made readily apparent yesterday. The Sabres could not slow down the McDrai onslaught in the third period yesterday and a physical presence would have helped reset the tone. The absence of Lyubushkin was certainly made obvious. It's something the "kids" will need to learn, adapt and step up to. We have a lot of supremely talented finesse players. We are lacking in people who can reset the speed of the game. We need some of those players to step up when appropriate. Peterka is an obvious one. I'm sure everyone here is about to jump all over me and say that JJ must be a physical player because of how he strips the puck or just magically comes up with it in the corner--because you would think he is from his play--but he has zero recorded hits this season and it was one of the only criticisms for his play at the end of the last season in Rochester. The fact he's so successful with his body positioning in these few games in the NHL without the physical aspect of his game should be a solid indication of his talent level. If he can add just a touch of physicality when needed--like last night's third period--there is little doubt in my mind that the Peterka/Cozens duo will be in our Top 6 for the foreseeable future. There are times when the team needs to control the pace of play and the easiest way to slow down the other team is to bump them off the puck and exhaust them. A promising sign though? He turned up his play a notch in the Amerks playoff run last year and started to use his body when the team was getting pushed around. I am confident he'll get there in the NHL with time. Michael Peca drilled home to him the need to backcheck and was praising his growth. Peca famously called him a "unicorn" and that's often recited, but there's other aspects of that interview (and others) that have more important takeaways. The reason JJ is a "unicorn" is because he's an instinctive player, but he is also professional to a T and wants to improve at all aspects of his game. He has both the on-ice motor and the off-ice motor. Peca referring to him as "one of our best penalty killers" is high praise considering Peca won the Selke twice. Peca complimented his backchecking drive and his growth in the defensive area of the ice as well repeatedly throughout the playoffs. Last season, JJ scored 68 points (28G, 40A) in 70 appearances with Rochester during the regular season which was good enough to lead the team, lead all rookies, and finish 10th in the league for scoring. He then added 12 points (7G, 5A) in 10 playoff games. In his first 23 games in Rochester, he scored 4 goals and had 16 assists for 20 points. Five of those points came in games 2 and 3 when teams were still "settling in" and he was essentially feeding Jack Quinn goals. The first 23 games included a 10 game stretch without a goal and an 8 game stretch with only two secondary assists. He was a defensive liability. He was an offensive liability. His positioning was poor because he was still adapting to NA ice size. He ended up in Buffalo because of COVID, played two games with little impact, and was sent back to Rochester. In the next 45 games in Rochester, he scored 24G and 24A. He then maintained the scoring pace through the playoffs. He went from a defensive liability to getting primary assists on 2 of the 5 shorthanded goals Rochester scored all season--despite only spending half the season on the PK. The evolution was crazy and the storyline was only overshadowed because Jack Quinn was a scoring machine. I think Peterka is going to be one well-rounded NHL player. It will take time and I'm sure he's going to have some pretty bad streaks where everyone is saying he should be sent down (and he might very well be), but he's going to eventually be a fixture in the Top 6 that will make this team measurably better. It's also worth noting Peterka said that of all the players at development camp this year, the one who impressed him the most was Juri Kulich. 😉

Comrie stole the show. McDavid is just insanely talented. That third period was quality goaltending stopping an offensive storm that I’m not sure many teams, much less Buffalo, successfully weather 9 times out of 10. McDavid was on the ice for more than half the third period and never slowed down. That’s quite the performance to witness.

If this is how the season is going to go I’m going to need some blood pressure medication.

How do we clone JJ Peterka?

Suicide pass.

What a goal.

He seems to be doing better with rebound control relative to last season. Hopefully that's not just a small sample size observation.

It's pretty apparent that lines 2 and 3 are simply on-paper numbers for Granato. I don't know why Sabres fans are so hung up on line numbers. Buffalo had a one goal lead on Ottawa and Granato played Cozens, Peterka and Krebs at the end of the game because they were absolutely on fire all game. He makes it pretty clear he will reward in-game performance with ice time and not tie himself down to how the line sheet looks.

I agree with this, but I would consider moving Peterka to pair with Mitts and Quinn if I'm shifting Tuch back to TT and Skinner. That opens up pairing VO with Cozens which I think would work. The biggest play drivers on this team are Tuch and Cozens (Girgensons too but in a different context). Peterka played that role in the AHL and appears to be playing well in the NHL in the first two games. It might be worth it to see if he can play the role of a driver in the NHL. It also pairs Quinn with someone he is used to playing with and might help with his confidence.