RochesterExpat

I can see Kozak as a goal scoring 4th liner. He has the grit and drive to play the role and does a good job playing the body (at least in the OHL). If he develops into a solid PK player, gets stronger, and can reliably win faceoffs, it becomes a decent window of opportunity for him as well as an organizational need.

Kind of disappointed I'm going to miss watching this game as I watched a large portion of the Amerks games last season (oh god does AHLtv needs help) and I really want to see how Kozak and Kulich handle themselves. But it's a Friday and we have a babysitter and dinner reservations. I suspect cancelling for an AHL hockey game is going to be a quick way to experience tent camping in my backyard. Someone please give updates once the puck drops so I can live vicariously through you.

Disappointing? I don't think so. He wasn't outstanding or anything, but he wasn't disappointing. I don't think he's a good fit for that line. I think Mitts and Tuch work well together. He's not a complimentary for either.

Olofsson just padding the stats now.

I wonder if Peterka got into his own head in the preseason and was stressing about making the team or something. He is playing tonight like he did last season in Rochester. He did not look like this at all in the preseason. I could say the same for Krebs, frankly. He's looked better tonight than he did in the preseason.

Samuelsson just saved a goal there by being a giant.

Josh Norris is looking like he's worth every cent of his new contract so far.

It's really something this team needed.

Mitts is having a really good game.

Girgensons doing exactly what was asked of him. Love it.

Special teams is looking like it could be a problem this season...

Apart from being the home opener and setting the tone for the season, this is an important game. The Sabres need to regularly beat the Sens, Wings, and Canadiens this season if there will be any hope of being on the bubble of a wild card spot. That's eleven "must win" games (4, 4, and 3, respectively) for the team.

Mitts and TT just ignoring assumptions about age and music tastes. Boosh takes the cake though. That edges out Skinner.

Gibson and Quick the day prior put on a show. Kings and Ducks both left them out to dry. Ullmark played well, but that doesn't surprise me. He's a good goalie and the Swayman/Ullmark tandem is fantastic. I wish him the best and I have no ill will toward him. Do I wish he was in Buffalo? Sure. But he was reportedly asking for more than the $5m he signed for (or maybe it was more term? I can't remember) and, at the time, I didn't think it was a good idea since he wasn't able to stay healthy. Hindsight is 20/20 and all that and I'll admit I was wrong, but, at the time he left, I wasn't upset he wasn't signed for the reported ask.

Grubauer and Murray both looked awful tonight. Those are the 8th and 4th highest paid goalies in the league, respectively. Crazy.

As long as he stays a first or second pairing defenseman, this is a good contract. I don't see any reason he can't maintain that level of play. I'm a big fan of Samuelsson so I'll admit my bias. I also think he's incredibly smart by signing this contract. He's a shot-blocking, physical defenseman. The life expectancy for those players in this league isn't the best because injuries happen. By signing a long-term deal now, he's guaranteeing himself $30m regardless of what happens. If he signed a bridge deal to try and get more money on his next contract, he would be competing for cap space with Dahlin and Power, plus there's no guarantee he's going to stay healthy long-term. It's an unfortunate reality of his role and position. On a side note, I am feeling much more confident that GMKA has a long-term plan for the team's salary cap and keeping what he sees as the core together. I'm less concerned about a repeat of the 2007 offseason than I was.

I don't think you've missed anything. Last season, the team adopted individual goal songs around game 5 of the season. Hopefully they're doing them again this year since it was quite a bit of fun.

I played hockey every year from 1993-1994 until 2008-2009. I joined the Marines in 2009 and never put my skates back on--that is until this August when I agreed to coach the 7 year old's 8U House team. Yesterday, I beat the 8U team in 5 on 1 hockey and I didn't even have a goalie in my net. I'm planning to immediately declare my draft eligibility. In all seriousness, coaching has turned out to be a lot of fun. I was admittedly terrified I wasn't going to be able to skate, but it's weirdly like I never stopped. It didn't take more than 2-3 minutes to get my feet back under me. Honestly, I didn't realize how much I missed the ice. I'm glad the kid decided he wanted to start playing.

This is the way. (louder for the kids in the back) Michael Houser has the highest win percentage of any of the 58 goalies to ever dress for the organization! His SV% is 8th of 58! He gloves left which basically makes him a right shot defenseman (which we need). He is 19th for GSAA (cumulative), but is 6th in GSAA relative to ice time--with the only players ranked ahead with more games played being Hasek and Edwards who both have Vezinas. He is 8th all time in shots against per 60 minutes so he knows how to handle a busy net! Sources suggest he once gave a kidney to a stranger on the internet. He is 6th all time in goals allowed percent relative to league goals allowed. Behind only Hasek and Edwards for goalies who have played more games than him as a Sabre. I'm pretty sure he runs an animal shelter for abused puppies. He's won both the CHL Goaltended of the Year award as well as the ECHL Goaltender of the Year award. Not even Hasek managed that! Last season he was statistically the best goalie the Sabres iced. He works as a cancer researcher in the offseason. Last season saw an improvement of 42% in GAA! He probably gives all his money to charity. He is the all time team leader in Quality Starts % I mean, c'mon people, just look at the man. How can you not love this face/neck ratio? #TeamHouser #NeckMan #BrickHOUSEr #SampleSizeBeDamned #RaiseTheRoofOnThisHOUSEr

Always test in production. Anything else is cowardice!

This is a very minor thing, but I think there should be a small amount of whitespace between the header and the search box. I realize that's super obnoxious to point out, but I'm a backend engineer so I like to pick on frontends because I have no idea how they work. Just a simple <br> makes it look a bit cleaner (I think so anyway).

He just signed. Cheap too.

A tale of two tweets:

I wasn’t the biggest fan of his signing, frankly, but I now think he filled a void at an appropriate price tag and I’m happy with it. Of course, we’ll see how the regular season goes, but I’m more than happy to say I underestimated him or how he would mesh with our roster. GMKA may have hit the nail on the head with his signing.

You know, this is something Buffalo has been missing... unironically.