BearWithME

Lol, damn, I love this freaking hockey team

Just wanted to say thanks to the admins who updated the Sabres "points pace" graph on the home page. Maybe it was done earlier than this week, but I just noticed it today.

Hold on for dear life these last 7 minutes

I fancy myself an optimist, but buf seems tired. It seems like it will take an act of god to get out of here with a point tonight.

I dont know if the Sabres are any good, but they sure as hell are fun to watch

You get the *****in power play you *****, get the ***** outta here!

Tage makes me feel the same thing I feel when I watch Josh Allen play football.

As my texts from last evening and early morning will show, I hate the way the Bills are winning. Given enough time and heartbreak, I will be sitting with the malcontents on here, I'm sure!

Thank you! I used a streaming site of... ill repute... for the Canadiens game and my laptop was humming with malware for the next 48 hours until I reset Chrome to its default state. I was wondering how I was going to make it through the rest of the season.

It's a significant consideration, as the Atlantic Division is significantly tougher than any other division. By total points among member franchises, the Atlantic Division has 71 total points; the Metro 60; the Central 59, and the Pacific 50. The 6 points that Buffalo has would not be last in any other division, and would be good for 4th in the Pacific. Divisional standing is relatively meaningless outside of the first 3 slots, so chiding them for their standing in the toughest division in the sport should be done with context, in my opinion.

Thanks, that's what I figured. Also--does anyone know if the broadcast schedule is "rolling" in nature? Everyt game until Nov 25 on ESPN is listed as being broadcast by either the NHL Network or ESPN+, but after that there is nothing. Last season I watched pretty much every game in March and April on ESPN+, and same thing with the first 7 this year. Do they update that as the season goes on, or does ESPN+ lose broadcasting rights at Thanksgiving?

Washington is in last place, with 5 points to Buffalo's 6.

The latest ESPN power rankings have Buf low, but those are irrelevant. What did they mean by this, though: Buffalo is meant to be a playoff contender, but the Sabres haven't consistently lived up to the hype. Goaltender Devon Levi being out with an injury won't help. Buffalo is averaging fewer than three goals per game, which is a baffling development considering its depth of talent. And the Sabres rely too heavily on the top half of the lineup to get by. Is Buffalo still in a growing stage?

This team is so much goddamn fun to watch.

I don't know if I've watched enough hockey to state this as an opinion, so I'll ask it as a question: is Levi the right goalie for this team right now, with how they seem to want to play? Watching them it seems like they're built around pushing the action--last night they were the best they've looked this year, and it reminded me of last spring. Their scoring spree in the second was predicated on just constantly getting down ice and throwing shots at net. I guess every team does that to some extent, but it seems like it results in scenarios where--when it breaks down--the opponents end up with some sphincter-clenching shots on our net because we've been caught unawares. And those seem to be literally the worst possible shot for Levi to block, which then end up doubly hurting us as balloon poppers, and our young, aggressive team suddenly looks timid and defensive, and no longer pushes the action. There were 2 or 3 shots last night where I thought to myself, Levi would have let that by. Maybe I'm seeing it wrong.

I'm embarrassed to ask this, but I legitimately have no idea: What goes into your (or anyone's) preferences for "pairs"(?) Are these guys that you feel have good chemistry together? Are pairings how guys go onto the ice? Is it only in groups of 2? Do they ever switch out 3 at a time? Edit to say: a pregame discussion seems like as good a place as any to ask this!

I have been managing people for 20 years, and the best advice I got informing my practice was from my mother, who said people will only follow a leader who follows their heart. You have to be who you are, because the people you are leading have needs that change on a minute-to-minute basis. If you are trying to wear a different hat with all of them, and change your hat based on contextual clues, you will come across as tone deaf and disingenuous. Worse still--if you adopt that persona out of a misperception that that is what the people above you want, when you inevitably fail, you will be left regretting that you "didn't give your best effort," which is layman's term for not holding true to your ideals. I had many different types of coaches during my youth, and many different direct supervisors as an adult. I've been reduced to tears by a coach yelling at me, and reduced to boredom by a coach ignoring me. But, I've given my best effort for a coach yelling at me, and given it my all to make a coach notice me. I've had managers that have gotten my best work when they were involved, and others who have gotten my best work when they were aloof. At the end of the day, all I can really say is that humans are not logical creatures on a minute to minute basis, but if you look at the bigger picture, patterns emerge. To me, from the outside looking in, its a young team--and he is nurturing them along based on what he feels is the right thing to do. It got good results last year, and he is confident that it will get even better results this year. This thread title, btw, seems to be in poor taste. A coach having the back of a bunch of 20 year old kids and not throwing them under the bus 1/41st of the way through the season doesn't seem like its a culture of losing established by a worm tongue? This I agree with though--whether with a soft or firm hand, he needs to push tempo on these guys. Foot-off-the-gassing is common for all teams and players learning to be good, in any sport, at any level. I would be way more "firm" with them on the let-down behavior from last night than I would be on the effort they gave in a loss to NYI.

They played well enough opening night, were the better team vs the Islanders, and look locked in tonight. This is a lot of fun to watch!

I also want to say I agree with this. Not sure if "trial by fire" is the best approach when the rest of the team seems ready to go right now, but I do appreciate that there is a ton of upside here. And, FWIW, he seemed to calm down after the first last night and played a hell of a game from then in. If he gets going, look out

I've been watching the Sabres for less than a year, and have missed many games--and I agree with you completely. I see a team out there that looks quicker than most teams they play, passes cleaner, and creates more chaos in front of the opposing teams net. I've been a Bills fan since Jimbo started running the k-gun offense, so I've seen my share of disastrous Buffalo teams with more hype than hope, but this Sabres team doesn't strike me as such. I tuned in last winter after the Bills broke my heart for the millionth time vs Cincy in the playoffs, and was instantly blown away by the speed and effort put forth by this hockey team. I completely understand that there are fans here that have been watching for a long time and are as jaded about this team ending their drought as I was about the Bills ever ending theirs, and I sympathize with them completely, but last night I watched the Sabres outplay the Islanders for 60 minutes. Yes, they lost--over an 82 game season, that will happen. But there is no way this team won't make the playoffs if they play like that every night--luck evens out, teams even out, and this will click for Buf sooner rather than later.

I know very little about hockey but aside from the score, Buf looks like the far better team tonight. Wouldn't be surprised to see them pull this one out.

I just wanted to say that although the Sabres didn't win enough games to make the playoffs last year, they certainly won me over as a fan. I can't believe I'm saying it, but I'm (almost) more excited for the hockey season to start than I was for the football season. I spent the spring watching this team compete their ***** off and almost snag a playoff spot, and it looks to me like if they bring that energy to bear on this season's slate of games, they won't have to worry about wild cards. Looking forward to learning more about the team, the sport, and the intricacies of the game this year on here--I love that this seems like a pretty supportive community, so here to listen and enjoy. Here's to a great season, good luck Buf!

Flipping back and forth between 3 games tonight. Go Sabres! They've put on a hell of a show this spring, here's to more.

I signed up to say that I've become totally addicted to Sabres hockey. I don't know if they will make or miss the postseason tournament, but I've had a damn good time watching them. I've totally fallen in love with the sport, to the extent that I was watching the Penguins/Bruins game yesterday, rooting for the Bruins to win. I don't know much about the sport yet, so (username). Today: Go Flyers! Go Blue Jackets! Go Rangers!