Jorcus

I don't think you can underestimate the McDavid factor. There has to be some cross marketing deals the Oilers take advantage of. Oilers fans travel well. Right up there with Leaf and Rangers fans. They also have some history. History seems to be important to valuation. All 6 of the original 6 teams are in the top 10 in valuation. Building generations of fans helps over time among other things. It's interesting to see how low the 2 time Stanly cup winner Panthers are. Even though they are a great team they either don't have the flashy player to make the highlight recaps or the team history to support the demand for the product. As far as over all team valuations go you would think there would be a point where they would top out but I am not so sure. I recently read a book titled Rock and Roll is here to pay. It was published around 1975-76 and went over the economics of the music industry from early in the century to that time period. What was thought of as a lot of money then seems so quaint right now. A rock and roll band might get 20 grand to play a show at the Aud back then. The point that struck me though was how human economics were evolving. No longer needing every cent for food, clothing, shelter, and transportation the US population slowly began to have money to spend on records, stereos and concerts. The obvious parallel is to sporting events. Tickets that coast 100's to thousands of dollars are now the norm to a portion of the population. The economic cycles will stunt the growth I would think, but the demand is there.

I remember hearing a story on the radio about a guy playing goal in the local hockey league. The other team brought in 2 Sabres as ringers in a game. Both were 3rd or 4th line types I just can't remember the names right now. The goalie thought oh this will be great to see how he would do against NHL players. After a few shoots he said it totally sucked. He never had faced shoots so hard that it hurt to try and stop them if he could.

Rasmus Dahlin is a way better player all around but I think Power is bit better in that one aspect. The zone entries on the power play smooth and more decisive. Any open ice Power is going to roll. His last few games have been especially good in using his feet to exit the zone and carry on through the neutral zone. If he has open ice he is going to take it.

Obviously power is B however. Power is on the second power play unit, Was at least a year younger starting in the NHL and is a positive plus 5 in +/- Risto was a minus 62.

Power has his flaws but no one on the team can carry the puck up ice on his stick better than he can. Might be one of the best in the NHL at doing that.

Had to switch my seats to section 123 but will be around your section in between periods. Wearing a black goat head hoodie and Sabres blue and gold beanie hat. My name is Greg if you see me say hi.

And the Stars lose to the WORST team in the NHL! The horror.

What section are you sitting in? I should be in 102 if Stub hub comes though.

So are we still going to buy him out?

I wrote in a thread before the season showing how fewer and fewer teams in the East were reaching 100 points. This year might be interesting in that more teams may get to 100 points but the highest point getter may not have 110. Sure it would be nice if the Sabres could string a 6 game win streak together but it is very unlikely to happen. 6 game win streaks are going to be hard to come by for any team. That is the nature of parity. What we can't do is have another losing streak. Look at Montreal. They have lost 5 in a row and 7 out of 8. They went from 1st in the division to out of the playoffs in a few weeks time. You will see this happen to other teams as well. It's happening to the Penguins who are 2 out of the last 8. The important thing will be beating the teams in the division and the conference. That's where the season will be won or lost.

Bad time to listen to him.

It's because they should be cal!ing the game but they are forced to do a long form interview while the game is going on. I think we should start bombing the Sabres with e mails about this.

I don't know who is running the shots on goal but they seemed to have skipped a few. It's strange they did not count Dahl ones no goal as a shot.

Yes some people in Geneva NY have to get up and go to work in the morning. Overtime game for certain.

Probably going to see former Amerk Devon Cooley tonight. His numbers are very good so far this year as the backup but gets no scoring help so no wins. https://www.espn.com/nhl/player/_/id/4319911/devin-cooley

Probably not the worst boarding I have seen but it was boarding. Then moments later the game tying goal wiped out. I think it was the right call because of the leg kick as Robertson went by but I guess you could go either way.

I guess the odd thing about Ruff's statement is that Tage was the number one center when Ruff got here and for a long time after. Ruff is the one who put him back on wing and now acts like Tage is earning his way back to where he was and wanted to play in the first place. Tage has been a team player having to leave center and play with under developed players which certainly affects his output. Please Ruff don't make it about Tage's performance. I know injuries play into this but if he does not get to play with mature players he is just going to explode in frustration.

Then there is Beck Malenstyn who is in the 99th percentile. https://www.nhl.com/nhl-edge/skaters/beck-malenstyn-8479359/20252026/2

The thing about McDavid is you have to be able to catch him to hit him. Not many can. One reason why Kozak is good is he is very fast up and down the ice. Had a speed burst last night that put him in the 98th percentile. https://www.nhl.com/nhl-edge/skaters/tyson-kozak-8482896/20252026/2/skating-speed

I like Malenstyn better than greenway. He is faster and has more endurance. Greenway seems to last about 35 seconds on a shift then he is standing straight up. You can always tell when he is gassed by that vertical posture.

On last nights game. Nice to see more than 3 goals again. Sabres seemed to have good control of the game. You have to like the beginning of the third period when you expected an Oilers push the Sabres seemed to still control play and when they got the 4th goal it was pretty much over. Ellis played his best game and sent Leon D back to the bench snarling after that chance in the third. Ellis is quick side to side to side, seems to absorb the puck well and has a good glove. Sure looks promising. We can dump on Adams for a lot of things but claiming this guy when he had 4 other goalies on 1 way contracts might be one of his best moves. Certainly if our forwards return to health Östlund and Rosen are going back. Kind of wonder about the order of things. You would think Dunn goes back first then Rosen as Östlund can play on the bottom lines to replace Dunn. People were quick to write these guys off based on limited reps in the NHL but go back and look at Thompson or Mitt's path to the NHL. Both were almost written off as busts until they were sent down. One's a lot better than the other but they are both NHL players. The Oilers have no forward depth at all. You have to wonder in 2 years when McDavid hit's the eject button how Leon D. is going to deal with the pressure of having to deal with this all by himself. This team is not going back to the finals this year.

As far as style of play it's like many of the others on the team. His best asset is that he is a pretty good skater and can carry the puck out of the zone. It's similar to Byram and Power but not as good. His biggest weakness is scoring. For the type of player he is he should have way more points than he does in the AHL. He is supposed to be Rochester's number 1 D man yet only has 31 points in 106 games. It's not like he is a stay at home defenseman. So that is the problem, you can play like Byram and Power but you have to be able to produce like Byram and Power. He is doing better this year so maybe there is still hope that part of his game will improve but it's no where near the standard it needs to be for the NHL.

I don't really think Ryan Johnson is much of a difference maker over Metsa or Bryson. It should be noted though he has been playing with a full face shield so so there could be a limiting factor on the call up. He had every chance to stick around the Sabres for awhile early this season. He just never seems to be able to take that next step.

Rangers and Detroit got in a fight after the game for an after buzzer shot into the net. Didn't Detroit shoot at the net late after the period ended with us and Thompson went after somebody? Is this a thing with them?

I guess i am not sure why 95 points has to be the number. It has been 91 the past 2 years and 92 the year before that. The East is more balanced than ever. The number this year could be 89. Still they are not in a good place and getting to that number is going to be difficult.