Jorcus

Cozens had a terrible game, The whole first line did but the first goal was all on Gilbert. They went 2 on 1 to get control of the puck and when Gilbert got it he had an easy behind the net outlet to Byram but he backhanded it up the ice to no one really. Quinn was up that way but behind the opponent. Just not a good play on his part. The second line were the only decent players on the ice. I like the speed of that line with McCloud and Peterka but McClouds passing skills are not the best. It does not matter though Lindy will change the lines again by next game.

I have a 1990 American Fender Telecaster plus with the lace sensor pick ups. My wife had bought me a fender acoustic for Christmas but let me trade it in. Went to Airport Music and they had this barely used telecaster for about the same price so I came home with that. It is very different than most telecasters in that it's heavy and does not get that country twang without a lot of help. It does have a versatility and is easy to play. It's popular mostly because Jonney Greenwood from Radiohead often used one and they only made them for 4 or 5 years. I don't play it often. I really need a better amp to play it though. I have acoustics that I play more often. The most valuable guitar I ever played was a very early Stratocaster. A guy I worked with got it from his fathers closet and it pretty much sat in his closet. I swear the serial number on it was in the teens which did not make any sense in the Fender numbering plan but it was authentic. He called the shop where his father bought it and they remembered his father and that it was the first one that they had sold. Being the early 80's guitars were just starting to command big collectable prices. I think the Japanese were getting really big in to collecting then and started to blow up the market. He took it to the House of Guitars who were just dumbfounded. At first they thought it might be a fake I think because of the odd serial number. They were like this can't be but then decided to offer him a fairly large sum for it and to put it up in the big glass case above the door. He passed, He just wanted to get an insurance value. Neither of us could play very well and it was not an easy guitar to play for an electric. You needed strong fingers for the heavy strings. It was probably worth 10,000 then. If he still has it who knows. Well north of 100K because of the shape it was in. Truly a classic.

I did not see it that way. Benson was driving to the back door which is good. Chabot the defender did not engage Benson but tried to intercept the pass and whiffed on the attempt. McLeods pass was pass was probably not getting though to Benson given Chabots position by the time Benson got there but good things happen sometimes.

The Sabres did play a good game. Except the bad breakdown the third period with the lead was much better. They just can not seem to go into turtle shell mode and get a stop when they are tired. The best thing about the last few games is the power play coming around. The first unit has some chemistry. Keep it going and things will get better.

If you need a center I would bring up Kozak If you want a winger I would bring up Rousek. I think Rousek would have to clear waivers so I don't think you would want to call him up to sit on the bench for 2 games. Same with Murray.

The takeaway numbers could be better but the Giveaway numbers are not bad when compared to the other good full time defenders in the league.

On Benson, You have to remember that he got on the roster because there was no better option at the time to replace the injured Jack Quinn. Adams failures are long but not addressing that issue last year hurt the team and Benson was not productive enough to play a top 6 roll on any team even this one. He still is not productive enough for that roll. For all the good things he does, and there are many he is very limited in his up and down the ice speed and has a very slow shot. He can be a useful player in the right situation but when talking about youth vs vets the 2nd line wing has been the festering open sore on this team that never gets healed. I have my doubts about Bensons celling being very high. Maybe a couple of years of physical maturation can improve his needed skills but that is a big unknown. A year in Junior would at least have let the strength level come up. He never should have been here last year and to be honest I am not sure even this year because we needed something different. I hope he works out, I am sure he will in the right situation with the right team structure but a wide open end to end team is not this guys game.

A lot of whether a player thrives or dies comes back to systems and coaching vs what that player is good at doing. If used correctly, Why is Jokiharju is in purgatory? I have no idea other than he is not a Ruff guy or can't play the Ruff system. What is the Ruff system anyway? He acts like he wants a transition system but gets upset when it leads to increased turnovers and lack of possession. I really don't think a lot of this team knows what Ruff wants them to do. Maybe they are just not able to do what he wants them to do. I agree that for the most part it is not the players.

I think there are a lot of competent hockey people who would look at this situation and take this one. The assets alone are enticing, you can't do much worse than the guy you are replacing, and how often do GM jobs come up? As far as Pegula being invisible, It's true but it's not like he is super visible for the team that is going well. I don't care if I ever hear from Pegula, I just need him to make the change we all need to be made.

Just to add on he is third in the AHL overall plus minus. Now plus 40 in 97 games. I have said this before plus/minus in the AHL is a good indicator of who is ready to come to the NHL. I don't see the need to bring him up this season unless it is in spot duty. At the very least he should be on the Amerks at the trade deadline so he can be in the playoffs. Now if the Sabres could get a trade for Yan Kuznetsov from Calgary and throw those 2 giant Russians on a shut down pair our end of game worries would be over.

I don't think the choice has to be made now unless there is a compelling deal on the table. The Sabres can cut a 1 year deal with Byram even if it goes to arbitration. Not ideal but it would buy time to sort things out for the long term. It's interesting that the goals and assist are identical. Doing an NHL edge side by side shows Byram to be equal or better in all categories. I prefer Byram, he is faster and better than both Dahlin and Power at passing. He also has a hard shot. Not as physical as Dahlin on the back end. He is better than Dahlin at breaking up 2 on 1's. The choice is Byram if a choice has to be made.

All these guys are barely AHL material.

I checked again it was not icing it was a puck in the benches that stopped play so we could have changed and not rested.

I have to amend my previous post. I think it was after an icing so we could not replace players but still. I think the time out hurt more than it helped.

Talk about coaching. Was the timeout with 20 seconds to go a good move? Helping the Aves best players time to rest and set up a play? We would have been better off replacing our players with a fresh group and tell them to attack the Ave's and with 20 seconds left if you have to tackle a guy or smash him to the ice go do it. By the time they would sort out the penalty there would be less then 10 seconds left in the the worst case scenario. What a stupid end to the game. Bad coaching for sure and that was Lindy's fault.

This years record 14-20-4 Last years record 15-19-4 Power play still blows.

Now that they are healthy and have better goaltending the Aves are probably the best team in the West. Our speed is useless against them as they have more than we do. Unless we play super solid D and stay out of the box there is little hope of a win. Pray for good bounces.

I am not sure how much speed he has anymore. When looking at the NHL Edge stats I don't care if your the fastest skater, but I do care about how often you skate fast. His metrics have gone down post injury. His 18-20, and 20-22 MPH speed bursts are about average. He is not all that nimble either like Benson or the way Jeff Skinner was. What he seems to lack is any form of aggressiveness in his game. I really don't see him selling out to make a play very often.

When I have seen him which was earlier in the season I would say he did not look out of place on the team but did not stand out either. You have to keep in mind at the start of the season, (and maybe still is) the youngest player in the AHL. Anton Wahlberg is the 4th youngest. Yuri Kulich would still be 45th youngest on the AHL age list at the start of the season. I did see that Juri is second place in the AHL all time for scoring as an 18 year old. Currently on the age list in third place is Felix Unger Sorum. He is in Carolinas system. I don't know if he is any good but having the name Felix Unger counts for something. I think they should trade him to Philly who already has TV named players in Drysdale and Hathaway.

Ain't that the truth. I watched the first period of the Avalanche Utah game and it was the fastest skating I have seen all year. The Aves are starting to roll.

I see ex Amerk/Sabre Vinnie Hinostroza leads the AHL in points and Goaltender Devin Cooley leads the AHL in save percentage. Just thought it was interesting.

Michael Rasmussen is the logical trade target. We have lost Greenway and his contract is going into UFA status. He would be a suitable replacement and is cost controlled for a number of years. Byram is way too much to pay but if they want Greenway plus one of the bottom 6 D men It might work. There are a lot of combinations that could work that trade. Just not sure what Wings are looking for.

He does a good job keeping an eye on the Sabres prospects. He has a website and podcast at Sabresprospects.com

I used to fly out of Toronto for winter Sunshine trips but even with the exchange rate the prices are about equal flying out of Buffalo. Once prices normalized after the pandemic it seemed like the deep vacation discounts were gone.

Biron is way better. It also helps that he is in the booth and able to see the whole ice. When Ray is between the benches it should be as a third person on the broadcast. He is very repetitive in commentary. I hope things turn out ok for him whatever is going on.