Jorcus

????? Box score and play by play shows Sandstorm played the whole game.

A few comments on last nights game. If I hear Kulich in with a chance instead of Kulich scores one more time I think I am going to therapy. I have been pretty impressed with his overall game but his lack of scoring has gotten into his head to the point where he is not sure if he should shoot. I do think there will be a turning point where he breaks out but it has been hard to watch. The zone entry's on the power play were better than the other night. Overall it still needs to be better. I don't think I like Krebs on the second unit. I only remember one drop back pass to the the two trailing forwards and that was Byram who did it correctly where he was confronted by the attacking forward dropped the puck back and engaged the Jet opening a path for entry to the zone. It sounds like Lindy is of the mind to call a review on just about every questionable goalie interference. I did not think I would have called the review at that time of the game. If Lindy wants to cut down on penalties he should start with himself.

Now that is what I would call a Toxic situation!

One place where I really like to look at plus minus is players in the AHL. Most young prospects tend to start off very negative even if they are scoring a lot. You want to see who is coming up look at the improvement in plus minus stats and you will see who is playing defense well enough for a call up.

I just wish I could see what your computer is telling you. Quinn maybe taking shots from good spots but he is not taking good shots. You can blame Cozens for a lot of things this year but I would not put Quinn's poor play on him. Quinn has rarely found open Ice, he only has 43 shots on goal which is around 1.8 a game, with a 3.9 shot attempt per game average. I don't know where Quinn's shot has gone, he can be an effective sniper when right but It has to start with getting open enough to hit the net. He has been better at finding some spots of late but where is the real production?

He was week to week with an upper body at the start of November. Not sure of his status but that week to week has turned into a month.

The Amerks played last night so I can't see Ryan Johnson being in the lineup tonight. Even if he does get in it will probably be a 7 -10 min of ice time game. Before we declare him a replacement for anybody would like to see him score at least 1 goal in the AHL.

A few comments on last nights game. I think the 3 top issues last night were lack of shut down D in the third period, crappy power play again, and not scoring on breakaways. Ok 4-1 lead going into the third. What should you do? If you can do a rewind to the Dallas stars game you would see for most of the period the Sabres got pucks deep used 1 speedy forchecker to tie up the pucks in the corner and try and gain control in the O zone to chew clock Get a shot on goal go to the face off dot and do it again. No more than 2 deep behind the goal and the rest of the team disrupts outlet passes. It bothers me they have not been adjusting their game to the score and I just don't know why that is happening. It might be the line juggle where guys just don't know what the other guy is doing. This has to be fixed. On the power play. Can someone explain to me how the concept of the 2 deep drop off attack is supposed to work? I think the the puck carrier (Dahlin) is supposed to skate into the defending forward and drop the puck back using his position to block that player from going after the new puck carrier. What I see is Dahlin beating that guy to get behind him and then dropping the puck back. This makes the new puck carrier have to beat the guy all over again or worse risks a turnover. Power seems to get the concept a little better and will keep going if he beats the first attacker which is what Dahlin should do. Breakaways, Some bad luck last night by the overall average seems to be very poor. Tuch had a rolling puck, Peterka was out of gas and got caught, NAK had a good try but could not finish. The team has to do better on those.

I would say the 9-4 loss against Columbus last year was worse than this one. This was very bad but there have been many worse considering who they were playing against last night.

Skinner fined https://www.nhl.com/video/skinner-fined-for-embellishment-6365393001112 To be honest it looks like he just took a dive to move the puck but maybe there was more to it.

I would hope so but Georgiev has been better of late. Yes he gave up 3 against the Oilers and 4 against the Stars but before that he held Vegas to 1 goal. The goals against vs the Oilers and Stars were for the most part not on him. Avalanche have been kind of a mess for one reason or another. MacKinnon has not been finishing his chances but still skates like the wind. Makar is still awesome. 2 very tough games coming up for the Sabres.

The opening lineup was very strange last night. Lindy what is Quinn doing on the first line? Sure the first line was slumping but when they are right they are very hard to handle for most teams. I think the recent games have been against teams that are good at containing top lines as well as a few bad breaks in the shots they did take. So why the change last night? You are not making the second line better by making the first line worse. I don't know what the future holds for Quinn but not addressing his position with an alternative has screwed this team for 2 years now. Last year they tried to patch his loss with Benson who I know everybody loves but he does not generate 2nd line production. I know Cozens gets the heat for not producing enough but what they hell can he do with wingers who do not score? When Adams loses his job it will be because they did not find an experienced power winger that you know your going to get 20 plus goals out of to play with Cozens. I think he is getting used to Benson so maybe you can keep him on the second line but something better has to be a long term solution for the right side. If you want to let Kulich grow into a second line roll, well maybe but good luck making the playoffs this year. I don't know what is going on with the bottom 6 but it's less concerning than the line 2 issues.

I agree with all of this when you are looking to make a deal with the Rangers. Krieder is not on verge of being washed up. His salary is manageable for many teams. The rangers are still in playoff position, so they are not going to trade for prospects. A lot of teams would want to put a package together for him if they can. Even if this is not just another Ranger or media troll job I don't see that we are in any position to get him because it's going to be a vet for vet deal to keep the Rangers in the playoffs. We can get legit top 6 forwards for prospects by dealing with teams that are ready to rebuild or ones that need cap space for returning players from IR. We certainly have the ammunition to do those kinds of deals.

The other question is where was anyone else. When I was In high school I worked 3rd shift in an all night dinner. When there was trouble in the front of the house the whole kitchen staff would burst out with sharp utensils in their hands. The offenders were out the door in a hurry.

I don't have an opinion on Jiricek but If I were in Adams shoes I would take Kreider for Kulich. Kreider may end up scoring more goals than Kulich, Benson and Quinn combined. Having him instantly shores up the second line and helps us push for the playoffs. I can't imagine Adams lasting in his job if we miss the playoffs so why would he not do it? Now the reality is Ranger rumors are a dime a dozen. Moving on from the much loved Kreider is going to take a lot more than Kulich. My guess is rangers want a known good player in return without a big contract. They would want Tuch, Peterka or Byram. Moving Tuch or Peterka just creates another hole you have to fill, You might survive by dealing Byram but there must be other options to fill that second line hole not using Byram as a chip.

Not only do you pay the away state tax when you play the game but also the time you spent in the state. I don't know when it starts and stops but on the Sabres recent trip they had off days where they would be under the California tax. The accountants nightmare. I guy I worked with had a son in theater. He would do a lot of touring company plays that moved from state to state. He went through the same thing at a much lower income.

If you watch Byram's game he is at his best snuffing out plays before they start. While Dahlin is freelancing more in the offensive zone Byram is more often staying at the point and if there is a turnover or shot that misses the net he is one driving back keeping the attacker to the outside while waiting for help. I have seen very little in his over all defensive game to complain about in the last 10 or so contests. If the D is boxed in he will not be the guy to lay down in front of a 90 mph slap shot but if the puck is moving he often tracks it down and if it is on his stick he knows what to do with it. I guess one of 3 things are going to happen either the analytics are going to catch up to his play, He will regress to the analytics or he will end up +30 at the end of the year and the analytics will make some excuse to explain it away.

Trouba is pretty much a no go. He want's to stay in the area, salary is high and just not as effective as he used to be. Kreider would be a bit of a risk because of the 3 years left on the contract vs his age. Still one of the best net front guys out there. Rangers have very little depth so they will need an NHL player coming back, probably 2. He also has a 15 team no trade list to contend with. If the price was right He would be a good addition to this team.

I think he got advice from Bruce Cassidy on how to survive 10 days without a job. I hope St Louis gets in the playoffs and makes a run just to make the Bruins look stupid.

Yes it's the mistakes that hold him back from greatness and further attention. So many unforced errors that just make it so frustrating. This trip alone it was useless cross check, unforced delay of game, and a number of unforced icings. He skates, shoots, and hits as well anyone. At times his passing is great but sometimes it is erratic. It does not seem like any coach can get him to play within himself so that the end result is better. Now it's Lindy's turn. I hope so because if Dahlin is not + 20 at the end of the year we are probably not in the play offs.

One thing I have noticed about his game is he is not going as deep in the O zone as much as he used to. Often he would go behind the opposing goal and get pinned or knocked down taking him way out of position and often setting up odd man rushes. He did get knocked down on the half wall last night and it was one of the few times I noticed that kind of issue this year. The other thing about net front. It's not like the old days where you can whack and crack players anymore. Power got called for a net front cross check a few games ago that seemed pretty light compared to what used to go on. It's more about holding position and having the strength to lean an attacker out of the net front. If that does not work you better have a good stick to redirect passes and shots which seems to be the Sabre way right now.

The question is why does he want out? If it's true is there a legit reason? Is it an Eichel type situation or something else. He is worth a lot and Ottawa is not under any gun to do a deal. With his contract it would take more than an Eichel deal to get it done for any team and even more for a division team.

My response to this would be I don't care what other cities think of this city if what they base it on is a losing hockey team. Having a team in this city is so much more valuable than one that is not here no matter how bad they are. A few things to consider. First is the economic impact of having a team. Sure at times the home rink is not ours but the people coming to town to watch hockey is important for the city and without it, it's long winters without much to look forward to. Hockey fans seem to travel as well as any given night I watch a random game and the visiting crowds can be quite large. They certainly travel here because of the proximity to the golden horseshoe of Canada and they are not all leaf fans. Second is media attention. If the Sabres go away so does all local coverage which decreases interest and conversation in this area. There is now more personal investment in the team unless you just can't let go and follow them to the end of the earth. The bitterness of a team leaving is deep seated. I remember talking to Browns fans when they moved away. They were not going to become Ravens fans. I don't think Terry P. has any intention of ending up hated like Art Modell. Third community engagement, A local team brings many benefits to an area. Local Charity work although sometimes just a player keeping up an image other players have done some amazing things for this area. Add to that the support for children's hockey and development programs that would be half of what they are if the Sabres were not in Buffalo. Last of all is personal contact with players and coaches. This is a small city and many people have had a chance to meet a player once in awhile. Many retired players still live around here. If the interaction was positive then it reinforces a bond to the team. If someone had a crystal ball said the Sabres are moving to Hamilton and will contend for a cup 3 years from now I would go back to be a fan of the Rangers and hope they would bring up 10 Rempe's to crush them and throw them all under the Zamboni.

It's a good point, I guess you could look at the Jacobs family as another example for Boston. On the negative side you have Montreal owned by the Molson Family. It's not like they don't fund the team or try, it just isn't working right now. The other thing is the corporate owners tend to be in the larger markets where they can co brand with what ever else they are doing. I don't know if there is that much corporate interest in small market teams, but of course everything will sell at a price.

I don't think there are very many sports owners like you describe. Winning sports ownership is part judgement, part experience, and part luck. Golisano was close to what you describe but he kind of lucked into a good team but being bottom line oriented he was not going to support an expensive habit for very long. Turn the question around. If anyone in this group suddenly found themselves to be very rich and bought the team what kind of owner would they be? Would they know who to hire for a GM? A coach? Would they write a blank check with no input on major decisions? The answer to pretty much all of that is no. We would all be crappy owners unless somehow things fell the right way and we found a GM we felt comfortable with coach who was not going to fight with a GM and star 20 year old kids who somehow can stay focused long enough to win games. You want to know what sports ownership is like? Go buy a racehorse. I don't follow that sport as much as I used to but for decades I watched many rich owners make some very bad decisions due to lack of experience or very bad luck. They might have hired the best buyers, trainers and used the best jockeys and still never got to win the biggest races. Once in awhile a lucky owner would come along and stumble into a great horse and not manage to screw things up by telling the trainer when to race him or who should ride him. Having said that a good trainer often gives the owners options and possible outcomes. Most owners want to feel like they have a hand in the game. Why not they are writing the checks, the best owners understand the sports ups and downs. Being unlucky does not make you a bad owner, Being involved to a point does not make you a bad owner, I would rather a fan of the team be an owner than some corporation. At least I would like to think the owner is suffering just as much as I am when things are not going well.