Jorcus

I am not certain about Hershey this year but I just ran the numbers from AHL Tracker about the skaters that were on the ice last game. Average age of the Amerks was 24.4. The average age for Laval was 24.7. Laval had 11 skaters under the age of 24. We only had 9. The Amerks have no excuses. This is one of the best lineups they have put on the ice and they went into the series healthy.

I don't agree with this. In my view everything the Avs have done for the last 2 years is to try to win now at the expense of the future except in the case of Miko where their hands were tied. Last year they were desperate need for a 2 C so they traded a good asset for Mitt's. At that time and place neither team knew for certain what the next contract talks for either player would be. Mitts played pretty well and got the 3x 5.75. It could have been more if he had a great playoff run. We still don't know what Byram is going to get paid or by who. Assuming he gets no giant offer sheet a bridge contract is possible at something only a bit higher than what Mitts got. No matter what, I don't see how the Avs knew what that would be a year ago. In the meantime the Avs have dealt about every asset they have to try and win now. They only have a 4th and 7th pick this year. They do not have a 1,2 or3 next year. With Landeskog coming back they are over the cap with 6 UFA contracts. I don't blame them for what they tried to do. When you have 2 great players in their prime you have to go all out to support them. 2 years in a row they lost to the Stars in game 7's that could have gone either way. If they got past them either year maybe they could have another cup. It's a different team in a different place than the Sabres. It's hard to turn over that many players during the season and play as a unit. They are going to have a tough off season, but what ever they do it will be for the now in expense of the future because of the high end players they have in their prime.

I mean how fast does he have to be? He should not play more than 2 feet over the blue line. I know this is not fair because when you have experience it can make up for lesser skating ability but some how the 40 year old Brent Burns gets up and down the ice. I know this much he can clear the crease and pin a guy behind the net.

If you took a poll of Eastern Conference coaches and asked which team had the best defense this year, If it wasn't Washington or Florida it would be Carolina. Where are they according to the WAR charts? Not in the top half in D or goaltending. Without considering how the forwards play defense I think it's just a exercise in frustration. All the parts fit together and if one part is weak then the whole thing is probably weak. It can be an individual player or pairing. It can be a forward who thinks getting back in the zone is for other people. It can be a goal tender who goes from shutout to giving up 5 the next time out. I know all the analytics try to parse this out but it seems incredibly difficult when it comes to hockey. I know this much I never want to see Bryson with Clifton ever again.

One of the forgotten players in all this is Tyson Kozak. When he came up to the Sabres I thought it was pretty much a move of convenience. He was waivers exempt and had a few years of AHL time under his belt. Nothing stunning on the score sheet but responsible and not a big drop off from the other 4th liners we have right now. I took a look at his NHL edge stats and was surprised to see how good they were. He is fast and has a hard shot. Not the usual numbers you see from a 7th round pick. He has had his share of injury problems but it's not impossible that he rounds into a good NHL forward.

Kulich may be able to do things that Benson can do. Benson will never be able to do things that Kulich can do.

I don't know if I would rather keep Samuelsson but but an argument for him is that he has only played 212 NHL games and should be coming into the best part of his development curve. The injuries have set him back and his start to this year was truly awful. He seemed to improve in fits and starts as the season went on. We were thinking he was guy to be supporting Power when in fact he has played less NHL games than Power. Not a good formula there. There is a decent chance that Sammy rounds into a much better player. I think he was one of the guys they were sending a message to about reporting to camp in shape. Playing his off wing did not help things. He would not be the first large defense man to overcome early injury trouble if it happens. Then again he may just be what he is now. Both Byram 246 NHL games and Power 242 NHL games are right in the sweet spot of the development curve. You have to be a bit careful about letting guys go at this juncture but reality probably dictates one of them is going if not two. Another thing to think about, did any one in this group ever write we need to find a right handed D man to play with Byram?

The funny thing about the power play situation is I never saw a reason why he could not have played with Dahlin on power play 1 here. He is a better passer than most of the forwards we have.

I would add Kracken, Jackets and Bruins to that list. Push come to shove we don't want the picks we want a player so a trade better be in the works.

Not the higher seed. Laval had the choice of 2,2,1 or 2,3. If 2,2,1 they would start at home. Sometimes it's about conflicts with the arena.

VO is pretty much in the same roll he was here in the pre Granato days. He was one of the few who floundered under Don. I do think he started to play better defense under Don. No matter what though he was not going to sign back here for 1 million after making 4.7. He got a real nice contract here because we had to get to the cap floor. For whatever reason he never seemed like he was very reliable. even in Vegas he seems to go in and out of the lineup for unknown reasons.

If I remember correctly he scored 2 empty net goals in the same game.

My thoughts on Byram. As far as the moving goes he was a player with 1 year left on a contract who now is waiting to find out where he will play next season. I doubt he owned wherever he was staying so if the lease is up you pack up and wait to find out where to go next. It still could be here but cost wise someone else has to go to keep him so he is probably the easiest player to deal. As far as his play. I think he is developing into a great mobile defenseman. He is fast, he is a very good passer and he has a high level of compete in his game. He may not have as accurate a shot as Power but he does disguise his shot at times. Having played 246 NHL games he is coming into the peak of his development curve as a player. I am sure he wants the chance as the primary D man on a power play unit which he will not get here and will not even be the primary player on the second unit with Power around. No skater on this team had more ice time overall than Byram. I think overall the organization really likes him as does many other teams in the NHL. As far as the trade to bring him here, I do think they wanted to move on from Mitts and much like a draft pick they took the best player available. At the end of the day if we have to move on from Byram I think we are going to do pretty well with the demand that is out there for him. I don't see how we keep Power and Byram because of the cost so it will come down to the deal we can get for one or the other. I would rather keep Byram but my guess is he will be traded.

So that's what's in our teams spam folder.

The bigger question is who are you replacing on the roster? It's fine to trade picks but NHL rosters are very limiting in movement so you have to get rid of people if you go that route. Some candidates a easy targets. Quinn is probably at the top, Sammy is on a lot of peoples list. But beyond that if you want vets who are you replacing in the top 6? The youngest candidates are Kulich and Benson. They are not untouchable but I can just see the the angst now if Benson gets traded for a vet. Peterka would be the next candidate or McLeod. Thompson, Tuch, Zucker, Norris and Greenway are most likely not going anywhere because of age or the new contracts. The other guys are 4th liners except maybe Krebs. We have a lot of assets but roster players have to go. Once you get by the 1st one or 2 the questions about who get tougher.

I guess this is what happens when you have chat bot do your work for you.

Any one notice on the Sabres.com site they gave him an F grade? Pretty sure it's a mistake but kind of a bad look.

I always thought RJ would have made a great race caller because he had a way of accelerating his voice to the action. Good luck with your horse.

That is a pretty amazing fact because all in all Secretariat was not a great sire. What helped things out was that people lined up the best dam's they had to bred to him. Secretariat did not produce many stake winning horses but a number of the fillies he produced went on to foal very good horses. Storm Cat and AP Indy were some of the most influential sires in American racing. They trace back to fillies with Secretariat as a sire.

Probably the most famous horse with a Buffalo connection was Arazi. He was bred by Ralph Wilson and sold at auction as a weanling. Back in that time in US racing we had very few grass races for 2 year old horses and being a precious sort he was sent to France to race on the Turf. He did so well they brought him over for the Breeders cup Juvenile on dirt in 1991. They did not have 2yo Breeders cup races on the grass back then. Still he was favored going into the race. Tom Durkin who is the Rick Jeanneret of race callers belted out one of his most famous calls during this race. This is pretty much his Mayday call.

Say what you want about the penalty, I thought it was legit. The Avs had plenty of chances to take that game. They did not score on the 4 min. advantage in the 1st and messed up the one they got in the third. Blackwood slid too far for the wrap around goal. Otter made key saves. Avs got no one to blame but themselves. The huge amount of roster turnover they had this year had to play a role. You can appreciate the all in attempt to win the cup but it backfired. A lot of the in season pickups, Nelson, Coyle, Lindgren and even Necas did not come through in the playoffs. They could have kept Rantanen and let him walk after the playoffs for nothing. Maybe they would have walked away with the cup. Who knows what would have happened if Dallas did not go get Rantanen. Maybe it would have worked out for the Avs. I read the Avs boards every so often and that fan base is going crazy on management right now even though most of them liked the Rantanen trade. They never thought it would come back to haunt them. I thought we were a harsh bunch but every fan base is demanding

Rat says take that.

I am a big fan of horse racing. I am not all in like I used to be. Computerized wagering has changed the betting aspect so much that I am not playing as much as I used to. Very hard to find overlays these days. Wagering in Kentucky seems to be particularly bad. It's great sport, you learn something everyday.

Komarov and Brannstrom are very different players. Komorov looks like a Vulture on skates. He likes to hit and he will clear the space around the net. Brannstrom is smaller but is faster and better with his stick He is also more experienced being 4 years older. Speaking of injuries I wonder what happened to Conor Sheary. The Crunch leading scorer was missing and the help from Tampa, Geekie and Crozier were not enough against the Amerks.

No one smashes a stick like Markstrom. That was not even one of his better ones. I think the guy is a wannabe axe murder.