Jorcus

Amerks score 5 goals in about 10 min. Of ice time.

I would not say that Montreal is a gritty team. They are what we strived to be. very fast, very skilled and deep with scoring talent. They are also very young. Only one player on the top 3 lines is over 25 years old. The D is as also young with 4 out of the 6 25 or under. In theory they are weaker on the blueline than we are. Watching them torment the Preds playing 3 on 3 it was only luck and Saros that did not end that game sooner. Preds could have won that game in regulation but Marchessault made a bad play shooting the puck into Hutson's chest trying for the empty net. Of our 2 next games I think we have a better chance against Florida than we do against the Habs.

Caulfield scores with 19 seconds in the game to tie and 2 seconds left in OT to win for the Habs. As I posted in another thread I think they have a good chance to win the division. They have a lot of firepower.

I wonder if Johnson is hurt or sick and it was a better way of dealing with it vs IR. Lets see if he plays with the Amerks this weekend.

And they ripped this guy off the Banana Splits.

They are not a very deep team. They have one good defensive pair. The third and 4th lines don't inspire confidence. The goalie can only do so much. I think it will be another long year for them.

I think the Sabres would like to go less for longer or have a back loaded deal. They have to get over the bad Skinner year, and if they sign Tuch to a shorter 10M plus deal it leaves little room for the RFA's. They would have to dump contracts if everything else stays equal. Still a lot of possibilities but longer for less is the easier path for the Sabres right now.

True but there is an discussion in this thread about extending players beyond their early thirties. Florida now has 9 contracts that go beyond that. He did not have to make that many of those deals. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Just pointing it out because we have zero contracts like that except the Skinner buyout.

I just added Mikkola to Florida's list as he signed an 5x8 at 29 years old. They are up to 9 long term contracts for players well into the 30's. Time will tell if this does not blow up in Zito's face.

Also interesting to note he was drafted in the same round and year that we took Erik Portillo who gave us the college slip and has spent the last 2 years in the AHL. The might have been thinking about Ellis way back then. Don't know what the plan is. He could replace one of the prospect guys if they can slip him though. Seems kind of crazy to put him in the NHL right now.

The last time I watched Corner Gas.

It might even be a home country discount.

I wish Krebs was a better playmaker but right now he just isn't. He is good at digging pucks and is strong enough to gain control but seldom seems to connect someone else after he has the puck. He trys to play fast and it's as if the other players have know idea what he is going to do. Often it's blind passes that result in turnovers. Seems if he played a more direct game he would be better off than trying to make a fancy play. I do wish there was bigger and stronger net front presence who could dig picks and screen the goalie more than Benson, but there is not one on the team right now unless you move Zucker up. Because both Norris and Tage can finish it seems like Benson can be effective digging pucks for them and he will not have to be a shooter himself. We will see if that line will be good on both sides of the ice. You would think so but until they play against the better lines you just don't know. From my point of view it's Benson or Zucker with Tage and Norris unless they get split up

I just don't see who the leader is on a Quinn, Kulich Doan line. I am not sure what to do with Quinn anymore. Kulich needs to play with Zuker or Tuch, assuming he is not playing with Thompson. He needs guidance on the ice.

It seems like a lot of these surveys really under rate the Montreal Canadiens. It would not shock me to see them win the division. Hutson is a year older, They added Dobson, and Demidov looks like the next Patrick Kane. They are the fastest team in the East and the goaltending is decent and has some depth. What am I missing?

Yes the Panthers did seem to have operation kill Hagel the other night which probably stems back to the playoffs when he clobbered Barkov. There seemed to be enough retribution either way in that game to end the whole thing. Maybe Hagel is hurt enough Tampa decided to bring up the 5 designated hitters from the Crunch to continue the mayhem. The weirdest thing that happened was 5 minuets after Florida scored it's 8th goal it was taken off the board because one of the players was supposed to be out of the game had an assist on it.

Well Tampa and Florida just would not let it go. Mostly Tampa sending out players with intent to Injure. Not sure how it helps these teams get ready. Ekblad might be hurt. Girgensons went out. Verhage got him self kicked out after he got smashed in the head. Tampa gets crushed and did not win to many fights.

Mrtka is minimum 2 years from playing on the Sabres and 5 to 7 years from getting meaningful power play time with the Sabres. There are a lot of chances to kill penalties in the AHL. I think the Sabres would rather keep him close by. Better to play 16-20 harder minutes and work your way up the ladder.

It's not always individual play but when things start to go wrong it comes out. The Sabres system is to use speed and stretch passes to break quick out of the zone. That does help them score but when your going fast in one direction if you turn it over it's hard to go fast in the other direction. They don't really have the goaltending to stop breakaways. It's odd that the first few preseason games they seemed to play more in control then it got worse as time has gone on. I have a question about how a team should play with a 2 goal lead in the third. The players often say they have to keep pushing almost as if they are playing for a 3 goal lead. The D men drive down low to create offence. To me a good team plays a puck possession game where the main focus is to limit chances and burn clock. When you get a breakaway chance you take it but it's D first. The Sabres seldom play that way. I think it's more of a system issue than a player issue. They have to make better passes They have to dump in deep if there is no play. Basic defensive hockey. It's not that hard to protect a lead in the NHL I don't know why the coaches have them play the way they do.

Leg or skate.

How many backward passes in our own zone do I have to watch?

Tampa and Florida really beating on each other. Somehow Tampa has 5 players in the box at once.

Believe it or not Quinn was actually a bit more active than the last time he played. That is not saying much, he is just a high ice drifter waiting for someone to give him the puck. At one point last night, I'm not sure who it was but they were streaking down the wing Quinn was at center ice doing his tap tap tap on the ice for a pass and the skater just kept going into the zone because he had a clear path. I have seen this before where Quinn raps his stick on the ice and players ignore him. The only thing we would miss if he goes is that he is really good in shootouts. I think we all expect growth in players when they come back from off season. What bothers me is that sometimes players are who they are and if they don't improve you just have to unload them for something different. For the most part our returning players are exactly the same as they were when they skated off the ice last year.

The thing about the third line is I don't know who the leader is. Kulich and Doan are still too inexperienced and I just don't trust Quinn to be giving instructions pre faceoff to the other 2. I would feel a lot better swapping Zucker for Quinn on the lines for that reason.

That is probably true but no one should expect them to play behind the opposing net. Most of the times I have watched Novikov play he is anchored just inside the blue line. He is the definition of the stay at home D man. Take care of your net first worry about the rest later. Isn't he the guy you want protecting a 3 to 2 lead in the third period? I honestly am not sure if the Sabres see it that way. For all of Lindy grumbling about being harder to play against why is most of the blue line based on speed and skill? Sure get your top 4 to skate circles in the offensive zone but the third pair should be shut down types that are physical in their own end. The Sabres seem to have a lot of hope invested in Johnson. The whole Org. last year pointed to him as the the guy who would be in the NHL from the prospect pool. He might be fine but he just seems like a lesser version of Byrum. I am not sure that is what this team needs right now.