pi2000

there's always that one guy that calls for the puck ALL THE TIME even when he's not open or no where near the play

beaver tail (furiously tapping your stick on the ice to call for a pass)

My hope with Skinner is that RK is grooming him for a spot on Eichel's wing. There are other players better suited for 3rd/4th line roles, so for now Skinner finds himself on the outside looking in. That, or RK has absolutely no idea what he's doing and has a personal vendetta against Jeff.

When guys slow down in a puck race to try to "get body position" when they really just don't want to get hit.... just go get the damn puck and take the hit!

They're DFL at even-strength... BUF: 5.60% NSH: 6.64% NYI: 7.00% ...that's a 17% difference between last and second last. Incredible. League average is around 9%. PHI is humming along at 14.29%. If BUF was league average at 9%, they would have 35 ES goals, instead they have 22. So a difference of 13 goals at even strength. Consider they have 6 one goal losses (out of 10 L's). They've played 16 games, so spread those 13 goals out and it's almost 1 extra goal per game.... could mean flipping maybe 3 of those one goal losses into W's. Now we're looking at 9-5-2 instead of 6-8-2. Or maybe 8-5-3... Just incredibly unlucky.

cursed

Ralph's job is to put his players in position to have success. The fact they can't bury scoring chances is on the players, not the coach. They rank top 3 in their division in CF% and xGF%, in arguably the toughest division in the league. That's about all you can ask for from a coach. Give him better goaltending and average puck luck, they're probably in 3rd or at worst 4th place right now.

Bryson is not an NHL defenseman, sorry to spoil the party, but he's not. Ryan Johnson is a much better prospect. Jury is still out on Borgen, he's still young. Lots of guys look good their first week or two... the real test is consistency. We just don't know yet on a lot of these guys.

Throw a turdburger jersey on RK for his balloon ride to the heavens. Drury and Briere will release the balloon from center ice at Canalside while RJ sings "Let Me Clear My Throat" in the background.

Hutton should've been replaced in the long offseason. There were goalies available. Now they're stuck with him it would appear as the goalie market is dried up apparently... but I'm not the GM. Other teams find creative ways to move bad contracts. Okposo has been underachieving his contract for many seasons now, it's up to the GM to find a creative way to move on from him, see Matt Moulson.

I liked Asplund's game, thought he played well early last week too. He deserves a spot. That said, I like Skinner over Mittlestadt. Jeff is such a better skater, he creates more, draws penalties, etc..

That's what a losing culture is. Standing pat when it's obvious you can DO BETTER... eg, Hutton, Okposo, never firing a coach during the season as the losing continues, etc...

I know a guy, his name is Jeff.

Darcy

this was a good one too...

BUF is 3rd in CF% in the East.... behind only BOS and PIT.... and 4th in xGF%. They're not bad... other than the top guys not scoring 🙂

3 studs: Ullmark, Dahlin, Asplund 3 duds: Okposo, Irwin, Jokiharju

didn't hit the post, must have been a mistake

4 posts should equal a goal

these posts are getting ridiculous

A 2 week interruption due to a covid outbreak. Top pairing Risto and McCabe having career years, one out indefinitely with long haul COVID symptoms, the other a season ending knee injury. Borgen, a shining light in an otherwise dark season, suffers a broken arm. Eichel possessed by the spirit of Ville Lieno. Microscopic shooting % (historically low at even strength). Goal post after goal post after goal post. What can we do to appease the gods? Burnt offering? Blood sacrifice? Something needs to be done.

Free Jeff Skinner