pi2000

He'll get claimed if put on waivers, and then we'll crucify JBot for not trading him for anything.

I thought they played their best game of the season against the Islanders. That's their ceiling. At their best, they're competitive against a top 5 team in the conference. However they don't have the talent to win when they simply play average. They are what they've shown, I expect them to hover around .500 for the season, which is an improvement. That said, a few of the right moves could propel them further up the standings, but I don't expect that to happen until the deadline approaches.

In Bogo's defense he put in a ton of work to get back out on the ice for what is his contract year. To be healthy scratched has to be extremely difficult to take considering everything he's been through. He is itching to play in the worst way, I know the feeling... for him to react this way is not entirely unexpected.

I appreciate the fact they're playing well, that said we're jumping the gun here talking about contracts. Let's see if they can sustain this throughout the remainder of the season. They're all playing with a compete level normally reserved for the playoffs. Don't get me wrong, I think what they're doing is great, I just want to see them sustain it before I start throwing money at them.

Buffalo has been more than patient with him through his hip surgeries and rehab, I don't get it. And he's an UFA after this season anyway. Seems odd.

You can have a bad effort and win, likewise you have a good effort and lose. Both the EDM and STL games we're inconsistent efforts IMO.... they won, but they didn't play that well consistently throughout the game. I thought they played better against Tampa in Sweden, but came out on the losing end. That's hockey. Win or Lose I just want to see a consistent good effort, shift to shift, period to period over the course of a dozen games or so. They haven't had that in the eons it seems.

I'd put Mitts in Roch for a couple seasons before consider trading him.

Moist wind

Running the ramps up and down from the blues. My Dad buying tickets off scalpers after the game started. Having a root beer in the Aud Club while my Dad and his buddies drank Labatts. Walking under the skyway through gail force winds because we'd park a mile away. The earl of bud. The cones hanging from the ceiling. Dale Hunter knocking out Mike Ramsey's teeth. Trying to catch pucks with a baseball mitt behind the net during warmups.

I've been hard on Risto, but credit where credit is due.. he's been playing well lately. Moving up the team TRpm rankings as well ? pi2000@sfo-lvswy:~$ estoi_trpm.py BUF ============================================================== BUF even strength goal differential through 32 games = 15 BUF even strength minutes played through 32 games = 1605.28 TRpm(team relative +/-) is the diff btwn actual+/- and exp+/- exp+/- is a function of %min played at ES and team ES goal diff %min is % of ES minutes played ============================================================== Team Player TRpm GP +/- exp+/- %min BUF Marco Scandella 9.76 24 13 3.24 21.6 BUF Jack Eichel 7.88 32 13 5.12 34.1 BUF Jimmy Vesey 6.89 29 10 3.11 20.7 BUF Johan Larsson 4.73 29 8 3.27 21.8 BUF Rasmus Ristolainen 3.53 32 9 5.47 36.4 BUF Rasmus Asplund 2.81 14 4 1.19 7.9 BUF Brandon Montour 2.25 18 5 2.75 18.3 BUF Conor Sheary 1.06 27 4 2.94 19.6 BUF Zach Bogosian 0.52 10 2 1.48 9.9 BUF Henri Jokiharju 0.47 32 5 4.53 30.2 BUF Vladimir Sobotka 0.13 16 2 1.87 12.5 BUF Zemgus Girgensons -0.03 32 3 3.03 20.2 BUF Jean-Sebastien Dea -0.05 1 0 0.05 0.4 BUF Tage Thompson -0.07 1 0 0.07 0.4 BUF Victor Olofsson -0.37 32 4 4.37 29.1 BUF Kyle Okposo -1.10 22 1 2.10 14.0 BUF Rasmus Dahlin -1.41 24 2 3.41 22.7 BUF Curtis Lazar -2.45 6 -2 0.45 3.0 BUF John Gilmour -2.59 4 -2 0.59 3.9 BUF Marcus Johansson -3.35 25 0 3.35 22.4 BUF Evan Rodrigues -4.49 16 -3 1.49 10.0 BUF Sam Reinhart -6.93 32 -2 4.93 32.9 BUF Jeff Skinner -7.17 32 -3 4.17 27.8 BUF Colin Miller -7.63 25 -4 3.63 24.2 BUF Jake McCabe -7.77 30 -3 4.77 31.8 BUF Casey Mittelstadt -8.18 31 -5 3.18 21.2 ==============================================================

I mostly agree with this except for two things... 1 - His line changes are still lazy. In fact the entire team is guilty. They look at their captain glide 40-50ft to the bench and figure they can do the same. A bad habit from the tank years. Watch good teams and you'll notice the difference immediately. 2 - His reaction when he gets tossed from the dot. Every single time he throws a mini tantrum towards the linesman like he's been unjustly accused of murder. It's childish at best. Other than that he's getting better.

As much as it sucks, at this point JBOT should just wait until the deadline... The current team has shown it has enough talent to at least be on the playoff bubble. There are too many teams, Buffalo included, who don't know yet wether they're buyers or sellers. If Buffalo continues to be in the playoff mix come trade deadline day, then I expect JBOT to be a buyer... which would be a nice change of pace from recent years. Until then, I don't expect anything of significance to materialize.

typical rookie, nbd

MIGHT WATCH

I'm sure Okposo wants to play and since this organization is more concerned with appeasing the players than winning hockey games they'll put him right back into full-time duty. I predict they come out ready to play and look good for a period or two before the wheels come off losing in OT. Because Kyle Okposo and his 1 goal in his last 18 games is more deserving than a guy you went out and plucked in free agency from a Stanley Cup finalist team.

You don't win games in the lockeroom.

The Sabre's have a glut of defenseman are in desperate need of a top 6 winger and they're not interested in perennial all-star Taylor Hall because he "is not in their long or short term plans"? And people wonder why they haven't made the playoffs in a decade.

Its raining today so I'm not going to hang any Christmas lights outside and my boys don't have any hockey of their own due to a league select camp which my 13yo made but he's day-to-day with a broken big toe that he injured on a stationary bike on Wednesday when his foot got smashed between the pedal and something I don't really understand how it happened anyway they won't let him play in the scrimmages today and tomorrow because he didn't go to the practice last night and if you miss a single session you're disqualified and there is no refund which sucks so long story short I'll watch the Sabres game because there's really nothing else to do thanks for listening.

Larsson back on the tank line where he belongs.

iirc the plan was to give UPL 20-25 games in Cincy before considering a call-up to Roch

i read that as "moist wind".... not a good visual.

how about this post?

Hutton's trade value is nil. Knowing how the Sabres operate, they'll just happily keep on the roster because they don't want to upset him.

Also in their last 4... Auston Matthews has 0 goals, 1 assist and is a -7.

They should be able to score some goals.