pi2000

They need to make goalie equipment smaller. I'm not talking about leg pads, glove and blocker. I'm talking about pants and chest protector. I'm not talking about thickness. I'm talking about width, height and length. I'm not talking about making goalies more susceptible to injury. I'm talking about making a 160lb goalie look like a 160lb goalie and not a 325lb goalie.

[redacted] "Snack Master"?!

i like it. after 1v1 they should start adding pucks to the ice 1v1 with 2 pucks, 3 pucks, 4 pucks.. until somebody buries.

confirmed

That's not even a goal of the year candidate. Probably top 10 on this weeks "Top Shelf" show on NHL network. Its more lucky than good... I mean he just hacked at it and the goal didn't have the far side angled off enough. It's not like he went bar down, he just threw it at the net from the goal line. GOod idea, sometimes pucks just find their way in. That save tho. Anderson had a sparkling save in OT last night against CGY. 3-on-3 OT is going to produce some spectacular plays, it's good for the game. How long before they just go 3-on-3 the entire time? Or drop one additional player each period as the game advances until it's just 1-on-1. Eichel vs McDavid all alone on the ice? I'd watch.

true. he could eventually replace Yandle or Cambell. am i getting ahead of myself. yes. Owner Terry S? M? Pegula told General Manager Tim Murray to tell Head Coach Handsome Disco Dan Bylsma to play Hometown Boy Mike Wiener?

Blo-go is a nice sounding hockey nickname.

gone next season will be M. Weber, Franson and Gorges (imo he's too slow for what this team is trying to become)... some pending UFAs which could be upgrades in the speed department: Nikita Nikitin Yannick Weber Dustin Byfuglien Brian Campbell Kieth Yandle Tyson Barrie and Sami Vatanen are cream of the crop RFAs on teams with cap concerns (they'll need to sign McKinnon and Lindholm)... deals could be made. I'm a big fan of Barrie, he's still learning the NHL, but his speed is just fantastic.

confirmed

Deslauriers and Larsson on the top two lines? yikes. Both playing ahead of Moulson and Gionta? I'll allow it.

Last year they had 4 (sekera, mcbain, regehr and mcnabb), and they have Enroth now as well. Living here in socal, I'd argue they're no longer one of the best teams in the league, I'd put them in the middle of the pack, they didn't even make the playoffs last season and often go long stretches struggling to score goals.

sooooo.... tank part II? no lehner or kane... send Eichel, Reinhart, Pysyk, McCabe down to Roch. Call up Ellis, O'Reilly, Akeson, Donovan, Sanguinetti. finish 30th, lose the lottery, pick 4th.

The thing about Chicago is that their 3rd/4th lines were just so much better than any other 3rd/4th line. Guys like Shaw, Teravainen, Versteeg, and Bickell played huge roles in their Cup runs. Their entire D were above average skaters with speed (Keith, Seabrook, Oduya, Hjalmarsson, Leddy). Always first on the puck on dump ins with the ability to carry the puck up ice with ease. IMO that's the biggest issue Buffalo has at the moment. speed on defense.... they don't have it... at all. Weber, Franson and Gorges have beer league level foot speed, those 3 are absolutely killing this team in their own end. Ristolainen isn't particulariy fast although he's improving, McCabe isn't particularily fast, neither is Pysyk. That said, I like where Murray is headed, he trades for Bogosian and drafts Guhle, both have plenty of speed. I wouldn't be surprised to see guys like Pysyk and/or McCabe moved as part of a larger deal.

The current version of the Bills remind me of the late 80's Bills teams. Emerging talent, but undisciplined. Lots of penalties and turnovers, basically just beating themselves. They're a young team, if they can stick it out another season or two, they'll be OK. I hope they stay the course. Sabres are about where I thought they'd be. They're better than last year and certainly more fun to watch with Eichel and O'Reilly. However, don't forget how bad they were last season... one of the worst teams in NHL history. It's going to take more than one offseason before "playoffs" even enter the conversation. The most important thing for them right now is growth and development. Just imagine how gloomy things would be around here if they didn't finish last in the standings and ended up with the 3rd overall pick?

IMO, NHL Gamecenter is mess, which is why they made the move to outsource the product to MLBAM.... http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=776246 ...MLB At Bat is the gold standard for internet sports subscription services. Looking forward them fixing up the NHL app, it's long overdue.

NJ is 22nd in 5v5 CF%, BUF 6th... http://www.puckalytics.com/teamstats.html 29th in PDO is what's killing the Sabres (namely poor shooting % for).... NJ is 25th not much better, They're 26th and 27th in goals for %. PDO is telling. As the season wears on, each teams PDO should move toward 100... which for Buffalo translates to more wins and more losses for teams near the top like Montreal, Arizona, and NYR.

..add Gorges to that list. Loses every single puck race. Any time Weber/Franson or Gorges is on the ice, the other team dumps the puck into his corner and beat them to it every. single. time.

Mike Weber

http://www.nhl.com/ice/standings.htm?season=20152016&type=LEA http://www.sportsclubstats.com/NHL/Eastern/Atlantic/Buffalo.html http://www.sportsclubstats.com/NHL/Eastern/Atlantic/Buffalo_ChanceWillMakePlayoffs.html After watching 5 games, my guess is they finish somewhere around 80-85 points (a 30 point improvement!), which puts in them in the bottom 7-9 range.

genius

Strange as it may be, studies show that texting while talking on the phone and eating a breakfast sandwich actually increases the drivers awareness of his surroundings.

Was pleasantly surprised with Reinhart's performance. His hockey sense and vision were never a question, he used those tools well. Still getting knocked off his skates too much and losing battles, but it looks like he can still be an effective player at the NHL level if they keep him in the top 6. That said, I still think he should go to Roch if he loses his top 6 spot. Moulson on the otherhand has looked terrible. He's languishing on the 3rd line, contributing not much of anything except a room for Eichel to sleep in, He's slow and loses puck races, looks really bad against fast teams like TB and OTT. Doesn't seem like a good fit long term.

They're generating way more scoring chances than they did last season, and giving up fewer. They've had some tough matchups earlier on here against some of the elite teams in the conference, TB twice and OTT. They have some better matchups here in the next few weeks, TOR, NJD, PHI (twice), I expect goals.