pi2000

You are correct. Sabres goaltending is coming back down to earth as I predicted a couple losses in a row and everybody is back on the tankwagon.

I still think the Sabres are worse than the Oilers. The Oilers are not playing that bad, I would argue the Sabres are playing worse. EDM's Corsi (50.6%) ranks 18th, Buffalo is deal last (37.1%)..... 7 percentage points worse than the next worst team (CAL). 5 on 5, the OIlers are standing toe to toe with their opponents. Their problem right now is goaltending.... Scrivens with his 0.888 sv% is killing them. His career sv% is 0.911 (0.916 last season). Once he gets back on track, the Oilers will start winning games and I expect them to quickly drop down the CHL standings when that happens. Buffalo, on the other hand, has been winning due to a hot goaltender... as in white hot. Once Enroth comes back down to earth, the Sabres will start aggressively climbing the CHL standings. During any other NHL season I would expect them to have the Shart wrapped up by mid-Feb, but this is not a typical NHL season. The CHL crown will come down to the wire...... BUF plays both CAR and CBJ during the last week of the season. EDM has a 6 game homestand to finish out the month of March against the likes of CBJ, PHI, and COL... with 3 of their last 4 on home ice to close out the season.

The Oilers are actually not playing that bad, 7 one goal loses on their current 11 game winless streak. However, they could use a goaltender and stud D-man, but they are playing hard on a consistent basis... defintely not tanking on purpose. Watched their game last night, they had a couple glorious chances to put the game away in regulation... Nugent-Hopkins hits a post, and Eberle gets robbed. On the Jet's tying goal, I would argue that Scrivens was out of position. So yeah, they need a goalie and a D-man, and they'll be much better.

why is there something, rather than... nothing?

I'll say it again, hockey is a streaky sport. Teams ride a hot goalie for a few wins and then they cool off... I'm not the least bit concerned. Buffalo is still far and away the worst team in the league and by the end of the season the standings will reflect that. EDM and COL win 2 in a row, and Buffalo loses 2 in a row, suddenly they're back on track. Unbelievable that so many are suddenly jumping off the tank wagon.

Bishop playing? I'm gonna say 8-0 Tampa Bay... after 1.

The tank is stil moving forward folks. Hockey is a streaky sport. A fee wins in a row can just as easily be followed by a 10 game winless streak... Especially if you're consistently getting outshot and have by far the leagues worst corsi percentage. Worst case scenario is they are somewhere in the bottom 5 come the trade deadline then sink like a rock after Stewart, Stafford, Enroth and Gorges are launched.

Buffalo is due to go on a tear. Team corsi %'s for EDM, CBS, and CAR are much worse than you would think by looking at the standings. I expect those 3 teams to drop in the standings over the next 4-6 weeks, with COL and ARI climbing their way up.

Still the worst team in the league. They continue to get out shot by a wide margin on a nightly basis. Hot goaltending and a few fortunate bounces won them a couple games here. It won't continue.

Was gonna go for a bike ride today, but it's only gonna get up to 67.... and all this cold weather lowered the tire pressure in my Benz so the low pressure warning light won't go off... *sigh*

dumb

I like him, but he's an undersized center who at 24 is nearing his ceiling.... not much upside. If he was 6'2, 200lbs, he'd be on the big club.

Liewen (23y) is older, he's been in the system longer so they need to evaluate him at the NHL level now. Makarov (21y) still has another year or two of seasoning ahead of him.

In their last 2 "losses", Buffalo has been outshot a combined 64-49. Their CorsiFor% is 6 percentage points worse than any other team in the league. In otherwords, they are due to go on a winning streak.

would be nice to have a 1 pointer in the EDM/COL tilt. Sharks can't possibly lose to the Sabres twice in a row? Now I see why Nolan was keeping Zadorov out of the lineup... he's been one of their worst defensemen and is a +3 in 8 games. Send him back to juniors!

Buffalo's D-zone coverage is the worst in the NHL. That's a coaching issue.

...and Buffalo won't be dealing for the tank? Stafford, Stewart, Mezaros are all as good as gone (moving Mezaros would actually be an upgrade tho). It's also likely one of Myers, Ennis, Neuvirth or Enroth get moved as well.... maybe even Moulson again if the price is right. By then Buffalo will be so far ahead of everybody it may actually deter other teams from tanking.

This is why everybody is looking forward seeing them in the World Juniors. It will be an even playing field. Hopefully McDavid is a full go by then.

He's better than Mezaros, Benoit and Weber. The fact that he was a +3 against Minny was a fluke tho. He was out there when Minny had some grade A scoring chances but Enroth came up big... he could have easily been even or a minus that game. Ristolainen has the worst +/- on the team. They're both learning on the job, you can see them progressing game to game. It's a slow process but a necessary one. Zadorov certainly has the physical tools to play in the league, now it's just about consistency and eliminating mistakes... which takes time. Now is a good time do that tho.

They screwed up the re-alignment. They should have created a "Great Lakes" division when they had the chance.... Buffalo, Chicago, Detroit, Toronto, and Pittsburgh. That would be great.

Ronald McDavid... I'm lovin' it

Let's look at some NHL records for ineptitude, shall we? Fewest Points by a team in one season: 21, by the 1974–75 Washington Capitals expansion team (80gp, 8-67-5). However, since the NHL started awarding points for overtime losses beginning in 1999-2000, by far the worst a team has ever finished is the expansion Atlanta Thrashers in the first season with three-point games, when they managed only 39 points. That team was outscored 313-170 on the season. Buffalo is on pace to match the Thrashers with 39 points, being outscored by a combined 290-101 which is a worse goal differential (-189) than the Thrashers (-143). Fewest Goals scored by a team in one season: 133, by the 1953–54 Chicago Blackhawks (70 games) ...our beloved Sabres on pace to shatter this record with a paltry 101 goals. Most Goals allowed by a team in one season: 446, by the 1974–75 Washington Capitals ....on pace to give up 290, nowhere near historically bad, but still terrible. Worst +/- by any player in any one season: Bill Mikkelson, -82 (1974–75) ...Ristolainen is a -13 through 17 games, on pace to finish -62. Worst Power Play Percentage in a Season: 9.35%, by the 1997–98 Tampa Bay Lightning ...Sabres PP% currently humming along at 5.7% (3 goals on 53 attempts). Amazingly the Wild are worse at 4.6% (2 goals on 44 attempts). Most Shutout Losses in a Season: 16 of 82 games played (19.5%), by the 2006–07 Columbus Blue Jackets ...Buffalo has been shutout 5 times in 17 games, on pace to be shutout an astounding 24 times. So, yeah, bottom line is that this team is historically bad offensively. If the goaltending starts to falter, then they could spiral downward even further reaching unimaginable depths.

Well, the fact that he's going to see a specialist this morning means they probably didn't find anything obviously broken on the x-rays but want to be sure all of the smaller bones in the hand are in-tact. If it was obviously broken, he'd be walking around in cast already... and that would be all over the internet by now. So, my guess is he'll probably be out at most a couple of weeks, no more.

http://www.sportsclubstats.com/NHL/Eastern/Atlantic/Buffalo.html ...the "What If" table at the bottom is somewhat interesting. Basically, if Buffalo plays about .500 hockey the rest of the way out, there is still a greater probability they finish first in the CHL than second. I could see them at best winning maybe another 20 games or so, which would put them clearly in first. We're quickly approaching the point were we can actually start cheering for them to lose.

Buffalo is still in control of their own destiny that's all that matters.