That Aud Smell

Well. That’s ... something, anyway. Still a terrible look.

Not for nothing: It’s for sure that Eichel was on the ice from 7:27 until 5:14?

Yep.

C'mon, folks. That's an effing demotion. That's a veritable pee-pee slap.

I don't see that play as being comparable,

If he does start Peterman again, and Peterman sh1ts all over himself again, it will take Bills-i-ness to a level I have never imagined.

He'll start Peterman against the Chiefs, is my guess.

The fact that he signed the big contract tips things in that direction, but, based on everything I know and think I know, I'm gonna stand in the camp of "concerning, but not overly." Good points - esp. re Eichel needing to be coached at the NHL level. With regard to the other point: There's a significant possibility that Pommers is a pud who is incapable of taking a strong mentoring hand with Eichel. Like Brian Gionta, but with less speed and a heavier shot.

It seemed surprising to Eichel as well. To my eye, Williams does that there because he can sense that he has the time and space to do it. And the reason he had that time and space was because Eichel had let up on the play before he reached his own blueline. Beat me to it. I'd not considered prior to today that Eichel might be at the heart of the team's identity problem. It's concerning, but not overly so. I think he can learn what he needs to learn to take his play to the next level. I believe that.

Some of this is media-driven blather, but some of it is real, too. Christian Pulisic had a pretty interesting post on ... whatever that thing is called. Players Tribune? Anyway, one of the more interesting passages was him talking about how meaningful it was for him to go to Germany at age 16 and compete against other elite talents. He referenced how, in the U.S., soccer development is impeded because elite players become focal points of their team and much is done to make the game easy for them (so that they can finish). Pulisic talked about how going to Germany made him fight and scrap for every inch of field he could get, and that made him the player he is. I didn't think it had much bearing on Eichel when I read it last week. Now? Maybe so.

4:44 mark. I'm surprised to read LTS defend what 15 did there. For crissakes, if he had given it just a little oomf, he could have contested the shot. I understand that he'd been out there a while on the powerplay. On. The. Powerplay. I love and want to love the guy, but that's a terrible look.

Does a losing culture maybe look a bit like this? I think it might. (That's the face of the franchise with his stick across his legs, watching as Justin Williams toys with his goalie. Maybe he's also got issues in re my "category #1" above?) Also, against doctor's orders, I read Harrington today (and learned there of Eichel's floating (missed it when I was there live)). I was reminded that Harrington writes stuff like this: Eichel has five goals in 20 games and is minus-9 for the season. He has one goal in his last 11 games and floated back into his zone to ghastly proportions on the opening goal here Saturday by Carolina's Justin Williams.

I think there's something to it, for sure. We may also recall his infamous turning off of the stereo/radio in the locker room -- his imposition of a business-like atmosphere. It doesn't sound like a lot of fun, but, damn it, if it wasn't effective. There's more than one way to skin a cat, of course.

Well, there's another thing you and Terry have in common.

Fair enough. We'll see what the usage looks like.

Good stuff. (Btw, I place little stock in what the LV GM said about why his team succeeded -- I don't think it's just (or even mostly) the absence of pressure that led to results.) This piece quoted here was especially good, imo. The Sabres just do not resemble a team. Fits and starts of it (being a team) are there, but no more than that.

The one thing that I have heard -- in re winning culture -- is that you have a team that, from top to bottom, takes care of the dozens of "little things" (and not so little things) that ensure each player and the team is ready to do its absolute best. I think a lot of that sort of stuff is behavioral -- routines, habits, etc. The one concrete example I once heard was how Drury got Campbell to ease off on the greasy burgers on game day and go with a simple chicken/pasta dish. I know that probably sounds inane now, but it was a specific example. But there's also the extra work that good players on good teams are apparently putting in. The assistant quality coach (or whomever) loaded this iPad with footage of next week's opponents (including goalies). Have a look, and see what you can learn about how to deal with them. And then there's the on-ice stuff. Is your self-imposed "limit" -- what you can honestly call your 100% -- something that is, in fact, limited by your not really wanting to push past the point of comfort? I get really uncomfortable chirping about this because I know for a feckin' FACT that, in terms of physical exertion, I am in that camp. I watch my one kid (who's inexplicably a really good athlete) push and push and push herself to higher levels of achievement and fitness -- I watched her lay her body OUT this past fall in the high school playoffs (and winced) -- and I knew, I know that, when I was her age, I would essentially reach a point where I was all "yep. nope. okay - you get to win this battle right here." And more on-ice stuff: Are you truly grabbing an oar and pulling in the direction the coach is calling for? Or are you mixing in a fair dose of your own thing, your own agenda? My thoughts on the two on-ice aspects: I think Reinhart is probably an issue re the first category, and I would imagine that Kane (and perhaps Eichel) is an issue re the second category. And I think ROR is an issue re neither such category, but I also think he is probably two steps too slow right now.

Whether or not you were trying, you did just that.

In other news, Larsson centering the second line. I know he looked useful against Carolina, but the idea of him centering a second line is ... discouraging.

Eichel on the third line. Welp.

The idea that Peterman should get a pass for sucking as bad as he did or that he's some sort of asset worth preserving seems pretty preposterous.

This stuff is like trying to grab and hold water. I was unaware that Housley was saying the same thing. It does call to mind: Las Vegas won a whole bunch of games with cast-offs. I am sure everyone there was following the game plan.

What ... even. What. I've been underwhelmed by what I have seen of him.

His social media features screen cap images of the scripture passage he's reading that day.

It gets to Fox from the Bills PR department, presumably. I was more equanimous about the move when it was made. I saw the Tweet to the effect that the Jags run D was not good prior to bringing on Dareus, and it's been quite good since he joined the team. Could it be correlation and not causation? Whatever that means.