That Aud Smell

PSE media getting better and better. That was pretty funny.

I don't get anything bad out of that statement. He's saying show up, work hard, and be grateful for being in the world's best league. What a fart in a bottle this season has become.

Glad to get another confirmation on this. He's just not right. They can't? Really? Or they won't? First I'm hearing this. Is true? Not unfair - but I'm also not overly concerned. This was uncanny.

I'm not entirely sure. It seems to suggest that he doesn't want the team playing a wider-open, freer-flowing game. "Small ice" seems consistent with a plan that calls for getting the puck into a specific spot or area, pressuring and grinding the puck in that specific area, winning the puck, and then getting a quality chance. Interesting observation. There is a lot of truth to that.

How is this not an issue concerning the coach? Lehner said that there are players on the team who are flat-out ignoring the plan that the coach draws up for them. I'm sure there are others, and I'd suspect that Eichel is the poster child. I've started to wonder whether GMTM's apparent interest in being "heavy" requires a chip and chase and grind approach. I don't think that's necessarily the case. Btw, GMTM has been on the radio in the last 6 weeks or so saying, or seeming to say, that the way the team is designed to play right now -- he referred a couple of times to the goal of isolating key places to "small ice" -- was a function of the quality of the roster. So, whether that is true or not (I tend to think it is not (compare, say, Carolina)), it may be that Dreary Dan is implementing a structure that GMTM wants to see.

It's gotta be. "'And we have a structure but we don’t play it. If we’re going to chip it deep or do whatever we’re supposed to do, let’s do another deke, let’s do another play, get out of our zone. 'No, let’s do the fancy thing.'" Question: Should we merge this with the "Let the Fire Bylsma Watch Begin" thread?

Give the big man the credit he's due.

Haha at the Auston memes. Also glad to read that the playoff blazer is getting some run.

So meta.

You stop it. TrueBlue has it right.

that'd be my guess.

My bad - I simply missed our Shots For chart.

I can only imagine. And good for Disco being a safety marshal.

:huh:

Best thing about the Sabres in a long time, for me.

Oh man. I'm a mess. (I have a little guy about that age, and he loves the Eichel Tower. I'm sure that's why they're gonna need a mop to get me wiped up off the floor here.) For sure - great observation.

Btw: Whither PA?

I chortled.

Sweet. Thanks, Pipes!

I was heard to tell PA "nah, man, nah - lemme 'splain this to you" about this, but now one of my favourite writers/tweeters thinks the same thing: http://deadspin.com/twitter-must-die-1792127895

I said it upthread: Those rope-line crowds near where the players come on and off the ice? Those folks were yelling themselves hoarse. I don't recall seeing that before. Maybe it's happened. Or maybe it was a product of Jack's thinking it was "funny" how fan support worked against the Sharks. Also, when the Ducks scored on the power play to go up 3-1? I heard a decent Let's Go Buffalo chant start. I saw 2/3 of the game, but, man - that was what jumped out at me. Just not himself I thought the same thing. Holy shnikes is that squad loaded on the back end. Quite possibly. That was me, back when he was in and out of the lineup with some sort of upper body injury. But then he erased those concerns by going on a very nice run. Now the concerns have returned. It could just be wear and tear, as others have noted. But I am again thinking that something's amiss with him. I almost hope that's what's going on - it would explain his current play being so uneven.

Perry just gave Ennis a noogie.

Fans lined up along walkway whooping and hollering. They heard Eichel.

Helluva play by 10.