thesportsbuff

I don't think there's any chance we'd get a 2nd for him, but still sucks to see him go.

McGinn: I would like to keep McGinn. I don't see a pressing need to acquire more picks and although you never like to risk someone walking for nothing, it's not like we're in the same "sell everything" position we've been in the past few seasons. Our rebuild is mostly "over with" and we're pretty much guaranteed a top 10 (hopefully top 5) pick at this point. I would rather they make a serious attempt at negotiating an extension. Ennis: I have been a huge Ennis fan since day one. I've never wanted to trade him, and always felt he could be a key piece of the rebuild, but I'm more on the fence after this season. I would still like to see what he can do on a full-season basis with our improved Top 6, but if he becomes a casualty of bringing in a top pair D-man or signing Stamkos, then so be it. I think it's an off-season move though if he is moved. Legwand: He's exceeded my every expectation and been a great roleplayer for the team. I'm impressed. That being said, he has no long-term future here. We aren't a contender and given his performance this season, there are probably a few teams interested in him. So even though I said above that there's no need to go into sell mode, I would take what I can get for him. Foligno: Much of what I wrote about Ennis also applies here. I would love to have him stay here and succeed, but at the same time, I think we've seen all we're going to see from him in terms of serious development. I never wanted to trade him, but we've reached a point where it's feasible. He isn't going to be as big of a piece of the team as I once thought he could be. Larsson: Kind of indifferent here. I'm personally leaning towards trading him because I think he's valuable and young enough piece that he could packaged for a more impactful, in-his-prime type of piece. Gionta, Moulson, Weber: yeah, if only. i will say i like Weber though. Johnson: sure, trade him. he's been a good soldier though.

not suggesting it had any effect on the play but jeez, i've never seen a ref so determined to get a broken stick off the ice that quickly. i don't know how many times ive seen broken sticks just lay there on the ice for entire possessions, sometimes minutes at a time, sitting in high traffic areas and refs just look at it. but the ref picked it up instantly and 10 seconds later the goal goes in, pass coming from the general area where the stick would have been

Tim Panaccio ‏@tpanotchCSN 2m2 minutes ago League sources confirm NO hearing for Gudas. Dodges another bullet.

I believe second choice. Next to the "B." Didn't see the broadcast though, could be wrong. Edit: Nvm, watched again and I think you're right. So that's cool. It all makes sense, for the same reasons we were saying in the '16-'17 lineup thread. Wonder what Bob would have to say about the long-term ramifications.

i quit. i just can't watch another sabres powerplay with this stupid set up. maybe it's time to ditch the umbrella powerplay altogether

im just wondering, is there a benefit to having ZERO one timer options on your #1 PP unit? im no coaching expert but it seems really dumb.

I mean yeah, most likely. As in, 99,9999% likely. Lol. But it's fun to think about. You have to at least consider that it depends what he's looking for. I mean if he wants to win a cup, he'll probably just stay in Tampa unless there's really a beyond-the-point-of-no-return disconnect with the coaches. But if he leaves there and still wants to win, a team with lots of cheap talented youngsters would probably be ideal, right? (Of course Buffalo isn't the only team that fits that bill.) Another option is that he just wants to go home and play for his hometown Leafs, which we really can't do anything about. And another option is he just wants to go to the highest bidding team. The deal I proposed is kind of a perfect medium of all of those options.Yes he would be taking a HUGE financial risk, but really the numbers are on his side. How many career-ending injuries do we see per season? He could take the short term, absurdly overpriced deal and make a boatload of cash and hopefully have a chance to win in Buffalo, before taking a more realistic 9-10 mil longterm deal in his home town. It wouldn't be "guaranteed" until 3 years down the line but he'd end up with more in the long run. Ok, I have to get back to work so I'll stop my fairy tale novel here :)

Well, of course any time a player like Stamkos exits it's going to leave a hole, but I guess the hope would be that Eichel and Reinhart (and whoever we draft this year) are in their prime and close to if not already elite players by that point. Also if there's any money left over after giving everyone their proper extensions, you could shop the FA market to plug a few holes.

I would disagree on Sam for now, because you never know. He made tremendous strides in the past year or two and some nights looks like more of a NHL player than Eichel. He'll never be the goal scorer that Stamkos is, but he could dominate in other ways. Crazy (stupid) idea from bizarro world: Offer Stamkos the league maximum salary (which I believe is 14.2 mil?) for three years, and remind him that Toronto still has a season or two of 'suffering' left before they'll really be rebuilding in earnest. - Risky move for Stamkos to sign short term, especially considering he's already had a major injury that could have derailed his career. But he'd basically be getting paid four years worth of salary for only three seasons, and then can negotiate a long term deal with the Leafs -- maybe even giving them a hometown discount to sign other weapons. - Sabres use up a ton of cap for the next three years, but it wouldn't be the end of the world and probably wouldn't force any major roster moves. Maybe we lose Ennis, or Kane eventually. - Stamkos comes off the books after 2018-19, the same time that Moulson and potentially Ennis do. I would expect Ennis to have been traded by this point, but if not, that's 20+ mil of salary coming off the books on July 1st. No point in looking ahead to potential 2019 UFAs :P , but the Sabres could be big players.

It's fun to watch. I get the feeling a lot of the guys don't give a crap about it though. They are barely taking it seriously at all. I think it would be cooler if they made an event out of it -- a full team skills competition, maybe with some top Rochester prospects as well. Or maybe they do that already during training camp. I watched Edmonton's skill competition back before the all-star game and i enjoyed it. It's kind of awkward watching them do these drills in pure silence although it makes for a little more lightheartedness among the guys & marty.

Well, I agree he doesn't "fit" in the sense that we already have our future face of the franchise, and that there's not enough ice time to go around for three #1 centers -- which is why I don't expect the Sabres to be heavily involved in any Stamkos talks. I guess I interpreted your post as saying he wouldn't fit into the team's system or locker room dynamic, which is probably my bad. If that were the case, I would say that he's an elite professional athlete and will probably adapt to whatever "system" he is played in. I realize it's not as black and white as saying "we need more goals and this guy scores goals so it's a perfect match" but a good coach (whether that's Dan or someone else) would find a way to make it work. And with his resume of leadership that you referred to, I don't think we'd really have to worry about anything in the locker room. Now, on-ice chemistry is a different story. I can't deny that some players just don't work well together (although personally I have no problem with Kane/Eichel together). But you'll never know until you try, I guess. You could say that about any player. But it's basically a moot point anyway since the chances of Stamkos even meeting with TM are probably pretty slim for the reasons you/i/everyone in the thread mentioned above.

in my opinion, every sports team on the planet is little more than a random collection of talent. i see your point about the Patriots, but that's football. Asking a hockey player to play a different forecheck, or backcheck a little more than they are used to is not the same as asking a linebacker to become a defensive end or vice versa. the patriots also have the best quarterback probably of all time, in a sport that revolves around that position. Give the Patriots Brandon Weeden and see if they are still a model of consistency. But back on topic... For the record, I believe there is no way the Sabres even attempt to go after Stamkos, and I won't be disappointed when he signs elsewhere or re-signs in Tampa. But if the Sabres do manage to sign him, I'd be pretty pumped. I don't see anything wrong with adding an elite goal scorer to your hockey team, and while I agree with others about making sure not to jeopardize our ability to re-sign our home-grown stars down the road, i think TM and co. are pretty smart people and probably wouldn't make the move unless they were pretty damn confident they'd be able to keep our own. i'm curious what makes you think Stamkos isn't a fit here? (other than his salary)

this pretty much says it all as far as tonight's challenge goes. that's peewee hockey. from our captain no less. but as far as challenging offsides in general, here is my big concern: what exactly is a player supposed to do when they enter the zone and suspect they are offside, but it went uncalled? i don't remember the game so you'll have to take my word for it, but a few weeks ago eichel crossed the blue line offside and pretty much came to a dead stop and relaxed his body as if he 100% expected an offside call, but the whistle never blew so play continued. nothing came of the play, but that's what got me thinking about it. you enter the zone, you know you're offside, but the linesman missed it. there is now literally no use in exerting effort or trying to get a scoring chance, because you know it's going to be called back. you may as well just dump it in and retreat. better yet, picture a scenario where there is an offside play that went uncalled. a battle ensues in the corner between eichel and a defender, and eichel winds up getting blindsided and injured. all on a play where had he "won the battle" and scored a goal, it wouldn't have counted. players are risking injury in what is essentially a "dead zone" of a game. it's hard to express my thoughts in words. basically i just feel there is a contradiction. it's like, all of this stuff after a missed offside call STILL HAPPENS. injuries, effort, body checks, battles, etc. The game goes on as normal. UNLESS A GOAL IS SCORED. And then we pretend like the whole play never happened. Try telling the players out there for that shift though that the last 50 seconds wasn't real. i also saw a guy in twitter liken it to if you were able to challenge holding in the NFL.

i don't mind him

why did i go to bed thinking Risto had a 4-assist night and now he's only listed as having had 3?

that was my best guess as well, but... "meh." I wouldn't mind it if he used it here and there, but using it exclusively is a bummer. i used "Eicharamba!" (¡Ay, caramba!) on twitter a few weeks ago, but it didn't catch on. :D I could totally envision Rick using that one, though.

i think maybe i would like it more if i knew what the f*** it actually meant ?

Yeichel puts me to sleep. I don't get it, and I don't get why Rick loves it. Would never say a negative thing about RJ, but... this one is questionable

I think it's great. Ennis also got lots of time as a "point man" (quoted because of the umbrella PP explanation). In my opinion guys with speed and good stick handling make sense there because it gives them opportunity for some creativity -- like the neutral zone drop pass to a surging Eichel.

wow, i haven't had that much fun attending a Sabres game in a long time. Eichel was so amazing. I was already blown away from what I've seen on TV, but seeing him in person for the first time was incredible. his goal was a thing of beauty from start to finish, and was the perfect cherry on top of an already outstanding performance from him. he had several exciting rushes earlier in the game -- i'm sure it's an exaggeration to say "every" time he touched the puck became a scoring chance, but it sure felt that way some times. he showed some sick stick handling and in the second period had a few very near misses. i also love his confidence.. to bust out that spin move in the situations he uses it in is great to see. i think counting pre-season we've seen that move 4 or 5 times in competitive action now. it hasn't failed him yet. IIRC he pulled it off twice on one shift last night. ennis and o'reilly showed some awesome chemistry, too. They had two or three really nice cycles / give & go's that ended with O'Reilly getting a pretty good scoring chance in close. speaking of Ennis: I heard on the post game show on WGR -- I think it was Paul Hamilton but could be wrong -- said he thought Ennis was trying to do too much by himself at times early on in the game and wasn't using his team mates, but i didn't really see it that way. He was ducking and dodging their entire team and had some essentially end-to-end type of rushes, but i didn't view it as a "lack of using his team mates" so much as just trying to make something happen and taking what was there. they were off to a slow start and he was definitely giving them a spark in my eyes. or maybe i'm just a bias fan who gets excited by guys who can skate that fast lol. the play that resulted in ROR's goal was really nice. the team as a whole is definitely starting to gel. evander kane was also very impressive. it didn't really show up on the score sheet but he won pretty much every race into the left corner, and usually came up with control of the puck.

hope you come back someday LB! always a great reasonable poster in the time i've been here. i don't recall any major confrontations lol so i wish you the best.

i love the idea and don't mind the springsteen version

so the game isn't on MSG. excellent