IKnowPhysics

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTz4l72mSTk

Nolan genuinely seems calm and unshaken by where this team is, not panicked or lost, and seems to place due accountability on players. Strangely, I interpret this as a good indication of his sound resolve rather than any sense of defeat or that all is lost. Very different, and maybe even more encouraging than say, a panicked, defeated Mike Yeo, who has probably been shitting his britches at least semiweekly. Nolan's calmly pushing the players to compete for their jobs, even in the middle of a season where winning seems out of reach.

Beatings will continue until morale improves!

Be one with the GM.

In this instance, my minor irritation isn't with the team, it's with the well-documented, homer Jack Edwards. Not a big deal.

Ryan Vinz, your time is NOW.

If you watch a , that last line is: "Does that look like a slewfoot to you, Jack? I'm gonna say no," "No, I didn't see..." Jerks.

He has become Leino, destroyer of wins.

Codic the Hedgehog?

Yep. Arizona makes a pro tanking move by calling up their backup goalie in the ECHL. Sabres respond by letting Yeo keep his job for at least another two weeks and making Fletcher look like a genius for acquiring the worst goaltender with 50+ starts over the last three years. Tank strong. Ha. Exactly how this team needs to be. Tanking. All in. I believe.

I think once the '15 draft is out of the way, we're going to be taking a significantly different approach to player personnel. I think we'll in a mode devoted to maximizing the development of the kids, and we'll be in a position to buy or acquire skilled veterans to surround them with. Gionta, Moulson, and Gorges are an ok start, but it can't be any more obvious that's there's more to do. Moves are coming, probably in the off season (or perhaps even the deadline, if it doesn't pooch the tank). I think the next deadline will be interesting too. With the proper veterans, we'll watch the win column grow as the kids do. With any luck, we'll have made moves this off season to accelerate our growth to the point where we're not overly concerned about the '16 lottery. But I'm still pretty patient about the pace of our improvement.

There will plenty of opportunity to lose games, so I usually put the tank on hold for home games against teams I hate. I still hate the Flyers, so we should try to beat their ass any way possible. That said, regardless of tank, I still want to see a good effort. Goals for, especially with these no-talent clowns, is a pretty good sign of good effort, so I usually cheer when we score. I just don't end up caring much if we win or lose- because, to me, it's win-win.

I can be satisfied if that's the limit of it. I watched the whole presser (here). Ryan, maybe not unexpectedly, talks an impressively big game. I can see why players reportedly like him.

Talk of Mark Sanchez is picking up. I don't like it.

Ville Slugburger?

Double ugh. Looks like Arizona wants to come play too. From Puck Daddy about the goaltending trade: Has Arizona played the ace that we always had in our sleeve by paring down their goaltending to league-worst? Or does this start up a goalie carousel that sends a Buffalo goalie to the desert, ensuring we kick every other CHL team in the jibblies on our way down the abyss?

Yep. Dubnyk to MN for a third.

Well, Darcy did this with Ruff a few times, some of them well (years) before he was actually fired. I think there's been a few other cases where this isn't the end-all-be-all. I'm not sure if Yeo's out or not, at least yet. Before the season, Yeo was pretty pissed about the goalie situation. Some analysts think that situation will cost Yeo his job, including perrenial perineum Jeremy Roenik. But some question the timing of firing Yeo, especially when the players are likely at fault. Fletcher and even Sidney Crosby have come out publicly to defend Yeo, with Fletcher saying 'this isn’t a “coaching thing”' But the real storyline is that Yeo is already sounding like Lindy Ruff did in his last days, and it may be enough to push Fletcher to oust him: Puck Daddy summarizes the whole mess fairly well. In the trade rumor trenches, there's enough fuel from this flash fire to ignite speculation that Fletcher will try to bring in a goaltender. Of course Buffalo goaltenders' names come up, although most are at least a little doubtful that a move like that could really right the Minnesota ship and sail them into the playoffs. Maybe they should've traded for Halak at the deadline.

Yep, by about a factor of two for road games. I considered small sample size and the fact they're a hair better recently than they were a month ago.

Ugh, Edmonton is so brutally bad on the road; 2-11-7. They might only gather 4-5 points on the road in that stretch. And they might only pick up one or two wins out of those three home games.

Wild fans are getting antsy about being 23rd in the league in points and 2-6-2 in their L10. Seems like they're pretty split: either Yeo should go (despite the vote of confidence from Fletcher) or there needs to be player moves made pronto. Those that think Yeo could be fired think it'd happen sometime in the next couple days or weeks; Peter DeBoer is thought to be a leading candidate for a replacement. One thing's for sure, that Central Division is brutal this year.

http://youtu.be/FkhBPF4yfkI

Holy displacement. You're pissed about the way the team plays or is motivated or what ownership or the front office is up to, but you're going to jack up the game production and PR guys in an email about a banner raising ceremony and declare a personal TV and attendance strike? Zany. For what it's worth, the TV rights were settled well before the Sabres announced the banner raising date. And if the game's on NHL Network, isn't it blacked out locally on MSG...? I also think getting two of the four remaining retired players on the ice isn't so bad. I hope I'm wrong, but I'm not sure the Red Wings could beat that number going forward (Lidstrom and Yzerman may unfortunately be the only guys that can still lace their own skates). And there's this stuff: "The Buffalo ceremony comes just a few months after he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto. It is also part of a quest team owner Terry Pegula wanted to see happen since he bought the Sabres four years ago." I didn't see if the Pegulas were in the building or not, but I'd be surprised if they missed it. Did they need to be on the ice? Did Gionta? Maybe. And so what if Joe Arena Worker's got a clubbed hand from a Zamboni accident on the job and couldn't quite get that little hook thing to clasp in front of 19,070 like they practiced it? No pressure. Yeah, they could've and probably should've put more pizzazz on it. I'm happy for Dom. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7x2LfbByaY

Hahaha, stupids.