IKnowPhysics

Myers does play better with a solid stay at home defensemen, which is why we often see him with Regehr. But I don't think the Sabres are asking him to simplify his game and play defense-only. I get the impression he's being asked to do everything: play positionally well in his own end, step up in the offensive play, carry the puck on the rush, play more physically, play on the powerplay AND the penalty kill. Then complicate that by whatever systems changes came with the coaching change. Maybe that's not unfair because they're paying him like he should be able to do everything. But I know from playing defense- if you try to do too much, you end up playing poorly. I'm not sure what the cause of the change has been, if any, but Myers was -7 in Ruff's 15 games and is +1 in Rolston's 11 games. Maybe the healthy scratch?

IF we had to do this, and I don't think we have to do this, I'm confident that Regier could do what Colorado couldn't: pull a top six forward and a top prospect (or mid-high or high 1st round pick). And just for fun, because I'm feeling cheap, and I know somebody's going to do it anyways, I'll play the Chara card: Chara tallied 29 points and a -61 in his four years (231 games) with the Islanders. Myers tallied 112 points and a +11 in his four years (242 games so far) with the Sabres.

Well, nevermind what I all just said, because Sulzer's going to LTIR after having ACL surgery. Welcome back, Ville Leino.

Will anyone be able to read this entire thread back to front and stave off suicide long enough to post about it? The world may never know.

Found the stream: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVqu7drrHFM

Interesting, also brutal. Who was it? Rayzor? Anyone else? I would think Duffer knows when to shut the hell up, but this is a new experience for all involved.

Wasn't able to catch this: were they trying to do play by play and/or color commentary through practice? That's a terrible idea. Better idea: just mic up Ron Rolston and maybe an assistant coach or two, film the practice from a couple of the standard angles (including the corner and maybe the bench), and have Rolston use an electronic whiteboard (if possible, could be tricky) that you can view and listen to when he uses it. It'd be interesting to see how ideas are really conveyed at the pro level, maybe get some insight into the "system" that everyone tries to guess from gameplay. +1 for team transparency.

I hate Laviolette so much.

Garth blogged all over the place this evening, and it's chunky with things I don't agree with, but that doesn't necessarily make him wrong about a few. He sometimes deals in facts more than most of his r tard compatriots. He makes the point that with the roster at 23 players, Leino coming off IR, and scouts from more than six teams following the team in person, something's got to give and the likely first move is shipping some D. He drivels on somewhat foolishly about who and when and what for, but the underlying premise is sound: a deal is coming. I agree.

As of today, yes, Ron Rolston has coached ten games. Ugly: 15 goals in 17 games for the Vanek-Hodgson-Pominville line under Ruff. 4 goals in 10 games under Rolston.

Ugh, our top line is ranked 3rd on the season, but is tied for 17th in the last ten games with four goals.

Agreed. There were several games under Ruff where they were the only guys that looked like they hadn't given up. Except, it wasn't that the other players had given up, it's likely that they just weren't that good.

######. He was a Hobey Baker winner from my grad school. A treat to watch and a really upstanding person. A true gem in a crowned hockey family. The downside: "These last three months of recovery have been hell. For two months I would sit in the shower for an hour with no lights on. My head was throbbing. The plate in my head is still sensitive. I've tried to put a hockey helmet on four or five times and I can't even put that on yet." The upside: "I want to have a family, have kids, play with them and a strong quality of life for another 60 or 70 years." Geoffrion has a degree from the University of Wisconsin. His fiancee, Katelyn Deady, also graduated from Wisconsin and will graduate from Loyola University School of Law in May. The two plan to be married on Aug. 17. Hopefully he'll find the life he deserves.

If you want to get crazy, go Vanek, Myers, and Miller for Kane, Keith, and Crawford. But if I'm Stan Bowman, I don't touch my roster at all right now.

Dwight has a well-documented, unfounded phobia of advanced statistics, which he manifests as anger and belittlement of their usage. Let's move on. Foligno surprised me too. I'm not sure how he's ending up being used more in offensive situations, but he seems to be playing well against decent competition. He does play a great game deep in the offensive zone, which paid multiple dividends tonight, both in great plays along the boards and tight in front of the net. Ennis gives me the impression, at least when I'm watching, that he's really good at the puck possession game; he doesn't seem to cause many turnovers in his own end. Maybe missed assignments, if that is his drawback (I'm not convinced it is yet), result in higher quality chances albeit a fewer number of chances overall.

These have gotten more popular to examine so they're being updated more frequently than once per season now. I haven't found a comprehensive outlet source (for all teams, consistently updated) for these yet, but I'm sure Rob Vollman is responsible for the data analysis. Key: Horiztonal axis is five-on-five non-neutral zone start percentage (left = more defensive usage, right = more offensive usage). Vertical axis is the Corsi Relative Quality of Competition (up = strong opponents, down = weak opponents). Bubbles are relative Corsi numbers (big red = bad, big blue = good) For reference, here's the old charts/thread. A better explanation of these methods is included there. March 9: Zoomed in on the middle cluster: Grains of salt: this is for only 20ish games, and it's some weird amalgamation of how Ruff used players and how Rolston uses players. Opinion corner: A couple things stand out, some of which are obvious, but it's nice to have data to support my/your/our/their paranoia. 1) The defense has been atrocious. Nobody's doing well, except for Ehrhoff and Sulzer. We knew this. But I'm still surprised at how difficult Regehr is struggling in the Corsi dept, likely because no Sabre ever takes a shot while he's on the ice, similar to last year's charts. 2) Our third/fourth lines have been even more atrocious. We lack any defensive shutdown forwards. Hecht, Ott, Kaleta, McCormick, Porter, and partly Gerbe, are playing defensive oriented minutes, and they are doing a really ###### job. 3) As a result of #2, it's no surprise that we're forced to use our top two lines in a two-way role. Vanek, Hodgson, Pominville, Ennis, and Stafford are all floating in the middle of the chart left-to-right AND they're playing among the hardest minutes of the forwards. The good news is that they're playing relatively well. Ennis is playing great, putting up better Corsi numbers than Hodgson (I'm not surprised by this, but some might be). 4) Nobody puts out their best players against our wrecking balls. Or we never put out our wrecking balls against the best players. That's obvious. Scott, Kaleta ,and McCormick played the easiest minutes on the team (and they still got outshot). 5) Grigorenko's usage is interesting to me: mostly offensive, not sheltered from the harder opponents that much. Kind of whispers to me that the coaching staff likes what they see on the offensive side, even against challenging opponents, but hasn't given him much defensive responsibility yet. 6) Stafford isn't playing that poorly, according to these stats. He's not a defensive ######up and he's playing on a line that contributes positively. BUT he's on (82 game) pace for 28 points, a career low. I know it's been said 1E9 times already, and as recently again by bloggers as this morning, but he could really use a change of scenery. These stats show he's still a decent player, but he's not finding the back of the net. 7) Otter, you're a credit to the team, but please convince yourself and your linemates to start shooting more instead of dumping.

Just ran across this old gem: A 2009 THN blog by Jay Feaster from before he was hired in Calgary that recounts the bad decisions to give (Tampa Bay LIghtning) players no-trade-clauses/no-movement-clauses. Then he's hired-and-promoted in Calgary in late 2010 to take over for Darryl Sutter, where he signs SIX contracts with NTC/NMCs, to add to the FIVE already existing that are all still valid this year (2013). Of Calgary's $64.3M cap payroll this year, $48.8M of it is attached to contracts with NTC/NMCs.

Bills have released Fitzpatrick.

Jesus, I'm glad I read this thread. You guys sound like everything you hate about how the FNC sounds. I think we'll get at least a point tonight.

I'm not defending Leo, but name all six guys playing better defense right now that force Rolston not to look at Leo.

######, speak for yourself. All of this: Some of the better times: Game 6, 2001: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JX4R2DWVhs8 10/17/2006, Hitchcock is fired after this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uADqfe_U-rM

Distinct team, I think. Wheatfield Blades played in the Horseshoe for years, then spawned a sister team that played in the Empire JHL (also Junior B). The organization sold off the Empire team to the Buffalo Stars but kept and renamed the Horseshoe team as the Buffalo Blades. The real reason the Buffalo Regals team was difficult to find is because it doesn't exist yet-they're set to start in 2013-14. Buffalo Blades (Horsehoe), Buffalo Stars (Empire), and Buffalo Regals (Horseshoe) will all field junior B teams next year.

It's not like they don't have the cap room. Any budget issues with this team are internal, so if they really want to keep someone, they will (see also: Getzlaf, Selanne).