Doohickie

Outta the way, Pengiuns. The Sabres are coming through! So that's Lindy's way: It's your net until you lose. Do you know the way?

Kinda like the Town of Tonawanda, the City of Tonawanda, and the City of North Tonawanda.

Thanks for restoring my faith in Jack's awfulness.

Yes I think it's entirely possible. Again, there are threads about all the games the Sabres have lost due to injury and yet they're still within reach. They're getting healthier and their records shows it. Even more in our favor is the Sabres haven't played the last two nights and they lost.... one point in the standings. The teams ahead of them are not tearing it up. There precisely 2 teams in the Eastern Conference on winning streaks (i.e., more than one win in a row): Tampa with a 4 game streak, and your Buffalo Sabres with a modest 2 game streak. Sure, the Sabres have struggled this year. But so has just about EVERY team in the East. A quarter of the way through the season, there's only a 9 point difference between first and last in the Eastern Conference. Compare that to the Western Conference where there's a 21 point gap between first and last. The Wildcard, Division, and Conference are all up in the air right now. Whatever team can string a few wins together will be in the driver's seat. So far, none of the teams in the East have done that really. The first two weeks of December will tell us if the Sabres have a chance: 6 out of 7 games on the road. If they can win on the road in December, they'll make the playoffs.

Well the Sabres would be in the same boat, wouldn't they? Realistically would trading him to the Sabres mean that he also would demand a trade?

Yes it is! This is Sabrespace! 😉

Yes, and to be fair I don't see Lindy taking Tage out of the center position as long as that line is producing.

Yes and it pissed me off because it made Jack a likeable person. BOO! Ah, so since Quinn is in our Top Six we are building around Quinn, too?

He struck me as the kind of guy that, if we were both on layovers, would be interesting to talk to at the airport bar.

I don't expect Norris at 1C immediately but I think Tage will eventually move back to wing. On the other hand I don't see Lindy making changes as long as Tage & Co. are scoring/dominating. So maybe you're right. Po TAY to, Po TAH to. You're probably right though: It's more of a partnership, but Kevyn is still the public face.

It was more of a screaming into the void kinda thing.

And to an extent, the acting GM.

I bet 99.999999% of the Rosen references on this site are to Isak Rosén. DOOO EEEET!

When Norris is fully recovered he will be 1C and Tage will be back to the wing. Mark it.

So Östlund is corrected, eh? What about Rosen? WHAT ABOUT ROSEN?

We'll see, my friend.

Nice.

He plays a rough game and yet..... in the first quarter of this season he's taken only one penalty.

Sabrespace has heard this story before, but about a year after No Goal, I met Brett Hull at DFW Airport. He was waiting for his bags at the carousel. So I approached him and we talked about the just complete season for a few minutes. Finally I asked him about the Cup winning goal. He said he would have liked to score a highlight reel goal, but what happened happened, so what else could do? The refs said it was a good goal; he couldn't give it back. He said all this season, lining up for faceoffs and stuff, opposing players would nudge him and say, "That wasn't a goal, Hull!" Then I asked him for his autograph. I said I didn't have anything to sign, so could he sign his boarding pass? I told him my nephew, Matt, played hockey, so address it to him. So he wrote, "To Matt, Good luck in hockey, Brett Hull" I thanked him and said I would give it to him when we went up to visit my family in Buffalo that summer. When I said Buffalo, he visibly winced. Overall he was nice guy to talk to, approachable. He caught a lot of ***** for No Goal.

Granted they screwed the pooch against CGY, but in general this team is bringing it more often than not. I think the current roster is playoff-worthy, but they're in a hole. On the other hand, more help should come when Kulich and Norris return. And the bottom six is more effective than it's been in years. To be honest, I'm okay with the D situation. Bryson's been playing pretty well.

You're steadier than I am. I'm planning the parade with every win, ready to abandon the team with every loss.

So he didn't report? Or just scratched?

He's a role player. Every great team has role players that do the dirty work. On this current Sabres squad I see role players just nailing their roles and providing unexpected bonuses, like Beck's goal. When the Red Wings won their first Cup in 42 years, it wasn't Sergei Fedorov who scored the Cup clinching goal, it was Grind Line winger Darren McCarty, on a goal similar to Malenstyn's, similar to May Day. Playoff games are won by bangers like Brad May, Darren McCarty, and yes, Beck Malenstyn.

He did. He propped up the bottom six with improved players. He's got youth pushing up from Rochester, not because they don't have anyone else, but because they deserve their NHL shot, and they're making the most of it.

No, I grant the excuse. My dudes, you're looking at this all wrong. The Sabres have been playing through injuries most of the season and they're still at a .500 points percentage. And what's more, they climbed back to .500 and they still are playing through significant injuries. They're learning how to win without Norris, Kesselring and Kulich. Of course Kulich is only in the conversation because of Norris's injury, but he's been a top six C and he's out. And yet we have a center spine of Tage (really best at wing), McCleod (possibly best as a 3C), and Östlund, Kozak and Krebs in the bottom six. And... we're winning more than we're losing. I think the current roster *is* a playoff roster, and getting our centers back will make this an even more formidable squad. The injuries are not an excuse, they are an opportunity for players to show what they're made of, and for players like Kozak, Östlund, Rosén, to show what they are capable of, to show that they belong. And players like Kulich (although currently injured) and Quinn, they are getting the opportunity to demonstrate that they can be contributing stars on this team. I love Tage and Tuch and Dahlin, but this team is making a playoff push and it's the AHL subs and the role players that are making it happen. To be honest, I'm kind of geeked up about this team.