Robviously

Tell me more about how great Bogo is.

The three guys on the right are Hickey, Borgen, and Olofsson, I think. Asplund is second from the left. Not sure about the 1st and 3rd guys are.

Housley said he wanted TT's speed in the line-up against TB. So I guess that does count as a healthy scratch for Berglund.

It's impossible to know who the Sabres wanted and, at least so far, tough to say if they waned the right guy or not. Even with Thompson off to a so-so start, it's not like Thomas, Kyrou, or Kostin are obviously the better player long-term at this point. Fingers crossed that JBot got the right guy. And I really wish we were developing him in the AHL -- like we're doing with basically every other prospect we care about.

Immediately adding Hutton's post-game interview hat to my Christmas list... "What do you like best about your team?" Hutton: "Our resilience." It's been forever since that was a thing in Buffalo.

Huge win! Proud of the team for hanging in there.

I've never been so demoralized with a 2-1 lead after 2. The Lightning look about twice as fast as us; this is like watching a video game. :(

Love this, especially the last part. The fact that we have multiple players going from liabilities to contributors says a lot.

You would never, ever trade a no.2 center just to upgrade your 3rd and 4th lines, even with a good prospect and draft picks added to the deal. The Sabres were motivated to move ROR this past summer, and were willing to make the team worse from a talent standpoint (hopefully in the short term only) to do it. Whether that decision was the GM or Owner (or coach, or everyone), who knows? But it says something.

My experience in the corporate world is why I take this seriously too. I'm sure this sounds corny but going to work feels completely different when you're surrounded by people that don't care versus people that are actually invested and want to do a good job. I've had both and it's far more than just who's competent and who isn't. Harvard Business Review writes articles about this all the time. If you need a good travel example with Thanksgiving coming up, read up on how Southwest Airlines spent decades building their culture and continues to reinforce it (and why other airlines have struggled to do something similar). You can apply this to families too. Or any community. Culture matters.

The roster turned over a lot last offseason too but mostly with role players. At the end of the day, the key players were all the same. And you'd take the interviews with a serious grain of salt since that's exactly what you'd expect any team looking for a turnaround to say. (Would anyone ever say "this year's team feels the same!" coming off a terrible season?)

To me, they're connected only in that you ultimately need both. How many examples do we have of athletes that have a ton of athletic gifts but can't make it because they lack work ethic or focus? Or in real life, intelligent people that can't get ahead because they're lazy or dysfunctional versus people with an average intelligence that are thriving? Talent is potential but ultimately you need a way to put it into practice and that's where culture and habits come into play. Wayne Gretzky talks about losing in his first trip to the Stanley Cup Finals and then walking past the Islanders' dressing room and seeing how bruised and beat up that team was and basically having it click just what it takes to actually win it all. You need both. And so far it sure seems like the Sabres upgraded both.

...Maybe? I wouldn't want a rental player (because we're not contenders yet) but if we can trade for a young player that will help here immediately and still be part of the team for the future, then I'd go for it. That said, I'd like the Sabres to keep their three 1st round picks this year. We'll need the young, affordable talent in a few years when we're paying the core guys we have now and it'd be nice to have extra picks in a loaded draft next year. (It's still galling we had extra picks heading into the 2015 draft and ended up with less than 1 pick per round. Thanks again, ZFG.) I'm also hoping by the deadline that our defensive depth is better just from Pilut, Guhle, Borgen, etc., developing.

JBott added some great pieces but I don't think talent is the only explanation. Are Skinner and Sheary a talent upgrade over ROR and Kane? Dahlin is our best defenseman already as an 18 year old, but Bogo still stinks and now Scandella is a liability too (at least, so far this year). Hutton and Ullmark are just as much culture upgrades as they are talent upgrades over Lehner. Plus, you have guys like Girgensons and Larsson who were basically useless the last few years but are suddenly contributing this year. Culture is the most important determinant of success but a lousy team culture can hold that back. Culture is a real thing and impacts basically every aspect of life. If you've ever worked in a dysfunctional office versus an office where everyone is pulling in the same direction, you know the difference is incredible. Or even compare it across families. It'd be silly to think team sports are immune to this.

There's a difference between just shipping him out and actually developing him. Right now he's averaging just over 11 minutes per game, which usually translates to 1 "oh, that almost worked" move per game (along with his 1 assist in 10 games). The potential is there, but he's not nearly a complete player and I don't see how he develops from barely playing. He's a 2016 draft pick and we're developing our other big 2015/2016 draft picks (that aren't Jack Eichel) with a ton of playing time in Rochester (Guhle, Borgen, Nylander, Asplund). To put it another way: I can think of players that have probably been hurt by being moved up too fast, but I can't imagine anyone being hurt by spending a little too much time in the minors. Thompson isn't helping the Sabres this year and I don't see how this season is helping him.

Can they please send him down to Rochester now? He's not playing well and his only move seems to be attempting a toe drag (that never works). I'd rather he was playing 20+ minutes a night in Rochester, and playing in all situations, so that he can become a well-rounded player and contribute. He's barely playing in Buffalo and seems incredibly one-dimensional.

Exactly this.

THIS TEAM. At 3-1, I was daydreaming about what this means in terms of how far away the Sabres might actually be from being a legitimate playoff team. Then they storm back and kill *two* penalties in overtime before winning it. It's been nearly a decade before we had a Sabres team that battled. These guys BATTLE. Please continue with this. It's fun being a fan again...

Frustrating as hell. Sabres outplayed them but couldn't overcome the 2-0 hole. I guess it's at least nice to care about the team winning again?

A good team would carry the momentum from yesterday and come away with 2 points again today. I want the win as much for the points as I do so that I can feel like we’re legitimately a good team.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Ryan O’Reilly’s stats look great and his team is horrible.

So did Ottawa, apparently.

If you're GMJB, at some point you realize that the key asset you got back in the ROR trade looks better tearing it up in the AHL this season than he does as a healthy scratch or completely ineffective player here in the NHL. And I thought keeping guys in the minors longer was part of his strategy?

Definitely not complaining. :) Thanks. And I'm happy they'll get the time they need. If they each get a full season in Rochester this year to log lots of minutes and play in a lot of different situations, that's probably best for them long-term. I haven't been this optimistic about the Sabres pipeline on defense in years. Dahlin might already be our best defenseman, we've got Pilut, Guhle, and Borgen developing in Rochester, and Oskari Laaksonen is off to a spectacular start in Finland's top league this year. Plus we have Samuelsson, who isn't a super exciting player, but should have an NHL future. Me too. I'd be thrilled if they swapped CJ Smith and Tage Thompson immediately.

:( How have Guhle and Borgen looked? I feel like neither guy is getting any attention because Pilut is all the rage in the AHL and Dahlin is the young Sabres defenseman we're all crazy about.