GDT:Flyers at Sabres 7:30PM NBCSN

[Hoss]

Oh exhausted one please explain the ridiculous starting time of this game.

Television!

[inkman]

Television!

Yeah competing with the walking dead seems like a good idea

[Brennan Huff]

I know they weren't well received but I thought the 3rd jerseys were okay. If they're bringing out a new one next year I'm okay with that too. Some of the recent ones have been okay; wouldn't mind going back to the Pepsi themed one.

Those jerseys were/are the most hideous things I've ever seen. I'd like to know who was the guy who gave the "ok" on them. He needs to be replaced, preferably with somebody who isn't color blind

[LastPommerFan]

Yeah competing with the walking dead seems like a good idea

This game is PERFECT to compete with the Walking Dead!

[Hoss]

Television is what it is and has been for years. If everybody scheduled around every other important program then we'd be seeing good programs at 3 am.

 

Oh, and DVR exists.

[skaught]

Yeah competing with the walking dead seems like a good idea

The game will probably be over before Walking Dead starts.

 

It will definately be over before Walking Dead starts on the west coast. No spoilers in the GDT please.

Edited February 15, 2015 by skaught

[Weave]

Is talking about the tank not allowed? Kinda like Fight Club?

 

Gentleman's agreement to keep tank talk out of game day threads until post game.  Noone wants the infighting that will result from fans cheering for and against the good guys winning.

[pastajoe]

The game will probably be over before Walking Dead starts.

 

It will definately be over before Walking Dead starts on the west coast. No spoilers in the GDT please.

Saturday Night Live 40th anniversary show also on at 8pm.

 

Nolan said Kaleta and Gorges will be out for awhile with lower body injuries.

[SwampD]

I thought this game is the walking dead.

[PASabreFan]

Thank god, best news I've heard all week. So do we get new 3rds, can we just go back to the originals?

I don't know what's stopping this franchise from finally getting it right. Give us the classic look we want and an extended moratorium on third jerseys. I'd take three years. Just give it a rest already.

[inkman]

Television is what it is and has been for years. If everybody scheduled around every other important program then we'd be seeing good programs at 3 am.

 

Oh, and DVR exists.

I have a DVR and I have anywhere from 3-5 shows recording tonight. If they play an afternoon game, I might actually think about watching.

[...]

Yuri Testikov, on 15 Feb 2015 - 1:57 PM, said:

I don't know what's stopping this franchise from finally getting it right. Give us the classic look we want and an extended moratorium on third jerseys. I'd take three years. Just give it a rest already.

 

 

They need to do it to coincide with the end of the rebuild.  I think it could easily be accomplished if they set their collective minds to it.  Ted, we know you stalk the forums, give this some serious though, okay?

[IKnowPhysics]

No spoilers in the GDT please.

 

¿Qué?

 

I'm on Pacific Time too and thusly DVR about 95% of games.  I know not to venture into this threadentirety of the internet, social media, and bars with televisions without eating spoiler pie.

[biodork]

For whatever reason, many posters have written off Johan, I think y'all are nuts. He's looked good as an Amerk and not out of place as a Sabre.

Larsson has not clicked with Nolan for whatever reason. I have this weird feeling Nolan xenophobicly expects him to be an offensive player and has ignored the fact he is an obnoxious little prick with good hockey sense and better possession skills than most of the current roster. I'd like to see him used properly after the deadline, with a shot at Flynn, Mitchell or Stafford's minutes.

 

I know I soured on Larsson a bit after he was whining about his last demotion and throwing his teammates under the bus.  Some of it could be on Nolan for not putting him in a place to succeed, but it's also on Larsson to act like a professional and earn that chance.

 

Looking forward to seeing Bogo in action tonight.

[beerme1]

I know I soured on Larsson a bit after he was whining about his last demotion and throwing his teammates under the bus.  Some of it could be on Nolan for not putting him in a place to succeed, but it's also on Larsson to act like a professional and earn that chance.

 

Looking forward to seeing Bogo in action tonight.

 

 

Me too. A rookie whining that he belongs in the top six? And as good as may be in the AHL that hasn't translated when he has been here.  

[LGR4GM]

For whatever reason, many posters have written off Johan, I think y'all are nuts. He's looked good as an Amerk and not out of place as a Sabre.

I actually like Johan and hope he sticks. That being said tonight we should win.  

[inkman]

Me too. A rookie whining that he belongs in the top six? And as good as may be in the AHL that hasn't translated when he has been here.

Let's talk about all that whining.

 

"That's his question," Amerks coach Chadd Cassidy said. "If and what his role is going to be in Buffalo maybe hasn't been determined."

 

Cassidy relies heavily on Larsson; Sabres coach Ted Nolan doesn't.

 

During his recent recall, the 22-year-old native of Lau, Sweden, usually played around 10 minutes a game. Against Tampa he played only 6:55. He skated 8:09 against Detroit.

 

"The trust factor was not there," Larsson said.

 

He's not sure what he must to do earn that trust from the coaching staff, either.

 

ROCHESTER DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE

 

Let's just say this isn't the strongest Amerks lineup

 

Called up because of an illness-created emergency at the very last moment on Dec. 20 — at around 5 p.m. for a 7 p.m. game — Larsson scored the Sabres goal in a 5-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche. The next night he assisted on a goal in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Boston Bruins.

 

"I felt my time was going to come," Larsson said. "Then I was right back to the fourth line."

 

The checking, grind-it-out role isn't really what his game is about. Nor is it why he was drafted on the second round (56th overall) by the Minnesota Wild. And the Sabres under Darcy Regier's management didn't obtain him in the Jason Pominville trade on April 3, 2013, with thoughts of having him crash and bang.

 

The Sabres have seen how he plays in Rochester but that scoring game has never translated to the NHL and/or he hasn't been given the chance to play it.

 

"He probably has some sort of idea what kind of player I am," Larsson said of Nolan. "I don't know what you can do more to show them."

 

Perhaps it's just circumstances.

 

"So much of that is about opportunity," Cassidy said. "It's playing with the right players, the right spots, the right minutes.

 

"Everybody wants to play in the NHL. You go up and feel like you played pretty well. Then you're sent back down and you don't necessarily understand — like any young player — why he doesn't stay up there."

 

Frustration is building for Larsson. He has been called up — and then returned — six times over the past two seasons, playing a total of 40 NHL games. He has produced 1-4-5. During the same two seasons, he has 23-41-64 in 77 AHL games with the Amerks.

 

He wonders what the future holds.

 

"It's getting late in the season and this is my last year (on his contract); it's tough to answer," he said.

 

"Now that I'm back here, I want to just be really focused and help this team get some wins and have fun. That's the most important thing for me."

 

 

 

Any of that sound like whining or just asking honest questions?

[Hoss]

Honest question, but Larsson isn't going to be a top six player in the NHL ever. He was never considered a top-six prospect, either. Maybe he can fit in on the third line someday.

[PASabreFan]

They need to do it to coincide with the end of the rebuild.  I think it could easily be accomplished if they set their collective minds to it.  Ted, we know you stalk the forums, give this some serious though, okay?

It could be spun so many ways to make them look good. They could start with a big mea culpa for not only their turdburger, but the slug, and the butterknife. Sorry, fans. Look humble. Then make a principled stand. We're going to give you what you want and we promise to never take it away. We don't care about the revenue. (Terry almost certainly doesn't; the bean-counters do, but Ted has already said the revenue stream for such things is only a trickle.) Then you knock it out of the park with a perfect royal blue and gold retro look, proclaiming that you're essentially an original six franchise and the uniform is now sacrosanct. (Sacrosanct, but here in five years, after a period of quiet, as the team is really good again and the fondness for a certain era of Sabres hockey grows, maybe you come out with a blue and gold goathead third.)

[biodork]

Let's talk about all that whining.

 

"That's his question," Amerks coach Chadd Cassidy said. "If and what his role is going to be in Buffalo maybe hasn't been determined."

 

Cassidy relies heavily on Larsson; Sabres coach Ted Nolan doesn't.

 

During his recent recall, the 22-year-old native of Lau, Sweden, usually played around 10 minutes a game. Against Tampa he played only 6:55. He skated 8:09 against Detroit.

 

"The trust factor was not there," Larsson said.

 

He's not sure what he must to do earn that trust from the coaching staff, either.

 

ROCHESTER DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE

 

Let's just say this isn't the strongest Amerks lineup

 

Called up because of an illness-created emergency at the very last moment on Dec. 20 — at around 5 p.m. for a 7 p.m. game — Larsson scored the Sabres goal in a 5-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche. The next night he assisted on a goal in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Boston Bruins.

 

"I felt my time was going to come," Larsson said. "Then I was right back to the fourth line."

 

The checking, grind-it-out role isn't really what his game is about. Nor is it why he was drafted on the second round (56th overall) by the Minnesota Wild. And the Sabres under Darcy Regier's management didn't obtain him in the Jason Pominville trade on April 3, 2013, with thoughts of having him crash and bang.

 

The Sabres have seen how he plays in Rochester but that scoring game has never translated to the NHL and/or he hasn't been given the chance to play it.

 

"He probably has some sort of idea what kind of player I am," Larsson said of Nolan. "I don't know what you can do more to show them."

 

Perhaps it's just circumstances.

 

"So much of that is about opportunity," Cassidy said. "It's playing with the right players, the right spots, the right minutes.

 

"Everybody wants to play in the NHL. You go up and feel like you played pretty well. Then you're sent back down and you don't necessarily understand — like any young player — why he doesn't stay up there."

 

Frustration is building for Larsson. He has been called up — and then returned — six times over the past two seasons, playing a total of 40 NHL games. He has produced 1-4-5. During the same two seasons, he has 23-41-64 in 77 AHL games with the Amerks.

 

He wonders what the future holds.

 

"It's getting late in the season and this is my last year (on his contract); it's tough to answer," he said.

 

"Now that I'm back here, I want to just be really focused and help this team get some wins and have fun. That's the most important thing for me."

 

 

 

Any of that sound like whining or just asking honest questions?

Some of that is fair, but this is the part that irked me:

 

 

 

“I’ve always said to the team, ‘If you’re pointing a finger at somebody, you’re pointing three back at yourself,’ ” Nolan said. “He’s just got to look at whoever he plays with. It’s disrespectful to say, ‘I only played with Cody McCormick’ or ‘I only played with Patty Kaleta or Nic Deslauriers.’ ”

To be fair, it isn't clear from here if Larsson actually said this or Nolan said it based on Larsson's comments about being on the 4th line.

 

------------------------------------

 

I can't believe they're going to scratch Strachan in favor of Benoit and pair him with Bogosian... UGH.

 

http://www.nhl.com/gamecenter/en/preview?id=2014020835&navid=nhl:topheads

 

Edit: also confirmed that Stewart is in.

Edited February 15, 2015 by biodork

[TrueBlueGED]

I know Nolan is saying the only thing a coach can in public...but nobody is showing a whole heck of a lot offensively paired with McCormick and Kaleta. If that's Larsson's gripe, well, he's right.

[biodork]

I know Nolan is saying the only thing a coach can in public...but nobody is showing a whole heck of a lot offensively paired with McCormick and Kaleta. If that's Larsson's gripe, well, he's right.

He is, but should he be stating that publicly?  I think it's immature on his part, but I get that he's frustrated by the situation.  He probably won't be much better off tonight with Ellis and Hodgson, unfortunately.

[LastPommerFan]

It's official. I cannot give away Sabres Tickets.

[biodork]

It's official. I cannot give away Sabres Tickets.

:(  Wish I lived closer; I'd take them off your hands!

[inkman]

Honest question, but Larsson isn't going to be a top six player in the NHL ever. He was never considered a top-six prospect, either. Maybe he can fit in on the third line someday.

On this Sabres team, he should get a look with some talent along side him. What's the reason not too? Nolan is a bozo, I wouldn't trust him to do anything right.