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Looks like my pick of Tampa over Toronto in round 2 is not gonna happen. FLA just turned it to another level

Sorry for quoting myself, but I think this is sorta related to the Shadeur Sanders stuff going on right now at the NFL draft. Lots of kids yet to be drafted. Pretty much all of them because no NFL team had them #1 on their board when their turn came to pick. Few are losing their minds over any of them, but Sanders is breaking the internet. The only thing different about Sanders is the story that was built up around him.

A little video of Landon Jackson vs Patriots #4 overall pick Will Campbell.

Just more blah, blah, blah finger pointing.

Twitter is the biggest spreader of propaganda. Maybe they should start with that and Elon.

That is an unbelievable lacrosse score.

It was interesting you talked about touches and who needs them. Norris came with the scouting report of being able to make a difference with just quick touches.

That’s all I’m saying. I agree with you.

Fiddler-Schultz's goal was a nice snipe. The other four goals in the game were all of the greasier variety. The Amerks, even with all their youth, seem to be comfortable playing the kind of hockey the Sabres struggled at.

LOL. So you're expecting me to disprove my point by remembering the hits I said no one remembers 😜 (The goalie factor is definitely something that makes that one stand out more than, say the two we saw on Kulich this spring.)

So, you say he’s not the defacto director of hockey operations, and then list everything he’s done, as the defacto director of hockey operations. And I don’t know what I would do with myself if I didn’t argue over meaningless *****.

Interesting goal scorers last night

Lookin like a full day of hockey today. Love it. No two screens at once (unless OT), but still good.

Is the owner acting as a director of the hockey operations and usurping that role for himself? I can't say for sure. Probably so. As an owner, he can do whatever he wants. He can be frugal or be profligate with his team payroll. He can interfere with the hockey operations or not. He can do what he wants. The owner can structure the organization any way he wants. Again, as an owner that is his prerogative. And that's why he is a failure. As demonstrated by his tenure as an owner, his record is dismal and embarrassing. It's pointless to get enmeshed in what he does or doesn't do. It's pointless to argue about what the best structure for the organization should be. What most people can agree with is that the owner has hired inept upper staff, most notably KA as his GM, to lead this floundering franchise. Anyone who has been in the work world knows recognizes that placing inept upper staff is a recipe for failure. I have, and so have many others stated, that success/failure starts at the top. Terry Pegula is a buffoon in the manner he has operated an NHL franchise. Until he dramatically alters how he runs this woebegotten franchise, little will change. I don't want to be totally pessimistic. There are encouraging signs that he will soon make some changes within the organization that will hopefully alter the course of this lost franchise. How will he do that? Hiring a qualified GM and empowering his hockey staff to do their jobs without interference by this know-nothing owner. Will he do that? TBD.

How many other blatant hits on a goalie can you remember? I just doesn’t happen. That’s why we remember it.

I like those lines. And game to game I'm not sure it's worth distinguishing which is line 1, 2, or 3. Thompson's offensive prowess makes his line the default line 1, but I'm not sure it really matters. The Quinn/Greenway spot is the most primed for a veteran upgrade. Cap-wise, it's not the easiest thing to accomplish without Greenway going the other way. We can move on from Samuelsson and/or Clifton and/or Byram, but we would presumably be looking to bring in veteran upgrades on defense to replace any defenders who are leaving. With Peterka and McLeod in line for big raises, I don't think we can add a $4+ million dollar forward without a forward on a similar salary going out.

Looking at what Florida did in going out and trading for the great Seth Jones makes me wish we could swing trades like that. He's the type of veterans defenseman any team could use. Hoping KA or whoever is in charge gets a veteran d-man who is good in here to round out the d-core

Benson with McLeod: 56.04%xgf. 54%hdcf So looking this over, I think you want a line that's Peterka with Tuch. Another that's Benson with McLeod and another centered on Thompson. Issue is Tuch needs a center. Zucker - Kulich - Thompson Peterka - Norris - Tuch Benson - McLeod - Quinn? Greenway? Some samples are smallish but that's about the best looking lineup you can build.

.php?fromseason=20242025&thruseason=20242025&stype=2&sit=5v5&score=all&rate=n&team=BUF&vteam=ALL&view=wowy&loc=B&gpfilt=none&fd=2024-10-04&td=2025-04-17&tgp=2000&strict=incl&p1=8484145&p2=8482097&p3=0&p4=0&p5=0 Tage with Benson: 55.39xgf%, 57.95hdcf% Tage without: 51.05%x, 51.84%gd Tuch with Benson: 50.33xgf%, 43.9%hdcf Tuch without: 48.13%x, 49%hd Peterka with Benson: 49.95xgf%, 50hdcf% Peterka without: 45.93%x, 42.82%hd

It's hard to believe it's been one week.

Some random comments about the locker cleanout pressers last week. The newer players seemed much more open, upbeat, and analytical about the season than many of the existing Sabres. I guess the team has not beat it out of them yet. Zucker, Byram, and McCloud all gave open dialog. Tuch and Thompson were some what depressed but made insightful comments. You never really get much out of Dahlin. Power was miserable just did not want to answer questions. Quinn was not a lot better. Peterka spent most of the interview hydrating himself and watching the clock for a flight out of town. Greenway is always spacey in interviews, not a whole lot to say. Sammy was pretty dour but at least he was reflective about his season and where he was during certain periods of it. Maybe I am reading too much into this but I wonder if the Byram trade was as much about offloading Mitts than wanting Byram. I could see that they might not have wanted to pay Casey the money it was going to take to keep him around so when shopping the Byram trade was the best value they came up with. Well they put off the problem until this year and I just think push come to shove if Adams has to chose between Byram and Power he going to choose Power. Another thing that struck me is that they still think Ryan Johnson is the best defensive prospect they have in Rochester, or at least the most NHL ready. The Rochester coaches talk that way as well so maybe he is. The problem is he is just another version of a mobile puck moving defenseman who probably is going to have trouble clearing the front of the net. So what are we going to do with him? I hope they don't see him as a replacement for Byram or Power.

Agree here... I wonder if building consistency with linemates doesn't help him define a focus... question gonna be who are the best ones...

Beane presser explains it. He's a interior strong 3 tech rather than massive NG type everyone projected Bills to take . Blowback. Ourlads scouting service had him as #5 at DT with a late 1st and 2nd round grade. 4 guys rated ahead of him went high in the 1st round. The #6 guy ranked behind him was Williams of Ohio St. who went #29 overall right before we took our CB. 3rd round pick had a 2nd -3rd round grade. IIRC correctly, Beane realizes he still needs to find a Jones backup in that NG mold. The highest ranked ones were all selected early. Day 3 coming up.

Was at the game last night and man it was a tooth and nail battle the entire way. Very physical, refs let them play and very low scoring. Bandits took a 5-2 lead into the half with an amazing set piece behind the net goal with 0.1 second left on the clock. Then they never scored again. But they also limited San Diego to only 1 goal in the second half before they scored their final goal with 1 second left to make it a 5-4 final. Matt Vinc has 48 saves and was looking like prime Dominik Hasek out there with several unbelievable saves. Bandits even managed to kill off a 5-3 power play(thanks in part to San Diego taking their own penalty about 40 seconds into it). Definitely one of the more stressful and low scoring games I have ever been at for the Bandits. Goals were at a premium and it never seemed like either team could to truly ever gain any real momentum. Even moreso because the first round is a single elimination game before the next two series are best of 3. But the usual sell out crowd saw them pull off the win and advance to the next round... Let's Go Bandits!!

I agree so much with the bolded. My view is that if something like this happened in a Panthers game, as an example, and the Panthers did not immediately respond and then after the game the narrative was "It was a one goal game and we didn't want to risk a penalty", they would have credibility because everyone knows there are no shortage of players on the Panthers who are willing to respond, plus they win a lot. When you are a team like the Sabres and you lose a lot and you have a reputation for being soft, then "it was a one goal game...", doesn't really hold water as an excuse. I found, by my observation, that most of the "improved responses" that we saw after the Noesen hit, were half-hearted and performative.