Taro T

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Tuch!

Thank God that was Nylander in behind the D. He felt the pressure behind him and choked.

A Tuch led team never quits. ;)

Maybe he's afraid Foster Hewitt trademarked it?

Dahlin seems to get stuck with Bryson, Power with Clague. Expecting if it were Jokiharju that were out instead of Samuelsson then Clague would've gotten the start.

Really annoying because he hustled hard to get into a position to cover him and then once he was within a sticklength of Porn Stache he just glided into the zone. 2 extra strides and the Sabres survive that rush.

Especially the ones that don't actually connect with the opponent's head? Female Dog Marner sold that one well.

GREAT backcheck from Tuch, saved a very likely goal.

What did 74 ever do to you? Seems a rather inoccuous number. (NHL numbers shouldn't be over 31 (unless you're Tony Esposito in which case 35 is acceptable) but that's besides the point.)

Perhaps. But they should give it to Tuch. ;)

For whatever it is worth, you really do seem to take disagreement more harshly than it is intended from several posters. That said, agree that all things being equal it will be far easier to get into the playoffs next year from a base roster than makes low 90's this year or even mid 80's than coming from a team ending the year at 82 or 83 points. But, IF they come into next year with legit NHL goaltending, that alone should be worth at least 10 points in the standings. Which puts the rest of the improvement to a 100+ point roster into a doable category simply from continued improvement from individual players as they grow 1 year closer to their primes provided they remain relatively healthy. And regardless of whether they publicly admit it or not (and expect they won't but hope they do) the MINIMAL goal next year needs to be 100 points. (Give themselves a point or 2 of a cushion to miss the goal and still get into the dance.) Anything less is unacceptable.

Fully expect that to be entirely his own decision. But where he is age wise and with the ages of his kids, that new house in Minny says he may have already made that decision. Lance would have the opportunity to have broached that subject with Okposo, so he should have a better read of the tea leaves than we do, but Kyle has said publicly that his time in Buffalo on this roster is growing short. (Whether that means he leaves this year or in a year or 2, or if he's just stating the obvious that nobody defeats father time remains open to interpretation.)

Good point. And even if ROR were playing, doubt there's as much emotion for him with it being the NEXT game against his old squad rather than the very 1st one with his new team. But really expect getting Tuch into the lineup is going to give the Sabres a lift. Play like they did against the Rags and good things can happen.

Yes. Expect they also expected at least 1 of Fitzgerald, Pilut, and Clague to be able to be a legit 6 as well. No way they thought all 3 would be top 6 material, but at least 1 of them panning out was likely expected. And one of them being legit top 6 material is why it would be really good to get one more guy they expect to be a 6 to be in the mix with Lyubushkin, Johnson, and Stillman for the bottom pairing with Jokiharju should a 4 be brought in.

And Dahlin could write heartfelt ghostwritten letters to the fans without wearing the C as well. He'll also be fine. ;)

It probably will be. But that doesn't mean that it's the right decision. IMHO Tuch should be the captain. But he doesn't need a letter to be a leader of this team. Adams and Granato will do what they want on this one.

No, that puck absolutely hit him in the head. Went back and rewatched it. And believe @brawndo is right that it hit him in the cheek. Originally thought it hit him in the ear, but there was no blood and it looked like it just missed the ear.

Realistically, Sunday or Monday. Maybe he could catch a ride on the Bruins charter? ;)

Maybe those photos aren't as incriminating / embarrassing as we'd suspected. ;)

In regular practice sweater, not the no contact version presumably?

He definitely wasn't plan A. But after Murray nixed the trade and Gibson did likewise (if he even got to the point of having worked out a deal with Anaheim), Comrie sure seems to have been next on their list. The question is, would he still have been on the list had the Murray trade happened? Am hoping he would've been and they've brought both in house (which would've left Anderson on the outside), but am guessing that they would've just brought Murray in and either Anderson or somebody left on the market 4 or so days into FA.

Could see that as it does seem to be their primary modus operandi. Regardless of whether they bring in a name guy or an under the radar one for the 4, expect he'll have a bit of a learning curve getting used to the way that Granato has them play. Which is another part of what was frustrating about them not landing the guy they'd hoped to pencil into the top 4 at the deadline. Not just the lack of a boost this season, but had they landed Chychrun he'd've had 20+ games in this system (even more if they sneak into the playoffs) before we get to October. He'd've been ready to hit the ground running. The question though for figuring out who they do go after this summer is who has played for Granato before? They seem to have an attraction to guys that they know can play in Donnie's system because they have in the past. Figure out who those guys are and that's likely where the smart money will be betting. The guy you mentioned, Borgen, played a few games for Granato here. They'd know what they're getting. Not sure he's a 4, but if he were playing with Power he could probably fake it well enough. (Kind of like Samuelsson fakes being a 2 well enough playing with Dahlin.)

Get Tuch back and treat this game like the Heritage Classic last year. It's not a TNT game, but that shouldn't keep them from setting up another classic Bissonette meltdown. Let him go home tonight and cry in his Loaf jammies.

He did. But, in addition what is here (which is 6 NHLers deep with 2 tweeners and Johnson likely on the way) he should bring in that 4 and 1 more Lyubushkin / Stillman level guy. That would have the top 8 all NHL caliber with Johnson, Clague, and Bryson in Ra-cha-cha. We KNOW they'll be down 2 D-men at some point and being short 3 wouldn't be unrealistic. The team can handle having any of those bottom 3 in the lineup if the other 5 guys are all NHLers and it's just for a handful of games. It also would benefit the farm as those Forwards we're looking to bring in as cheap reinforcements and push guys like Olofsson out of the lineup in the near future will have the top 1/2 of the D-corps behind them being guys that have been in the NHL or will soon be there which will help their odds for success tremendously. Am sure another NHL D-man will be brought in this summer. Hoping he's that 4 they need. Also hoping we see 1 more NHL quality guy brought in. If they do, then D is set for the short term and probably until the Russians or other prospects are ready to step in.