Taro T

Simple. The league wants to incentivize winning in regulation and wants to deemphasize a glorified skills competition.

Is what it is. 6 teams were within 2 wins of a DeLuca 0.500. The stat says 4 of the 6 should've made the playoffs. Only 2 of them actually did. A stat that fails 1/3 of the time for anybody that has a record near the metric is IMHO trash. NHL 0.600 has incorrectly predicted a team making the playoffs exactly once in the modern era and that happened under very unusual circumstances over 50 years ago. You hit that mark, you make the playoffs. Period.

You know, the starting center and 1 of his wingers for the team that knocked the Sabres out of the playoffs most recently.

Sorry, it is a trash metric and the appeal of it is purely emotional.

If Thompson and Cozens are on the same line, let Cozens primarily take the C duties in his own end and let Thompson tend to be that 3F more with Cozens being 1F or 2F (basically, having Cozens as the W in the offensive zone with Tage as the C there). Very much the way Briere and Leino did it back the last time the Sabres were in the playoffs. Note, this doesn't mean that the expectation is they will be together again next year; just one example of how they could make it work.

The problem of being Kyle Okposo. Let's see: multimillionaire; hot wife; seemingly great kids; very well liked by his co-workers; loved by many in his community; on the verge of retiring and moving to where he grew up at an age where he can easily enjoy another 50 years of a great life. We should all be lucky enough to have these kinds of problems. ;)

Possibly. Wouldn't expect it though. He doesn't get top PP usage. But 70 points would definitely be possible.

It's a useless metric that means nothing except your team managed to win (whether it be in regulation, overtime, or via a shootout) in at least 1/2 the games you played. People will tell you it's a wonderful proxy for getting into the playoffs except when it isn't. The Sabres won 42 games including their 9 OT wins and 3 SO wins. So, it looks like they were above 0.500 and the disciples will tell you they should be in the playoffs. But in regulation, their record was only 30-33-19. So, they were very good this year in the non-hockey portion of the game and a smidge under so-so in the hockey portion of the game. They are 1 of 2 teams that hit that illustrious threshold that didn't make the playoffs. NHL 0.600 is the metric that matters. Had the Sabres reached it, they'd've been in the playoffs.

Still want Varlamov paired with him. They need 2 guys they have deserved faith that they can get the job done should 1 falter or go down to injury. Comrie or UPL MIGHT be good enough as a backup to play 25 games. But they can't risk that.

Made that same comment to the wifey. Wtf?

2 points short. They didn't have the tiebreaker over anybody.

91 points. Okposo was right. They ARE an NHL team.

You bet on the Habs to win? Who are they playing, the Expos?

Hope the stupid Aisles sweep the Canes then either get thumped by or sweep the other metro NYC team they'd face. Because the league deserves having lousy hockey in the playoffs with the way they make decisions.

Really want to see Rousek get a point tonight. Not many rookies end up over a PPG players. ;)

Pretty sure you could have gotten really good odds betting on that to happen.

Mitts and Tuch need 1 more point each for big milestones.

1 more point for 60.

Hopefully this is Botterill's final parting gift to the Sabres.

You're in for spending a lot of nights in that old barn. The only real perks besides slightly cheaper tickets than window prices as dibs on PLAYOFF TIX are the Blue and Gold Insights (did 3 of them this year after only 1 each of the 2 previous seasons), 20 percent off in the Sabres store and Sabres bucks, an appreciation gift - this past season a nice Miller tribute plaque along with a pin and a scarf; last year it was a blanket. There typically is only 1 gift, so you and your buddy have to decide who will end up with it. 2 years ago, for the 50th anniversary season it was a set of 4 glasses. You also might get invited to the rope line or possibly riding the Zamboni in intermissions. There's a couple of other minor perks, but that's pretty much it. Hopefully you're in an area with a good bunch of people. You tend to get to know the people that are regulars. We were lucky. Only had 1 dink sitting next to us in over 1/4 of a century. (Of course he was there 2 seasons, grr.) Have fun with it.

That's the way we were told the story. Whether the league actually told him Connolly wouldn't be able to play in the playoffs without playing any regular season games or if that was an excuse for not having tried to add more at the deadline is a question for another day.

They surely did. But did they really promise him 7 out of 9? That seems a little excessive.

Different styles of players, but the Sabres have their Pronger and Neidermayer here right now. Expecting them to lock both of them up for the long haul.

For whatever reason they don't seem comfortable in what Comrie brings. Or, reading it the opposite way, maybe they believe the injuries he's battled through aren't quite healed (or maybe they were exacerbated in the Habs game) so they're shutting him down to have him healthy next season. Don't know. Either way, want to see Varlamov paired with Levi next year and hopefully one of the other 2 can be snuck into Ra-cha-cha. Comrie probably has the better chance of getting through waivers. (Provided Winnipeg isn't desperate for a backup. They seem to have a love hate relationship with that kid.)

And had they only added Power, am nearly certain Johnson would've signed. Probably still would've without the Stillman signing and the reports of trying to land Chychrun. But it looks like the probability that Adams will bring in a top 4 guy combined with everybody else they have that is 3rd pairing or tweener quality is going to scare him off. So, as we say on our beer league team: #### that guy.