Taro T

Which has the D netting out to even in 2nd 1/2's over the 1st Q of the season. Milano's TD in the plus column & only 7 given up in the minus. And 2 of those games were against running teams that have given them fits in the past. Neither of which had Oliver in the lineup & Phillips went out in the 1st game against a run 1st team. Really amazing stuff.

And the people on the board SHOULD be more optimistic than the general analysts. WE are expecting big things from Power and other young guys that the pundits don't expect because they've got 32 teams to watch & a team that was irrelevant that had either Comrie or Lyubushkin as the "big" FA isn't worth investigating that closely. The analytics guys aren't seeing it because as @GASabresIUFAN and others have brought up, their models don't handle rookies well nor are they particularly adept at modeling young players & guys coming off injuries in general as the models are usually linear but they're players that are on a more complex curve. And it's a big part of why the models always significantly miss some teams. They don't make enough money to have huge staffs looking into every team in detail with customized projections for each player. Still expect low 90's but w/ a pretty large SD so mid-80's if goaltending and other things like injuries bite them hard & really close to NHL 0.600 if goaltending & a skater or 2 exceed expectations which puts playoffs in play. Nobody outside sees it, because there's too much leaguewide to be looking at. And the late season run is likely getting chalked up to caring when the other team couldn't get up for the game. That explains October, not the last 25ish games. And that's part of the underestimation.

If he does, he has to stay up for 30 days or x # of games or the Sabres get him back (if they want him) as soon as the claiming team tries to waive him. Can't see anybody thinking he's their 2nd best option at present.

Had never heard of a Key Bank customer discount, so likewise, no data on that one. Not sure where he's coming in from, but both the Transit Rd Mighty and Ted's near the Depew Exit are still open as of 2 months ago.

This isn't about what they should've been doing. It's clear what they should've been doing. This is about what they were doing & what they were saying. If they're concerned about his head, they need to be reporting it. The league requires teams to report ALL injuries that might affect playing status. They didn't. They actually went to great lengths to say he didn't have a head injury. Pretty much every day they were saying he did not have a head injury and that there were no concussion protocols for him to be in because he didn't have a head injury. They said he had a back injury & an ankle injury. Fair enough, you tested for covid when you had some flu-like symptoms. That makes sense. Do you also routinely test for covid when you feel well and don't believe you've been exposed to covid? That wouldn't make sense. But is what people that are claiming the Fish were testing him daily were doing. That they didn't suspect a head injury, but tested him for one anyhow. The Fish were ADAMANT that he did not suffer a head injury against the Bills. Per them, he had a back injury and an ankle injury. Is it common for them to test people with ankle injuries for a concussion? If they were concerned about a head injury but told the world there was no head injury, well then they were lying about the lack of a head injury. And, lying about the head injury was ridiculously reckless and was a major contributor to his 2nd concussion.

Will be shocked if we aren't seeing that by the end of October. They are the 2 best offensive D-men this team has by a significant margin.

He might have been. Which is more of an indictment of the rest of them than a testament to his prowess. Alt played well for them too.

And the Ravens had a few calls go their way too. That'll happen when Jerome Bulger's crew is on point. But disagree about the Roughing the QB call - it was the right call. The guy basically stopped as Allen was throwing the ball, then decided to continue & tackle him. He knew the ball was gone and could easily have pulled up as he'd already started to do so.

They had to go for the TD. Allen could easily have scored 7 on the winning drive. A FG wouldn't have mattered and Harbaugh knew it just like everybody else watching.

Not getting heated over it. You keep saying he was tested every day. Other than the league's CMO, who was not at their facility, have not seen anybody else involved say that. 2 questions, which though one has been asked repeatedly, they never get answered, and no, you did not answer it in you're reply 1. why when they say he did not suffer a head injury in the game (& therefore suffered no concussion), did not list any head injury as an issue during the week (though they did list a back injury and an ankle injury), and stated repeatedly that he was not in the concussion protocol would they have been testing him daily to prove he didn't suffer an injury that they say he didn't sustain? That makes no sense, unless he really did have a concussion. And 2. Who besides the league's CMO said he was tested daily? They said he wasn't in the concussion protocol so there would've been no reason to test him. (Again, presuming they aren't lying about no head injury, however ....)

Tischke isn't as much of a puck mover as the others, but he's not exactly a solid defensive defenseman either. Guess he's their "stay at home" guy. Good luck with that Ukka & Malcolm. You'll need it.

Somebody needs to buy UPL & Subban copies of Eric Carmen's "All By Myself." Horrible song, but appropriate because in games, they will be.

Barring a serious injury epidemic, don't see any way Bjork is a Sabre 11 days from now.

Expecting the Sabres keep all 3 of those kids up w/ Hinostroza sliding to 13, but if Vinny is in the top 12 expect Sheahan to be the 13 & probably JJ but possibly Krebs slide to Ra-cha-cha. (Prior to the prospects challenge would've expected Peterka to start in Ra-cha-cha.) Though expecting Krebs to start the year in Buffalo, could see them deciding mid-year he needs to slide back down to really focus on not making that pass that doesn't work at this level (which may be counter productive because that pass does work in the A). Because sending Mittelstadt & Thompson down worked is the only reason we MIGHT see Krebs sent down.

Based on the contract they gave Bryson, he will have to clearly outplay Bryson to take his spot. From what we've seen in preseason to date, he might do so. Really expect they're going w/ 8 D because it makes practices run easier & Fitzgerald would be the D going down unless something changes these last 2 games.

So, in Seattle a Kraken is a stylized troll doll? Alrighty then.

Expecting those 2 will both make the Amerks, but it is premature to say they have made that squad. There are several players there now that will be in Cincy or back in Junior within the next 2 weeks.

And it seems to be based upon him shooting 1 puck into the side of the net rather than into the open net.

No, you are. The guy who is not in Coral Gables says they tested him every day. The guy who is actually there every day & runs the team's day to day activities says he wasn't in the concussion protocol. Have asked this before and you have ignored the question but if he was NOT in the concussion protocol during the week just WHY & for WHAT were they testing him for? He was listed as having a back and an ankle injury. There was NO listing of a head injury at ANY point between the 2 games. If they explicitly said he DIDN'T have a head injury AND he wasn't in the concussion protocol, then just wtf were they testing for? Further, do they test ALL players regardless of head injury status? Because if they don't test everybody for head injuries, either the Fishies were lying about him not having a head injury and his not being in the concussion protocol, the league chief doctor who is an administrator in this whole affair and wasn't there was lying about him being tested (or perhaps HE was lied to & he's repeating what he was told), or they're all lying and he did get a concussion but they needed him to play Sunday because it was their Superbowl & they figured the odds of him getting another concussion in short order were long enough that it was worth the risk to his health and then they couldn't put him in concussion protocol because it would be admitting they lied on Sunday. And if you read the actual in game protocol the NFL uses EITHER the "independent" neurospecialist can clear him OR the team physician can. No info on who cleared him, but am guessing we know who it was. Further, the issue about him being tested during the week is it makes no sense at all WHY they'd be testing him DAILY for neurofunction if, as the Fishies STILL claim, he DIDN'T have a head injury during the Bills game. Please explain WHY they'd test for head injury when they swear he didn't have one. Again, he was not listed on the injury report as having a head injury and the coach SAID REPEATEDLY he was not in the concussion protocol because he did not have a head injury. Most all the discussion with Porous has been about the team's (in)actions during the week NOT during the game. That is where/when the league chief doctor is claiming he was tested and the Fishies were saying he didn't have a head injury & was not in concussion protocol, so just what the #### was he getting tested for? Everybody agrees he was "tested" (wink, wink, nod, nod) for a concussion during the game; that isn't in dispute. However, his actually legitimately passing the test sure seems to be debatable.

Have no idea what they were testing him for. The head coach said REPEATEDLY during the week that Tua was NOT in the concussion protocol. If he's not in the protocol, what exactly are they testing him for? BTW, the "independent neuro expert" was fired today. Or have they been also talking to another "independent neuro expert?" Pretty sure the NFL is in CYA mode. At this point, they should be.

Except for Savoie, yes.

Needs to look like a veteran paired with Jokiharju.

From @flashsabre 's article: Tagovailoa was hit by Bills linebacker Matt Milano late in the first half and appeared to hit his head on the turf. He stumbled when he got up and was immediately taken to the locker room, where he was evaluated for a concussion. He returned to the game at the start of the third quarter and was not in the concussion protocol the following week, despite questions about why he was allowed to return to the game at all after displaying what the NFL concussion protocol describes as "gross motor instability." So, no, he WAS NOT tested daily because he wasn't in the protocol. Or do they randomly test everyone whether they are in the concussion protocol or not? I mean, their coach said he'd NEVER put a player's safety at risk and we know coaches never lie, so it's possible they might.

Well, it's pretty clear that that individual ####ed up royally. But this appears to be the Fish & the league (via the union) playing CYA after the fact. And for once the "Twitter mob" was a good thing. The 1/2 time show of Thursday's game never once referenced Tua's hit the previous Sunday and until the bitter end AL Michaels was toeing the party line of back injury (pretty sure even for Thursday's injury); but after the web went wild, the post-game show was actually referencing Sunday's hit. Don't particularly like nor dislike Tua (well, being a Bills fan really hope he's QBing the Fish for the next decade), but really hope he doesn't have chronic issues because of taking 2 bad concussions in less than a week. And maybe something like legit following of concussion protocols ends up the followup to this week's events which would be a very large silver lining to this.

Amen to the bolded. Really believe that they have enough character in the dressing room that the players should be allowed to vote for who wears the letters. If it ends up close, let the coaches cast the deciding vote; but these kids seem to actually be (mature) adults & my expectation is they'll identify the guys that really are leading & not just vote via popularity contest or vote for who the marketing department might want. (Which seems to be how the coach chose to give out the last C (and the co-primary A's before that).)