Taro T

Wtf? Anderson & Butcher are looking at Skinner who's looking back at Andy. Tuch & Pysyk are chatting. Wilfred (or whatever the D bench coach' name is) & the guy next to him are looking at Bales (presumably). Jokiharju & Krebs are also chatting. Somebody in the back is playing w/ his hair. And Okposo & Girgensons are stifling a laugh. And Terry Pegula's doing the "me so proud" crossed arms pose. [Edit: plus there's a random intern blocking a few people & 2 others with their backs to the camera.] That's the best take of the bunch? Where did they find the photographer? Was it put your incompetent to work day?

Wouldn't that bite if Columbus being involved in a trade costs the Sabres Jiricek just like it cost them Coutourier several years back. 😡

You already answered your question, but darn near ALL of the French Canadian players that came into the league pre-mid-90's were chain smokers. The better question would be which ones weren't.

Thank you for that. Will take exception though to the characterization that yours truly wants to treat this as a GR call in show. Absolutely not. There is no nuance to that format and there & no learning. It is truly boring after a few minutes. Your use of the term debate is fine. But IMHO that is still defining things too adversarially as it presumes, especially when looked at in the competitive sense, the positions are diametrically opposed, but they rarely are here. (Though there are definitely some that it fits the discussion to a Tee. 😉 ) We all want the same thing in the end, but with different ideas as to what path is the best route to get there. And some of what has worked this year under Granato has yours truly significantly questioning my own beliefs/ expectations. Want to see it work when the team actually wants/tries to win & at a pace above (& above by more than a max of 6 points more than) expected to figure out what those refinements should actually be; but you get the just of the point. 😉 You say the discussion about Olofsson is a semantics argument, but it is more than that. MHO. YMMV. Olofsson's defensive play improved this season, again IMHO. Considering this was a "development" year and also that the players brought in to supplement the team were less effective than he was and apparently there was no substantial fear of doing further harm to the wrist, saw no reason whatsoever to shut him down. From what has been stated in public, it doesn't appear that shutting him down would've caused the injury to heal any faster either, which would've been a reason to shut him down. And, there's no way of knowing what he'd've scored w/ staying healthy, so what you're calling "whataboutism" is simply trying to understand why you'd've shut him down. Not every question posed is a "gotcha" trap. 😉

To that bolded. THAT is what this kid was trying to get at. Thanks for stating it so succinctly. 🍺

He does still make blind passes on occasion. But the ones that aren't no look actually find their mark now. That was not typically the case before Tuch got here. Who knows, maybe the improved passing is an illusion created by him now passing to giants that are skilled. Will give him the benefit of the doubt for now.

See, this is likely why you have so many issues here w/ other posters. You see this discussion as an argument, it isn't. You said you would've shut Olofsson down due to a wrist injury. That led to a question. You then said if the wrist injury cost him 30 points over 30 games you'd've shut him down. Truly doubt he'd've gotten a PPG during that stretch, bit won't say it was absolutely out of the question as he was their best scorer prior to the injury and others have been at a PPG pace for significant stretches since Tuch arrived. Would you have shut him down if it only cost him 20 points? In either case, why would you shut him down in a season devoted to development when the coach was saying from pretty much the day he came back that he can literally do everything he normally could except shoot? His overall game seems to have improved through that stretch. Was that not worth having him in the lineup? If not, why not? We get it, you're having an argument w/ Bob. But that doesn't mean we don't want to understand your position better. You've made statements. Clarifications have been asked for in good faith. Feel free to provide them or not. Happy Friday.

Doubt he'd've been a PPG player over that 30 game stretch, but who knows. 20 is probably very realistic. And flat out don't agree that he should've been shut down. Definitely not in this "development is the focus" season we've watched.

Would actually say his defensive game has improved the most during this past stretch. But he is a good passer. (People tend to forget that he was Reinhart's winger when Sam actually started scoring some goals that weren't from w/in 3' of the crease.) Passing w/ the bum wrist probably did help improve that to an extent. And agree that Mittelstadt likely still isn't 100%, though his skating finally doesn't look labored, so expect he's close to 100%. Looking forward to seeing him next year when he is at 100%.

Skinner's season is waaaay better than his 1st season in Buffalo. Regardless of whether he stays at 80% of the goal total that year or ends up closer to it. Skinner has learned how to pass. He also isn't a train wreck in his own end. He's not only effective when backchecking the D bringing the puck out of the zone, but in other areas as well. He was a total 1-1/2 trick pony under Housley but has actually rounded out his game far more than this kid expected to be possible.

His wrist was messed up. He could do everything a hockey player does except shoot. (Which was a big part of why that injury was so frustrating.) You would've had him in the press box for 2 extra months because his shot was gone? At the same time the Sabres had ~6 Amerks dressing on any given night? IMHO, Granato made the right decision having him try to play through the injury & work on other aspects of his game.

Yep. When healthy, he's in the top 12. Not just on this team but many others. Being ridiculously below the cap floor lets Buffalo have the luxury of keeping Girgensons even though he'll likely only play 60 or so games. Have a real bottom 6 NHLer as the 13th F, so he can step in when Z is hurt.

It was already covered roughly a decade ago - the other '70's pure goal scorer - Rico. He finally gets to show them what he could've done minus the knee injury. He'd've been right there w/ them in the HHoF.

Yeah, this team has been fun to watch for the most part which is a significant improvement over the last 5 years at a minimum. The cool thing is, for the 1st time in ages, the vast majority of this team will be back in October and we, as fans, are actually looking forward to that possibility rather than dreading it. And the handful that won't be back will be upgraded. The only guys that were useful this year that might not be back are Hinostroza, Pysyk, and Anderson (Eakin was useful on the GEO line & in OT, but not for much else on ice, & doubt he's back either) and pretty sure it will be their decision not to come back if they don't. Pysyk has been bumped to 7D for this stretch run (which is ideally where he'd be if he comes back, so he might look for an opportunity where he can be in the top 6 regularly). Still not convinced Adams will get the GT right, but am hopeful of it. He really does have a team that plays hard for each other & want to be here. He knows GT (and the age of the skaters, they aren't finished products yet) is the main thing holding them back. Can't do anything about the latter, but he has a huge say in the former. Am fine w/ this season ending because this team is so far back, it can do nothing but play for pride & individual development. Want to see how long this team can play at a playoff pace when losses actually matter. That isn't an option at this point of this season. But hopefully, we get not just the fun of watching these guys play well and truly joyfully, but also in games that matter. The Eulers team that snuck into the playoffs and knocked off the Habs in '81 were having so much fun in the moment they were actually chanting/singing on the bench. Want to be a part of these guys experiencing that and that CAN'T happen this season. They're too buried. But it COULD happen as soon as next season. (Probably have to wait 1 more year for that, but it might.) And that's going to blow the doors off what we're getting now. This kid's ready to see if they can take the next step. (But also hasn't tried to sell any tix in the last month & a half, so totally get where the OP is coming from.)

Whatever the trade is, and a goalie could very well come from a trade, the odds are high that it'll be a bridge guy that is brought in rather than a LT starter.

1st Bossy, now him. The 2 best pure goal scorers of the 70's. RIP to the original Flower. Still recall how he barely survived a car crash late towards the end of his time in Moe-ray-all. His car hit a road sign that went through the windshield. Just missed him.

One other thing that hopefully comes out of this game is Granato remembering who the D pairing was at the end of the 2nd. That play should be a stark reminder why so many of us really dislike that particular combination and why he shouldn't go back to it regardless to how much it seems right to him.

Doesn't Ruff have a job with a team that plays close to where Joisey's 2 football teams play? Wouldn't a plan to bring him in as PoHO be considered to be tampering?

And now Anderson has 3 games left to get the 2 W's he needs for 310.

Think we just did!

Well, dayum!

President of Hockey Operations.

Anybody else have flashbacks to Marty's "heeeey, Liiiiiindeeeeeeeey" when the cameras kept flashing to Ruff after the shorties?

You forget & ONLY on the PP too.

Borrowing a page from @dudacek IIRC, tIat was the Tale of the Tall to the Skinny. The way the ice is,. , they actually needed that to ensure this outcome.