repster

These are the Rogers-based Canadian channels (Sportsnet, Sportsnet 1, CityTV, FX-Canada) that replaced TSN and CBC as the national broadcasters for the NHL this year. (CBC will still show Saturday night games for you guys down in Buffalo for at least the next 4 years, but there will be so many more channels to watch different games on up here on a Saturday night.) This is good for people like me, since the Sabres screwed most of their regular Canadian fans by simulcasting most available Sabres MSG games (those that didn't conflict with Hockey Night in Canada) on Bell TV for people in the Niagara region (not available on the cable company, Cogeco) (also making them no longer available on NHL Centre Ice), which only about 20% of people in Niagara have as their TV provider.

Apologies if this has already been addressed but, I am wondering if our prospect is in the last year of his junior eligibility and his team gets knocked out will that player join Rochester this year. I am thinking about Grigs of course, but are there other players that are in their last year of junior eligibility (is Justin Bailey at that stage?) that would be slated for Roch if their team gets knocked out? Thanks in advance. Gotta change the avatar again with Patty gone...

or a hockey player or a beer or both: case in point: Matt Moulson Canadian ;)

Might have to follow the Habs like in my teenage years. Will always cheer strongly against the Leafs - I really hope they don't make the playoffs. Their fans will plan the parade if they do.

He was already suspended for 4 games for head butting. I couldn't picture him getting less with this incident. If he hadn't already been suspended, he probably would have received 2 maybe 3 games. It's like he's on probation and violated it

First time ever that I was able to watch the Sabres home feed in HD on my cable-based Centre Ice package. I have no idea how it happened, but maybe the cold war with the Dolan's is over? Feed seemed like it was coming from iN-Demand in the USA - and there were no commercials shown.

I like the fact that they pressured the point on the penalty kill and attacked the puck carrier. They established a forecheck and had good pace to the game. If they can play like this more often they can probably stay near playoff contention but they have to become consistent with this effort and style of play, and certainly need to beat Florida in a couple days. Confidence can really be a huge thing, and it is still early in the season. At least it might be interesting to watch a few more games and see how they evolve

End of the year. Rick Dudley. Clean house and maximize assets on or before trade deadline day. Won't deal now as negotiating position will be better later. I actually left the game with more than 7 minutes left tonight. New record for me.

Honestly, this team looks like it's in total disarray. They look like an AHL team. Miller saved their bacon in Toronto and last night. Other than that, they really have had no flow, no speed, no confidence, no puck possession, no toughness, no passion. Nothing. I have not seen this poor level of play since probably the early 2000s before we had Briere and Drury. It is scary bad, almost embarrasing. If you were Miller, would you want to re-sign with this team when that contract runs out? Can't we get a defenseman to stand someone up at the blue line and pressure the point man on the penalty kill, instead of sitting back and trying to get in shot lanes or getting sticks in passing lanes. The teams they are playing against can see if they forecheck the Sabres defense, they will panic and just dump the puck around the boards and our forwards get no time to make a play as the opposing D seems to be on them right away. The breakout looks terrible, and the passing on the forward lines is just awful. Even with the dump ins, they are not pursuing hard enough to regain possession. Why can't this team skate with the other teams? They always look like they are getting outhustled. I just don't remember it being this glaringly bad in a long time. Something has to give with this team. Coach, GM, players? I am glad I'm not Terry Pegula right now, the ship looks like it is sinking fast. Usually I am not this pessimistic, but I just can't believe what I'm seeing.

Maybe I should change it to Penalty Snapshot?

It might not matter how much the Sabres need to win today. This will be their third game in 4 nights, and Florida hasn't played since Thursday. Combine that with the Sabres lack of confidence and probably some desperation by Florida, and I don't think the odds are too good. That having been said, I will be there and hope I am totally wrong. They better come out guns blazing or the atmosphere in the arena will be like a library and that will be another thing that won't help them.

He was sending a message to Chris Neil: you have 5 days left to live.

Regarding Myers, I agree that he has looked really bad and it's worrisome. On the other hand, he is probably not in shape as he had a leg injury most of December in Germany and played one single game before coming back to the NHL. I think he needs to get his conditioning back. Probably the same with Gerbe who started well but many seemed to think he faded as the game went along and maybe that hit from behind took a bit out of him. The end of the Leafs game worried me though with all the penalties and Toronto was really buzzing at the end, but they had an extra day off. This one - we had two full days off so outside of Myers and Gerbe, no excuses. Enroth was certainly a factor but the team in front of him wasn't very good either. Tonight will tell a lot.

I believe that the atmosphere in the arena is directly proportional to the team performance (and perhaps related to the style of play as well). I went to at least 10 games a year in the 2005-2007 Drury/Briere years and all the playoff games, and I still consider myself fully entertained even though they didn't win the cup. The atmosphere in the arena was absolutely incredible and very loud (not to mention all the people in the plaza). After losing those two and figuring out how Golisano and Quinn were operating the team, apathy set in to a degree. People didn't really "believe" anymore and the team didn't perform - they disappointed. Not making the playoffs hasn't made people "believe" that they are in cup contention. I think that the style of play during those playoff years was also more wide open and had lots of offense which also gets the crowd into it. The lack of firewagon hockey and more losing in the last few years has really contributed to the arena experience being a little quieter. Get more winning/more offense, and you will get more excitement. I think being a Buffalo fan has had a lot of bitter disappointment over the years compared to other markets and I think this contributes as well. I can see the socioeconomic factors playing some role too.

Anyone think Grigorenko won't be the #3 centre between Ott and Leino and Hecht the #4 between Kaleta and probably Gerbe when he's healthy again?

So, your time slot started at 11? I started at 9. I can't see anyone starting earlier than that so I guess my seniority must be pretty good. There was only a small handful of tickets in 100 Level II where the Sabres shoot twice, I grabbed a pair in row 8 for 4 games and picked a value and bronze game in Sec 116 about 10 rows up which should be pretty sweet. I did see a few tickets available together in the 200 level just below the Harbour (Lexus?) Club for most games.

Just got my mini-pack tickets this morning. The tickets.com online system had a problem with my credit card saying it was "already on file" and did not let me process my order. I called 1-888-GOSABRE and asked for account services. They filled my order over the phone and I still used the system to select the exact section and seat, so I would give them a call and have your account number handy http://replay.tickets.com/buy/MyTicketsServlet?orgid=35807&agency=SABM_MYTIXX This is the site you need to access to see if your information works before you call

Selected my mini-pack today at noon. I liked being able to see exactly what seats I could pick from in every section. I didn't like the fact that I couldn't pick 2 seats if there were three available together (leaving a single seat). Had a great location in Sec 114 but had to go to the other side of the ice in 100 Level II for four of my games (not a big deal). There were very slim pickings left for a pair at this level in the Sabres shoot twice end. I also picked a couple games in Sec 116 near the blue line but nothing really higher than row 8. Wondering when the first round of selectors were able to choose. I figured I would be somewhere close to early in the queue as I've been a mini-pack holder for more than 10 years. Only picked a couple games before Christmas thanks to the outstanding progress and great hope associated with the labor negotiations...

The Bills are still a pleasant surprise this year. No one saw 5-2 after 7 games. They are an good improving football team. Maybe even overachieving, bu they are not a great football team. They have a lot of holes to plug especially on D, but they are still moving in the right direction. I'm disappointed but not surprised at today's result and see a 9-7 finish. Not good enough for the playoffs but the most interesting and fun Bills team to watch in many years. Unlike the Sabres, the goal isn't the championship (at least not realistically), so as long as I get some entertainment value and see improvement, I will be satisfied with that. Next year I think a realistic hope would be that they get into the playoffs with a double digit win season.

Looks like the Bills will get the top announcing crew on CBS this week. I think there's a good chance they will get Nantz and Simms for the Jets and Cowboys game as well. Maybe Buck and Aikman for the Washington game?

2011 Ford Escape. Company car. Really like the Sirius Satellite Radio for the first six months for free. It was still free after 7 months when it shut off and I had to sign up. Had problems getting it set up and had called back 4 times - still nothing. Said to customer service: forget it, cancel my subscription and eventually got it for half price (which is still $100 for a year after tax) ...HNIC radio during hockey season is really in depth and not just about the Leafs like FAN 590. Good hockey talk before local sports starts on GR at 3pm. Commercial-free and a lot of good variety of music and talk as well.

I feel bad for Weber. I thought he played a pretty solid game until he had that huge mistake. I feel worse for Adam. He scores his first NHL goal and then takes the fluke high sticking penalty to lose it. At least Weber helped save the other point with Miller out of position near the end. The Sabres had other glorious chances to win but I can't count how many open nets the Bruins missed. I couldn't believe it. The officials had a bad game, the refs missed that punch and Miller's interference claim at the end, and the linesmen messed up at least a couple offside calls when the Sabres were clearly onside. I almost never complain about the officials, but they were atrocious tonight. The Bruins are a bigger stronger and I would say more polished team. I hate them, and I've hated them ever since the 80's when they ruined us in the playoffs every year. Thankfully we have Toronto to make me feel better every time we play them - at least I can make fun of my neighbors and remember that I'm not a Leaf fan.

Lalime always seems to play the third game in four nights or the 4th in 6. Why not play the better goalie (Miller) when the team is most likely to have the least amount of energy? Play Lalime in the middle games when he would have a fresher team in front of him? I know Miller was injured tonight, but this has never made sense to me. Someone should put this thought in Ruff's head.

A Sabres win coupled with a Carolina loss tonight and guess who's in a playoff spot after being dead last what, just a couple weeks ago?

Sub in Stafford for Hecht and you can call them the "concussion line".