Kristian

He's certainly bang-on regarding the leadership void that has plagued this team since 2007, and the "wasteland of bad contracts" bit. I also whole-heatedly agree with his assesment that Vanek and Miller likely don't want to stay here, unless things change drastically in the off-season, starting with the GM position. That said, and Darcy being Darcy, I can easily seem him keep both around for another season where they really don't want to be here, only to walk for nothing as UFA's next year.

Another reason why the Gerbe experiment needs to stop - A couple of times last night, a teammate would put a nice lead pass to him, cross-ice through the neutral zone, only to elude him simply because his stick is so damn short, and his reach equally short. Anyone else on the team receives that pass with no problems, but Gerne simply can't reach them more often than not. Seen it happen several times this season, and it just annoys the heck out of me.

And a division title. Don't forget the division title. Regier got us that division title. Did I mention there was a division title??? /sarcasm off :flirt:

Of course. I don't have access to info you don't, just like you don't have access to info that I don't, so that door swings both ways. Ever had a stiff neck after a game? Wouldn't suprised if that happened from spilling head-frist into the boards, especially seeing as muscles usually don't tighten up for real until the body relaxes. That's enough reason to sit one out. Or maybe it was his wrist... Or his shoulder.... Or his elbow.... Or whatever bodypart he managed to hold during the time he was rolling around on the ice, what do I know?

Nonsense? The guy couldn't even decide on which bodypart to pretend was injured. Like I said, stupid play, even dangerous, if there was any intent. Looked more accidental to me, but I'm not trying to argue whether it was one or the other - But Richards rolling around on the ice afterwards was 110% embellishment. I've seen way too many of those plays over the years in which a player gets really hurt, and a surefire way to tell somebody got hurt by being sent face-first into the boards, is that they don't move at all, in the creepiest possible way. And mind you, I'm not one of the "Oh, too bad he got turned into a vegetable, but he should've kept his head up" crowd. All I'm saying is, Richards was lucky he wasn't hurt on the play, which is a good thing. Still doesn't take away from the fact that he sold it to the officials once he realised he was ok.

So, does that mean they'll act like they're going after him, much like Richards acted like he was hurt? Stupid play by Kaleta, and I'm sure Richards was off-balance, but he sold that "hit" like a world class italian soccer player.

I have no sort of research nor evidence to back this up, but I honestly think most goalies play better when they have a hard working team in front of them, simply because hard-working teams clear more rebounds, block more shots, get more sticks in passing lanes or on opposing sticks, and just generally get in position defensively faster than the so-called "talented" slacker team we saw the past 5 years. If you go on youtube and watch some of Dom's highlight reels - Some of his greatest saves left him completely gone and out for the count, only to have a defenseman clear the puck. I watched the 1999 Ottawa and Toronto series recently, and that defense was excellent at clearing rebounds and bounces. Not saying this is the only, or even the main, reason Enroth and Miller have been playing well, but I get the feeling especially Miller feeds off his teammates' efforts, considering how often he likes to call them out for slcaking off.

I agree. Remember the last faceoff where the Bruins put their AHL call-up tough-guy on, and Lindy called a timeout to get Scott out there? The broadcast zoomed in on the AHL guy (I forgot his name 5 minutes after the game), and you could just see him thinking "Ok, might be a bad idea.....". At any rate, Scott came on the ice, and none of the Bruins tried any "last 15-seconds" crap.

How does one become, or let alone, stay a fan of Stafford? I mean, that must be like rooting for the Washington Generals?

They went to the finals in 2009-2010, then beat us in 2010-2011, made the 5th seed last year - Clearly they had further to fall.

You'd think he was JocelynThibault, the way some peope here talk about him though. I've seen Philly suck royally before - They're almost always back in the playoffs the following season. The Sabres? Well, they seem to prefer sucking for several seasons at a time.

Worth every cent of the 4 million.

Yeah, impressive that a pro player can't receive a perfect pass well enough to be able to lift the puck 5 inches off the ice.

Pat Kaleta remindend me of Barnaby when he was yapping in towards the Philly box there :-)

I get the feeling his is exactly what Doc was talking about.

.... I'll be taking full credit, as I just canceled my Viaplay (NHL Center ice in Scandinavia) subscription. Was a discount subscription they did at about half the price of what they normally charge, once it became clear there would be a season this year. Only signed up to watch the Sabres, and now that they're all but eliminated, I had to cancel so I wouldn't be charged for an extra 3 months. Now, if the Sabres *do* make the playoffs, I'll have to sign up again, this time paying full price for the sports package. So.... In the absurdly unlikely event this *should* happen - You're welcome :-)

Exactly. Stafford is a poster boy for an attitude that's been allowed in the organisation for way too long - "Why bother working hard, I'll still get top minutes and sign one fat contract after another. Winning? Sure it's fun, but others need to do the heavy lifting, I'm too talented for that".

Now, if only that had happened in late January instead....

Vanek looks like doesn't give a damn anymore - Either he's still hurt, or his fragile psyche took a monumental hit when Captain Cupcake was traded. Wouldn't be the least bit surprsed if he's already been traded, in his mind.

Oh, I remember all the late runs to nowhere, but still - I don't think I've seen this kind of hustle from a Sabres team in over 10 years. It's fun to watch, what can I say? Still think Regier should get his ass fired, though. Never said they were, just said I like their hustle. That fact that I enjoy the current Sabres probably speaks more to how awful they have been in recent years, than them playing well though.

Not a heckuva lot of talent on the current roster, but damn if I don't like their hustle. I'm sure the results will eventually reflect the current talent of the roster, but this is the most fun I've had watching the Sabres in years.

If nothing else, it's nice to see a Buffalo team hustle like crazy.

I don't even know where to start with this team, all I know is it pains me to be so utterly indefferent to whether they play or not.

Amen.

Had a similar experience with Alexei Zhitnik, as it took me years to figure out his first name was Alexei. I thought his full name was Zhitnik Highandwide.