blugold43

I don't think it happens, but I'd love to see him in #41...

I need something light-hearted to wonder about. I have looked for Fasching's number but I don't think it's been announced yet. 21? 24? 13? Something else? I'm going with 24.

define "reliable." i would describe him as "not very good." is he anything more than injury insurance for the caps? novel concept...too bad darcy didn't think of that 10 years ago.

You're not from Nelson are you?

I know this makes me a horrible human being, but I prefer Dunleavy right now.

the odds with the new lottery system are so flattened out, it's just not worth the misery of rooting against them. google for the nhl draft simulator and you'll see how pointless it is to hope for that. 30 place means several guys who should be helping out are not as good as we thought, which really sets the process back a lot. so i just can't hope for that again.

Sure, it's all fun and games now...one three-game losing streak and Bucky will eat him alive.

you know what? i used to think that too..until the last olympics. i though the bigger ice would lead to mo re excitement. but it wound up being the same crap with everyone packed in around the net. and very few goals. the only thing that seems like it will work is smaller pads and bigger goals.

i've been a Sabres fan since the first season (thanks for teaching right from wrong, dad). i agree with almost everything in this thread, but i'm no longer interested in fighting. i do agree that the NHL is dull as hell, and it pisses me off that Bettman pretends it isn't. I'm becoming very disenchanted with the team and the sport, and i know I'm not alone. But there is something about that building that just sucks the energy out of the crowd. And personally, I think it goes back beyond 2010 or 2007. Hell, i remember sitting there for two stanley cup games in 99 and thinking "it should be louder in here." I won't pretend to know anything about accoustics, maybe that is part of it. It sure doesn't help that the team blows again. I wasn't expecting playoffs, but i was expecting better than this. Seeing thousands of fans cheering for the opponent night after night is a buzzkill also. Also, at the risk of contradicting myself, the recent games in Chicago in Winnipeg proved that a new building doesn't have to mean no energy. Those are loud exciting buildings and they were two of the fastest-paced games we've seen all year. And just as I have zero faith in Bettman to improve the product, i have zero faith in Russ "Train Horn" Brandon to make the experience inside the arena any better. I think about what it was like in the late 70s when my parents used to take me once or twice a year and it makes me mad/sad that my kids will never get to experience that.

why is Chad Johnson on the team again?

Times like this i swear murray is positioning for the lottery again..

@#$#%@#%$#@%$@!!!! JOHNSON....

he sucks so bad. i could give a schidt if he has one nice thing to say about eichel. i'd rather he didn't. what a tool.

that's the truth when they start freeing people sent up for freaking WEED, then they can let Rigas out....who actually stole.

two major factors at play.... 1. the bum-out factor of knowing we're (until proven otherwise) not very good. the crowds sounded pretty loud early in the year but have really tapered off as reality has set in. 2. the MORONS who run the show in these buildings destroy any chance to get the fans warmed up by blasting them half to death with light and music at every stoppage. if these dipsticks haven't figured out by now that it takes the crowd OUT of the game, i seriously doubt they ever well. and i have ESPECIALLY little faith in that toad Russ Brandon to figure this out.

heck no it's not too early...i still love this site! http://www.sportsclubstats.com/NHL.html

The Rugby World Cup is going on now. I want to know who believes the All Blacks, as they themselves claim, are putting up relatively modest results against the minnows in their pool because they are trying not to expose their set plays before they absolutely have to. They are basically in preseason mode with regard to all set-piece play...so they say. Or, are they as vulnerable as they might seem to be, giving the underwhelming nature of their three pool victories to date? I hope it's the former, as they are my favorite pro sports team, after the Bills/Sabres (who are tied for 1st in my heart). Everyone knows they are largely a mess in World Cups. Even their win in 2011 was as close and unconvincing as it could possibly be. Yet they are the undisputed kings of the planet and are the only team with a winning record against every other nation. And I really like Hansen as a coach. I hope they're just keeping their powder dry. My biggest fear going into this was actually England, but amazingly they're eliminated. Aus, SA and (unfortunately) France all look plenty good enough to win. Anyone else following this?

I'm gonna get killed for this, but I'm ok with RJ riding off into the sunset. Isn't this supposed to be his last year anyway? <ducks> And if I'm not dead yet, I will add that I thought Paul Hamilton was surprisingly good in the few games he did. I know it's probably not happening, but I'd like to hear him call more Sabre games.

I posted this before but it just seemed so weird, and I'm wondering if it isn't an insight to the guy... On one of Ted's WGR segments they got onto a conversation about how Jeremy White would soon be doing pay-by-play for one of the local college hockey teams. Ted congratulated him for becoming "the first woman play-by-play brodacaster" for whatever team it was. Aside from being not funny, it just seemed like such an inappropriate thing for the President of the Buffalo Sabres to say on the radio. Not that horribly offensive...just weird and out of touch. I doubt it had much to do with yesterday, but doesn't strike me as the kind of joke the Pegulas would find funny.

Sorry if it was discussed already, but does anyone else want him to KEEP 41? What a great number for a guy who who is the anti-primadonna. Plus, it was worn by a great clutch playoff Sabre, Stu Barnes. I love this idea. Do it Jack!

yeah exactly. i always thought the size of the rink was the problem...but the olympics suggest that wasn't the case. make the goal bigger, make the goalie pads smaller and call holding/obstruction.

anyone else still pissed that it took till April 10th?...that Nolan and players were being such blockheads about this? ...that they have been living to stick it to us since the Arizona game in Buffalo? Paul Hamilton confirmed that's been the attitude in the room lately and considering how long (45 years) I've been waiting for this franchise to get over the top I really resent it. Until recently, I would have been happy to have Nolan back next season, but now i can't wait for him to be gone. And you can have Gionta now....trade Grigo for a bag of pucks. Ennis? totally replacable. Those guys went all the way to the bottom of the well to ###### defeat from the jaws of a fans' victory and I'm really not over it. they can piss off...most of them don't deserve to play with Eichel...especially considering how much more some of them will be worth when this team gets good. Oh- and you watch them lay down and get buried tonight now that they aren't playing to spite the fans any more. I'm calling it now...they lose by at least 3 goals. --- edit....wait? lol...i can't type the word "sna tch" here?? I thought they stopped calling them that 20 years ago! :lol:

look at these coy-yotes carrying play all of a sudden!

me neither!

i think this news is awesome. why do we want Zadorov playing while there is still a 9% chance we don't get McEichel? THROW THE BOOK AT HIM, TEDDY!