nfreeman

Starting a thread to keep the Around the NHL thread clean.

Interesting. Certainly the injury/re-injury risk played a major role in the apparent paucity of good offers received by the Sabres, as well as the Sabres' unwillingness to sign off on the type of surgery that Eichel wanted. If in fact Eichel is diminished and physically unable to play 20+ min per game, it would vindicate the Sabres' position, as well as the reluctance of other teams to throw their crown jewels at the Sabres in trade offers. This type of hostility adds nothing to the conversation.

It's obviously way too early to come to any conclusions, but I will say that Comrie seemed cool as a cucumber and very much in control last night. As I've said previously, the biggest unknown that the Sabres need to go their way this year is for 2 out of Comrie, Anderson and UPL to deliver good NHL goaltending. At this point I think it's fair to say that all 3 of those irons are still in the fire. I wonder who starts tomorrow vs Calgary?

Phew! That is great news.

Rats.

My game notes: - What a great game by Comrie. Good for him for producing that gem in his hometown. More like that, please. - Getting dominated for 65% of the 1st period and 97% of the 3rd period is not a sustainable model for producing wins. They did have the better of the play in the 2nd period though, which was encouraging. - Edmonton is pretty good but flawed IMHO. Florida is a better team, especially defensively. - McD is freaking terrifying. - I thought TT's line, with the addition of Tuch, improved from a D to a B-minus, and Mitts' line, with his new wingers, improved from a D to a C-plus. There is still a lot of room for improvement for both lines. - JJP continues to play like he's been shot out of a cannon. - Cozens was pretty good, and the combo of him and JJP was good again. I'm not sure Vinnie is the right 3rd guy on that line, but he did fine. - Dahlin was again the Sabres' best skater, although Comrie was their best player. - Boosh was a difference-maker until he got hurt. Let's hope it's not a serious injury. Fitzie will provide some of the violence that Boosh brings, but there will be a significant dropoff. - Mule was quite good again, and Power and Joki were OK. Dropping down to 5 D against that team, combined with the Alamo mode they deployed in the 3rd, contributed to the one-sided play in the 3rd. On to Cal-gary.

No Boosh yet -- Bryson was just out with Power.

Sabres need to bear down here. Way too fast and loose to start the 3rd.

Ooooooooooohhhhh. THAT just happened.

Krebs turns it over way too much from the half wall on the PP.

Edmonton dominated for the last 12 min of that period. The Sabres are lucky to be tied.

Great defensive sequence on the PK by Loobie and Mule.

The Sabres are getting dominated in the 1st period for the 3rd time in 3 games.

That is great news for the NHL. I was concerned that it would take years to dig out of that hole, especially since the NHL relies on gate/concession revenues much more than the other leagues. If anyone comes across a good explanation of how they did so, I'd be interested to read it.

I'd like to see them come out PO'd about losing to Fla and determined to take it to the Oilers from the get-go.

I wonder if any of the current Sabres has any beef with Evander Kane and if so whether we'll see any indications tonight.

I don't agree at all. I thought TT, Skinner, VO and Quinn were all worse than Krebs, and that Krebs was about as good as pretty much every other forward other than Cozens, JJP and maybe Asplund.

Probably Anderson in goal, right?

Oh yeah:

I agree with all of this except the bolded. I've been lobbying for Tuch to take VO's spot on the top line, and I agree that VO doesn't play with force or tilt the ice the way Tuch does, I think VO has quite a bit more game than the way you describe it here. I think he is a very good passer, with very good hockey IQ. He needs the right linemates, which he doesn't have now, but he is and can be a very effective top-6 scoring forward. I don't think it was a goal, and it definitely wasn't overturnable based on the overhead camera angle, which was the best angle. And yes, we'd still be having this conversation, because the top line has royally stunk in the 1st 2 games.

For those predicting a Bruins collapse: they are handling Florida nicely tonight, up 4-2 in the 3rd (without 2 of their best players in Marchand and McAvoy, who are out with injuries for a couple of months).

Interesting. The top 2 lines are exactly what I was hoping for after the Fla game. Skinner-TT-VO wasn't working at all, and Tuch was the only guy who showed up on the 2nd line. Aspie has been playing well and has had good chemistry with VO, so it makes sense for him to take Tuch's spot on Mitts' line. I don't think Krebsie necessarily deserves to be healthy-scratched, but I'm fine with Vinny taking his spot on Cozens' line if DG thinks it will work.

Welcome! Good stuff here -- please keep posting!