JJFIVEOH

Soooooo worth it!

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm, Blue Bell ice cream, welcome back!

Why the hell was the ref breaking that up? the refs!

Lieuwen put on some weight?

That sucks, might be time to submit a ticket. Although I'm sure they know about it. Thanks for confirming it's not just me though. Everything was fine until last game. Baseball just started up and now this is being run by MLB. Hmmmm..... I hear that!

Anybody watching the game on a Roku getting really picture quality? My speed is fine and everything else on Roku is fine, but any hockey game is bad.

I can't argue for Fleury that's for sure.

I said his team is known as chokers. Stamkos doesn't even step up in the playoffs, much less carries them. And I was referring to Ovechkin because the quote of yours that I used specifically referred to Ovechkin.

One year does not make his entire postseason career.

Neither have picked up their team and carried them on their shoulders. That is what I expect out of a player seeking $10mil/yr. I'm not saying Stamkos isn't a great player. I'm saying he's not elite and he's not worthy of the demands and the money he wants.

O'Reilly brings much more to the table than Stamkos. Tough to compare Crosby and Ovechkin to Stamkos because outside of Crosby's early Cup win, both him and Ovechkin are widely considered to be playoff chokers as well. And their team's success in the postseason reflects that.

Kane: .37 GPG regular season 1.00 PPG regular season .413 GPG postseason .98 PPG postseason

Scoring is pretty close to regular season. In fact in 2010-11, the other year Stamkos played more than one playoff series, the playoff average was actually higher than the regular season. Not sure about last year. Last year he was 4th on the team in goals, not what I expect out of an elite player supposedly seeking $10+ mil/yr. http://www.quanthockey.com/TS/TS_GoalsPerGame.php

Thanks, those numbers sound about right. While those playoff numbers aren't bad, they aren't elite. When you're a one dimensional player, and you expect an elite level contract, you'd better be performing your one dimension on an elite level at all times because you don't have much else to add. Here's my issue. Some say Stamkos isn't the same without St. Louis, but if he had Eichel..................... My issue with that is, Stamkos is supposed to be an elite player, he is the one that is supposed to make everybody else better. Not the other way around. If a one dimensional player needs a complimentary piece to perform on an elite level, he doesn't deserve an elite contract much less elite demands. Murray can find complimentary pieces much cheaper. Several Sabres (Risto, Eichel, Reinhart, Girgensons..........) will be looking at significant pay raises in the near future. I don't want to be handcuffed against the cap, possibly needing to move some of our current talent, in order to afford Stamkos.

No, I don't think he should be the captain of this team. No, I don't think he should be given the reigns over Eichel. No, I don't think Murray should be handcuffing this team with that kind of cap hit for a one dimensional playoff disappearing act. Thanks for listening. :D

He's been in decline for the last two years, he disappears in the playoffs, he's one-dimensional, and this is Jack's team. This team has been in a painful rebuild for three years now, to get to this point where we can now watch our new stars grow up. Bringing in a player that will demand franchise player attention will have a negative effect on the real franchise player. Several key players will be getting significant pay raises in the near future, there's no reason to go blowing it all on a ridiculous contract. I say take the money and use it to bolster what we have now, not redefine what we have. Not saying he's not worth 6, I just think the money could be better spent elsewhere. I don't think it would be a good idea to bring him to Buffalo.

I wouldn't give him 6.

Once somebody is Polish, I don't think they really lose it. ;) Good for you on progress, those pictures don't look easy for somebody that hasn't been injured for months much less just getting back to it. By the way, you're not supposed to post pictures with bridges.

Remind you of Dallas Cowboys fans?

I agree with that. I think Chicago is the exception to the rule, I'd love for BFLO to eventually be so good they don't have to find other ways to win. That's the fun part about hockey, finding the right combination of speed, power and intimidation to build success. I really do think if the Sabres won the Cup, we'd still find something to bitch about. :angel:

Jagr has more career points than every single Leave combined in tonight's game.

They were taken off their game because they were walked all over. Nobody took control. I have yet to see Risto lay anybody out. He might throw an occasional hit that gets some attention, but he isn't the one that comes in and sends a message. All he does is stare at somebody with a stern look on his face. And that's the problem we have. There shouldn't be any hesitation because somebody might get a penalty. That is the problem, it should be spontaneous. A player shouldn't have to watch a play unfold, and then think about what might happen if he sticks up for his team. Especially when you're playing the St. Johns IceCaps. If you can't find a way to cover for your #1/#2 D-man for 10 minutes because he tried to get his team pumped by pushing somebody around, then winning is the least of your worries because you're not going to be doing much of it anyways. To me, last night, mentally tough=not getting mad because a team was trying to take you off your game. That's the same as the 'play not to lose' mentality. If you play to win, you send a message and let them know it's not OK to get pushed around even if it means killing off some penalties. If anything, stepping up and sending a message sparks some adrenaline and gets the team going. This was fun, I gots to run. Be back later. ;)

Well then, we're going to have to agree to disagree. I'm not the only one that saw this team get walked all over last night. Even the media was asking Goober why his team let themselves get taken off their game. They're not capable of handling themselves because they don't know when to turn on the physical play to send a message that they won't get pushed around. I put that on Goober, he is turning out to be almost as conservative as Ron Rolston. This was a meaningless game between two non-playoff teams going nowhere this year. There was little reason to play conservative last night. Goober should have let them have at it at the risk of taking some penalties. They lost the game anyways, what else did they have to lose? When the coach occasionally lets his players go out and stand up for each other it builds chemistry. When the coach makes his players sit back at the risk of having to kill off a penalty, they just allow themselves to get pushed around. You don't see it that way, that's fine. I respect your opinion. You're right, Risto is a nice balance between Pysyk and Boogsian. I'm not criticizing him for that. It doesn't negate my point that he's not the type of player to lay somebody out when the going gets tough. Goober doesn't need to be Tortorella, but he certainly doesn't need to be Ron Rolston. There is a nice balance to be had.

OK, perhaps not outmatched physically but they were pushed around and taken off their game because nobody stepped up to do something about it. That is coaching. It's also a lack of players that know when to do that on their own. I hate to compare this team to the Panthers, but I think it's a relevant comparison because I watch them very often. The Panthers are not the most physical team in the world, but they do know when to step up and let the other team know that they're not going to be pushed around. It might risk a penalty, but it works. Do you know who stepped up the other night and started pushing Mike Brown around and took him off his game? Jonathan Huberdeau. JONATHAN HUBERDEAU!!! Do you know who else steps up and doesn't let himself to get walked all over? The coach. He'll risk taking a penalty by letting the refs know when they suck. He's already been thrown out of two games. And the team steps up when everybody starts taking control of the game and doesn't let themselves get taken advantage of. The Sabres got taken advantage of last night. And they got taken advantage of by a bunch of AHL'ers. Don't like Reinhart and Eichel not playing well? Look no further than the coach that broke up the only line that's had some semblance of long-term success this year.

Yup, I agree with you. Lehner might have been sticking up for himself too, sending a message that this is what will happen if you keep crashing my net. I can see his point, with his concussion issues and all. I also agree that they do stick up more for each other than the Sabres of Lucic/Miller days. The only problem I see is most of them aren't physically capable of doing so. The Lucic/Miller Sabres were more capable of handling themselves, they just weren't capable of actually following through on it. Risto may be stone cold, but he isn't the physical presence that everybody thinks he is.