JJFIVEOH

Gotta love someone willing to swing for the fences. ;)

A flash in the pan D-man who has been routinely scratched for a top 3 forward leading the league in even strength goals since Dec.1..................... plus a first? :blink:

Don't shoot the messenger :angel:

It's for my own amusement. Disregard the Islanders logo, pretend he's looking at you. :D

The Sabres have 10 wins in 16 games against the West. The Sabres have 12 wins in 37 games against the East.

Yes, I mean he kicks them off to the side.

PHam is extremely condescending and patronizing. And he tends to scold players when they lose and/or that player had a bad game. It's almost as if he's trying to make them feel even less of themselves than they did when the game finished. And rarely do any of the players put him in his place because he'll immediately throw them under the bus. What's even more aggravating is guys like Koziol who treat him like he's a god. Just once last week I heard Koziol actually disagree with something PHam said, and he hesitated to say it because he didn't want to make PHam mad. I thought to myself, man, Koziol is going to get it for that comment. I've lost a lot of respect for PHam over the years to the point where there isn't any left.

Me too, I supporter giving Nilsson more playing time because the team just happened to win more often with him in net. At the time. But the wins are starting to pile up now for Lehner. Good point on the rebounds, an pi mentioned it too; his aggressive rebound control. I almost think that's planned because often times it seems like the puck is kicked out far enough for the Sabres to make a quick exit out of the zone. I've seen numerous times where the Sabres turned those into odd man rushes because they were able to turn the puck around quickly. Giving up rebounds is bad if you've giving them up right in front of the crease. But if you're kicking them out 10-15 feet it creates the opportunity to take it down for a scoring opportunity. Even if the defense doesn't pick it up, it gives Lehner time to set himself back up in the net.

I'm pretty sure every goalie has had somebody take shot after shot against them. I doubt it's contributed to his style of play 10-15 years later.

Nobody can sustain it, but he does play 100% every night unlike most players and you will get the overall results. Do you really think a GM is going trade more thinking he (or anybody) will sustain the kind of streak he's on? I would assume since he gave the interview last night and PHam didn't ask him about it, that he's OK.

I wouldn't touch Ghost for anything more than a 3rd round pick.

I'll never understand the 'his value is going up, trade him' logic. If his value (not referring to any player in particular) is going up then he's playing great hockey. Isn't this team looking for players playing great hockey? Why complain about a team not having enough talent to make the playoffs, and then suggest trading the players that do have enough to get you there? I just don't get it........

If the Sabres want to bring in a #2,#3,#4 defenseman then they need to concentrate on re-signing Kulikov. Nobody has seen what he is capable of because of his injury (he has been steadily improving) but he is, at worst, a #3. I've seen Kulikov play for years, he's worth holding on to. Keeping players you already have allows you to avoid trading valuable players to fill those spots which in turn allows Murray to hold on to Kane. Contract terms have been compared to Okposo and what he is worth. One, Okposo chose term over $$. If he settled for less term he would have made more per year elsewhere. Two, Kane brings more intangibles to the game than Okposo. I've seen the comparison above as far as points and goals per 82 games between Kane and Okposo. That's a tough comparison to make because Kane was stuck in Winnipeg while Okposo was playing with Tavares. I think Okposo is a very smart, consistent player with a great work ethic. I also think he's reached his ceiling. Kane on the other hand, I don't think has reached his ceiling. If you put the two in similar situations, on the same team, Kane is going to outperform Okposo............. and he is. Okposo doesn't have the speed and the physical attributes that Kane has. That OT goal that Kane scored tonight, Okposo could never do that. Lucic was brought in to pretty much protect McDavid, while having some offensive abilities to make that line work. There isn't anybody else on this team that can be put on a line with Eichel who can keep up with his speed, score goals on a regular basis and protect him when needed, like Kane can. I think Sabres fans tend to undervalue their players. Many here see Kane as a top 6. I would bet if Kane were traded, 75% of the teams, if not more, would make him a top 3. He's more valuable to this team than many give him credit for. Focus on signing Kulikov and getting Kane an extension.

If Murray trades Kane, I'm immediately turning in my fan card.

Huh?

If he scored a couple of goals here and there...........................

Goober hesitated to give Kane credit for sticking up for Girgs, then he didn't even have the balls to be critical of the call made on the double minor. The guy can't even get through a presser without stumbling and second guessing himself. I want a coach with some balls.

Another solid defensive outing against one of the worst offensive teams in the league. Way to go boys! Either string some together, or fall off a cliff. If I wanted to get teased I'd go watch some soft core porn.

Lehner knew it, he made sure to point it out to PHam one night after a game when PHam tried to criticize him for something.

I'm sure there is, and if not, I'm sure there is an advanced statistician that will come up with a stat to make everybody look bad. But that fact remains, despite the majority agreement that the Sabres have a sub-par defense, despite the fact that the top six has lost 71 man/games, Lehner and Nilsson are both in the top 7 in save percentage, they have been in the top 5 all year overall and are probably the best bang for the buck duo in the league. You can dig as deep as you want to find a negligible stat to justify your dissatisfaction (or to support your theory that he's not good), it's just not going to negate the big picture. ;)

I have to disagree, the Sabres routinely give up more shots from the slot on an almost nightly basis. I see your point, but regardless of how the shots come in, both Nilsson and Lehner are doing their jobs and doing it well. You don't tell people Ovechkin isn't as good as we think he is when he puts up 50+ goals a year, just because he's a power play specialist. So if being in the top seven in save percentage, but it's an inflated stat because of perimeter shots, and some significant criticism from the members on this board........... am I to assume that they would need to be in the top three to be playing at an acceptable level? I agree with some about the rebound control, although I don't think it's nearly as bad as some make it out to be................. but I just don't see how these guys can be performing any better especially when you consider what people think of their defense (on top of the injuries). This thread is about Lehner NOT being a starter. What exactly does he have to do to gain the acceptance of Sabres fans? Are we still holding it over his head, the three games he lost in shooutouts, the ones in which the Sabres scored exactly zero goals in support? ;) I'm just trying to understand the logic behind the criticism. I'm not sure what Lehner needs to do for people to be happy. The Sabres didn't have a goaltender worthy of being a full time starter on the roster when Murray traded for Lehner. Of course it took a 1st rounder to get him, no team is going to trade a young goaltender, with potential, with a low cap hit for anything less. If Murray traded for one of the big names on the market it would have come with a cap hit and most likely would have prevented Murray from signing Okposo.

I stand corrected. Lehner and Nilsson are top 7 goalies right now, not top 10. Ahead of Carey Price and three other Vezina winners.

Coming into this year he was a 60% goalie. The league average is around 65%. Is this really about 5% and three games this year?

This isn't about the first round pick, this is about Lehner. If you told any GM in the league you could have a top 10 save percentage starter, a top 3 overall save percentage with two goalies that you can rely on........ all for $3,000,000+ cap hit TOTAL........... I'd bet there would be 29 GM's jumping at the opportunity. Including Columbus, Minnesota and Washington because that would mean they have $3-5,000,000 more in cap space available to improve the rest of their team. It would also mean those three teams would have a competent backup heading into the playoffs. Because at this point if either of their starters gets hurt..... they're done. I'm having serious difficulty figuring out how any one person can complain about out goaltending situation. It baffles my mind. Of all the things wrong with this team, this should be #1,742 on the list. The Sabres can't be in a better situation with their goaltending. It's been a long time since Sabres fans have been in a situation to have to worry about goaltending. Many don't realize how good we actually have it.