Two or less

There's definitely going to be a market for Drew Stafford. He has some useful tools and some coach out there will think he can get him and turn his fortunes around. But i just don't think these teams are willing to take a chance of him if they are in a good playoff position? I think the deal we're looking for with Stafford (if there is one to be made at the deadline) would be like a Craig Anderson type trade of few seasons ago when Ottawa traded for a goalie for the following year. An underachiever for an underachiever. Something like Stafford for Derick Brassard.

I don't get the big deal about it? Is it that uncommon? If you ever watch NBCSN when they air hockey, in their pregame they always hype the game up by showing players enter the arena for the game, and i swear, about 90% of the players are carrying a cup of coffee with them. Is the story that Enroth drank coffee on game day or did he just not drink enough of water/gatorade?

1) Will Cody Hodgson finish with over 17 1/2 goals? Yes. 2) Will Drew Stafford be a Buffalo Sabre on April 4th, 2013? Yes. 3) Will Ryan Miller have over 19 1/2 wins? No. 4) Will the Sabres make the playoffs? No. 5) Will Tyler Ennis have a fighting major this season? No. 6) Will Ville Leino have over 5 1/2 goals? No. 7) Will the Sabres finish with over 45 1/2 points in the standings? No. 8) Will Mikhail Grigorenko have over 13 1/2 points? Yes. 9) Will Jason Pominville be a Buffalo Sabre on April 4th, 2013? Yes. 10) Will Thomas Vanek have over 48 1/2 points? No. 11) Will Tyler Myers have over 12 1/2 points? No. 12) Will Steve Ott have over 98 1/2 penalty minutes? No. 13) Will the Sabres finish 12th or better in the Eastern Conference? No. 14) Will Robyn Regehr have over 1 1/2 goals? No. 15) Will Marcus Foligno have over 4 1/2 goals? Yes. 16) Will the Toronto Maple Leafs make the playoffs? Yes. 17) Will the New York Rangers win the Atlantic Division? No. 18) Will the Winnipeg Jets make the playoffs? No. 19) Will the Chicago Blackhawks finish with over 76 1/2 points in the standings? No. 20) Will Rick Jeannerete announce his retirement before the end of the regular season? No. Tiebreak: How many points will the Sabres finish with in the standings? 45 points.

So.... i was at the bar last night getting my drink on. Sabres game ended and between my friends we were discussing Ron Rolston and I was saying at end of season i think everyone will be gone (Darcy and RR). Some random guy over heard me and agreed, he was very passionate about RR being fired. He even wanted him out of the organization. So, after this kind of loss, i liked this guys tone, so i kept talking to him. He kept referring to players hating him and i was like where are you getting that from? He tells me his friend, who plays in Germany, played for RR in Rochester. His name- Mark Voakes. He met him through church in Rochester. He pulls out his cell phone and shows me texts Voakes send this guy after hearing Ruff got fired and RR promoted- it was ALL negative. Said he has no clue on talent, had no clue how he got the promotion, said most players in Rochester didn't respect him, including Luke Adam. He said RR and Adam went at it many times, yet Adam's ice time was always high. He said RR was the worst coach he's ever had. Im sure there is some bitterness in him, but its never good for a guy his age to come out and bash a former coach like that. Pretty interesting to say the least.

haha sleep is over rated. Late notice, but ill be at Back Nine Grill in Pittsford for the game tonight. It's themed "Polish Night", some perogies, kielbasa, Polish beers and they will have the game on tv. If anyone is in the area, stop by. Just ask a worker where Polish night is at and you'll see me. (my name is Lukas)

Who sits for John Scott? Brian Flynn is my guess.

LOL same. 2 seconds was all I needed.

It's actually very good for a guy who had no training camp with a new team and has spend some time this season hurt.

Also, Rolston has not beaten a starting goalie yet. Clemmensen vs. Florida, Mathieu Garon vs. Tampa and Johan Hedberg vs. NJD.

No clue how credible this guy is, or if he's ever been right in the past, but thought it'd be a decent change of conversation from talking about the same guys coming here... Sabres after TJ Oshie according to this dude. http://queencitysports.net/rumors-2/source-buffalo-sabres-talking-with-st-louis/

Leopold was put on IR this evening.

They can put Leopold on IR to make room. According to Matthew Coller's source on WGR, Thomas Vanek won't play tomorrow.

Colorado announces they have matched the offer.

But the problem is, he'll have to bench most of the team at some point. Anyone who gets promoted to that 2nd line will need to get benched soon after because they all keep failing. The reason why they are failing is, we have no second line players besides Ennis, and Ennis has proven so far in his young NHL career that he can't be "the man" on the 2nd line, he needs better talent around him for him to get the ice space and succeed. 21, 9, 82, 42 are all nowhere near second line players. Yet they play that role here and on the PP. And that's why, Rolston is doomed from the get-go, and why Darcy Regier needs to be fired, because even if you argue Leino is hurt, he's not exactly a second line guy either. Grigorenko is centering Kaleta and Scott tonight somewhere said earlier.... does anyone potentially think these can are capable of scoring even one goal? NOT A CHANCE. It doesn't matter what the stats show. You have to be blind now to know he has been playing like garbage all season. The dude, if he survives long term in the NHL, needs to be a bull on the 3rd line, play high energy, and score 8 or so "ugly" goals, 2 on the PP by parking in front of the net and 2-3 nice flashy goals out of nowhere. He's a career 12-15 goal guy. Nothing more. He's handling the puck way too much, trying to set up in scoring positions where he has zero talent to do anything with the puck once it gets to him, and doesn't fight strong in the corners and barley wins any 50/50 pucks for us in our zone.

Not gonna lie, but winning but not making playoffs scares me. Why? Because this team has been known for the last three seasons, that when their back is against the wall, they need to play hard and earn their paychecks and for three years, they have been successful with late season runs. If they accomplish that again, it guarantees Ron Rolston will return to the team next season, and there will be a lot of uncertainty again entering next season to see if Rolston can get a quick start, unlike Ruff. Theres a chance the team goes on a run and it has more to do with players knowing their season is on the line, then Rolston's change of philosophy from Ruff. All while, losing any chance of drafting a top-3 prospect.

Would of never expected Patrick Kaleta to be a Manchester United fan.

Yikes. That's scary.

The good news about this trip is, parents and mentors are with them there, so you know the team isn't getting crazy and drinking margaritas on the beach in to the early morning hours...

Yea, exactly. Not only this, but why would a 35 year old waive his no-movement clause to come to a bottom feeder? Why would we do this? I can see trading either Vanek OR Pominville. If they do get a new GM, they'll need to make a drastic change (more then waiving Gerbe, trading Stafford, ect) to change the culture of this team and what better way then moving Vanek or Pommer? Essp since trading Pominville gets rid of his "c". But, to trade all 3 seems pointless. And you guys might as well stop wasting time with Miller rumors. As someone already said, he's a tough sell. Not many teams out there truly need a goalie of his high salary. I don't see Pegula trading Miller, and I don't buy into any of the he doesn't like it here. He's as big of a competitor as it gets in sports and is frustrated with our lack of success. Under Pegula, i don't think we will ever rebuild either. I don't even think it's ever going to be an option. We'll re-load, but not rebuild. There is a big difference between the two. No matter what our record will be come the end of the season, come July 1st, Pegula will have his check book opened and airplane fueled up in an attempt to ###### up one of the big free agents. Teams that rebuild, don't do that.

Besides the great point-blank saves Miller had to make, one specifically on Stamkos, and the numerous posts they hit, right?

Great read, thanks for posting. Not sure if you knew or not, but the author of this article is Matthew Coller of WGR 550.

haha you are not kidding. Not sure if it's a coincidence or what but the higher tempo, more grit and toughness is definitely noticeable so far. We looked like a real team for a change. We took the play to them. If Vanek and Hogdson hadn't missed their open chances, this game could potentially be over by now.

Awesome. Sorry for going off-road, but I've watched a lot of stuff about that season and Islanders (on NHL Network) but seeing an article clipping is pretty cool. I reckon that is one, if not the best team in the NHL history. Current standings as of this article, Isles 16-3-5. The night before, they played St Louis, and won 7-1.

Interesting list of teams. No way he goes to the Islanders though. They are ready to sell, which means Wang won't open up his wallet for any coach. Since they are going to sell, and move to Brooklyn, and possibly move else where after that, i think Ruff wants to go to a pretty stable market. He's been through enough changes. Philadelphia should def be on that list i think, and Jets make a interesting choice too on that list. If i had to make a guess, i would say he sits out til the off-season, and if the Toronto job opens up, i think he lands there.

In the short term, they will def be better. You always have that surge when a coach gets fired. Are they better then what they have shown? Absolutely. Are they a good team? Far from it. They are not build right at all. And for a young up and coming coach, who has had his own struggles in his short AHL career, can he have enough time to put it together? Idk. Still missing secondary scoring. Still have only one center who has any idea of how to play defense and it's Hecht, the PP will still struggle, the defense will still be too soft and the offense still will lack speed.