dudacek

That is crazy interesting. Im going to try not to read excessively into the combos, or the presence of Davies and Savoie over Pilut and Sheahan. But it really looks like Donnie is turning the page from “let’s shake off the rust” to “let’s get ready for the season”.

It would be hard to find a statistical category where Tuch wasn’t among the most prominent Sabres last year, and we’re not just talking the obvious things like goals and points. Hits, blocked shots, takeaways, zone entries, possession, retrievals: he was among the more productive forwards in all areas, especially when you take into account the fact he only played 50 games. He also led all regular Sabre forwards in +/- and average ice time. The most notable blemish on his season was probably consistency: he had 22 points in his first 22 Sabre games, but 16 in his final 28 and he faded a bit in the end with just 5 goals in his last 33. https://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=160632 Tuch blew into Buffalo like a creation of fan fiction: big, fast, competitive, genial, and the epitome of happy to be here. He’d barely finished his first press conference before Sabres fans wanted to anoint him captain and offer him their daughter’s hand in marriage. Despite the fact he scored at a career pace over his 50 games in Buffalo, Don Granato made it crystal clear that he expected more from Tuch than to be the likeable middle-6 foot soldier he had been in Vegas. He said Tuch had the tools to be a first-line power forward and used him that way: PP, PK, and top line matchups. Training camp began with hints that Donnie would be removing Tuch as one of three cogs on the first line and instead see what chemistry he could create with others while driving a 2nd scoring line. What do you expect from Alex Tuch this year? (This concludes the summer expectations series. Thanks for participating)

In Canada our “NHL Live” app has been replaced by a Sportsnet (the NHL national network provider) app. I’m withholding comment until the regular season starts, but it is getting absolutely skewered up here: more blackouts, games only remain available for 24 hours and no choice over which broadcast (home or away) you get are among the biggest complaints.

I think it was more about thrusting Olofsson, Peterka, Quinn, Krebs, Bryson and Comrie to the front of the lineup to give them a challenge.

Agreed. It's got no real traction around here, but the $1.85 million AAV, 2-year Bryson contract continues to look odd.

Am I missing something? Is Twitter exploding? I see one post in this thread that’s down on Comrie. Pi’s post was sarcasm. I’ve explained mine. General feeling seems to be he played well.

Further to Comrie looking like a capable backup: that would give us better goaltending than any we've got save Ullmark, since MIller.

Not at all. It was my impression of this game and it happened to match my impression before we got him. Long way to go before making up my mind.

A backup in the Marty Biron sense: good enough to win if you play well, not a difference maker. He made some excellent saves and looked generally sound, but he also let in 4 in 31 shots. And to be clear, it was one game.

If Priskie and Clague thought they had a shot of being the #7, it's time to reconsider. If Bryson and Fitzpatrick thought they were on the team, they need to take a closer look at Lawrence Pilut. The book on Kozak and Kulich and any other Cinderella story making the team is now closed. For the stories that are going to continue: Quinn, Peterka and Krebs are better than Bjork, but haven't cleared the tougher bars yet, and Comrie looked like I kinda expected — a solid backup.

Rosen looks about as passive as I'd imagined him to be before watching him in prospects camp. Kulich looks over his head as well, but I like how he isn't accepting that and fighting through. Kisakov seems to be the most effective of the 1st-timers. Quinn and Peterka are better, but should be standing out more. Krebs has the most presence with speed and skill, but still makes too many mistakes. Second was that much better than the first. Let's hope that continues.

And you guys think dunleavy babbles on...

Quinn doing some nice things after a nothing first period.

that was the Laaksonen I'm used to watching in Rochester.

Well, that was inevitable. Embarrassing display

LOL. Not going to show you the PP

Of all the things likely to ruin the good vibes around here once the puck is dropped for real, I’d forgotten about Dunleavy moving to full-time. I don’t listen to radio broadcasts and don’t find him anywhere near the bottom-of-the-barrel for TV. He’s the least of my worries.

The other good comparable is Alex Debrincat, just a year older and more proven. He cost a 3rd, a 2nd and a top 10 pick.

Thank you. Any Canadian fans able to watch?

So was I the only one on Sabrespace unable to watch last nights feed? Clicking the button in the Sabres website simply gave me a black screen. Same with the Flyers. Desktop or iPad. Worked fine for the prospects challenge. Trying to figure out if there was a locational blackout (I’m in Canada) or a personal issue.

Looks like the NHL is giving me the middle finger. It's there but not working for me on the Sabres site or the Flyers site.

WTF. Just a blank black square. Is this an out-of-market thing, or a me thing?

I wonder how many fans listen to radio broadcasts and how big a revenue stream stream they provide.

To the bold, not exactly. I think the question is the contract commitment, not the desire to keep the player. @Thorny has already spelled out the Dahlin situation very well. He has the opportunity to squeeze the Sabres hard and it will be interesting to see how far he will go and how far Adams is willing to bend. The play of the other three this year matters in determining whether they sign lengthy extensions next summer. As to the rest, I think we’re seeing the same structural situation, you’re just projecting which guys you think are going to fall behind.

I think this falls under the patented “Paul believes it and once told someone wearing blue and gold that and they didn’t call him an idiot, so it’s definitely true” school of reporting. Or this. 😄