dudacek

I didn't see that at all. I saw Tage Thompson battle his ass off for nearly 20 seconds to keep the puck away from Rangers playmakers. As that happened, most of the players supporting him gradually relaxed. Instead of supporting Tage, Bryson drifted back into no man's land, covering neither player, nor pass and giving Krieder no resistance whatsoever when he finally managed to wheel the puck loose. Hagg, did his job, battling the Ranger to the high side of Tage and clogging the lane up the boards. Which meant Skinner was completely and absolutely redundant where he was, idly drifting in from the high side. Skinner was absolutely sleeping on Fox, who zipped past him into the dangerous space behind THompson. Olofsson was mostly where he should have been, covering Zibanejad, but had to pull away to meet Fox. Both Bryson and Skinner were sleeping on that play. That's two last-minute game-winning goals in a week where Skinner's defence along the left-wing boards played a huge role. https://www.nhl.com/video/lindgren-scores-in-final-second/t-326184528/c-9615818

What about the 34 plays where he kept the puck carrier from threatening his goalie and got the puck out of his zone? I thought he had a very Lidstrom-esque game.

I see people, including Vogl predicting Laaksonen onto next year's roster. Idon't see it. Point totals+being right-handed should not be enough for an NHL spot. From what I seen so far, he's PP specialist who is not strong without the puck. We don't need any of those.

Entertaining game. Sabres played hard and lost. There was a time when people said they’d be OK with that this year. Also, Dahlin was a total stud tonight and from this thread no one noticed.

I wonder how much attention Adams has given to that team and how much he will try to keep the kids in Rochester in order to further strengthen that. There are parallels between the 06 forwards and next year’s in terms of roles and where players are in their careers, with the most obvious differences being next year’s has no Drury and no Briere. Connolly - Mitts Kotalik - Olofsson Dumont - Tuch Afinogenov - Thompson (not so much games, but gifts not matching production) Hecht - Asplund Pominville - Peterka Vanek - Quinn Roy - Krebs Grier - Okposo The defence corps however are very different, with the 06 squad maybe less talented, but a lot more experienced and battle-tested. And the most obvious difference, of course, being in goal. Adams may have pictured Ullmark as Biron and Lukkonnen as Miller, but he’s not going to get either.

Maybe you’d prefer the ‘06 Sabres, with Vanek, Miller, Pominville, Roy, Gaustad? The implication was it was stupid to go with 5, I pointed out a team that had 9 and won the cup, so maybe 5 isn’t that stupid? Given where Samuelsson, Power, Quinn, Krebs and Peterka are in their development curves, the holes in the Sabres lineup, and what we know about the franchise plan, why wouldn’t they be in the lineup next year?

The Rangers success so far this year is largely a product of their goaltending, no? They’ve got a good core of vets up front, but other than Fox their kids have done very little.

Montreal Canadiens won the cup in 1986 with 9 rookies in the lineup: Skrudland, Dahlin, Lalor and Maley were 22, Roy, Lemieux and Kordic were 20, Richer and Svoboda 19 Some eventually proved to be really good players, others not so much. All were ready for roles asked of them. I don’t think it’s a stretch to think that @Brawndo’s group is already better than the Haydens and Butchers they will be replacing.

The team doesn’t look well-coached. Peterka is guilty of blowing the zone too early, Krebs and Quinn can be physically outmatched, but none of them are “bad” defensively. The latter 2 are actually pretty conscientious. Samuelsson is the best defensive player on the team.

Not sure what you mean by counting on. What is being described is not Bowman handing the leadership keys to the Barrasso/Housley group before they were ready, or Casey Mitts being asked to play 2C before he was ready. It’s about replacing the JAG foot soldiers on the roster with players who look like they are ready. How many 1st overall picks should not have been in the NHL at 19? How unusual is it for a top 10 forward to be in the NHL in his D+3 year? How unusual is it for a top 20 forward to be in the NHL in his D+4 year? How unusual is it for a 2nd round defenceman to be in the NHL in his D+5 year? How many of these players are not showing the dominance at their current level that is usually a sign that they are ready to take a step? Who in that group is being rushed and how?

UPL has to play better. Simple. Beyond that, I sure hope Davidson and Schuldt are big adds when they get back. Because Matty the Mule is the only good defenceman on this team. Fitzgerald is fine. Prow and Teves are not strong in their zone. Tischke and Elliot are plugs. Laaksonen is good on the PP but a liability 5-on-5. Forwards are a pretty deep group, but I'm not liking the blueline.

Here we go: Two years ago, $58 would get you an average seat in just 7 NHL barns. The Sabres had the 4th lowest average ticket prices in the league. The median was $71 (Winnipeg) https://www.statista.com/statistics/193757/average-ticket-price-in-the-nhl-by-team-in-2010/

About what? You mean whether the Sabres at $58 is a ripoff? OK.

I don’t know, who are the mid-markets? St. Louis? Washington? Calgary? I have no idea.

With all due respect, that is the Florida Panthers, a market that is as weak as Vancouver is strong. I meant support, not hang on.

D+1 is the year after they were drafted. JJ played in Europe, Jack had 15 games in Rochester. D+2 is this year.

That’s what you are willing to pay, but is that realistic? If it’s typical, does it raise the question of whether Buffalo can support an NHL hockey team? (Im not arguing what tickets should cost, just what the economics of the NHL demand)

Notable Sabre prospect AHL rookie seasons: Thomas Vanek (D+2) 74 42/26/68 Tyler Ennis (D+2) 69 23/42/65 Luke Adam (D+3) 59 29/33/62 Clarke MacArthur (D+3) 69 21/32/53 *Drew Stafford (D+3) 34 22/22/44 Justin Bailey (D+3) 70 20/25/45 Rasmus Asplund (D+3) 75 10/31/41 Marcus Foligno (D+3) 60 16/23/39 Marek Zagrapan (D+2) 71 17/21/48 Mikhail Girgorenko (D+3) 43 14/22/36 Jason Pominville (D+2) 73 13/21/34 Danny Paille (D+3) 79 14/15/29 Alex Nylander (D+1) 65 10/18/28 Joel Armia (D+3) 54 7/20/27 *Derek Roy (D+3) 26 10/16/26 *Zack Kassian (D+3) 30 15/11/26 Zemgus Girgensons (D+1) 61 6/11/17 *early call-up For what it’s worth, our 2020 pair is pacing, over 82 games, for Jack Quinn (D+2) 54/48/102 JJ Peterka (D+2) 24/60/84 It’s just a start, but it is definitely a notable one.

I don’t recall the last time the Sabres had a prospect with the explosion of JJ Peterka. The kid gets up-ice like he’s shot out out of a cannon. He seems to get a breakaway every game, and a lot of those times the defender didn’t get caught pinching - he’s already started dropping back and JJ just blows past him. I think you might have to go back to 89 and 16 since we’ve seen that in blue and gold.

I think Krebs has faded after a really good start. Hasn’t stood out much over the past two or three games. He plays a tenacious game and tends to get overpowered a lot because of the men/boys factor. Reminds me of Cozens in that fashion. But he is already NHL fast, has an obvious work ethic and can really pass the puck. He has looked unsettled to me. He’s been on 3 different lines, 2 different positions, and different roles on both PP units, in what, 6 games? I’d like to see him given a chance to get some rhythm going.

What do you expect to pay, I’m genuinely asking. I know things are nowhere near this simple, but at $58 a fan, a full 18,000-seat arena equals about $1million a night. And an $80 million payroll also equals about $1 million a night on player costs. Obviously there are other costs and revenues, but given the cost of running an NHL franchise, $58 doesn’t seem out of line. Maybe Im skewed from living in the Vancouver market, which has to be one of the stronger hockey markets in the world, but I feeling like $58 is something I would have been paying 20 years ago.

Wait, we’re bitching about $58 tickets for NHL hockey game? Last time I went to see one here I couldn’t get a seat anywhere in the house for less than $80.

Agreed. I think he’s looked good for the Amerks. Balanced game, knows what to do, competes like a Bruin. I bet he gets a shot this year. I think his work effort will be rewarded. Dont see him making it Mediocre size, mediocre speed, mediocre skill - he just lacks NHL tools..

Last year they were a .500 team. They aren’t loaded with vets or scorers or top prospects and they have a rookie coach. They have scored just 30 goals in 13 games, so they aren’t run-and-gun. They seem to keep shots against to respectable totals in most games, but I don’t how that compares across the league. They were considered solid and competitive entering the season. They started ranked on the periphery of the top 20. Levi is definitely considered their cornerstone. https://www.collegehockeynews.com/news/2021/10/07_Inside-Hockey-East-Team-.php https://www.prohockeyrumors.com/2021/09/college-hockey-round-up-season-preview.html

He is so creative moving the puck. He can hold it for the extra half-second to open a seam, and I can’t remember a player one-touch a pass as well as he does in a long, long time. That boy has some elite hands. When he adds some strength to the tenacity that’s already there, he’s going to be hard to stop.