dudacek

Devon Cooley might be a sneaky good signing, as in one of those late-blooming goalies who works his way up from the ECHL into a useful piece. He looked big and athletic. The comments coming from the sabres caught my attention when they signed him and his play tonight really piqued my curiousity as to if he can show something on a pretty good Amerks team this year. Devon Levi was sure not showing any cause for concern. You had the vibe that group of plugs in black and gold were never going to score. Tage and Ras were out for a Sunday skate. Casey turned it on every once in a while. First time I've like Nadeau's showing. Wouldn't call him a standout, but at least he matched his rep as a guy who got his hands dirty enough to be in the mix for the bottom six some day. Seems like a nice kid, but i will very surprised if Mats Lindgren ever plays a game for the Sabres Riley Stillman was nasty and mostly effective and looked like a man fighting for his job. All of you sure look cute trying to convince yourselves that Zach Benson can't really be as good as he's looked so far.

The Hockey News is reporting the investigation is into allegations he used a racial slur.

Fingers crossed. Sportsnet Plus was fantastic last year. Didn’t miss a game and was grateful about not having to chase games across multiple platforms like many US fans seem to. Like @French Collection, I don’t remember if it carried exhibition games last year, but I’m sure I watched them somewhere.

In one of the odder coincidences i've seen, the most high-profile player on that team was a 16-year-old Kyle Beach. Others were top-10-picks-that-missed Zach Hamill and Peter Mueller. Am i silly for wanting the Sabres to keep Benson and Savoie as far away as possible?

Any Canadians with any advice on how to watch? The previous game was geo-blocked for me in British Columbia on the sabres site

I just remember him having a Mike Keenan reputation in the days when it was “OK” to be that way. As far as “controversy” there was this: Constantine has previously been suspended by the WHL. In 2006 — while head coach of the Everett Silvertips — Constantine was suspended four games and fined $5,000 for what the league deemed "inappropriate" behaviour. According to The Seattle Times, that incident saw Constantine force his players to eat their post-game meal and ride the team bus in their equipment after a 5-0 exhibition loss to the Tri-City Americans. (Sportsnet.ca) For context, that was a 4-hour bus ride across Washington State.

I guess, but I'm not sure why. Blocks usually only happen when there's a rights holder conflict. Not aware of that being available on any outlet up here.

Johnson's 4 years at a top NCAA program is showing. Benson's skating won't keep him out of the NHL this year. He creates and uses space just fine. For the first time, I'm starting to wonder if his size will either. Still a ways to go and many tests to pass, but he's not looked overmatched yet. Is he really behind Rousek or Kulich? If you're looking for a guy to replace Quinn's game, he's the best fit. I was geo-blocked yesterday and expect to be blocked again tomorrow. I have no idea why.

Definitely from the old school tree, with the keenans and crawfords etc. Was a little surprised when they hired him.

The Athletic predicts the Sabres with 87 points, 22nd in the league. https://theathletic.com/4886371/2023/09/25/buffalo-sabres-season-preview-2023-24/ Everyone loves the Sabres. There probably isn’t a more fun team in the league. A playoff berth would be a fantastic feel-good story that one of the most enthusiastic cities in hockey truly deserves. We’re not counting it out; there’s a huge amount of upside here. But a lot of internal progression needs to happen without the puck to make it more of a certainty. Buffalo has improved by leaps and bounds over the last two seasons. It’s possible it’ll do the same this season. But a small step back spent learning to play the right way before taking off as a true Cup contender wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. It’s not the unlikeliest either.

Is there a bubble player not in that lineup? Davidson…? I mean, it’s literally the organization’s 7-14 on D, and probably the 13-20th-ranked forwards, minus Savoie. And a guy desperately trying to hang on to his spot in the NHL starts in goal. Should be a hungry bunch. Even the veterans - 8 NHL players the minimum for an exhibition? - are arguably the team’s least established, maybe minus Olofsson?

The starting 18 listed in the OP average a shade under 205 pounds (204.6). The biggest team on that list averages 204. So…relatively a big team? And for @Sabres Fan in NS When did you stop trusting me man? This one hurts.

This is the healthy starting 18 for the Buffalo Sabres, as listed by their camp roster. 6’6 231 6’4 231 6’4 225 6’6 220 6’4 219 6’6 218 6’0 218 6’3 202 6’2 200 6’0 200 5’11 197 6’3 195 6’1 195 5’11 190 6’0 189 6’0 187 6’1 185 5’11 181 Tell me again how this is a small hockey team.

How about his come March? Skinner Thompson Greenway Peterka Cozens Kane Quinn Mittelstadt Tuch

No one can replace Tuch on line one. That line obviously gets worse regardless; that's the price you pay for using him carry line 2. When Quinn gets back, he slides in at his normal spot. I'd use Greenway's big body and defence with Tage and see if Mitts and Tuch can maximize Victor.

Skinner Thompson XXX XXX Mittelstadt Tuch Peterka Cozens XXX Girgensons Krebs Okposo XXX = 3 of Quinn, Olofsson, Greenway, Jost, Rousek, Kulich, Rosen, Benson if Peterka takes a step, that's a helluva rotation, no matter how the 3rd wheel shakes out.

From the Athletic this morning. Keep in mind when Clifton played with Hampus Lindholm last season for 276 minutes last season, Boston had 60 percent of the expected goals, according to Natural Stat Trick. When he was on the ice with Dimitry Orlov for 77 minutes, the Bruins had 67 percent of the expected goals. So Clifton, in a small sample, has shown he can handle that type of role.

The entire thing is structured around giving Kulich, Rosen and Benson a taste of NHL linemates, even though they are likely to be sent down? And where the vets are is mostly meaningless? Seems like an utter waste of time for an event designed to get a team ready for the season. I mean, I agree things will change and they will try different things, but I would hope Donnie is approaching every practice with more purpose than mostly random. These guys have their legs, they’ve been skating together for weeks.

Somebody posted earlier about being excited about seeing how they lined up on Day 1, just to get a glimpse inside Donnie's mind. Now you know what they say about the best-laid plans, but I think we did get a glimpse into what the coach is thinking. 1) Dahlin/Clifton, Power/Jokiharju, Samuelsson/Johnson I think this one probably caught most of us off-guard; don't recall many people thinking Clifton would be skating with the franchise and nobody was champing for more Owen and Henri. But the more I looked at it, the more it becomes clear that Mule and Johnson is a clear D-zone pairing and OP/HJ is a clear O-zone pairing, with Ras and Clifton very comfortable going either way. To be clear, I suspect there is going to be a lot of mix and match with this group, Donnie said as much. But we are going to see a much more balanced rotation back there when healthy. And there's lot of utility there for matchups if he sticks with this as a base. And of course there is the obvious L/R combinations. Maybe the opportunity for saying "i told you so" might even bring @Thorny back (hope so). 2) Bryson/Stillman Ryan Johnson/Clague There's your 4 spare defencemen, all battling with each other for one or 2 spots. Each is being given an equal opportunity, unsupported by a strong partner. May the best man/men win. 3) Tage/Skinner, Cozens/Peterka, Mitts/Tuch This, by far, was the most intriguing meatball Donnie gave us. I've been convinced Krebs was going to be the 3C and Mitts was going to get moved to the wing. Instead, it looks like the coach is considering 3 scoring lines built around 3 duos known to work well together. If the 3rd wheels step up, this could be exciting. 4) Krebs Girgensons Okposo Each of these guys got his own line, tied predominantly to AHL vets with outside roster shots. I'm reading this as Granato knowing exactly what he has in each of them, so he's using them to set the tone and test drive guys for the 13th forward and depth call-up roles. It makes me reasonably confident that the trio will be reunited come opening night as his go-to shutdown unit. 5) Greenway Jost Olofsson Here are your misfit toys, the trio who will definitely be on the starting roster – likely mixed and matched with the three top offensive duos above — it's just not clear yet exactly where. They get to skate together to start with an equal opportunity and will get rotated into their eventual homes as camp progresses. 6) Benson, Kulich Rosen I honestly didn't see any of these guys on the roster to start the year, but goddamn are they apparently going to get a fair chance. Each one is apparently getting a real shot to replace Quinn in the lineup as they ride shotgun with the Sabres top offensive talents. Maybe one of them will actually take advantage and force his way in. I'm very excited by what I'm seeing. What did you guys think?

I disagree. I’m drinking the Kool aid. I think their goal was to create a culture and accumulate a talent base that puts them in a position to win the cup every year for an extended period of time. Rightly or wrongly, they think they’ve done that.

I think Terry was always going to be interested. What people tend to forget is that Donnie coached him in Chicago, and Kevyn roomed with him when PK was a rookie. Buffalo-born was never the only connection.

I thought it's been pretty apparent this is what they've been building towards organizationally despite others reading otherwise. With the growth of the past 2 years, plus the fact this is year 3 of the plan, it makes sense to start talking like this publicly. But I'm still glad to hear it said out loud.

And he thinks he has built a roster that can do more than that. Guess we'll see who's right.

When he added a big middle-six winger and a physical depth defenceman to address the most obvious holes in his lineup? Or do you mean he didn’t do something smart, like trading a 1st-rounder for Patrick Kane? How exactly did McCrimmon and Zito “manage like a contender” at the trade deadline on their way to the finals?

Maybe he has been.