LTS

Nope... no thanks. I've been sticked in the nethers twice while playing hockey. I did not suffer anything close to this and the pain was awful, protective gear be damned. Just shuddering reading this.

They gave up 1 goal, on a 4 on 1. That's very rare and the circumstances that led to that are just unfortunate. So I can't blame them there. Minnesota blocked a ton of shots, but a lot of shots were shots that weren't hard to block. Not all of them mind you. While the dumb friggin' Swede (tip to Grumpy Old Men) played out of his mind so did UPL. It's easy to see their goalie stole the show but if UPL doesn't make some of the saves me made this wouldn't have been a 1-0 game and that's what I look at when I break it down. The Sabres still failed to execute cleanly. They are not good at zone entry. They are dumping pucks and not winning battles because they don't have someone going to the corners with speed. So many times they battled in their own end and then had to dump and change. Buffalo had their moments, but nothing about that game said to me that they have their crap together. They don't hate to lose. There's no way that Quinn getting knocked over should not have resulted in a skirmish. So often the Sabres just let other teams out-physical them and it's not for lack of size, but it's lack of desire. They simply look like they want to be just a skill team and not a grit team. So many opportunities to finish a check and they turned away. They didn't get blown out, but they could have. Minnesota plays hard, they play fast, they move the puck well, and they make playing against them a battle. They are a very good team. The Sabres still have a long way to go. Oh and final though. Does Quinn ever take a shot where he does NOT pull the puck back first? I think every goalie is looking at him thinking, okay, I've got time because he's going to pull the puck back then shoot... I never see him just take a quick snap shot.

Be warned... inkman's gravy is not like the others.

This is interesting and pertinent I think. Do the Sabres have players who would fit the scheme Laviolette wants to run? I don't think we talk favorably about the 5v5 defensive capabilities of our forwards on here. Are Kulich or Quinn the kind of players that the Rangers look to add? Conceivably Greenway meets their needs but he's not a prospect. Given the lack of success Buffalo has had I would agree that it is more likely than not that if a player has a m-NTC that includes 50% of the league that Buffalo is likely on that list. I'm not interested in Trouba, I understand why people would be. I would be interested in Kreider. He's a player that ups the grit level of the team and he has speed. He has a scoring ability and if he amounts to nothing more than a PP specialist due to his net front presence I don't know that the Sabres don't benefit. Zucker is filling that role lately and doing fairly well but in my head Kreider has historically been better. I wouldn't worry about his contract, if it's one thing the Sabres haven't done is hit the cap. So let's worry about that when they actually do it.

This is a good test of the team, even with the Wild injuries. Let's hope we see some inspired play out there. It would be a hell of a time to for some players to begin scoring!

Certainly the predominance of conversation is about the Buffalo Sabres. However, let's not pretend there isn't a Buffalo Bills thread, an Other Sports thread, an Around the NHL thread, and so on. So what makes you pick this particular non-Buffalo Sabres conversation as the one to ask why people care? As for what websites exist on the Internet? Well, you know that's a hole I am not going down. I learned my lesson a long time ago when I joked that there was a site for everything. I bet there was an uglypeople.com site.. and there was and the conversation went downhill from there.

I'm going to refute this. When I was coaching youth leagues there were plenty of kids who had to NOT be physical because they would get penalties, all the time. I had a few of them. Where smaller kids can battle hard and learn the physical aspects a lot of larger kids don't. Certainly that can change as they get into high school and higher level leagues and as the size differences iron out. However, it's not unreasonable to think that a skilled, larger player, would not be coached to be more physical because they were having great success with their current game. So, look at Owen Power. What made him a #1 draft pick? Was it his size? Certainly. Was it his physicality? No, not even close. Perhaps there was a belief he would be more physical but it was not in his draft profiles. https://media.nhl.com/site/vasset/public/attachments/2021/05/14983/ProspectBios2021.pdf Power was prized for using his size for offense and moving the puck, not for hitting. As far as the Hedman comparison goes, he's about 20 pounds lighter. I don't know what Hedman was when he entered the draft (searched quickly but only got current metrics). Is it unreasonable to think Power could get to 240? Not at all. At that point he will have weight on people. Right now Hedman is the 4th heaviest player and 5th tallest in the league (6'7 245lbs). Power is tied for 10th in height with 19 other players and he's tied for 42nd in weight at 226lbs, tied with Marcus Foligno (6'3), Josh Anderson (6'3), Matthieu Oliver (6'1) and Vincent Desharnais (6'7). And yes, all of this I still acknowledge that Power COULD play more physical.

What We Do In the Shadows. I have not watched many episodes, but it was pretty entertaining.

Well, my son is currently studying sports management, so conversations like this are quite pertinent and I find it's useful for me to have knowledge so I can assist him in better understanding concepts and how the world works. That's one reason. I can think of many others. The obvious reciprocating question is, "Why do you care who cares about this?"

Yes, someone should have been calling 911. However, attempting to stop an assault that is happening is not going to result in an assault charge. Good on him for standing up an attempting to intervene. It's unfortunate what happened to him. More people should be willing to stand up to morons like that. Unfortunately only Bissonette did, but if a group of people were to get up and defend the staff that would dramatically change things for the smaller group of drunken idiots.

Yeah, it's a strange season so far I think. No one pulling away and no one falling too far behind. The Sabres sit in the middle, 7 points to the top and 7 points from the bottom.

Without digging into it I would surmise that the 4th line is getting less than expected time (expected than they did last year or than a player did on another team last year?) because the Sabres find themselves behind in games. When a team needs goals they generally shorten the bench and that puts the 4th line off the ice. In fact, Krebs often gets moved up and one of the 3rd liners gets dropped. Too busy this morning to put more into it, but that's my hypothesis.

I don't Tkachuk anywhere near the Sabres. Until he grows up he's a liability on the ice. Not only that, but what the Sabres give up creates more holes in the lineup than Tkachuk fills. The Sabres get Tkachuk and people are going be mad every time he takes a stupid penalty.

I'll take a Saturday liberty to post a fantastic Friday moment. Emailed my local NYS assembly person a few days ago. Friday I had a call with someone in their office about my ongoing unemployment fraud situation. Within two hours of speaking with them I had a call from a fraud investigator. There's one more step to get completed before I can fully file for unemployment, but I have to say, yesterday was a huge relief. While certainly the elected official and their office has a vested interest in making a constituent happy, the way the person from the office interacted with me and handled everything was amazing. She's certainly an asset to the official. Huzzah.. progress.

This earlier start sucks.. because now I have a gap between the game and the F1 race. Although to be fair, I watched last night and then F1 qualifying and then fell asleep on the couch... I think I'm probably in hot water in the homestead as the wife woke me up at 6am to tell me to get the hell off the couch. She's not home now, not sure if she's ever coming back as I have not heard from her yet. (That's a joke, I know where she is although it's only an assumption she's coming back. But she does really love our dogs and they are still here.) Go Sabres. Find a way. People wanted them to get most of the points on this trip but I am sure they figured 2 of those points would have come against the Sharks. So the expectations are there. Find a way.

Well, they can't overpay now, but in the off-season they ended up with Reimer. Not sure who else was interested in coming to Buffalo. Next year is a different story, we'll have to wait and see what the market looks like. A lopsided trade likely means losing roster players, so who are they going to lose? It's easy to say they need a legit backup, its hard to execute. I'm curious who they are going after and what it takes to get them. You have to find a team that is either losing and is ready to move a vet or you have to find a team that has 3 goalies and doesn't mind losing one. Every team wants a good backup otherwise.

Nice.. right about the time the game ends, F1 qualifying for the Vegas Grand Prix kicks off. I'm gonna be up late tonight!

Thank you.

I feel like the "why" of Buffalo not getting "legit" players has been covered many times over. Most of the discussion starts with, they've sucked for 13 years and have looked like a complete mess the entire time, why would any "legit" player sign here?" But, who's the legit backup you are looking for them to get? Do you want them to overpay for a backup? Should they make a lopsided trade for one? We'll have to hope Reimer is it, but frankly, given the defensive zone coverage issues of the Buffalo Sabres I don't think it will be a paradise for any goaltender.

Good lord that was some ugly hockey last night. UPL bailed the Sabres who once again looked inept in their own zone and in most zones frankly. The Kings didn't look much better but had better chances. They missed a few that UPL didn't stop such as the Byfield cross-crease that just misses his stick. A win is a win but they shouldn't look at any video of that game and think that's how they need to play. Woof.

I've been here for quite some time and well aware of how many people on this board communicate. I would say there is a stretch going from seeing Trump fail than the country succeed to suggesting someone wants to have the country burn is a stretch too far. Just work to clarify or don't engage. Let's keep it at a better level. As I said above, I am aware of how he communicates. Each individual chooses how they respond to that however. if one cannot control how they respond, that's on them. Personal attacks, especially one's that suggest someone wants to watch the USA burn, are not going to be allowed here.

Love this response, thank you. Would you feel less concerned about the Sabres if the Bills were to win the championship? Do you like hockey more than football or is your fandom and support based on the teams themselves representing the city and through that you're a fan of the sport? Curious as you mention you'd root for the NHL to fold if the Sabres left town which sounds like you care more about the team than the league itself. I really feel like I shouldn't have to say it, but because this is the Internet I will. Nothing above is me arguing with you, I am genuinely looking for your response to gain a better understanding. As I said, everyone has a right to their opinion and I want to understand yours. Thanks!

One Bourbon One Scotch One Beer As much as I dislike that song, the advice is sound.

I agree with this. @Hank - you can hold a conversation at a much higher level than this. Let's not wade into personal attacks of this nature.

A and B are not mutually exclusive although I would consider A to be a false statement. Clearly players are willing to play here or else free agents would not sign here. I'm going to avoid trying to define "want". They clearly wanted to enough to sign a contract and commit to playing. So, players are willing to play here. Adams is willing to spend money on those players. People did not like Zucker's $5M contract. There was much discussion on how it was over payment and also discussion saying that is exactly what was needed to get a player to come here, because the team is not successful. So, by that discussion alone, Adams was spending money on players and Zucker wanted to be here. I don't think the narratives about Buffalo are true for players. If it were then the Bills would not have people falling over themselves to sign here in free agency. Those athletes live in the same city and by most accounts have a more party life style (on average) than hockey players and they seem more than content to be in Buffalo. Free agents will most often sign with a club where they believe they have a chance at the playoffs and a Stanley Cup, taxation is a secondary factor to that. If you reversed the past decade of the Predators and the Sabres do you think Stamkos, Skjei, or Marchessault sign with the Predators? Not a chance. Would they sign with Buffalo? Hard to say because of the taxation issue. But no chance they are going to Nashville because no tax beats not winning.