LTS

You'll be paying, one way or another. Yay.. game tonight. I've decided to show the same level of emotion as the guys getting paid a ton of money to play a game.

And Carolina also lost Brandon Sutter, I'm not sure what the point is here. Semin is a head case, that was known from his days in Washington. Are you trying to say at least they have something to look forward to? Point is.. Buffalo has the same group of players and the same coach... they have no excuses. Philly has the same players and the same coach and I'm betting that Laviolette will be fired before Ruff if both continue to under perform. This team is not devoid of talent on the roster, the coach simply isn't getting it done with them. Right now, if for no other reason in the world, I would like to see Ruff go to another team and see who was right and who was wrong all along. I really want to know if Ruff is as good as people in the league say he is and if the talent on this team is as good as we think it can be.

Carolina and Washington have brand new coaches with no training camp to practice system changes. So, not a huge surprise there, but the Sabres probably don't stay above them for long. As for Philly, no worries, Laviolette will lose his job before Ruff does if they remain down there.

I'd like to point to St. Louis last year sucking wind at the bottom until they brought in Hitchcock... they don't appear to suck right now. They made a huge run last year and it's continuing this year. They've made some changes but I don't think their roster reads like some of the other top teams. They've had great goal tending and their scoring is clearly spread out. They have a few big leaders on the team but most of what I notice when I watch them play is that they are moving. A coaching change can suddenly make some players that much better... freeing them from the constraints they had before. The time is now..

There is no way Ruff is responsible for Vanek today. If the Vanek-Hodgson-Pominville line is what Ruff has been teaching all along then I've clearly underestimated him as a coach and we really need to trade everyone else. They are not playing like a Ruff trained line. They are playing like a highly-creative, intelligent, line that knows where each player will be and throws the puck there in anticipation. Everyone else plays like what I expect from Ruff coaches lines. I don't know if there is another team in the NHL that is worse at the blue lines (both of them, in both directions) than the Sabres. They let people into the D zone too easy and can't get the puck out. They struggle to get into the O zone and can't keep the puck in. As for Grigorenko.. given that the entire team is in the crapper I guess I expect it to impact him even more. This might be his first taste of adversity... let's hope he pulls himself out of it.

Winning a cup isn't necessarily a reflection of the captain. The Blackhawks, Wings, and Pens are loaded with talent. The Devils (when Gionta won, but not captain) were also loaded with talent and an all-time great goaltender. I could have been the captain of those team (and out with a season long injury) and they probably still would have won. Vanek, until this year, has never played a consistently strong game. It remains to be seen if he can keep it up. Right now things are rolling for him and he feeds off that. The problem with Vanek has ALWAYS been when things stop rolling for him. That's when he gets overly frustrated and begins getting lazy and taking the lame tripping calls and missing the net. Right now he's smooth as silk and playing like his brain is completely shut off and it's awesome to watch. Naturally, but you are basing your opinion on a single playoff series when the overall body of work for Gaustad suggests that he's basically good at faceoffs. Remember, he was one of the heartless gang of 5 that did nothing to protect Miller. That's the guy who are putting up for captain. It's not cherry picking captains to prove my point. My point is that there are captains out there that are not tough as nails. There are captains who are as well and I would consider many of them to be excellent captains. The reason I didn't choose Iginla, Staal, Landeskog, Morrow, Jovanovski, Brown, Weber, Callahan, Doan, Backes, and Ladd is because I would take any one of them on the Sabres, today, no questions asked. They are all excellent players (or have been in the case of Iginla). I think we undervalue Pominville relative to the rest of the league. He's Mr. Dependable and that goes a long way in my book. Besides, there is no one else on this team, at this time, that is a more deserving player to wear the "C". The problem on this team now is not the captain, at least not the one wearing the "C". It's the one who is coaching the team.

And a lot of NHL'ers. I wouldn't let one incident really get you down on a guy. The entire team really sucked hard yesterday. Brennan should be in for Leopold at this point. Assuming Sekera is out we are down to only 6 D and so one of the not-so-dynamic duo have to be left in to play. I would still take Myers because he at least has reach and size. Leopold has proven nothing to me this season other than he is very good at being out of position. Myers needs to stop thinking offensively. His feet are slow this year. He is trying to pinch at the point and teams are continually playing the puck around him leading to an odd man rush. He is unable to get there sooner and he can't, I'd rather let the opposition out of the zone and take them out coming into the defensive zone than watch the other team jump around him and get down on a 2 on 1. I think the extra weight they are trying to put on his frame is killing him right now. You cannot change the top line. The chemistry there is what gives the Sabres a chance to win every night. Juggle 2-4 but not the top line. Move Grigorenko with Foligno and Stafford, I could get behind that. Since Grigorenko is not impressing me with his play along the boards it would be better to have two players who can dig the puck free. I see Stafford carrying the puck a lot and I don't think that's his strength. He's not bad at it but I think if Grigorenko could get the puck in a little space he'll be able to find Stafford to bury some shots. However, juggling the lines will do very little if the team comes out and lays an egg like they did in Montreal. You can tell when those games are coming because the Sabres are continually a half-step out of position and always a little late to the play. It was like that against Carolina as well. They forget what they should be doing and end up out of position.

I'm not even going to wade through the pages of posts that probably sounded a lot like "Fire everyone, trade everyone, they all suck." The last page or so on the captaincy is rather funny however. I really don't know how you hold up Gaustad as the guy who should have the "C". All he was good at was face-offs. He never really hit people, he never really beat them up, and he sure as hell did not inspire people on the team. I don't ever remember saying to myself, "Gee, Gaustad really has his team fired up tonight." It's a complete joke. You may not like Vanek and Pominville but Gaustad? Really? Comments like that stink of pure desperation. If you look at the list of current NHL captains I think you see a lot who are similar to Pominville: Toews, Zetterberg, Koivu, Gionta, Alfredsson, Sedin, Crosby. Chicago, Detroit, Minnesota, Montreal, Ottawa, Vancouver, Pittsburgh. They aren't really bottom feeders there. Face it.. captaincy is about a lot more than just "fire in the belly". An overly emotional leader is prone to melting down in the face of adversity and thus not leading his team anywhere. Sometimes having a stabilizing voice in the locker room is what is needed. Since none of us know the locker room dynamics I think it's a complete farce to judge things like this. Hell, Subban plays with a fire in his belly and did you see his teammates responses to him being re-signed? Sure as heck didn't sound like he was wanted there.

I do stand corrected on Stafford's hit though. I had said earlier that on the replay on TV it didn't look like he got him that good and with his shoulder, etc. That sequence clearly shows I was wrong. I think Hamilton embellished it a bit and he even returned to the game. But I wouldn't be surprised if Stafford got something.

There is a rule in place that fines the team, etc. However, the penalty would not be severe enough if their goon demolishes Pominville. People asked why Ruff did not just put Scott and Foligno on the ice in the first place. If he does he sets the stage for an unnecessary round of fighting for his guys where anything can happen. He just puts his line out there and once Julien responds with his goons Ruff nonchalantly calls timeout and sends out a reminder of the first period. I hope Thornton recovers soon. I don't wish injuries, especially concussions upon anyone and given the recent focus on brain injuries amongst fighters and the impact it has had on their lives I doubly don't wish it. The last thing I want to hear about is that his career is over and then 4 years down the road he commits suicide because he's completely messed up.

That was fast.. well done sir.

When they came back from break they showed it again.. it looked like he actually hit him with the shoulder. I dunno, I have to see it again but I'm thinking it's two players going at each other and one puts his head into harms way. The league doesn't like the side and behind shots.. this is straight on. Not a chance. I think Pominville is the right captain. Foligno is quickly earning trust on the ice. He's out there in every situation, PK, PP, even. The difference is that Pominville still has the skill over Foligno, the experience over Foligno and definitely is more even keel. Foligno is pure emotion on the ice. He might have shown more excitement for Sulzer's goal that Sulzer. That is the stuff that cements yourself as the soul of the team. He just doesn't stop.. he's the one Sabre I saw continually able to carry the puck out of their own zone tonight. It was like he said, "Enough of this.."

Well.. I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. :)

I'm also the motherf***** trying to ice skate up hill. :)

Okay, I lied. I don't think Stafford hears about it at all. He's playing the puck and Hamilton tries to step into him. It's straight on and Hamilton has his head down not up. If the rookie puts his head up he gets in the shoulder. I think Stafford is safe..

Just read the whole thread.. flip on back a few pages and you can see when the Bruins fans stopped posting. Great game. Vanek has really been on it this season. His creativity tonight was something to behold. The Sabres D still scares me. Leopold looks bad, Myers looked better but still scares me. Weber shall play until he has a few bad games because he has looked really good. Sulzer and Ehrhoff are solid. I missed the first period and heard most of the second on the radio.... I got home just in time it seems. Nothing more tonight.. I can't. Foligno is the soul of this team now and I love that.

I felt as though the conversation had gotten to a this or that type mode not a both. Miller had enough time and even owned up to it. He said, point blank, he didn't take anything away from Frattin. I think we are on the same page here. Playing to win. So, if the goal is to have enough points at the end of the season then wouldn't it make sense to protect the 1 point you would get by going to overtime rather than potentially lose it by taking chances? You have a few possible scenarios here: 1 - You score a goal and get 2 points. 2 - You end up tied, get 1 point and win in overtime, you get 2 points. 3 - You end up tied, get 1 point and lose in overtime, you get 1 point. 4 - You lose and get 0 points. Of those scenarios 75% of them get you a point or more. If you don't play for overtime you have a 50% chance of getting 2 points. The goal of football is to win as well. You do that by scoring points. You score points by moving the ball forward to the end zone right? So, why do even the most successful and storied coaches not go for it on 4th down all the time? Why do the most successful of coaches still play field position football? Let me answer that for you. Because it's about the percentages. It's about giving yourself the best opportunity to succeed at the ultimate goal, winning a championship. There are plenty of successful coaches who would have and have done the exact same thing.

I think Lindy isn't fired but is allowed to leave the position, as it were. :) That's the difference. You are continually worrying about things you have no control over. Why are you pissed? Why do you fret over the management and play of the Sabres? Doesn't seem, even a little bit, sad that you can allow yourself to remain so worked up over something that you have no control over? I would think that if you were so emotionally attached to the Sabres you might want to get a job there and see what you could change. Look, I'm not trying to criticize you as a person. I'm trying to understand why you would allow such things to intrude upon your life. My only option is to wait and see. Would I change coaches? Sure thing, but I can't. So, I'll critique what I can and comment on what I see, when I see it. The ONLY promise that was made, well the overwhelming promise that people cling to, was that "from this day forward the Sabres sole purpose for existence is to win the Stanley Cup". If we really think about it, that's an empty statement. I think it insinuates that Golisano didn't want to win but truthfully that wasn't true either. Golisano wanted to win. Hell, winning the Stanley Cup would bring in millions of dollars in revenue. The difference, in perception, is that Pegula was willing to do whatever it takes to win whereas Golisano was more calculating and accepted breaking even. So, true to his promise Pegula has been changing what we can change. Just because he hasn't done what you or someone else believes should be done doesn't mean he's lying to you. It means he's doing things his way. You are free to run the Sabres your way, but you don't own them. All of the people with opinions on what it would take for the Sabres to win the Stanley Cup have still won just as many championships as the current owner. What I alluded to above.. Lindy can go to the front office. That would be Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings. One of my favorite all time compositions and so perfectly used in that movie by Oliver Stone. However, I don't want to equate nad punching to it so I'm going to pretend you didn't say that. :)

You speak as though the outcomes of one player do not depend on the play of another. Let's examine the play. At the 7 second mark Liles flips the puck to Frattin. If you look at he positioning at that point 3 Sabres are in a line, 5 feet on their side of the red line and all of them in the half of the ice closes to the bench. That leaves 40+ feet for Frattin (a player with speed) to work with. The play by Liles is a basic, flip it to the open side (which happens to be AWAY from the benches, a very bad thing) and let a player create in space. So at this point the Sabres are guilty of allowing the play to move away from the line change thus requiring players to skate further to cover the play. Ehrhoff is making a change, but that's not necessarily a problem as the Leafs only have 2 players rushing, so at worst it's a 2 on 2 with a 3rd Sabre D jumping into the play on the bench side of the ice. Leopold should never be over as far as he is especially within 15 feet of 2 of his own players. Advancing to the 4 second mark... Three Sabres are in the zone and the second Leaf has just entered the zone. There is nearly ZERO chance Frattin can flip the puck back so the farthest guy (Myers, who just came on for Ehrhoff) should go to the high slot and cover any pass attempt. The second Sabre (Stafford) should be helping close down the drive to the lane by Kadri who is just entering the zone. The third Sabre, Leopold, is standing right next to Frattin. Rather than hit him Leopold turns and for the last 4 second doesn't take a single stride while Frattin takes perhaps 2 to accelerate past Leopold. This is the key breakdown as Leopold breaks his containment on Frattin. He has him hooked.. he could have pulled him down but rather than take the penalty he lowered his stick and because he does not take a stride and Frattin does there is a separation that allows Frattin to push the puck to his forehand. At the 1.8 second mark the puck is flipped and gets between Miller's arm and body and goes in. Of course if you look at the net the entire short side has a gaping hold from his elbow to the crossbar so there was plenty of space for a puck to go. Miller played the rush like Frattin would pass the puck. Perhaps he expected Leopold to contain Frattin so his only option was a pass. Either way, you can't leave the short side open when a guy is coming in on net. In my opinion, Leopold absolutely was out of position from at least the 7 second mark. Miller did not control the post and let the puck in and Stafford could have assisted more and let a bounce go to Kadri with perhaps .5 seconds left. All guilty.. all of them. Now, can we just all agree that the Sabres screwed up the last 7 seconds of the game and lost because of it?

And once again.. Miller leaves a gaping hole in the net. Hell, the D team goalie I played against Sunday night covered the upper part of the net better than that. Ridiculous.. horrible defense... horrible goaltending.. And let me say.. horrible officiating. Follow through? I suppose if you take a slap shot and then spin in circles flinging your stick around it's a follow through.. right? Get out of here.. once the stick goes up at the end it has to come down.. not back into someone's face... Still.. the D is soft, way too passive and Miller sucks.. end of story. Why people continue to consider him anything more than an average goalie is beyond me.

This at least the third time the Leafs have been looking for the Sabres D man to pitch down from the blue line. They chip it off the glass and end up with a 2 on 1. The Sabres have to watch for that.. the Leafs are totally on to it. You can see the puck carrier just staring at the defenseman waiting for him to jump into the play.

That is why I believe Marcus Foligno is critical to this team. Well other reasons too but that was damn beautiful.

It's funny right? Because the day the Sabres traded to Islanders to get a shot at Ehrhoff and signed him that same windbag was pontificating about how the old ownership would never do that and that this was the kind of stuff that makes champions. So, I suppose Mr. Schopp is just as ignorant as the owner of the Sabres. The difference is that one of them can do something about the team. Schopp's job is to stir up conversation so he has to constantly change his viewpoints. I'm quite certain that the only people on Earth who waffle more than politicians are sports radio announcers/analysts. For the most part I wouldn't even mind what he had said in that rant if he wasn't so damned ostentatious about it.

He probably could be sent down, so it's not that it CAN'T happen but it might be the dumbest decision you could make as a GM to completely waste a year of the contract. As for clearing space.. Ellis and McCormick are waiver fodder this season, no risks... I ask you. If Ellis or McCormick clear waivers then wouldn't you be happier if Girgensons was called up in the event of an injury? I know I would be. I actually do. I think Leino brought a different attitude to the locker room and the team. He came from a system where players played tough and he's shown his ability to control the puck. His high salary rate aside he is an improvement to the line up. Business wise I think Leino is showing to be a reach but from a mental approach and skill set view I think he's desperately needed out there.

I don't believe so. He was essentially going on about realizing now that his coach and GM might not be the guys, etc. He might be realizing that now, but I think it's a bit of a reach to portray Pegula as ignorant of what he was buying in the first place. I'm nowhere near the business man he is and I didn't have a good group of advisors who were "hockey men" helping me figure things out but even I knew that Regier and Ruff hadn't won anything during their tenure even though other people in the league were singing their praises. Schopp was insinuating that Pegula was somehow snowed in this regard. Schopp's job, of course, is to make those far reaching statements because it then causes discussion on the radio. However, in this case I think he was way off base (more so than normal). Sure, and the GM and coach may be to blame. The GM seems to be making some good moves over the past two years. The coach? I'm not sold on Ruff, I think his system confuses players into thinking too much and debating what kind of hockey player they are supposed to be. I think it stifles creativity. I think that if this season things look and feel the same then you have to fire the coach and if Regier flat out refuses then he has to go as well. Ruff has spoken about changes he was making this year and we'll see if they pan out. The one thing we have no control over is the change of circumstance over time. So, with Pegula, the parameters changed in the organization. He made a lot of up front changes that are quick and easy to do (it's only money). The longer term pieces are putting together a team that can compete and adding a few players. We have to see what happens.