Spun

The Sabres laid an egg! They played real jittery. An epidemic of the cough-ups left them in a hole. The Devils came out flying which worsened the Sabres confidence. When the Devils had the puck the Sabres seemed to not know what to do, when the Sabres had the puck once again they seemed lost. The Devils were very aggressive at their blue line. As the game went on the Sabres settled down and they actually outshot the Devils. Devils goalie Jacob Markstrom had a very good game. UPL did play well but the Sabres sloppy play made it difficult. The score could have been 10-0 if not for UPL. I expect a very different performance from the Sabres in Game 2 on Saturday. Many of the fans were from Europe. I talked with some Sabres fans from Sweden. The Swedes that I have met speak English with a UK accent. It was overwhelmingly a Devils crowd. After the game, they played Bruce Springsteens “Glory Days”. It seemed like the European fans around me didn’t get the Jersey connection. The crowd was rocking like they did when the Sabres played recently in Munich. There was a moment of silence of thirteen seconds in memory of the Gaudreau brothers. Sometimes, there is a knucklehead or two who has to interrupt the silence in similar occasions. Not this time. It was stone quiet. Very respectful. Prague is an interesting city. The architecture in the areas away from the touristy parts of town is very Soviet style. There is a lot of construction going on. Prague is very clean. We could learn a little bit from the Prague cleanliness for use in certain US cities. The people are rather reserved. They avert eye contact. The people have been very nice especially when it comes to giving directions! The food is also very different. Some of the food requires an acquired taste. I am staying at a Clarion hotel which has a daily, free breakfast buffet! I have been dropping the hammer on the buffet! The Sabres need to come out fast or else.

Thanks for the reply’s everybody! I have about five hours until I depart from San Diego-Munich-Prague! I have been working a lot lately so a trip will be nice! I did get a couple Prague travel books and a Streetwise map. As usual, my most immediate concern is to get from Prague airport to the Clarion Congress hotel. The sources have so far fallen short in helping me. I will pester the staff at the airport for precise info! I went to Stockholm in 2019 to see the Sabres lose twice to the Lightning. Someone had to play them. Had I not visited Stockholm for the games I may have missed Stockholm altogether. Very cool city! The Sabres and Devils have big question marks. Both teams underperformed last season. One of those teams has underperformed for thirteen seasons. I am hoping to see guys like Quinn, Benson and Kulich rise! As for leaving the broadcast team behind, the Sabres could have done better. Play better on the ice, fill some seats and repeat. I do not like sleeping on planes but I am exhausted! Show us something Sabres! GO SABRES!!!

Is anybody going to the Sabres and Devils matchups in Prague? Any recommendations for visiting Prague? Does anybody know of Sabres related events during the lead up to the game? Thanks in advance!

The skinny: https://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=264450 Who knows?

I went to Stockholm in November 2019 for the Sabres and Lightning two game series. During one of the breaks in action, the video screen featured a quick shot of what I believed to be a smiling Gilbert. Years ago, I attended a Sabres loss to the Habs in season two. My family had some team connections. After the game I was surprised to learn that arrangements had been made for me to go into the Sabres locker room for autographs. The Habs shut us out and all the players were down. The only player I spoke to was Rick Martin. I simply said “Hi Rick” and Rick returned with a “Hi”. I went throughout the room with all my new autographs. I was about to leave when my connection asked me if I was going to get Gil’s autograph. I said no because Gil was injured and he watched the game from the press box. All of that was true. However, I was then directed Gil’s way for my last autograph. There he was! It was so cool! Gil Perreault was the Sabres first superstar. He outdid the hype. My condolences to Gil, his family and friends.

Mogilny! That story should be made into a documentary like The Russian Five.

Maybe the Sabres should give a deviant or two a try! Within reason (E. Kane). Nadeau is currently putting up numbers. As for what he becomes, the AHL will tell. https://www.wordreference.com/fren/devenir

Did it ever seem like Ullmark or McCabe wanted to stay with the Sabres?

I wonder how we would see things if the Reinhart trade had preceded the Risto trade. Power should deliver. Go enjoy the undergrad life for a spell. Rosen is intriguing. For a small country Sweden puts out some hockey. it seems like several teams have been shy about drafting Russians. The Sabres landed a surprising haul from Russia, Historically, Russia has been prolific with its hockey. Will it continue in Buffalo? If so. that would be nice! I will miss Risto mainly because I appreciate a hockey player who can drop an opponent with a clean hit. Now who? Obviously, a good portion of the Skinner fund should of gone to perennial contributor Reinhart. Levi and the pick could be a goldmine or a dud. The Panthers got another nice asset. I would not mind if Eichel remained a Sabre. I prefer to see a healthy Eichel on a Sabres playoff team. KA please do not spend recklessly in FA. Coach Granato, it’s your time. Raise the boat. Keep KA. Give him a chance. The high speed turnstile thingy has not worked out so well for the Sabres.

Didn’t Chuck Healy do the Braves TV games and Van did the Braves radio call?

Former wrestler Waldo von Erich immediately comes to mind. Also another wrestler Kurt von Hess. So I am hopeful that there are some turn buckle slamming skills in the pipeline... We need some feisty.

Next of kin?

No more twilight players. Scorers, speedsters and feisty...

ESPN is very good at money grubbing. When the grubbing became worlds more important than the sports they started sucking. When ESPN was part of the basic cable package they were so much better.

I seem to remember that Lindy was not a big Kassian fan.

If required to read Moby Dick as a student most likely I would have grumbled. It is a strenuous read. Much technical jargon. I found myself rooting against the whale. There is a Buffalo character in the story! http://www.melville.org/diCurcio/54.htm

These are books 41, 42 and 43 since the beginning of the pandemic. No work means lots of books, push-ups and cheap food! Of the three, Planet of the Umps is the funniest! The book was written by the late MLB umpire Ken Kaiser who was from Rochester. I was laughing out loud just from reading comments on the book jacket. American Kompromat makes the case of Soviet and Russian interactions with our last prez, the Donald. I am just getting started on this one. The coverage of KGB activities in the US is very interesting. The last book, No Option But North is about the migration from south of the US border. So far, the book discusses migration from Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala. Thanks for posting this topic! I see a lot of new books to add to me list!

I used to play high school hockey at the Aud. One Sunday morning, our game was cancelled because some of the Sabres wanted to practice. Some of us decided to stick around and watch the Sabres practice. One of my teammates decided to ask the Sabres if they needed another player. The Sabres said sure come on out. So my teammate laced up and climbed out on to the ice. My teammate was able to play with the Sabres for a few minutes until an Aud staffer caught on and told him to get off the ice. Rene Robert was one of the players! The fog goal was a classic! The French Connection made the Sabres formidable! Farewell Rene, thanks for the wonderful memories!

Cool story! Most of my memories of Sabres games were from radio calls. I used to have one radio on the Sabres games and my transistor under my pillow broadcasting the Braves games. I needed a third ear to listen for my mother coming up the stairs! She used to find me asleep with both radios on! She would get so angry! But she was the one who turned me on to hockey as she was a Buffalo Bisons 🦬 fan! Once sports was out of the bag there was no point of return! One of my favorite Sabres calls was the last game of the ‘72-73 regular season when the Sabres locked up their first playoff birth! ”The Sabres have won! The Sabres have won!”... The calls from the Montreal forum were also cool!

Robert led the Sabres in goal scoring (5) in their very first playoff series in the 1972-73 season. One of those goals was the OT winner in Game Five. The game was interesting in part because of a bizarre measurement of Hab’s goalie Ken Dryden pads that led to a Sabres power play into OT. While not scoring on the PP, the game winner followed soon after. The French Connection was one of the greatest lines in NHL history.

I believe Risto was a rookie when Lindy was released. I seem to remember Ruff being the coach when the Sabres had four eighteen-year-old players on the roster (Ristolainen, Zadorov, Girgensons and Grigorenko).

Sad night for the Gordies. Now, the Isles need to take out the other ones... Colorado is looking strong.

La Rue Prix...

Remember when M&Ms weren’t supposed to melt in your hands? Not any more...

Ou tout garnie en francais (all dressed)... It means it is loaded with ingredients such as with pizza... Yummy!