matter2003

What a snooze fest... I swear the NHL must be trying to drive fans away with their low scoring, boring style of play...clutching, grabbing, neutral zone traps...they are the only league that actively tries to turn their stars into just another guy by allowing other teams to figure out ridiculous ways to slow down and attempt to "D" up the game. Every other league realizes its star players scoring and succeeding are what drives fans to the buildings...no more than the NBA which has exploded in popularity over the last 10 years as their stars are increasingly protected from being mucked up by defensive coaches by tilting the rules in their direction. Same with the NFL and their rules tilting in favor of the offenses and not allowing contact after 5 yards, PI being called much more, QBs protected like they are made of glass... The NHL still doesn't get it...its run by people still in the stone age of sports..."REAL fans watch our game, and if the other people don't like it well we don't need them" is what they appear to be saying... Except they don't realize they are even alienating "REAL fans"...I've watched hockey since it used to be on WGRZ with Ted Darling some 35 years ago...some of my earliest memories were watching the Sabres playing and having to go to bed at the end of the 2nd period because it was a school night the next day...I used to love Friday and Saturday night because my parents would let me stay up late to watch the whole game and Hockey Night in Canada was on...I've been a Sabres fan and hockey fan my entire life. I AM a "Real fan" and I say they have ruined the game. In the 70's and 80's there was lots of excitement, high scoring games, end to end action, etc...none of that exists these days...half the time I'm literally falling asleep watching teams dump and chase for periods at a time...Do they not realize they are in the Entertainment Business? That fans want to see exciting hockey and a reasonable number of goals? 2-1 games and 3-1 games with an empty net goal are NOT reasonable amounts of goals. This is the exact type of game I am talking about...like tonight's 1-0 OT Shootout snoozer. I bet half the people watching that game had fallen asleep and missed Moulson's goal in the shootout. You want to know a league that understands it's in the entertainment business? Lacrosse!! The Bandits...those games are action packed and fun!! I went to a game last year with my family and my girls loved it and I'm sitting there thinking to myself, "Why the hell isn't the NHL more like this???" Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth...Then I go back home and the next day get to watch a 2-1 snooze fest from the Sabres... NHL, you gotta do something. You are literally killing the product and making it hard for "Real fans" to watch this nonsense...enough is enough...we have dealt with this BS for years, you need to do something about it.

Risto got abused by Matthews on that first goal...

Really? Tyler Ennis was on there not too long ago and by many accounts was the best player on the team that year...

The announcers called Risto Finland's "Mr. Everything" tonight against the US, and were basically tea bagging him in just the last 7 minutes of the game I caught...can only imagine what they were doing the rest of the game, lmao

Ryan O'Reilly got added to Team Canada after Tyler Seguin was injured in the game against Team USA...

Sure it can. Not always, but it can happen...honestly just about ANYTHING can cause a computer to not boot properly I've done very well by upgrading once the "newer" cards/CPU etc come out and buying the one it just replaced...got a 970GTX last year by doing that and made the best CPU decision of my life by getting an initial 2600K processor that is fully unlocked, meaning when I overclock it to 4.3Ghz, it's still in the top 10 in benchmarks several years later...

He will never be done trying to improve the roster if he can.

Maybe the Mods can explain it because they decided to change mine.

Islanders are hemorraghing money, they don't want to pay anyone Funny how the negative people with inferiority complexes are always from Buffalo...when out of town people come here they love it. Got news for you...every place has issues. We just happen to have fewer of them than most places at this point in time.

No one could overpay. He was getting the same contract from any of the 32 teams based on the collective bargaining agreement. We offered him the chance to play on a young, rising team versus an old team that will be in full rebuild mode within 3 years. He obviously would rather have short term versus long term success tho.

Guess he can be part of the rebuild there when their aging team gets rid of all their old vets and blows it up...Sabres and Rangers are heading on two separate tracks, he picked the wrong one, but I think it had more to do about his "celebrity status" and endorsements than hockey, because I don't think anyone in their right mind looks at the overall picture of the Sabres and Rangers and then picks the Rangers.

Goes to show it was true what Paul Hamilton said all year....fans and media were much more impressed with Pysyk than the Sabres were...

Props for the balls to ask, but no props for taking her to dinner instead of drinks only. Women get dinner when they've earned it. Someone needed to remind him the person who owns the Bruins was born and raised and still lives here...so much for that guys take...

There is no premium,he can only receive the max level entry contract...from us or any other team.

Gonna be a hot draft weekend...89 Saturday/94 Sunday...nobody will be talking about the weather in Buffalo after that, lol

No idea why the league is not trying to settle...they are going to lose and lose badly just like the NFL did.

For a few years, I think Tallinder would be on there...he was near dominant at times but his play tailed off quickly after he got hurt...never recovered really.

Ramsey or Schoenfeld. Housley was a forward playing defense. Hajt was an excellent stay at home D man... I expect before all is said and done Ristolainen will have himself in this conversation

Ummm, you realize Bylsma has won a cup also correct? And it's not like Pittsburgh has won 3 or 4 since he's left...I don't even think they've been back to the Finals.

Watching Eichel become everything we thought he would be and then some, watching Reinhart develop into a bonafide rock solid #2 center, watching this team come together at the end of the year and getting excited for next year to start already...We are gonna get better from simply all the young players getting another offseason to grow, from some FA talent Murray will likely add and potentially from the draft and draft day trades.... I honestly wish we could just skip the playoffs(even though its my favorite time of the year) and just start next season already....this team is going to be a force within two years...we will be on the brink of the playoffs next year, possibly a playoff team and then the following year I would expect us to continue our ascension into a perennial playoff team heading toward Cup contention... It's a great time to be a Sabres fan and its just getting started....

Detroit moved back into the playoffs by virtue of leapfrogging Boston for 3rd place in the division, with each team having 3 games left. Philadelphia holds the last wild card spot with 91 points, and a game in hand on both those teams, so they control their own destiny as well. Boston is currently on the outside looking in after having been a near lock to make the playoffs all season...they trail the Red Wings and Flyers by a point...unless Philly really screws up, they will likely get the last wildcard spot meaning it comes down to who will end up in the 3rd spot to automatically make the playoffs between Detroit and Boston...very intriguing and a great mini-playoff feel to get things started...

It most certainly is not, lol...at least for most people

Fasching...didn't have to wait long for his first NHL goal...

I was reading the BN article about it and got to this part: "The Sabres, who will miss the playoffs for the fifth straight season, have used a clause in the collective bargaining agreement to justify their repeated increases. The CBA dictates that clubs that receive revenue sharing must keep pace with the league’s average ticket price. If the teams fall below 75 percent of the average they “shall be required to submit to the league and Revenue Sharing Oversight Committee a forward-looking three-year business plan to establish a framework for improving its financial performance.” However, NHL teams that have missed the playoffs in recent years have declined to raise their prices. The Toronto Maple Leafs stayed flat this year, and the Calgary Flames announced earlier this month they will not raise next year’s prices." Well no kidding...Toronto, one of the priciest tickets in the NHL doesn't have to raise its prices to keep up with the league average?? Wow, that's not common sense or anything. Its the height of ridiculous that he tries to pair these two things together.

Now I see why Murray was so high on this kid...don't get me wrong, Eichel is going to be a great player and in some ways already is, but what McDavid is doing is pretty ridiculous. Now part of me thinks that Bylsma's system is holding the offensive players back, forcing them to be defensively responsible before offensively risky. I don't like it, but I understand it. With so many young players, they have to learn properly that you cannot trade scoring chances for an entire game with teams(kinda like Edmonton does), or you end up losing games 6-4 and 7-4, 6-3, etc...you aren't going to win in the NHL like that. So he is drilling it into their heads to be defensively responsible while throttling a lot of their offensiveness I think. Don't like it, but at this point it's a necessary evil. Edmonton just seems like they don't really care and will just try and out chance you...which is why they probably are at the bottom of the standing even with 1st overall picks all over their roster. But McDavid is just crazy...the man has 38 points, 10 fewer than Eichel in 36 fewer games. McDavid is averaging more than a point a game and if he had remained healthy for the year might be threatening the scoring lead, and would likely be blowing away rookies in scoring. The metrics in this article make it even more impressive.... http://thehockeywriters.com/connor-mcdavid-just-give-him-the-calder-already/ I love Eichel but can't help to think how good McDavid is going to be...