DarthEbriate

40+ Playoff Games is a category today. Thinking back to the late '90s... who's a Philly player with a cool name? Boom. Petr Svoboda. And just as I tap submit, I see it: another Petr Svoboda. Incorrect! Story of my life: selecting the wrong Svoboda.

That's just it. He could have a bounce back season with Anaheim or he may simply look better in comparison to the rest of them. It only takes one playoff team to think he's the injury replacement they desperately need to rent for a run to get a 2nd.

My granny had two variations on the quick pickled cucumber, a sugar-based one I wasn't as keen on, and this one -- cucumber, shaved onion, salt, vinegar, and cream. Nowadays, I peel maybe 4 strips off the cucumber so I get a green-white-green, then slice thin, shave in a bit of onion for kick (often omitted for heartburn prevention), then salt it and let it sit for 20 minutes. Press out some of the water. Add the vinegar, top off with milk/half-and-half/heavy cream whatever works. Pickle it up a bit. And then serve with a sturdy grind of fresh black pepper, for this one a coarse grind is best. It is an excellent side for burgers and a standard egg/paprika-topped cold potato salad.

Well, Boushh was the 7th D... but the 7th D is going to get about 40 games even during a very healthy season. Good on him to get more playing time and an opportunity. But... can I still be upset when Anaheim trades him to a contender for a 2nd at the deadline after he's played a solid season as a middle-pairing guy? Good luck, thermal detonator!

Mr. Jeanneret won’t be able to attend the Sabres playoff return in person.

@Thorny I got a notification and saw a response, but wasn't able to log in until now where it appears you've deleted it. Yes... certainly there is some hyperbole in my response. But there are a few criminally underrated things we should not overlook. 1) Brunell was a very good QB in the mid '90s until he blew out his knee; 2) Desmond Howard's '96 season was Hester-level good [and then Howard was even better in the playoffs]; and 3) the '96 Packers defense was fantastic.* *Since 1994 (and the increase in passing to mimic SF, Buffalo, Houston) there have been only 12 defenses to allow fewer than 220 points in a season. And HALF of those defenses came in a 4-season stretch against the AFC Central/North after the Browns were reinstated and the defenses that faced those teams just feasted on 4-8 games/season of trash offenses.** Seriously, look at these teams [Tampa and Chicago got to face them 4 times. 2002 Tampa allowed 0,3,7,17 in four games vs. that AFC North dreck]. I'm not saying the Ravens didn't have a great defense, I'm saying they looked even better than they were because of the AFC Garbage Division offenses they played for those 4 seasons. Ravens 2006 - 201 Bears 2005 - 202 Tampa 2002 - 196 ** Pitt 2001 - 212** Phil 2001 - 208 Bears 2001 - 203** Tenn 2000 - 191** Balt 2000 - 165** Jax 1999 - 217** GB 1996 - 210 Car 1996 - 218 Browns 1994 - 204

There's a value, engagement, and a joy for the fans (particularly kids who get to build up and identity with the team) to watch a team grow over multiple seasons and go through their growing pains, earn their lumps, and face their demons on the way to the top. The wins will come along the way. For the late '80s Bills to go 2-14, 4-12, 7-8, 12-4 or the Cowboys to go from 1-15, 7-9, 11-5, to 13-3, to curb-stomping the Bills so viciously that the only highlight that anyone remembers of the game was a hustle play by Don Beebe to keep the margin of victory under 40 points. Or with the Packers going 9-7 three consecutive seasons but sticking with Favre and letting Brunell go in the expansion draft until the entire team grew up on both sides of the ball and became so dominant that by 1996 they would have won the Super Bowl with either QB.

Once again on puckdoku. BUF and PHI, SJ, and OTT. I went with Gratton, Kennedy, and Burgdoerfer.

From my perspective, their development team status is strictly tied to the age and games played of the new core: Dahlin, Power, Muel, Tage (GP at center), Cozens, Quinn, and Levi. Add in the role guys in Krebs, JJP, UPL, and it's half the lineup for this season. The good news is that another season at center for TNT, Dahlin and Muel hitting 24 and having a 3rd year post-Krueger, and they'll on their way. (And yes, I'd move UPL for an established veteran, but... GMs are gonna GM.) As an alternative, we could have traded Power for Erik Karlsson easily enough.

GM Sheevyn while reading these many threads: Good. Gooooooood.

It definitely discredits the general improvement and continued growth of an incredibly young collection of players playing key roles (particularly on the blue line).

You may not be the target demographic for it.

Wow. Just wow. So much for a hometown discount. That's a lot of salary to either buy out or to retain in a "give him a chance at another Cup" after Ovie retires. And it gives Okposo's previous deal a little different perspective.

Yup - that would've been him is my guess. Google says he's 66 now (he really was a kid when he started). Shorter/stockier guy, and at least on Sunday he was wearing a big helmet for half the show. The mythology is half the battle.

I think I'm still the same as last year. Either of these, probably the latter because P Control might not work for the families.

I did get to see a live version of Maggot Brain by Michael 'Kidd Funkdelic' Hampton (which is how he got into the band in the '70s; his live version is the on One Nation Under a Groove). That was pretty cool.

More Sabres puckdoku.com today. EA NHL98 and 99 once again made my day for the Leafs/Blackhawks/Habs and goalies. I did the trifecta of Mair, Konopka, and Houser. Pretty nice!

Parliament-Funkadelic tonight. I mean… it’s not remotely the original lineup, it’s now some of their grandkids, but it’s being billed as George Clinton’s farewell tour.

Tarasenko won't replace DeBrincat's scoring straight up, but if Norris is back and healthy the top 6 will be better overall. Chychrun for an entire season is a positive. And an underrated acquisition: swapping Talbot for Korpisalo in the lineup should be helpful, especially since they kept Forsberg. With health and average-to-good goaltending they'll be a 90-110 point team, just like the Sabres.

I agree Tarasenko would've been an excellent fill-in for Quinn. But if I'm Tarasenko, why would I go to a team where my playing time is going to be significantly cut at New Year's if all goes according to plan? He chose Ottawa because DeBrincat is gone; if DeBrincat is coming back halfway through the year Tarasenko likely goes elsewhere. For him, this season is a "get top minutes" on a hopeful team and then next season when some contender caps shuffle (Boston) or the cap goes up, go take either one final good contract with term or start hunting for mid-/bottom- six jobs on contenders to pad the trophy case and legacy.

In the last 7 seasons, the Bruins had 112, 107, 100, 73 (pacing for 107), 100 (pacing for 116), and 107, and finally a 135-point historical* finish. Just regressing to their mean regular pace (108) is losing 27 points in the standings. Now, take Bergeron, Krejci, Hall, Orlov, Bertuzzi, and even Nosek's defense out of the lineup and replace them with has-beens Lucic and JVR (who produced at Nick Foligno level last season -- who I didn't even note as a roster loss). That's worth another 10 points at minimum. Their season will be officially over the moment a Tkachuk runs Pastrnak. *Fun note: 3 of the top 8 all-time highest season team points earners (BOS 135, TBL 128, FLA 122) have occurred in this division in the last 5 seasons. Not highest win %, mind you, because they've had Loser Points to help them. But -- they all had the commonality of 4 teams in-division concurrently tanking or in the dregs of rebuilding, or Kruegering.

Really solid top-6 player, but I think the injuries have probably started him down that slippery slope. I don't think he replaces DeBrincat's goals or production this season.

Boston would make that trade in a heartbeat. They might even throw in Swayman to make the money work for them.

What do you mean, nobody knows? Deck officer! Daily faceoff! Boston's prospective lines are: Marchand-Zacha-Pastrnak JVR-Coyle-Debrusk Greer-Geekie-Frederic Lucic-Brown-Steen Grzelcyk-McAvoy Lindholm-Carlo Forbort-Shattenkirk Ullmark Swayman That's a one-line team with a very good top 4 and one superstar. When half your division is tanking or in serious rebuild mode, that's a playoff-capable lineup. When Buffalo, Detroit, and Ottawa are all ascending, that's a team that had better hope to win a bunch of low-scoring games and collect loser points with defence. The Sabres preferred lineup down the stretch last year (with VO in for Quinn) is: Skinner - Thompson - Tuch Peterka - Cozens - Olofsson/Quinn Greenway - Jost - Mittelstadt (move Mitts to C and Rousek on wing?) Girgensons - Krebs - Okposo Samuelsson - Dahlin Power - Clifton Jokiharju - Johnson/Lyubushkin Levi Comrie/UPL I now believe the Sabres are better all-around (not cagey veteran savvy/defensive) at all 4 center spots. Debrusk is probably better than Quinn right now, and definitely over VO. Pastrnak and Marchand win, but with Marchand not significantly. Frederic is good, but the bottom 6 is all Buffalo if he's matching up with Mitts. On defense, it comes down to whether people prefer Lindholm's experience to Power's potential. Because I'd take Carlo>Clifton but I think the Sabres have the better player at every other spot. Nationally, the vast majority of folks would take McAvoy over Dahlin because of name recognition/good team vs. not yet a playoff team. In goal, yes, the Bruins are better hands-down (until Levi proves himself). Good for them. They're going to need it.

For me with Boston it's the center spine. Zacha - good player. Coyle, 3rd liner. But neither worry me offensively and while Coyle is solid defensively, he's not shutting down opponents' #1s like Bergeron could. Krejci was also very good defensively. Their major change this year will be possession. Faceoffs aren't important, unless you're great or terrible at them. Krecji was sub-50%, but Bergeron and Nosek were elite FO guys (60.1 and 59.3%, respectively). Nosek started 90% of his shifts in Dzone; Bergeron took every meaningful faceoff in late-game situations and on the top PP. Between the two of them they took 49% of the team's total faceoffs. If you remove their faceoffs from Boston's totals, the rest of the team won only 48% of their faceoffs. (Nosek is a sneaky-good pickup for NJ.) Opponents are going to have the puck immediately off the draw much more in the Bruins' zone this year. That means more shots against, more effort expended getting the puck back or out, less immediate transition (win the draw, fire it up ice to Marchand dashing out of the zone -- who could do so because Bergeron was dominating the other guy in the dot), more quality shots faced by their (admittedly very good) goalies.