DarthEbriate

Oh, Tucher! So close

Efffin' eh, Mitts! Krebs!

Excellent save. Schmaltz is 4-4-8 in his last 6 games, so he's currently the Arizona offense. Tage.... be healthy!

Wooooooohoooooooo!

<in Wookiee grunts> Anderson is in net. -- Where did you dig up that old fossil? ++ That is a great goalie.

That would have been fun for him. Robson... and... seriously, who would we have dressed as the backup if Anderson/Toker couldn't fly with the team? The local Phoenix emergency goalie? University of Arizona's backup goalie? A free agent for $750k?

It's a way for the league to keep some form of interest in a mid-season matchup between Arizona and Buffalo. I look forward to how the team handles the challenge. Not as much as I look forward to building this new Lego set... but forward. Challenge. Adversity. <trails off mumbling brick brick something>

It's a trap...question. Our no goalies have respawned back to our opening night goalies. And Carter Hutton has been on IR since super-early in the season. Memories: Remember how the Sabres played Arizona in game 2 of the season and Vejmelka stood on his head and stole a point for Arizona? It should have been Hutton. We would have scored a 7-spot on Hutton that game (everyone else did early in the year). It would have been so delicious for the 800 fans in attendance.

We will want that $5M in 2023 to spend, but I hope it's on a goalie that warrants the salary. What I want is in July 2023 for us to have enough information on UPL to either give him 5x5 (probably higher by then if the cap starts moving up) to be the starter or to move him or to do a 2x$2.5M as the backup to... Levi... because it's the Levi thread. The going rate in 2021 for a starting caliber goalie is $4.5M-$6M. https://www.capfriendly.com/signings/all/standard/goalies/2-15/0-15000000/0-0/1-way (Filtered for 1-way, standard contracts, and I got rid of all the 1-year deals that would have a variance (but were mostly oddities and cheap: Martin Jones to PHI, Rask returning to BOS at an insane discount). Ullmark at $5M was reasonable because he's an average starting goalie (when healthy) and that salary right in line with what starting goalies were getting on the open market in the summer of 2021. If we didn't want to pay Ullmark, we should have signed him during the season last year to try to keep the cost down or traded him at the 2021 deadline as a rental (health permitting). And that decision could have been more easily determined after claiming Nedeljkovic off waivers at the beginning of the season and sliding Hutton into the nearest garbage chute.

Michigan-Canada-Michigan-Buffalo. Unlimited (games for) Power!!!

Eakin won’t be resigned this offseason in the event he can’t be traded. But in the meantime: He’s a JAG clone for Sheevyn, he wins face offs, has played and been decent with Girgs and Okposo in a defensive/grinding role, and has a great red mullet. I am hopeful that Hinostroza and his wheels are resigned for next season. The rest of them can float away with the rest of the garbage. (It’s a Star Wars reference and has no bearing or reflection on who they are on or off the ice and in the rest of their future dealings.)

You’re all forgetting the true measure of captaincy: the ability to lead the team stretch!

Master Toker, it's good to see you full functional again! AADell expresses his relief, also. They were both acquired by the current GM. (edit: they want to be here...)

Nonsense. There’s always room on any bandwagon or in any fandom. Young or old. New or experienced. Or even if you’re trying to catch that really cute girl/boy’s eye and want to show a common interest in whatever it is. Hell, even if it’s just because you like the colors. Gatekeeping is a waste of time. Enjoy the game. Enjoy the skill on display. Enjoy the drama. That’s what sport is for.

When the Sabres aren’t in the playoffs, which is... often?, just go with whatever team you find fun to watch. There’s a playing style that’ll catch your heart, or a player, or an underdog... or just appreciate how good Tampa is. Then, enjoy for a round or two. Alternately, enjoy all the ex-Sabres that are out there. Foligno and the Wild. Reino and the Cats. Beaulieu and the Jets.

Mitts got hacked, looked back at the ref instead of driving to the net and forcing the rush, and then left the ice without a whistle. Very different optics than crashing into the boards and having an immediate scrum. (And yes, we absolutely should've hacked Gallagher's wrist to pieces or at least forced him to drop the gloves --- it was a game we were similarly cruising in and had no fear to fear their PP or anything else.) Of course, then Mitt's injury wasn't a wrist but some other undisclosed UBI. Or combination thereof. That was never made clear.

Judge Levi by his size, do you? For Pasquale, he's the veteran mentor, but every KHL goalie's stats are wildly inflated compared to the NHL. Mediocre! Tomkins... seems like his name is missing a P. Meh. Levi is the lifeblood of Canada! The syrup of the big red leaf! They remember the WJCs and how he willed them to the (silver) final.

Dirty hit and worthy of a multi-game suspension. The age-old question is: would the NHL have a hearing if Batherson simply slides into the boards, gets up fully OK, and slashes Dell on his way back into play? Probably not. What upsets me is Ottawa's response. They lost their only point-per-game player (arguably their best forward depending on if you like his style or Tkachuk's more) to a deliberate cheapshot from an AHL-caliber goalie who was angry he'd already given up 3 goals. (And video shows Dell has done this in the past.) Ottawa was already cruising to victory... They should have addressed it on the ice in a much more visible fashion. If the Sabres had lost an Eichel (leading-scorer/most dynamic playmaker type) to a cheapshot like this I would've been livid.

Ennis with a healthy slash on Skinner. Looks like this PP and then dinner time. Almost time to teleport off this rock.

Now... curious to see how the Sabres battle in the final period.

Ooof. I guess that's why they signed Dell. The team has a decade-long reputation of not defending the goalie, so they signed a vicious goalie.

Errrrr.... win the third?

Since Chabot returned to the ice, I'm not sure the Sabres have had a legit scoring chance.

He started to backcheck, saw the pass and stopped skating, then was too late for the pass back. Gotta be better than that. He was the only one with a chance to get back in time.

All too easy.