DarthEbriate

Montgomery is a good coach; the Bruins have a good culture and organization. The roster looks a little weak and has ever since Bergeron and Krejci retired. But they're at the quarter pole and trailing NYI and OTT in points % and with a -21 goal differential. This is their wake-up call like Edmonton last season. But Edmonton had McDavid and Draisaitl.

Lindholm was a very good 2C, much akin to his draft-year and former CGY teammate Monahan. Solid system guys who play well defensively and could step into that 1C role in an occasional capacity -- and sometimes, you get a great year out of them. Lindholm centered Tkachuk and Gaudreau when they had their breakout Huzzah Calgary season. But Lindholm, the center, finished over 30 points behind both of his wingers. And then you wake up one day and five years have passed, and that season was a statistical outlier, and honestly, he should be making 3C money, and..., good signing, Boston! And Father Buyout is likely waiting for you there in 3 years or some playoff contender will take him with retention or some tanker will get him to reach the floor.

This poses a hypothetical situation (which we could easily see): If the Sabres and Bruins both miss the playoffs this season, which team makes the playoffs first? If I could be completely objective, this would be pretty interesting to see how each franchise were to go about it. ----- The Red Wings are preceding the Sabres through the California road trip. They earned 1 point combined vs. the Sharks, Ducks, and Kings. And good job on the Habs shutting out the Oilers.

It wouldn't be nasty of you at all. At the time, Luukkonen had yet to show any above-average goaltending in the NHL or AHL and didn't play down the stretch, Comrie was Comrie, Anderson had retired, and Levi had just made a pretty solid multiweek 5-2 debut and resuscitated a team that had been slipping through two 4-game losing streaks (as Dahlin/TNT battled some injuries) into a 10-2-1 finish and barely missed the playoffs. Help us Devon Levi, he was our only hope. (All that and he still needed more AHL time, but that's not how this organization is run... [no blockers!]. The GM instead opted for the 3-headed monster.

If it were only style, then KA's credo of "wants to be here" wouldn't exist. Instead, you'd keep the offensive firepower that is so hard to attain in this league. The players that bring in the casual fan or the person whose kids love to watch them; the players who make you stand up when they get the puck (Eichel), or elevate their average linemates (Reinhart), or are super inconsistent, but when they're on, they can be really on and entertaining (Skinner), or great on the rush from the back (Montour).

In my experience, anyone who likes Star Wars should be actively distrusted until proven otherwise. Levi: I don't what this chart is talking about. I'm a young goaltender on a diplomatic mission to Rochester... GM Sheevyn: You need to play everyday... and you're a traitor (for not being the best goalie ever despite my gifting you a starting job after you kept the team afloat with some good games right after college because I couldn't set the team up with a goalie so I need you to cover all of my mistakes, but you still aren't even close to your professional development curve as you're only at 63 professional games played). Bring the shuttle!

Well, hopefully Rosén has learned and gotten stronger since last season's debut. 7 games of... invisibility?... were normal for most kids. If TNT is out and Rosén suits up, he'll skate more than 10 minutes and possibly even get some PP time. Last season he skated under 10 minutes in 5 of his 7 games.

Doc. Are you telling me -- you built a time machine... out of a Delorean rake?

Kozak is a 12/13 at best, but there will be an opening on the 4th line next season. He could easily make a bottom 6 debut this year for 2-4 games and be a part-timer in 2025-26. If he maximizes his potential, he could then hash out some seasons in the NHL.

The motives have been defined: quality of family goals for billionaires and the completion of contracts for a superyacht, make money off the NFL, etc. The purpose of the Sabres to win a Stanley Cup is no longer on the priority list.

True, the DeLuca .500 is at least representative. Then, you only have outliers like the 16-loser point Islanders sneaking in.

The loser point inflates it. Currently, 22 of 32 teams are .500 or better (and a single overtime appearance/loss prevents the Sabres and Blues from joining them). Being .500 is not enough, because 6 of those teams aren't playoff-bound.

Probably still the GM on (U.S.) Thanksgiving 2026 at this rate.

He is. But this team kind of needs an asshat. Someone who will go to the net with a purpose and a recklessness and occasionally lose a goal with interference. (Like Benson, but with experience.) The reluctance from me would be, how quickly would Bunting stop going to the net on this team?

I think Gaustad did for a while, but it was intentional to use his glove for the pass. This has since become a penalty.

Check. Check. Check. And... no hat. I did end up wearing my wife's faux-fur stole as the evening progressed. Good accessory: stoles.

That means next season we're looking at 95-4.44 (for Skinner) as 90.5. Subtract 6 for the TP Discount. 84.5 is up from spending this year. Raise ticket prices to compensate. That'll be plenty to pay JJP and Byram if you let Zucker go. Done and done.

Well, time to head off to a friend's birthday party. She's doing a prom-themed birthday... but... we're not... young... likesay, we remember the original trilogy. Anyway, I may have to dress up, but it gets me clear of Sabres hockey. Do you think the Sabres will attempt to collectively "send a message" in the third period? Like a Torts-team would? (I don't.)

Or at least, he hasn't yet lost his hatred of losing. There's still time for that with this franchise.

Benson with some poor sportsmanship after the goal, but... at least he doesn't like losing.

Sabres broadcast team: Good start to the road trip, eh?

One team wants it, the other is drifting.

If Benson interfered last game, Brink interfered there.

No penalties for elbow, crosscheck, or roughing after the whistle. Nice. Good job, refs. Let them sort things out after the whistle early.

The Phlyers see the size of Buffalo's new scoreboard and raise them the size of the numbers on their sleeves.