DarthEbriate

I hesitate to say the Sabres are a better team than almost anyone. Certainly a higher-skilled roster, particularly on defense. The Flyers have 4 OT/SO wins. They're going to try to make this game into an endless slog and with TNT out, the most dynamic forward on the ice is going to be Michkov. (Followed by JJP/Konecy and then... Benson? Or, given his wheels, maybe McLeod.) You have the solution. The Sabres need to outskate and outwork the Flyers on every loose puck and board battle. Both teams have had a rest day, but the Sabres don't play again until next Wednesday; there is no excuse for slackery.

The Sabres lost 5-1 last season and had a 4-0 shutout to PHI the season prior, and both of those no-show games really stung at the time. But overall, Granato was 8-3-1 vs. the Flyers, including his first win as Sabres head coach.

It's not really in the GM's purview, but what if we made the scoreboard bigger and even more intimidating for opposing players.

Greenway out on a defensively challenged team?

So now I have to only use quotes instead of gifs?

I'll add it to the list.

It's his hockey nickname. https://www.hockey-reference.com/players/f/ferrara01.html

I think Ray Ferraro was on the broadcast.

Where the children dance / to the pipes of Pan (power!) 😇 Quinn Solo. He's not yet had his Solo weekend though where he met all his friends, got his ship and gun, and learned the tough life lessons. It all comes back to a single play last season. I don't recall the opponent or forward. Power defending a one-on-one zone entry. He has the angle and position as the wing moves up the far boards. The wing goes behind the net. Power also goes behind the net... unsure why he felt he needed to drop so low, but he did. At this point, all Power needs to do is stick his butt into the boards -- stops the forward in his tracks, causes a puck battle, and the remaining skaters all arrive in the zone and it's a reset of the action. Power doesn't need to hit the winger; he just needs to stop the forward progress. If it had been Chara, the winger would've been killed. We all know that isn't Power's game, but he needs to stop the play and start a puck battle. Instead, Power stops way off the boards, waves his stick, and the winger proceeds around the back of the net, circles in front and creates a 2-on-1 versus the other Sabres defenseman - Joker or Dahlin or whomever it was had no chance. Tap-in goal.

Exactly. That's what got them into this situation with Samuelsson in the first place. He got 12 games with the Sabres in 20-21, which is about right as a look-see, but they also had Bryson in the NHL the entire year and he played 38 games. They could've both been in Rochester except for 8-10 games. Throwing on the ol' Hindsight Hat, other than "wanting to be here/clearing out the old core" message, they could've just extended McCabe for the 4x$4M (and likely less) he got from Chicago before UFA hit preceding that 2020-21 season. Then, Samuelsson gets bridged and you have a decision this past 2024 summer on whether to re-sign McCabe as Toronto did, or go to Muel on a long-term deal. Extending McCabe doesn't prevent Adams from moving Risto for a temporary Hagg. The team has been lacking a consistent veteran D, until... Clifton? McCabe has been just fine as a #4 in Toronto the past couple seasons and while perhaps overextended on a bad Chicago team, he was still reliable.

Don't look now, but the Sabres PP is running at 30% since they scored their first goal. Zucker on PP1 and running the puck to him below the net, plus Dahlin and Benson returning to health, have been the keys.

The payment was premature, but the money wasn't big given the term. Right or wrong, they envisioned him as a 2nd pair d-man. $4M for a 2nd pair (maybe even 1st pair if he had totally gelled with Dahlin and continued to improve all-around) and top-pair PK d-man on the team is an easy contract, and by the end of his term would be a steal given the rising cap. It's in alignment with Zub, Manson, Tanev/McCabe, etc. The issue is the chronic injuries which weren't yet chronic at the time of the contract. Trouble is, the injuries haven't just taken him off the ice, they've changed him as a player (he's less physical/engaged) and stymied his development/progress.

I missed the second half of the game (Godzilla Minus One is good kaiju, good characters and most importantly, Godzilla looks like a person in a suit even when it's not -- that works well), but the highlights show a lackluster second sandwiched between pretty solid periods. I've seen goalie interference before; I'm not sure Benson's infraction counts. They should have won in regulation, but won in OT instead. McLeod was excellent throughout the first and in the other highlights. Benson being Benson is important, right down to the post-whistle scrums and conversations. They thought they had that steady top-4 stay-at-home guy in Samuelsson, but since 2022-23, his stay-at-homeness has been in the press box with an injury.

Dahlin lullabied them into an easy long pass. And Benson’s kick save assist attempt just a bit short for Tuch to tap in.

Traffic in front of the net. The seeing eye shot gets through. I saw a goal in McLeods!

Benson and JJP aren’t afraid to shoot from the poor angle and surprise a sloppy goalie.

If they learn how to earn some loser points. While it's still early (until 12/1, then it's no longer early), the points percentage is already not their friend.

Given how Cozens and Quinn have played this season*, this lineup looks like three 3rd lines of different makeups (defensive zone option, forechecking option, kid option) and one 4th line. That's really ugly. *Fun stat look: This isn't how shooting percentages work, but Cozens and Quinn shot% added together is 11. Individually, they're shooting like D-men who only take point shots. Quinn still only has a that one ENG on the entire season.

You must do what you feel is right, of course. All I'm saying is that the further you dig into the names and match them up on a spreadsheet with relation to their roles in the plot, the more beautifully and uncannily it aligns.

The Sabres need a 2nd line winger, you say? Skinner cap hit if he hadn't been bought out: $9M Skinner cap hit for this season if the Sabres trade for him from EDM: $3M + this year's $1.444M buyout penalty = $4.444M The $4.5M EEE savings are there, and you could ask for a pick from Edmonton to free up their cap space. That's some 4.444th level chess right there. I'm sure there's a rule preventing buyout/reacquisition of this nature, but it would make me laugh.

In the prequel Star Wars, it took Sheev (that's the Emperor) 13 in-universe years to go from Senator of Naboo to Emperor, destroying the Jedi and "killing" Anakin and Amidala. In the Sabres Wars, it took Sheevyn (that's Kevyn) only 9 years to go from Assistant Coach to GM, destroying the franchise and "trading" Jackikin and Reinodala. As a phantom menace, he's even more Efficient, Effective, and Economical in real life.

Look at the size of that thing! This is how we win.

Even with loser points factoring into Points % on the season, we can only wish this team was mediocre over the last 13 years. Always two there are, a master and an apprentice. Yup; and the 2022-23 trade deadline when they had the best odds by Points % to make the playoffs of the competing teams. And the 2023 offseason to remake the bottom 6 (no Girgs/Okposo) and get a Zucker-like player to help push the team further. And 2024 to further refine with a true top-6. And a 1A/1B goalie to pair with Ullmark and/or Luukkonen the entire tenure. The evil part: yes. The genius part is what I'm having trouble with. But... he did manage to win the ear of Darth Pegulas the Wise, enact his coup, and make himself into an Emperor NHL GM.

They've drafted ten top-10 players who are still active in the NHL/AHL and only one is considered a true bust (Nylander). Risto is not good, he's a 6/7, but he's played 700 games, so... not entirely a bust. Quinn and Savoie are still too young to say for sure, but Quinn has already outscored Nylander in fewer games played. That to preface... they have five top-10 draftees on their roster and (one of them) Byram was acquired via trade for Mitts. The high-end fruit of the tank was acquired... and then half of it was sent away.

At least not until Luukkonen shakes off his day-to-day listing. But then, yes, I would send Levi down to play a bunch. Sandstrom is also out, so you need a goalie for a good Amerks squad to hunt for their own playoffs.