mjd1001

Good win by the Sabres, but I was surprised by some of the ice time given to players.... D-unit: -Mcabe 25:11 ice time, Risto 23:53 ice time. -but Dahlin only 15:45 ice time Forwards: -Despite the goals scored, Sheary and Mittlestadt both about 9:20 ice time..and both with about 1.5 minutes on the PP, so they would get just under 8:00 even strength for the game. -Sabotka 16:14 ice time (about 14:00 even strength), even Larson 14:01 ice time (about 9 minutes even strength) Its just game one, but it will be interesting to see how much everyone is used going forward.

Slightly off topic, but the fact Hasek made that much of a difference on this team might make him the best player of all time. Put Gretzky or Lemieux in their 20's on that team for 4-6 years instead of Hasek and replace him with a middling Goaltender, and I think they aren't as good as they are with Hasek. Frustrating to me that most of the Canadian media still puts Hasek as the third best goaltender of his era, behind Roy and Brodeur (he had the misfortune of NOT being born in Canada.)

I'm not sure what the final turnover is going to be come opening night...but I was thinking about the 'roster surgery' expectation. Is that new guys on the roster? Is that how much different the team will look? So, here is a list of the top players on the team in total ice time from last year, ranked from highest down... Risto, Dahlin, Eichel, Reinhart, Skinner, Bogosian, Rodrigues, Sheary, McCabe, Scandella, Okposo, Larsen, Mittelstadt, Girgensons, Sobotka, POMINVILLE You have to go all the way down to #16 in total ice time on the Sabres to get to Pominville. The top 15 guys are all still likely on the roster opening night. I know you can't trade without a partner..etc, etc....but I was hoping for more change than this, as I am sure many others were also.

I'm not happy with his salary, or his lack of even strength production, and his overall 2 way play. However as long as the Sabres are stuck with that contract...he does have some value on the PP. Over the last 3 years, he is 3rd on this team in PP goals (only 1 behind Eichel). Until they have someone who is a MAJOR upgrade, and as long as you keep paying him against the cap, he stays here as a 3rd-4th liner (10-12 minutes per game), but he is a fixture on at least the 2nd PP unit.

He shouldn't have been here last year. The Sabres don't have many examples of players that hurt the team by having 'too much' time in Juniors of the Minors...but there are a LOT of players that might have been hurt by rushing them up to soon.

I think this year Pittsburgh takes a bigger fall than most. 96 points I guess is possible for them, but I really see this team being right around 90 and not making the playoffs. I'll try to not form too much of an opinion on them based on the season opener vs the Sabres though. Gutsy pick on putting Columbus so high. Most other people have them a lot lower...I hope you are right though because for some reason I like that team. I'm still waiting for Boston and San Jose to have they fall also. I know Boston has a good number of quality young guys, but at some point the likes of Marchand, Bergeron, Krejci, and Chara have to show major signs of being on the wrong side of 30 AND playing a ton of games over the past few years.

I'm noticing less and less interest in this team..this year more than any I can remember. There are some really good and spirited discussions on this forum, coming from a handful of members...but there seems to be very little buzz about this team anywhere else I look: -at work, this is the first year ever that I have heard virtually no-one bring up the Sabres..or opening night...this far into the preseason -In the past, my friends/relatives that are into sports would be sending me texts about the Sabres by now....nothing this year from any of them. -2 close friends of mine really follow the Sabres, one had season tickets for years. I saw them last weekend and there was some Bills talk, I brought up the sabres, one shook his head and the other one said something like "I don't care anymore until they start winning". Not sure what the solution is....but people aren't even going to trust a 10 game winning streak anymore.

Possibly yes. When too many teams pay top dollar to superstars and it leaves a lot more 'good' players there for the picking, then the way to build your team will be to get a team full of those 'good' players. Trends take years to develop, but when everyone is doing one thing...the 'other' thing often works.

You can attribute a lot of this to one man, Robert Moses. In many cities (not just Niagara Falls), highways and bridges were named after him for the work he did. However, his idea in terms of civil engineering was to center things around the automobile. Build more highways, Bigger highways. Build highways along waterfronts to give drivers and passengers of cars a 'better view'. I think he even had an idea at one point and pushed to build a major highway right through the center of Manhattan. At the time (post WW2), a lot of people supported him...but there may not be many people at all that did more damage to our infrastructure than he did (and cost $billions to correct those mistakes). There was a very good documentary on Robert Moses I saw a few years ago...I can't remember if it was on Netflix...or the History channel. Very interesting and well worth the hour to watch it if you can find it.

The article makes it sound like its a done deal...headline is a bit deceiving...saying "will remove skyway". I thought this was just a proposal for conceptual ideas.....is there more to this than that? Anyway, if you aren't going to use the Skyway for vehicle traffic, then why not just take it down? Keeping it up...in whatever form...is still going to cost money long term for maintenance and those pillars take away somewhat valuable land below. If it isn't going to be used for traffic, just get rid of the whole thing....the concept picture seem to show that part of it would still stay up. Don't get me wrong..I am all for getting rid of that thing...but if it does go...that is one less 4 lane highway available into and out of the area where a new Bills stadium might be build.

Fear: A boring Sabres season. Sure, I want them to be really good, but I can be entertained with missing the playoffs as long as we see some more goals, up and down play, and some hope. My fear is we get a bunch of 2-1 or 3-2 games...and a few shutouts (of the Sabres) thrown in there, with the other teams dominating possession and shots on goal.

Okposo, of course, is tough to deal with regarding his contract. If you could get someone else to take it great....but if not....what do you do with him? Here is the reality....he is above average on the power play (compared to most others on this team). Is he great? No. Is he a liability even strength? Probably. But he isn't going to drag down the first powerplay unit if he is on it...and might actually be an asset on the 2nd powerplay unit. So, maybe he is the guy that is in your lineup....but gets the occasional 'day off' when you want to slot in a young guy. That gives him 65-70 games played.....and when he is playing..he gets his PP time...and you try to limit his even strength ice time to about 10 minutes per game.

I read a lot about Risto getting too much ice time and if you cut it down by a few minutes a game, he'll be fine. But in reality, how do you cut his ice time down that much? A lot of his mistakes/weakness comes in even strength play...but his even strength ice time is not THAT much higher than everyone else. Last year, in his time with the Sabres Montour actually got more even strength ice time than Risto. Bogo averaged only about 1 minute less and Dahlin was only about 1.5 minutes less. If you really want to get Risto down near or under 20 minutes per game, you have to significantly reduce his special team ice time. On the PK, only Bogo had more ice time per game than Risto...and on the PP, Risto was WAY out in front of everyone else (actually, Dahlin was close behind Risto, but then Risto was double anyone else.) Personally, if he is still here, I'd get him off the PK totally.....limit him to 2nd team on the PP....and make sure Dahlin and his partner get more even strength ice time. That should about do it. If after that he STILL has the worst +/- on the team and can't get the puck out of his own zone after another half season...then trade him for the bag of pucks.

Ok, I am not a huge analytics guy, I don't know much about breaking down the film, and don't know where players are supposed to be all the time. But as for the 'hate' for the guy, I can explain that from my point of view. Over the last 2 years (mostly), I have just seen TOO many times where a goal was scored against the Sabres that was directly a result of his play. A dumb/bad pass out of his own zone sometimes...him 'chasing' down another player and looking the other way when the eventual goal scorer was taking a shot...or him vacating a spot in front of the net a second or less before the goal was scored from that exact spot. It happens to most of the D-core on this team, but to my eyes, it seems to happen a LOT more to him than to most of the other players combined. Sure, he hits, he skates well, he has great 'talent', but I just personally see him looking like it was his mistake or him being 'out of position' more than anyone else when goals are scored against the team with him on the ice. Maybe a new coach changes that? I don't know, but at this point I won't be sad to see him gone.

Can't give in on Tom Brady. He was part of a Pats team that cheated. It is VERY likely that a couple of his Superbowls would not be there without cheating, his stats would likely be a lot less also. Take away some of those SBs and lower his stats a bit and he is not the greatest ever. Now, there are a lot of 'likely's in there...but in my book....the person (or team) that cheats loses the benefit of the doubt on those 'likely' and 'maybe' qualifiers.

I agree. I loved the black and red, and loved that logo. I wish the Sabres would use them as a 3rd jersey on a regular basis.

I don't follow analytics...I never coached hockey....I can't break down film and see anything of much value...when I watch the game, I'm just following the puck 90% of the time....so obviously I'm not the best person to know a players true value........but what I do know with Risto is this: -too many times last year (and the year or two before) I see the Sabres have a goal scored against them, and Risto has his back (or side) turned to the play...or seems to be skating away from the goal scorer or is just looking at the play while not moving. Now, is some of that schematic where another player made a mistake? Maybe, but it happens WAY too much to Risto compared to other Sabres D-men for me to say he is a great...or even good D-man who is just unlucky. I don't think he is a truly awful player...but I think he is someone that has good skills and gets over-rated by a lot of people because of his 'athletic skills' and not by his actual play.

I am a casual follower of the NBA. Watch a handful of games (not even full games), but I like to keep up on the standings and the news online. One thing I'll say...this might be the season I am the most interested in of any major sports league in memory (besides strictly Buffalo teams). At least going into this year...the possibilities for who is going to be good, who is going to contend for the title....almost endless. There are probably 6 teams in the west that have a legit shot of coming out of there as champs...and in the east...Mil and Philly legit shots...but you can't rule out Boston or Toronto pending injuries to Mil and Philly. Wide open. So many teams with a 'big 2 star players' that there should be a ton of close, entertaining matchups through the entire season. A dream for someone who just wants to follow the standings.

I agree with your sentiment, but it actually does not have to be that complicated. Just make the compensation a bit less.

Over the last 2 seasons combined, he has 1 less even strength goal than Reinhart, and did that in 4 less games (and also with less ice time per game at even strength) He has less PP goals than Reinhart, but the rangers also gave him about 1/2 the pp ice time Sam got. Vesey would appear to have a lot less upside than Reinhart...but with an extra minute or two ice time per game...and a regular spot on the PP.....it wouldn't be out of the question to see him put up 20-25 goals based on past performance.

I agree with that exactly....that that alone is the difference between him as a player being a "top-5 in the league superstar" (which we want and many expected when he was drafted), compared what he is and has been...a 'top 20-25 player in the league star'. What many people wanted out of him was a half-step behind McDavid...so far he has instead been a 20th-25th best player in the league....mostly because of inconsistency.

I guess I'm there also. I am/was at the point where I was OK with him walking for this amount. Would I take what would come with that....no big time scorer on the Sabres...Skinner probably on a better team and getting farther in the playoffs next year....etc. Yes, I'd be OK with it if he was getting paid that much. However, its done so I'll enjoy watching him play for the team. Hopefully, the cash is front loaded (even though the cap hit will be the same, a front loaded contract would be easier to dump in later years IF NEEDED), hopefully he'll be a guy who keeps producing well into his early and mid-thirties...and hopefully it does not have a full no-trade clause (sorry if these details are out, I have not had a chance to read every post in this thread so far)

I think I'm with you on this, but its a good thing we can look forward to watching him this year again. In the past, my biggest criticisms of him were he didn't produce many goals/points at even strength, and he didn't bring much else to the game unless he was putting up points. This past season, he did a LOT better even strength. I still don't think hes a good player in the D-zone..or in transition...or someone the other team has to gameplan around..BUT..if he can put up the same (or slightly better) even strength numbers this year as he did last year..I'd be open to a long term deal around $7m because of his age.

So far from what I have seen of Nylander....he is not worth what he is getting paid. He has skill, and when you put a player with skill on a top line with another great player, they will put up numbers. I'd like to see Nylander for a full year on a team where he is 'the man', I don't think he'd fare too well. As far as Reinhart, up until this year I wasn't impressed with him as much as many others on this forum....he seemed like he could only produce on the Powerplay. This year though was the first time in his career he significantly raised his production even strength.

I'm at no on resigning him then. I like the player. alot. I am not a fan of tough, heavy hockey, I like up and down type hockey, but it doesn't make sense to me for where the Sabres are at. Sign him for 8 years..it is likey you get 3-4 elite years...2 decent years..and 2 years of regret. IF the Sabres were at the point now where you were looking at deep playoff runs right now and through those 4 'elite' years..then I'd go for it. But it is likely at least the first 2 of those years you aren't going to be in that position. Right player, Right position, Right money....wrong time for where the Sabres are in their progression. Last thing I want is for this team to be really good and a top 10 team in the NHL a few years down the road...and at that point THIS being the contract that causes them to need more help and not be able to get it.