mjd1001

Elite talent yes...Elite player..not quite yet. I want to see him finish in the top 5 in the league in scoring at least once...and the top 10 in the league in scoring for a couple years in a row first. You finish in the top 20 in the league in scoring you are a star, but not 'elite'. Elite status is reserved for the extreme upper echelon.....top 5-10 players in the league at most.

The solution for cheap shots is simply longer suspensions and much higher fines. The NHLPA won't go for that though...even if it is player on player violence, they are defending the accused in most cases. How about this....the first $100,000 of every fine goes to a charity (I think they do something like this already). Make the fines huge and the suspensions really harsh....and the REST of the fine or money lost goes into a pool..that at the end of the year is distributed among all the players who did NOT get fined or suspended that year. I think that might reduce SOME of the NHLPA and players oppositions to harsh fines/suspensions.

I don't disagree with most of what you said. Eichel is not a problem. But I agree with you that he is a very good player and not a mega- superstar. The issue is a lot of people still think/want to think he is that 1/2 step behind McDavid and SHOULD be a top 5 player in the league. He isn't to me. Reinhart same thing...he is a very good player, but probably not even a top 50 player in the league. And it is still early for Dahlin. That goes back to the original issue though, they 'tanked' and missed the playoffs for so long and didn't get the payoff everyone wanted. You didn't get a Crosby and a Malkin...or an Ovechkin. You didn't get a Lemieux or a McDavid. You have to work with what you do have...and right now it doesn't seem like the Sabres have much of a chance to get 'more' than what they have now.

Here is the issue I keep coming back to...and it seems a lot of people on this forum have stopped talking about... What has to be done to this team to make it a legit top 5 or 6 team in the league...a team that year in and year out is at least an outside threat to make it to the finals? I really don't see the answer. You have you generational player already in Dahlin. You have your semi-generational forward in Eichel. You have your other 2nd overall pick in Reinhart. You are arguably already entering into the prime playing years for Eichel and Reinhart. You are NOT stocked with NHL ready talent in the AHL, and don't seem to have any superstars-in-waiting showing up anytime soon. You have cap relief coming next year, but you are at the cap already right now. I want a trade (or two or three) like everyone else...but that won't 'fix' this team and turn it into a top contender. Most of us thought the end result of the tank, especially after getting Dahlin on top of it...would be a team that would be a top team in the NHL. Unless they turn this season around, we are looking at 9 straight years of no playoffs, and 13 seasons since a single playoff series win. What needs to be done so this team can be a legit cup contender? I don't even have a clue anymore.

Ok, I'm not a big fan of his at all, so I'm not defending him....but this team has a lot bigger problems than him. his first year in the league..averaged a goal about every 5 games, his second year...a goal about every 5 games. His third year... a goal every 5 games. This year with Buffalo 0 goals. In his first 3 years in the league...he averaged 5 goals per year from the start of the season to Nov 10. This year....0. The Sabres have changed the coach, yet players tend to underachieve here compared to their previous/next teams. Changed fringe players too. Something is still amiss. All that is really left is to change some of the stars/big minute players. At this point, I'd be willing to trade Risto for almost anything. Maybe it is, or isn't his fault...but the biggest single change you can make is moving the player off your team that gets the most minutes. Anyone else, I wouldn't keep a closed mind to. Eichel? Don't want to trade him, but I'd listen to any deal that involves a top-30 player coming back for him...depending on the other parts. Sam is scoring as well as ever....but I'll listen to anything...and at this point a major shakeup may be needed. One more thing on Eichel this year....4 even strength goals in 17 games from the guy who leads your forwards in even strength ice time? From your superstar captain, you need a LOT better production than that.

I agree. I'll admit I'm probably only a casual hockey/Sabres fan at this point. If I am entertained and I like what I see, I'll watch. If I'm bored or upset, then there is no use for me watching. That just how casual fandom works. Going into the opener, I said that I'll see how that game goes...by 3-4 games in...they sucked me back in and I was watching everything. Now, I don't expect them to win every game...or even compete for the top spot in the league...and I realize losing streaks are a part of the NHL for even the best teams. But this doesn't seem like a 'good' team on a losing streak. This has more of the feel of an average or bad team that had a hot streak and is now coming back to where they should be. It may be unfair to compare this team to last years team...but there are a lot of the same players on it and the uniforms look the same on tv to me.

I often times would intentionally start the game 30-45 minutes later and DVR it. A 7:05 faceoff I would do work, yard work, chores, etc until 7:30 or 7:45.....then I'd start the game on DVR, fast forward through commercials and sometimes intermissions, and end up cathing up 'live' by the middle of the third period usually.

Personally I liked The Last Jedi much more than the Force Awakens. Last Jedi, sure, it had a few problems, but the story was a lot more interesting to me. Force Awakens...I actually think it was a bad movie. The problem I have with the new Trilogy is I don't really like many of the characters. The Poe Dameron character is probably my favorite...but Finn is average, Rey does NOTHING for me at all being a lead...and While I like Adam Driver in some of his other works....his role here is my least favorite.

"Regression to the mean" is a big expectation with Sabres fans. I think many (most maybe?) expect at the first sign of them losing 2 out of 3...or any other losing streak..that the team is on the way back to being as good as last years team. Possible? Yes, Likely, I don't think so and hope not. Teams ebb and flow in the NHL, seemingly more than any other league. We all know last year...later than we are now..the Sabres were the top team in the league...and early in the year the Champ Blues were at or near the bottom of the standings. What I think is possible and what I hope for each and every month...it to NOT have a calendar month where the team gets LESS than 1/2 the available points...and has a negative goal differential. If they can stay on the positive side of those two measures every month....some months will be better than the others and I think that will put them in a good place by the end of the season.

Maybe the mods won't like this idea...but everytime there is a new vote, maybe a new topic should be started (the first post can be the results of the last vote, and a chance to vote in a new one). Myself, and I'm sure many other 'casual' members of the forum...once we see a topic and vote once, we think that is it. I might look back at that thread to see the results, but often times I think the voting is a 'once and done' per post and move on.

Risto is probably the 2nd most 'talented' D-man on this team Risto is playing a lot better so far early this year. Risto supposedly is 'happier' now than he was last year Risto said RK is his best/favorite coach he ever had in the NHL.... With all that said, I still see Risto as making more mistakes on the ice than any other D-man on this team. He still is on the ice for more goals against than any other D-man. Is that a function of his minutes again? Maybe...but I for one am not in the 'all is well' camp with him. I'd still like to see him moved. Move Montour into this group...keep everyone else the same...Scandella plays this year and comes off the books next year.

I don't think most of us aren't appreciating the win or what we saw...but this is a discussion forum..and talking about ice time can lead to a very good discussion: 1. Maybe not after one game but the trend of who is getting ice time and who isn't...tells a lot about what the coaching staff things of players and how much they trust them in each sitiation....2. A very heavy workload for a young player, a player not used to it...or a player that struggles with frequent injuries can be something to keep an eye on down the road.

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.