woods-racer

When the elements mater, will beats skill. It's the same come playoffs. The foundation.

The last time they played outside they were on their way to hockey hell. This time may it be hockey Valhalla.

Hockey player with a little blood on the nose giving an interview praising teammates.

Corner turned.

It was a long cold windy day for the Leafs. I hope the Leaf's fans froze their collective ball off.

I hope a stray maple leaf that fell last fall blows across the ice and starts the largest chant of BLOW LEAFS BLOW! to be heard at an outdoor game.

I'm so pumped. It's date night with the wife. To me it's the biggest game in years. It's more about will than skill outside. The sun makes the ice difficult to play on. Could be -10C and the sun will make puddles in spots and leave snowy spots in the shadows. It's a kid that grew up playing pond /backyard hockey dream come true. I look for Cozens (not sure why, just picture him growing up playing hockey outside) to shine. And I hate Toronto. Way more than any previous player.

Only on TNT. The best I can figure is you get TNT live on your phone or PC for free but can not get it on your smart TV. Not sure I'm smarter than my TV .. so take it with a grain of salt.

May the Heritage game day thread be longer than the Vegas thread for all the right reasons! Channeling my inner @The Ghost of Doohickie for absolute positive vibes. Must Win!

I've looked forward to this game and completely looked past the Vegas game. I rearranged my schedule to make sure I watch this one. Vegas was a great game. Hope this one is just as good!

Simon Nemec from Slovakia ? @Brawndo

Sarcasm? I'm assuming his complete lack of defensive game you're referring to if not. As we have seen he can back check with the best of them, if he wants to. This is the year to see if he's up for it.

I remember that. He's had some really bad hair cuts, which is fair game.

Kozak is having a good year and is more than a point/game player. It also appears that he is much bigger than his 5'11" 165# prospect listing. He's still a long shot.

What did the Pegulas do? Did they personally make sure every sports outlet made this all about Jack? Then paid extra to make sure it all was bad press? Not sure where you're going with this.

KA has some of the most in shape demons of any NHL team and probably the most, we've seen a lot of healthy demons these past 10 years! This past summer he started to exorcise demons, and one of them played their former team and reminded us how big a demon he is.

Correct, much of the decline. How much is the border being closed? 20%? Mandates 20%? Being bad 40%? Do you think there would have been that many people there with the mandates still in effect? The number of fans were there is also largely driven by, because they could.

Covid never existed either? The mandates where dropped a week ago and that has had no effect on recent game turnouts either? There have increased dramatically by the way. https://www.wkbw.com/news/local-news/buffalo-sabres-attendance-thousands-below-pre-covid-numbers

Excellent observation.

Didn't one of the ESPN announcers call him an *established face off guy* ? They went on about the Sabres center spin is so young and it takes years to become proficient at face offs that the Sabres rely on him heavily. Which is all fine and dandy, but I want my young guys taking faceoffs this year when wins don't matter.

It was the perfect storm. For two days the talk is all about him, our players praise him. Covid restrictions are lifted. Cheap seats. Judas returns. The game starts and the crowd within a few minutes realizes that our team is playing energized. It's not just any other game. They begin to feed off each other. Big goal, bad calls, fights! The crowd is becoming more frenzied, he is becoming more frustrated. The story book ending lead to an ovation , stick clapping and a well done tribute. Then the Jack we all know goes in front of a microphone.

He finally gave them something to get emotional about.

They are not getting good soon. They have little draft capital, few prospects. They remind me of a saying that Darcy had about the future.

That was not a *have you beaten your dog lately* question by the reporter either. He had a chance to be the bigger person and make the Sabres look bad. Instead he goes full Jack. Lets the hockey world know how truly pompous he is.

Jack just guaranteed a life time of boo's. It obviously messed with him.