Kruppstahl

Yes, but not Bobby Orr or Gretz, huh?

Babcock isn't the head coach of Team Canada for nothing. He's regarded as the #1 coach in the game right now. I just don't see him coming to Buffalo. I hope I am wrong. On a scale of 1-10, my interest in Bylsma is a minus 37.

I guess this has to be based on current players in the league? What's the fun in that? Why not open it up to all time too?! My #1 right now among current players would be Toews.

Anyone watching TB vs. MTL?

Vanek. Super talented guy. Capable, at times, of being not good, not great, but "Oh my God, did you see that?" great. Too bad he plays only when he feels like it. It's who he is. Guys like this are borderline worthless in the post-season. In the regular season they'll help win a lot of games. The problem is they don't award the Cup for those who play well on that meaningless, boring Tuesday nighter in early December.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Z45n6Ttvog

It's cliche, but in the case of Eichel, it's just TRUE. He will make everyone on the ice around him better. Yes it could!

That's great! But what is going on in Price's mind? Nothing? That's what I thought.

Well you are in luck. One of the series done by Dan Carlin is on the Mongol conquest, said to be some of his best stuff. That is on my "to listen to next" list. :w00t:

Not sure what you are on about in this post. No offense but you write a lot of off-topic stuff that is not relevant to the topic at hand. As noted, until Grigorenko shows me that he is special or even above average, I don't see a big role for him in the Sabres franchise. Maybe I am wrong.

You're welcome. Check out his website, but only the current podcast is free. You can pay a few bucks to listen to all the past ones. However, you can find a number of them available on youtube for free, where I am listening to "Blueprint for Armageddon" Part III now. I believe the entire "Armageddon" series is on youtube. Some of these are over 4 hours long each. It's great stuff, especially as I am not well versed in WWI. WWII is my speciality along with all things ancient Roman.

Well you might understand my username more than most then. Not to go off topic, but are you familiar with Dan Carlin's "Hardcore History" podcasts? I am listening to "Blueprint for Armageddon" Part III right now. It's about WWI. This guy's podcasts are remarkable. I just learned of them a few days ago.

I see you are not the only one who has noted this. I'm right with you bud. Hey Qwksndmonster! Based on your spoiler comments about the fight scenes it sounds like you are interested in military history. Yes?

That COHO interview with the kid is great! I'm not a COHO fan but his stock just went up a bit in my mind. Regarding the piece over at WGR-550.com... I just posted in the World Championship thread about this, but watch in all those video snippets how Eichel uses his body. He totally understands how to use his body to control territory, shield the puck, and neutralize an opponent, as though he has been playing in the NHL for 10 years. He also already has the body size/strength to pull it off. McDavid (at the moment) is like a child in comparison.

In short, Grigorenko needs to bring more to the table than he actually does. When asked about Reinhart, Tim Murray said: "Let's put it this way. Every single time I have seen him play, he is the smartest player on the ice by far." Reinhart is also the more or less universally accepted best forward in his draft class. Grigorenko will have to prove to me that he is anything more than "meh". Until he does, I remain bored with him as a Sabre prospect.

I'd like to thank BRAWNDO and others for providing the very useful information in this thread. I'll be watching the game tomorrow at 10:00 am. These games have given me the first real chance to see Eichel in action. What impresses me most is his instinctive ability to use his body as a shield to protect the puck, and his instinctive ability to just use his body in general. He understands when 2 guys are going for a puck along the end wall, for example, that the most important thing to do first is to block out the other guy. Never mind the puck for now. Get position on the other guy, block him out, dominate that little piece of ice...then get the puck. I've seen a lot of NHL players who don't seem to understand that. This kid is beyond NHL ready and I just can't wait to see him in a Sabres uniform. It's going to be pretty exciting.

What I like about Ovi is that he is not afraid to shoot the puck like crazy. He has a great shot and he uses it. I always wanted Vanek to go into every game thinking he had to have 10 shots! Why not! When you're Vanek, you need to shoot the puck.

This is subject to debate obviously, but Murray has made it clear that he wants a big, "heavy" team. He likes Foligno, as an example, for this reason, despite the fact that Foligno is a marginal NHL talent at best. Grigorenko is tall, but he is not a "big body" and he most certainly does not play a heavy game, and never will. That's not who he is. His skating is horrible (it has improved a lot I concede) and he is slow. I don't see him being a part of this team, long term, once we transition to the "real team". I may be wrong. Tall and lanky doesn't mean "big". He doesn't play a big game. He is soft and a poor skater. He is more Derek Roy than Gordie Howe. He is kind of a miniature version of Tyler Myers in my mind...a huge guy who played small. As you point out, he wasn't Murray's guy, which will make it even easier to move him, along with the likes of Armia, who was equally inappropriately highly rated by a certain contingent of the Sabres fan base IMO. Where would you stick him on those Cup run teams? Would you move him to wing? He isn't going to be the 1C, that's Eichel's job. He isn't going to be the 2C, that's Samson's job. He isn't going to e the 3C/shutdown C, that's going to be Zemgod's job. So then you want him centering the 4th line? I want more muscle on that line than Grigro provides.

This! Grigo is not Tim Murray's guy and not his type of guy. He won't be a part of the "good team" around here, once we get good. It's time to start putting everyone in the keeper and "not keeper" camp. Grigo isn't a keeper. Neither is COHO by the way. He'll be gone soon too.

Here's to a good show tonight and one a bit better than we have seen so far this season.

:w00t: That hit was probably the best (and clean) hit in the entire NHL that season, and it surely must remain one of the top 5 hits in Sabre history. Campbell is a good skater with great balance and he is the type of player who is very solid on his skates. He converted himself into telephone pole for a moment and let Umberger's own energy do all the damage. It was like watching a car drive into a brick wall. Hey, cool! :beer:

On that special DVD they released some years ago, RJ mentioned that the commissioner once told him to "calm down" during fight calls. Like he got too excited and it promoted violence in the game that the league was trying to eliminate. Or something like that. RJ's response was like "Hey, I don't tell the guys to fight! If they are going to throw 'em I'm going to call the action!" Or something like that. On a related note, I used to love how Harry Neale would always point out, during fights on HNIC, that the entire building was standing and going nuts. As if to suggest "Who are these people who want to remove fighting from the game exactly? They aren't hockey fans."

The excitement in RJ's voice during the Campbell/RJ Umberger incident is what defines RJ as great in my mind. If you were only listening to that call on the radio, you would have thought all hell was breaking loose and there was a riot going on. The anticipation, the sense of urgency, the excitement he painted in your mind.... RJ actually made the incident better than it really was. If you recall, after the hit, the crowd ended up in the corner at the opposite end of the ice, but nothing much really developed. RJ made it sound like a war was breaking out! Just fantastic! Also of note: for such a great call, RJ kind of blew it. You can tell he didn't catch who got drilled (Umberger) so RJ just kept referring to him as "his check"...which shows what a pro he is. He pulled it off seamlessly and he never stammered around to find the player's name. Good lesson for budding play by play guys there. It doesn't necessarily matter if you can't identify a name quickly, if you handle it the right way. Identifying the player as a "check" rather than a name worked fine. We all knew what he was talking about, and exactly who got knocked into next week wasn't the critical aspect of the play in any event. John Murphy doing Bills games could learn quite a few lessons from RJ.

Here's one we've heard RJ say about 10 trillion times, and it doesn't get old: "The SHAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWT...................RIGHT AWWWN." "And Ray delivers the coups de grace!" :w00t: Unfortunately they replaced that not too long ago with Ray telling RJ during a recent game "It's my partners Schopp and the Bulldog. Their geniuses." To which RJ incredulously responds: "REALLY?"

Make that 6-0. Wow; Flames are officially flamed!