deluca67

I have to say I have been pretty blah on Tyler Ennis for most of his career with the Sabres, I will say his attempt to play physical considering his size has been impressive and his skating without the puck and overall hustle is exactly what a fan should hope to see. I don't know what type of leader he is in the locker-room, his play on the ice should be speaking volumes. If I am Johan Larsson I am hoping the video equipment breaks down or the game tape gets destroyed some how. Final 30 seconds in the game, the puck is on his stick at the top of the right face-off circle and his shot goes 5 feet wide on the far side? That was the Sabres final chance and it needed to make it to the net at the very least. I just don't see him finishing the season with the Sabres unless his play improves ten fold.

What is there to be upset about? Losing to a Canadians team that is the midst of a historic run? They are 9-0 and outscoring opponents 35-12. Lose to Toronto 7-2 or Florida, then yeah, I can see concern creeping in. The Sabres and Canadians are at opposite ends of the process, the Sabres are just starting out and the Canadians are fine tuning. If the Sabres could have easily solidified their goaltending situation in just one off-season than everyone would be doing it. I wasn't a fan of the Lehner trade, it was an over payment for what was until that point an average goalie. There just isn't a lot of great quality available around the league when it comes to goaltending. Much like QB's in the NFL. The Sabres will have to be partly lucky to find a goaltender within the next few seasons unless the can trade for a quality starter or get lucky as they did with Miller as a 5th round pick. As an old-timer all you have to do is look at the picture in the Norm Lacombe thread as a reminder of how the process works and in most cases doesn't work. There was a ton of hope back then, I would say as much as there is now, there just isn't any guarantee it will. You mention late in this thread regarding the casual fan, I think that the casual fan you mention believes it's a matter of "when" this team wins a Cup over "if" this team will win a Cup. They see the names of the players acquired and expect instant success. It is a marathon as mentioned, not just within the season, but the entire process. It's also going to painful and it is more than likely that many of the names we currently see on the roster won't be a part of it, if they ever do win a cup. Overall it's about patience and tempering fan expectations with realistic expectations.

Norm Lacombe's name appears twice on the Stanley Cup, with the Oilers back in '87 & '88.

You're not even getting a 2nd phone call from the Lightning with what you have offered. You are looking to pick-up the premier goal scorer in the NHL who has yet to hit his prime, the price is going to hurt. If you are really interested in Stamkos you better get use to the idea of moving Girgenson, Ristolainen, Reinhart and multiple #1 picks & prospects. The lightning will assuredly be looking for NHL ready assets and futures. The leverage comes from all the teams that would be in that bidding war. A player like Stamkos being available is unprecedented. I can't remember the last time a 25 year old 50-60 goal scored hit the trade market.

Great post. I can't beleive so many are willing to devalue or marginalize the lives of the thousands who are gunned down each year. It's sad and embarrassing. Speaking of embarrassment, after watching portions of yesterdays farce I believe that Congress, like many aspects of our Government has outlived it's purpose and with today's technology has become a useless and nothing more than a financial burden. Congress maybe the most prolific wellfare recipients in the country. I'm not a big Clinton fan, it was good to see her stand tall while the Republican members of the committee looked small and sad.

I would prefer that fighting majors be a choice rather than just penalty minutes. I believe this was the reason Gold was created.

I just can't get there after 5 games. There are just too many new pieces that have been playing together for a month. For myself, I need to see a lot more before I start having concerns.

IMO, it's too early for concerns. There are no strengths or weaknesses at this point, only potential. We have to let this thing play out before we can come to any definitive conclusions. There just isn't enough data to come to any conclusions.

I can't get past the first line. If there is not enough time to judge this team than how can we get to the conclusion of what the teams weaknesses are?

I find the question in the title of this thread very reminiscent of when the insecure girlfriend continuously asks "why do you love me?" It just seems in the world today that for that small percentage of billionaires that purchasing a professional sports franchise is the logical thing to do. Like a private jet, mansion and tropical get away, a sports franchise seems to be a staple for the modern day billionaire. it's a status symbol.

Didn't the Islanders beat the Flyers in the Finals on a very famous off-sides goal?

What's going to happen when all these people decide to move back? Buffalo is on the rise and the housing market is on the cusp of a real boom. I just wish I was 20 years younger to take real advantage of it.

I said it before the draft, by getting the second pick the Sabres effectively won the draft because they weren't pressured into drafting McDavid. In my heart I know the Oliers are going to regret how this draft played out for many years. The Oilers drafted a quality player, just not the player they needed.

I don't have the numbers at hand but I would guess the rate of the calls being corrected by replay is very high, when they can be corrected. There are some plays that replay can not provide a clear answer either way. For the most part instant replay has upgraded the officiating in the NFL greatly. As far as slowing the game down, I'd gladly give up another 15-20 minutes of viewing time to make sure the calls are right. Sunday afternoons are dedicated to football starting in September and ending in February, so a few extra minutes of game time means nothing.

How did the Red Army dominate as they did? They were a continuous team while most countries threw a bunch of players together. In today's game, most Olympic teams are tossed together so teams are even in that respect.

Easily correctable, make penalties part of the coaches challenge and as long as the coaches challenge is upheld they can continue to challenge even without timeouts.

Aren't Columbus Day day games fairly common? The Sabres played the Ducks last year on Columbus Day during a day game. A lot of people have off.

Yesterday was a battle between two very even and very average football teams. The Bills caught a break, most other teams would have been able to take advantage of he Bills first 3 quarters of struggling offensively. Taylor was absolutely horrible up until the two scoring drives. A similar performance to yesterday won't cut it against the Bengals. If the Bills aren't at the very top of their game they will be a staggering 1-3 halfway through the home schedule.

It didn't help that the Sabres started off against two of the better teams in the Conference. I'm sure things would have looked a lot better if the opening two games were against the Leafs and Flyers. We have to remember that this new group with all their new pieces has been skating together for less than a month. I am not concerned by the lack of chemistry at this point just as I would not be fooled if they came out guns a blazing.

Not a fan of Moulson, would like to see the Sabres move him to Toronto for Lupul. Even with the injuries I'd take him over Moulson.

Someone break up the Jets!

Right now Foligno's nickname should be "flash" because all we see are flashes here and there. I want to see some real consistency from Foligno this season. Just a constant steady physical presence who chips in offensively here and there.

Let's just hope that Lehner doesn't become to Murray what Tim Connolly was to Darcy Regier. IMO, this entire year is about what is being developed upfront with all the young talent. Lehner being injured 1 game or for the season changes nothing for me.

Only two points behind the division leaders, big 4 pt game to keep pace. ;)