deluca67

Here, here! :beer: Congrats to Peyton Manning, to think many thought his career was over not too long ago. The guy is a competitor and deserves his place with the greatest NFL QB's of all time.

We need to stop ignoring the obvious. The Flames didn't put a 6' 4" winger who barely plays and had previously only taken 2 face-offs at center ice to start the game because they were looking for energy. No need for "goon ratings", you simply need to acknowledge the obvious and act accordingly. Not only was what Hartley did embarrassing for the NHL and his own franchise, it was also cowardly.

The clip only shows Kassian mixing it up with two Flames. While another Flame goes after Burrows. If the puck goes out of play that's the officials call. Just like if a play is offsides and it leads to a goal. It was a freak play and a missed call nothing more. "Most Favored Team?" Does Andrew Cuomo have you under surveillance as well? Buss$hit! It was pure goonism and nothing more and the Flames should be held accountable.

Is there a clip? Kassian only got 4 minutes on the play. The fine to Rolston should have been the warning to all coaches. Hartley should be looking at a bigger fine and suspension. Westgarth is just another Scott type goon and should be removed from the game. The game of hockey should have no place for players like that, all goon and zero skill.

Is Miller to Ottawa a too far fetched idea? It makes sense, IMO, that Murray would deal with a team he is familiar with. Miller to Ottawa for Zack Smith and their 2015 1st round pick? Too much? Too little?

What do you find "stupid?" The GM is saying anyone can be traded, nothing wrong with that.

9th of the season, decent production for fourth line minutes. Also, he was hit with his 3rd 10 minute misconduct in the last two games. If that happened to John Scott I think some around here would commit suicide. :blink:

He was part of a front office smart enough to not let a chance at Bobby Ryan go by.

Coming from a divisional rival should cut down the assimilation time a great deal. Looking forward to seeing what he has in store for the current roster.

Hodgson will always get his points. What has been highlighted this season is his laziness. He has been far from the player many thought the Sabres were getting. Kassian is filling his role on the Canucks very nicely, he is starting to produce more and is becoming a bit more consistent. One thing for sure is those that declared the Sabres the winner of this trade were extremely premature.

I was wondering if any one was going to say something. Kassian had his best game of the season last night. 18 minutes, 1 goal, 1 assist, 6 hits and the #1 star against one of the best teams in hockey.

Kessel is just coming into his own as a player.

I don't know what is going on with Dareus, benched two consecutive weeks for disciplinary reasons. Either get it fixed or get him out of here Also, Thad Lewis is a better QB at this point than Manuel.

After watching the early morning pre-game shows I really want the Bills to f'up the AFC play-off scenarios.

We're talking about a 26 year old who is getting better. I don't know about "inspiring his teammates to be better." I'm not sure if that is even a real thing. He certainly is able to create space and opportunities for his teammates. He passed 65 points his last full season, and is on pace, baring injuries. to finish with 70+ again this season. I would love a 26 year old like Kessel on the Sabres to build around. Right now the Sabres have nothing close to a Kessel talent wise. Very true! No one is saying he is the best player in hockey. Once you get past the top 5-10 uber-elite players, Kessel starts to fit into the conversation. I would also add speed to go along with his shot.

I would expect Vanek's numbers might even look better if he wasn't stuck in Buffalo the last few years. Overall, I would list Kessel above Vanek because of his speed and ability to create offense with that speed. Vanek is better down low and around the net where he can use his hands and his sick vision. It's close, Kessel is younger and his +/- has been improving since he posted that -20 in 2010-11.

Kessel is easily one of the 20 best players in the league. He is well on his way to his 5th straight 30+ goal season (not counting the shorten season where is had 20 goals in 48 games.). Kessel is a franchise forward. At only 26 years old, at the pace he is on he will end up with some serious numbers. The guy is an impact player.

What about the cap floor is mythological? It does exist. The tough part of signing "someone more worthy" is getting that "someone" to sign here. We may all like the changes since Regier/Roslton were shown the door, that doesn't instantly make the Sabres a free agent destination. There is a ton of work to be done, say like hire a GM. The Sabres are going to remain a tough sell to players until they can prove to the players/agents around the NHL that players can come here and succeed.

He's not that far down the list. I would put Kessel ahead of Callahan on any top NHL player list. Callahan is the better defensive player, he is nowhere near the offensive talent that Kessel is.

As much as I would like to Stafford and Leino gone before next season, the Sabres might be in a position where they can't afford to let either of them go. They represent $8.5 mil of the Sabres salary cap next year. The Sabres are already projected to be $41 mil under the cap. Removing another $8.5 mil and the Sabres might have trouble hitting the cap floor.

Here you are again trying to create something that isn't there. Do I post about Scott on every hit he throws? No. I simply don;t make excuses for the dirty hits. Is it John Scott or is having Steve Ott and Marcus Foligno and a couple of more guys willing to step up for team mates. The Sabre made a concerted effort to add some grit to the roster. That is the difference, not John Scott. Speaking of John Scott - wouldn't it have been nice, in a game that you couldn't dress a full roster, to be able to play someone more than 8:50?

The Bills have won 3 divisional games for the first time since 2007. Ending the season 4-2 in the Division and costing the Patriots the #2 seed would be a nice way to end the season.

What's embarrassing is your creation of a mythical "double standard." It's just another step in your continued attempt to justify Scott place on the roster. Wilson's play was nowhere near what Scott has done and certainly doesn't even belong in the same conversation. If you want to counter Lucic than you need to have a top six forward that can counter Lucic's effect on a game. A 4 minute a game goon is an embarrassing attempt. You want to counter Lucic, you need to look to Foligno, Ott and to a lessor extent McCormick. In the future you counter with Girgensson, Zadorov and Ristolainen. Lucic didn't run Miller because they didn't have a John Scott. He ran Miller because he knew that the 20 guys dressed wouldn't even consider doing something about it.

Scott does nothing to change that.

If Scott were on the ice in the same position Wilson was, Schenn would have had the puck down into the offensive zone before Scott could lumber his double blades to the face-off dot. You do bring up an interesting point. I really feel it is the desperation of some to exonerate Scott from his attacks on skilled players by associating it with others plays, clean or not. The point I have made previously still stands, if Wilson would have hit Schenn with an ax, it doesn't make what Scott did twice less dirty and less embarrassing for the franchise and it's fans.