Pimlach

The Whalers home jersey is very nice. McLoed with a nice pass. JJP needed that.

The non-exploding model.

Taylor Hall had 2 goals and 19 points in 37 games as a Sabre. He was -21, he mailed it in all season got traded at the deadline. He helped the Bruins by playing nearly a ppg pace.

I missed the first 5 minutes tonight. Cozens gets call upon and he fails to land punch. Great start.

Smashing sticks and it’s only the 2nd period. Byram doesn’t play much defense.

Byram, not a good check attempt.

Happy 70th Paul Hamilton.

Tuch good goal. We needed that.

The Sabres don’t want to bruise the puck apparently, lots of soft weak passes. No energy getting to loose pucks.

Lethargic passes. Always beaten to the puck.

The entire team is just not ready tonight.

Another defensive zone turnover. I don’t blame UPL. Good move by Ruff. See if they get it.

Certainly didn't mean to imply you made it up. Not at all. Regarding Krueger, I definitely saw news out of Edmonton that he got a bad deal, but most of the news I heard contained much surprise by the his hiring. He was out of the NHL for 8 years, and out of hockey all together at the time.

Not really. He had high school coaching experience, and coached Team USA juniors for a stint. He then landed an assistant coach job at Nashville for about 3 years and got good credit for their very good defense. Did he deserve a shot? Sure. Top hot candidate? I don't recall that, maybe. I don't know of anyone else interviewed by the Sabres when they hired Housley. After Housley they hired Kruger, I read from some folks at SabreSpace that "the league" supported that hire, but what does that really mean? Does the NHL have a list of recommendations for top candidates? Why would an older former coach, one that moved away from the game, be on such a list? The NFL actually has real support for teams making coaching and FO changes. One reason is for diversity as it gives qualified people a fair shot, but this practice actually helps all coaches and FO candidates. Movement of NFL assistant coaches to other teams happens a lot, and it is a sign of a strong coaching tree and good organizational health. You will attract the best young assistant coaches when they can join a successful organization, learn for a top HC, and still have a path to promotion, even it is with another team.

I do not accept that LaFontaine, a former Sabre, was ever a top candidate to run an NHL team. Not after his short stint and bizarre time in NYI. Murray was a LaFontaine hire and he also was boarder-line hire, and without his Uncle who was he? Where is he today? Then he put his wife in charge and I don’t think she was any help, or got along with a crusty guy like Murray. Botterill was highly thought of, a former Sabre, and Terry listened to his Pittsburgh buddies on him, while passing on Bill Zito. Housley as a HC - like Boterill, being a former Sabre was one of his best attributes. Krueger was a joke of a hire, applause around the league (if true) turned out to be unwarranted. Adam’s was a trusted person who would carry out the purging and the EEE, and the low cost draft and develop no blocker strategy. Rumor has it Terry “talked” to Briere. Lindy Ruff, a former Sabre, a friend of Terry, was the entire “exhaustive coaching search”. So in summary he took some advice from the league, some advice from “hockey friends”, he hired some former Sabres, and he has failed at every turn. Boterill was his one and only “highly thought off” and “up and coming” hire. With the Bills he first hired Rex Ryan, at the behest of Russ Brandon. He scored big with McDermott the second time around, so for that I am grateful. McD fit the description of “up and coming” and was on the NFL list of top coaching talent.

Please no. After starting with a confusing and bloated hockey front office organization, one that included friends and family, Terry switched to an extremely streamlined FO, no hockey operations President or VP, and no executive hockey consultants. Terry put his wife in charge. Terry selects the GM. Terry is involved in the selection of the HC. Terry sets the budget. Terry told us about the EEE plan. Terry demanded the ROR trade. Terry pushed for a Skinner deal. Terry wanted Eichel out, no special surgery. Terry wanted Ruff. Just because one random unnamed agent says he is not involved doesn’t make it true. Not involved could mean he doesn’t care. That’s more believable.

What is FDSNDO ?

He is a first line player. He is certainly a 1C on the last place Sabres. Is he a 1C on a playoff team? Maybe he is on a few of them. Is he a 1C on a Cup Contender? No. On a cup contender his is scoring 50 goals playing wing with a 1C. I think is a 40 goal scorer (with potential for 50) whether he plays center or wing. He is a force in a unique way. Granato believed that him playing center gave him more room, thus more goal scoring opportunities. I cannot deny that he broke out as a player at center, but he was going to break out anyway. Ruff doesn’t seem to like him as a center because his two way game does not translate to a center that gets 20 minutes a game, much of it against top lines. I think he can play either position but I believe Ruff is correct. Tage is scoring with Kulich. When he is healthy he will score goals.

Thankfully nothing like this is happening nd hopefully never will. They can do non nuke damage but the war in Ukraine shows Russian power is not what it used to be, except for the nukes.

I get that you are just going through a fun exercise, but you forget that Russia would have 60+ submarines in the three oceans that surround Canada. Without US naval and air support they could do a lot of damage to Canada’s population centers very quickly and force a surrender. Probably in a few days, and they can do it without putting a Russian boot on the ground. Long range bombers flying over the arctic would also be available to them. The Russians only have one aircraft carrier and it is thought to be non operational, but they don’t need it or conventional ground troops to force a surrender. Fortunately, we see from Ukraine that their readiness, tactics, and logistics are not at our past perceived Cold War levels. With brings me to the Arctic Ocean which boarders 100,000 miles of Canadian coastline. It’s an absolutely critical spot. More so because of Chinas progress as a world power, but also because of Russia. Thats where the importance of Greenland comes in. But this is a hockey forum.

If you’re evaluating a player, Kulich in this example, there is tons of data out there that shows playing him with Cozens is a bad choice. Kulich played wing in Rochester, he was moved to center because there was no one else and Lindy was desperate and experimenting. He already is a better center than Cozens. Tage is scoring while playing with Kulich, I would not change that at this point. I can agree that Kulich is not a 1C, no one on this really team is.

Why put a big load on a rookie, Kulich, when he is thriving centering Tage? I think that 2nd line hurts Kulich. Moving Tuch down with Cozens and Quinn helps them by providing adult supervision.

No to your question. The Sabres need to stop cherry picking the results an look at the entire body of work. Cozens is not a good center. There is enough data out there and enough video to support that. Move him to wing or move him.

Or our coaches play a 3rd period “protect the lead” game that the players are not capable of playing.

I agree with you 100% Most people in the US did not know what 4 Nations was before the tournament, or even after it. When compared to all the sports entertainment going on it is not big here, even in most US hockey cities it was just a passing interest. It’s big in Canada because hockey is big in Canada. Add the stupid Trump comments and it’s even a bigger deal to the more nationalistic type of Canadian person. I’m fine with it. Sports are a positive distraction from everyday life for many of us.