JustOneParade

Got to watch that game last night because it wasn’t on NESN or otherwise blacked out. My goodness do the Bruins play great defense, and that includes the forwards, in front of their goaltender. Their structure is quite good. I can see why their Dmen can be interchangeable. I bet they don’t give up many ‘cheapies’. And yes, it pains me to write all that

Back in black (and red) Friday nite? I thought I saw UPL is 8-0-1 or some such in the goatheads.

And they may not get another if they remain committed to ‘dump in and retreat’

They’re awful at entering the zone. Have been for a couple years.

Speaking of which, Bobby Knight passed away today.

And when the Bills seemingly have gotten themselves off the field on 3rd and long there will be a flag half the time ..... five yards for something, automatic first down.

I thought it was the Pack's other corner that was yapping all the time. No?

Some of you Amerks faithful correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't it generally believed Biro would have gotten the call-up late last year over Rousek, but was injured?

This is really the overarching question, isn't it? It will provide clarity to this discussion. If its a scoring line then there's lots of room for the kids along with some issues already mentioned. If its a defensive/checking line, then there won't be many roster spots available for the prospects ill-suited for that role. And I'm getting an AHL.TV subscription because ROC may have one of the all-time great AHL teams with all those high end prospects.

I'm not ready to throw in the towel on Krebs yet. Doesn't his career arc match up up CM's - who at this point most were ready to trade for a bag of pucks? To be clear, I'm not suggesting Krebs has Casey's upside. But Krebs upside may be that of a high-end 4C - which may be the only spot for him if TT, DC and CM remain as the top 3 center spine. If one of the prospects supplants him in the near future then the prospects are developing nicely.

Yet another small sign that the Sabres roster is getting better and deeper.

That's very surprising to hear. Wasn't Ray one of the more cerebral players to ever play in the NHL?

Chicago looked really solid last night. Nothing like a team in position for #1 OA just a year ago. Crazy end to the game too. Chi up 3-1 under 2mins left. TOR pulls goalie. Chi EN goal 4-1. Overturned. CHI 3-1. TOR scores under a minute left. 3-2. Goal overturned. 3-1 CHI. CHI w/EN 4-1 final. Both those observations sum up pretty well what is the NHL.

Exactly. And you can’t keep putting a depleted defense back on the field. Who, by the way, can’t get themselves off on 3rd down.

The Bills need to find a way to steal this game and get the f**k out of London.

Reply got attached to the tweet. Sorry.

After that first Bills game I wasn’t concerned that it was a reflection of what the Bills were, but rather they lost a winnable game that may have playoff implications at season’s end. I’m feeling a bit of the same now. If it takes the Sabres 8 or 10 games to get their defensive play in order there will likely be some points lost with playoff implications because they weren’t ready out of the gate. Thus, I share @LGR4GM’s hope the Sabres have a VERY productive week of practice.

Correct and correct. But as an alternative I suspect there will be some 'gymnastics' with the practice squad rules tomorrow afternoon - especially because they are allowed to travel with the team for overseas games. Or they just waive Josh and hope he clears.

500 pages of Things that are AWESOME is awesome. Sure need it these days …..

Sabres zone entries on the power play look …. familiar (unfortunately)

Really, is there ever NOT a great night for that?

You touch on an interesting point - the role of the organization. In other words, if all 32 teams had the same prospect pool (hypothetically) would some have a better success rate, per Taro’s definition, than others? More importantly are the Sabres in a position as an organization to do better than the 50% figure?

Looking at this from the standpoint of the 9 game stint: Is there a tradeoff here? Is there enough value in Benson experiencing regular season action and seeing what it takes to be an effective NHL'er (and enhancing his development through self-evaluation)? Because you are totally right - this kid is too promising to risk doing damage by rushing him up. Its so unfortunate for him the AHL is not an option.

I've had the opportunity to see some All-22 video analysis of the Bill's D (Cover-1 does a great job, btw). You see so much that's going on outside the view of the regular broadcast. What is striking is how complex the Bills D scheme is and more so just how much pre-snap communication is taking pace in the back seven. For that reason I have to believe the Bills will not bring anyone in from the outside without a great deal of familiarity with the calls. They'll pull guys up from the practice squad first. Anyone brought in from the outside will be for practice squad replacement with the hope they can get up to speed in 6 or 7 weeks if needed.

Totally agree on VO. We'll see what kind of competitive juice (and pride?) he has this evening.