JohnC

As you are indicating, with the return of some injured players, there are more pieces to juggle to rework the lines. And as you note, there are a variety of options that make sense. Ruff is not afraid to juggle the lines, including within the game. Now he has more material to work with. My sense is that he wants to keep Tage as a 1C because of his recent play and also the player's preference.

It is going to be interesting to see how Ruff is going to assemble the lines once Norris gets back. I expect the Zucker/McLeod/Quinn line to stay intact because playing with the vets has elevated Quinn's play.

He's not a flashy player or even a prolific stat performer, but what he contributes is responsible two-way play that this team needed more of. He and Zucker were terrific additions that have as much to do with the maturity they add both on and off the ice. You can see the difference for Quinn when he played with these two guys compared to playing on a youth line.

Absolutely not! Are you taking hallucinating drugs? How about waiting to see what he brings to the ice. What is going on here?

Sammy is playing like a stud defenseman. I didn’t think he was a first pairing player. I was wrong.

The two hard working veterans are good examples to follow. I’m sure these two honest players influence how he plays.

Playing with two heady veterans has elevated Quinn’s game.

UPL so far has been stellar.

Referring is so arbitrary and capricious.

Doan set up the play. Quick passes and conversion. That’s the way to do it!

What you saw in this game is not what I saw. That’s okay. As you point out, how they play in the next 4-6 games will be more telling than one game.

One of the main reasons that Zito has been successful is that he has surrounded himself with a top notch senior consulting staff who know hockey and are unafraid to express their opinions to the GM. That’s a tribute to Zito for being receptive to different voices in the room and to bounce around challenging opinions in the room. That’s a sign of having a secure ego and wise head.

He had a history of lingering injuries that affected his play. But that is not to say that the criticism that he got wasn’t warranted, because it was.

You play half of your games on the road. As it stands, the Sabres are the worst road team in the league with a 1-5-2 record. (Recognize that this is a small sample size.) I don't want to be overly negative because it is fatiguing be so. But the reality is that when you don't win games that you should, like Calgary and St. Louis, that it is a damaging blow for a team that has a small margin of error. I would love to be wrong and see the Sabres go on a 10-game win and non-losing streak. But the odds are heavily stacked against it happening. The Sabres don't need to worry about the big picture. Their attention should be on the game-to-game results. Tomorrow, a good Carolina team comes in. The home team needs to come away with a win. That's where their and our attention should be on.

The Sabres have the worst road record in the league. Their record on the road is 1-5-2. So extended win streaks will be an enormous accomplishment for a team that seems incapable of having sustained success. When you play a team like Calgary that played the previous night, and come away being flat and losing, you are creating a steeper mountain to climb. I'm not deliberately trying to be negative but face the reality that this team is contending with.