sabrefanday1

Totally agree with this post...tired of negatvity here. we were due to lose to the Leafs sooner or later so this is actually good result

Seems Colorado, like Florida, Edmonton and the Leafs among others, go offense first and clearly do not seem to care about defense. Florida got a forward so Colorado and the Oilers get forwards. I trust the Colorado braintrust to draft this guy he must be okay. I do worry however about health as we do nto need another defenseman who gets hurt all the time. Turth must be Mitts priced himself out of our range and probably made it clear he DID NOT WANT TO BE HERE unless he got BIG money...with all the young guys we are bound to lose more due to cap space in the years ahead too...

worries me...Leafs are bound to beat us sooner or later. And I hate lsoing to them as up here in Ontario all we hear is how great the Leafs are and how they are going to win the cup this year...

He, like all the rest of the team, ain't going nowhere. I think KA is afraid to make any trade of his beloved team

Strange to see KO and Girgs both score...they have been constantly the brunt of negativity on this board all year (along with many other players of course)...so KO now has I believe 12 goals and Girgs 7...how many other teams have 4th line players with that many goals? I would be shocked if you can find any othe rteam with 4th line players having 19 goals and that is just the two of them (and whoever plays with them). I get that we are all pumped up to make changes and add this and that but I cannot help but wonder if we will actuall ylose if we try to replace players on this team as it stands now. Every team is looking for a physcial top 4 d-man and yes that would be great but as the old saying goes they don't grow on trees. Seems UPL got into a groove when he realized that Levi was gone to Rochester and the job was his and he suddenly felt less pressure to prove he was a number one goalie. he looks relaxed and that is so important for a goalie. I love when we beat teams like Vegas that are so full of themselves. Jets wil be a really tough game for sure. Can't win them all I suppose but even without Quinn they lookl good, thus win or lose tonight they are proving that once they figure this out they will be a winning team. Even earlier when they were losing it was not like they were getting blown out. They lost a pile of one-goal games that would have made a significant differnce had they won even half.

There is littel doubt that the team is better defensively this year, but their offense has suffered somewhat, and I liked them last year better when they were fun, exciting and scorng lots. Some claim that defense wins games, but of course we have not seen that this year. I do fear that this sudden burst of playing better wil only take away from the simply fact that the team needs some changes for sure. yes there is improvement redently, but most would say it is too little too late. I do nto buy the argument that they are winning against weaker opponents however. We have beaten a bunch of good teams this year, including who we play tonight. I certainly do not wish to become some defenive first team that is boring. They need to put fans in the seats and exciting hockey will do that over voring defensive hockey, even if they win a bit more.

If UPL is keeping is in games as suggested, it may also be suggested that th esame senerio can be applied to just about every team that wins on any given night in the NHL. Last night for instane Anaheim beat New Jersey yet the Devils had 55 shots while the Ducks had a total of only 23. But who cares??? All that really matters is if you win, not how you do so. The leafs are a good example of a team that hangs their goalie out to dry but score when they get a chance. The Sabres find new ways to lose it seems, and when they do win almost automatically it is said that it is becuase of their goalie. UPL is just doing what other goalies do night in and night out. UPL has been a positive, but everyone clamoured for the team to be better defensively and that appears to be happening and thus the offense is down. UPL has benefitted from this better defensive play. As for al the negativity, while I am a positive person by nature, I have to admit that this team has really got me down to the point where at times I really do not care much anymore what they do. I love hockey in general and can enjoy watching ANY hockey. Heck my son is refereeing young kids and I love watching, I played untii I was 16 and have coached at many different levels and just love doing so. Guess that is part of being a Canadian. I just wish the Sabres would get it together once before I die and actually make the playoffs! Man oh man they were so exciting back when they had good competitive teams. That OT winner by Pomminstein against Ottawa was simply amazing. Hard not to get negative these days I guess so anybody that is and rants on here is forgiven...it is understandable.

No one should look at what the Leafs do and wonder what is going on there...that GM is so desperate and wil give away anything to get whatever is needed to win. Their defense is awful and Boosh is notgoign to help trust me. desperate times call for desperate measures...Leafs are real desperate. Complaining becuase Leafs gave more then we got for Boosh is absurd. Just anolter reason to complain for the sake of complaining...

Totally agree that we are not a small team by any standards...problem is we PLAY small. Basically we have no one whio really plays BIG and bangs in the corners. Sure wish we had Marcus back...

agree..we are actually a rather BIG team. See other guys on other teams who are not huge but playing with grit and determination, something not seen in these nect of the woods much lately...

Totally agree...it is so predictable that the moment the team loses in a hard fought game where they played excellent and the refs basically gave this game away, the haters are on cue with thei rnegative remarks about every player. People tend to forget that no opinion is a wrong opinion...it is their own opinion, and for someone else to answer sarcastically or put down another becuase they do not agree with another's opinion is in itself wrong. I too love this team from the first day they entered the NHL, and have so many great memories (Pominville's OT winner against Otttawa was insane among other highlights). I too get down and I have lost much interest this year but truth is that the team seems to be headed in the right direction...a few changes are needed yes but we sure have a lot of good young talent that pother teams would die for. I do wonder however if Meatballs is the right coach long-term moving forward? Stil cannot see them firing him anytime soon

Can't see Ottawa moving him to us or Toronto who would love to have him...Yes Florida is in the same division but far enough away. Anywhere in trhe US I imagine. Can't see him accepting a trade to any team but a contender.

Of course you know exactly what you will get with Skinner. He is as advertised...and just about evey rteam needs someone like him. Hell, Leafs have many like him. Score but not do much else. Having said that, his scoring has been a big help this season, as at least he is a consistent scorer from year to year...MItts has not been scoring like he was and of ocourse Tage and Cozens are way down so if we trade Skinner where does scoring come from? And he is the closest thing we have to a agitator which is also another thing this team needs badly.

It is like these people now that stop kids from tabogganing down hills and from playing sports at high school like football cause they may get hurt. It is part of living and unfortunately fighting and nasty checks to players heads are also a part of hockey and has been for many years. I am glad there has been less fighting and less headshots and overall concussions but that will stil happen regardless of how hard they try to remove that element. An dyes the Sabres are a team that are big but play small and for sure could use some toughness to say "we got your back". The team is a reflection of their coach...nice guy.

Makes sense from the Ducks point of view but how does that make sense for Tkachuk? Go from one bad team to another? I wonder if he has a no trade clause? If so, I think he would not agree to that trade. Wonder if Florida has anything left to give? Could see that for sure...

I do not doubt that Ottawa wil trade Tkachuk...they will trade anybody (as we saw with Debrincat) and I also have no doubt that it will NOT be to the Sabres or any other team in the same diviision. I also think they wil get much more then Calgary got for his brother (Calgary got burned big time in that deal). And I also have no doubt that there wil be many teams stepping up and offering all kinds of deals. KA wil never give away any of his beloved prospects, something Ottawa will demand in any trade. No One is getting Tkachuk from Ottawa for a bunch of vets (like someone mentioned Skinner...no way Sens take him)

They have totally wasted VO...the guy can score and wil be a beast on another team. Any value he had on the trade market is gone now that they have benched him and made it seem he is not good enough to make the Sabres, which begs the question if the Sabres are not playin him and are not high on him, then why would any other team take him? Or of course they wil take him for like a 7th round pick which is absurd. LIke Willie Nylander is a great defensive player??? NOT...there are lots of guys in the NHl that are not great defensively but score.

To be honest I never knew that guy on Columbus and how good a fighter is is...either way I agree fighting is going but there are times when our team could use sonmone anyone to step up...and not Cozens .

But wil it work in the long-run? That will be on Meatballs and his staff to ensure...

I too do not like the pre-arranged fights but this kid had this coming. he got detroyed. I do think we need someone to fight when needed...Marcus was the exact guy and we traded him. I remember coaching Atoms and we were a small team and even then other teams took advantage at times and our kids played afraid often. Then we added a big kid named Sam who loved to rough it up and suddenly other teams were leaving our kids alone. Teams play bigger when they have some big guys to protect them if needed. Cozens should NOT be our fighter. I give him credit for standing up to Hathaway but that just should not happen.

Funny I commented on this kid days before after the otu door game and no one noticed but now everyone is jumping on the bandwagon. I also sommented that thewir 4th line is massive and two rookies that are big and fun tto watch. Glad to see everyone is finally taking notice as I sure wish the Sabres had some big guys like this.I hated the Braod Street bull ything but like big guys for when you need them...

Well that certainly complicates the Benson situation, as I think that we need VO's goal scoring far more then whatever it is that Benson has given the team. He certainly has not scored much, and is okay defensively, so overall he has not been much of a factor. If VO was playing and scoring at last year's pace that would make a huge difference for th eteam. Instead we have completely destroyed any value VO had on the trade market by deeming him not good enough to play for our team. I do bel;ieve that on another team that used him properly, he would scorre 30 goals. And now we wil get nothing for him in a trade as we have devalued him this year.

Strange the negative side like to say that the only reason our goals against is down is becuase we are playing weaker teams. IF so, and these teams are "weaker" hence our lower goals against, then Tage and Cozens should be able to score easier against them then against the so called stronger teams. fact is, they are not scoring against ANY team ve yrwell. And yes, if they had scored anywhere near last season, that would make a huge differnce, as we hardly get blown out or lose by wide margins. One to one and a hlaf extra goal sper game average would make a big differnce overall this year, Most loses have been that close. As for Benson, I think that he should have been in Rochester. Seeing how our power play sucks and our goal sare down, I woul dbe playing VO every game and on the PP. The guy can score...if he were on another team who used him properly, he would be near a 30 goal scorer (he almost was last year).

Nice unexpected win. They win when I think they wil lose and they lose when I think they will win! Funny some have been dishing on Skinner, Tuch and Girgs all week and they all score for the win. Cozens, another favorite whipping boy, played very well. While we are at it many wanted to trade Mitts too. Not sure who we are suppose to play then?? On another note, I wonder if when Power is ready to return we shoudl send him to Rochester to finish up the year. Let him play a ton and get his confidence back. Might help him a lot I think.

I guess you did not see the debut of the Rangers giant on the 4th line the other day? He is like 6'7' and fought right away and did not look too bad. Mind you we have had guys look great for a game or two then morph into the stereo-typical Sabre player...over-paid and no hunger which is sad. No one can convince me that our lineup is not as talented as most in the NHL. This is not a talent issue. There are many players that were given up on that are now playing well with many other teams in the NHL.