Iron Crotch

Still some Miller to Anaheim rumors flying around (not just from Ek)... seems crazy for Anaheim to mess with their goaltending situation given that they've gotten very strong play from Hiller and Andersen and have Gibson waiting in the wings... but I guess if they really want to win the Cup this year then Miller might be a reasonable option given his (not so recent) playoff experience. I'd take Gibson in a second if they were willing to move him.

...you get the chance to watch 50 other sports that people only care about once every four years... like luge and short track speed skating!

The NHL is the only league that I can think of that makes "intent to blow the whistle" justification for missing calls. "Sure the goal was scored before the whistle blew, but I meant to blow it sooner?!" No other sport does that. Wouldn't it be far simpler to say that the whistle actually is audibly heard or it is not? ...hrmph...

Weber came out motivated to lower his +/- even further. He started with an immediate minus play on the first goal. But, he got lucky with the assist on Stafford's SHG, which put him back at zero for the game.

I can still blame Darcy, right? :bag:

He is Lalime version 2.0. I think teams know to shoot high stick side against Jhonas at this point.

44 shots. ...If only we had a few guys with enough skill to put some in the net.

###### ref.

The Burger King is sitting behind Ted Nolan.

Yeah, they got Nurse last year.

I see a giraffe down on the ice...

They absolutely have to take Ekblad. They are wretched defensively.

Boy, the Oilers don't play any defense at all... it is stunning how bad they are defensively...

Drew! He made that play by making it look like he was going to pass it until the last second.

Do... great... things...

... we're going to win the draft lottery this year, so none of this really matters. Go Sabres! :flirt:

Good post. All defensemen make mistakes from time to time... I just see too many poor plays out of Big Tyler than I'd like for a guy who has played over 300 NHL games and has a monster contract... and not enough of the great plays to make me see a future all-star. For the record, Myers isn't my least favorite defenseman on the team... I'm a big disliker (not hater) of Weber's game. He brings absolutely nothing offensively. Nothing. And, I think in today's NHL so much of the offense has to be generated from the back-end that the days of the purely defensive defensemen are numbered.

Who is the fastest skater of the top-5 prospects?

Gotta play the kid against his former club that gave up on him. He should be motivated for this game.

I'm not sure sure where to post this, but in a general sense I can't wait to see what our new GM does with this roster. We've spent such a long time with a GM who moves at glacial pace that it'll feel strange when Murray starts making decisive moves (assuming he does so).

...Ville is our highest paid forward. Holy crap, how f'd up is that? John Scott has more goals than Ville. :(

Interesting question. From the first round of that same 2008 draft class: Drew Doughty went straight to the NHL. Bogosian did. Luke Schenn did. Luca Sbisa did. Karlsson spent a year in Sweden before making the jump to the NHL. Del Zotto spent a year in juniors before making the jump. Pietrangelo spent a couple of years in juniors before making the jump as did John Carlson (hopefully what we do with Zadorov). Jake Gardiner spent 3 years in college before making the jump. Colten Teubert (taken right after Big Tyler) looks like a bust as does Tyler Cuma (taken 23rd overal). ...Wow, I didn't realize how strong that draft was. Our top 2 scorers (Little Tyler and CoHo) also came from that first round.

I think as much as anything I was just shocked at how little we score, both even strength and power play, when The Hoff is not on the ice. The stats can be twisted all over the place, of course... but I'd like to think that if we're sitting on the next Chara as many here think then we should be able to get a ton back for him in trade. And, if he turns out not to be the next Chara... then we win the trade by a landslide. :) The Norris only singles out one guy a year (usually goes to a guy who has been around a long time since it can be a popularity contest of sorts)... but you can go through the list of top defensemen and most didn't take 6+ years to develop. Chara did. I think Bouwmeester did. Pronger did back in the day. But, many others were very good after only a few years. We're anchoring on Chara as the basis of comparison... but why him and not 100 other guys? Because he is tall, right?

Naulter - A guy from the same draft class as Myers (drafted behind Big Tyler) has already won the Norris (Karlsson) at age 21. Last year's winner (Subban) won it at 23. :P Again, I ask: why is it that Myers = Chara and not any of the other defensemen who were stars after 300 NHL games? Because he is tall?

We're the worst team in the league and Big Tyler is the highest paid positional player on the team. He deserves scrutiny as much as anyone, especially given 4 straight years of not making the playoffs and Big Tyler playing big minutes in each of those years. BTW - Of the league-worst 99 goals the Sabres have scored this year, The Hoff has been on the ice for 61 of them, an amazingly high % and tied for 31st among all league defensemen. Big Tyler is next among Sabres defensemen with 31 - only about 1/2 of The Hoff. That's about the same as McBain (28) who has played 10 fewer games than Big Tyler. Both The Hoff and Myers are among the league's top-30 most scored upon defensemen. That's where the big +/- discrepancy comes from.