Doohickie

Such a disclaimer would have saved me a suspension last year.

And yet we have UPL who's... what? ~10th in the league? Were there better options available?

So basically the same thing Carolina fans accuse Buffalo fans of. Got it.

GOOD.

That's kind of what sports announcers do. They focus on their home team. It would be unnatural really for them to say a sub-.500 team was better than their 1st-in-the-NHL team.

But that's the thing: goalies can be very mercurial. You pick up a "competent veteran backup" who's been good the last several years, and he could drop off. Or you take a guy you think might be peaking and he doesn't quite get there. Or you bring a guy in who's been a stud and suddenly he doesn't have it anymore. You have to build the rest of the team to be the best they can be and hope that either one of the goalies in your system emerges or you can bring in outside help when you need it. Or in some cases, both.

Because the Ilitches live in Detroit?

Why? He's not part of the future for Buffalo. He's not part of the present in terms of what the Sabres need, and it's highly uncertain how long he will be able to play. I don't think Kevyn gave him any more than a cursory look.

I don't think any of this is true.

I stated that plainly, yes. Both the basic pizza is better, plus they have more specialty pizzas (like the Detroit style). I've seen Detroit style advertised here in Texas but I don't think it's a regular option. When we lived in Detroit, LC was our go-to. It was quick, cheap, and good. When they opened up here in Texas it was disappointing.... although still quick and cheap. I don't really pay attention to them anymore though; we have a good Buffalo style pizza option and that's mostly what I get.

It occurred to me that... I started this thread because I didn't think the Sabres had much of a chance in this game. I started another thread earlier this season and the Sabres lost. I figured this game would also be a loss, so I started this thread to "take one for the team" so someone else didn't get disappointed, starting a GDT for a lost game. But they won. So, just like the Sabres I'm at .500 points percentage.

Outside of the Detroit area, LC is a small step above gas station pizza.

Actually Terry cited Mike Ilitch as a role model with respect to how he built the Red Wings in the 1990s. Note that the Wings won their first Ilitch-era Cup 15 years after he bought the team. If you're following along the Detroit timeline, UPL is Tim Cheveldae and Levi is Chris Osgood. We don't have our Mike Vernon yet.

Yeah, he did that when the Sabres were skating left to right, just inside the blue line at the near point. I believe Ray mentioned it at the time.

It all depends on chemistry. For instance if Detroit has a top six that's working as well as Skins-Tage/Mitts-Tuch and Quinn-Cozens-JJP were working last year, Kane might not break into that. Also, if Kane is a 1-year rental, you're not going to change your lineup that significantly to accommodate him. I don't think any team that considered signing him would consider him part of their core. Actually it's the family of the founder of Little Caesar's. Mike Ilitch himself passed away in 2017. Little Caesar's is a national-ish chain (not as big as Dominoes which is based in SE MI as well), but I would say their pizza is a higher quality in the Detroit area than it is in, say, Texas where I live now. Their standard pizza is the generic round but they also sell Detroit square pizza which is kind of deep dishy and has toppings all the way out to edge (no crust). Ilitch occupied much the same position in Detroit as Pegula does in Buffalo. The Ilitch family owns both the Wings and Tigers and have been a factor in revitalizing downtown Detroit (new arena and stadium). He also had a few other philanthropic pursuits that he didn't talk much about; when he died it came out that when Rosa Parks (civil rights pioneer) fell on hard times, he paid for her apartment until she passed.

...and for good reason.

We coulda had Justin Bailey but the Sharks just signed him. Did he even try?

Yeah, well, have fun with that. On the one hand, it feels like the Sabres "lost a competition" by not signing him; on the other, the record of other players who had the same surgery extending their careers is pretty dismal.

Yessir. https://www.nhl.com/gamecenter/buf-vs-nyr/2023/11/27/2023020322

He's played in 4 games: the first was a gem, the rest were stinkers. Small sample size and all that, but I don't see Comrie as the answer to anything. But I think the answer to the goalie situation is to move Levi to the A for development and get what you can out of Comrie.

This is the worry with every goalie. Even established goalies sometimes fall off the table, you never know what you're going to get. I think we all felt the same about Ullmark until we didn't, if you know what I mean. But I also think there's a weird chemistry kind of thing where the team feeds off the goalie's ability to make the big save and his ability to make the big save is boosted by the team's play in front of him. For the Sabres right now, UPL is HIM.

Early in the Rags game there were several defensive lapses leading to prime scoring chances and UPL blocked both the initial shot and the rebound. When a team plays a high pressure game (as the Sabres needed to in order to beat NYR), there will be defensive lapses and a goalie that stands tall definitely inspires confidence. It was a high risk/high reward style the Sabres played last night and they squeaked out a goal in each of the first two periods. There were 3-4 saves UPL made in those periods that you wouldn't fault the goalie for if they went in. The Sabres seemed to improve as the game went on, and in the third period they outshot NYR 17-3 (!) but the first two periods were virtual dead heats, shots-wise, and one could say NYR had the higher danger chances in those first two.

As pointed out in the comments, that's not a very long stretch.