Doohicksie

I think the "disappointments" are still in work to an extent. DG has stubbornly (and against the best advice this forum has to offer) kept VO and Mitts together. With Jost they're finally starting to gel as a line. Krebs was a disappointment but with Gus and Okie he's been doing much better. It's easy to get frustrated when a player doesn't immediately hit their potential but I think juniors to AHL to NHL is an incredibly steep learning curve and while some players adapt quickly, others require more work. Olofsson is an interesting case. He made it to the NHL based on his wicked one-timer, making him a power play specialist. This season his performance has been disappointing, at least to some, but he's still on a terrific pace for goals, *and* I think Granato's been continuing to develop Ollie's game to make it more complete. So he fails on the backcheck sometimes, but he's backchecking and getting better at it. In the offensive zone he's not just a trigger man; he's starting to pass more (not just because his one-timer isn't there, but because he can set up someone else for a better shot). With the goals he's scored he's already hit his ceiling in terms of expectations of a 7th rounder, but his game is still growing and rounding out.

The first part is not what I intended. I didn't mean that as way to knock them down a peg and keep them humble. I was thinking more to have them work on their game and get 2X the game action they're seeing in the NHL to do so. The second part I agree with. Maybe give them checking line assignments, penalty kill, etc. They're already seeing some of that in the NHL but an emphasis on that kind of stuff in the A could round out their game more quickly.

To be honest I wouldn't have a problem with sending especially Quinn and JJ down to Rochester and let them play for the Amerks. Give them top line assignments with their best center. Let them play big minutes. They're not getting them with the Sabres. If they got sent down as a pair, played a game or two, then came back up I think it would help their game... and their development.

I think at this point we still need Anderson on the depth chart. We could waive him and send him down to Rochester for a while, sure, and he would handle it fine. If he's claimed by another team though, you're left with UPL and Comrie as our NHL goaltenders. If either of them is injured we're looking at Malcolm Subban. You remember the goalie carousels of the last few seasons? I don't want to go back to that again. So Andy needs to stay. UPL is the only goalie that's waiver exempt so these paper transactions will continue for another 6 weeks (barring injuries) until the roster expansion after the trade deadline.

Yes, if there's anything we learned over the past decade, it's that chemistry is at least as important as talent.

This is ridiculous. Power is at least as much about defense as he is about scoring.

He sold it good.

I think Quinn thrives on getting his nose dirty, even if he gets caved sometimes. He reminds me of Skinner that respect. Jost is a big part of that line now. I think Casey was still centering too much but at this point they're all playing their roles properly and the line is gelling.

Meanwhile, in Texas... He can't.

Starting with the 2017–18 NHL season, offending teams are not allowed to take a timeout after an icing.

I'm satisfied.

That was a slick deflection!

...with a power play 🙂

Shortie time. DO IT.

That pisses me off.

Hey NS... second period started, eh?

Expensive penalty, Boosh.