Doohicksie

I think we all agree that Pilut is a solid NHL level player. The disagreement we've had in this thread is that you don't think that Adams/Granato think he's that good.

First time I looked at it since the live game feed. I bet he's got a broken bone somewhere in his face: cheek, orbital, nose, something like that, and will be out for a bit, maybe a month or two. When he comes back he will have to displace one of Pilut or Bryson to get back into the lineup (most likely Bryson imo).

I think they know what you know: That Pilut is better than Bryson and Fitz. I think they started him in Rochester anyway based primarily on the fact that he's waiver exempt. A secondary reason is they wanted him to readjust to the smaller NA ice surface. Depending on how long Joki is out (pretty sure this is due to Joki's injury and not Boosh's), Pilut may very well seize the opportunity and become one of the top 6, which probably means Fitzgerald is waived and assigned to Rochester (or if he's claimed, meh) and Bryson will be the 7D but will frequently rotate in to give other defensemen rest/maintenance.

The irony is that Jack thought getting out of Buffalo would get him to the playoffs sooner because the rebuild would delay things so much, but once Kevyn was given the green light he turned things around pretty quickly. Maybe not playoffs this year, but soon. If anything, trying to feed Jack by bringing in Hall, Staal, etc., actually delayed the team's rebuild. If he had enthusiastically supported it, he could have been part of it and we might be closer to completing the build. On the other hand, Jack was just sick of the team's failure to build (understandable) and I think by the time Kevyn took over he already knew Jack wasn't part of his future build.

I think Adams/Granato see the same thing you see. It really did just come down to waiver eligibility at the start of the season. And it was obvious who the first D callup would be. His return is actually a blessing for the team; he adds the depth of a seasoned defenseman that is waiver exempt. They can shuttle him between the teams all season long.

I look at Euro hockey and it's everywhere. I think that's what the future is here. And it will become so normal that it won't even register.

So in this statement I think you're saying that 1. Adams and Granato don't understand how good Pilut is, but that 2. You do? That's rich. I didn't realize there was a Page 2 when I posted that.

Fitzgerald is not waiver exempt like Pilut is. I think that's all there is to it.

If they'd have sent him on the west coast swing, this never would have happened.

Jackie Redmond at NHL Network is on board. And that unbuttoned top button is.... attention getting. She also touches on the Berglund thing. She knows her stuff.

Get well soon, Dan!

If he's got a chipped or cracked bone in his face it will probably keep him off the ice for a bit. And as I said yesterday: Next time we see Joki on the ice he will be in a full cage helmet.

He's not really an AHL dman.

Ask @pi2000

Nothing against Bryson- he's having fight over his weight class with the injuries to the D- but he's the only Sabre with a negative +/- rating right now.

Girgensons has become the Sabres version of David Legwand.

Maybe you're right. I haven't gone back and watched it.

It wasn't a shot as such, at least I don't think so. I think he was trying to dump it from the right point down into the left corner, so more of a hard dump-in. Joki went down and just stayed down. My guess is it caught him full in the nose and possibly broke it which hurts like crazy and he probably saw stars for a bit.

Surprised no mention of Cozens. He's really become a play driver and is tough for other teams to slow down. I'll also mention Girgs. He is so good at filling in the empty spots on the ice. All the Sabres forwards recognize when a Dman has jumped up in the play and cover for him, but Girgs seems especially good at that. He simply starts playing defense and I noticed on a few rushes last night that he wasn't just covering for the D, he was actually playing in the style of a defenseman to stop the rush. In the offensive zone he's good at keeping possession and keeping the puck moving. He and Okie have some great chemistry.

Why do you hate earth tones?

My sense is that he's giving rebounds, sometimes quite juicy looking ones, but they are so close in that the opponents have no room to get it past him. They jam it into his pads which seemingly are always in position. I'm starting to think the high number of SOG are somewhat a factor of Comrie's style of play.

Sutter is 64.

The one off the crossbar that was called back was a shot. It was on goal until it hit the goalie.

The nice thing is: If they have to put a D on IR, there's Pilut waiting in the wings. He's had a great start in Rochester.

Cozens opened the Sabres scoring with a tenacious effort. His shot was stopped by Markstrom right on the line. He knew it was close, perhaps even over the line, so he tried to pull it up to his body with his legs and left it behind right on the line. Cozey stayed in front of the net and was able to tuck it in. The Sabres site has an extended version with the replay: https://www.nhl.com/sabres/video/cozens-scores-goal/t-277443696/c-13260359