Robviously

Would have liked to see more punches connect but, yeah, that was a pretty decisive win.

This should be engraved on something near the Sabres lockerroom.

Torn ACL and MCL. Forget about this season; let's just hope he makes a full recovery for the sake of his career.

(psssssst........ Tim Thomas isn't playing this season.)

That wasn't from Ruff. Hodgson was in the pool.

This sorta happened once at a Sabres-Bruins game. http://gregbcomedy.com/greg_buck_clips_page_2 Scroll down to "Whalers as a Surprise Opponent."

We SHOULD be looking ahead to the future. This Sabres team is so bad that one of the reasons we're putting Grigorenko in the NHL as an 18 year old is because we don't have anyone else. Can we just be honest and admit that the Sabres are not trying to win the Stanley Cup this year? We're not contenders. As far as I can tell, the team's goals for this season are to (1) stop being the softest team in the league and (2) sneak into the playoffs and hope for the best. I'd LOVE it if the Sabres were thinking about the future and actually putting a plan in place to win the Stanley Cup someday. Still very little indication that they are. We're still doing the "Never bottom out, Never contend" thing. This too.

Are these the same projections that led to him going in the 4th round in 2009? Because if teams knew then what they know now, he'd have gone a lot higher. We can probably toss the old projections out the window now. The Foligno we have right now is aggressive, throws big hits, and makes room for our skill players in a very noticeable way. I liked Paul Gaustad a lot when he first showed up, but I don't remember him ever helping skill players play better. As for aggression, Gaustad morphed into a giant puss who didn't want to defend Miller and eventually got his "revenge" with the greatest "Let's just get this over with and please don't hit me in the face" fight in Sabres history. I like Foligno now more than I ever liked Gaustad (and there was a point where I really did like Gaustad). I'm hoping he can still get better (he's played so few NHL games) and I'm REALLY hoping he doesn't regress the way Gaustad did once he started getting paid.

I'm not sure if it's my "fantasy lineup" (not sure why you put that in quotes since I never used those words), but it would make tonight more interesting. As for it being "basically our lineup already": 1. Kassian is never coming back. 2. We have no idea what Girgensons will be. 3. We have no idea how Tropp comes back from a torn ACL and MCL. 4. The chances of Kaleta ever playing 82 games in a season seem remote and the length of his career is already very questionable. There's at least a chance that NONE of the four guys I mentioned are part of our opening night lineup come October. Because the rookie might have a future with this team and the veteran almost certainly doesn't after this season.

Let's not get carried away. It was mostly just Blade and Blade II. Since Boston is the team actually bringing a guy up from the AHL, you could argue they're the ones reacting and playing into our hands. We'll see what happens when they actually drop the puck tonight.

If Kassian was still here and GIrgensons was older and Tropp was healthy (here in place of Hecht) and Kaleta was healthy, then this would be a pretty awesome game tonight. Then there's reality.....

Except that he'll be the one wasting his time with Scott, while the rest of their team ignores him and goes on their merry way beating up our players.

If Foligno turns into Paul Gaustad, I'll probably just find another team to root for. I don't think I could handle that level of disappointment and that's saying a lot coming from a Buffalonian.

Blade and Blade II. And, just like that, the Bruins nullify the John Scott effect. He said after the game that he didn't see the hit. (I have no idea how he missed it. He seemed to be looking in that direction as he skated by.) It would have been nice to see him pound the living crap out of someone there.

The 2009-2010 Tyler Myers might be enough to make the Sabres a good team. Wonder if we'll ever see that guy again. BTW, the Sabres rolling into Boston with their new tough image reminds me of this: Scary stuff. [Grigorenko would be the roller skate guy at the 4:49 mark, who is still pretty much the coolest guy I've ever seen in a music video. Watch the clip, kids, and marvel at how music videos used to be awesome.]

So far, John Scott's only attempt at toughness was him getting his ass kicked by Colton Orr.

If I had time, I'd try to figure out how the Sabres' record the past couple seasons might be inflated by the fact that they seemingly play against back-up goalies more than other (better) teams. I'm not 100% sure that's the case, but it certainly seems like that's a benefit that helps them recover (in the standings) each year after they get off to a terrible start. 1. A sophomore slump for Foligno was easy to predict. 2. I don't think he played all that poorly in the first four games of the season though. I haven't had a problem with Foligno this year, and he's been great in the last two.

I'd still like us to get bigger up front. If we're drafting 9th, I'd take a long look at Nichushkin (ZOMG! Another Russian) at LW and Frederik Gauthier (6'5" center from the Q). After Armia and Grigorenko, there's no one in the system that I think could develop into a top end forward (though I like what Girgensons could bring if he pans out). On defense we still have McNabb, Pysyk, Gauthier-Leduc, and McCabe all looking pretty legit so I think we're still decent there. We need goaltending prospects desperately since it's pretty much down to Makarov and Ullmark and both are long shots. So I'm thinking forward in the first round and best player available after that (but with an eye on finding goaltending prospects from round 2 forward).

I was listening online and caught that. He was half troll and half completely accurate hockey analyst. It was incredible. "Don't prahd da beah!"

I didn't watch last night's Blackhawks game, but from the other ones I've seen this season, they're roughly 100x better than the Sabres. They're practically playing a different sport.

That's pretty much what I was thinking. He better keep his head on a swivel. Seriously, if we just lose the game without our guys getting concussed or hurt, that'll feel like an OK outcome at this point.

If the Sabres completely tank this season, I wouldn't mind adding Barkov to the mix at no.4 overall. Sean Monahan would be pretty great too if we draft a couple spots later. http://www.tsn.ca/draftcentre/feature/?id=9840 That said, I'm pretty sure the Sabres will finish 8th or 9th and draft right around no.15 overall because that's what they always do. Oh boy!

A Greg Buck version of the Grigorenko call would have been amazing.

Feel free to take your time with him, Amerks. We REALLY need this guy to pan out.

It happens to me watching the games on TV. The Sabres will score a goal and it'll take me 1-2 seconds to figure out who actually put it in. And this is watching a 55" 1080p plasma TV. If RJ is way up in the booth, I can see him not catching the guy's number (especially when he's getting tackled right after anyway). And if you don't know the goal scorer immediately, it has to be nearly impossible to come up with a good/memorable call. RJ tried to save it but it just came out weird.