Robviously

Weaker, but basically back in line with what it's supposed to be in the AHL. Guys like Pysyk, Gauthier-Leduc, and Sundher are rookies who entered an AHL suddenly sprinkled with NHL players. I imagine most AHL rookies probably had a tougher transition this year than they might have in other years.

Brennan and Weber are pretty similar in terms of height and weight, and both are wiling to drop the gloves.

Predicting a huge win for the Sabres today because I don't get the NHL Network and I'm pretty sure NHL Gamecenter will say I can't watch it because it's a "national TV" game. So I'm pretty sure I'll get to see zero percent of this game. Grigorenko gets his first goal and his first assist and his first fight (!) where he knocks his opponent the F out. Then Thomas Vanek scores five goals and takes an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after the fifth goal for breaking out a can of spray paint and writing "Rob and Tom BFFs 4ever" on the glass. I will miss this whole thing. Other things: - Stafford fights again. - Miller scores a goal somehow - The jumbotron falls to the ice again but this time Tyler Myers actually catches it and helps move it back to its original position, revealing that his conditioning isn't a problem and that he does in fact have super strength. He becomes the defenseman we always wanted. I'm pretty sure this is what I'll be missing.

Rick Jeanneret is coming back and he's bringing some wins with him.

Oh great, another awesome young player hit in the head. Exactly what the game needs.

Well, now we're getting into accounting and tax law, neither of which are my strong points. But that's a good distinction. My point is that one way or another, the giant pile of money won't last forever. At some point these mistakes are going to hurt us. Before that happens, I hope the organization wises up and starts avoiding mistakes because there won't always be a super rich, super generous owner there to bail the team out.

That doesn't explain why the United Center in Chicago is so loud. Ticket prices are higher AND the crowd is absolutely insane. Last night's game wasn't a sellout (on a Friday night?!) and the crowd was comatose just a few minutes into the game. At some point you just have to wonder about the fans in Buffalo.

:worthy:

He probably jumps to Rochester, but at least it's something to look forward to.

Per Ruff's post-game comments, the Grigorenko benching in the 3rd was to assemble a pure checking line to play against the Staal's, so maybe it doesn't mean the experiment is over. Also said he's planning on shuffling the lines for Sunday, though that may not include the Poms-Hodgson-Vanek line. (I might be OK with breaking that line up if it meant we could have more than 1 line capable of doing anything out there.) I'm also Googling to find out when the season ends in Finland and how soon Joel Armia can get here to try to help us score goals.

Well, the bad news is we lost. The other bad news is that it looks like Grigorenko is headed back down to the Q. And the other other bad news is that we have basically three guys on the team that can score goals.

He's been on the ice for every single Sabres goal this season. That's both incredible for him, and terrible news for this franchise.

They just gave the GM who said he would "never" fire Lindy Ruff a contract extension. So don't hold your breath.

Vanek back on the bench. I guess me praying the rosary in my apartment did the trick.

Mike Harrington ‏@BNHarrington Vanek got dumped on his back/tailbone earlier in the period..took at least one shift after....Not on the bench. #Sabre This would be a good time to put Grigorenko with Pominville and Hodgson.

Miller pretty much just stopped a three on none.

The league would benefit from more stuff like that though.

How do you "make" a backup goalie look like an all-star? He either makes big saves or he doesn't. Our guys can only generate scoring chances.

The refs are doing a fairly horrible job tonight. At least they're being consistent with yesterday.

Kevin Sylvester commenting on how quiet it is in the arena. FNA Library in full effect.

True, but the markets can always contract. Even if he invested his money really well and is hedged against all sorts of scenarios, things could happen where he'd decide to cool it on blowing tens of millions of dollars a year on his hobby. Or maybe he'll just change his mind. Remember, the giant pile of money Regier is working with only exists at Pegula's discretion and we could be in a world of hurt if it goes away while we're on the hook for a bunch of bad contracts. I like Terry Pegula a lot, but I don't know him or what he might or might not do. Remember, Golisano showed up and spent money as a new owner (Drury trade and contract extension, for example) too.

The team just seems so openly down on him. Even if they think he's a ways off in Rochester, they aren't really giving the press quotes about how he's still in their plans and has a bright future. Most of the Sabres beat reporters can't detect any interest from the Sabres in Adam playing in the NHL again.

The team really hasn't played great yet this year. They benefited from two very questionable no-goal calls in the Philly game, they barely hung on against Toronto, and they got completely blown away yesterday. Through three games, the number of players I've really liked is certainly below double digits. We could use a really convincing win.

I'm currently wrapping up an advanced degree in Economics, so I understand the benefits of being worth $3 billion dollars. But we don't know his personal finances (what assets he owns, what liquidity he has, his returns on those assets, his tax situation, and what else he may need money for), and I'm guessing even a billionaire isn't a rush to shovel tens of millions of dollars into a furnace every year. The point is, dumb moves will hurt us with the salary cap and could come back to haunt us if Terry Pegula's desire to take a loss every year decreases for any reason. So far, giving Darcy Regier a giant pile of money to play with hasn't made him a great GM.

Which, unfortunately, says nothing about their ability to coach. They aren't experienced coaches.