GAME DISCUSSION THREAD

[tom webster]

Bernier had a great game, could of scored a hat trick

 

 

Think it might have been his best game since the first.

[Bmwolf21]

the canadian announcers are really ripping the shout out.

 

"and the season comes down to this individual skills compitition."

Sad but true.

 

miller brought up his shootout stats tonite

Yeah he did, but all it does is skew them toward the positive. Doesn't change how poorly he played in the SO earlier in the year (where he was justa hair off on a lot of goals) but his SO rankings will improve.

 

i still hate the SO, but was that nerve=wracking or what!

Same here. I'd much rather see 4-on-4 for 10 minutes.

 

Wow, what a fantastic finish. Miller came up absolutely huge in the SO. In fact, he looked like the Miller of last year that rarely lost in SO. Amazing. And, how about Max? What a way to come up huge! Great job Max to keep the season going at least till Montreal!!!!

 

Well, the guys I called out in my second post were Vanek, Bernier, Max, and Kotalik. Vanek and Bernier both scored critical tying goals tonight, and Max with the game winner. Kotalik comes up big tying the SO with the first SO goal. I'm happy that these guys stepped up big tonight. Let's carry this momentum and huge win into Montreal. The season's still not over!!! Need some big help tomorrow night from the Devils and the Penguins. Come on Devils, come on Penguins!!!!

Bernier, Mair and Kaleta/Gaustad had a pretty good game tonight. Nice to see Kotalik's patented SO move work for the first time in a few attempts.

 

I mentioned this a couple GDT's ago - at this point Miller looks done. He seems to lack that burst to quickly get back into position after he goes down on the initial shot/pass - he looks like me rolling off the couch after the game - slow, sluggish and sloppy. But to his credit he is fighting and trying to push his way through, and I guess that's all we can ask at this point, given the number of games he's played and all the other things we've discussed ad nauseum.

[SabresFan526]

Bernier had a great game, could of scored a hat trick

Bernier came up huge tonight. I really thought he had a very strong game tonight. I hope he carries this momentum into Montreal. I want to see him play a big game in front of his home province and hopefully his friends and family!

[LabattBlue]

Game thoughts...

 

-Miller...Very bad positioning on the 1st two goals, very good in the shootout.

 

-Did Stafford or Paille play in the 3rd period? I'm always amazed that Kotalik plays no matter how bad he is sucking, but Lindy has no problems sitting younger players like Stafford and Paille.

 

-I'll tell you why Vanek isn't earning his money...Did you see how hard he was skating tonight? How many times have you seen him skate that way this year? It is why he will never be a favorite of mine nor will he ever be worth the 7 mil a year.

 

-The Sabres made Raycroft look good. He hasn't played since sometime in January and the Sabres had 1 goal through 2 periods.

 

-Glad to see Bernier get a goal. He has got a lot of growing to do as a player, but he has some skill.

 

-I have to give them credit though. With the season on the line, they found a way to live for another day.

 

GO SABRES!!!

[darksabre]

Price is going to stand us the #%^$#! up on Thursday. Winning games against Alex Auld and Andrew Raycroft are nothing to get excited about. It'd be like a team beating us with Thibault in goal.

[BuffalOhio]

Game thoughts...

 

-Miller...Very bad positioning on the 1st two goals, very good in the shootout.

 

-Did Stafford or Paille play in the 3rd period? I'm always amazed that Kotalik plays no matter how bad he is sucking, but Lindy has no problems sitting younger players like Stafford and Paille.

 

-I'll tell you why Vanek isn't earning his money...Did you see how hard he was skating tonight? How many times have you seen him skate that way this year? It is why he will never be a favorite of mine nor will he ever be worth the 7 mil a year.

 

-The Sabres made Raycroft look good. He hasn't played since sometime in January and the Sabres had 1 goal through 2 periods.

 

-Glad to see Bernier get a goal. He has got a lot of growing to do as a player, but he has some skill.

 

-I have to give them credit though. With the season on the line, they found a way to live for another day.

 

GO SABRES!!!

 

Miller - terrible rebound on the first goal. Awful play on the second.

 

Stafford and Paille both played. Lindy moved whomever was skating good to the top 2 lines. As far as I can tell, the lines were different for each period.

 

Vanek was lazy through the neutral zone on Toronto's third goal. If he'd skated harder the length of the ice, I don't think Steen would've gotten the shot off. Lazy lazy lazy! I expect more for what he's making!

 

Bernier's been invisible since the first game, I agree. I'm hoping he gets better next year, or that trade's not gonna look too good.

 

Yes, they found a way to keep us interested until tomorrow night. Go Devils and Go Penguins!

[X. Benedict]

-Miller...Very bad positioning on the 1st two goals, very good in the shootout.

 

 

GO SABRES!!!

 

I would love to ask him if he was happy with his skates.

It looked like he was having all kinds of trouble getting back.

I thought he lost an edge more than once.

[inkman]

-I'll tell you why Vanek isn't earning his money...Did you see how hard he was skating tonight? How many times have you seen him skate that way this year? It is why he will never be a favorite of mine nor will he ever be worth the 7 mil a year.

Vanek was lazy through the neutral zone on Toronto's third goal. If he'd skated harder the length of the ice, I don't think Steen would've gotten the shot off. Lazy lazy lazy! I expect more for what he's making!

...and that is why this team is #%^$#!ed as long as he is their face. Nobody wants to follow a lazy piece of crap...

[will]

i never thought i'd see a fanbase so livid with a guy who's averaged 33 goals and 64pts. over his first three seasons. it's not like he asked to be paid $7mil this early in his career.

 

as long as he keeps grinding in front of the net and tipping 30+ goals home, i'll forgive the lack of speed back through the neutral zone. the kid plays hard and he's only going to get better. as his annual salary goes down, hopefully he can get better players around him to get him back over the 40 goal mark, and learn more defensive responsibility.

 

take it easy, guys.

[wonderbread]

i never thought i'd see a fanbase so livid with a guy who's averaged 33 goals and 64pts. over his first three seasons. it's not like he asked to be paid $7mil this early in his career.

 

as long as he keeps grinding in front of the net and tipping 30+ goals home, i'll forgive the lack of speed back through the neutral zone. the kid plays hard and he's only going to get better. as his annual salary goes down, hopefully he can get better players around him to get him back over the 40 goal mark, and learn more defensive responsibility.

 

take it easy, guys.

 

 

Yeah Will thanks for being the voice of reason here.

[wjag]

Just got back in. Was watching on the Blackberry "refresh". How maddening..

 

Too bad Washington won. Options got narrowed again tonight.

 

GO SABRES.. LIVE TO FIGHT ANOTHER DAY....

[X. Benedict]

i never thought i'd see a fanbase so livid with a guy who's averaged 33 goals and 64pts. over his first three seasons. it's not like he asked to be paid $7mil this early in his career.

 

as long as he keeps grinding in front of the net and tipping 30+ goals home, i'll forgive the lack of speed back through the neutral zone. the kid plays hard and he's only going to get better. as his annual salary goes down, hopefully he can get better players around him to get him back over the 40 goal mark, and learn more defensive responsibility.

 

take it easy, guys.

I tend to agree with this. I get more upset with Vanek's penalties when he lets his hands get away from him. He really thinks his stick can take it away every time. If he has a weakness he really loses his legs on long shifts.(as does Bernier)

[Doohicksie]

Meh. It's not his lack of speed, but his lack of EFFORT that pisses me off. You see everyone else skating their legs off as the camera pans right by Vanek who's just coasting along. :huh:

[carpandean]

...and that is why this team is #%^$#!ed as long as he is their face. Nobody wants to follow a lazy piece of crap...

Don't kid yourself. He is the highest paid Sabre, but Roy, Pominville and Miller are the face of the Sabres.

[inkman]

Don't kid yourself. He is the highest paid Sabre, but Roy, Pominville and Miller are the face of the Sabres.

...but having a 10 million dollar lump of laziness in the corner doesn't exactly inspire confidence.

[carpandean]

...but having a 10 million dollar lump of laziness in the corner doesn't exactly inspire confidence.

Yeah, but next year we'll only have an $8 million lump and after that it's just a $6.4 million lump for 5 more years. ;)

[Goose Nasty]

what a game, i was like staring at the raido for the whole ot and shoot out. max freaking won the gae out of no were, it awsome....now we philly or boston to lose their off

[JohnRobertEichel]

Yeah, but next year we'll only have an $8 million lump and after that it's just a $6.4 million lump for 5 more years. ;)

 

Given the way the NHL salary cap continues to rise, Vanek may be considered an absolute steal by 2010 :)

[Kristian]

Given the way the NHL salary cap continues to rise, Vanek may be considered an absolute steal by 2010 :)

 

Scary thought, but what's even scarier is that it's true.

[Buffalo Wings]

i still hate the SO, but was that nerve=wracking or what!

Amazing how their season came down to a shootout.

 

Not really the way hockey should be played, but I'll take it right now.

[LabattBlue]

i never thought i'd see a fanbase so livid with a guy who's averaged 33 goals and 64pts. over his first three seasons. it's not like he asked to be paid $7mil this early in his career.

Actually, the day he signed his name on the offer sheet, he was being asked to be paid 7 mil a year. If he didn't want to be paid that much, he should have declined the offer sheet.

[LabattBlue]

Given the way the NHL salary cap continues to rise, Vanek may be considered an absolute steal by 2010 :)

...and if the salaray cap continues to rise, Buffalo will find it tougher to be competitive and may even find themselves without a franchise.

[LabattBlue]

Meh. It's not his lack of speed, but his lack of EFFORT that pisses me off. You see everyone else skating their legs off as the camera pans right by Vanek who's just coasting along. :huh:

I agree. Like I stated a few posts ago, if Vanek skated his ASS off every game like he did last night, no one would have a problem with him, even during years when his scoring is down(like this year).

[LabattBlue]

One other note on Vanek and I will move on...WTF was he doing on Roy's goal. It looked like he was trying to keep the puck from going in the net.

[inkman]

One other note on Vanek and I will move on...WTF was he doing on Roy's goal. It looked like he was trying to keep the puck from going in the net.

Not to mention he looked disappointed as the puck was crossing the line... :unsure: