GAME DISCUSSION THREAD

[carpandean]

^^ Yeah i'm watching the Flames game. wow.... and that was a legal check by the Caps.

Haven't scored after 5 minutes and then the Caps take a penalty to go 4-on-4. :doh:

[Two or less]

Haven't scored after 5 minutes and then the Caps take a penalty to go 4-on-4. :doh:

 

Yeah, that was a pathetic PP. It seemed like they rushed too much. I mean, slow that #%^$#! down, they had 9 minutes!

 

And i'm watching via comcast, these announcers are horrid.

[Two or less]

Back to the game though-

 

I thought Max played a pretty solid game. It was same old Max with the bad passes and turnovers, but i thought he played really well in his own end, and i thought he kept keeping the Bruins on their toes each time he came into their zone. I thought he kept giving us hope when our offense was dead or didn't have much to work with because of their unreal job with the trap.

 

And Drew Stafford. Another great game tonight. Goes 3-3 in shootouts and scores a great goal. I think Stafford has been working really hard this season and as someone else pointed out in the Stafford thread, he has alot of shots. He's been playing really and tonight it all came together for him it seemed. Has a strong game in each aspect of the game. Checking, forechecking, offensively he's made several chances early on and it all paid off, with a very nice goal.

 

Oh, and of course, Ryan Miller was amazing tonight.

[inkman]

I thought Max played a pretty solid game. :unsure: It was same old Max with the bad passes and turnovers :blink: , but i thought he played really well in his own end :o , and i thought he kept keeping the Bruins on their toes each time he came into their zone :rolleyes: . I thought he kept giving us hope :wallbash: when our offense was dead or didn't have much to work with because of their unreal job with the trap.

fixed

[Guest Sloth]

Sabres have 11 points in 6 games. Who'd of thunk?

[JohnRobertEichel]

Is Derek Roy still on this team?

[carpandean]

Is Derek Roy still on this team?

Yeah, but he plays defense now.

[wonderbread]

Why do play by play guys have to say things like "downstairs" instead of "the corner" and "bid" instead of "shot." Makes me appreciate the simplicity of Jeanneret. And does every call have to have a "who" added onto it? In the corner, it's Numminen, who had heart surgery last year. The pass to Chara, who rolls five Yahtzees on the plane to Buffalo. Too much information!

 

True freaking story! I rolled 4 Yahtzees tonight after the 1st period.

I won big time 568 to 210!

[Eleven]

Max - the classic 2 on 2 jerkoff move, turning it over on a weak pass - can he do a dump and chase one time in his career?

 

um, no

 

Max is not here to dump the puck. That's not his job.

 

ON EDIT: I'm going to elaborate, because I can't tell if PA Sabre is responding to me (mistaking the above for sarcasm) or not. Really, Max is not here to dump the puck. He's here to carry the puck and try to make plays. And so far this year, he's doing a decent job of it. He doesn't always succeed, but he doesn't always lose the puck, either; there are other Sabres who are far less in the maw of public criticism and yet who make more mistakes with the puck.

 

I agree with the "ink blot" comparison that PA Sabre makes below. If you want to look for faults in Max, you'll find them. And if you want to look for golden moments, you'll find those, too.

[Stoner]

Hey, Max drew two penalties tonight. Max is Max. He's like a hockey ink blot test. You are going to see what you want to see in him.

 

Anyone think Miller and Lalime have a little friendly competition going?

[SDS]

Why do play by play guys have to say things like "downstairs" instead of "the corner" and "bid" instead of "shot." Makes me appreciate the simplicity of Jeanneret. And does every call have to have a "who" added onto it? In the corner, it's Numminen, who had heart surgery last year. The pass to Chara, who rolls five Yahtzees on the plane to Buffalo. Too much information!

 

"unobtainable"

 

worst PBP word ever...

[Eleven]

"unobtainable"

 

worst PBP word ever...

 

That's from SDS, who lives in Maryland.

[carpandean]

"unobtainable"

worst PBP word ever...

I caught that, too.

The first time, I was like :blink:

The second time, I was more like :doh:

[MattPie]

Max is not here to dump the puck. That's not his job.

 

ON EDIT: I'm going to elaborate, because I can't tell if PA Sabre is responding to me (mistaking the above for sarcasm) or not. Really, Max is not here to dump the puck. He's here to carry the puck and try to make plays. And so far this year, he's doing a decent job of it. He doesn't always succeed, but he doesn't always lose the puck, either; there are other Sabres who are far less in the maw of public criticism and yet who make more mistakes with the puck.

 

I agree with the "ink blot" comparison that PA Sabre makes below. If you want to look for faults in Max, you'll find them. And if you want to look for golden moments, you'll find those, too.

 

I figure one game isn't a trend, but Max had 1 point (assist on MacArthur's goal, a great cross-ice pass, BTW), was +1, and drew a couple penalties (and committed one of his own). I think anyone that can seriously criticize that has a bug up their butt. Can anyone seriously say that Max playing that way each game isn't worth his paycheck? (let's see if he keeps it up)

[SDS]

That's from SDS, who lives in Maryland.

 

:unsure:

[nfreeman]

Well, that game was a bit better than the Atlanta game, but not much. I don't find it acceptable to come out and get thoroughly outplayed all over the ice, at home, for a solid 30 minutes by a divisional rival.

 

Looking at it optimistically, I can say that Miller looks great and there is good reason to think that he will continue to do so as long as Lalime plays well enough to keep getting a bunch of starts. Also, Stafford may have broken out of his slump and Roy is knocking on the door. Roy was also fantastic on the backcheck. If he can get the scoring going, he could really become an elite 2-way NHL center.

 

Rivet was also very strong.

 

DeLuca: good non-first-line scoring tonight!

 

I was pretty impressed with the Bruins defensive zone coverage and ability to limit us to one or zero shots even after we seemed to have possession in the offensive zone.

 

Trivia question: does anyone remember the first time Vanek broke out the around-the-world move?

 

I really want to see a better opening effort on Thursday.

[JujuFish]

Sabres have 11 points in 6 games. Who'd of thunk?

HAVE

 

Sorry, but writing "of" for "have" is one of my biggest pet peeves.

[nucci]

HAVE

 

Sorry, but writing "of" for "have" is one of my biggest pet peeves.

Mine too.

[wjag]

HAVE

 

Sorry, but writing "of" for "have" is one of my biggest pet peeves.

 

 

Mine too.

perhaps you would have preferred: who'd've thunk it

[wjag]

Thoughts from last night's game...

 

1. Miller stole the first point and earned the second one.. Great attacking move on Savard to seal the deal.

2. Vanek's move in the shoot out was pretty slick.

3. Roy and Pomminstein are struggling to find their O.

4. Two short handed chances, one great, Ellis, and the other Paille, so-so, have made the PK interesting this year.

5. Boston played their game from the get-go and dictated how the game went throughout. They forced the Sabres to play Boston's style.

6. After being dominated in the first, Buffalo caught them in SOG by the end of the game.

7. Rivet was everywhere last night making big play after big play. His addition to the Sabres line-up is a game-changer.

8. Love the attacking style of the PK this year. Last year they let teams pass it around and preferred to clog the middle. This year, they attack the puck.

9. Boston missed a couple of open net looks that could have salted the game away.

10. Stafford's goal was the product of hard work and he was rewarded.

[Knightrider]

Is Derek Roy still on this team?

 

Roy had a great game last night, imo.

[Knightrider]

Trivia question: does anyone remember the first time Vanek broke out the around-the-world move?

 

In the NHL, I believe it was on Hasek before the Olympic break...

[Guest Sloth]

HAVE

 

Sorry, but writing "of" for "have" is one of my biggest pet peeves.

 

Thanks for the advice. it gives me an excuse to grab a cold on! Who'd have thunk? :)

[That Aud Smell]

Roy had a great game last night, imo.

as did i (although i only saw portions of it) -- he'll be breaking through soon enough, i think. the fact that he didn't do it in this game doesn't conern me -- boston plays a very tight game.

[LabattBlue]

Game thoughts...

 

-Went to the game last night and had a chance to sit in the 100's a few rows from the 200's(freebies). Very nice seats, but I still prefer to be up higher.

 

-Horrible 1st period against a team that had played the night before.

 

-Stafford's goal was a thing of beauty...and 3 for 3 in the SO this year!

 

-That was a BIG goal to make it 2-1 before the end of the 2nd period!

 

-Peters challenging Thornton and when Thornton skated away, 10-15 seconds later Peters takes a dumb penalty. Who was it that was trying to say they believe Peters can handle regular 4th line duty? He's a joke.

 

-Miller's glove save is the big save I want to see from him and did not see often enough last year.

 

-I don't like the thing they are doing on the scoreboard that shows you who is on the ice and by doing this drastically reducing the live game shot. If you are sitting down low sometimes you may want to watch the screen for a few seconds when play is down the other end and there is a scramble. Buy a program if you can't match a number with a name.

 

-Max doesn't seem to be making the dumb mistakes(drop passes that get intercepted, endless stickhandling, etc...) but at the same time is having no impact from an offensive perspective.

 

-Great to see the Sabres win 2 out of 3 SO to start the season.

 

-They now have the beer vendors giving you the can of beer instead of pouring it into a cup. This is the same place where they used to take the pop cap away from you as recently as last season because it could be used as a projectile. OSP trying to pinch pennies again?

 

-I know it is "only" a few hundred seats, but 2 out of the first 3 games did not sellout. I hope they haven't overpriced the box office tickets.

 

-Maybe it was just me, but Boston seemed to get in the way of about 1000 shots last night.

 

-I thought Ellis had a couple of nice shifts early in the game and was hoping to see more of him in order to get a feel for whether he can be a full time 4th liner.

 

-I know I said this after the preseason game but this shovel scraping of the ice is getting carried away. I can understand doing it around the goal, but now it alternates between the goals, around the boards and even in the neutral zone. These guys are getting more ice time than Peters!

 

 

 

 

 

One quick rant...How is it that the Sabres have a major bank name on the arena, but can't have that banks ATM machines inside. They may have some of the worst ATM's that I have ever used(the ones by the ticket office). You can hardly see the screen(bad angle), they are always slow and the interface is very 1970's like. Cut a deal with HSBC and replace ALL the ATM's both in the atrium and inside the arena.