GAME DISCUSSION THREAD

[Corp000085]

7:30pm

 

 

Well, the big story again is whether or not Connolly plays. I honestly feel that if he doesn't play tonight and tomorrow, that he'll never play for the Sabres again. If he plays one of the nights, it will totally shock me. I'm not here to debate whether or not he contributes to the team, whether he's snakebitten, or whether he takes more time off than he should to heal minor injuries... Fact: he's a great player, sabres are better with him th an without him, he's an important part of the team, and yes, he's snakebitten from injuries. Hard to deny that he's had bad luck... missing a season misdiagnosed with a concussion. broken back. torn hip cartilige, etc. With that said, i've just written at length about him rather than the blue jackets game. Maybe, just maybe, t he sabres can get back down to business after nearly blowing wednesday's game. The defense needs to play tougher and the offense needs to just dump, chase, and hit. If Connolly is out of the lineup, i'd actually be very interested in bringing in kaleta tonight over stafford. Kaleta will bring the energy to the home crowd and should play well after being benched. Stafford will have to wait his turn for saturday, unless peters can't go either. He did take a viscious cheapshot punch to the head.

 

I do think that the sabres can do well tonight, even w ithout connolly and with a potential lalime start. Plus, the blue jackets did totally blow the sabres out of the water last year. Hopefully lindy can use that game as some motivation as well.

[Knightrider]

Seems like they tend to beat us most of the time, in recent years...

 

I'd like to see the team that opened the season show up again.

[bob_sauve28]

Go Sabres! :thumbsup:

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/players/854

[SMIRNOFF]

My wife and I were at the game last year against Columbus, where Buffalo got slaughtered either 5-0 or 5-1. I remember it was Sekera's first game, and thinking how this kid probably won't make it. Boy were we wrong!!! Hopefully, Lindy uses this game to extract a little revenge from last year.

[spndnchz]

Too lazy this morning to look it up, but I think Lindy said LaLime would start back to back games this week. With only today and Sat left...

[rbochan]

I'm a little torn, what with Columbus being the big boys for the Crunch.

[FogBat]

Whose snakebitten for Columbus?

 

I also wouldn't mind seeing Peca as a healthy scratch.

[WayneGibbous]

Cupcake game. No reason to lose this. They need to take them out of this game early so they don't have another struggle to the finish with Pittsburgh waiting rested at home. Any word on Lalime starting this one?

[SwampD]

As much as I like Kaleta's energy, he can sometimes draw the rest of the team out of their game. The Sabres are best when they are dictating play with the puck. He gets them to just play chase, only looking for the next body to hit instead of trying to score. They end up not anticipating the play and a step behind trying to smash someone. I think that is why we lose to Otwa all the time. We're always trying to hit Neal instead of scoring. I'm not too familiar with Columbus so I don't know if this kind of play would help the Sabres or not but sometimes I think they try too hard to be physical. Just score.

 

On a side note, days where there is a GDT pinned to the top of the board are just so much better than the rest.

[ROC Sabres]

As much as I like Kaleta's energy, he can sometimes draw the rest of the team out of their game. The Sabres are best when they are dictating play with the puck. He gets them to just play chase, only looking for the next body to hit instead of trying to score. They end up not anticipating the play and a step behind trying to smash someone. I think that is why we lose to Otwa all the time. We're always trying to hit Neal instead of scoring. I'm not too familiar with Columbus so I don't know if this kind of play would help the Sabres or not but sometimes I think they try too hard to be physical. Just score.

 

On a side note, days where there is a GDT pinned to the top of the board are just so much better than the rest.

From the games that I can remember that we played against them, It really came down to hustle. Columbus has always out worked us whether it be on offense or defense. (from the games i remember, once again). They always have good positioning in both zones and Nash can skate and dangle like Max that doesn't give the puck away and can setup other players well. They have been struggling a bit this season on D and in goal (3.31 GA/G) so far. They have a few players that we know and love so much like Umberger and Commodore. Other than that, can't really say much else. Should be a good game though. Hopefully we break our stride against them just like we did with the blues. Only, less close of a score.

 

I'm gonna say this ones gonna be 5-3 sabres. Hopefully not with an empty netter at the end of the game.

[BetweenThePipes00]

Cupcake game. No reason to lose this. They need to take them out of this game early so they don't have another struggle to the finish with Pittsburgh waiting rested at home. Any word on Lalime starting this one?

 

 

There are very few "cupcake" games in the NHL, and even fewer against a Hitchcock-coached team. They are a .500 team that had points in six straight before losing the other night, including a win over Montreal. The Sabres do need to take care of business and win at home, but to expect a blowout is unreasonable. The Sabres could play very well and win 3-2 ... I would take it.

Lindy said Lalime will start one of the two games ... I would think it would be tonight but ... who knows ...

[Bmwolf21]

Crossing my fingers that I might actually get to see a game tonight...no HS football to cover, out of work by 5, and hoping to find the game on one of the Fox Sports Ohio stations...

[JohnRobertEichel]

My best guess is that Lalime starts and Peters/Connolly/Paetsch are the scratches.

 

Here's a random but interesting fact: Sabres, despite the early season injuries, struggles against Atlanta, no-show against Ottawa, etc. are off to the 5th best start in the league right now (going by points-per-game since Rangers and SJ have played 4 more games than us):

 

1. San Jose: 1.611

2. Detroit: 1.533

3. Boston: 1.438

4. Montreal: 1.429

 

5. Buffalo: 1.400

 

6. Pittsburgh: 1.375

7. NY Rangers: 1.368

8. Minnesota: 1.357

9. Washington: 1.333

[carpandean]

3. Boston: 1.438

4. Montreal: 1.429

 

5. Buffalo: 1.400

Man, look at the Northeast. It's going to be tough to get the division title this year. Boston has really surged and spanked Montreal hard last night.

[BetweenThePipes00]

And Toronto is a legit threat every night now too because Wilson is holding them accountable. It's the deepest division in hockey, so the fact that they reduced the number of division games from 32 to 24 is probably a good thing for the Sabres.

[carpandean]

And Toronto is a legit threat every night now too because Wilson is holding them accountable. It's the deepest division in hockey, so the fact that they reduced the number of division games from 32 to 24 is probably a good thing for the Sabres.

Yeah, especially since we also have a terrible time against the only team that isn't doing well this year.

[nfreeman]

On a side note, days where there is a GDT pinned to the top of the board are just so much better than the rest.

Yes indeedly.

[Guest Sloth]

Man, look at the Northeast. It's going to be tough to get the division title this year. Boston has really surged and spanked Montreal hard last night.

 

At the beginning of the season, all of the critics said Montreal was the best team in the division. I, too, thought the same thing. Right now, I have changed my opinion. I think Boston is the best team in the division. They're scoring goals, playing good d, and Tim Thomas, including last season, has truly emerged. I'm more worried about Boston than any another team in the Northeast division. Of course, I still don't like the idea of having Montreal, Toronto, and Ottawa in the division. The Northeast is the best division in hockey and they're going to beat each other up.

[deluca67]

Man, look at the Northeast. It's going to be tough to get the division title this year. Boston has really surged and spanked Montreal hard last night.

The NHL is much better when the Bruins and Habs are good? We just need to get the Canes back to Hartford and the Avs back to Quebec and all will be right in the world.

[wjag]

Northeast

Boston Bruins 16 10 3 3 23

Buffalo Sabres 15 9 3 3 21

Montr?al Canadiens 14 9 3 20

Toronto Maple Leafs 17 7 6 4 18

Ottawa Senators 16 6 8 2 14

 

Who at the start of the season would have believed the Northeast would look like this? This is fun... Ottawa managed a loss to the NYI last night... Sweet...

[carpandean]

The NHL is much better when the Bruins and Habs are good? We just need to get the Canes back to Hartford and the Avs back to Quebec and all will be right in the world.

 

:thumbsup:

[wjag]

 

:thumbsup:

Never did like either of these jerseys... The Whalers was just okay, but the Nordiques was.. hmm what's the word.....

[nfreeman]

I think i read somewhere recently that Quebec was trying to build a new arena. I'm skeptical that they'll get another team, but I'd much rather they get one than Hamilton. That rivalry they had with Montreal was just great. As for their uniforms, the white ones were better than the blue ones (although I think I remember their blue ones being darker than the picture above).

[Chief Enabler]

We just need to get the Canes back to Hartford and the Avs back to Quebec and all will be right in the world.

 

Never did like either of these jerseys... The Whalers was just okay, but the Nordiques was.. hmm what's the word.....

 

Classic right here fellas, those were the days.....

 

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[BetweenThePipes00]

Classic right here fellas, those were the days.....

 

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I think the narrator on that video is the Boom Goes the Dynamite college kid ...