GAME DISCUSSION THREAD

[FogBat]

As the Sabres move into first place in the Eastern Conference tonight, Deluca keeps it real as always...real negative...

 

You are the type of person that wins $100 million lottery and the first thing they do is complain about all the taxes they are going to have to pay...

 

You might be the only poster I have seen that thinks its a crime to have an all-world goaltender, as if the Sabres have done something wrong by having Ryan Miller play as well as he has. Perhaps other teams should be worried about themselves matching up in goal with Miller rather than the Sabres matching them at forward...Sabres can score 2 or 3 goals a night against most goalies, not so true with other teams against us...

I LOVE THIS POST! It calls out DeLuca for his perpetually incessant negative attitude, and it does so very well.

 

If I might add, here's a hypothetical situation. Let's say that the Sabres finally win the Stanley Cup. Instead of being happy that they finally got it, DeLuca would find something else to complain about like how the blueline corps had some turnovers that cost a few goals. Nevermind that they finally got the Cup. In DeLuca's eyes, it wasn't done perfectly. He must think he's God or something like that.

 

It just seems like he likes to play devil's advocate just for the sake of doing so and that he actually enjoys such sadomasochism.

[SDS]

I LOVE THIS POST! It calls out DeLuca for his perpetually incessant negative attitude, and it does so very well.

 

If I might add, here's a hypothetical situation. Let's say that the Sabres finally win the Stanley Cup. Instead of being happy that they finally got it, DeLuca would find something else to complain about like how the blueline corps had some turnovers that cost a few goals. Nevermind that they finally got the Cup. In DeLuca's eyes, it wasn't done perfectly. He must think he's God or something like that.

 

It just seems like he likes to play devil's advocate just for the sake of doing so and that he actually enjoys such sadomasochism.

 

 

Do I need to pull up some of your posts prior to the season?

[deluca67]

I LOVE THIS POST! It calls out DeLuca for his perpetually incessant negative attitude, and it does so very well.

 

If I might add, here's a hypothetical situation. Let's say that the Sabres finally win the Stanley Cup. Instead of being happy that they finally got it, DeLuca would find something else to complain about like how the blueline corps had some turnovers that cost a few goals. Nevermind that they finally got the Cup. In DeLuca's eyes, it wasn't done perfectly. He must think he's God or something like that.

 

It just seems like he likes to play devil's advocate just for the sake of doing so and that he actually enjoys such sadomasochism.

First of all, who doesn't ? Nothing gets me going more than a leather hood and red ball shoved in my mouth. :thumbsup:

 

I have to remind myself that some of you guys/ladies are youngsters. I've seen this team look like world beaters and bow out in the first round. I believe at one point they lost in the 1st round 10 straight years. I've this team get over a 100 points back when a 100 points mattered and still got knocked out. I saw a offensive Juggernaut with LaFontaine and Mogilny sweep the Bruins in one series and swept the next by the Habs. I saw the greatest goalie ever to play the game carry this team to the finals, once. Despite having multiple years where he was the best player on the planet. I saw the greatest Sabres ever #11 retire with only on kick at the can.

 

It's not negativity, it's putting aside the meaningless Pollyanna bullsh!t and looking at this team with one question in mind. Can they win the Stanly Cup? I look at this team and see a lot of areas for improvement. A lot of areas that come playoff time are going to turn from a minor detail to a glaring weakness.

 

Please by all means high five and enjoy you standings today. I've been there and done that. I want a Stanly Cup Champion in Buffalo. That is all I care about when it comes to this franchise. Anything less is a disappointment.

[darksabre]

First of all, who doesn't ? Nothing gets me going more than a leather hood and red ball shoved in my mouth. :thumbsup:

 

I have to remind myself that some of you guys/ladies are youngsters. I've seen this team look like world beaters and bow out in the first round. I believe at one point they lost in the 1st round 10 straight years. I've this team get over a 100 points back when a 100 points mattered and still got knocked out. I saw a offensive Juggernaut with LaFontaine and Mogilny sweep the Bruins in one series and swept the next by the Habs. I saw the greatest goalie ever to play the game carry this team to the finals, once. Despite having multiple years where he was the best player on the planet. I saw the greatest Sabres ever #11 retire with only on kick at the can.

 

It's not negativity, it's putting aside the meaningless Pollyanna bullsh!t and looking at this team with one question in mind. Can they win the Stanly Cup? I look at this team and see a lot of areas for improvement. A lot of areas that come playoff time are going to turn from a minor detail to a glaring weakness.

 

Please by all means high five and enjoy you standings today. I've been there and done that. I want a Stanly Cup Champion in Buffalo. That is all I care about when it comes to this franchise. Anything less is a disappointment.

 

What's a Stanly Cup? :rolleyes:

 

I want a Cup too, but it's not going to stop me from enjoying the fact that this team is playing well. Did I expect us to be here at the start of the season? No. But I'm sure not going to throw a kibosh on everything because this team might have some underlying flaws. I mean come on and relax a little and let's see how this all plays out. They're well on track to the playoffs and once they're in, it's really anyone's game. Chill out a little. It's not that bad. :beer:

[inkman]

First of all, who doesn't ? Nothing gets me going more than a leather hood and red ball shoved in my mouth. :thumbsup:

I may never have anything other than a flacid ###### for the rest of my life.

[Hank]

...FIVE! SIX! We want SEVEN!!! :lol: (or we can just save them for the rest of the brutal West Coast Road Swing, or BOTH!!!) :beer:

 

 

Hi, and welcome!

 

What part of Iraq are you in?

 

What unit?

 

What do you do?

[FogBat]

What's a Stanly Cup? :rolleyes:

 

I want a Cup too, but it's not going to stop me from enjoying the fact that this team is playing well. Did I expect us to be here at the start of the season? No. But I'm sure not going to throw a kibosh on everything because this team might have some underlying flaws. I mean come on and relax a little and let's see how this all plays out. They're well on track to the playoffs and once they're in, it's really anyone's game. Chill out a little. It's not that bad. :beer:

:thumbsup:

[Armydoogie]

Hi, and welcome!

 

What part of Iraq are you in?

 

What unit?

 

What do you do?

 

Kirkuk; 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division; manage 400+ interpeters

[wjag]

Just Cause:

 

1. I picked this team to be right at the 6-10th place cut line before the season. I reasoned as did so many others that you can't recast the same cast. Boy was I wrong. I'm delirious.

2. I give Deluca props for reminding us all that it takes true commitment to win the SC. We've seen successful seasons go by the boards for not being mentally tough, and a touch lucky when it matters the most.

3. 5 of 6 possible points on the road with eight points still available.

4. The goals were nice last night, but winning the puck battles consistently was the true beauty of the game.

5. I just don't get how the PK is so successful. It challenges no one. Can't argue with the results. I know what the conventional wisdom says, keep them to the outside. Low percentange shots. I still don't get it. The Sabres rarely move the player out of the crease.

6. Bandicoot is becoming an honest to goodness hockey player before our eyes.

7. Pominville has turned his play up a notch. His one timer is getting through this year.

8. Myers gives us something to gush about each game he plays. He's a lock in my mind for Rookie of the Year.

9. Pominville getting that goal 22 seconds after Phoenix scored took the air right out of their game.

10. The Phoenix announcers were beyond complimentary about the Sabres. They advised the Sabres save some goals for the next night and wished the Sabres great success on the roadie. I think they used the phrase "we'll take all the help we can get".

[JujuFish]

- Tim Connolly has points in 12 straight games. I'm too lazy to lookup the last time a Sabre had a 12 game point streak, but I'd hazard to guess it's been a long time.

Derek Roy, 2 seasons ago.

It's also the 2nd longest streak by anyone in the NHL this season.

[NowDoYouBelieve]

You don't have a clue how to follow along. The Sabres defense sucks and the offense is inconsistent. They are on a pretty good roll as they tend to go on only to follow with a equally dry run.

 

Keep clutching on to the regular season standings. Boston was #1 in the East last season. Montreal prior to that. The Sabres themselves led the East three seasons ago. What did all those regular season wins mean? Nothing! Boston and Montreal were riding hot goaltenders. The Sabres just weren't tough enough when it mattered. Does all that sound familiar?

 

7-2 always looks nice on the score board. They should send the Coyote's goaltenders a gift to return the favor. I can't remember the last time the Sabres got so many gift goals in one game. I'm sure Lindy will keep the video of this game next time he needs to hammer home the "just throw it to the net" point.

 

What's wrong with riding a hot goaltender? Remember when the 8 seeded Oilers rode Dwayne Roloson all the way to the Finals? Remember when the 7 seeded Ducks did the same with Jean Sebastian Giguere? If you're not satisfied with simply making it to the Finals, I'd argue that the Devils wouldn't have won any of their 3 Cups without Marty Brodeur. Yeah, he's one of the best goalies of all time but Miller this year is matching Brodeur's greatest seasons in the late 90's.

 

 

You act like it's somehow a bad thing that our best player happens to be the goaltender. That's a good thing, especially when you reach the playoffs and the great offenses REALLY turn on their engines.

 

 

One more thing...explain to me how the defense sucks. We allow the 2nd fewest goals per game! And don't talk to me about shots on goal...that's a BS stat. That's like saying a great NFL defense is bad because they allow a lot of pass attempts. Miller's an excellent goalie, but he wouldn't be having this type of season if the defense was actually bad.

[spndnchz]

Anyone notice in the first when Gaustad had the puck on the wall in the offensive zone Sylevester called the fans out for booing but it sounded like they were just saying "gooooose"?

I thought that too.

 

This was Kevin's best play by play to date. Yeah, the Sabres winning 7-2 helped. Still, credit where credit is due.

and this too

 

Sorry, I should have qualified my comments with the fact that I'm a mini pack-holder. The notice I was sent was specifically for mini-pak holders and I remember that there was some sort of deal that was offered to season ticket holders if they renewed their tickets for this year. I can't remember the specifics but you're right what I quoted was for the full 8 games. I believe the mini-pack holder would pay the same price as the general public, we just get priority access.

sorry.

[Hank]

Kirkuk; 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division; manage 400+ interpeters

 

 

My last deployment was with 3BCT out of Campbell. I've never been to Kirkuk, my first Iraqi tour was Mosul. Then Falcon, Taji, and this last one I split between Mamadiyuh, Lutifiyah and Dragon. Did a stint at the Academy teaching WLC, now we're prepping for Afghan. It's my first time back there since this whole thing kicked off so I'm excited to see how much it changed.

 

Your out of Weisbaden? A good friend of mine went there not to long ago, SFC Myles, he's coming to you from Hood, was with TF Odin in Speicher his last deployment.

[deluca67]

What's wrong with riding a hot goaltender? Remember when the 8 seeded Oilers rode Dwayne Roloson all the way to the Finals? Remember when the 7 seeded Ducks did the same with Jean Sebastian Giguere? If you're not satisfied with simply making it to the Finals, I'd argue that the Devils wouldn't have won any of their 3 Cups without Marty Brodeur. Yeah, he's one of the best goalies of all time but Miller this year is matching Brodeur's greatest seasons in the late 90's.

 

 

You act like it's somehow a bad thing that our best player happens to be the goaltender. That's a good thing, especially when you reach the playoffs and the great offenses REALLY turn on their engines.

 

 

One more thing...explain to me how the defense sucks. We allow the 2nd fewest goals per game! And don't talk to me about shots on goal...that's a BS stat. That's like saying a great NFL defense is bad because they allow a lot of pass attempts. Miller's an excellent goalie, but he wouldn't be having this type of season if the defense was actually bad.

The equivalent would be the number of plays ran by the opposition which would reflect the defense's inability to get the opposition off the field, usually on third down. Miller is the sole reason why this team has such good goals against numbers. I've been over that so you will have to look it up yourself.

[deluca67]

What's a Stanly Cup? :rolleyes:

 

I want a Cup too, but it's not going to stop me from enjoying the fact that this team is playing well. Did I expect us to be here at the start of the season? No. But I'm sure not going to throw a kibosh on everything because this team might have some underlying flaws. I mean come on and relax a little and let's see how this all plays out. They're well on track to the playoffs and once they're in, it's really anyone's game. Chill out a little. It's not that bad. :beer:

Just not interested in lower expectations. You might as well say Bills fans should be happy with Chan Gailey. There is a real opporntunity here for this franchise to do something special and I would hate to have them waste it. Being close this year doesn't mean we will this close next year. Recent Sabre history has proven that. Two Conference Finals followed by two years without playoffs.

[NowDoYouBelieve]

The equivalent would be the number of plays ran by the opposition which would reflect the defense's inability to get the opposition off the field, usually on third down. Miller is the sole reason why this team has such good goals against numbers. I've been over that so you will have to look it up yourself.

 

You realize that pretty much everybody, including hockey experts and other NHL coaches, disagrees with your assessment right? I've heard nothing but praise for the Sabres' defensive efforts and defensive schemes. You act as if there's some sort of damning evidence out there against the D.

 

If it's your opinion that the Sabres' defense could improve, that's fine. But don't pretend like it's some sort of absolute fact that they've been underperforming this season. Whatever stats you're using can't possibly tell the whole story.

 

I agree that Miller has, at times, bailed the team out. In fact, he's probably directly stolen about 5 wins. Maybe with a more middling goalie, we'd have allowed 128 goals instead of 108. But that doesn't mean the defense "sucks". I'd say they're at least top 10 in the league and still going strong.

 

As for the football analogy...well, there isn't going to be a perfect one. But yours isn't correct either. In football, if your offense stays on the field for a long time, that means you're doing a good job without exception. In hockey, getting the puck on the net doesn't say very much about scoring opportunities or even overall effectiveness. Any hockey team could wake up one morning and decide "let's have 50 shots on goal today", and they could probably succeed at that. But it probably wouldn't increase their scoring.

[Rox11]

You realize that pretty much everybody, including hockey experts and other NHL coaches, disagrees with your assessment right? I've heard nothing but praise for the Sabres' defensive efforts and defensive schemes. You act as if there's some sort of damning evidence out there against the D.

 

If it's your opinion that the Sabres' defense could improve, that's fine. But don't pretend like it's some sort of absolute fact that they've been underperforming this season. Whatever stats you're using can't possibly tell the whole story.

 

I agree that Miller has, at times, bailed the team out. In fact, he's probably directly stolen about 5 wins. Maybe with a more middling goalie, we'd have allowed 128 goals instead of 108. But that doesn't mean the defense "sucks". I'd say they're at least top 10 in the league and still going strong.

 

As for the football analogy...well, there isn't going to be a perfect one. But yours isn't correct either. In football, if your offense stays on the field for a long time, that means you're doing a good job without exception. In hockey, getting the puck on the net doesn't say very much about scoring opportunities or even overall effectiveness. Any hockey team could wake up one morning and decide "let's have 50 shots on goal today", and they could probably succeed at that. But it probably wouldn't increase their scoring.

[Rox11]

This is when I enjoy reading these posts the most ... when there's STILL so much nay-saying out there. At the start of the season, 90% of these blips didn't think Buffalo did enough in the off-season. So now, with the best team in the East -and a handful of points on the SC champ Penguins (with games in hand)- all of the criticism is out there. And Montreal spent big $$$ and they're in 9th place? Give this team the credit it deserves now, starting with Miller.

[MattPie]

Please by all means high five and enjoy you standings today. I've been there and done that. I want a Stanly Cup Champion in Buffalo. That is all I care about when it comes to this franchise. Anything less is a disappointment.

 

Don't take this as a flame, I'm honestly asking: why do you watch sports if the only thing you'll be happy with is a championship? At best, a team is going to win once (or maybe twice) a decade on average. Perhaps I'm weak, but there's no way I'd sign up for a hobby that's going to leave me disappointed at least 90% of the time.

[Stoner]

John Vogl wrote, "It's common for Buffalo fans to travel well." It's always been my perception that the vast majority of Sabre fans on the road live in those cities; they're not vacationers. Am I wrong? Did seemingly thousands of folks fly out to Phoenix for a hockey game? Doesn't make a lot of sense.

[darksabre]

Just not interested in lower expectations. You might as well say Bills fans should be happy with Chan Gailey. There is a real opporntunity here for this franchise to do something special and I would hate to have them waste it. Being close this year doesn't mean we will this close next year. Recent Sabre history has proven that. Two Conference Finals followed by two years without playoffs.

 

Don't watch sports if you aren't prepared for less than total domination. It's unrealistic to expect that even if the Sabres "do something special" that they will stand any better of a chance of winning the Cup. We could make a move to make this team better and it might completely mess it up. Who knows. It's completely possible. I agree that the Sabres need to take advantage of this stellar season Miller is having, but I don't necessarily think they don't have a shot if they don't "do something special." (Whatever THAT means.)

 

You're dwelling too much on the past and being too pessimistic about the future. Calm down and enjoy the winning. The charts don't lie. This team is good.

 

(On an aside, Scott, you have to remove the censor on the word scr*w :rolleyes: )

[spndnchz]

###### ###### #%^$#! #%^$#! hell dammit ass damn

 

well, 4 of 8 got thru.

[Stoner]

###### ###### #%^$#! #%^$#! hell dammit ass damn

 

well, 4 of 8 got thru.

 

How did you get hell through?

[Stoner]

Don't take this as a flame, I'm honestly asking: why do you watch sports if the only thing you'll be happy with is a championship? At best, a team is going to win once (or maybe twice) a decade on average. Perhaps I'm weak, but there's no way I'd sign up for a hobby that's going to leave me disappointed at least 90% of the time.

 

I have to logically conclude that either 1. You're not a Sabres fan or 2. You're not disappointed when the Sabres are eliminated from the playoffs, or playoff contention. I don't believe either to be true.

[Stoner]

Don't watch sports if you aren't prepared for less than total domination. It's unrealistic to expect that even if the Sabres "do something special" that they will stand any better of a chance of winning the Cup. We could make a move to make this team better and it might completely mess it up. Who knows. It's completely possible. I agree that the Sabres need to take advantage of this stellar season Miller is having, but I don't necessarily think they don't have a shot if they don't "do something special." (Whatever THAT means.)

 

You're dwelling too much on the past and being too pessimistic about the future. Calm down and enjoy the winning. The charts don't lie. This team is good.

 

(On an aside, Scott, you have to remove the censor on the word scr*w :rolleyes: )

 

Total domination? Straw man anyone?

 

There's nothing wrong with the criticism of the Sabres that's taken place during the recent hot stretch. It makes perfect sense for any fan who truly believes in this team.

 

And, yeah, the censor needs to go. Deal with any profanity on a moderation level, on a post by post or poster by poster basis. It's not a huge problem here. Anyway, we're all adults, talking about hockey, for crying out loud.