Game Discussion Thread

[Derrico]

I'd say it's another data point supporting the idea that it doesn't pay to build your team around a star goalie. It didn't help us last year and it hasn't helped us this year.

 

Goaltending in the NHL has reached a point where the difference between the best in the league and 10th or 20th best in the league really isn't all that great.

 

Well we've got 3 years left on Miller's contract so you can b#tch and moan for three years or move on. Miller has to be our MVP. Maybe spending all that coin on a goaltender is not the answer but that should be a discussion for three years time.

[deluca67]

Anyone else want to continue to parrot the idea that Flyers goaltending is something to be looked down upon?

 

Boucher is getting it done. Yeah, his defence is a big deal too. But bottom line is, JUST LIKE LAST YEARS PLAYOFFS, goaltending doesn't really seem to be much of the issue for Philly. Time to give credit where it's due.

Hey, this is actual hockey. I didn't think this was still allowed on this board. Who knows you might start a trend.

 

After the Sabres dominated the final 10 minutes of the 1st period, including ending the period on the power-play, the Flyers settled into their game. They took the Sabres best shot, Boucher held his ground, and now the Sabres are in a tough spot.

[X. Benedict]

Hey, this is actual hockey. I didn't think this was still allowed on this board. Who knows you might start a trend.

 

After the Sabres dominated the final 10 minutes of the 1st period, including ending the period on the power-play, the Flyers settled into their game. They took the Sabres best shot, Boucher held his ground, and now the Sabres are in a tough spot.

 

This series is still on serve. Tough spot. But still on serve.

[MichFan]

Amen. There is a direct correlation between the tough Internet talk about how soft this team is and the necessity of that poster to shield their tender feelings from disappointment.

 

Clearly, they see in this team what they see in themselves so the self loathing comes out as team criticism.

How about you "super fans" stop being so vague and post names of the people in this thread who are pussies and have thrown in the towel. Personally I just don't see it, and I don't understand why you guys are being this way. Either post names, and it better be fairly long from the generalities you're using, or get off this track and focus on the game.

[Lanny]

Anyone else want to continue to parrot the idea that Flyers goaltending is something to be looked down upon?

 

Boucher is getting it done. Yeah, his defence is a big deal too. But bottom line is, JUST LIKE LAST YEARS PLAYOFFS, goaltending doesn't really seem to be much of the issue for Philly. Time to give credit where it's due.

It's interesting, they have three guys and they continuously recycle until they find a hot hand. Without a high paid guy there's no need to have to stick with someone or worry about hurting anyone's psyche. It's not bad, Laviolette did it in Carolina with Gerber and Ward as well.

[K-9]

Thanks. It's ridiculous - and it gets worse during the playoffs. Morons calling out people discussing the Sabres and their loss on a message board apparently have no idea where they're spending their time on the internets. It's old and annoying.

 

There are only a handful of fans with personality disorders who actually want the Sabres to lose the series - the rest of the people are upset in the moment, and it's completely understandable. The idiots calling others "pussies" and such must beat their children if they bring home report cards with grades less than 90% - that's the kind of heartless, pseudo-tough mentality they have.

 

Nope. Heartless and pseudo-tough is feeling really good about your team right up until the moment they happen to lose and then you have to throw them under the bus because you had so much emotional energy invested in an outcome you had no control over. That's usually immediately followed by QUITTING on your team and pronouncing the series over because you just can't stand it.

 

I know honest discussion about issue when I see it. I'm only referring to those that DON'T indulge in it.

 

GO SABRES!!!

[LabattBlue]

Game thoughts...

 

- Vanek, Pominville, Boyes, Ennis, Stafford & Connolly SUCKED for the 3rd game in a row at ES. Are any of these guys capable of forechecking? All outplayed again by Gerbe.

 

- For the 2nd game in the row, the Sabres could have changed the game momentum with a 3rd period PP goal. Instead, one failed PP attempt after another.

 

- Ruff and his staff should be happy that they sent the same shitheads out for the 5 on 3 PP when they did nothing all game long. What does Gerbe have to do to get some PP time?

 

- Gaustad who is allegedly one of our best defensive forwards was nowhere to be found 5 seconds after the faceoff when Briere was standing alone in front of the net to slam it home. The team defense on the 2nd goal wasn't much better.

 

- Passing grades to Gerbe, Grier and...that's it.

 

- The Flyers didn't even try to play offense in the 3rd period, yet the number of good scoring chances the Sabres had were still limited to a handful.

 

- Has Miller ever let in a goal that was his fault? It seems like every goal that the opposition scores falls into one of three categories according to posters here...screened, deflected or no chance.

[Eleven]

A few observations that might already have been made in the fifteen pages above:

 

Pominville was horrible. I have no idea why, but he just sucked out there.

 

As usual, we can count on only one of Connolly/Stafford to show up.

 

Ennis really had a nice game. Even away from the puck. There was one instance where he was slow to shoot, but other than that, he really had a nice one. So did Hefty Smurf.

 

Those of you calling for Vanek to wear a C next season are out of your minds. Not only is it pressure that he doesn't need and probably doesn't want, but there is a man who is earning it: Gaustad. That man is having one hell of a series. He's been a complete madman for three games, and he's been smart about it, too.

 

I don't mind calling out refs and linesmen when they screw up, and tonight, they did. As liberal as they were with the whistle against Buffalo on Saturday (justifiably), they could have done more against Filly tonight. There was all sorts of sh*t that I'm sure didn't make it on camera. And the linesmen, besides screwing up a non-offsides that may have resulted in a Buffalo goal, consistently threw Sabres out of faceoffs for no reason at all.

 

I was not a fan of some of the line combinations. Not at all.

 

Crowd was great. It really was a fun crowd, even when losing (early).

 

Leo, welcome back; not bad.

 

THIS, not Saturday, was the wasted opportunity. Dammit.

 

People, presumably suburban people, because the idiots were all in the lanes directed towards the 190, need to learn how to drive in the city. It's not that hard. Pretend it's Niagara Falls Boulevard on a Saturday afternoon. Same thing.

 

Dammit.

[Lanny]

Hey, this is actual hockey. I didn't think this was still allowed on this board. Who knows you might start a trend.

 

After the Sabres dominated the final 10 minutes of the 1st period, including ending the period on the power-play, the Flyers settled into their game. They took the Sabres best shot, Boucher held his ground, and now the Sabres are in a tough spot.

I said a few times that they needed to score while they were controlling play in the 1st, before Philly could regroup during the intermission. I think the killing off the 4 min PP at the end of the period was the turning point in the game for Phi.

[Marvelo]

should be interesting to see if it'll be Miller or Enroth next time. Miller has got to steal another game, even if he only has to make 22 saves to do it.

[X. Benedict]

Anyone else want to continue to parrot the idea that Flyers goaltending is something to be looked down upon?

 

Boucher is getting it done. Yeah, his defence is a big deal too. But bottom line is, JUST LIKE LAST YEARS PLAYOFFS, goaltending doesn't really seem to be much of the issue for Philly. Time to give credit where it's due.

Hmmmm.

 

Philly is loaded - at forward and D. I still think goaltending is their weakest link.

 

I would say goaltending is why Philly didn't win the cup last year.

[...]

There's a big difference between saying the defence made too many giveaways, or Miller needs to make more big saves, then the type of trade-em-all, fire Darcy tripe that litters this thread, and tends to after most losses.

If the Sabres are reacting the same way, then the season really is over.

 

The Sabres reaction to their loss has nothing to do with what fans are saying on a message board. No one but the team knows what it means to them, so you're grasping at straws trying to make a correlation.

 

And, there is history to any entity, in this case the Sabres. They didn't come into the playoffs in a vacuum. They have made many, many mistakes that have angered the fans over the years and one of the pivotal characters in this historical drama is Darcy Regier.

 

Some players like MAG, Myers, and Enroth make him look brilliant. Other players like Connolly, Boyes, and to some degree Montador, make him look like a fool. And there's a much longer line of foolish moves than brilliant moves. Fans are tired of the foolishness, and after a disheartening loss like tonight, the frustration comes out.

 

If that bothers you, maybe you need to go find some rich, white college boys to go beat up and get it out of your system, because you clearly have no empathy for the fans who put their heart into the team.

[Eleven]

I see that Blue and I may not have been watching the same game. Ah, well, opinions are opinions.

[K-9]

So, as an administrator you are cool with posters calling other posters pussies and that they need Masengil because it jibes with your opinion? IS that what I'm reading here? I thought the idea on this site was civil discourse. <_<

 

Well, if they don't feel like a massengill mai tai then perhaps a nice cup of Irish Mocha Mint to go with that Harlequin romance novel.

 

GO SABRES!!!

[Derrico]

Game thoughts...

 

- Vanek, Pominville, Boyes, Ennis, Stafford & Connolly SUCKED for the 3rd game in a row at ES. Are any of these guys capable of forechecking? All outplayed again by Gerbe.

 

- For the 2nd game in the row, the Sabres could have changed the game momentum with a 3rd period PP goal. Instead, one failed PP attempt after another.

 

- Ruff and his staff should be happy that they sent the same shitheads out for the 5 on 3 PP when they did nothing all game long. What does Gerbe have to do to get some PP time?

 

- Gaustad who is allegedly one of our best defensive forwards was nowhere to be found 5 seconds after the faceoff when Briere was standing alone in front of the net to slam it home. The team defense on the 2nd goal wasn't much better.

 

- Passing grades to Gerbe, Grier and...that's it.

 

- The Flyers didn't even try to play offense in the 3rd period, yet the number of good scoring chances the Sabres had were still limited to a handful.

 

- Has Miller ever let in a goal that was his fault? It seems like every goal that the opposition scores falls into one of three categories according to posters here...screened, deflected or no chance.

 

Hahahhaha, shitheads is legal on this board? Here I'd been censoring my own posts....

[deluca67]

This series is still on serve. Tough spot. But still on serve.

True and I am far from calling the series over. My concern after game two was giving Philly any momentum. Their confidence now has to be at as high a level as it has been over the past couple of months.

 

A positive note? The Sabres have had their backs against the wall for the last part of the season. Facing a possible 3-1 deficit maybe enough to get that all around effort we saw many nights since the beginning of the year.

[Eleven]

 

 

I would say goaltending is why Philly didn't win the cup last year.

 

And 1980, 1985, 1987, and 1997. Their goaltending hit a wall in 1985.

[Derrico]

should be interesting to see if it'll be Miller or Enroth next time. Miller has got to steal another game, even if he only has to make 22 saves to do it.

 

Hahhahah, My Gosh these Miller vs Enroth posts are getting really annoying....

[...]

Those of you calling for Vanek to wear a C next season are out of your minds. Not only is it pressure that he doesn't need and probably doesn't want, but there is a man who is earning it: Gaustad. That man is having one hell of a series. He's been a complete madman for three games, and he's been smart about it, too.

 

 

 

This is the most sensible post tonight, IMHO. After what I have seen so far, Goose's Captaincy campaign is hitting all of the right buttons.

[LabattBlue]

I see that Blue and I may not have been watching the same game. Ah, well, opinions are opinions.

Gaustad blowing his coverage on the second goal is not opinion, it is FACT.

 

The PP SUCKING in the 3rd period for the 2nd game in a row is not opinion, it is FACT.

 

The Sabres best offensive forwards for the 3rd game in a row have sucked at ES. FACT.

[Cereal]

I just want to say one positive thing here..

 

I think Stafford REALLY came to play tonight! He was bodying up very well on the forecheck, using his body to gain positioning on the puck time and time again. I was very impressed by his grit.

[Weave]

Hmmmm.

 

Philly is loaded - at forward and D. I still think goaltending is their weakest link.

 

I would say goaltending is why Philly didn't win the cup last year.

 

Every team has an Achille's heel. My point is simply, their goaltending disadvantage that was so confidently ridiculed in this thread isn't turning out to be all that great of a disadvantage in this series.

[Eleven]

Gaustad blowing his coverage on the second goal is not opinion, it is FACT.

 

The PP SUCKING in the 3rd period for the 2nd game in a row is not opinion, it is FACT.

 

The Sabres best offensive forwards for the 3rd game in a row have sucked at ES. FACT.

 

Easy there, tiger; I'm just saying that two people can watch the same game and see different things. I'm not calling your post "wrong."

[SabresFan526]

I think the Sabres are still in this, and if they win Game 4, the series is back on. For the Sabres to win, it comes down to three basic things that if they can get right, I think they can win the series.

 

First, they have to improve their defensive zone play. While that's fairly obvious, the Briere and Zherdev goals were a direct result of a turnover in the defensive zone that directly caused a goal. Should Miller make the save? Probably, but the defenseman can't make those types of turnovers in their own zone and just give the Flyers a great scoring opportunity.

 

Second, the Sabres have got to play with the lead and get up on Philly early. A young team like the Sabres are not built to come back, especially when you are lacking for the leadership and clutch player. The Sabres have got to get up early on the Flyers and use that to their advantage and win games when the Flyers D start taking chances and pounce on them.

 

Third, the Sabres just need to get some timely scoring. This is much easier said than done. But, it's the reality. They need to take advantage of the opportunities given to them like the 8 powerplays on Saturday. The 4 minute penalty to Hartnell and the 5-on-3 are situations the Sabres absolutely have to score in.

 

This series is not over, but the Sabres must do these three basic things in order to win the series and have to do it game-in and game-out.

[Eleven]

Every team has an Achille's heel. My point is simply, their goaltending disadvantage that was so confidently ridiculed in this thread isn't turning out to be all that great of a disadvantage in this series.

 

Your avatar looks like Hartnell. I know it isn't him; still, this is troubling. Please change it for the rest of the series.