GDT: Florida @ Buffalo, 7:00 pm est, 2-9-2016

[Hoss]

Count me in for Eriksson and Boedker, Hoss. Last rumor I heard was contract talks stalled for Boedker, and he may be in a new sweater come March.

I'm hoping to target Boedker first and then Eriksson after we either get Boedker or miss out on him. I would consider Boedker to be this team's best free agent signing since... Drawing a blank here...

[Thorner]

Yeah, unfortunately 31 doesn't make sense IMHO.

 

Boedker is my top choice & I would not be opposed to getting Yandle in the slightest. (Guess I watched waaaaaay too many Yotes games last year. ;))

 

I'll join in here too. Would love to see Boedker on Eichel's left. And Yandle would be very, very valuable to us.

[Hoss]

Boedker would require more money and term than McGinn, but sign me up for him or Yandle

I don't think McGinn has an even remote impact on a conversation about Boedker. He's worth twice the term and at least $1.5M more. I would offer Boedker 5x5.

[clintwestwood]

That second fight, where Kane popped him with the quick left with the sweater holding hand, what a beauty. His legs went out from him immediately. And that quick jab to cut him in the 3rd was just as pretty. Kane is showing that even though he might not score every night, but he's going to make sure you hate playing against him. A guy who can combine his mentality with 20+ goals is a serious asset for a young team. 

[Hoss]

Kane - O'Reilly - ???

Boedker - Eichel - Girgensons

??? - Reinhart - Fasching

Deslauriers - Larsson - Gionta

 

Forwards coming together there a bit. Could fill one of the question marks with a draftee. Maybe Ennis. Maybe another free agent. Maybe I completely forgot somebody.

[dudacek]

And he's playing like a number one.

I predict a few leaky ones tonight. The crows desperately need something to feast on.

 

Sometimes I hate being right.

 

Pretty happy to see Samson at center.

 

Reinhart is a natural center. He looks so much more confident and decisive at center

 

Please make this happen all the time.

Sometimes I like being right.

 

Has Risto had a more nightmarish 10 minutes??? Turnover penalty, penalty shot loss...... Turnover score...... Tipped shot own goal. Jeez

 

Risto has had a bad month. Remember when he and ROR were two of three best players pretty much any given night?

 

(Risto) needs a partner

 

I wish it were true, but lately he's the one dragging Gorges down.

 

The dude is damaged goods. GMTM got fleeced.

 

 

Sometimes I hate being right.

 

This is such a confusing game. It's been so much more fun than the score indicates

 

It really was. That's what hockey looks like when the system breaks down and the players let emotion rule their games — entertaining losses.

Edited February 10, 2016 by dudacek

[SwampD]

Why would anyone fight someone named after a boxer?

[WildCard]

Kane - O'Reilly - ???

Boedker - Eichel - Girgensons

??? - Reinhart - Fasching

Deslauriers - Larsson - Gionta

 

Forwards coming together there a bit. Could fill one of the question marks with a draftee. Maybe Ennis. Maybe another free agent. Maybe I completely forgot somebody.

A Fin and/or Eriksson?

I just wish Eriksson was like 3 years younger. His skill set is goddamn perfect to play on Eichel's wing. He'll be 31 when the contract kicks in, eeehhhh *tugs at collar*. Of course, I may be suffering from PMSD.

 

Yandle is still my top overall target, and then I'd try to get Boedker, but I'd settle for Eriksson if the contract makes sense. Yandle + top-6 forward (be it UFA or trade) is the shopping list. 

I'm still not convinced Eriksson's age is really that detrimental 

[dudacek]

Smart play by Petrovic, even if he lost. Down by three with one of our few scorers on the dressing room. No chance for a comback now, unless someone else steps up.

 

If you think losing three fights to the same guy in the same game is smart.

 

Good showing by the boys with no real chance to win after the first period.  I'm feeling the early stages of a culture change for the Sabres.

 

Yep. We are a year or two behind the Panthers in the rebuild process.

Could be a real rivalry down the road. Who woulda thunk it?

Edited February 10, 2016 by dudacek

[Winston]

That avatar is just awesome

Thanks! As soon as i said it in my post, I set out to capture a screen grab. It was such a cool moment, really got me fired up at the game!

 

By the way, I don't post much but I read every GDT. The recognition you've been getting lately from other regs is well deserved because they're great. Thanks for the creativity and humor

[WildCard]

Thanks! As soon as i said it in my post, I set out to capture a screen grab. It was such a cool moment, really got me fired up at the game!

 

By the way, I don't post much but I read every GDT. The recognition you've been getting lately from other regs is well deserved because they're great. Thanks for the creativity and humor

I really do appreciate it, thanks!  :beer:

 

I'm gonna run out of ideas eventually or I'll just continue to get drunk when I write them. 

[Randall Flagg]

This was my fourth game I've ever been to, the most goals I've ever seen us score, and the fourth loss I've viewed live. This streak spans 13 seasons.

 

It's such a treat to get to watch the Sabres in person.  A rare treat, for me. I didn't know that anyone can go down and watch warm-ups, regardless of where their seats are. When I found out today, naturally, I booked it for the glass, and there isn't a thing that could have wiped the smile off my face. I made eye contact with the Chad about 5 times, he definitely thought I was weird. Pysyk saw me smiling like a dork and checked McCabe into the glass in front of me twice. I also exchanged smiles with ROR  :wub:  (faints). Jack's skating is mesmerizing at ice level. I could have sat and watched those warm-ups for hours and hours.

 

I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw McCabe skating as a forward. And he wasn't even the worst one out there. Man our 5v5 play is so bad. True, is it still historically bad, even with the big improvement from last year? Please come back soon Zemgus and Johan. 

 

The crowd there will be fiiiiiiiiiine once there's a good team on the ice. The fans loved Kane's fights, but I think it's pretty stupid to take yourself off the ice for 15+minutes in a game where your forward depth is so bad that your 4th-best defenseman is lining up at LW. 

 

Sam Reinhart was our best player tonight, IMO. Only ROR came close. Jack's first period was bad. He came out flying after that, but he still puts himself in pretty terrible spots sometimes. He obviously needs real wingers yesterday, and needs to stay with those real wingers for a lot of games to build chemistry. Scoring wingers = puck-moving defensemen on my list of team needs.

 

Back to Jack, there are a lot of times where his wingers will have the puck and try to cycle, but he's standing still in a spot where there's no chance of getting a puck to him, he takes himself out of a lot of plays. When he got hit by Bogo's shot, well, I have no idea what he was doing out there in the first place. The puck was won back to Bogo on the faceoff and Jack seemed like he wanted to reach for it, and then realized it was going to Bogo, but didn't really try to go anywhere, and stayed right in front of Bogo, directly in the middle of the ice about 5 feet above the face off dots, as he wound up his shot. It was very strange. When I hang out at that spot of the ice on NHL 15's Be a Pro Mode my positioning grade plummets. :P

 

Nothing like watching Moulson skate the puck up the wing, having Jack next to him with space to give the puck to, and keep the puck himself up to center ice, where he flings it to the RW (I think it was Gio) for the RW to bring ten feet into the zone before turning the puck over instantly. People in my section were screaming.

 

It was hard to see good replays of the goals, but from up high the goalies looked terrible. Not sure if that view holds up with a closer look, but I don't really care. All goalies have games like that. Hell, Luongo let in 4 against the sad group of forwards we iced tonight.

 

I would make the trip from Olean to Buffalo for hockey every single day if I could. Live hockey is therapeutic. I had a blast, even though I couldn't convince a single friend to come with me. 

 

Edited February 10, 2016 by Randall Flagg

[TrueBlueGED]

This was my fourth game I've ever been to, the most goals I've ever seen us score, and the fourth loss I've viewed live. This streak spans 13 seasons.

 

It's such a treat to get to watch the Sabres in person.  A rare treat, for me. I didn't know that anyone can go down and watch warm-ups, regardless of where their seats are. When I found out today, naturally, I booked it for the glass, and there isn't a thing that could have wiped the smile off my face. I made eye contact with the Chad about 5 times, he definitely thought I was weird. Pysyk saw me smiling like a dork and checked McCabe into the glass in front of me twice. I also exchanged smiles with ROR  :wub:  (faints). Jack's skating is mesmerizing at ice level. I could have sat and watched those warm-ups for hours and hours.

 

I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw McCabe skating as a forward. And he wasn't even the worst one out there. Man our 5v5 play is so bad. True, is it still historically bad, even with the big improvement from last year? Please come back soon Zemgus and Johan. 

 

The crowd there will be fiiiiiiiiiine once there's a good team on the ice. The fans loved Kane's fights, but I think it's pretty stupid to take yourself off the ice for 15+minutes in a game where your forward depth is so bad that your 4th-best defenseman is lining up at LW. 

Sam Reinhart was our best player tonight, IMO. Only ROR came close. Jack's first period was bad. He came out flying after that, but he still puts himself in pretty terrible spots sometimes. He obviously needs real wingers yesterday, and needs to stay with those real wingers for a lot of games to build chemistry. Scoring wingers = puck-moving defensemen on my list of team needs. Back to Jack, there are a lot of times where his wingers will have the puck and try to cycle, but he's standing still in a spot where there's no chance of getting a puck to him, he takes himself out of a lot of plays. When he got hit by Bogo's shot, well, I have no idea what he was doing out there in the first place. The puck was won back to Bogo on the faceoff and Jack seemed like he wanted to reach for it, and then realized it was going to Bogo, but didn't really try to go anywhere, and stayed right in front of Bogo, directly in the middle of the ice about 5 feet above the face off dots, as he wound up his shot. It was very strange. When I hang out at that spot of the ice on NHL 15's Be a Pro Mode my positioning grade plummets. :P

 

Nothing like watching Moulson skate the puck up the wing, having Jack next to him with space to give the puck to, and keep the puck himself up to center ice, where he flings it to the RW (I think it was Gio) for the RW to bring ten feet into the zone before turning the puck over instantly. People in my section were screaming.

 

It was hard to see good replays of the goals, but from up high the goalies looked terrible. Not sure if that view holds up with a closer look, but I don't really care. All goalies have games like that. Hell, Luongo let in 4 against the sad group of forwards we iced tonight.

 

I would make the trip from Olean to Buffalo for hockey every single day if I could. Live hockey is therapeutic. I had a blast, even though I couldn't convince a single friend to come with me. 

 

 

 

1) Good observations.

 

2) Good news: our 5v5 play is no longer historically bad.

 

3) Bad news: our 5v5 play is typical for a bottom-5 team. 

[Randall Flagg]

1) Good observations.

 

2) Good news: our 5v5 play is no longer historically bad.

 

3) Bad news: our 5v5 play is typical for a bottom-5 team. 

Thanks. 

 

I wonder if adding Zemgus + Larsson + Barkov to this game would have made a difference, and which way the play would tilt relative to what happened without them.

[WildCard]

I did the glass seats thing once, Flagg, and I was just like you. Man, I had the biggest eating grin on my face, it was one of the best memories I've ever had. Mine were to the Boston - Sabres game, the first one after the Miller hit. I definitely didn't get anyone nearly as cool as ROR  to notice me, so you have me beat. Plus, Kane fighting 3 times and Samson scoring 2 goals? I know we lost but that game was an awesome one to go to

[Hoss]

Awesome stuff, Flagg.

[Derrico]

Taking an infant that young to a game is inappropriate, breastfeeding or not.

????

This was my fourth game I've ever been to, the most goals I've ever seen us score, and the fourth loss I've viewed live. This streak spans 13 seasons.

 

It's such a treat to get to watch the Sabres in person.  A rare treat, for me. I didn't know that anyone can go down and watch warm-ups, regardless of where their seats are. When I found out today, naturally, I booked it for the glass, and there isn't a thing that could have wiped the smile off my face. I made eye contact with the Chad about 5 times, he definitely thought I was weird. Pysyk saw me smiling like a dork and checked McCabe into the glass in front of me twice. I also exchanged smiles with ROR  :wub:  (faints). Jack's skating is mesmerizing at ice level. I could have sat and watched those warm-ups for hours and hours.

 

I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw McCabe skating as a forward. And he wasn't even the worst one out there. Man our 5v5 play is so bad. True, is it still historically bad, even with the big improvement from last year? Please come back soon Zemgus and Johan. 

 

The crowd there will be fiiiiiiiiiine once there's a good team on the ice. The fans loved Kane's fights, but I think it's pretty stupid to take yourself off the ice for 15+minutes in a game where your forward depth is so bad that your 4th-best defenseman is lining up at LW. 

 

Sam Reinhart was our best player tonight, IMO. Only ROR came close. Jack's first period was bad. He came out flying after that, but he still puts himself in pretty terrible spots sometimes. He obviously needs real wingers yesterday, and needs to stay with those real wingers for a lot of games to build chemistry. Scoring wingers = puck-moving defensemen on my list of team needs.

 

Back to Jack, there are a lot of times where his wingers will have the puck and try to cycle, but he's standing still in a spot where there's no chance of getting a puck to him, he takes himself out of a lot of plays. When he got hit by Bogo's shot, well, I have no idea what he was doing out there in the first place. The puck was won back to Bogo on the faceoff and Jack seemed like he wanted to reach for it, and then realized it was going to Bogo, but didn't really try to go anywhere, and stayed right in front of Bogo, directly in the middle of the ice about 5 feet above the face off dots, as he wound up his shot. It was very strange. When I hang out at that spot of the ice on NHL 15's Be a Pro Mode my positioning grade plummets. :P

 

Nothing like watching Moulson skate the puck up the wing, having Jack next to him with space to give the puck to, and keep the puck himself up to center ice, where he flings it to the RW (I think it was Gio) for the RW to bring ten feet into the zone before turning the puck over instantly. People in my section were screaming.

 

It was hard to see good replays of the goals, but from up high the goalies looked terrible. Not sure if that view holds up with a closer look, but I don't really care. All goalies have games like that. Hell, Luongo let in 4 against the sad group of forwards we iced tonight.

 

I would make the trip from Olean to Buffalo for hockey every single day if I could. Live hockey is therapeutic. I had a blast, even though I couldn't convince a single friend to come with me. 

 

 

Great write-up Flagg.  Glad you enjoyed the game.  Always a fun time watching them live.  Even during the previous 3 years.

[nfreeman]

Awesome stuff, Flagg.

 

Yes indeed.  Good man.

[Doohicksie]

I'm not worried in the least. Knowing he is done and accepting it has been a liberating experience. I realized my worry was really just an expectation that he would turn it around and now I realize how silly that was. Other than providing a place for Eichel to crash, he has zero to offer this team.

 

GO SABRES!!!

I think he brings more than that, but at this point he is a 4th, occasional 3rd line player in my mind. His board play is OK, he usually makes the smart play in the defensive and neutral zones, but his offensive mojo has completely abandoned him.

 

I think he should be used at that value, regardless of how much he's getting paid, recognize it was crap contract and move on.

[WanderingEye]

Did Matt Moulson score last game?

 

NO.

[nfreeman]

Per Puck Daddy, last night was the first time the same 2 guys have fought 3 times in 1 game since 2002.

[Eleven]

Did Matt Moulson score last game?

 

NO.

 

Someone needs to make a website for this.

 

Per Puck Daddy, last night was the first time the same 2 guys have fought 3 times in 1 game since 2002.

 

Does anyone know the reason why they went at it three times?  No one on the radio this morning seemed to have the answer.

[Stoner]

Someone needs to make a website for this.

 

 

Does anyone know the reason why they went at it three times?  No one on the radio this morning seemed to have the answer.

In the tradition of abevigoda.com? MATT MOULSON IS STILL GOALLESS.

[nfreeman]

 

Does anyone know the reason why they went at it three times?  No one on the radio this morning seemed to have the answer.

 

Pride and passion, baby. 

[Eleven]

In the tradition of abevigoda.com? MATT MOULSON IS STILL GOALLESS.

 

Yeah that's what I'm thinking.