Sabres

[gridfaniker]

hell yes.

[solarte1969]

hell yes.

will you still feel this way when they lose Miller and go on a 9-10 game bender?

[Playa]

It's not all Miller, they've got 4 players in the top ten in scoring. (But I think half these points may have come in that Philly blowout)


NHL Scoring Leaders PP PK
RNK NAME POS GP G A PTS +/- PIM ATOI SOG SPCT P A G A
1 Marian Hossa, ATL RW 9 10 5 15 3 2 21:57 28 35.7 7 3 0 0
2 Chris Drury, BUF C 9 10 4 14 4 2 18:30 28 35.7 6 1 1 0
Maxim Afinogenov, BUF RW 9 5 9 14 3 12 16:01 21 23.8 1 3 0 0
4 Martin Havlat, CHI LW 7 7 6 13 7 8 21:20 28 25.0 0 4 0 0
Petr Sykora, EDM RW 8 6 7 13 5 4 15:43 19 31.6 1 5 0 0
Thomas Vanek, BUF LW 9 6 7 13 11 2 15:26 25 24.0 2 1 0 0
Michael Nylander, NYR C 8 3 10 13 3 4 20:14 18 16.7 2 2 0 0
Jaromir Jagr, NYR RW 8 2 11 13 0 12 22:17 33 6.1 0 6 0 0
9 Brian Gionta, NJ RW 8 7 5 12 1 4 21:10 36 19.4 3 1 0 0
Ilya Kovalchuk, ATL LW 9 5 7 12 3 2 22:13 49 10.2 3 4 0 0
Slava Kozlov, ATL LW 9 3 9 12 7 2 21:00 25 12.0 0 6 0 0
Daniel Briere, BUF C 9 2 10 12 5 10 18:41 20 10.0 0 7 0 0

[solarte1969]

no doubt they have firepower, but rarely do offenses stay red-hot all season (Edmonton back in the day was one of the rare cases)....Buffalo is good, but they ain't winning them all....so far so good for them, though.

[BWI-Panther]

Canes took the Sabres to the wire both times WITHOUT Stillman and Kaberle. Not using injuries as an excuse, but we will get those guys back, and when we do, I like our chances.

[solarte1969]

Canes took the Sabres to the wire both times WITHOUT Stillman and Kaberle. Not using injuries as an excuse, but we will get those guys back, and when we do, I like our chances.

Sabres said the same in the playoffs--their entire D corps was so banged up it was almost comical

[gridfaniker]

will you still feel this way when they lose Miller and go on a 9-10 game bender?

Not a huge worry there. Miller's save percentage and GAA is closer to middle of the pack than top notch. Biron has played well in his two games. I've watched all but three or four games (taking my daughter to the Nov. 20 game vs. Tampa) and they're damned good. The speed and passing is incredible and there's little if any dropoff between lines one and three. Buffalo has the weapons to outscore anyone and on two or three occasions they've used that to overcome a subpar goaltending effort. If anything, I'd be most worried about a defenseman or two going down. We saw how that affected the team in last year's playoffs (although I can't imagine five of the top six defensemen going down at once).

[gridfaniker]

Canes took the Sabres to the wire both times WITHOUT Stillman and Kaberle. Not using injuries as an excuse, but we will get those guys back, and when we do, I like our chances.

Stillman/Kaberle = Tim Connolly

[BWI-Panther]

Sabres said the same in the playoffs--their entire D corps was so banged up it was almost comical

Big difference in my opinion is that Buffalo should have beefed up before the trade deadline and added some blue line talent. I call that a management miscalculation. You cannot really fault the Canes for not having Kaberle or Stillman, as they will be back by Christmas.

I see these two clubs as mirror images (high speed/high skill with up and coming goalies) that are on a collision course come playoff time (and I still like our chances).

[gridfaniker]

Big difference in my opinion is that Buffalo should have beefed up before the trade deadline and added some blue line talent. I call that a management miscalculation..

Let me get this straight. You saying Buffalo should have planned on losing five of six defensmen to injury during the playoffs and traded for their eventual replacements before the deadline?

:newsmile63:

that's about as retarded a comment as I've read hear in a long time. The Sabres group of defensemen was had as deep and talented as any entering the postseason.

[DaveW]

when did hockey season start?

[solarte1969]

when did hockey season start?

:eddie:

[gridfaniker]

win over the Isles tonite ties the Leafs' all-time record for wins to start a season.

[mathmajors]

win over the Isles tonite ties the Leafs' all-time record for wins to start a season.

Pretty fucking sad when a sports team can't even use correct Engrish in it's 'mascot' name.

[solarte1969]

what do you want? They are Canadian.

[Playa]

win over the Isles tonite ties the Leafs' all-time record for wins to start a season.

* 3 wins in shootout

[BWI-Panther]

Let me get this straight. You saying Buffalo should have planned on losing five of six defensmen to injury during the playoffs and traded for their eventual replacements before the deadline?

:newsmile63:

that's about as retarded a comment as I've read hear in a long time. The Sabres group of defensemen was had as deep and talented as any entering the postseason.

Lack of depth just isn't an excuse come playoff time, On the Canes board we had a whole parade of Buffalo excuse makers. "If this" and "if that." Teams that lack depth come playoff time have only their front office to blame. It's either poor deadline planning, poor drafting, or poor player development. Injuries are the norm when April hockey comes around, and being deep enough to handle those injuries is a big part of winning the cup.

Sorry if I hurt your feelings. :)

[gridfaniker]

Lack of depth just isn't an excuse come playoff time, On the Canes board we had a whole parade of Buffalo excuse makers. "If this" and "if that." Teams that lack depth come playoff time have only their front office to blame. It's either poor deadline planning, poor drafting, or poor player development. Injuries are the norm when April hockey comes around, and being deep enough to handle those injuries is a big part of winning the cup.

Sorry if I hurt your feelings. :)

using your logic (I use the term loosely), the Sabres should have traded (who?) for six solid blue-liners and kept them stashed at Rochester, in the event five would be lost to injury in the playoffs.

you're a moron

[solarte1969]

BWI,

I am a Canes fan like you, but I have to side with Grid here. The Sabres lost those guys well past the deadline, and even lost McKee (I think) DURING the series with Carolina. Their d-corps was decimated, and no team, not even the Hurricanes, would have been able to withstand that.

If Buffalo's "D" was even 75 percent healthy, the Sabres could have pulled it out--it wasn't like the Canes blew them away--the series went the distance.

[gridfaniker]

BWI,

I am a Canes fan like you, but I have to side with Grid here. The Sabres lost those guys well past the deadline, and even lost McKee (I think) DURING the series with Carolina. Their d-corps was decimated, and no team, not even the Hurricanes, would have been able to withstand that.

If Buffalo's "D" was even 75 percent healthy, the Sabres could have pulled it out--it wasn't like the Canes blew them away--the series went the distance.


Henrik Tallinder broke his arm during that series as well.


fwimfw, McKee was a gamer and blocked a ton of shots, but this guy Spacek is an upgrade, IMHMFO.

[solarte1969]

Henrik Tallinder broke his arm during that series as well.


fwimfw, McKee was a gamer and blocked a ton of shots, but this guy Spacek is an upgrade, IMHMFO.

didn't McKee end up with a staph infection or something? It kept him out of gm 6 or 7....blocked a shit ton of shots. I was glad he was out for that reason alone.

[gridfaniker]

didn't McKee end up with a staph infection or something? It kept him out of gm 6 or 7....blocked a shit ton of shots. I was glad he was out for that reason alone.


just missed game seven. He got $16 over 4 years from the Blues. I think he's injured.

[BWI-Panther]

All I'm saying is I got sick and tired of all the Saber fan excuses on Letsgocanes and the caneshockey (while it still worked) websites. Injuries are a part of the game, and depth is required to win the cup. All you'd read over there is post after muthfuckin post of "Canes got lucky" blah blah blah. Seriously, there were 2-3 new threads EVERY DAY about woulda/coulda/shoulda from Saber's fans. The shit got really old.

Yes, losing your top four defenseman is hard for any team to overcome. I am just tired of hearing about it. You bring what you can and do the best with what you've got, and if that's not enough, then you re-group and try again next year.

I heard no Buffalo coach or player make excuses when they lost. They took the "L" with class and are playing lights out this year. I congratulate them on that and love the style of hockey they play.

Solarte - I liked our overall "D" depth last year. A Ward, Wesley, Hedican, Kaberle, Wallin, Commodore, Hutchinson, Babchuk and Tverdosky. Six of those guys could be a top 4 pairing on most any team in the NHL. We put a lot of focus on our defense, and we were prepared for a slew of injuries if they would have struck (though six would have been a hard pill to swallow).

[solarte1969]

......and we were prepared for a slew of injuries if they would have struck (though six would have been a hard pill to swallow).


MY POINT EGGGZACHARY

[York1]

:grossergrinser:

[gridfaniker]

this kinda sucks. A friend called last night. he has two tickets for the Leafs game Sat nite. 14th row, center ice players' bench side. won them at work. I gotta work that night. these are $140 seats. I told him some dumb-ass toronto fans will be down looking and if he got up to arena early enough he'd be able to get around $400 for the pair, easy. those freaks get raped so hard on tix for their home games, they'd pay that and smile. HSBC is always half Leafs fans for those games.

oh, well. I'll settle for the fucking Bolts in a couple weeks, 300 bowl.

[solarte1969]

Sabres ever gonna lose?

[gridfaniker]

Sabres ever gonna lose?


that game last night was sick. down by three with 8:50 left and they score two in a 55-second span late to tie, then almost win in regulation. no way any team can keep that shit up.

it's fun to watch. less than 30K seats remain for the entire year. glad I got mine. not so glad it's against the bolts.