K-9

Keetles? Is that a new vaginal exercise?

This pretty much matches the eye test, imo. Edmunds struggled mightily at times to fill, mostly because he was hesitant to commit to what he was seeing. And when he wasn’t being hesitant, teams were taking advantage of his over pursuit as well. Not surprising, especially earlier on in the season when he was sipping from a fire hose. Better LB play next season will greatly improve the perception of our DL’s run stopping ability.

I doubt AB would have become AB without Roethlisberger. And, unless he finds a team with a QB just as capable, I doubt AB will remain AB much longer.

All within five months with two (Drury, Briere) on the same day.

Lehner's story is truly inspiring. And it speaks well of Botterill and the Sabres organization who have supported him throughout his recovery. Yeah, the Sabres and Islanders have had some trades over the years, that's for sure. So feel free to give us Barzal any time you grow tired of him. I think Moulson more than offsets Vanek, but at least Vanek is still in the league while Moulson toils away for the Reign in Ontario, CA. An Uwe Krupp mention! Wunderbar! Interesting tidbit about JBott's wife. He should consult her for scouting information. Anyway, good luck the rest of the season. Except for March 30th. Cheers!

I'm not saying "this time of year" has no validity. Quite the contrary; but it has validity starting in October! EVERY game matters and you have to bank points all season, not just when there are two months left in the season and games get "tighter" just because the playoffs are much closer now. The playoffs should seem just as close and be considered just as important and every game just as crucial starting from the first game of the year. To the extent that some veteran players hype "this time of year" as somehow more critical to the goal of playing "playoff hockey" every night is short sighted. These veterans need to create the sense of urgency from the first puck drop of the year. Heck, it should start from the first practice in training camp. Regarding Okposo, love his heart, but he's a shadow of his former self as an offensive force. He's a very effective checking line winger, heavy on the puck, and a beast in the corners. He's not giving the value his contract number suggests he should, but you gotta root for a guy like that given his effort every night and what he's had to come back from, concussion wise. On another note, what would it take to pry Barzal away from the Isles? He's a fantastic player. BTW, we are happy as hell for Lehner. Great comeback story as well.

If the 5th best D-lineman grades out higher than the best WR as a pro prospect, it makes sense why some teams would pick the DLman before the WR. I’m not advocating one or the other, just saying some picks are considered safer picks than others.

I believe the NCAA rule means any part of the ball within the cylinder plane.

This may upset some around here and it’s not my intention to pee on the parade after last night’s effort, but something just continues to bring bile to my throat. That is the rhetoric, especially from team leaders like Pominville and Okposo, referencing all these “this time of year” cliches. Enough already! “This time of year” hockey starts in early October. Period. And if you can’t bring playoff intensity early in the season, there’s a better than even chance you won’t have it later on. It ALL counts, starting from opening night puck drop. You’d think veterans of many years would understand that and impart the message to younger players who think they have an entire 82 games to figure it out. God, I miss Drury and Briere!

Definitely off the rim, but a good portion of the ball was still in the cylinder plane. Those bang bang plays can be difficult for refs.

Thanks. I meant to say ball in my post above.

Not if his hand was in the cylinder plane.

Barzal is an electrifying player indeed. Made losing Tavares less painful to be sure.

Yeah, one of their better ones of the season. We got caught running around quite a bit in the third, but unlike previous games, it didn't hurt us late. We got some great saves by Ullmark and some good puck luck as well. I look for Housley to keep Mitts and Bogo in the press box now that he's found the mojo. Will he start Hutton on Friday?

You missed a helluva play by Eichel on our second goal.

Good idea, as I’ve already come to my conclusion and you need more time. Fair enough. My priority is also increasing the talent level. At both the player and coaching levels.

Because he still perceives him to be the right coach for this team. If the GM fires Housley, why do you think he would do so? Silly questions, actually.

After Lindy's long tenure (the opposite of "turbulence and churning through staffs, btw), should we have retained Rolston or Nolan for longer than they were given? Even though the expressed strategy was to tear it all down and tank? Should we have retained Bylsma as well? Turnover and churning through coaches isn't desirable by any organization. But that doesn't mean you suffer through a poor hiring decision when it becomes apparent they don't have what it takes, either. If JBotts does end up firing Housley afer this season, it's because he will have seen enough after two years to suggest he isn't the one. IMO, NOTHING Housley has done suggests he's anything more than an assistant coach in this league. We will disagree on that forever.

Regarding Sobotka's usage in St. Louis, I wonder if he ever got top four ice time among forwards. Per the bold text, he should only be playing in his closely defined role on the PK and as a defensive forward when needed. If Housley needs him to take an occasional draw in the D zone, fine. But as inexperienced and as untalented as those other 6 forwards on our team might be, they should ALL see more ice time than Sobotka given his atrocious 5x5 metrics. I get the impression Housley totally disregards those analytics for some reason.

No, unfortunately. Especially if they manage to make it competitive the rest of the way. Then again, if the train goes off the rails entirely, I could see it. A last place finish followed by a 4th worst place finish, which is where they'd be without the streak shouldn't merit another year, imo. But you know that already.

I appreciate the clarification, but we need to confine the discussion to forwards as defensemen and their ice time is a completely different animal and adding them to the forward equation isn't a fair comparison. Yes, the difference between 4th most and 7th most may seem insignificant, but not when you look at all of Sobotka's 5x5 metrics. They are simply terrible. No matter how you slice it, he simply doesn't merit being ahead of anyone when based on his output. He is a very limited role player, whether it's similar to what he did in St. Louis or not. And to average in Housley's use of him in the latter stages of his career vs. the minutes he played as a younger player doesn't mean much because it's not relevant to the situation today, in Buffalo. As you say, Yost's list is populated by much better players than Sobotka. Which kind of makes the entire point. Sobotka shouldn't even be mentioned in the same sentence as most of those players, let alone garner similar 5x5 ice time. I agree totally that we need better depth. But that doesn't mean Housley should shoehorn a limited role player into bigger roles, either. A good case in point is the OT vs. Carolina last week. Sobotka should be glued to the bench in 3 on 3, period. Housley's bullcrap coachspeak about wanting him out there for a D zone draw in the LEFT DOT is the epitome of overthinking a situation. And it backfired. As I've said in various previous posts, Housley is full of it when it comes to holding veteran players accountable. Several of them should have seen the press box at one time or another this year. So, I wonder about his cred in that locker room.

Can play all interior Oline positions and I don’t think he’s our new starting center. Good signing.

Per the bold text, are you saying Travis Yost is a liar or are you including the 5x5 minutes of defensemen as well? Do you dismiss his analytics out of hand or the analyses of other analysts? I get that Housley is undermanned and would (hopefully) use some else if he were around to fill Sobotka’s role, but that’s just it, he is a ROLE player who is getting the 4th most 5x5 minutes of all the forwards (assuming Yost isn’t lying). Role players should not get those minutes when they suck at everything else other than their specific, limited roles.