BillsFan4

https://wgr550.radio.com/articles/news/sabres-eichel-wants-enjoy-season sounds like Eichel is buying into what Krueger is selling. Everything he said in this article is stuff Krueger has said about what Eichel needs to do.

Yeah I know. lol Just fyi I wasn’t talking about you, or anyone in specific really. It was just some of my own complaints (his salary) and some I’ve heard/read over the last couple seasons.

I played hockey at a pretty high level. I played a lot of organized sports as a kid but once I started playing organized ice hockey it pretty quickly became my favorite. Then I got pretty serious about hockey when I got a tryout offer from a tier II travel team after my 2nd year in the House league and things kind of just took off from there. Hockey pretty much consumed most of my time after that.

I think some of the hate for Scandella comes from his $4M cap hit. If he was being paid the $1-2M that bottom pair defenseman make I’m sure people would complain less. Also, he was traded for to be more than a bottom pairing defenseman for us. I think most were hoping for a top 4 guy. Its also worth noting that Marcus Foligno is a hometown kid and was a big fan favorite with many, so maybe some hold that against him or wish the Sabres had foligno back? I don’t know. I am not too worried about him in a bottom pairing role for now. He’s off the books after this year and it’ll give some of the kids more time to develop. I just hope he doesn’t keep Pilut off the ice once he’s back unless he’s legitimately earning his playing time.

This is awesome.

Glad it’s over Steptide. I was just coming in here to ask how you were doing. I was kind of sore on and off for about 2 weeks after I passed mine and got some pain if my bladder got too full. The only reason I mention it is because at times, it felt like the stone pain was coming back and it made me a bit nervous. But it was just soreness from the whole ordeal. With everything you’ve been though, I wouldn’t be surprised if you deal with some soreness too. Anyway, happy to read you are doing better.

I am guessing that this is just a paper transaction to maximize their LTIR + cap space for this season. If it’s not, I’m done. ? Nah, it has to be. There’s no way Olofsson didn’t make the team. And Krueger said in that interview John posted that the lineup on the ice was going to Pittsburgh and that included Olofsson playing on the top line.

I thought Winnipeg might grab Nelson just because of how decimated their right hand defensive depth was from losing 4 guys this offseason. But for some reason they grabbed Carl Dahlstrom off waivers from Chicago. He’s a left handed defenseman and he’s not good. I thought Winnipeg was in a lot better shape on the left side, but I’m thinking maybe they will use this claim to replace their current #7 defenseman Anthony Bitetto? I’m surprised at some of the player who went unclaimed. Only 2 players total were claimed - Dahlstrom and Eric Comrie (a goalie who really hasn’t looked very good outside of one pretty good season in the AHL).

Speedy recovery to Don! everyone cleared waivers.

OMG! I can’t even imagine what they went through. For it to happen over multiple days, too? It just had to be like an ongoing nightmare. So very sad and heartbreaking. Thoughts and and prayers are with them.

Jokiharju has 2 more seasons or 120+ NHL games played before he’s no longer waiver exempt. I just hope Joker has showed a lot more in training camp (that we didn’t see) than in the preseason games and that it’s not Botterill somewhat forcing Joker into the lineup for the wrong reasons. I’m more than willing to give Joker a chance. I like him a lot and He’s got a lot higher ceiling than Nelson does. I just don’t like gifting roster spots to kids that didn’t earn them (not saying that’s the case since I don’t know what happened day to day in camp). I just hope he’s not kept in the press press box instead of playing big minutes in Rochester.

Pilut is injured and will need game action once healthy. No surprise there. Slightly surprised about Thompson, but not really. Wilson, Elie, Lazar and Nelson on waivers. Casey Nelson surprises me a bit. Hope they can get him to Rochester but I won’t lose sleep if they don’t. Not sure that I agree with Jokiharju earning the spot over Nelson, if that’s what it came down to. Joker had some good moments but he struggled a lot in his own zone. I thought Nelson was the better overall player, but maybe they’re trying to sneak him through waivers now and (eventually) use an injury call up (so he doesn’t have to pass through waivers) or something?

I didn’t mean that he was joining a full rebuild like Babcock did. As you said we have a good foundation in place. Any team with Eichel, Dahlin, Reinhart, Skinner etc. all in their early to mid 20’s can’t be considered in need of a “full rebuild”. I just meant that both coaches purposely chose very challenging situations over easier gigs that were (or seem to have been) available to both. They decided to seek out and/or accept a challenge instead. And Make no mistake, the Buffalo coaching job is a challenge.

Good read if you have an athletic subscription. I love that he willingly chose the bigger challenge (coaching the Sabres)! Babcock did the same thing in Toronto. He chose to take on a full rebuild because of the potential reward at the end.

This is the first time I’ve seen this angle of the hit. I still see him dropping his helmet slightly, but you can also see Allen drop his head slightly too.

https://www.nhl.com/sabres/video/ralph-krueger-92919/t-277443402/c-69223403 another interview with Krueger. Worth listening to until the end (IMO). Maybe I’m just being a homer Sabres fan, but this interview (along with everything I’ve seen from Krueger) jut give me some actual confidence that he has a real plan and knows how to execute it.

Rantanen signed in Colorado too. So now all of the RFA’s are signed. We will see if a Ristolainen trade happens now. Though Winnipeg could decide to wait a bit to see if Byfuglien comes back before making a move. Or go with a cheaper trade option than Risto. Or buffalo could even even decide to hang onto Ristolainen until they get a bit healthier on the blue line.

Well, I am proud of the way our defense played today. They look like one of the better defenses in the NFL. This was obviously a legit opponent and this defense kept buffalo in this game all day. Even despite all of the awful situations they were put in. Brady didn’t look dangerous at all today. I always say when we play the Pats, “don’t make mistakes. They don’t need the Bills help to beat them” But today, They actually NEEDED the Bills help (and a bit from the refs) to win. Which brings me to the Offense... it is still a huge work in progress. As is Allen. Hopefully they get better as the year goes on. With an average offense and less mistakes, I think the Bills win today. Ill tell you what though, even though we lost, this defense has me feeling pretty good right now. They looked unreal and could be something special. If our offense can grow as the season goes on (there are a lot of new faces still) the Bills could actually potentially beat the patriots in their next matchup.

Yep, that’s how I feel. This defense hung with New England all day, even despite the awful positions they were put in by the offense. I’m proud of this defense. Now lets hope the offense can put put together a drive and steal this damn game!

It pisses me off how winnable this game was today. Come on offense, put together a drive please!

Just keep drinking and dunking + running the ball. It’s working. Take the easy completions.

Lee Smith is having a bad day.

How is that not intentional grounding?

Come on defense. Get a Pick 6 and seal an unbelievable performance today!

That was definitely not beasley’s fault. The throw to Zay was low, but it hit both his hands. It was catchable even if it was a tougher catch than normal. Beasley had no chance though.