[Incomplete Title] Sabres (21-12-5) & NHL 2018-19 - Game 39 (MSG-B) vs. BOS (20-14-4) at 7 PM ET on 12/29

[26CornerBlitz]

Just now, plenzmd1 said:

yikes is right...Hunwick maybe getting set up to on LTIR and be more a coach/room guy????

 

Sheary is the one that hurts right??? week to week already?

 

If Nylander continues to show well, he could step in to contribute if Sheary misses the beginning of the season. 

[K-9]

8 hours ago, bbb said:

 

The best was that we drafted Wayne Primeau and Keith Gretzky when we should have drafted Keith Primeau and Wayne Gretzky. 

 

Ah, still mad about that loss, huh? 

 

 

I've been reading the sports page since I was in first grade, which was in 1968.  The fact that I came up with the actual date the term was coined doesn't matter, huh? 

It doesn’t matter to me because the “actual date the term was coined” (whatever that means) goes back decades. It may seem like it was recently invented due to its modern day vast overuse by writers too unoriginal and narrow minded to discern between different levels of higher athletic talent in prospects across various sports, but I’ve seen the term used to describe several players across several sports for a long time. For instance, I was privy to a 1981 scouting report on Herschel Walker and “generational” was used to describe his potential. 

 

I’d be interested to know who, in your research, actually takes credit for first using the term. Given it’s overuse, he should file for the copyrights.

[eball]

47 minutes ago, plenzmd1 said:

 

@eball shoukld be MSG tonight correct?

 

Hope so.  Eichel/Mittelstadt/Dahlin all on the playing roster tonight.

[BillsFan4]

https://www.tsn.ca/player-poll-surprise-sabres-and-coyotes-will-be-playoff-teams-1.1174598

 

I know this doesn’t necessarily mean anything, but it’s still pretty cool to see that actual NHL players around the league seem to be noticing what’s going on in Buffalo and see a bright future for the Sabres. 

 

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An anonymous poll of 33 NHL players taken at the Player Media Tour this month in Chicago revealed that players believe the Buffalo Sabres and Arizona Coyotes will duplicate last season’s incredible turnarounds of the New Jersey Devils and Colorado Avalanche.

Players were granted anonymity, and asked not to select their own team, in order to generate an honest answer.

 

 

 

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Nonetheless, it’s hard to ignore the youth movement underway in Western New York. The Sabres, who haven’t made the playoffs since 2011, were the pick of nearly half the 33 players. Their pain turned into good fortune by drafting smooth-skating Rasmus Dahlin at No. 1 overall. Rising star Casey Mittelstadt is expected to step into a big role while Alex Nylander also hopes to make the leap to the league.

“I’m really intrigued by Buffalo to see how they turn it around,” one Atlantic Division rival said. “They took some really good steps. Jason Botterill, he did some good stuff this off-season – it was cool to see some of the moves they had. Tage Thompson, there’s a lot of guys. They got [Jeff] Skinner, they got [Rasmus] Dahlin, who I’m sure is going to blossom into a heck of a player. It’s exciting to see what they’re going to do.”

Many are wondering how the Sabres will cope after moving Ryan O’Reilly to St. Louis, but some believe that the return, including Patrik Berglund and Vladimir Sobotka went, unnoticed.

“I know Patrik Berglund really well, he will be a sneaky good player,” another player said. “So I think he’ll help them more than people think.”

 

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But one Eastern Conference veteran who is no stranger to hardware predicted the Sabres will be the best team in the NHL in five seasons. That’s a bold statement for a team that has averaged just 65 points a season over each of the last five full campaigns. 

 

I also absolutely love the quotes by Eichel in this article! (click the link to see them). 

 

I think he hit hit the nail on the head with his comments about how too many Sabres players were just happy to be in the NHL and felt there was no need to continue improving their game anymore since they already made it. 

 

Eichel doesn’t want to be just average. He’s driven to be the best and I love that about him. 

Edited September 18, 2018 by BillsFan4

[bbb]

3 hours ago, K-9 said:

It doesn’t matter to me because the “actual date the term was coined” (whatever that means) goes back decades. It may seem like it was recently invented due to its modern day vast overuse by writers too unoriginal and narrow minded to discern between different levels of higher athletic talent in prospects across various sports, but I’ve seen the term used to describe several players across several sports for a long time. For instance, I was privy to a 1981 scouting report on Herschel Walker and “generational” was used to describe his potential. 

 

I’d be interested to know who, in your research, actually takes credit for first using the term. Given it’s overuse, he should file for the copyrights.

 

So, you are a GM.  I told you that's where the disconnect is! 

[K-9]

2 minutes ago, bbb said:

 

So, you are a GM.  I told you that's where the disconnect is! 

Since you’re really good at the google to determine the first coining of words, perhaps you wouldn’t mind finding out who was the first to use the phrase “snark douche.” Thanks. 

[bbb]

3 hours ago, K-9 said:

Since you’re really good at the google to determine the first coining of words, perhaps you wouldn’t mind finding out who was the first to use the phrase “snark douche.” Thanks. 

 

Yeah, that's me.  Here was the inflammatory post that I made to start this whole thing - "I never even heard of the term "generational player" until the McDavid/Eichel draft - where we had two, defying all logic."

And, then I replied to your Crosby, etc. post by saying "Correct - I never heard the term "generational player" applied to them.  It seems to be a new term to me"

 

That's real douchey stuff I'm doing there.

[26CornerBlitz]

 

 

[K-9]

30 minutes ago, bbb said:

 

Yeah, that's me.  Here was the inflammatory post that I made to start this whole thing - "I never even heard of the term "generational player" until the McDavid/Eichel draft - where we had two, defying all logic."

And, then I replied to your Crosby, etc. post by saying "Correct - I never heard the term "generational player" applied to them.  It seems to be a new term to me"

 

That's real douchey stuff I'm doing there.

 

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Ah, that's where the disconnect is.  I'm not a GM

Quote

 So, you are a GM.  I told you that's where the disconnect is! 

Nope, no snark in these two posts. Interesting how you forgot to add that part of the exchange. 

[K-9]

Wow, Risto looking like he's tired of all the Dahlin talk out there. "Ya. You come to see the Swede, but you leave talking about the Finn." Seriously though, if Housley can spread the minutes out a bit this year and Risto isn't having to play 25 a night, this may be his year. And he's only 23. We tend to forget that because he's been here so long. 

[26CornerBlitz]

Plenty more of this.

[26CornerBlitz]

 

[bbb]

2 hours ago, K-9 said:

 

Nope, no snark in these two posts. Interesting how you forgot to add that part of the exchange. 

 

You really don't get it.  I don't know what your deal is.  I've seen your name, but I never really noted anything about you.  Now I have - you're ultra sensitive.  You say GMs have used the word and I say that's what it is - I'm not a GM.  Then, you come up with GM type info you had and I say a similar thing.............Real douchey things I guess if you're sensitive as hell.  I'm not the one who went after your point of view, you went after mine.  And, I didn't even state a fact - I said I've never seen it. 

[26CornerBlitz]

 

[snafu]

1 hour ago, K-9 said:

Wow, Risto looking like he's tired of all the Dahlin talk out there. "Ya. You come to see the Swede, but you leave talking about the Finn." Seriously though, if Housley can spread the minutes out a bit this year and Risto isn't having to play 25 a night, this may be his year. And he's only 23. We tend to forget that because he's been here so long. 

 

Ha ha, Finns and Swedes.

 

For what it's worth, I'm excited for this team, starting this year.  I think they're going to be competitive for the first time in a long time and it will only get better from here.

 

 

 

 

Edited September 19, 2018 by snafu

[Johnny Hammersticks]

51 minutes ago, snafu said:

 

Ha ha, Finns and Swedes.

 

For what it's worth, I'm excited for this team, starting this year.  I think they're going to be competitive for the first time in a long time and it will only get better from here.

 

 

 

 

 

With three 2019 first round picks as the cherry on the sundae.

[26CornerBlitz]

Pronman: Ranking NHL Teams by Their U23 Core

 

When I did my farm rankings and breakdowns of all 31 NHL organizatons, I decided to throw at the end a ranking of that team’s best NHL and non-NHL players who are age 23 and under to give fans some context. It was much more popular — and divisive — than I anticipated, and many readers asked me to rank those cores relative to other teams. I am a man of the people, and thus a new ranking was born.

 

My same preferences and ranking philosophies exist from previous pieces but, with the addition of proven NHL players, extra value is given to players who have established themselves in the league and especially if they have proven themselves to be good players.

 

The pool of players considered are solely the top 10 players who are 23 and under as of Sept. 15, 2018. It’s an arbitrary cutoff, but I’m trying to get to the team’s core young talent and farm system. I don’t think most team’s depth players would change a lot, though, outside of systems which get a lot of value from having a ton of bubble prospects.

 

If you disagree with any of these rankings, instead of typing out an angry comment below, just yell at your computer screen instead.

 

2. Buffalo Sabres

U23 Core: Jack Eichel, Rasmus Dahlin, Casey Mittelstadt, Rasmus Ristolainen, Sam Reinhart, Alexander Nylander, Tage Thompson, Brendan Guhle, Rasmus Asplund, Marcus Davidsson

 

The past decade has been a struggle for Sabres fans, but you’re starting to see pieces put together that could build a competitive team. Eichel and Dahlin are foundation players, combined with Mittelstadt, Reinhart, Ristolainen, Nylander and Thompson is a great core of talent. Few of those players are without questions, but Eichel is a star, Dahlin will likely be one soon, Mittelstadt has the potential to be an impact guy and those other guys could round out the roster very well.

[eball]

If the Sabres have finally gotten this "core" right, there are lots of good times ahead.

[26CornerBlitz]

Sabres' Youngsters Show Speed and Skill against Pittsburgh'

 

Buffalo, NY (WGR 550) - It was obvious that Rasmus Dahlin was nervous in his first game in front of the Buffalo fans. In his second shift, there was an opportunity to jump into the play. I saw him look, but he didn’t do it. Just a few minutes later, Dahlin had his stick lifted by former Sabre Derek Grant and was lucky the puck rolled back to goalie Carter Hutton.

 

Dahlin settled down after that and used the vision that he’s so good at. He’s aware of everything on the ice because he’s never looking down at the puck. His passes were quick and normally on the tape.

 

Dahlin was on the No. 1 power play and used his shot a few times, but also he liked looking for Jack Eichel in the left wing circle for the one-timer.

[JohnC]

1 hour ago, eball said:

If the Sabres have finally gotten this "core" right, there are lots of good times ahead.

What you also see is a larger amount of young talent that will be competing to make the roster and be given playing time. This internal competition will make everyone better. Because the talent pool is deeper it should be reflected in an upgrading of the third and fourth lines and the third and fourth defense pairing. For too long those backside lines were barren. A little more production from those units should make a difference.