Sabres & NHL 2016-17 - Victor Antipin Signs One Year Deal

[PromoTheRobot]

 

Eich missing half the season is a major reason why the Sabres are behind the Leafs. Call it an excuse if you want but it's the truth.

Naw. We still suck with him.

[JohnC]

I can't help you if you think Rosie O'Donnell is a beauty. That's on you.

Are you trying to tell me that bigger isn't always better? Tell that to the GM when evaluating goalies!

[JohnC]

A team that isn't getting a lot of attention but has done a good job in reshaping its roster and performing well is Ottawa. Although their quiet rebuild has been done without much fanfare it has climbed higher up the ladder than the Sabres. Their record is 24-15-4 for 52 points. It appears that the uncle GM is schooling the nephew GM on how to do one's job.

 

That freaking Lehner deal still gets me riled up.

[JohnC]

 

Eich missing half the season is a major reason why the Sabres are behind the Leafs. Call it an excuse if you want but it's the truth.

Do you know what they call excuse makers? Losers. You can always tell when a Buffalo Bills fan posts. Their checklist for excuses is very long. When some people are constantly facing the harsh reality of what's happening on the field they often resort to living a life of delusion to soften the blow. No more excuses!!

Edited January 20, 2017 by JohnC

[Doc]

Do you know what they call excuse makers? Losers. You can always tell when a Buffalo Bills fan posts. Their checklist for excuses is very long. When some people are constantly facing the harsh reality of what's happening on the field they often resort to living a life of delusion to soften the blow. No more excuses!!

Yes because whining like a B word is for winners.

[JohnC]

Yes because whining like a B word is for winners.

The school yard retort. Impressive.

[Doc]

The school yard retort. Impressive.

Losers don't make excuses. They also don't whine. Nothing schoolyard about that.

[26CornerBlitz]

VS.

 

RED WINGS (20-19-6) at SABRES (17-18-9)

 

FRI JAN 20, 2017 @ 7:00 PM ET

 

TV: MSG-B

 

RADIO: WGR 550

 

Sabres Digital Press Box Game Preview

 

CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 220)

 

Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed

Cody McCormick (blood clots, Oct. 13; injured reserve) – 44 games

Dmitry Kulikov (lower back, Dec. 29; injured reserve) – 10 games

Johan Larsson (wrist, Jan. 3; injured reserve) – 8 games

Josh Gorges (hip, Jan. 7) – 6 games

 

TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS

1/14: Assigned F Justin Bailey and G Linus Ullmark to Rochester (AHL)

1/16: Recalled F Cal O’Reilly from Rochester (AHL); Activated F Tyler Ennis from IR

1/19: Recalled G Linus Ullmark from Rochester (AHL)

 

UPCOMING GAMES

Saturday, Jan. 21: Buffalo at Montreal, 7 p.m.

Tuesday, Jan. 24: Buffalo at Nashville, 8 p.m.

Thursday, Jan. 26: Buffalo at Dallas, 8:30 p.m.

Tuesday, Jan. 31: Buffalo at Montreal, 7:30 p.m.

Thursday, Feb. 2: NY Rangers at Buffalo, 7:30 p.m.

 

TONIGHT’S GAME

 

RED WINGS at SABRES

This is third of four meetings between the Sabres and Red Wings this season.

Last meeting: Buffalo defeated Detroit 4-3 in Detroit on Dec. 27, 2016

Next meeting: Monday, March 20 in Detroit

The Sabres are 2-6-2 in their last 10 games vs. the Red Wings; 2-6-2 at home.

This is the 132nd game all-time between Buffalo and Detroit; Buffalo has a 56-57-18 series record.

The Sabres are 35-19-10 at home against the Red Wings all-time.

 

Morning Skate: January 20, 2017 at 10:00 am – 11:00 am at KeyBank Center

 

@BuffaloSabres

A new look for @Icebeardude + some quotes from Robin Lehner as Sabres prep for Detroit: http://bufsabres.co/MDGR5H

 

 

"I don't know of any goalie who likes to be pulled.. he and I have talked about it, & we're moving forward." More: http://bufsabres.co/0aBonQ

 

 

 

Game Notes

 

Press Clips

[ricojes]

A team that isn't getting a lot of attention but has done a good job in reshaping its roster and performing well is Ottawa. Although their quiet rebuild has been done without much fanfare it has climbed higher up the ladder than the Sabres. Their record is 24-15-4 for 52 points. It appears that the uncle GM is schooling the nephew GM on how to do one's job.

 

That freaking Lehner deal still gets me riled up.

Ottawa started their rebuild during the 2010-11 season...Trading Fisher to Nashville was the first move, followed by Chris Kelly and then Jarkko Ruutu, all very popular players at the time...The Sabres are in the second full season of a rebuild, so it's not fair to compare them. There is no depth on the Sabres at this point. Therefore injuries are a vaild excuse for poor play. In a couple years that should not be the case...

Edited January 20, 2017 by ricojes

[26CornerBlitz]

@BuffaloSabres

Coach Bylsma: Ennis will return to the lineup tonight, and Nilsson starts in goal.

[JohnC]

Ottawa started their rebuild during the 2010-11 season...Trading Fisher to Nashville was the first move, followed by Chris Kelly and then Jarkko Ruutu, all very popular players at the time...The Sabres are in the second full season of a rebuild, so it's not fair to compare them. There is no depth on the Sabres at this point. Therefore injuries are a vaild excuse for poor play. In a couple years that should not be the case...

I'm not being overly critical of the Sabres rebuild. It's going to take time. I'm aware of that. So my expectations are not as grand as you think. But let's be honest about when our rebuild started. It wasn't two years ago. It started when Regier was our GM. He started shedding veteran players before his departure. If I'm not mistaken wasn't Vanek let go during his tenure?

 

You may be right that it is not completely fair to compare the Sabres to Ottawa. However, in fairness to Ottawa they didn't go through the indignity of a fan numbing tank job strategy. In comparison to Toronto they are unquestionably ahead of us in the rebuild process. They took full advantage of selling off their assets and got in return pieces, picks and cap space that accelerated their reconstruction.

 

Please stop using the excuse that we've had to deal with the misfortune of having injuries. All teams are subjected to that affliction, some more and others less. Tough! It's part of the game. The loss of players is also an opportunity for the replacements. As a Buffalo fan who has been subjected to inept stewardship of its teams I will no longer tolerate excuses. Baby crying over an inevitable part of these crash sports is not something I find endearing.

 

My mantra is simple and clear: No more excuses! I may be a schmuck but I will not be a schmuck who accepts excuses.

[ricojes]

I'm not being overly critical of the Sabres rebuild. It's going to take time. I'm aware of that. So my expectations are not as grand as you think. But let's be honest about when our rebuild started. It wasn't two years ago. It started when Regier was our GM. He started shedding veteran players before his departure. If I'm not mistaken wasn't Vanek let go during his tenure?

 

You may be right that it is not completely fair to compare the Sabres to Ottawa. However, in fairness to Ottawa they didn't go through the indignity of a fan numbing tank job strategy. In comparison to Toronto they are unquestionably ahead of us in the rebuild process. They took full advantage of selling off their assets and got in return pieces, picks and cap space that accelerated their reconstruction.

 

Please stop using the excuse that we've had to deal with the misfortune of having injuries. All teams are subjected to that affliction, some more and others less. Tough! It's part of the game. The loss of players is also an opportunity for the replacements. As a Buffalo fan who has been subjected to inept stewardship of its teams I will no longer tolerate excuses. Baby crying over an inevitable part of these crash sports is not something I find endearing.

 

My mantra is simple and clear: No more excuses! I may be a schmuck but I will not be a schmuck who accepts excuses.

Murray's plan when he took over was to finish dead last and get McDavid, so even if the rebuild did start under Regier, the team was completely dismantled shortly after Murray took over. Not winning the lottery pick hurt and increased the time of the rebuild. I am not necessarily using injuries as an excuse, I am using depth as and excuse, probably could have stated it better. They are related, but two different area's. But let's be honest, the one guy the Sabres could not afford to lose, missed a ton of games. Along with several other injuries, it was ridiculous how many were out. And I am not saying they would be incredibly better with added depth, maybe 3 or 4 points at most, but they would be a little higher in the standings. I do think the team has underachieved to this point. Is it coaching? Is it talent? Is it depth? Lots of questions and I don't have a good answer, hopefully GMTM does.

Edited January 20, 2017 by ricojes

[JohnC]

Murray's plan when he took over was to finish dead last and get McDavid, so even if the rebuild did start under Regier, the team was completely dismantled shortly after Murray took over. Not winning the lottery pick hurt and increased the time of the rebuild. I am not using injuries as an excuse, I am using depth as and excuse. They are related, but two different area's.

Murray realized that there were no guarantees with the tank strategy because there was a lottery component to it. There were some young players in the system who were working their way up before he arrived. Murray used some of those assets as chips in his deals. Those prospects were acquired during the Regier regime. But that issue isn't worth debating .

 

What Pegula learned when he took over as the new and unschooled owner was that buying your way into respectability with high cost free agents doesn't work. Even if there is some immediate success there isn't much long term success to that quick fix approach. The end result was that a couple of years of what could have been used for rebuilding was wasted in a futile attempt to buy one's way into respectability. Pegula also learned that hard lesson with the Bills.

 

What Murray is doing with his rebuild is the time tested rebuild approach that is an almost standard approach for bottom feeding teams. The original discussion on this topic had to do with the comparison between the Sabres and Toronto. One can quibble when it started for each team but for the most part it should be conceded that they started near the same time. My point in my prior posts is that I felt that Toronto has done a better job negotiating their way through this excruciating process compared to the Sabres.

 

Make no mistake on how I view this process from a Buffalo standpoint. This team is on track for the not too distant future to be a contending team. My original point was simply that Toronto was on a faster track. I stand by that assessment. I'm not gloomy about our prospects but I am more bullish on the Maple Leafs prospects as it currently stands.

[26CornerBlitz]

Red Wings Projected Lineup

Gustav Nyquist -- Henrik Zetterberg -- Anthony Mantha

Andreas Athanasiou -- Frans Nielsen -- Thomas Vanek

Tomas Tatar -- Riley Sheahan -- Dylan Larkin

Justin Abdelkader -- Darren Helm -- Luke Glendening

Danny DeKeyser -- Mike Green

Alexey Marchenko -- Jonathan Ericsson

Xavier Ouellet -- Nick Jensen

Petr Mrazek

Jared Coreau

Scratched: Drew Miller, Steve Ott, Ryan Sproul

Injured: Niklas Kronwall (lower body), Brendan Smith (knee), Jimmy Howard (knee)

Sabres Projected Lineup

Tyler Ennis -- Ryan O'Reilly -- Kyle Okposo

Marcus Foligno -- Jack Eichel -- Sam Reinhart

Evander Kane -- Zemgus Girgensons -- Brian Gionta

Matt Moulson -- Cal O'Reilly -- William Carrier

Jake McCabe -- Rasmus Ristolainen

Zach Bogosian -- Cody Franson

Justin Falk -- Taylor Fedun

Anders Nilsson

Robin Lehner

Scratched: Nicolas Deslauriers

Injured: Josh Gorges (hip), Johan Larsson (wrist), Dmitry Kulikov (lower back), Cody McCormick (blood clots)

[ricojes]

Murray realized that there were no guarantees with the tank strategy because there was a lottery component to it. There were some young players in the system who were working their way up before he arrived. Murray used some of those assets as chips in his deals. Those prospects were acquired during the Regier regime. But that issue isn't worth debating .

 

What Pegula learned when he took over as the new and unschooled owner was that buying your way into respectability with high cost free agents doesn't work. Even if there is some immediate success there isn't much long term success to that quick fix approach. The end result was that a couple of years of what could have been used for rebuilding was wasted in a futile attempt to buy one's way into respectability. Pegula also learned that hard lesson with the Bills.

 

What Murray is doing with his rebuild is the time tested rebuild approach that is an almost standard approach for bottom feeding teams. The original discussion on this topic had to do with the comparison between the Sabres and Toronto. One can quibble when it started for each team but for the most part it should be conceded that they started near the same time. My point in my prior posts is that I felt that Toronto has done a better job negotiating their way through this excruciating process compared to the Sabres.

 

Make no mistake on how I view this process from a Buffalo standpoint. This team is on track for the not too distant future to be a contending team. My original point was simply that Toronto was on a faster track. I stand by that assessment. I'm not gloomy about our prospects but I am more bullish on the Maple Leafs prospects as it currently stands.

And I agree, at this point and time it appears that Toronto is ahead of Buffalo. But it's not a race to the playoffs, it's a race to the cup! I am good with not making the playoffs this year, but next year expectations will be much higher. I'll be there tonight...GO SABRES!!!

[JohnC]

And I agree, at this point and time it appears that Toronto is ahead of Buffalo. But it's not a race to the playoffs, it's a race to the cup! I am good with not making the playoffs this year, but next year expectations will be much higher. I'll be there tonight...GO SABRES!!!

I'll be watching the game. Do what eball did and walk around naked. You will be easy to spot. Maybe the announcers will point you out to the curious viewership! I'll know that it is you.

[QCity]

Here's a stat - our defensemen have collectively scored a grand total of 5 goals this season. There are currently 33 other defensemen in the league that have individually outscored our entire defense.

[26CornerBlitz]

[4merper4mer]

And I agree, at this point and time it appears that Toronto is ahead of Buffalo. But it's not a race to the playoffs, it's a race to the cup! I am good with not making the playoffs this year, but next year expectations will be much higher. I'll be there tonight...GO SABRES!!!

Race to the cup? How on Earth can you look at what Murray has done and see a trajectory toward the cup? Las Vegas has a better trajectory than what this idiot has put together. Murray is simply not a good GM. He it's bought himself some extra time by sounding authoritative and being a dick. Times up soon for him.

[snafu]

That fourth line tonight is putrid.

Here's a stat - our defensemen have collectively scored a grand total of 5 goals this season. There are currently 33 other defensemen in the league that have individually outscored our entire defense.

Putrid.

Edited January 21, 2017 by snafu