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

[26CornerBlitz]

@BillHoppeNHL

From earlier, Ryan O’Reilly questionable for Lightning; Jack Eichel progressing http://www.buffalohockeybeat.com/sabres-ryan-oreilly-questionable-lightning-jack-eichel-progressing/

#Sabres #Buffalo

[26CornerBlitz]

@TBNSports

#Sabres Notebook: Stamkos, O'Reilly out; Nelson sent down & more from @BuffNewsVogl: http://bit.ly/2fXtrPN

[QCity]

 

For the second half of last season we had a good enough record to have qualified for one of the lower playoff positions. So that tells you that the Sabres were an ascending team. But when you look at the Sabres you just can't evaluate them against themselves. Other organizations are also committed to getting better.

Toronto has gotten to the point in their rebuilding process where the organization has established a plan and are now fully committed to implementing it. No one can deny that they have made major strides over the past couple of years. Montreal is certainly elevated with the return of their exceptional goalie, Price. Jersey is another team that is in the process of reconstructing its roster so that it is less of an old school defensive makeup to a fast paced team that can skate and score. When the Sabres played Jersey without a doubt the best player on the ice was Taylor Hall, a player they got in a trade.

My central point is when evaluating how the Sabres are doing in their rebuild it has to be seen relative to other teams that are also improving. I'm not declaring that this is a failed team but I am saying that this team still has a way to go before becoming a serious team.

 

I don't think anybody is evaluating the team in a vacuum. You can't evaluate them at all until they get reasonably healthy (nor can you compare them to another rebuilding team). Foligno, Larsson, and Gionta playing on the 2nd line is not part of "the plan." And just as Montreal was elevated when their best player returned, so will we. Whenever that is.

[JohnC]

 

I don't think anybody is evaluating the team in a vacuum. You can't evaluate them at all until they get reasonably healthy (nor can you compare them to another rebuilding team). Foligno, Larsson, and Gionta playing on the 2nd line is not part of "the plan." And just as Montreal was elevated when their best player returned, so will we. Whenever that is.

You certainly can compare them to another rebuilding team such as Toronto. Toronto started a year of so behind Buffalo in the rebuilding process so it isn't unfair to compare their rate of improvement to ours. Is Buffalo ahead of Toronto? Most analysts prior to the season felt that Buffalo was a year or two ahead of Toronto in this excruciating process. But even making allowances for our injury epidemic I can't now say for sure that we are ahead, and even if we are a legitimate argument can be made that they are on a faster track to being a serious team than we are.

 

New Jersey is another team that is rebuilding not only their team but also their organization and identity after the exiling of old school GM Lou Lamorillo. They are trying to reconstruct their roster to make it a more skilled offensive team rather than a lock down defensive team that puts the diminishing audience in a deep slumber. The acquisition of Taylor Hall exemplifies that philosophical change.

[thebug]

You certainly can compare them to another rebuilding team such as Toronto. Toronto started a year of so behind Buffalo in the rebuilding process so it isn't unfair to compare their rate of improvement to ours. Is Buffalo ahead of Toronto? Most analysts prior to the season felt that Buffalo was a year or two ahead of Toronto in this excruciating process. But even making allowances for our injury epidemic I can't now say for sure that we are ahead, and even if we are a legitimate argument can be made that they are on a faster track to being a serious team than we are.

 

New Jersey is another team that is rebuilding not only their team but also their organization and identity after the exiling of old school GM Lou Lamorillo. They are trying to reconstruct their roster to make it a more skilled offensive team rather than a lock down defensive team that puts the diminishing audience in a deep slumber. The acquisition of Taylor Hall exemplifies that philosophical change.

Hall is now out with an injury, so we will see how the Devils look without him.

[JohnC]

Hall is now out with an injury, so we will see how the Devils look without him.

I'm sure the team is going to be hurt. One of my primary points for singling out Hall with Jersey is that he represents a major organizational philosophical change from the dinosaur Lou Lamorillo clamp down defensive style of play to a more skilled and offensive style of play. If you don't play an entertaining brand of hockey you end up playing to an empty and quiet arena.

 

Just a side note regarding Taylor Hall: He is terrific! I didn't get to see him very much when he played out west but in the couple of games I saw him this year he captivated me with his glaring talent and scintillating style of play.

[ricojes]

I'm sure the team is going to be hurt. One of my primary points for singling out Hall with Jersey is that he represents a major organizational philosophical change from the dinosaur Lou Lamorillo clamp down defensive style of play to a more skilled and offensive style of play. If you don't play an entertaining brand of hockey you end up playing to an empty and quiet arena.

 

Just a side note regarding Taylor Hall: He is terrific! I didn't get to see him very much when he played out west but in the couple of games I saw him this year he captivated me with his glaring talent and scintillating style of play.

As I mentioned earlier, the Sabres V NJ games were actually enjoyable with a lot of action. A far cry from years past.

Edited November 17, 2016 by ricojes

[26CornerBlitz]

VS.



LIGHTNING (10-6-1) at SABRES (5-7-4)

THU NOV 17, 2016 @ 7:00 PM ET

TV: MSG-B

Sabres Digital Press Box Game Preview

CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 77)

Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Cody McCormick (blood clots, Oct. 13; injured reserve) – 16 games
Jack Eichel (high-ankle sprain, Oct. 13; injured reserve) – 16 games
Nicolas Deslauriers (knee, Oct. 30; injured reserve) – 9 games
Zach Bogosian (MCL sprain, Nov. 3) – 7 games
Tyler Ennis (groin, Nov. 9) – 4 games
Dmitry Kulikov (middle body, Nov. 11) – 3 games
Ryan O’Reilly (middle body, Nov. 12) – 2 games

TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
11/11: Recalled D Justin Falk from Rochester (AHL)
11/13: Assigned F Nicholas Baptiste, D Justin Falk and F Cole Schneider to Rochester (AHL)
11/15: Recalled F Nicholas Baptiste, D Justin Falk and F Evan Rodrigues from Rochester (AHL)
11/16: Assigned D Casey Nelson to Rochester (AHL)
11/17: Recalled D Taylor Fedun from Rochester (AHL)

UPCOMING GAMES
Saturday, Nov. 19: Pittsburgh at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Monday, Nov. 21: Calgary at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Wednesday, Nov. 23: Detroit at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 25: Buffalo at Washington, 5 p.m.
Tuesday, Nov. 29: Buffalo at Ottawa, 7:30 p.m.

TONIGHT’S GAME

LIGHTNING at SABRES
This is the first of four meetings between the Sabres and Lightning this season.
Last meeting: Buffalo defeated Tampa Bay, 4-1, in Tampa Bay on Nov. 10, 2015
Next meeting: Thursday, Jan. 12 in Tampa Bay
The Sabres are 2-7-1 in their last 10 games vs. the Lightning; 3-5-2 at home
This is the 91st game all-time between Buffalo and Tampa Bay; Buffalo has a 52-31-7 series record.
The Sabres are 24-16-4 at home against the Lightning all-time.

 

@BuffaloSabres

GAME DAY 4-game homestand starts tonight. #SharpenUp: http://bufsabres.co/QYgk9y

Robin Lehner will start tonight, Coach Bylsma says. Fedun is in; will make his Sabre debut on a pairing with Justin Falk.

 

[26CornerBlitz]

@TSNBobMcKenzie

While TB lists Stamkos as out indefinitely, it's believed best-case recovery timeline for this procedure is four months, possibly longer.

[shrader]

Man, his meniscus must be absolutely destroyed if it's going to take that much time. Scopes usually have a much shorter timeframe than that.

[Bob in Mich]

Scopes for meniscus problems are usually to just cut away the torn cartilage and smooth the edges. Players are back in a few weeks.

 

If the meniscus is repaired however, the recovery time is significantly longer. Sounds like he is getting a meniscus repair.

[snafu]

I'm sure the team is going to be hurt. One of my primary points for singling out Hall with Jersey is that he represents a major organizational philosophical change from the dinosaur Lou Lamorillo clamp down defensive style of play to a more skilled and offensive style of play. If you don't play an entertaining brand of hockey you end up playing to an empty and quiet arena.

 

Just a side note regarding Taylor Hall: He is terrific! I didn't get to see him very much when he played out west but in the couple of games I saw him this year he captivated me with his glaring talent and scintillating style of play.

 

You may not like Lou's NJ style, but he built and sustained winners. You can say that Marty Brodeur was a big part of that, but those Jersey teams only gave up about 15-20 shots per night. Lamoriello's style was so good that the League had to legalize two-line passes to deal with the trap.

 

Fast forward to Toronto, and the rules changes favoring more open play, and Lou is building a competitive team in less than two years. How much of a Dinosaur is he?

[QCity]

You certainly can compare them to another rebuilding team such as Toronto. Toronto started a year of so behind Buffalo in the rebuilding process so it isn't unfair to compare their rate of improvement to ours. Is Buffalo ahead of Toronto? Most analysts prior to the season felt that Buffalo was a year or two ahead of Toronto in this excruciating process. But even making allowances for our injury epidemic I can't now say for sure that we are ahead, and even if we are a legitimate argument can be made that they are on a faster track to being a serious team than we are.

 

 

You can't say for sure that we are ahead because you haven't seen our rebuilt team on the ice this year. Again, our 2nd line is supposed to feature Eichel at C and Reinhart as his RW. We're sending out a different group of players every night on that line, most recently Foligno (lol) and Larsson. I won't even get into the injuries on D. Maybe instead of saying you "can't" compare them I should have said you "shouldn't" compare them. You don't think that trying to compare a multi-year rebuild based on one month of hockey is a bit of a knee-jerk? Would you still attempt to compare the rebuilds if Auston Matthews, their Jack Eichel, hadn't played a game yet this year? It's silly.

 

Anyways, tonight's game could get ugly. I don't anticipate any hesitance to switch over to the football game at 8:30.

[plenzmd1]

 

 

 

Anyways, tonight's game could get ugly. I don't anticipate any hesitance to switch over to the football game at 8:30.

God bless, i am not watching at all..in DC and going to show...but zero desire to watch this game

[Simon]

 

You can't say for sure that we are ahead because you haven't seen our rebuilt team on the ice this year. Again, our 2nd line is supposed to feature Eichel at C and Reinhart as his RW. We're sending out a different group of players every night on that line, most recently Foligno (lol) and Larsson. I won't even get into the injuries on D. Maybe instead of saying you "can't" compare them I should have said you "shouldn't" compare them. You don't think that trying to compare a multi-year rebuild based on one month of hockey is a bit of a knee-jerk? Would you still attempt to compare the rebuilds if Auston Matthews, their Jack Eichel, hadn't played a game yet this year? It's silly.

 

Anyways, tonight's game could get ugly. I don't anticipate any hesitance to switch over to the football game at 8:30.

You're right on every point and I'd even add in that you can't make any judgements on Lehner either because he's just getting zero help out there. The only good thing you can say at this point is that a bunch of kids are getting experience they never would have had otherwise and maybe that will pay dividends down the road.

The best they can do right now is stay within striking distance of .500, get healthy and go through the process of getting their game legs under them and logging minutes with guys they haven't hardly been able to play with yet. I think at some point around the New Year they're going to turn into a dangerous team with 3 good lines and 2 good defensive pairings. With good coaching and good goaltending, both of which I think they have, they're going to start making noise during the second half of the season; I just hope they aren't already 5 1/2 feet under when the digging stops.

[thebug]

Another 6 pack for the Leafs tonight! 6-1 Over Florida.

[Buffalo Barbarian]

Let me know when they are good again, too taxing watching both Buffalo teams sux

[4merper4mer]

How are they so bad? I could sense the pessimism from the hockey guys in this thread, but geez they are the worst team in hockey again? And two plus months for a twisted ankle?

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

Tank it again, give eichel the whole season to heal, they're already too far out of it. Hopefully this time they'll actually WIN the lottery.

[26CornerBlitz]

Jesus Christ.

 

Buffalo sports is a !@#$ing joke.

 

I thought the Sabres would actually be good this year and I thought my Rangers would suck. Looks like I'm wrong on both accounts.

 

Does Pegula have any clue what he's doing?

 

Pay attention. No Eichel, no O'Reilly, no Kulikov, and no Bogosian. That's your top two centermen and two of the four top defensemen. You expect them to be anything right now with a bunch of AHL caliber players in the lineup?