I have never put much stock in pre-season anything. Pre-season hockey is more for the coaches than for the fans. Coaches are looking for things most of us aren't even thinking about.

I'm seeing lots of predictions made about the regular season based on pre-season, which IMHO is a big mistake (not to be a downer, but Roy scoring 10 points in 5 games should immediately send up a red flag).

The dynamic in pre-season, particularly the psychological part, is VERY different for players:
The guys who know they've got a gig are less stressed, while the unproven are in full-adrenalin-job-getting-mode. This often changes once the regular season is underway. Many players play differently when the games don't really count. Some play better, others play worse.

Factor in an assortment of bad/rusty/sub-par goaltending and you have quite the hodge-podge of odd scores and upside-down rankings.

Pre-season is experimentation/tune-up time, where chemistry is in chaos and many teams' rosters suddenly look like they're from Mars.

The Sabre's top 2 lines need to be stronger. If pre-season Roy shows up on Friday, that'll help.

No one here is allowed to make predictions based on anything they see or believe about the Sabres!

It's against the hockey rules to voice your opinions!

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Wheelhouse

In Soviet Russia, hockey makes predictions about you!

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mechaphil

Yeah, but it's still reassuring to see that the players who are SUPPOSED to show up are actually doing it. Roy is the kind of player who should have had an excellent preseason. Same with Stafford, Vanek, Miller, Connolly, Pominville, etc. Roy having 10 pts in 5 games doesn't necessarily mean he's going to have a 100 pt season, but it's nice to see him playing like that rather than seeing him struggle.

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"Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Hockey Night in Buffalo

Saying that you think the Sabres might make the playoffs, or that so and so might score a certain number of goals is one thing.

Saying that the Sabres are going to have a 'magical season' (your words) after 6 pre-season games is just silly. A magical season means winning another President's Trophy handily, and curb stomping in the playoffs to win the Cup.

The opinion is not the problem. The hyperbole is.

Where you fail is the assumption that I'm basing my predictions off of preseason.

I'm used to it by now. People tore into me when I predicted the Sabres to win the Northeast last year... but we all saw how that played out.

This team is growing. We have more scoring depth than we had last year. We have a bigger, beefier shut down pair of defensemen. We've got some added physicality. We have some more depth at center and leadership. And we have some pretty important players in contract seasons.

For theses reasons, I think the Sabres are going to be nasty. They'll win the Northeast division and contend for first in the Eastern conference.

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Wheelhouse

I like where PSP is going with his thought process, but I'm not beer bonging his Kool-Aid until they look that good around Christmas.

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mechaphil

chrisssmassss

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"Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Hockey Night in Buffalo

I'll be knocking on your door December 25th with some Kool-Aid and one of these:

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Wheelhouse

Yes, Christmas...when I'll be hoping for a shiny new Tyler Myers away jersey

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mechaphil

I want a Miller road jersey for Christmas. I don't know if I can wait that long!

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"Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Hockey Night in Buffalo

After seeing what they did last year and compete for second all year long and even first for some part of the year. And the team only getting better, as it would seem on paper of course. It's not a longshot at all for us to win the division once again. Our biggest threat is Boston, and they are still going to struggle scoring goals. Hall is not a savior for 60 goals. And who knows how Rask will play this year.

But the Sabres are a good team. We have a good bit of scoring depth still and our defense only got better.

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Seguin, not Hall

Other than that I agree

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"She's like plan C after an 18 pack"

Squanto 7/27/2010

Oh, whatever, I knew it was one of the other, haha. 50/50 chance without looking it up, and I got it wrong haha

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I'm right there with you. The team is growing and developing good chemistry. We are going to be awesome.

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The Board Drunk.