Another Lalime start, another Lalime loss. He gave up rebounds, failed to make any big saves, and was clearly outplayed by his counterpart. I believed from the beginning that we needed to upgrade the backup goalie position this offseason, and that performance only further cemented my opinion.

We need more than just a nice guy, we need someone who can actually get the job done. We could've had both if they would have gotten a deal done somehow with Marty. Perhaps after January 1st we can still make that deal.

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Oh lord, it's hard to be humble, when you're perfect in every way. I can't wait to look in the mirror, 'cause I get better looking each day. To know me is to love me, I must be a hell of a man. Oh lord, it's hard to be humble, but I'm doin' the best that I can.

Granted I too had my worries with Patty between the pipes for us this season. I was leary as to how he would bounce back from the offseason surgery, but I will continue to hold off on calling for his head for now. If his play continues to decline, then sorry Pat, it's for the good of the team. Youy need to go.

For last night, I'd say we played all of maybe 25-30 minutes. Where was the team that played against the Wings? How about Nashville or the Isles? The General seemed to be the only one moving out there from what I saw. During the Whip, Mike and Rob said it best, this team needs to get pucks low and bang around. That's what got us wins in the previous 4 games. We were winning races to the puck, good positioning and smart passes. Last night we looked like a bunch of fools who couldn't send a tape to tape pass if our lives depended on it and Atlanta played their trap around it. Trying to skate the damn thing over the blueline. Cos that really worked the other 15 times they tried it last night. Yes, it is early, but this game was a big one. If we can't put together a decent string of wins against (what is considered to be) the lesser teams around the league, that is where we will lose ground on the playoffs.

I hope Ruff tuned this team out and ripped them a new one after last nights game. Lazy, sloppy out of control play.

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If it's a tight squeeze, spit on it! - NyI

He's a middling AHL player who had the good fortune of a drunk arbitrator. - The Squanto re: Tim Kennedy

Shameful display of disinterested play by almost the entire team.

Complete lack of discipline. A complete mental regression to last season. It's like they all said: "Well. We're winning, now we can return to the way we like to play..."

The laziness and the sloppy casual passes. And skating in circles...They looked out of shape and tanked.

12-1 shot disadvantage midway through the 1st period. Two perfect scoring chances for Kovalchuk (top 3-4 goal scorer in the NHL) from the slot. Another PP goal against from an untouched player right in front of the crease, on rebound from a high shot stick side (should he catch it with his jersey?). Then Myers looks exactly like a 19 yr old as Max walks around him and puts the puck right in the very top corner.

What does this have to do with Lalime? It's yet another poor performance in support of the back-up. Atlanta played the night before also, so the team has no excuse for a pitiful start like that.

Here we go with the 'Whaaa, we should have signed Marty' shit.

Would Biron have been an upgrade? Yes, he would have. No argument there.

However, this was a TEAM loss. Nothing more. This wasn't a team playing good who had their goaltender let in a cupcake. This was a complete team effort failure that I doubt Miller (or Biron!!) could have done a damn thing about.

Good point Squanto, but I still would of rather seen Lalime against the isles, and Miller last night. Maybe Miller gets the team more into the game than Lalime somehow, or individuals feel they need to do more when Lalime is in net. At any rate Lalime's numbers are not very impressive as a Sabre.

Last night was a weak attempt by almost our entire team, and I don't put the blame entirely on Lalime, did anyone catch Huet's game last night - now if you want to blame a loss on a goalie, two of those goals should never have gone in.

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"I don't feel like Satan, but I am to them"
Neil Young

Lalime gave up big rebounds, failed to make the big saves, and was outplayed by his counterpart. The Sabres didn't play great, but not every game will be a masterpiece. They still were the better team for the last half of the 1st period, even in the 2nd, and dominated the 3rd. Sorry, but I am not going to give Lalime a free pass like some of you are just because the Sabres had a slow start.

He played a mediocre game. He's been mediocre since he came. This is not sentiment, it's reality.

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Oh lord, it's hard to be humble, when you're perfect in every way. I can't wait to look in the mirror, 'cause I get better looking each day. To know me is to love me, I must be a hell of a man. Oh lord, it's hard to be humble, but I'm doin' the best that I can.

I'm no longer calling him Patrick Lalime.....it's

[color=#FF0000]Patrick Lalame ! YOU SUCK LALAME !!![/color]

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"It is more about them than it is about the team...Cannot play with them, cannot win with them, cannot coach with them. Can't do it. I want winners. I want people that want to win." - Mike Singletary

Tyler Myers - Future captain of the Buffalo Sabres, and future Norris Trophy Winner

Manning the machine gun on the Tyler Myers Bandwagon - just in case any teams have an idea of prying him away from us (3 GM's shot already)

Connolly/Roy - 2 goals in the last 47 playoff games

Lst not loss was not solely on Lalime's shoulders. That being said....he fucking sucks.

There's no way I could blame Lalime for last nights loss. Anytime the Sabres play and Lalime is in it, the entire team looks completely different. Completely lazy and uninspired. Shouldn't a team work harder whenever they have a backup in net?

It's kind of inexcusable that whenever Ryan gets a game off, the team thinks they get one too.

Granted, the Sabres weren't there for all 60 minutes tonight, and they have to put fourth a better effort in front of Patty.

But before the game, I said he'd get burnt all night by Kovi's wrister. Anddd look what happened.

Personally, I would have played Miller, and let him rest for Florida.

All in all, I think our main problem last night was that guys were sitting back instead of attacking because they didn't want to give up chances on Patty.

And when you sit back and don't play the system, you give up even more chances, because people aren't where they're supposed to be.

The Lalime saga continues.

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Wheelhouse

the whole team looked like crap, especially the defense, giveaways, blown positioning. the only thing i can say against lalime in that game is maybe the team would have played better for miller or biron. because if the team had played like that for any goalie, unless the goalie is superhuman, i'm pretty sure the team loses.

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"Tis The Season, Fa la la la la LaFontaine" - Rick Jeanneret

No. False. Wrong. Negativo. The Sabres outshot Atlanta 41-13 after the first ten minutes of the first, and 42-27 for the game. In the 3rd period alone we outshot Atlanta 20-4, and completely dominated the play, but Hedberg made the difference.

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Oh lord, it's hard to be humble, when you're perfect in every way. I can't wait to look in the mirror, 'cause I get better looking each day. To know me is to love me, I must be a hell of a man. Oh lord, it's hard to be humble, but I'm doin' the best that I can.

This is partially true.

We became too relaxed after both goals we scored, and we needed to be much better on the power play.

Still, there are a lot of positives to take away from this game.

I'm looking forward to seeing how this team rebounds from a loss.

Also, I was very impressed with Derek Roy last night. While everyone else looked like they were in slow motion, Roy was dancing and cutting to the slot for some pretty good opportunities.

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Wheelhouse

Bull; get in here and defend your Man Crush!!!

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"I'll rap you with my cane; you pencil necked geek!!"

-Bowler, imitating Freddy Blassie, at the very first M & G.

Telly looked like the type of goaltender i would have liked to see backup. He looked solid. KHL for him!

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Yes! That's what I see as well. Same thing last season too.
Tellqvist would have been a better choice. The team seemed more confident when he was backing up. Marty would have been the best choice of those willing to play here as a backup, but management went with the cheapest option and the backup with the poorest stats as a Sabre. Not surprising but very unsettling knowing that Miller is going to miss alot of games this season.

You know, I didn't like Roy last night. He took a sloppy penalty that led to the 3rd Atlanta goal and seemed to be trying to force things that weren't there in the offensive zone. 6 games in and he's still yet to get a goal...not good enough.

Also, I'm pissed at Ruff for reverting back to his old ways and fucking with the lines. We had built nice continuity and were really in synch, but he goes and juggles 3 of our 4 lines. Stupid.

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Oh lord, it's hard to be humble, when you're perfect in every way. I can't wait to look in the mirror, 'cause I get better looking each day. To know me is to love me, I must be a hell of a man. Oh lord, it's hard to be humble, but I'm doin' the best that I can.

True, that was a poor penalty. But when things were looking grim early on, Mac and Roy were the forwards that looked like they were making a difference for us.

He hasn't scored, but he does have 5 assists and is 2nd in points on the roster.

I hope Lindy doesn't change up the lines, because I see them building chemistry with every game.

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Wheelhouse

Anyone that thinks Lalime is good just take a look and compare last night's performance with Millers coming up. Miller will be like velcro...he sucks every puck into his chest of glove and controls the tempo, slowing things down when he needs to....dumping the puck off and playing it out when the play calls for that. Lalime just tries his best to get in the shooting lane and lets the puck bounce right off him...giving the other team a good chance to bank it at him again...and again.