I wanted McCormick or Cowan up specifically to injure Rask. Who gives a shit about a career AHL enforcer.

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mechaphil

I'd like to see one go after Boychuk honestly. Though Mair did put a good lick on him...TOWARDS THE END OF THE DAMN GAME

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"...they came down into the stands and asked if I knew how to do play by play. I said...No. But. I'll take a shot at it if you want".- Rick Jeanneret

Wow.

Well you certainly won't object I'm sure to, say, Lucic or Boychuck injuring Miller...if that's the way the game is to be played?

Great, we'll see Lalime vs. Thomas.

At least all the scorng will be more entertaining.

This man apparently doesn't get/like sarcasm

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"I can't really hear what Jeremy says, because I got my two Stanley Cup Rings plugging my ears...." -Patrick Roy in reference to Jeremy Roenick's trash talking

I generally bask in sarcasm, but forgive me if I took your comment seriously. There are some around here who would mean such a statement, so your comment didn't strike me as especially out-of-the-norm.

Poor coaching. No team has won a cup without a powerplay. The players are just doing what Lindy wants them to do. Why the fuck would a coach tell the guys to do the same stupid drop pass in the Neutral zone every time while everyone is stopped dead at the blueline? I just love when I hear Lindy, Rob Ray and other no talent players talking about just closing eyes and shooting on net. Other teams make nice passes and have great plays not just throw it on net from straight on. Watch the other playoff teams play and tell me if they just "throw it on net" after crossing the blueline? LA and Washington had some sweet passing plays the other night. Does Pat Kane just keep it simple and only just throw it on net? Why should Ennis just close his eyes and shoot the puck like Hecht or Lydman. The kid has talent and we should get a coach who will be able to coach him. Makes me sick Lindy benches a rookie who had almost a point per game and had his first career playoff point because Connolly was too slow to receive a pass. Fucking James Patrick went over to Ennis and told the kid to not make passes, just keep it simple and by the way you are done the rest of the game even though we are down a goal(he played 16 seconds the last 5 minutes). I would like to see how Lindy would coach Malkin or Crosby. He would tell them to just shoot it on net and not be too fancy and make sure you make short shifts. They would tell him to shut the fuck up.

I do NOT have multiple accounts, but if I did this would be one.

That same 'stupid drop pass' at the blue line is the method of zone entry most credited to Mike Babcock from the Wings, and is being used throughout the league on a regular basis. It's actually a quite effective way of getting into the zone when the defense stacks 4 across at the line, when the players execute it correctly of course.

I guess Mike Babcock must be an inferior coach too.

You took my comment exactly as it was intended to be taken - 100% seriously. A team of unremitting goonery will not hear a message unless it is delivered on their level. They take out our biggest weapon, we take out theirs.

When Kaleta held up instead of destroying Rask a la Gomez and Miller, I felt pride that he didn't cross that line...but then I was remiss that the Sabres have no one with a ruthless-enough mentality to do it.

However, and I want this to be perfectly clear, I am not the kind of person to advocate head-hunting of the highest degree on a regular basis. This series has me in a particularly-bloodthirsty mood.

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mechaphil

This.

Or at least to get some kind of worthy traffic infront of their goalie.

As for the topic? Why can't we handle boston?

We're not big enough. Plain and simple.

Losing puck battles, corner battles, front of the net battles plus the fact that the guy's we send to the front are small, (EG: Roy Ennis etc...) It's just not going to work. Unless guys start to wake up and start playing the game with the same anger as they did in the last few minutes of this game, we're done in 6 tops but I wouldn't be shocked to see us joining the Laffs on the greens in 5.

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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

Hasn't been working for us too much against the Bruins.

I'd rather see them go in with a head full of steam dump at redline and go charging in.

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It's all execution.

The point of the play is to get the 4 PKers to stop and react to the drop pass, trying to keep their gaps smaller. When you do that, the person receiving the pass can continue to use their momentum to skate around the flat footed PKers, OR shoot it in and have the forwards use their forward momentum to do the same, and get puck possession quicker.

The Sabres don't execute it anywhere close to correctly. They do the drop pass even when challenged by a forechecker, which blows the play up, or they do it too late, causing the forwards to have to stop to stay onside, negating that advantage.

In short, they're doing it wrong.

Wait...wait...wait...hold on...oh, here it is (Thank you, ThinkGeek)...

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mechaphil

/Thread Phil with the undisputed WIN!

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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

Bucky Gleason sure had some forceful comments about last night's game:

"Understand, the issue wasn't effort Monday. The Sabres played hard. They simply weren't good enough against a better, tougher team with more experience. It's not a crime so much as the cold truth."

Bucky Gleason is, and always has been, a writer that stirs controversy. He's a bit of a douche, and has shown time after time he doesn't really know dick; he echoes opinions of bandwagoners.

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I'm much more worried about the play of the Sabres top two lines than I am about the guys that are supposed to play physical.

The Sabres top two lines were shutout last night and that is why they lost.

Raffi Torres has as many points so far as Connolly, Roy, and Pominville COMBINED.

The Sabres need their best players to be their best players if they are to advance. And with regards to their forwards, that simply isn't happening.

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Sabres Hockey: Commitment to Mediocrity

In a different series against a different team, players like Pominville, Roy, Ennis, and Kennedy would be effective. Against a bigger and more physical team that plays a physical style, in a series in which the whistles are in the refs pocket, those same players are going to disappear.

These guys can't just automatically turn into people that they are not. If Vanek and Hecht were playing, and Connolly and Stafford were healthy this series would be a different story. With a full healthy line-up Buffalo would still be able to overcome the size, physical, and officiating disadvantage.

If he Bruins top player, all-star Marc Savard was healthy, it would be a different series even still.



Without being tied for most injuries in the league this season, Boston probably would've finished higher than 6th in the East.

Just keepin' it real.

WHAT OFFICIATING DISADVANTAGE?!

jeez people. im just as upset as the next person, but when push comes to shove, the officials are calling these games evenly. im not going to fabricate excuses to help myself sleep at night. the sabres had 3 powerplays last night, the bruins 2. point the finger elsewhere.

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