25 of the league's teams are, as a whole, larger than us.

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Also those pointing out Kassian isn't fully developed, well neither is Hodgson, Heck he's on 22 year old...wait until they're both in their prime in 3 years, then talk to me about fully developed. Also the trade was made because we have an abundance of wingers, especially guys we feel are "top 6", Foligno and Tropp are the future of our bottom 6. Figure in Kaleta, McCormick, Ellis, and Leino who are all signed beyond this year (or RFA), Kassian was going to have a hard time to break the NHL roster next year even baring injuries. Not to mention Gerbe, Stafford, Vanek, Pomminville, Ennis (RFA will be signed long term) I don't really see any place where Kassian fit in with our wings. Hodgson was a center, and thats what we needed. We traded value, and got value. That's the long and the short of it. I really don't see how people aren't capable of seeing this. Would you rather have a developing bottom 6 winger playing 8-10 mins a night, or a top 6 guy playing 13-15+ a night, and addressing a position we need? We sure as hell couldn't trade Kaleta for Hodgson, we traded talent for talent. It was the right move, and sitting here arguing about it, because Kassian had one decent game is fairly trivial. Also If Hodgson goes on a tear down the stretch, and scores 15 in our last 16 games, are there still going to be people whining because we moved Kassian? I hope not, but it probably will happen everytime the guy scores a goal. We've seen him do it here, but he certainly didn't do it consistently, or better than anybody we have right now.

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

Squanto 7/27/2010

No one is arguing that it's a bad trade. Some of us liked Kassians game, although lazy at times, is also needed on this team. IF hodgson goes on this massive 15 goal hypothetical tear no one would argue. I honestly don't see him scoring 5 goals in the next 15 but who knows.

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If you're going to judge this trade based on statistics from the trade deadline to the end of THIS season, you're doing it wrong.

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"Counting all the assholes in the room, I'm definitely not alone!" ~ Michael Poulsen, Volbeat, Still Standing.

Players can take a while to excel with new teams; no doubt. It took James Neal to his first full season in Pittsburgh, after coming over from Dallas last year, to find his form. 31 goals and 65 points; not too shabby. (Pay attention Drew Stafford.)

However; I don't see anyone judging Hodgson's future based off of his few games here in Buffalo. I do see people expressing the fact that his play has been less than stellar here so far. Lindy Ruff obviously feels the same, based on Hodgson's reduced ice time. Kassain, on the other hand, played well in Vancouver, and ended up on the second line after having started off on the 4'th line. I don't believe he's still on their second line. Kassian did not look too good in his fight with Montreal's Staubitz Saturday night, either.

However; Tyler Ennis has stepped it up and perhaps performed at a level we may have hoped to have had from Hodgson. Somebody earlier in the season was joking about Buffalo's performance being much worse without Ennis in the lineup. Well, I think, aside from Millers return to form, that Ennis has had a tremendous impact. Good on Tyler Small...

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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.

Zack who? Kassian? Never heard of hi...

Ohhhhhh, THAT guy.

Sorry, after the trade deadline, I forgot about him pretty quickly.

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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

Yeah, the way Foligno played has made me realize all that Kassian wasn't doing...

I see Hodgson doing everything other than scoring. If he picks the scoring aspect up, we're golden.

As for Ennis, the guy does it all... Carries the puck, gains the zone, backchecks, forechecks, goes along the boards, scores, passes... Guy's an animal.

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"Counting all the assholes in the room, I'm definitely not alone!" ~ Michael Poulsen, Volbeat, Still Standing.

We need to lock him up with a 2-3 year extension ASAP....Ennis that is.

Eight games for Hodgson. -2 over the course of those 8 games. No points. You really have to dig to find many positives in his play so far here.

But; we'll judge the deal a couple years down the road.

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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.

that is 9 games, 0 points, and a -4. Hey but he has great scoring chances!!!!

Why do most of the "good" players tend not to perform up to expectations on this team.... Things that make you go hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm


Honestly I'm playing to the fact the some have made this deal sound like it's the deal of the century. I do understand that we may not know if this kid will perform as expected for a few seasons.

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