Michael Pachla: A win in the shootout w/Robin Lehner in net for bi-polar Sabres.

Fist

scott wilson is public tank enemy number 1

the new kevin porter/brian flynn

From the previous blog:

We tanked for mceichel
- Boss34

GMTM's reaction at the lottery begs to differ with this opinion. The fans may have had itin their mind that we tanked for Mceichel, but if Eichel was the only one to be had in that draft and McDavid never existed would the Sabres have tanked so openly and with such passion?

Trade Sam in the summer for a young defensemen

From the previous blog:



GMTM's reaction at the lottery begs to differ with this opinion. The fans may have had itin their mind that we tanked for Mceichel, but if Eichel was the only one to be had in that draft and McDavid never existed would the Sabres have tanked so openly and with such passion?
- GilPerreault11

eichel was the consolation prize that made it worth it, so i'd call the tank "for mceichel"

i think so far eichel has been about as expected and mcdavid is somehow even better than expected, making eichel look worse by comparison

Trade Sam in the summer for a young defensemen
- gerbe75pts

you don't think he's turned a corner in his young career?

eichel was the consolation prize that made it worth it, so i'd call the tank "for mceichel"

i think so far eichel has been about as expected and mcdavid is somehow even better than expected, making eichel look worse by comparison
- robz228

this is a good post

"It's a lineup that has no business beating division leaders"
-MP

Is this the "Vegas Effect" where hungrier players seem to overachieve/outperform more established players. Vegas will most likely have (4) 70pt players on their team...no "elite" talents amongst them.

OR

How can the Sabres resurgence be explained? I don't think anyone is of the mind that we are better without Eichel...why is it we lose our superstar and start winning more often?

Stuff

"It's a lineup that has no business beating division leaders"
-MP

Is this the "Vegas Effect" where hungrier players seem to overachieve/outperform more established players. Vegas will most likely have (4) 70pt players on their team...no "elite" talents amongst them.

OR

How can the Sabres resurgence be explained? I don't think anyone is of the mind that we are better without Eichel...why is it we lose our superstar and start winning more often?
- RhinoFan

good questions...am interested in seeing what responses we get with that

you don't think he's turned a corner in his young career?
- Michael Pachla

Payday ( If he would’ve showed up in the beginning year maybe I would think differently)

I would trade him for young defenseman in the summer because
Casey and z Will most likely take his spot

- hehateme

Yep. I was pretty pissed off too if only Hoffman would (frank)ing score that open that

Perhaps the Sabres were trying to make all their offense go through Eichel, so teams were able to focus on shutting down one line. Now the Sabres are playing with no pressure and are not trying to force plays for Eichel.
Just a guess.

Trade Sam in the summer for a young defensemen
- gerbe75pts

Jake Bean.

Done.


Or Haydn Fleury I guess.

Payday ( If he would’ve showed up in the beginning year maybe I would think differently)

I would trade him for young defenseman in the summer because
Casey and z Will most likely take his spot
- gerbe75pts

hmmm...no doubt he had a terrible 2017 portion of the season, but he turned it around and looks much like the player he was drafted for...am of the opinion that Housley and his new systems had more to do with it than anything else...

had sam play center for a month and a half before realizing it wasn't working and it was at least two months until the realized that what they were doing on the powerplay wasn't working

Yep. I was pretty pissed off too if only Hoffman would (frank)ing score that open that
- gerbe75pts

was that the one where risto tied up a stick in the crease or was it something different?

eichel was the consolation prize that made it worth it, so i'd call the tank "for mceichel"

i think so far eichel has been about as expected and mcdavid is somehow even better than expected, making eichel look worse by comparison
- robz228

He was the consolation prize but at the lottery you could tell GMTM REALLY wanted McDavid.

If Eichel was the only prize I'm not so sure the Sabres would have tanked so openly. They would have rebuilt but I'm not so sure they would have made the deal with Winnipeg, dealt the goalies and just openly tanked to be in last place. Getting a chance at Mcdavid was seen as getting a shot at generational special talent. Getting a shot at Eichel would have just been seen as a typical draft year, not a special one.

Perhaps the Sabres were trying to make all their offense go through Eichel, so teams were able to focus on shutting down one line. Now the Sabres are playing with no pressure and are not trying to force plays for Eichel.
Just a guess.
- doppelthat

They could be over utilizing him making our attack more one dimensional.

Just doesn't make sense to me that he leaves, Kane leaves and McCabe/Bogo get hurt, now our D are scoring, now our bottom6 are driving play...we're even winning games in SHOOTOUTS FFS! Something stinks, not sure who it is and it's not my boy Samson.

Good point though, he was literally touching or shooting almost every puck we put in the net before his departure.

"It's a lineup that has no business beating division leaders"
-MP

Is this the "Vegas Effect" where hungrier players seem to overachieve/outperform more established players. Vegas will most likely have (4) 70pt players on their team...no "elite" talents amongst them.

OR

How can the Sabres resurgence be explained? I don't think anyone is of the mind that we are better without Eichel...why is it we lose our superstar and start winning more often?
- RhinoFan

Do you think it’s good teams drops their guard against the Sabres because it’s an easy win, hence we look good.

Desperate teams usually smoke us

Bad teams are in lose mode.

you don't think he's turned a corner in his young career?
- Michael Pachla

I get some of the hate for Sam but expectations on him are too high IMO. I think he will be a solid 20-25 goal, 30-40 assist guy for a long time. People put these expectations on him because he was picked 2nd overall in a draft year... I hope they sign him to a bridge contract, Maybe 3 years 12 mill...

[quote=RhinoFan]"It's a lineup that has no business beating division leaders"
-MP

Is this the "Vegas Effect" where hungrier players seem to overachieve/outperform more established players. Vegas will most likely have (4) 70pt players on their team...no "elite" talents amongst them.

OR

How can the Sabres resurgence be explained? I don't think anyone is of the mind that we are better without Eichel...why is it we lose our superstar and start winning more often?
- washedup20

Do you think it’s good teams drops their guard against the Sabres because it’s an easy win, hence we look good.

Desperate teams usually smoke us

Bad teams are in lose mode.

point taken save for the second tampa game last month where buffalo beat them 2-1 in ot...vasilevsky's reaction afterward pretty much summed up how disappointed they were in losing that one...and Toronto certainly wasn't dropping their guard

Happy to see Reinhart playing well, not a great player but a good player. To much hate for him.

was that the one where risto tied up a stick in the crease or was it something different?
- Michael Pachla

It was the one where it slid across the goal line and the snow stopped it

That would’ve been it for the game