NHL 2021

[Kimmelweck]

It will be a nice distraction to have hockey back this week, so I thought I’d start a new thread for the NHL 2021 season. In the middle of winter, when the dark of night descends early, there’s nothing like the warm glow of the ice on the TV screen. It’s like sitting in front of a cozy fireplace. Anyone else looking forward to the shortened season?

For your listening pleasure, I present the sweet lullaby voice of Rick Jeanneret, and one of the greatest calls in NHL history.…

[Inder]

Our good guy veteran/part-time fourth-line centre got waived as a paper move and is trending locally on Twitter, in case anyone was wondering how the Leafs' first week is going.

[Kimmelweck]

Our good guy veteran/part-time fourth-line centre got waived as a paper move and is trending locally on Twitter, in case anyone was wondering how the Leafs' first week is going.

Yeah I saw the Leafs had waived Spezza. He seemed good at faceoffs at least. Wonder what the point of that move was. Salary cap related?

Also, how’s Zach Bogosian doing for you guys? He was useless in Buffalo, when he wasn't out with injury. I saw that he had a nice hit on (checks notes) William Nylander the other night though. At least they’re off to a better start than the Sabres. 10 months without game action has left us embarrassingly out of shape.

[Inder]

Our good guy veteran/part-time fourth-line centre got waived as a paper move and is trending locally on Twitter, in case anyone was wondering how the Leafs' first week is going.

Yeah I saw the Leafs had waived Spezza. He seemed good at faceoffs at least. Wonder what the point of that move was. Salary cap related?

Also, how’s Zach Bogosian doing for you guys? He was useless in Buffalo, when he wasn't out with injury. I saw that he had a nice hit on (checks notes) William Nylander the other night though. At least they’re off to a better start than the Sabres. 10 months without game action has left us embarrassingly out of shape.

Yeah, it was cap-related maneuvering to allow get him some days off and bring up taxi squad players when he's waiver-exempt.

Bogo has been... not great, but not an outright disaster so far. Excited to see what Lehtonen can do tonight — hope he lives up to the billing.

[Kimmelweck]

Our good guy veteran/part-time fourth-line centre got waived as a paper move and is trending locally on Twitter, in case anyone was wondering how the Leafs' first week is going.

Yeah I saw the Leafs had waived Spezza. He seemed good at faceoffs at least. Wonder what the point of that move was. Salary cap related?

Also, how’s Zach Bogosian doing for you guys? He was useless in Buffalo, when he wasn't out with injury. I saw that he had a nice hit on (checks notes) William Nylander the other night though. At least they’re off to a better start than the Sabres. 10 months without game action has left us embarrassingly out of shape.

Yeah, it was cap-related maneuvering to allow get him some days off and bring up taxi squad players when he's waiver-exempt.

Bogo has been... not great, but not an outright disaster so far. Excited to see what Lehtonen can do tonight — hope he lives up to the billing.

Bogo never lived up to expectations here, but he wasn’t the worst of our problems. At his current price he’s probably an ok vet presence. Hopefully he works out for Toronto. Real nice guy and as I understand he still does some charity stuff in the Buffalo area.

[Inder]

Holler with the quote of the year:

[gkbill]

Hello,

I enjoy watching NHL on tv, but nothing beats minor league hockey live. I watched the Glens Falls Red Wings win the Calder Cup - they've gone away but - G'wan, Adirondack Thunder!

[Dr. Medulla]

[Inder]

[Kimmelweck]

As a Sabres fan, in fact Buffalo sports in general, I approve of this.

[Kimmelweck]

After 2 weeks of Sabres games postponed due to Covid, to have them back and losing again is comforting.

[Kimmelweck]

I think my favorite part of Buffalo Sabres hockey is thinking about the coming draft. I especially like hoping for an early pick before our season is even a quarter over. Will we finish near last, get bumped back by the lottery, and select a lackluster forward? Will we nab a promising defensive prospect that will take several years of development before even sniffing the NHL? Or will we reach for a college goalie phenom that we can develop for 4-5 years before he jumps to another franchise as a free agent without having played a single period for us?

Maybe we’ll get really lucky and wind up with a generational prospect who never lives up to expectations because of our dumpster-fire coaching. Mmmmm, that’s good stuff.

[Inder]

What's the general attitude towards ownership like? The Pegulas seem to like getting involved in things...

[Kimmelweck]

What's the general attitude towards ownership like? The Pegulas seem to like getting involved in things...

Yeah, our ownership is viewed as overly meddlesome for sure. It’s nice to have their deep pockets, but Terry Pegula never really ceded any major decision making to anyone with reliable hockey expertise, like an experienced director of hockey ops. He seems more interested in the Bills now, though he has the sense at least to allow Beane to run that organization and doesn’t meddle. I wish he’d use that model for the Sabres. He’s pretty much left the running of the Sabres to his wife Kim, as more or less her pet project. It’s frustrating, and most fans, and even the players, seem to be tuning out.

[Kimmelweck]

I’m hoping Buffalo luck’s into drafting Owen Power, 6’5” 214lb Canadian defenseman for the U of Michigan. But only if he comes with a Homeresque song/montage.