redwing77

I can't feel that Stafford would be the key to Buffalo winning despite the win/loss record of the Sabres in the postseason when he is in the lineup. I don't think the team is playing well right now at all (I think taz boy's term of "european nancy boys" fits Buffalo at the moment as well). One player doesn't make all the difference in the world otherwise Pittsburgh would have won two straight Stanley Cups. Buffalo just doesn't have what it takes. Lindy expects players to step up and he's half right. They do need to step up, but so do the coaches. This isn't DI or MJ hockey where coaches are restrained by external forces and the youth of the team. These guys are supposedly the best that organization has to put on the ice. Therefore, when things aren't going well, they need to make adjustments and that HASN'T been done offensively. Regarding Anaheim: I don't know if they are necessarily the cheapest team in the NHL. Being good at getting under the opponent's skins isn't cheap. They do a lot of things really well. I doubt what happened against Johnsson or what happened last night was scripted. I can't believe Carlyle would be pleased with that performance last night at all. Cheap is Popovic (or whoever) saying Robert Horry's foul was just an end of the game foul where Nash fell down. Losing control of one's self discipline (what the commentator's seem to call "frustration") is another. That being said, Red Wings go on to play Ottawa. And I believe Ottawa has a real chance of beating the Red Wings too. The Red Wings have a tendency to try to stick handle their way to the goal like Buffalo does and well, that doesn't seem to work too well against Ottawa.

I'm SHOCKED! Seriously, I expected this. Good luck Jonny. Too bad the rest of the team isn't as good as you are.

Horsecrap. You can't possibly know how bad I really am without playing me. I bet you can't be as bad as you claim you are. That goes double if you imbibe during play.

Very Very nice. Kudos.

I feel like a hypocrite saying this because I always make it a point to tune into the NHL and NFL drafts, but they are boring even if you do have a guy who might go high in the first round. The first day of this year's NFL draft went for 6 hours! Could you imagine sitting around like that? 14 minutes of wait, then 1 minute of draft, then 14 more minutes of wait, and then a trade announcement and then 14 minutes of wait and then a draft.... BOOOOORING. And yet... I tune in. Go fig.

They looked alright (at times and enough times) during the Rangers series. They look flat out awful against Ottawa. It's just amazing. Yet the Versus commentators are still gushing about Briere and Drury when they should be gushing more about Ottawa. Let's face it, you can't dress up a lemon and call it an apple. Buffalo flat out sucks right now and there's no other way to make it look any better than that.

In that case.... Oh Dagies -- We're Not Worthy!! We're Not Worthy

Yeah, and Gerber backed up the Hurricanes to the Stanley Cup finals while Miller started and took them that far (though a loss). If we're going to debate Gerber vs. Miller, you can have Gerber. I'll take Miller. He's done more as a starter in the NHL and he's much younger. The fact is, if Buffalo played more smashmouth crashthenet shoot it until it hurts hockey and not European styled stick handling puck moving cutsy foofoo hockey, I think they'd be at least be able to do more against Ottawa, their hot first line notwithstanding. Buffalo just isn't playing well. Thank goodness for some timely defensive plays, solid Miller goaltending, and some puck luck because if it wasn't for that, Ottawa would be up 3-0 after winning 3 straight laughers.

True, but in this case, Lives to play is right. Ottawa looks good and Buffalo looks like the Minnesota Wild. Keeps the games tight, but when it comes to offensive play, juuuuuuuuuust can't do it. And that's sad considering they came into this series as the best offensive team left playing and among the top scoring teams in the NHL.

I did it to a name brand (Nike) driver. Unfortunately, that was the end of my namebrand days. Knock off city for me.

Vanek hasn't vanished. He's actually played quite well. Unfortunately, I can say truthfully that Miller may be the only player that has played well (enough) against Ottawa. It's not Miller's fault that they don't shoot and they don't adjust. 15 SOG in the whole game. Wow. I think Lindy is pulling a Childress (seeing what the other guys have to offer and failing to adjust accordingly) and the players seem to think that they STILL can cutsy their way into the scorebook. Lindy needs to adjust and the players need to stop thinking like idiots and just start shooting the puck.

Have any of you three broken off the head of your driver on the actual swing...only to have the head of the club go farther than the ball? Done that. The only thing I HAVEN'T done on the golf course yet is hit another player. I've gotten close and that poor guy was on the #6 fairway and I was on #5 tee!

I don't think UND will have a first rounder coming in. We MIGHT squeak by with a 2nd rounder (maybe Phoenix with their patented Off the freaking deepend picks) but most likely not. One note of clarification (or maybe a need for my clarification) but it was my impression that just because Eidsness was the #5 ranked NA goaltender doesn't mean that he'll be drafted. It's a good possibility that he will, but it's not a sure thing. I just wonder where Eidsness stacks up as a projection of where he'll go overall? Don't they have a projection like that?

We should play golf sometime, Goon. I'll make you feel better about your golf game. I'm lucky if I can hit the ball with an iron. If my tee shot goes straight and not so far right it's either off the course or interfering with the next hole over it's a bloody miracle.

Emery only had to make 15 saves tonight. I guess it's too late to tell Buffalo that, if they want to beat Ottawa, the best way to do it is to look at how Anaheim beat Detroit last night. They simply started throwing the puck at the net and rushed Hasek. Yeah, most of the time it didn't go in (some times because of a great save) but the truth is that you don't score if you don't shoot. Emery has looked shakey with his rebounds, not counting tonight's game (because I didn't get to watch it). Buffalo is down 3-0 right now and will have to win on the road to even prolong the series even by one game. My perspective is this: Buffalo should mail it in, suit up Stafford and any other scratches they have and get them at least one game experience against a team that is OBVIOUSLY far superior to them. Then line up politely and wish Ottawa the best of luck. This series is, effectively, over. I think it is somewhat ironic that last year Buffalo embarrassed Ottawa in the playoffs. Now Ottawa is returning the favor. I can't believe Buffalo honestly was a #1 seed coming into this series. Congrats to Ottawa.

That's my question: "Will Buffalo force a game 5?" Right now, it doesn't look like it. Their passing game is inconsistent yet they rely on it very heavily. They find themselves down goals and they don't feel any pressure to try to even the tally. They take silly penalties (Even though the one against Campbell was rather weak) and have nothing to counter the Senator Power Play. Look, last night I noticed that Emery had HUGE problems with rebounds, yet the Sabres only used that to their advantage ONCE (Briere's GTG). They really need to shoot the puck, force a rebound and crash the net if they are going to beat Ottawa at all. Right now, though, this is Ottawa's series to win or lose. Buffalo isn't going anywhere.

Thanks Goon. However, Lives to play doesn't realize that I don't care who Walski is, where he's from, or what he has done in the past. No one is more consistent than a goaltender that has never played any real time in the league. So, that 0.00 GAA and 1.000 Save% looks really darn good compared to Grieco's numbers. Interesting that I never mentioned the word "consistency" at all in my posts about Grieco. After all, if Grieco was consistently good, I'd be arguing whether or not Grieco or Phil should be the #1 goaltender. I'm not doing anything of the sort. I'm saying that, in the depth charting of the Sioux, unless Hak states otherwise, Grieco is the #2. PERIOD. I "cling" to the SCSU series because Grieco showed what he was capable of during that series. I also disregard the MSUM series because a goaltender is only as good as the Team D around him. If the Team D plays poorly, not even the best goaltenders can prevent the worst teams from eventually scoring. However, oddly enough, UND still ended up without a loss both games. Something that is easily forgotten. It doesn't matter what the stats are as long as the "W" goes in the column, IMO. I've said it before, though, it is increasingly apparent that there is nothing anyone can say to change his mind. Grieco sucks, that's all that matters. If Walski is given a shot and shelled, then obviously we need to get a new goaltender because Grieco and Walski will then suck. Oh well. No reasoning with them.

Video doesn't work for me.

Guys, hate to break it to you, but I don't think this series will see 6 games the way Buffalo is playing. Ottawa is playing solid defensively, sure, but Buffalo is helping by trying to be too cute. They are down a goal and they get a power play with around 4 minutes left to play. Too bad Ottawa didn't get the memo. Their 4 skaters outplayed Buffalo's 5. Someone needs to let the Sabres know that you don't score any goals unless you actually try to shoot the puck AT the goaltender. Once the PP began, it took Buffalo until there was 51 seconds left in the game before Briere got an epiphany: "I can SHOOT the puck and I don't have to pass it!" Sure, it didn't go in, but it seemed to ignite the Sabres. They then pulled the goaltender and registered more shots on goal than they probably had most of the entire period. Then Briere scored on a deflection. Kudos to Briere for getting that goal. He deserved it because he realized you don't score unless the puck ends up on net regardless of how ugly or cute the play is. WOW. This Sabres team is fast but has NOTHING to counter the Senators. I don't care if the Sabres jumped out initially to a 2-0 lead.

Not really. Remember, he is slated to be drafted higher than the fourth round. So, really he needs to be close to the front of the bus so that the "respected" Sioux players dont have to strain themselves.

He has improved drastically with his skating and defensive play, but what I noticed most was his shot from the point! True, he's not going to be a Chorney or a Lee but if he can get that wrister more accurate, some great things are going to happen!

I think Malone needs to sit up front near the door next to LaPoint. That way, when they make their first freshmen mistakes (or MAYBE their second if we are being lenient) they can join Grieco, Kozek, Lee, and Finley under the bus.

I don't think Michigan played the trap in that game. I don't think they played much of any kind of defense at all. For that matter, neither did we for the first two periods.

I'm as critical of any goaltender that stood on his head against SCSU as anyone. Hey Lives to play answer this: Since stats are an obvious foundation for all your disrespect: Look back on this year and answer this: Which UND goaltender lead the Sioux during the regular season in number of times named to a Player of the Week Honor (either defensive or rookie). Give you a hint because I can't wait: It's not Walski or Lamoreaux. Kinda odd when the only goaltender to recieve regular season honors from the league is a guy who should be a third stringer, no? Seriously, dude, I am not about the changing of the name and the name calling like others here (and you're prone to do so in response it appears, but I digress), but you're going to HAVE to figure out a way to get over your fixation against Grieco. Instead of trying to find fault in players and fans who support those players by citing frivilous and sketchy reasoning ("biased aganst players from North Dakota" Ah... give me an F-in break), realize that Walski is a great addition to the Sioux but is destined to be only a third string goaltender and a backup for Phil and Anthony. A much needed position, but if you think Walski is going to get playing time in a game that counts, then ask yourself how good the last Sioux team was that had to utilize their third stringer in regular season games? I don't think we need another 2001-2002 seasion. And, yeah, I am fixated against fans who are too preoccupied trying to find fault with players on a team they supposedly root for to see the positives they bring to the team and then make arguments that are idiotic or impractical (SIGN X!! I hope Y leaves soon! Let Q play, what do we have to lose?) Really... who knows what Walski is capable of but I don't care as long as Grieco and Phil are on the team and Hakstol is making the decision not to play Walski. But then, I bet Hakstol has a thing against North Dakota players as well.

Already has a swelled head.