MLew65

"As it should be................"

hamburg, NY • United States •

Grey clouds away, sunny days are coming….

For Buffalo Sabres fans.

Earlier I was listening to wgr-550 and one of the hosts, I think Jeremy, said now that the Bills are Super bowl favs and the Sabres have rounded the corner we’ll have two entertaining sports teams. I have to agree and here’s why I believe this to be true for the Buffalo Sabres.

This NHL is a young man’s game. It seems to be more and more youngsters are making a productive jump to the NHL . This a younger speedier product for a longer time and the Sabres are right in the thick of it, finally!

One place I’d like to start is the defense. We have four defensemen under 25 years of age, including new comer Owen Powers and do they look good!

#25 looked comfortable out there against the high powered Leafs and made some great plays on Matthews and company with great skating, poke checks and great plays along the boards.
One play in particular Powers battled three Leafs along the boards and came up with the play. Can you spell c-o-n-f-I-d-e-n-s-e?

Hi grandma Powers! (can the Sabres adopt her for Sabres clan mother & spiritual leader)?

Samuelson’s been another surprise and I’m glad his dads Kjell. This kids got the pedigree and his ceiling is higher than his fathers. Loved watching Kjell love watching his son. I’m glad he’s a Sabre.

Jokijuaru is young and steady, there’s not much more to say about him since he’s been here for a little while.

Defensemen take longer to grow into the game isn’t true with our young regards. Their learning curves appear to be smaller than expected which is a compliment to the scouting department and refreshing to fans. Kev gets a b-.

The aforementioned defensemen have absolutely solidified our blue line for the next decade.

On the offensive side the core is in place and is getting larger. We have two good lines and with the addition of JJ Petrka and Quinn from Rochester next year that offensive core grows to three lines. This’ll make the elder statesman, Jeff Skinner’s eventual departure much easier.

But! The way this team has been playing for the last month we can see the cohesiveness curing. They’re getting to know where each other is on the ice and are becoming more patient with the puck. They’re learning how to create space once they enter the offensive zone where as in the old days pucks would be blindly chucked into the corners with a hope and prayer, only to be transitioned out of the zone by the opposition.

That pass from Oloffson to Rasmussen Dahlin for the one timer in the open basket was a sick example of selflessness & patience.

EX-KNIGHTS:
Alex Tuch has anchored this team in a way Jack Eichel couldn’t. From the moment he stepped on the ice he infected this team with more confidence and personality and has allowed other players to grow by following his example. Finally, leadership where there was none.

Payton Krebs while not as skilled or as or visible as Tuch has been a pleasant surprise. It’s no surprise when you’re part of as a big trade as this the pressures on as the Gm wants you on the big ice and it put pressure on the coaching staff so the pressures on to perform and the kids alright. Granoto’s breath isn’t wasted .

No Eichel, Reinhart no problem.

What this trade has done is to spread the wealth, instead of having one player doing the lifting its allowed better scoring so far from more players. Skinners playing to his contract and not only do we have two 30+ goal scorers we have more multiple point players across the lineup. And! 71’s back and operating in his office.
Addition from subtraction has helped this league leading 11 year playoff drought much easier to take.

Congrats Tage Thompson for being a leader and hitting the 30 mark. I know I’m not the only one eating crow on this one.
Hopefully Devon Levi signs with the Sabres at some point or the Reinhart trade will be one of the worst trades in Sabres history and Kev will be eating crow.

Rochester.

They’ll be a depleted team next year as a record number of the kids either have made the jump or will make the jump next year filling some holes in the line up. Petrka and Quinn, ahhhhh.

What’s nice is Both the Amerks & the Sabres play the same system.

In my opinion if we fix the goaltending we will be contenders next year. This team is no longer jelling they’ve cured and will be exciting to watch for years to come, I hope our Gm can negotiate extensions before players become too expensive and leave.
Bridge deals do more harm than good in Buffalos case.