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11-06-2015, 12:17 PM | #61 |
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Location: New York City
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11-07-2015, 10:00 PM | #62 |
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Just wanna say I am loving the read. I like Dynasty's like this. Keep it up!
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11-10-2015, 01:34 AM | #63 |
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Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Upstate Western NY
Posts: 1,760
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The 2017/18 season has been everything I hoped it could/would be...I knew we had the talent...Lord knows we have an abundance of that. But secretly I wondered if there truly was a way to time it right and somehow have all the wildcard variables work together at the exact same time.
Eichel and Reinhart, each saddled with the expectant burden of being #2 draft picks, are now grizzled veterans at 21 and 22 years of age, respectively. And the years of invaluable NHL level experience are starting to pay dividends. Especially Eichel. After a fine 76 point season (32g/44a) in 2016/17, his play has skyrocketed to an elite level. There are now muted, yet enthusiastic whispers league-wide of perhaps a 100 point season. Eichel has been 2nd in the scoring race all season, persistently dogging leader Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh). Through 65 games, Eichel has 79 points (32g/47a). The 30 year old Crosby currently sits at 86 points (33g-53a) and just ten days earlier, passed the 1100 point mark for his stellar career. Eichel is a bona-fide super....duper star....there's no other description that truly fits. But there is so much more to this team. Including Eichel, nine Sabres are already 30+ points on the scoresheet.
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11-10-2015, 10:29 AM | #64 |
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But this team isn't just singularly focused on scoring. At training camp, as a team, we came to an agreement to be more focused on responsible defense. We understood that our wide-open breakout brand of hockey would lead to occasional ill-timed turnovers...resulting in breakaways and odd-man rushes. And to be honest, the payoff has so overshadowed any negatives, that a "bad" goal every now and then doesn't faze this team. We know that no matter what kind of lead our opponent may jump out to...it is never safe.
But it's not just that. There also has been Linus Ullmark. His rapid development to an elite NHL net-minder has taken the whole league by surprise...even himself. Linus knows he's great, he's been great his whole life, but despite the fact I had my eyes on the broad-shouldered Swede from the moment I bought this team, I never expected him to be this good, this fast. Buffalo has such a rich history at the goaltender position...Tom Barrasso, Don Edwards, Grant Fuhr, Daren Puppa, Marty Biron, Ryan Miller and, of course, the greatest goalie in the history of the game...Dominik Hasek. But with this season, Ullmark is already making quite a name for himself in this town and the fans have really responded. His sweater is only surpassed in sales by Eichel and he's enjoying every minute of it. Nothing seems to faze him...heck, he's still only 24 years old. I understand intangibles and I know that statistics don't always tell the story, but I have a favorite saying that I pull out now and then and in this case, it fits. Let the numbers do the talking. 54 games 38 wins 14 losses 2 OTL 2.16 GAA .920 Save Pct. Astounding numbers in this modern 2018 brand of NHL hockey and we haven't even discussed his league leading 8 shutouts! He's been among league leaders in wins and GAA all season long and I was informed recently that Linus has confided in a few players, his desire to lead the league in wins. And he could very well do it. He's a horse and seems to thrive playing back to back games on consecutive days. That being said though, I have no intentions of running him down. The playoffs are just around the corner.
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11-25-2015, 08:55 PM | #65 |
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Location: Upstate Western NY
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I had a plethora of General Manager duties to get handled during the month of February...mostly contract extensions.
February, 2018: W - Jerry D'Amigo - $850K per year/2 years C - Justin Bailey - $1.65 mil per year/ 1 year C - Sam Reinhart - $2.62 mil per year/ 2 years C - Jack Eichel - $3.85 mil per year/2 years D - Rasmus Ristolainen - $4.27 mil per year/2 years W - Evander Kane - $6.35 mil per year/ 5 years C - Zemgus Girgensons - $2.26 mil per year/2 years D - Michael Brodzinski - $870k per year/3 years W - Nicholas Baptiste - $795k per year/3 years
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11-25-2015, 09:14 PM | #66 |
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I also made a trade late in the month of February, 2018 but at this point it doesn't represent much except for the fact I traded longtime NHL veteran Josh Gorges.
The 33 year old Gorges is in decline and with the free agent signings over the past two seasons of Luke Schenn and Karl Alzner, Gorges became expendable. He was toiling in Rochester, helping to teach the youngsters on the AHL club, but he requested a trade if I could make one happen and out of respect for him, I did. To be honest...I was thrilled to unload his $3.9mil salary. To Calgary: D - Josh Gorges To Buffalo: D - Filip Precechtel Calgary is on the outside of the playoff hunt currently and they wanted the veteran defenceman to help stabilize their defensive core. Precechtel is a 20 year old prospect. My scouts have him rated as a 2.0a/3.0 rated two-way defenceman and was assigned to Rochester.
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11-25-2015, 09:20 PM | #67 |
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Another factor contributing to Gorges being expendable was the off-season free agent acquisition of defenceman Henrik Tommernes.
The 27 year old was drafted in 2011 by Vancouver in the 7th round but never played for the team. The Swedish defenceman carved out a nice career in the Swedish league but I was able to convince him to sign (with the help of Swedish countryman Linus Ullmark) and he's been a solid cog in the defensive machine on this club. He's mostly been part of the 3rd defensive paring but recently has been playing with Zach Bogosian following the back issues suffered by Rasmus Ristolainen. 46 games 3 goals 13 assists +15 plus/minus Tommernes signed a 3 year deal worth $1.44mil per season (79K with Rochester.)
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11-25-2015, 09:35 PM | #68 |
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I mentioned earlier the injury to Rasmus Ristolainen. The past two seasons, he's been lights out crazy the last month of the season offensively.
In the last two seasons: 161 games played 32 goals 55 assists +6 plus/minus And in both seasons, he was a man possessed the last month of the season and I must admit, both I and Sabres fans were looking forward to see if he could do it yet again. But unfortunately, on March 8th, Ristolainen tweaked his back and has been suffering serious back spasms. Meaning, he'll miss the last month of the regular season, or most of it anyway. This season: 64 games 8 goals 20 assists +6 plus/minus. Collin Bowman (26 years old) was called up from Rochester to take Ristolainen's spot on the roster.
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