I'm done arguing about this team...

[OpIv37]

This is my assessment:

1. Miller is a great goalie but will break down as the season goes on.
2. Backup goaltending is insufficient (although Lalime's recent play has me on the fence with this one)
3. This team rarely if ever plays an entire 60 minutes and depends too much on Miller.
4. The "scorers" on the top two lines are a joke. They range from inconsistent to invisible.
5. The Sabres struggle against top teams, mainly because they can't score and don't give Miller any help when they play teams with "snipers" (see points 3 and 4).
6. The PP is woefully insufficient
7. The end result is that Miller will break down late in the season and this team will limp into the playoffs and struggle once they get there.

I'm not going to argue in every single thread anymore. I'm not going to ***** during every single game. I will simply link back to this post with numbers when appropriate.

There. I've said my piece. At the end of the year, I'll either be right or wrong. Hopefully the so-called "scorers" on this team will wake up and prove me dead wrong. Time will tell. If that happens, I'll be here to take the flak that I deserve. If I'm right, I'm not going to gloat because there's no satisfaction in losing. However, if I'm right, I reserve the right to remind people of it the next time they call me "pessimistic," "negative nancy," say I'm "over-reacting," etc.

Carry on.

[clumping platelets]

[Dr. Lecter]

Nobody said the team can't be better.

I think the point most of us have been trying to make is that it is not all negative, yet 95% of what you have posted about this team this year is negative.

Hell the Briere/Drury teams often did not play 60 minutes. Very few NHL teams do night in night out.

There is much good this year and so far the good > than the bad.

The proof is in the numbers

[OpIv37]

Nobody said the team can't be better.

I think the point most of us have been trying to make is that it is not all negative, yet 95% of what you have posted about this team this year is negative.

Hell the Briere/Drury teams often did not play 60 minutes. Very few NHL teams do night in night out.

There is much good this year and so far the good > than the bad.

The proof is in the numbers

the Briere/Drury teams were much better than this team. That team had 6 guys who could score at any moment. The scary part is that 3 of them are still on the team (Roy, Pominville, Vanek), yet we still can't score.

My contention is that the good outweighs the bad FOR NOW but the bad will come back to bite this team before the season ends.

[Ebenezer]

does this mean Op is done posting about the Sabres?

[clumping platelets]

[Nighthawk]

The problem and most aggravating part about this organization is that they put themselves in good positions to succeed, but they refuse to make the necessary moves to win it all. This year they could definitely use another scorer...BADLY! They need a guy they can count on...they do not have that right now. As was the case a few years back when they lacked heart, toughness and grit...this franchise will probably ignore it and lose in the playoffs. For once, I'd like to see them acknowledge the problem and be proactive in addressing it. I hope they will do so this year...

[JD]

The problem and most aggravating part about this organization is that they put themselves in good positions to succeed, but they refuse to make the necessary moves to win it all. This year they could definitely use another scorer...BADLY! They need a guy they can count on...they do not have that right now. As was the case a few years back when they lacked heart, toughness and grit...this franchise will probably ignore it and lose in the playoffs. For once, I'd like to see them acknowledge the problem and be proactive in addressing it. I hope they will do so this year...

Kovalchuk. With some tweaking, we have the cap space.

[qcsabresfan84]

You're right, this is not a perfect hockey team. Neither has any team that's every set foot on the ice. If you're looking for perfection from any team in any sport, you won't find it. If you're looking for imperfections, they're easy to spot, and that is all that you're doing. I can tell that you just love being the antagonist, but I hope that your telling the truth in your post, because I'm tired of seeing you're bull **** in anything remotely positive on this board.

[OpIv37]

You're right, this is not a perfect hockey team. Neither has any team that's every set foot on the ice. If you're looking for perfection from any team in any sport, you won't find it. If you're looking for imperfections, they're easy to spot, and that is all that you're doing. I can tell that you just love being the antagonist, but I hope that your telling the truth in your post, because I'm tired of seeing you're bull **** in anything remotely positive on this board.

Call me an antagonist all you want, but it's all in there. The problem isn't that this team isn't perfect. The problems are the serious flaws I mentioned. They aren't showing at the moment, but they will.

[rbochan]

Kovalchuk. With some tweaking, we have the cap space.

I reiterate.
With what Kovy said about Ruff in the press, anyone who thinks he'd ever sign with Buffalo is out of their mind.

[THATHURMANATOR]

He wouldn't be signing. He would be traded.

[BillsSabresB.C.T. Fan]

hey OP, read this

Buffalo is closer to chasing the Presidents' Trophy for the best overall record than it is to a ninth-place overall finish in the conference.

After playing at a .577 pace (7-5-1) in November, the Sabres finished December with a 9-4-2 mark (.667) thanks to Tuesday night's rousing, come-from behind, 4-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins in HSBC Arena.

Buffalo has managed to earn at least one point in six of the last seven games.

With 52 points (24-11-4), the Sabres had the fourth-best record in the Eastern Conference and were only three points off the overall league points lead going into Wednesday night's games. San Jose, Chicago and New Jersey all began the evening with 55 points, while while Washington had 54. Pittsburgh had 53 points.

Of the teams with more points than the Sabres, all except New Jersey and Pittsburgh had played the same number of games (39). The Devils, however, have one game in hand on Buffalo following Wednesday night's 2-0 win over Pittsburgh.
http://www.buffalonews.com/buffalosa...ry/908691.html

here's another stat the Sabres are 7-0-0 overall against the Western Conference teams so far this season and the West is the beast of the NHL.

[OpIv37]

Sorry billsBLTCBSNBCESPNOMGTMILOLROFLsabres fan.... There are a million things in there I could counter, but ive said my piece already and I'm not taking the bait

[Crisis]

why don't you just bold the entire article so we don't miss anything?

[Nighthawk]

why don't you just bold the entire article so we don't miss anything?

It's amazing what a tool he is.

[hydro]

Miller broken down already? Don't think so!

[Ebenezer]

Miller broken down already? Don't think so!

he got lucky!!!

[OpIv37]

Miller broken down already? Don't think so!

not gonna take the bait....

[Dr. Lecter]

BTW, according the Buffalo News the Sabres were 8th in the NHL in points for the calendar year 2009.

Dispels the idea that they collapse late in the season, or at least they collapsed last year.