Official Buffalo Sabres Thread

[ajs510 122]

Wtf is up with Miller?

[Zach6668 513]

Ok. Acceptable.

[serge 904]

Yes its true Noreen is the cause of all this.She called my friend the other day and said she is actually feeling a bit guilty for his play.

[mrdannyg 274]

Can't believe no one is talking about the Lucic/Miller hit. He didn't target the head, but I can't believe Lucic isn't getting suspended for that. What are the rules on playing the goalie like anyone else outside the crease? Because he had tons of time to get out of the way.If I'm the Sabres, I don't think you have an option but to run Miller. I'm not much of a fan of retribution, but its kind of hard with guys like Lucic and Chara on the other team to do anything else.

[ajs510 122]

I thought the lack of response from anyone on the team was absolutely shameful. They basically just announced to the entire league that it's okay to take liberties with Miller because no one is going to do a thing about it. I was ashamed of that team for the first time in a long time last night.

[pauld22 0]

He didn't target the head, but I can't believe Lucic isn't getting suspended for that.

Apparently the league is looking at it.http://wgr550.com/NHL-looking-at-Lucic-suspension/11451896

(<-- just a clip of the hit for anyone that may have missed it)I have a slightly different view on this. I don't think it was as bad as it looked at full speed. If you look at the view from behind the net after Miller shoots the puck to the boards he throws his elbow into Lucic. In his post game interview Miller calls Lucic gutless because he outweighs Miller by "50 pounds". Then why make the contact any worse than it's going to be?Did Lucic make any attempt to avoid hitting him? Of course not. Should he have? Of course. Did he hit him in the head at all? Nope. Did Miller make it worse than it had to be? Yep. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe it was Miller trying to brace for the hit. And don't get me wrong. I'm not apologizing for Lucic in the least. He never made an effort to avoid Miler - went right through him. But he didn't go out of his way to hit him and he didn't him him from behind or in the head. And I agree with ajs510. I was very disappointed in the lack of a response from the players on the ice - Gaustad in particular - but any one of them should have taken the ass-kicking to stand up for the goalie.

[pauld22 0]

Miller out indefinitely with concussion

[mrdannyg 274]

I thought the lack of response from anyone on the team was absolutely shameful. They basically just announced to the entire league that it's okay to take liberties with Miller because no one is going to do a thing about it. I was ashamed of that team for the first time in a long time last night.

I feel for the Sabres - what are you supposed to do? Have someone much smaller than Lucic go out and get their butt kicked by him? If I'm a Sabres player, I'm awfully tempted to send Gaustad or Regehr out and just pound Seguin or Krejci, but that's a dangerous road to go down.There's no way I don't make every attempt to get in Thomas' face, but short of straight out running him, that doesn't accomplish much.

Apparently the league is looking at it.http://wgr550.com/NHL-looking-at-Lucic-suspension/11451896

(<-- just a clip of the hit for anyone that may have missed it)I have a slightly different view on this. I don't think it was as bad as it looked at full speed. If you look at the view from behind the net after Miller shoots the puck to the boards he throws his elbow into Lucic. In his post game interview Miller calls Lucic gutless because he outweighs Miller by "50 pounds". Then why make the contact any worse than it's going to be?Did Lucic make any attempt to avoid hitting him? Of course not. Should he have? Of course. Did he hit him in the head at all? Nope. Did Miller make it worse than it had to be? Yep. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe it was Miller trying to brace for the hit. And don't get me wrong. I'm not apologizing for Lucic in the least. He never made an effort to avoid Miler - went right through him. But he didn't go out of his way to hit him and he didn't him him from behind or in the head. And I agree with ajs510. I was very disappointed in the lack of a response from the players on the ice - Gaustad in particular - but any one of them should have taken the ass-kicking to stand up for the goalie.

I didn't really think Miller embellished it. As a goalie, he's not trying to stand up to that hit, he's trying to absorb it. With Lucic's height advantage and hitting him up high, it's awfully hard to absorb that hit.

[digitalmonkey 929]

Lucic is a POS!

[ajs510 122]

I feel for the Sabres - what are you supposed to do? Have someone much smaller than Lucic go out and get their butt kicked by him?

YES. Whatever else happens, you don't just do nothing. I don't believe the Sabres should have started running Thomas but I do believe a stepping up of the physical play was definitely warranted and necessary and instead we saw 20 guys whistle on the bench and make like ostriches in a sandpit. Hell, Nathan Gerbe nearly got into it with Shawn Thornton, and everyone in the building knew if that happened Nathan was going to get his ass handed to him but he stood right in there with a giant grin on his face daring Thornton to do something. That's HEART and last night he was basically the only player on the team who had any of it. Gaustad is 6'5" and was on the ice when Miller got run. The fact that he wasn't on top of Lucic in an instant is embarrassing and pitiful. The fact that Lindy had skill players out on the ice to take the next faceoff rather than the 4th line to send a message is embarrassing and pitiful. Someone needed to do something and instead the entire team shut down and let the Bruins impose their will on them. Disgraceful.

[serge 904]

As much as I want to see the Sabres do bad, not like this. Lucic should be suspended. Hitting goalies are not like hitting regular players. They should have some protection from plays like this. While not similar, Iam still looking at you Mr Gionta.Get well soon Ryan, but not looking good.Im screwed in a lot of fantasy pools.

[mrdannyg 274]

YES. Whatever else happens, you don't just do nothing. I don't believe the Sabres should have started running Thomas but I do believe a stepping up of the physical play was definitely warranted and necessary and instead we saw 20 guys whistle on the bench and make like ostriches in a sandpit. Hell, Nathan Gerbe nearly got into it with Shawn Thornton, and everyone in the building knew if that happened Nathan was going to get his ass handed to him but he stood right in there with a giant grin on his face daring Thornton to do something. That's HEART and last night he was basically the only player on the team who had any of it. Gaustad is 6'5" and was on the ice when Miller got run. The fact that he wasn't on top of Lucic in an instant is embarrassing and pitiful. The fact that Lindy had skill players out on the ice to take the next faceoff rather than the 4th line to send a message is embarrassing and pitiful. Someone needed to do something and instead the entire team shut down and let the Bruins impose their will on them. Disgraceful.

Well said. I didn't realize Gaustad was on the ice. So long as fighting is within the NHL's rules, there should be nothing to stop Gaustad from skating the length of the ice to go after Lucic here.

[serge 904]

Didnt realize the sick numbers that Enroth has.5-0 .944 1.75The guy is 14-3 so far in his career. 12-0-1 in his last 13 decisions Why isnt this guy getting any more credit?If he has to be the number one guy, will his play change?Very impressive numbers.

[FCP Bob 1,312]

Well said. I didn't realize Gaustad was on the ice. So long as fighting is within the NHL's rules, there should be nothing to stop Gaustad from skating the length of the ice to go after Lucic here.

If you look at the replay Gaustad wasn't one of the first to the scrum and by the time he got there there was a wall of players in between him and Lucic and Chara was right beside him. To fight Lucic he would have had to have got through the scrum without Chara grabbing and stopping him.

[ajs510 122]

Didnt realize the sick numbers that Enroth has.5-0 .944 1.75The guy is 14-3 so far in his career. 12-0-1 in his last 13 decisions Why isnt this guy getting any more credit?If he has to be the number one guy, will his play change?Very impressive numbers.

Enroth has been very, very good for us so far...almost shockingly good. It'll be interesting to see how he does as the starter for a while since Miller isn't going to be around for a bit. I don't think his play will change at all, but I do think the team plays better in front of the backup than they do for Miller most nights...Enroth is getting plenty of credit in goalie circles, people talk about him the same way they talk about Cory Schnieder and Josh Harding...NHL.com just named him as the #1 backup goalie bargain in the league over the weekend.

[mrdannyg 274]

So, how long are we talking about for Miller? I know that no one knows anything yet, but are Buffalo circles talking about it like a couple weeks, or possibly months?

[gruven 530]

Lucic definately makes no attempt to get out of the way, and he definately could have. He also extends his arms and drives the hit through Miller, showing he fully intended to hit him. Also on the ice for the Sabres, besides Gausted, was 7'37" tall Tyler Myers, who also did nothing... And, as a complete aside, there is some suspicion that the Sabres are playing up Miller's injury status to get Lucic out for as long as possible. They play the Bruins again on the 23rd.

[ajs510 122]

So, how long are we talking about for Miller? I know that no one knows anything yet, but are Buffalo circles talking about it like a couple weeks, or possibly months?

I wouldn't think very long at all...to be honest I'm not even completely convinced he's injured. He seemed perfectly fine in his postgame comments, a big part of me is wondering if the Sabres aren't suspension-trolling a little bit. I'd be stunned if he misses more than a couple starts.

[serge 904]

So, how long are we talking about for Miller? I know that no one knows anything yet, but are Buffalo circles talking about it like a couple weeks, or possibly months?

James Reimer was supposed to miss 2 games and he apparently "didnt" have a "concussion".They are saying Miller has a concussion, im assuming its going to be lenghty.

[serge 904]

I know people have been critical of the Leafs treatment of the Connolly and Reimer injury reporting. If what Chris and Adam speculating are true, isnt this worse..After all the NHL policy is they dont have to report anything about injuries.

[ajs510 122]

Lucic definately makes no attempt to get out of the way, and he definately could have. He also extends his arms and drives the hit through Miller, showing he fully intended to hit him. Also on the ice for the Sabres, besides Gausted, was 7'37" tall Tyler Myers, who also did nothing...

Tyler Myers is a colossal pansy.

[Zach6668 513]

Tyler Myers is a colossal pansy.

Lucic would murder him. Just because you're 6'7" or 6'8" doesn't make you particularly tough.Myers is kinda wirey.

[ajs510 122]

I know people have been critical of the Leafs treatment of the Connolly and Reimer injury reporting. If what Chris and Adam speculating are true, isnt this worse..After all the NHL policy is they dont have to report anything about injuries.

Considering that NHL players and coaches often go way out of their way to obscure the nature of injuries to star players...I just kinda think that the fact that they came right out and said Miller is concussed the day before Lucic's hearing with Shanny is on the suspicious side of things. TBH, I don't think very much of the move, it's more evidence that this team is STILL way too soft. It's like getting your ass kicked by the school bully and expecting the principal to deal with it rather than handling things yourself.

[FCP Bob 1,312]

Tyler Myers is a colossal pansy.

And it appears that he's going to be a healthy scratch tonight.

[ajs510 122]

Lucic would murder him. Just because you're 6'7" or 6'8" doesn't make you particularly tough.Myers is kinda wirey.

That's what I'm saying...I don't think Myers has a single NHL fighting major on his resume...he isn't going to start with Milan Lucic. For a tall guy he's incredibly non-physical. The only guys on the team that I would think could take on Lucic and expect not to get pummeled would be Gaustad, McCormick and possibly Regehr. Gaustad knows full well he needed to step up and do something, he's been quoted as such in the media. The fact that Cody did nothing is even more surprising, since he has the reputation for being both a team-first and always kind of guy AND he's a bit of a hothead. I'm kinda wondering if he's concealing an injury after his fight with Tanner Glass last week...he seemed to be favoring his right hand a bit and he hasn't fought since then.