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Road Victory in Florida

Sabres 3 – Panthers 2 (en) The Buffalo Sabres have now beaten the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions twice on the road this February, last night the Sabres scored on the power play, even-strength, empty net, and even scored the Panthers second goal as Buffalo won the game and the regular season series with their conference foe, three games to one.

Sabres (C) Thompson and (C) McLeod each earned their 31st assist of the season, (RW) Tuch scored his 23rd goal on the power play, (LW) Malenstyn broke the 1-1 tie with his goal earning the game’s first star as Buffalo’s fourth line played exceptionally well, (G) Lyon earned an impressive .966% save percentage and the game’s second star backstopping Buffalo to another road victory.

Once again, this month the Sabres visit Tampa Bay to take on the Lightning and finish their three-game road trip tonight at 7 pm and last night’s win versus Florida vaulted the Sabres into sixth place overall in the NHL and second place in the Atlantic Division, even though the division rival Red Wings have a similar record to the Sabres, its Buffalo that has a +21 goal differential compared to Detroit sitting at zero.

Teammates no more

Sabres 2 – Devils 1 New Jersey (C) Hughes was quite the gentleman and all class during the game’s opening tribute to the Devils’ gold medal winner, he skated towards the Buffalo bench motioning for the Sabres (C) Thompson to come join him on the ice, and after a ceremonial faceoff between the two Olympian teammates with the puck being dropped by family patriarch Mr. Hughes, it was back to business.

Buffalo who had already built a 2-0 lead before New Jersey scored with their goaltender pulled for the extra attacker with 2:30 remaining in the game, both goaltenders played an outstanding game with each earning the game’s first and third star respectively.

There was no scoring in the first period, each team killed off all the other team’s power plays during the game, and after New Jersey spanked Buffalo 5-0 the day after this past Thanksgiving the Sabres won the next two games (Jan & last night) versus the Devils to win the regular season series two games to one.

Bizarre and wicked scheduling had the Sabres in the beginning of February (2nd & 3rd) playing Florida and Tampa Bay on the road and now to close out February the Sabres again have to play Florida and Tampa Bay on the road this coming (27th & 28th) Friday and Saturday.

The NHL resumes tomorrow

Here along the Lake It was a long Olympic break, but we are bright eyed and bushy tailed waiting with bated breath to get back to managing our fantasy teams, the previous weekly matchup was only four days of play and there are only five days to the upcoming weekly matchup.

As of this week, Buffalo Winter & asher1961-1, have already clinched a playoff seeding and there are now four teams eliminated leaving four teams vying for first place in the Eastern Division or endeavoring to earn the fourth and final invitation to the playoffs.

I would like to go over goaltenders once more; it is a fact that the ESPN FHL point system for goaltenders creates a high-risk high-reward player, some league managers when creating their league assign top points for goalies essentially having a “goaltender league” where the netminder earns incredibly high points, but goalies either earn you points or minus points from your weekly matchup score.

Highlighting my league’s last place team, (not to mock/make fun of), let’s go over this team’s goaltending points earned so far this season, this manager collected 37 wins (4 points per), 4 shutouts (3 points per), 13 OT/SO losses (1 point per), and 1,683 saves (.02 point per) which garnishes this team 206.66 positive points earned thus far, now the negative points, 190 goals against (-2 points per) which cost this team 380 points, now minus the lower number from the higher number and you get a negative 173.34 points which were taken away from their overall point total.

Now for the team in first place, this manager collected 29 wins, 5 shutouts, 11 OT/SO losses, and 1,506 saves earning a positive 172.12 points, and on the other side of the ledger, 161 goals against for a negative 322 points, again we subtract the lower from the higher number and we get, a negative 149.88 points, which can be taken away during the weekly matchup and overall points in the standings.

Nothing is 100%, not even in fantasy hockey, so your goaltender can earn you monster points one day during the week and help you win the weekly matchup, but then if your goaltender has one bad game during the week it will interfere greatly with your ability to win the weekly matchup, costing you valuable points that could have been utilized to strengthen your bid for a playoff seeding.

Finally, if you are going to draft and keep goaltenders on your roster, try not to select more than one or two, these players take up valuable roster spots, remember that even the best NHL goalies do not play every scheduled game, but your defensemen, centers, and wingers do.

In my experiences participating in ESPN FHL’s I have found that goaltenders are not worth the risk, and I present receipts to highlight just this, I put my ESPN FHL team out there for everyone to observe, statistics and standings to show other managers that I am a legitimate ESPN FHL team manager and not some content creator advising you what to do without participating in ESPN’s FHL.

Terza Americana Medaglia D’oro

Here along the Lake Since 1920 when hockey was initially included during the Olympics, Team USA has won two Olympic Gold Medals in Men’s Ice Hockey with amateurs, once in 1960 and the other more recognizable in 1980.

Team USA won their first Olympic Gold Medal 17 months before I was born, then for their second gold medal I had recently reported aboard the USS Saratoga CV-60 for duty and did not get to watch the “Miracle on Ice” victory.

Now in my mid-60s and retired I was able to watch as many of the Olympic hockey games as I chose to, and to be able to watch Team USA win an Olympic Gold Medal in Men’s Ice Hockey was spectacularly enjoyable and satisfying.

Now that the 2026 Olympic Men’s Ice Hockey tournament is finished, we can get back to cheering for our NHL teams and managing our fantasy teams, with the Buffalo Sabres finishing out February with three road games beginning this Wednesday in New Jersey to take on the Devils.

Italy beats Austria 5-2 February 10th, 1998

Here along the Lake The Italian Olympic Men’s Ice Hockey team last won 28 years ago in Japan during the initial participation of NHL players in an Olympic tournament, unfortunately the winless streak continues as Italy lost their four games of these Olympics.

Team USA was eliminated quickly in the quarter finals in 98′ winning only one game but then the NHL players proceeded to act like spoiled children and trashed their hotel rooms, broke furniture, and emptied fire extinguishers, not America’s NHL players finest moment, thankfully we were invited back.

Team Canada did not help themselves in 1998 by allowing GM Bobby Clarke to make his NHL team’s player Eric Lindros, captain of the Olympic team over Wayne Gretzky or Steve Yzerman, and the team’s head coach Marc Crawford put Raymond Borque in a shootout instead of, again, Wayne Gretzky and Steve Yzerman, so Team Canada made it to the semi-finals but no further.

Of course, what are the Olympics without some political controversy, the 1998 Team Sweden’s player, Buffalo Sabres defenseman’s dad, was ejected from the team after one game when it was found out he had dual (Swedish/American) citizenship, the game Team Sweden won with Ulf Samuelsson was kept for the tournament records even after the Czechs (who won the gold) tried unsuccessfully to annul Team Sweden’s points earned with the win.

All I wanted to do these Olympics was to watch some well-played, entertaining men’s ice hockey games without some kind of controversy or emotionally violent NHL players parading around like school yard bullies.