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I have always been rather pro both goalies. Jimmy is a genuine starting goaltender who goes through bad patches and a bit injury prone. Mrazek is a young pretender who has shown patches of brilliance and patches of not being up to snuff. At present Jimmy is the more reliable guy, and (until the last fortnight) less likely to lose you a game. I still vote Mrazek simply because he's shown more by now than Jimmy had at the same age, and when he's in the zone he's better than JImmy, though we've only seen it occasionally over the last year. Were the team in danger of a playoff run, I'd go with Jimmy. But the team is going nowhere with a mediocre roster and a worse than mediocre coach, and the accidental tank is in full effect. So what's the point on marginalising the young guy who still has time to turn things back around simply to overplay a guy who isn't going to get any better and isn't likely to be around as a starter by the time we are competitive again, particularly when the last few years his body hasn't held up to being overplayed. If we are going to have a goalie deathmatch, at least give them an equal chance.

Blash just needs to stfu.

HYPE! LGRW

I mean, he's not wrong. A number of our recent losses have come down to our forwards not burying their chances. The Florida game was the latest example. Sometimes that's just luck. Larkin should probably have 15 goals by now, but the puck's not going in for him. Should he change the way he's playing? Nah. He should keep at it.

So what exactly do people expect Blashill to say? He's put it on himself. He's put it on the players. The teams not competitive and there's no magic wand. What would you do if you got asked the same questions every day? Call out the vets? Guys like Helm, Nielsen, Ericsson? Where's that going to get us? Those guys aren't capable of turning the team around even if it did light a fire. It's just going to piss them off AND decrease their trade value and we'd still be stuck with them. Ride it out. Go through "the process" and try your best to maintain a positive competitive culture where young players can still develop. That's all he can do.

I'm with you on the bolded. I've been a Mrazek supporter, but never really bashed Howard, and certainly never hoped he'd fail. I've always hoped both would play at a high level. As a fan, why wouldn't you? I've never understood why some people hope certain players on the team they cheer for to fail. As for the "neither being long term options" and "Mrazek never being a regular starter", I'll agree that it may appear that way right now, but that can still change. I still have hope that Mrazek can turn it around. It is beginning to look a little bleak, but if he can manage to get in some consecutive games, and get back to a split, or maybe even steal back the starter, if he could get that confidence and swagger back, I think he could be a legitimate starter in this league. I don't think he'll ever be elite, like some of us once thought, but I still think he has it in him to be a very good goaltender. We'll see.

Process your walking papers

Adam Boqvist is incredible. If Svechnikov doesn't go second overall, it'll probably be because of Boqvist. Also incredible? Quinn Hughes. If our pick is in the 4-7 range and we want a defenseman, Hughes is our guy.

your dead wrong. We got SOME talent just not being coached/managed properly.

I would like to see their organizational chart of this 'process'. I am not much for vague bulls***. And I doubt they have one, making the concept null and void to me. And I have studied organizational theory, roughly a year of it. Right now we have one process. Qualify as well as you can for the top pick in the coming draft. Any other so called process should be sent to the 'Swedish mafia department for scrutiny and rejection of proposals'.

Yup, this exactly. Larkin has been snake bitten, and he's not the only one. Nyquist went on a streak of about 6-8 games where he could have had one or two every game, but had nothing to show for it. For the most part, outside of a few games, I actually think we've played well. Even the 6-1 loss to St. Louis, I think we were the better team for the majority of that game. But again, we couldn't bury our chances, and seemingly every shot the Blues took found the back of our net. And no, I'm not saying if it were for a few bounces going our way, we'd be a playoff team, but I don't think we've been quite as bad as our record indicates either. But yeah, I'm quite content with the "process" if it gets us a top pick in next year's draft. Isn't that what most fans want at this point anyway? I know the same old clichés from coaches and players can get annoying, but like others have mentioned, what do you expect them to say? That's why hockey interviews are so boring. The reporters / beat writers ask the same boring questions, and the coaches / players respond with the same boring answers. It's rare to hear an interview (pre-game / post-game) where a coach / player goes off script and says something interesting, unless your name is John Tortorella...

We don't have 5 "s*** defensemen", we have 5 defensemen that are currently playing a spot or two above their talent level. If we get ourselves a true number one, everyone slides down a spot, which would eliminate that. One high end defenseman would completely revamp this defense corps and team. I know, easier said than done, but something needs to be done to fix this defense going forward. No single player in the pipeline appears to be that sort of player (maybe Cholowski gets there), so we need to either draft one (Dahlin), or trade for one with the potential to get there...

They have to be. No one will stay in Buffalo if they're sober.

Since silly advice is being given, how about "Children Must Trust Strangers With Candy" and "Children Must Experience Thrill of Sticking Forks Into Outlets".

Uh huh...

You can play the "meh Karlsson has more assists, OEL has more goals" narrative all you want to attempt to make them sound as if they are equals, but they are not even in the same league. Karlsson is a generational player, OEL is a very good player who could end up being elite. Since the 2013/2014 season Karlsson has 311 Points (75 goals/236 assists) Since the 2013/2014 season OEL has 199 Points (77 goals/122 assists) So while technically yes OEL scored 2 more goals in that time frame, Karlsson has 114 more assists. To say "There is no real difference between them as a player." is just so wrong.

I wouldn't exactly call "hockeyfeed.com" or "detroitssportsrag.com" reliable sources.

I was once one of those fans. I fell victim to the Mrazek Hype Machine. I never turned on Howard tho, at least. That said, I'm not so delusional that I can't see the proverbial writing on the wall for Mrazek. Nor am I so stubborn that I can't have my opinion changed. I am now convinced that Howard is the better of the 2. If we're talking about the future, then the answer is "none of the above". Neither of them are long term options for this team. If we're talking about the "now", the answer is Howard. He has better numbers and stats in every category but age. Mrazek may be around longer than Howard because he's younger, but he'll still never be a regular starter in the NHL, IMO. Howard is that now, Mrazek is not. So I chose Howard.

I’m not hoping Jimmy blows it. I have given credit where it was due so far this season, but he’s been trending downwards. Jimmy being unwanted in a trade (which at the time probably would have been a formality for whatever little Holland could get), and Mrazek not being taken in the expansion are different things. Maybe Vegas wanted Nosek? Maybe there was an agreement with McPhee to take Nosek after Holland originally was going to protect him, but wanted to expose Mrazek for the “wake up call”. None of us know the behind the scenes chats. Howard would have went unclaimed as well, so it is what it is. Howard is 33 yes. Not finished by any means, but It’s not unheard of for rebuilding teams to move on from their oldest goalie and roll with youth. Mrazek and Coreau are 8 and 7 years younger. How many years does Howard have left? How many times will he be injured? How many times will he flake out? Is it worth losing one of your two best younger options to keep him around past next season? All good questions.

100% Disagree. Many teams over the years have had great rosters, but under-performed on the ice. The Rangers all through the 2000's are the perfect example.

*face palm*

f*** u anti buffalo idiots. Yall dont know how to have fun. Bars stay open till 4 am in buffalo. The city is hella fun if you know how to party.

I wouldn't count on it. http://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/21588800/nhl-eight-teams-new-york-islanders-center-john-tavares-sign-2018-free-agent-market Guess who's on the list? Someone is playing with my emotions.

What if Holland wastes it just to see how the members on this website react?

In accordance with the spirit and intent of the thread, I find Leftwinger grossly negligent, however not liable for the spelling and grammatical errors which have occurred herein, and were witnessed by the plaintiffs on October the 24th. In continued observance of said spirit and intent, in the eyes of the state of LGW the thread is deemed 'mature' and will be allowed to conduct its affairs unimpeded, so long as the defendant is able to conduct his thread without any continued grammatical violations.