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It’s just grim, innit? I might need a rewatch. It’s been a while.

Last week it was about the 3 goalie situation.

I don't know. I'm watching it now. Just got to Dennys.

Yes, awful defense causes more goals against, but this team has goalies that RARELY "steal" games for them (yet it seems like backups do that to the Sabres quite often) and other than the win vs Ottawa (which was probably the worst NHL goatending game I have ever seen by their goalie), The sabres goalies (eye test) allow way too many soft goals, compared to the teams they play. It makes just as much sense to me saying good goaltending can MAKE a defense look better than it is, just as much as its true the other way around. In reality, those expressions are probably a wash. As far as every goalie we bring in starts well but regresses..that is for sure not always the case. In the most recent few seasons playing behind a lot of the current players: UPL into his 4th 'full' season with the Team. He had the worst GAA and 2nd worst save percentage in his 'first' season, where he started 32 games (and he wasn't exactly a rookie, he was already in his 23/24 year old season) -Levi, he might be the best example of what you are saying..he started out pretty well, but the more games he played in Buffalo, the worse he seemed to get. -Last year James Reimer was up and down the entire year. Good month, bad month, good month, bad month, but the first half of his games were about equal to the 2nd half of his games. -Eric Comrie was bad in both years in Buffalo with a GAA and save percentage close in both seasons. Again, the first half of his games were just about as bad as the 2nd half of his games. -Craig Anderson actually had slightly better numbers in his 2nd year with the team compared to his first year. -Tokarski was much like Reimer in his one year with the Sabres..good month, bad month, good month, bad month...but overall his peformance wasn't any better in the first half of his starts compared to the 2nd half of them. -With Ellis this year, its hard because he has played so little games. But he has had an above .900 save percentage 3 times in 7 games: His first game, his 4th game (the middle game of his starts) and his 6th game. Spread out pretty evenly. -Lyon has definitely tailed off as the season has gone on, but besides his shutout, his next best game was probably his 33 save effort vs Utah, one of his more recent starts.

I saw really hot young woman in Home Depot a few hours ago wearing a Calgary toque. I was simultaneously aroused and triggered. 😩

How is that possible?

Am I supposed to laugh as I watch my one year old put Cheerios in my three year old’s socks?

The restaurant scenes are classic Buffalo.

Here's how I see it. Every goalie we bring in starts well but regresses to an inadequate performance level. When these things keep happening I ask why? Is it just a coincidence that every goalie the Sabres sign is equally bad? Or is it the way we play the game in front of them wears them out eventually? We'll never know for sure, unless you put 100% faith in stats. From what I see the bad goaltending starts in front of the goalie, all the way to the opposing blue line. All 5 skaters are sloppy, they don't know how to handle a puck, they skate themselves into trouble, and all opposing teams need to do is wait for us to cough up the puck and they're off to the races. Night after night after night it's like this. Now think back to the Winnipeg game in Buffalo. The Jets came in flat and the Sabres played a near flawless game. UPL gives up one goal. One breakaway, few if any turnovers at the blue line, and the ones that happened, skaters got back and erased the mistake. When the Sabres play like that, suddenly goaltending looks pretty good. When you watch other games, you simply do not see the level of sloppiness you see in this team. So go ahead and say this goalie or that one isn't good enough, and spew all the advanced analytics you want. I know what I see and you will NEVER find that mythical goalie we all dream of because no goalie stands a chance playing behind the Sabres.

I would look at a Liam Greentree from LA, Samoskevich from Florida as mentioned, or Utah which is has picks and prospects

miss Rick, too. keep me updated on your cat

If there is a more colorful Sabrespace poster, I’ve never read them. And garlic powder is perfectly suitable in a dry spice blend.

Truly. I mean, it was probably better for the Bills if they'd won, but I don't care. I want to see them crash and burn.

Now, now, now, Kevyn....

What'd he say?

Just saw Ruff’s answer about Östlund going back to Rochester. That makes twice in the past week he’s quietly thrown shade at Adams and the rest of management.

Meh Whatever

Coaching staff, August 2011 Yes, there was that initial new owner spike and standings surge when it was just good vibes and a rebuilt Regier/Ruff team rising from the ashes of 2007 --- yes, only dramatic charges to 8th and 9th. But now they could drill wells. And then Pegula started making decisions. But also during that summer his apprentice came aboard.

I'd much rather have them trade him and get a big return out of it...but I don't think the return on a trade matters as much anymore. If this team has a GOOD GM/Front office eventually, the $10m in cap space you will have by him not being here is likely to be more valuable than a mid-to-late 1st round pick (and what that may become in 3-4 years) and a mid-level prospect.

I knew you would like that. And benchmark, don't forget benchmark. 91 points is the standard of excellence that Adams brought to us.

If the country cared about and paid more attention to the NHL, "Pegula" would be a verb right now.... When a new owner buys a team, the local media and fanbase can say "Just don't Pegula things up" When an owner makes big time changes, hires an uknown coach or GM (stuff like that) and not everyone agree with them "He's going to Pegula the franchise up" Alas, the majority of the USA doesn't know the Pegula chapter of the Sabres story for that to likely catch on.

So if the glass is half-full then we have 14 more years to go?

And yet every single day that passes brings them that much closer to their next playoff berth. (Glass halffull indeed.)

He may have bought the team in Feb 2011, but the team from Feb 2011 to the end of the season really wan't "his" team. If was in the offseason he started to take control in a way that impacted the team, roster, and front office. That basically will line up with the peak of that graph. It was very VERY close to the start of the downfall the moment Pegula started to 'exercise' his power as owner.