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So, we now have nearly 4 games of Norris and all of them have been with Thompson on his wing. They were great in the 1 adrenaline game and have been bad in the other 3. When things were going well prior to Norris getting back in the lineup, Ruff had said he saw Thompson as his 1C and Norris as the 2C. Realize the sample size of them together has been very small, but this team has played its way into not having the luxury of letting the 1st line have 10 or so games to find itself and gel. So, IMHO (and likely most people's here) the time has come for Ruff to break those 2 up. Thompson and Tuch show a lot of chemistry with each other. Doan has played with Tuch a lot and has reasonable chemistry with him. IMHO there's your 1st line. Norris and Benson should have chemistry together. And, in the adrenaline game they did. (But pretty sure Norris would've had chemistry with people from here that day.) What winger to give them? Options are Zucker, Quinn, Östlund (yeah he's a C, he can slide), and Greenway. Personally am giving them Zucker as he's the best of the bunch. Now, who to play on McLeod's line? For now, would give him Östlund and Greenway or maybe see what Kozak gives you at W. Actually would like to see what Kozak gives at W. Don't want Quinn on this line as am planning on using it predominantly as a checking line and Quinn doesn't fit that bill. That McLeod and Östlund can contribute some O would be enough in that department, at least on an initial looksee at what we have. Which would leave Krebs and Malenstyn wtih either Greenway, Quinn, or Dunne. Give it to Greenway when he's available and Dunne when he isn't. Quinn hasn't really played his way out of a job, but last few games he hasn't exactly played his way into one either. Doan - Thompson - Tuch Benson - Norris - Zucker Östlund - McLeod - Kozak Greenway/Dunne - Krebs - Malenstyn

What makes you believe that a skid would make that happen?

This team is just bad and there is no fixing it with the players/staff they have. Developing players in the NHL is an epically bad plan especially when you give them the Temu of coaching staffs. Unless there is huge influx of money and wholesale changes this offseason I think I’m done with the Sabres. There is no future for this organization under Pegula. He is fine using this team as a tax write off and keeping fans chasing the carrot with their bulls#it and they will always have fans believing it.

Good post.

Wow. One year. I really thought it was later in the season.

They signed Greenway for 2 years, two.

Sell. The. Team.

As a fan, here's where I'm at: Also sticking with the 1939 theme

One year ago today, Kevyn Adams told the world he don't know how to play ...

It is a shame that we've reached this point

"... where is Perreault?" "From now on, the Buffalo Sabres reason for for existence ... "

Stop making sense of the mess, a year or 3 yeah, I could agree, but if it hit double digits... Oy... Respect the opinion, but Fandom is at wits end. No offense.

Its not that I think they don't care. I just think they aren't good enough. Its not that I think Ruff is a bad coach, its just the things he is good at are not a match for this roster. He might be asking them to do the things they can't do. Its not that they totally don't have heart. If anything I think they have gotten better in that part of their game. I think its again, they aren't good enough. The roster isn't good enough, AND the parts that are good don't mesh well with each other. For me that is most of the failings of this team. IF they change the GM, coach, most of the front office, this team will not be good enough to go on a deep run magically. The new guys have to fundamentally change a large part of the roster. -Samuelsson should not have games where he is your best D-men when you have 3 other guys picked in the top 5 overall. -Tuch is a very good winger, but hes not a great one, is more of an analytics darling than how it translates on the ice, and I think he is STARTING to show a tiny bit of a sign of being past his peak because inconsistency is creaping into his game. -Tage is a premier goal scorer. Top 20 talent in the league. He cares, but his still set is NOT one where he can do it alone. He's not a superstar Alpha. -Dahlin is good, very, very good. But he isn't the McDavid of D-men. He's not a generational player. -Their goaltending is average (at best), probably below average. Every guy they have tried over the last few years. -I tried to convince myself Quinn was getting better. He's not. He's bad. A veteran journyman winger might not score as many goals (or maybe he would) but the team would be better with one of those guys instead of Quinn. He is a negative overall when on the ice. This team has some talent. They have some good pieces. But they have too few stars and no truly effective superstars. They aren't good enough, the roster simply hasn't been put together well.

There is another aspect to this systemic failure that I worry about: the persistent losing and being a part of an irrelevant team (from a player's perspective) having a demoralizing effect. I see it in the periodic spiritless play of Tuch, Dahlin and Tage and others. Players are not stupid. They can recognize what a quality organization is compared to a what a mediocre franchise is in the hockey business they work in. Unless they are stupendously obtuse (and they are not), they can recognize that they are stuck in a mediocre organization. You don't think that when they are watching the playoffs on their couches and see players they know participating in meaningful playoff games, they ask themselves: I would love to be on a team and be part of that playoff experience? I recognize that I often, to the understandable irritation of many, repeatedly blame this unreachable owner for the failure of this franchise during his ownership tenure. However, when a franchise has never gotten on a serious track yet continues to do what it has been doing without meaningfully attempting to get on another course, then that it is outright stupid and outrageous. This silent owner makes me angry. We deserve better.

It really annoyed me when Adams only got Timmins of all people and a minor league player for Connor Clifton PLUS what would have been the 39th pick (2nd round) in the draft. The Sabres are the 5th team Timmins has played for in the last 5 years. What could Adams have possibly seen in Timmins? Doesn't he look at past history?

Stay off the poppies , they are deadly

My apologies to Dahlin, he does have a heart, didn't mean to include him

Worst road team In professional hockey. Adams draft selections at forward so many gifs.

I wouldn't flame that, but it was FIRE.

If you want goals from Tuch and Thompson you have to play them together. They're the only ones that seem to have chemistry together. They can't seem to find it with anyone else. They should each be able to drive their own line but they can't. Put them together and at least have one good line.

As someone who as a towheaded 6 year child went to games in the '70 season, the Sabres first, this is deplorable. Not one player seems to care, I get running out the string, but this has been going for 14 years. Ruff is cooked, he'll never get another job at his age, the players know this. Adams is a total tool, he sees blue Sun and yellow skies and believes no one knows he is not all the great Oz, and the core just regurgitates trope lines about hockey. This team is the tin man without a heart, but doesn't seek a heart. A scarecrow who doesn't want a brain and a lion who doesn't seek courage, they see the flying monkeys and cower. Trade them all, and just start over. This team needs a Dorothy, the only one with balls. I for one embrace a tornado to shake things up, hell put the corpse of Margaret Hamilton in charge, it may at least scare opponents, she can fly in on a palm tree broom! Rant done, feel free to comment and flame me!

It's up to whether we believe he wanted to move or not. He said he basically was happy and didn't want to move. The future actions will tell us what he really thinks, but I'm not getting bent over it. I don't think he's a high profile player.. he was just a guy who was let go by a middling team. He had his moments, but it would be like Jordan Poyer not reporting in my mind. He's old and while he can help, he's not going to solve the problem.

I think you are inferring that the move to Utah was the difference. I think the move to Utah was coincidental. The team had talent, what it lacked was belief that it's ownership believed in them and they were in a stable franchise. You don't have to move a team to create that atmosphere but in Arizona they very clearly did. After decades of floundering in and around the city of Phoenix it was clear Arizona did not want to support a hockey team. The government basically rejected the hockey team. That's not the same in Buffalo. Buffalo is not a big city, but it is very much a hockey city. Buffalo draws Toronto and Canadian fans in masses. The league loves this and it helps any owner as well keep the barn full. I don't think they would want to move Buffalo, they do however want to have an owner and an area that its invested in the team. Moving the team away from Canada would eliminate that. There's a reason hockey has failed in Atlanta. The fair weather cities need to have a competitive team or they lose people in a heartbeat. Recall the Florida Panthers attendance when they were bad? I don't believe the Sabres will move if they get sold. It could happen. Pegula could also create a winning franchise. I'm not putting the odds on that. All I know is that the current path sucks and the trend has proven that he's doing something wrong in operating the franchise.