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110.00% agree. As someone else paraphrased, a team full of coasters who aren't truly willing to put their hands up. We need our own version of Ridley Greig.

Does winning matter for TP... I would say this... you almost have to make it your mission to be out of the playoffs for this long... like literally you have to focus hard on being incompetent... now I am not saying that he is trying to lose... but geez... I am running out of explanations other than legitimately he is clueless, fancies himself as the great Hockey oracle and only hires people who sycophant that notion... and keep who he likes... so I think he would like to win to prove that he is the great white knight... but in the end... being in control of his toy and making money are way more important... because lets not fool ourselves... once he got the Bills, they became his business per se... and Hockey was his toy hobby... or at least in my opinion...

One problem the Sabres will have with moving Pick #9 is the pick does not carry as much weight as usual. The draft isnt great at 9 and other teams also want to move off their 1st round pick. It is a buyer's market so the Sabres wont get the usual value that comes with Pick #9. In this case, I am ok with Buffalo keeping this pick provided they are utilizing other existing prospects in the pipeline to upgrade the current roster.

One can only imagine what Tkachuk would have done if that happened to a teammate.

Thxs Kevyn

Sad but true the Sam Bennett effect and emulating SC Champions builds is real.

Agree. And basketball is very different from hockey in that a hockey player like McDavid barely plays over 1/3 of the game and is not the goaltender. Whereas Jordan, especially in the playoffs, could play the entire game if necessary and be a force on offense and defense with only 5 players. At the very least he's playing 3/4 of the game. It gets even worse when the media makes a big deal about a QB winning a title. Yeah, he's the most important player but there are 22 players (really 30 with specialists), the OL is a huge factor, and he doesn't play defense or special teams. If Josh Allen never wins a title it doesn't mean he wasn't a great player. Same thing with Marino. Or Dan Fouts.

And his NHL-recommended hires failed miserably. His advisor, the NHL failed him. Hopefully Jarmo is finally the right advisor.

You just go into the Settings and turn off Line Changes. It's easy.

Ralph Krueger refuses to believe you.

I think the same truth applies substantially in other sports as well. Jordan without Pippen (and without Horace Grant, Luc Longley, Toni Kukoc, etc.) is not a 6-time (?) NBA champion. It seems more pronounced in hockey. The Pardon My Take guys (a podcast) have a running bit about how McDavid can't be that good because he has to come off the ice after 60-90 seconds.

Did anyone else notice that last night Skinner seemed to be the hardest working Oiler. Maybe it's that he's better rested both physically and mentally, but had the rest of the team had his jump, it could have been a closer game last night.

If he were good enough we wouldn’t have to imagine…..

Maybe Tage is the problem.

Since no one else has mentioned it: Tage Thompson loves him some Donnie Granato. Tage Thompson considers Jeff Skinner one of his best friends and favourite linemates ever Tage Thompson knows some people think Jack Eichel is a ***** but says he was always good to him, and that he admires and looks up to Jack.

I’m not surprised at all. No way any of those guys come here if they are offered market rate.

It's because Vegas let him get the surgery that we were not approving. Had we approved he'd likely still be here IMO.

This should get some people talking lol.

The premise of the post started with competent ownership and management. Its a faulty premise. Or maybe better stated as a fairy tale premise. Thats Ok. I’m not terribly invested in continuing anyway, so feel free to carry on without me.

Sorry man. I was just trying to share how I feel about it.

It’s so laughable that Adams put his focus on rebuilding the 4th line last offseason. You can find these guys for league minimum but Adams acted like it was a major project.

If McDavid doing what he does and looking the way he does as he does it isn’t enough to back people off the “see, he couldn’t carry his team through!” argument, literally nothing can. That’s it The proof is in the pudding: you can perform to a level of aptitude greater than all who came before and it still can, quite clearly, not be enough. It’s just not the nfl or nba Can we imagine for a second what it would be like if McDavid got to touch the puck on literally every offensive possession the oilers had?

Now I know you’re missing the point of the post. Look at the 19-20 roster. Competent or incompetent ownership, all those players, including Eichel and Reinhart were on the roster. The question is whether we could have let that group mature over a couple of years and where we would be if we had.

I agree with you that the KA hire was an odd and inexplicable hire that has set back this franchise and not allowed it to move forward. The main reason that KA was hired was that he presented the owner with a rebuilding plan that was cheaper. That was the appeal and reason why he was hired. It’s not unusual that even someone with an impressive resume simply doesn’t work. You then move on in this highly turnover business. There is no rational reason for his retention after five years of less than mediocre work. The onus is on the stubborn owner for this faltering franchise.