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Next year is an evaluation year

The playoffs are the theatre of Will. Everyone is talented, the difference is the men from the boys the regular season is a showcase of who’s talent shows up more on a random Wednesday in the dog days of the marathon, cold, regular season The regular season is about your lowest common denominator output, that you can’t help but serve up because you are inherently skilled and apt

It’s essentially the same logic point as injuries re: excuse making the idea isn’t to construct a team that doesn’t get injured it’s to build one that has the depth to win anyways if you need your roster going balls-to-the-wall to scrape Ws in November, you’ve already lost

Hence the "the Sabres have the talent" to win, they just don't try hard enough all the time.

A common denominator with all 3 of his GM hires is a low expectation to win in the now

It’s largely a commentary on the roster i think people forget sometimes that this isn’t the nfl. In an 82 game season the bad teams win a lot of games, it’s that simple And the good teams lose a bunch. It’s why I am always poking fun at the extreme nature of the GDTs Like the players recently said, it’s an 80% league. Of course no one gives full effort every shift, every night. That’s pie in the sky, it’s not human the functional difference is the teams with the talent and roster construction to win when they play at 80. That’s not us

I talked to Don Luce at firehouse subs on transit road.

Sabres need to fire Wilford now, and evaluate the D before the deadline.

Some of this is probably the symptom of a GM who has overstayed his welcome in the sense that his original plan and core (cozens, Peterka, Quinn) is gone or sort of fallen by the wayside at this point, whatever his vision was whether we like it or not is essentially long gone in favour of whatever the current mish-mash of players is. I don’t think we have a coherent team build right now, it’s a salient thing you touched on there Why would they feel they are accountable when the owner has proven management is not

Peterson was ok, but I'll take Don Luce on the dot for a key face-off under pressure. I will go on to add that the Selke voting in the early days of that trophy was a joke. A big injustice was Bob Gainey winning the first 4 Selke's. Look at the voting in those years and look at the stats of the top vote getters. Luce and Ramsey had multiple years in that stretch that were statistically better than Gainey. One year Gainey even won it as a minus player, while both Luce and Ramsey had 20+ goals and over +20 in +/-. I think the voters today are more accurate today than back then. Gainey was a very fine player but the Montreal/Canada hype machine helped him with the voting.

Ron Rolston’s gardening gloves would like a word

I was thinking plastic to put us out of our misery.

I forgot Bylsma. He turned out to be a mediocre HC, but he has a Cup in his resume. He was hired because of the Pittsburgh connection, as were a lot of front office strap hangers in the tank era. I did not include Ted Nolan because LaFontaine put him in as HC, and Terry did not listen to Nolan or support him in any manner.

Luckily the Sabres are pretty much out of nostalgia hires. Although I think it'd be funny if after Adams is canned Pegula goes out and hires Darcy.

Well you have been around for as long as me... I was a kid at a sports night at the knights of columbus... Rick Martin and JVB were there when the sabres called Martin to say they traded away Gare, Schoenfeld, Sauve and Smith for Peterson, McCourt and Foligno... He got up and told us that there was pressing team stuff and he had to leave.... never said what it was... we didnt find out till later... McCourt was the big nut in the trade but flamed out, Clearly Foligno was the ultimate prize but Peterson hung around for awhile winning face offs... thanks for bringing back memories of a happier hockey time...

Tuch is on a 28-30 goal and 65 point pace. Pretty good considering all the injuries, instability, and line changes. He is a +1 and he has been solid defensively and on the PK. But many fans here think that he is not playing good hockey. I also thought that the home town connection would help get him signed to a good contract BEFORE the season started. Good meaning coming in at 6-7 years at $8M. I actually thought Tuch would take a bit less to help him get out of Buffalo if needed. Now the Kempe deal is pointing to even more years at $10-11M. That is too much for a last place team that is facing another rebuild. Given that the Sabres are looking at a new GM, new head coach, and another retool at the minimum, I would now consider trading him before the deadline. I do think he is one of the better players on the team and his play this year is pretty much who he is. I also think this contract stuff is a distraction for him, and his wife probably wants out too. Vancouver is her home town BTW.

There +1 for union and game Shall we wear paper bags for the beat down we will ensue?

https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/sportsnets-2026-nhl-draft-rankings-november-edition/

Only Bylsma thus far. And it turns out he really benefitted from that Penguins lineup and the "fire/hire new coach boost" in his first season.

Not as good as Brent Peterson.

You'll get a lot more for Tuch if you trade him now, particularly if an extension is part of the deal. The new team gets 3/4 of a season. If you wait until the deadline and he's decided to go to UFA, you're getting a playoff contender's late 1st and a tweener like Rosén who you add to your lineup next year -- and could be good down the road. Something like: inquire to FLA about Samoskevich (key piece - will be RFA at the end of the season perfect for Sheevyn, but he plays like Doan), BBQ Luostarinen (cap piece, but valuable to playoff teams and someone you could easily move at the deadline if need be), and ... their 2028 1st is the only one they have left. They want to get back on pace before 2026, because Tkachuk might not be enough. Panthers have plenty of cap next year with Bobrovsky coming off the books, plus Tuch would sign for $7M there.

And invisibility at the AHL level is tougher to do. (He last played in the NHL in 2021-22, three seasons spent in the AHL as a bottom-six guy there.)

LaFontaine - first time POHO Murray - first time GM Kim Pegula- first time whatever it was she did while running the Sabres Boterill - first time GM Housley - first time HC Krueger- HC for a few months, fired, became a soccer coach in Europe, then hired by Terry in a bizarre move Adams - First time GM Granato - first time HC Ruff - retread Sabres and a lazy hire instead of doing a structured coach search There are no different reasons. He keeps doing the same thing - He keeps losing. He keeps hiring people that he can control. He keeps settling for cheap and easy hires. He will not hire anyone that is headstrong on how to do things. He fears he will be cut out. He has not hired a proven winner yet.

The Sabres disrespected the black goathead sweaters last night.