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That is arguably the worst presser in Buffalo Sports history. Either that or the "Hockey Heaven" speech. I feel like I am being gaslighted. Like this cannot be real. There aren't real humans who watch those 20 minutes and come away with "ya know, I think somebody else is the problem here" Adams literally admits that Lindy asked in the interview process about the coaches and then brought it up again after getting to know everybody. There is no back and forth between two people who want to keep the coaching staff that is already in place. It is, "you still like them?"..."yeah"..."cool". And you move on.

WTF are we talking about here? This is sooo far out of the realm of reasonable. There have been next almost zero HC who proactively quit their jobs mid-contract that aren't part of some joint agreement to walk away rather than be fired. Lindy would be 1 of 1 who spent 30 years in the same city only to walk out of the org on terrible terms mid contract. It would be a horrendous end to any coaches legacy for the org, for the fans, and for Lindy himself. I think he was a little bamboolzed by making some assumptions about the same weird wording we constantly hear from Adams. And instead of ending his tenure hanging the city out to dry he is sticking around to try and right this thing before he rides off into the sunset. Adams is constantly smug in his wording, and particularly so in what is the worst press conference in Buffalo sports history. He is wildly evasive and aggressive from start to finish. Assistant coaches included. I am just so baffled how anybody can listen to that interview and think that enemy number one and in this organization is Terrance Pegula and Kevyn Adams. And then talk about a team that has lead the league in unused cap dollars over 5 years and thing 'It DoEsNt MaKe SeNsT tHaT pEgUlA WoUldNt SpEnD oN nEw CoAcHeS" I don't think Lindy is a world beater. He isn't, especially at this point in his career. The best part of Lindy is that he can make a 10 goal scorer a 20 goal scorer. The worst part is that he can take a 30 goal scorer and also make them a 20 goal scorer. He can take the 20th best roster and get them into the playoffs and maybe steal a series. But he also won't have the 6th best roster in the conference finals all the time either.

This is exactly it. Going back and parsing Adams' statements in the Palm Trees and Taxes press conference won't reveal anything definitive about the terms Lindy accepted when he became HC.

As much as I am down on Ruff and think he is no longer a good option as an NHL head coach, I don’t think he is accepting a position where he is that handcuffed. If Ruff thought he needed better assistants, I have zero doubt that he would tell Adams that. And if Adams said no and told Ruff the org won’t fork out $350K to fire Matt Ellis, then I think Ruff would resign. The Sabres just added Staal and Kekalainan to their front office. I would bet they are being paid a lot more than Wilford and Ellis. It defies logic that Pegula would agree to spend more on the front office but won’t pay comparable peanuts to upgrade the coaching staff.

Yep. Me, too. I’m in Sarasota eight years now. Panthers are my second home team.

No but I’ve had a couple rounds with hide the salami. Is it similar? 😎

I think this is closest to truth. Lindy wants to see the Sabres get out of the dumpster. He is not rocking the boat for the greater good or the organization. I doubt he cares what anyone else thinks. Meanwhile, Smithers "talked" to an NHL assistant coach. Nothing came of it, just a conversation, and that person signed somewhere else. Now Adams can say he talked to other coaches but nothing came of it.

Waylon Smithers is one of the most competent characters in the entire Simpsons character catalog. And although it's rare because he loves his boss, he does routinely go against Burns' wishes or confront him when he's too evil. We haven't seen a sliver of the backbone in Adams that Smithers has shown.

Great movie, so many great one liners John Candy: I'm a lean mean fighting machine!! lol

I’ve been trying to tell you guys since he was hired, Lindy is here as a favor to the organization that he holds a lot of loyalty for. He’s not gonna rock boats. He giving a good faith effort to work with the situation Terry and Mr. Smithers prefer. He is here to try to bring credibility to an organization and operating system that Pegula and Smithers prefer to work under. Does that make Lindy culpable? Maybe. I suppose. To me, it is closer to charity work than anything else.

Blue = cold ❄️. Red = hot 🔥. You never played "Hide the Thimble"?

What does this mean? It doesn't really follow a single thought. What does that say about Lindy? Well by Adams own admission Lindy asked about replacing the staff at the front end, and then after getting to know the staff had a "back and forth" with Adams about replacing them. There is no back and forth between two people are on the same page off the rip. So unless you think Adams wanted to replace the staff and Lindy was trying to keep them, to me it sounds like Lindy tried to replace the coaching staff. I am not sure what the realistic expectation of Lindy Ruff is. He has spent nearly 30 years in this town as a coach or player for the Buffalo Sabres. I am sure it would be really really hard for him to throw his fingers up at the org and walk away over hunkering down and trying to right the ship. The expectation, which you seem to imply, is that Lindy should go out in a blaze of glory. That seems like the absolute worst way to end a career in your home town and would basically be unprecedented in any of the big 4 leagues in the US. I cannot possibly wrap my head around the fact that any human who watches that presser and has followed the Sabres isn't targeting all their anger and frustration at some combination of Pegula and Adams. They could hire the ghost of Scotty Bowman to be the HC this team with Trotz, Deboer, and Maurice on staff and they would still miss the playoffs. That is how wildly inept this franchise is.

My first quibble is that this stat is looking back all the way to his rookie season. It probably looks better in his time with the Panthers. It also shades the fact he has been a good playoff performer by eliminating those stats from this chart. I can't deny Bennett is a low percentage shooter but he makes up for that by being one of the leaders in shots on goal. He probably will get overpaid for his overall output but that's what happens when you are a clutch performer.

Said it at the time, it was an interesting take to decide the problem they had in the final was that they weren't offensive enough as they let several of their defensively responsible players leave without any true replacements for them. Loved the McLeod deal when it was made and it likely will only get better. And it is possible the Eulers will rally and pull this out; but FLA has consistently gotten stronger as their series have gone on, so definitely wouldn't want a mortgage payment riding on it.

Well, they did tank to win multiple SCs. So it ... worked, ... , uh, riiiiiight? 🤔

Yeah I figured it out. I’m guessing Micah’s target audience is accustomed to see these types of charts so it’s a familiar language to them. It takes me a couple minutes to figure out which colors are good and which colors are bad. Typically, red is bad in most areas of life. So I have to recalibrate my brain to red being good and blue, a neutral to positive color, is now bad.

The Sabres can't work those sort of deals anymore. They can't be the one giving away the better player. They need to be the one adding the sweeteners to get the better player.

Sam Bennett shoots below average just about every spot on the ice. Blue is below average White is average Red is above average

A running back breaking a long TD run on a slippery, snow covered field might be the worst example to illustrate his superior talent. We can find numerous other plays that show how good Cook is.

I know there are ways to make these charts a wee bit easier on the eyes and brain. A graph or chart should be something that easily identifies the measurable data you are trying to disseminate. I don’t get that looking at this chart. Maybe the color shade changes aren’t dramatic enough. Idk, but if it takes me more than a quick glance to interpret what you are saying, you probably didn’t do a good job of communicating that information.

One day after this clown says the Bills won’t see James Cook for a while, he posts this.

They've already done it to the Sabres when Connolly tried to return.

Ok, so what does that say about Lindy Ruff? I’m not defending Adams. Frankly, Adams should have fired the entire staff, did a full actual search for a head coach and let that head coach pick his staff the way it is done around the league (my understanding is that the GM typically has some say). If the Sabres functioned like a normal team, then after 22-23 Adams would have gone to Granato and said, “time to get serious Donny, we are making a couple of changes to the coaching staff”. There are still fans who think Ruff is getting the shaft. He’s a 65 year old independently wealthy man who has coached more NHL games than all but 2 people. Do us a solid Lindy and grow a pair and step down and tell the world that the conditions are not conducive to winning. The point isn’t that Adams isn’t a weasel, he’s a big one. The point is, Ruff is a weasel too.

Allen's never even made it to a Super Bowl. Also, the sports are so different. It's arguably simpler for a QB to take over and dominate than it is for a single skater to do the same.