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According to score effects data, it's actually moderately hard to protect a lead for a long period of time in the NHL. That said, Buffalo sucks at closing games, we all remember Colorado last year.

What about Greenway?

It's not always individual play but when things start to go wrong it comes out. The Sabres system is to use speed and stretch passes to break quick out of the zone. That does help them score but when your going fast in one direction if you turn it over it's hard to go fast in the other direction. They don't really have the goaltending to stop breakaways. It's odd that the first few preseason games they seemed to play more in control then it got worse as time has gone on. I have a question about how a team should play with a 2 goal lead in the third. The players often say they have to keep pushing almost as if they are playing for a 3 goal lead. The D men drive down low to create offence. To me a good team plays a puck possession game where the main focus is to limit chances and burn clock. When you get a breakaway chance you take it but it's D first. The Sabres seldom play that way. I think it's more of a system issue than a player issue. They have to make better passes They have to dump in deep if there is no play. Basic defensive hockey. It's not that hard to protect a lead in the NHL I don't know why the coaches have them play the way they do.

Preseason means nothing to fans. It means lots to the teams themselves.

There are some people as they get older, they sense their mortality and get desperate to leave a mark that they can be remembered by. They try to do big things. If they own a sports team, they'll throw everything at it to try to get that championship. Then there are others who as they get older do almost the opposite. They get cheaper, more frugal, they look at their bank account or their net worth every single day and don't want to take chances with their wealth. I've always gotten the sense that Terry Pegula is more of the second as he gets older and not even close to the first. He has the money, so how do you explain when he bought the team... No expense will be spared... Money is not an issue... Going to the relative penny pinching of the past 5 years? If he truly believed now what he said when he bought the team, even during covid, there would not have been any gutting of the hockey department or layoffs like they went through, and even if that did happen, things would have certainly been fixed immediately when the league came back.

I rarely watched Hockey Night in Canada so I'm not aware of Cherry's antics. But @msw2112 is correct. If your job is to report on a team, and you can't learn to say a player's name correctly after two years, that is not a good look.

I would say yes, until the 3rd period. The action was almost always down in the Pittsburgh end. Plus they were quick to get back on D and break right back in.

“you need to build a balanced team.” No shite. It doesn’t mean you trade your most talented players to do it Trading Eichel and Reinhart wasn’t an “opportunity”, it was a horrendous step backwards. That’s already proven out “too many elite players, not enough warriors” is nonsense. There’s literally no meaning there, as they aren’t “either/or” propositions. The issue has never once been that we’ve had “too many elite players”, I promise you. That’s not possible on its face. The abilities you are alluding to that fall under the category of, for lack of a better word, “grit”, also are encompassed by “talent” and can factor into what makes an elite player elite as much as anything. The ability to play the game in winning fashion. Defensive ability is a talent. Being able to consistently work hard in a way that best facilitates your skills making an impact is also a talent. - - - Also for the record, stop being such a baby about getting a “big red” X. Why is it so “big” to you? Take it up with the moderators if you don’t like the feature. Frankly it’s an easy way to disagree with your posts when I oft-need to. The post I gave you that gargantuan X on hardly deserved these paragraphs. It was devoid of context with one sentence of erroneous logic - that’s what I was responding to, that it made intrinsically no sense. - - - You were obv referencing my post above yours when you said “elite”, and you completely missed the point. “That we’ve failed to properly supplement”, I said. Of course you need balance. You didn’t make the connection to that I was talking about was the fact we aren’t *doing well* by the elite players we HAVE had by properly rounding out the depth of the team. Any of the “elite” players you’ll deem to have failed will not have been brought up in an environment tailored to success if you are referring to any of the last 14 years, due to the lack of overall talent and balance and depth (ie - the make up of the team). That this is actually congruent with your musings, that escaped you at the time, no doubt.

Question for those who watched….. Were the Sabres able to successfully deploy puck cycle possession in the Pens zone this game, or was most of the activity on the rush? Does it look like the team is changing its game?

Of course coaching is an issue (and we've had that discussion before about Ruff not bringing his own new assistants) but there really never should have been a "kid line" and there shouldn't be one now.

I think the talent (read Kid line) are more willingto pay attention to details If their position on the team is treatened. Better coaching might have helped also ofcourse.

I often wonder what the Sabres "system" is as it just looks like individuals being individuals. If you have Prime everybody should watch the last episode of their BS behind the seasons getting ready for hockey reality show. It's all about the Panthers and their cup win but there's some interesting things in there about how they function as a unit and everybody covers for everybody else and everybody has everybody's back. That's how it is to be successful in hockey. Not whatever it is they are doing here.

Exactly. When he tore it down and removed the elite stars he had the moment to change the culture and change the make up of how they build the roster but they didn't. Still open ice speed and puck moving D. (more to it than that obviously, but you get the general idea). @Thorny gives me the big red X cause he doesn't like the idea but he has no point to counter it. You can of course argue that any team could use more "talent" but that's simply not how you construct a TEAM in reality. I mean Florida's 4th line was all waiver wire pick ups. We could have had all of them I think. As an example. I think it's gotten to the point where players here don't and won't buy in and they just don't care about the jersey. They just go for their individual stats and wait for their exit strategy. Many of them anyway.

We have an expression here where I live, that says a bad dress rehearsal means a succesful premiere. The problems we have however seem the same as last year. Not surprising when very little has changed from last season.

I think preseason means a lot. -Figure out line combinations and defeat pairings. -Train to a system of play and get everyone on the same page. -Work on individual goals (skating, shooting, two-way game). -Instill a hard work mindset. You know, all the stuff the Sabres don’t do.

It is embarassing that Adams has stayed this long and still hasn't succeeded in building a well balanced roster.

Too many "elite" players, not enough warriors.

We took a meaningless game to OT against a bunch of vets without several of our starters and a bunch of new people. I really haven't been turned off by this preseason except perhaps by the game prior. Some interesting new pieces, although they're still weak in goal, even with UPL. Levi really needs to bust out and become an NHL goalie or they'll struggle to make the playoffs.

This reminds me a lot of Reinhart tbh, I remember quite stupidly arguing that he “wasn’t even an nhl player” sometime in his 3rd year, or 4th year post draft, the season where he utterly flipped the switch after that outdoor game in some sweet jerseys We’ve been in this spot for so long and been spoiled by the like of Eichel and Dahlin, picking so many elite, all star level players (that we’ve failed to properly supplement) that we’ve forgotten a longer development curve is often the case, especially with D. Even top picks in a weak draft

That contradicts the "preseason doesn't mean anything" mantra chanted by so many.

lol - it is like you folks have never heard of Google. Forbes does all this work for you. This is from 2022-23, but feast thine eyes: Red circle, operating income - 2024 was $13M, 2023 was $25M, and 2022 was $22M The fine print in the first part implies that the $13M is after payroll, taxes, and arena expenses. It also notes, that is NOT inclusive of the Kraken fee ... which was $1B/30 so ... $30M per team. The Sabres have not lost money since Covid. Pleez Stahp!!!!

He is the target because he is a former top over all pick, carries a big contract and hasn't improved at all in 3 years in the NHL. In many ways he is a worse player today than as a rookie. The Athletic gave him a negative -3.5 mill contract deficit last season. That basically means we are paying 8.35 for a 4.85 player. Analytics aside, his game doesn't pass the eye test and Byram is a similar but better player for less money making Power a luxury we don't need to keep. Could Power change the narrative this season? Sure he could, but if we go through another season where he is inept defensively, these calls to move on are going to get louder and more frequent.

Power is definitely baring the brunt of baby/bath water philosophy right now - almost shocking after 14 years of this

That and the golden goal “IGGY!”