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Your frivolous points are countered by the mere act of me reading them You frequently don’t have any divinable point and this time is shockingly no different: “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 bottom of the barrel 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 in your vain struggle to make any sense 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? It bothers you that much, you are that insecure in your, evidently comparatively small, very little takes? 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 (again, shock). “That we’ve failed to properly supplement”, I said. Of course you need balance. You couldn’t make the small connection to understanding that what 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 incoherent musings, that I’ve lovingly gone ahead and crafted into an argument for you, 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!”

He hasn’t handled Levi patiently at all

wtf are you talking about haha

I don’t think Lyon is a problem. I have concerns about Georgiev.

Was it a raucous scene as compared to your normal stuffy key bank center crowd on a Monday evening ?

Good evening teammates, glad I had family commitments and missed this one. From reading the thread it was up, down, and way down. My first concern is goaltending, just like every year in the Adams era. A team cannot emerge to the next level without goaltending.