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Will agree with two pieces of this. Benson, due to his current strength level, has little faith in his shot. When he gets stronger, he'll shoot more, and the shot will likely be effective. (And he is a very smart player with great stick work in the corners too.) But, his size didn't cause a shot block to mess up his foot. His size didn't cause a puck to the face to cause internal bleeding. Yes, he'll be a better player when he's stronger, but he's already ahead of decent.

What’s a realistic plan for UPL’s future? I’m guessing 99.9% of proposed solutions aren’t going to happen.

Y'all ever consider Thompson looks bad because his game is solely predicated on him shooting with almost tunnel vision? That he's a guy who rarely elevates his teammates or passes to HD areas? He's a cannon.

Exactly, absentee If the sabres started out with a new owner tomorrow, be honest: you’d give Adams a chance at GM You aren’t fooling anyone lol He doesn’t get it

What's he for goals saved above expected per 60 mins?

Giving him Rosen and Östlund to start the game so the McLeod line could stay together wasn't the fail. (Not at home when you have the last line change.) The fail was watching the 1st 10 minutes of the game (2+ shifts of all the lines) and watching Thompson looking totally discombobulated and then not putting him out with McLeod and Tuch. Rosen has looked much better than expected in this stint and Östlund has played well the past couple of games. IF you are trying to keep the 1 line that seems to be working together, when you have the last line change, there are much worse choices on paper to play with Tage. But, it was NOT working, so it needs to change and the change needs to happen while there's still a lot of game left to make SOMETHING work. The fail was also having the 4th line be the line you start every period with and having Krebs and not Kozak centering it. If you're going to treat the 3rd line like the 4th line by ice time; then go with the younger guy who's shaping up to be pretty good in his own end while also bringing energy at the other end as the C for that line. The fail was bumping Quinn onto the top PP unit rather than putting Byram or even Tuch onto that unit. The ONLY times that unit has looked even competent is when there are at least 2 guys willing to go to the net; Doan is the only guy on that unit last night that will do that regularly. Byram will give you another solid playmaker that doesn't mind going to the net; Tuch gives you a guy that will go to the net and can forecheck. Quinn is redundant to Rosen and Thompson on that unit.

I would bet obscene amounts of money, that Adams used a ton of buzzwords and Terry ate up. The Sabres are run like "the office" except Michael Scott was a legit salesman.

Here's a stat. UPL is 36th of 39 in save % since the 2022-23 season (minimum 100 games played). We can't be a serious team until he's gone. If anyone needs to vent... Vent here.

He’s got another power point presentation with all the buzzwords that Pegula is looking for. He’ll extend him 5 years when he sees the phrase “Make Appert new Head Coach”

They ARE NHL 0.500. But NHL 0.500 is where bad, though not horrible, teams find themselves. They need to get to an NHL 0.600. Finding some way to at minimum get themselves to an NHL 0.450 on the road (they really need to be NHL 0.500 on the road, but considering they're at NHL 0.250 on the road currently, baby steps) would go a long way towards being able to get there. And they are NHL 0.500 in their (VERY small sample size) last 2 road games. Win tomorrow night in Carolina and then worry about game 2 of the road trip. Shoot, the Blues are horrible and just won in the 2 time defending Campbell Conference champions' barn and shut out another team in 2 of their last 3 road games. Find a friggin' way to get it done. And if you can't, for the love of all that's Good and Holy, make some ####ing changes!!!

I was ok with the recent string of losses and/or OTLs but the events leading up to the Blues game should have got the Sabres attention that this game was going to be a battle. The performance of all of them tells us a lot. It was not just a bad night. Unprepared. Out coached. Out worked. All of it.

I think we know that Lyon is better. And I think we know that Lyon is not the long tern answer if he is expected to play 50-55 games. Ellis played one game and was better than UPL. He kept the team in the game. They rallied around him. He needs to play more. After that we just pray that Levi is an NHL goalie someday. As for Quinn, he had a few good games on wing but his two way game is still suspect. People complained about Peterka's two way game, why does Quinn get a pass? Quinn does not belong on the point on the PP. He just cannot be trusted in that role. I would use Dahlin, Power, Byram, or Kesselring and keep it simple. Get bodies to the net and fire away.

Yes and no. Yes, you aren't going to win any games when you don't score any goals. BUT, how much of their offensive play (not the idiotic "plan" put together by Appert, but their actual play) was affected by knowing that UPL starting would almost definitely guarantee they'd need to score at least 4 goals to win the game? They hit 4 posts; do they perhaps shoot a little closer to the goalie if they aren't gripping the sticks tight knowing they have to get to 4 to win? Tuch is definitely gripping it tight. HE's their shorty goal scorer and when he was in the slot with a teammate coming up the ice with him on a nearly 2-on-1 which forced the goalie to keep from coming out high on him decides to try to pass it to the guy that is NOT a goal scorer to keep from either shooting wide again or getting robbed again for IIRC what would've been the 6th time in just over 2 games. If Lyon, or even Ellis, gets the start, does the team play a little looser expecting that a brain fart WON'T absolutely be in their net? When you have no faith in your goalie, you play differently than you do when you expect a save. And, right down, does ANYBODY here EXPECT UPL to make a big save? If nobody here (or at a minimum nobody posting here that doesn't live in NH 😉 ) expects a big save, why would UPL's teammates EXPECT the big save? (Especially after having seen the 1st 2 goals he gave up.) They finally went for it in the 3rd when they had no time left to try to sit back but by then the Blues goalie was on his game and even when they could get one past him, they couldn't get it heading inside the iron.

The reaction differential between wins and losses remains comedy

To be fair the lines have been unsettled all year starting with the injury to Norris. The one exception for a few games was when Tuch - McLoed - Doan were clicking, but injuries are a big part of the problem. The AHL guys show flashes but they are not ready for prime time.

A start would be not saddling him with rookies like Rosen and Östlund. Imo we should be loading up on one line - it’s better than having no lines I don’t care if you have to run McLeod - Thompson - Tuch ..that should be the first line if “balanced lines” isn’t achieving the required result. Then… Doan - Kozak - …..Quinn? Sheesh, the lack of F work from Adams over several years is frankly striking. Benson and Zucker are sorely missed but..it’s not like you ever have no injuries - - - At least do: Doan - Thompson - Tuch Östlund/Rosen - McLeod - Quinn ..facilitating the performance of Tage should be the primary concern. If he isn’t going we don’t have anything going

This especially

Martin St Louis, Tim Kennedy, Brad Marchand, Theo Fleury, Johnathan Marchassault, Danny Briere, Patrick Kane, etc etc Those are just off the top of my head that are smallish players that thrived in the NHL, furthermore, in an era where it was legal to openly mug and assault for some of them. Benson has the same DNA as some of the players noted.... What he doesn't have is a team that can keep up with his tenacity. Maybe some TRT injections would do this team good, I know a nice place that can supply some peptides for the boys to man up... Benson isn't injury prone, his teammates are terrible prone.

Better than him? Are you ***** serious? Better than UPL? Any replacement goalie is better.

By the end of November this team will be playoff dead and Adams will still not get fired.

What conjecture and nonsense.

This is true. That said, his body, as is, is not currently suited to his style of play. If he doesn’t add 10-12 lbs of muscle he’s going to get more injuries and and as they pile up it will be more difficult. He's not a speedster offensive player. He is a smart player with great stick work in the corners. But needs more size and muscle to elevate beyond just decent. He also needs strength to improve his shot. Heck, a lot of players have better backhand shots than his forehand. It’s all about commitment. If he gets close to 190 that is a weight that would be ideal for his style of play. This is a big offseason for him. And a big season as well.

Actually it's not short-term frustration. I am just about done with UPL. And the reason is... And I'm repeating myself from the game day threads... It's something that I started noticing this time early last year. There are way, way too many times where he's allowing goals where he's not screened... He is set... He is facing the shooter... And shooters are beating him cleanly from 15 to 20 ft out. And I'm not talking all the time with 100 mph blasts, but sometimes with fluttering shots, sometimes A shot that looks like they're trying to gently pick a corner against a high school Goalie. He didn't do that too much 2 years ago. Last year I started posting about it in October or November and some other posters said I was being hard on him. Well, it continued all last year and it's continuing this year. That's not a guy you can win with who was going to take you deep into the playoffs. If I know that... And I'm pretty sure I know that... It's just a waste of time keeping him here any longer.