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I think the difference usually is if you feel there is something you can be doing about it or not or at least help with it in some way. Many times things may be weighing on you but there is little you can actually do. In this case there is a lot he can do.

I’ll be watching, from section 218 of the Lenovo Center. Easy 3 1/2 drive from Va so my son and one daughter decided to go. We know they’re going to lose but it’s great experience with a few of my kids

Sabres fans are not giving the Doan rebuild enough time. Adams went all out for this year.

They have folded when the pressure is on. It is another constant of the teams in the "full seasons of ownership" Pegula era. BUT this FEELS different. They have NHL caliber goaltending and not from a 40-something year old that you KNEW would run out of gas. They have an opportunity to make this season ABOUT something - win FOR Ras. Yes, they still have a GM that won't likely be able to bring them additional reinforcements in season. Yes, they still have a coaching staff that doesn't seem to be able to twig to the fact that the reason other teams execute a drop pass on the PP is to have several players all approaching the blue line with speed and therefore giving the puck carrier options to enter the zone; it isn't done simply to be able to check off a box - well, we dropped the puck back, now Tage can carry it in to about 12' inside the blue line and then look for a pass to one of the other 4 guys all still within 6' of the blue line, good things are sure to happen now. Yes, they still have a coaching staff that seems loathe to make in game adjustments when they could alter the flow of the game. But, even with all that and with missing their best D and some of their best F's, they have a solid D corps, they are getting good goaltending from 2 of their 3 goalies (hopefully that doesn't turn into a mirage), and they have several F's that are more willing to play physically than they've had in past seasons. Pegula made it a bad joke: the answer is in the room. But get the last laugh and show us all that the friggin' answer IS in the room. There's never a better day to start doing things the right way than today. There are no expectations. You haven't won in Carolina in a loooooong time; your best D-man and captain is out. You haven't won a game on the road in 4 tries. Maybe Camelface's troops will take you lightly. Accept it and play like tonight's game is for the Stanley Cup. Worry about the next one when it gets here. But for now, get that 1st road win, and give Dahlin and his fiancee the piece of mind that they can focus on what they need to and you'll focus on what you need to.

We might soon find out

You are giving up on the season November 8th? Can we try for 19 more days, at least until Thanksgiving? There is no indication that we are getting a new GM at this point. We can hope because that is the obvious first step to fixing this. McKenna is from Whitehorse in the Yukon Territory. Can you imagine the excitement he will feel if drafted by Buffalo?

Sabres aren't finishing bottom 3-5. Bottom 10, yea but unless the tires fall off they won't drop too the very bottom. Now if Dahlin is gone for months and Norris isn't back until the new year... coupled with other key injuries, maybe. I think McKenna is good, but all those other players are centers. Something to keep in mind.

might watch

Not a fan of McKenna's game, he's not it. Trust me on this.

Almost there... Personally, I'd want to hold off on the rebuild/re-tank threads until Adams is dumped before jumping to hyperspace. Or at least until New Year's if he remains. At a certain point, though, you're going to have to think about those "Josh Doan types" -- Doan, Benson -- and whether they want to pull the JJP approach and just not provide counteroffers. Right now, Doan is looking at Buffalo as the opportunity of a lifetime, but that can easily change with how GM Sheevyn executes his master's wishes.

My vote for the Sabres-flavored sitcom is Arrested Development - "Now the story of a family that lost everything, and the one son who had no choice but to keep them all together" Yeah, Kevyn - keep 'em all together....in hell. ....but I'll be watching. It's not like I have anything better to do. Must Tie.

Hope is always present, but this team has found ways to feel sorry for itself for years and Adams loves himself built-in excuses. Hope I’m wrong, but I expect this team to fold like cheap tents in the face of adversity as they have for years now.

And here we are. Last year, Dahlin's injury ended the season. This year, can Lyon, Ellis, Kesselring, Timmins, and Doan -- the new guys -- help raise the team up to play at a higher level when they're missing their best? (I'd add Danforth. And Norris! Can't forget Norris. But at the moment, they're unavailable to help.) The season stands upon the edge of a knife. Stray but a little, and it will fail, to the ruin of all. Yet hope remains...

When dealing with difficult personal matters, work can sometimes be a refuge, and sometimes a weight.

I was mocking Pegula and being sarcastic, but you raise an important point here. Unless it’s actually one of those younger guys, I don’t think they have that maniacal vocal leader. Tage and Tuch are too used to being passengers on this team and have been since arriving. This team has needed a boombox throwing, get in your face after a loss or lazy practice leader since Drury.

Yes, it pretty much has to be right now. They have been hit with injuries and all of that, but lots of teams go through injuries and hold it together. They are young, but some of the young guys have played a lot of NHL hockey. Like Bissonette said the other night, the Sabres have a tendency to go into a lull and play lazy hockey. They do this all too often and it just kills them. Which gets us to the tireless topic of holding each other accountable for their part. With Dahlin out who will be the vocal leader? They need a maniac kind of player in that room.

If the wheels fall off on this road trip, and they come back with two or fewer points from the next four games, I think it’s time to have a real conversation about direction. This season has been wrecked by injuries. The forward group wasn’t deep to begin with, and now the defense is missing its top guy for a meaningful stretch. At some point, we have to stop asking this group to be something it isn’t and start thinking about next season. A new GM and a new coach will be coming in. It might be the right time for a clean reset — moving on from the last ties to the Eichel era. And I’m not talking about a blatant, recognizable tank where you gut the roster. I mean making smart moves that position the team to finish as low as realistically makes sense. Why? Look at who drives elite teams in today’s NHL: Celebrini Bedard Eichel McDavid MacKinnon Two key points: These guys were drafted at the very top, not 8th–12th. They don’t take long to make an impact at the NHL level. If this team were to land Gavin McKenna, there’s a real chance he becomes their best player within two seasons. That’s how you turn the corner. So yeah — if things spiral: Listen on Tuch and Power if the returns align with a reset (and especially if Power plays well enough to maximize value). Explore deals that bring back players with upside and compete — your “Josh Doan” types. Play UPL the majority of the starts. Let Rasmus take whatever time he needs. If that means the full season, fine. Make sure no one comes back from injury early. Protect Norris and any core pieces dealing with nagging issues. Bottom line: Don’t force a doomed playoff push. Do what positions the franchise to finally get the elite, game-changing player it has been missing for 15 years. Not a tank — a strategic reset with purpose.

I think Adams should be fired. I like this current team, from what very little we've seen of them being somewhat healthy. We haven't seen this particular team, fully healthy (starters), at all. I believe there's reason, that I could really like this team. Complete? Certainly not, but there's a good bit of hope. Fans are fickle, emotional, ill informed, smart, irrational, witty, dumb, astute, loyal, customers, disloyal, compassionate, hateful, harmless, and generous. Fandom is a blessing and a problem. A few of my favorite posters agree and disagree sometimes. They've even done that in this thread. I know I've aggravated several of you, I'll call ya, mostly negative posters. I don't really care, because you aggravate me too. I say that in the least aggressive tone possible. I challenge or needle the nauseous repetitive negativity. I also feel the need to call out the hypocrisy. You negative posters can dish it, but you can't take it.

My goodness, all this talk about needing to know he’s ’the guy’, bothered by using initials instead of his name, etc. These, to me, are signs of a mentally fragile player. You want to be recognized as ‘The Guy’? Play better. Much better. Sincerely, JOP (because it doesn’t bother me one bit to be called that)

Perhaps there are additional reasons he went back to Sweden. There almost certainly are additional considerations that went into the calculation. His seeming inability to focus on his job 100% while he's performing it almost definitely being part of that calculation. BUT to try to say (or more accurately, imply) those other reasons trump the reason that is the elephant in the room seem to be disingenuous.

The answer is in the room, gentlemen. In. The. Room.

Hmmm, another bad choice and contract, should I be surprised PASabreFan ? You have been beating this drum longer than any others here and I just want to say that I believe you have been right. While I probably should just comment on UPL discussion to stay on topic, this really has been the story of the whole Pegula saga, Poor decisions, contracts. handling Just a few snippets that predate current GM and his coaches, Christian Erhoff - Buyout Ville Leino -Buyout Evander Kane Ryan O'Reilly -Traded Kyle Okposo - Kept Jeff Skinner - Buyout (Not sure if this is Ka's start but he is responsible for below) Cozens - Showed the $$$ again, traded Samuelson, Power, $$$ Maybe UPL - The what to do,, The bad trades of the good players now on other teams.... The only constant through all of these poor decisions is you Terry Pegula, please just give up either decisions or ownership for the Hockey Hell you've managed to create.

Will the NHL implement a mercy rule?

You know what they say about assuming. There could be career-related reasons on top of his concern for her, for example. Maybe he understandably has some mental health issue. Maybe one of the 'rents is sick. No one knows what's in his head. The group think is on here, as usual. Don't be that nail that sticks up.