Taro T

Wtf are you talking about. Nolan coached the Sabres when Muckler was the GM. He then a few years after declining the 1 year offer Regier gave him to continue to coach, moved on to the Aisles. Nolan took over again with the Sabres after Rolston got canned.

Actually, Ruff was the 3rd experienced coach hired in the Pegula era. Goober had won a SC in Pittsburgh and Ted Nolan had coached in a couple of different NHL cities. 3 experienced and 3 inexperienced. (Kreuger's partial season before leaving for Europe and hockey tournaments and pro soccer leaves him in the "inexperienced" category IMHO.) 3 inexperienced GMs with 0 experienced GMs brought into that role, though at least 2 experienced "advisors." Patrick and Kekalainen.

One of Adams rare wins.

No. Want them to win. Starting tomorrow night. If things have gone caca, then at the Olympic break, clean house and get what you can for guys that don't fit into the future. Don't tear it down to the studs. Just get a little bit of cap space back and some additional draft capital and hit the ground running next year. But, don't do anything now to spur on them going furhter caca than they already have.

It's Ruff's fault McKee's shin pads weren't clean? Really?

Interesting. He does bring speed to the WR room. But he's never been more than a 3 in KC.

Again, personally expect UPL would garner more interest and a better return than people here expect. He's huge, he's played well for a couple month stretch in the Sabres best season in the last decade and a half, and there has to be at least 1 GM / coach combo that expects THEY can wash that "same old Sabre stench" off of him. Simply don't see him getting right here. (Doubt he gets fully "right" anywhere; but it's not like it CAN'T happen in the right situation.) Lehner played a lot better when he got out of Buffalo too; at least until his demons got the better of him. That's probably in the back of the mind of a few GMs as well. So, if the Sabres and UPL both need a change, make it happen. But, not in a rush to see it happen because personally would like somebody other than Adams working the phones to optimize the return.

Well, yes, that's "sort of the issue." And if you want them to continue to pull the goalie with about 3 minutes left in a 1 goal game, well, you're likely in luck as you'll probably get your wish. Personally, would prefer they NOT do that. But my pov has been clearly stated on several occassions. Doubt there is anything left to say on this matter. So likely won't respond further to this topic. (But it is possible. Just not likely.)

You're currently sitting bottom 6 or so. You don't need to go all-in on a retool this early. MHO. Try to save this season with what you have to work with. There'll be plenty of time after the Olympic break to make those moves to be ready to hit the ground running next year if necessary.

Yes. There's pretty much only 1 thing they can do to make this all seem to be even worse -> can Adams and promote Forton into his former role. The ONLY redeeming part of that is that it's kind of different. But, with having brough Kekalainen in, don't expect they'd do THAT. And Kekalainen might not be able to get it done either; but he'd by definition be better than Kevyn. (Jarmo isn't this kid's 1st choice, but he ain't Kevyn nor Jerry either, so sure, roll with him.)

You HONESTLY expect they'd use Worthy the way the Chefs use him? Will respectfully agree to disagree.

Glass half full; they're stumbling into the accidental tank without decimating the parent nor AHL club. IF, as they seem they will be, they are out of it at the deadline, trade away guys that don't fit into the long term plans like Greenway and UPL; keep everybody that DOES fit into the LT plans; and start again next year with a healthy and in a better head space Dahlin, a healthy Benson, a healthy Kulich, a healthy Kozak, and a couple of good (though overpriced due to the Sabre Tax FA's extract from Buffalo) FAs. And in a year or 2, let that high end kid they stumbled into add to what you've got on the big club. Oh, and have someone NOT named Adams doing the retooling and let that guy choose the entire coaching staff and the scouts / AGMs. There is no reason (other than having the wrong people in management) this team can't make the playoffs next year presuming the rest of this season goes like it's started. (And against most logic, am not giving up on this year yet. Just saying, if they do turn out to be accidentally tanking ...)

IF the Bills were sold on Coleman as being the best choice at that point in the draft, trading down was smart. They got the guy they wanted and better draft capital. Worthy would be useless on this team as they'd use him the way they used McKenzie and about as often. Now, whether Coleman should've been the choice can be debated, but trading down wasn't dumb UNLESS they were going to take Worthy with the pick (which would've been dumb IMHO). The Chefs would've just moved up to the spot right behind us to get him anyhow. Makes sense for the Bills to have gotten something for letting the inevitable happen.

And, is there a reason we WOULDN'T want him to be practicing and working out while he's in Sweden? Pretty sure it'll be a good thing to have him in or at least close to game shape when he and his fiancee decide it's time for him to come back to this side of the pond and resume his day job.

IF they have room for another AHL callup (or if Ruff would be willing to brave the potential loss of his coveted Geertsen) would bring up Johnson and pair him with power and slide Jones to Kesselring's pair. Would leave 1 defensively responsible D-man on each pair even though there's only 1 true defensive D-man in that crew. Not liking 3 offensive 1st D-men with Bryson as one of the "defensively respsonsible" guys and not liking Power being the defensively responsible half of his pairing.

Wow. Presumably the ear issue is what brought this condition to light. Hope they figure out what's causing it and how to stop it. When it rains, it pours. Anybody got an Ark they aren't using? Pretty sure we know a team that could use one.

Not sure if he came up with EEE or not. BUT HE wanted to tear it all down when he was hired, not a year later. He may not have come up with it, but he was 100% on board with it.

Yes, the injuries (other than Kincaid's, and that's a kinda big one, and Palmer's) are on the defensive side of the ball. Both of the fumbles came from trying to get extra yardage when the play was essentially over. Might Cook and Allen have been trying to put the team on their back because after Jackson went down the D could not stop the Fish until the game was well into the 3rd Q? (Not counting the 1 "drive" the Fish had when the cloudburst was happening.) They weren't going 20-0. Nobody in the AFC has fewer than 2 losses and the Cheats aren't as good as their record indicates. Beat the Bucs then worry about the next one. Get into the playoffs and hopefully have a relatively healthy squad by then. And yeah, the offensive playcalling needs to be better and the execution needs to be better, both were in KC. They CAN do it; they just actually have to do it.

Didn't say 1 minute. Said 1st opportunity with less than 100 seconds left. You have your best scorers out there for an extended shift, but you have your best out there when the pressure is the greatest. When they know they MUST score on THAT shift or they're leaving the building with another L. You have a true urgency. And when there's an urgency, you stop trying to be pretty. But when you pull the goalie with 3 or so to go, you lose that urgency. And without urgency, you turn the puck over and end up pulling the puck out of your own net.

Hey, the US women won yesterday. His presumable rooting interests didn't go entirely 0-fer.

And just to add, a big point of pulling the goalie and getting an extra skater is to put extra pressure on the opposing team and to create a sense of urgency when the puck is on an opponent's stick. Pulling the goalie early if you're the Eulers with McDavid and Draisatl out there has a logic to it; they do create an urgency on the opponent. Does anyone see the Sabres create an urgency / pressure on their opponents when THEY pull the goalie with 3 minutes to go? They don't get that urgency until the clock is actually running out. At some point, it would be nice for someone callling the shots to recognize that. Either get to a point where they can manufacture that artificial urgency or stop trying to do so. But just going through the motions is as stupid as dropping the puck back on the PP simply to drop the puck back on the PP.

Well, yes. It ROUTINELY blows up in their faces. Do you really need to see more evidence before coming to that same conclusion?

When is the last friggin' time they scored in the 1st minute of having pulled the goalie when down by 1 with 3 or so minutes left. The Sabres regularly DON'T score in that situation. The opponent regularly does. Why make the game unwinnable before you get the extra pressure of the final minute or so working against the opponent. Get THEM to grip their stilcks tight too. And, again, realize the analytics say to pull the goalie early. BUT you have to factor in the players YOU actually have and not just look at some generalized thought process. (Heck, even you yourself point out the flaw in the Sabres pulling the goalie early - "you need to win that face off and you need to send that extra man to the front of the net." The Sabres DON'T do either. (Whether it's a matter of philosophy or merely execution doesn't really matter; at the end of the day, they do neither.)) Now, if Norris, Benson, and Zucker were all available, then it MIGHT make sense to pull the goalie so early; but it doesn't make sense to do so with who they actually can send out there.

Apologies. You are correct. Hadn't realized Eliis rode the pine against the Blues. But he was the backup that night. Thanks for that. So, as Emily Lutella used to say, "nevermind."

He missed the start in TO because his back was tight. They haven't even dressed him as the backup since that game. They say he's fine, but as just stated, they STILL haven't even had him sitting on the bench last night one game after UPL gave up 2 horrible goals AND took a stupid selfish penalty with about 3-1/2 minutes that kept them from having any legit chance at getting the equalizer. You SAY you're going to roll with all 3 and you say you're going to go with the guy that gives you the best chance of winning. So, how about we sit UPL in the pressbox because actions SHOULD have consequences? But if they aren't sure Ellis' back will hold up in a game, then they can't do that. Personally, don't believe they think he's going to be 100%.