Taro T

But conversely, they're 16-3-1 when they score 1st. Which has to be pretty high on the list. And, basically, we can all turn the TV off pretty early in the game if all that we care about is whether they win or lose. What, somebody scored? Guess we can chalk that one up. 😉

Hoping it continues, none the less. 😉

Le sigh.

At least there are only 2 more games to the AS break. Survive these next 2. Seriously consider a shakeup in the coaching staff. (Wanted the PP coach gone last year. That move needs to happen yesterday.) Definitely need better assistants. Maybe Granato needs to go too. But focus on playing the right way after the AS break and make sure the players realize that they're at minimum playing for their beloved Granato's job and quite possibly their own jobs as well. See how they can play with the sense of urgency of things ARE going to change if they don't change. Let the guys that should've been the leaders this season officially become the leaders next season. (Presumes they don't totally screw the pooch down the stretch. Expect they can avoid doing that.) Really like Girgensons and will be sad to see him go, but he and Okposo need to be gone at the end of the year at the latest. There are a lot of guys on this team that have been leaders at lower levels and they now need the opportunity to step up. The younger guys have deferred to Okposo for too long. They need to step up. They've already suffered through the kids growing pains these past 3 years. There's still some more growing pains for those that aren't (or just barely are) legally allowed to drink after home games; but expect the worst of them can be past provided they fix the coaching issues. Don't see a reason to blow it up once again unless we want to add ANOTHER 3-4 years to this drought. 17 years was the magic # for the Pegulas other major franchise, realize that'll be here before we realize but really don't want to see them do another reset. Kulich likely makes the team next year. At most that is how many rookies should be added to next year's roster. Still would like a vet top 4D brought in. If that costs some of the assets that Adams has accumulated, so be it.

Whatevs.

Fully agree with that.

And what goes around comes around. Blink-182 was SOOOOOOO close. Nobody loves you when you're twenty-two, they all shout out go #### you. What's their age again, what's their age again?

IF UPL is going to get all 3 games on this California trip, agree with starting him tonight. (And join @Brawndo's calls for having Levi in the AHL.) But if the plan is to give Levi one of these next 2 games, why not give your backup goalie the horrible team that is currently imploding and your starter the good team that's going through a rough patch? The idea is to try to win as many games as you can from this point forward, and if you're playing your #1 against the bad team and your #2 against the good team it seems you're going to be looking at a lower expected points than if you do it the other way. Maybe somebody else can explain the logic behind it? (And again, if they think there's a realistic chance that they start UPL all 3 games, then by all means, start him tonight. But IF that's the plan, then why have Levi travel all week and not get any games once again? (Realizing Ra-cha-cha doesn't play until Friday, but the Sabres won't be back for either Amerk game this weekend.)

Don't disagree that teams play the Sabres PP very aggressively, because they do. And absolutely agree that the Sabres run an absolutely awfully structured PP w/ too much of the movement coming from near the blueline. But, personally don't attribute those SHG against as being due to Dahlin being the PP QB. At least 2 of the SH goals against (and probably quite a few more, but 2 are firmly planted in memory (at least for now)) were from somebody else other than Dahlin losing the puck at the BL. Tuch turned the last one over and there was a turnover at the left boards w/ Dahlin not involved that resulted in the other one that is springing to mind. (The other 6 seem to be fading in memory like so much else of this season.) So, if the comment was railing on the Sabres PP structure, please continue on. If it was railing on Dahlin losing the puck at the BL too often, don't believe that is actually the case. Sorry for not twigging to your intent immediately.

Strictly as an FYI, that hot stretch for Thompson was right in the middle of the 6-7 week stretch that the PP was hitting at 34%. Might be a SIMDGE of a correlation there. 😉

That concern is very legit. Expecting that Adams believes when the "core" are actually in their primes that it will be a truly formidible one. But the risk that they aren't / won't be is there and if they aren't it'll cost a lot of the accumulated future capital to fix that. Mildly surprised that Mittelstadt hasn't been extended yet. Suppose it's hard to sell the public (and Adams bosses) on locking up another "key piece" when the team has taken such a step back from last year. But the Cozens deal got worked on in February; expecting Adams will sit down with Casey's agent over the AS break to see what they can hammer out.

Am not fully convinced that the team doesn't develop talent well. The bigger issue is the Sabres develop the talent at higher levels (in large part the NHL: Mittelstadt, Thompson, Cozens, Dahlin, Power, Levi, Benson just ottomh all playing significant portions of either their D1 or D2 season in Buffalo not to mention guys that they've moved on from that also were in Buffalo for D1 or D2 year) than 90%+ of the NHL does so all the growing pains that come with learning to play as a professional are on full display at the highest level available. It's an interesting experiment to which we are all held hostage as the organization tests the mettle of its young players at the highest level of competition available. Mittelstadt when he reached his 24th birthday started to excel in that environment. Would he have excelled in it earlier or later had he played 1 more year of NCAA hockey and then had a year of the AHL under his belt before coming to Buffalo? The same question can be asked of the other young kids as well. Adams seems to be banking on them being able to reach their peaks quicker by being here while also not driving away the love of hockey in his players that are in their primes/ past their primes (and the fanbase as well) while enduring the growing pains that come with young players developing. In many ways the Sabres are the 21st Century's Eulers East, but since sending Eichel packing having not been sending any of the other youngsters out the door (yet) as they continue to accumulate young talent that he believes will eventually mature with a critical mass of that talent. EVENTUALLY the plan almost has to succeed PROVIDED the losing endured while getting to there doesn't burn everybody out before that point is reached. It COULD actually work, but will the cost in lost seasons and lost love of the game have been worth it if it does? And, we need to keep in mind that the plan seeming to ALMOST having to succeed at some point isn't the same is it having to succeed at some point. The anxiety of not knowing that this necessarily will succeed is high and if it doesn't succeed we'll have watched 4 or 5 more years (on top of the earlier 7 or 8) wasted as we get ready for another rebuild. This month is going to be so interesting to watch, because if UPL has finally gotten out of his own head and really is a midtier (or dare we suggest better) starter maybe there is the critical mass of talent in front of him that the Sabres can be next year's juggernaut from seemingly out of nowhere with just a couple of tweaks here or there. (And, flat out, Matt Ellis being reassigned is a tweak that needed to happen months ago.)

Still believe that Ukka Pukka Dukka has a nice flow to it. And it could even become 6K3A (or for our Canadian friends, 6K3eh).

No, there WAS a thread about it on this site. That disappeared sometime last week.

Several of the NHL's fighter used steroids (John Kordic who died presumably from their usage being the most notable) or synthetic steroids (Andrew Peters who admitted to using Andro when it was not on the NHL's banned substance list). Have never heard a credible rumor that players from other skills categories used them. Though would be shocked if NONE of them used them for a bit at some point in their development / careers, but expect it is an extremely small percentage of players that have used them. Would expect a very few might have used steroids or HGH after hitting adolesence to get a jump on others in their age cohort or that some have used HGH to speed injury recovery. And no, don't expect for a moment that Thompson is/was using anything illegal.

Well, for the past 12+ seasons they have been. Thought we saw the dawn peeking through last spring, but it turned out to just be a trick of the light below the horizon reflecting off all the ice in the air. Similar to those pillars of light we sometimes see during a crisp February night.

Get rid of Shakir?!?!? NEVER!!!!!

By bridge are you referring to a 1 year deal? Asking, because a 2 year deal walks him to UFA status. Would either give him 1 year or 3. Wouldn't want to give him 2 years.

What a kick to the nuts Buffalo sports weekend. The Bandits on Friday hosting the previously 1-3 Riptide were unable to go through their normal day before the game practice because the Sabres game that was supposed to be played Wednesday was played Thursday and Vinc proceeded to sleep walk through the 1st half giving up 9 goals on 15 shots. They managed to get the game tied at 13 with about 2 minutes to go but immediately gave up another goal and couldn't get another equalizer losing 15-13. Then on Saturday, the Sabres extra man offense gave up 2 goals in a 3-1 loss to a team that was 7 points ahead of them heading into the game and now sits 9 points ahead of them. And today, the Bills kicker that had been extremely reliable until a week ago misses a kick with the wind at his back and the game on the line. Brings back memories of the old Marv Levy fight song: go Bills and take the Sabres with you, go Bills and take the Bandits too. At least we still have our normal rallying cry of NEXT YEAR!!!

That stinks. Very good football game. Tough way for it to end. Hope the Chefs kick the snot out of the Crows and the Lions kill the Whiners.

It's an excellent question and one they have to get right. UPL and Levi are the goalies for at least the next 2 years but it's doubtful they'll BOTH be here more than 1 or 2 years after that because they likely won't be able to afford both at that point and both will be wanting to be a #1. Whether 1 or both deserve to be a #1 at that point is still to be determined. Would expect they'll try to get him to sign a 3 year deal buying 1 of his UFA years. But honestly have no idea how receptive he'd be to a 3 year deal.

Which is why ALL this is frustrating. Have been with you all along that the O'Reilly trade was terrible because of the amount of time that was thrown away in getting to an "even" trade. Hate that it looks like they once again are going to be on the outside looking in. But don't see anything indicating that as we speculated far earlier in the season (perhaps even in the off-season) that even if they miss the playoffs Adams and Granato will be back but assistants won't be and Granato will finally be at a point where he's actually coaching for his job. While for most or-gan-eye-zay-shuns this season would be the season that one or both of Granato and Adams have their jobs on the line; don't believe it's the case. And IF Adams is right that this team is buliding into one that's going to be a legit competitor for the SC for 8 or 9 of the next 10 years starting next year (or God forbid, even the year following that), then 4 years of failure probably end up getting viewed as acceptable in hindsight. But it's nowhere near certain that he'll be proven right and even if he is, we're still in the painful rehab after the operation you know will eventually improve your quality of life stage but right now we're in pain and there's no end in sight and maybe the surgeon sold us a bill of goods and those health improvements we were promised won't actually materialize. It's just frustrating to be here right now.

It's frustrating because it's very possible that that is what ownership expects. The play of Sabres castoffs when they finally reached their prime years is likely something that they look at when assessing where the Kid Line and Power and Johnson and others are going to be next year and moving forward. The emergence of UPL is likely also getting pointed out as how they can't give up on a young guy that seemingly underachieves such as Krebs. But yet, Adams still hasn't extended Mittelstadt and he, along with Thompson, appears to be the epitome of the stay the course "don't go all wobbly on me now, George" player that Adams and Granato have been preaching. Am getting flat out at a point that am fully expecting essentially status quo with the improvement that comes with age as frustrating as that is because there are a few spots that so glaringly could be improved by adding from outside and for what would seemingly not be a large cost in the grand scheme of things. And yet, still hope (for no apparent reason) that Adams will go off the board and really get us that jolt that might not save this season but at least get things back on the rails. Really not sure why that hope is still there, because it keeps seeming like what we have is what we get. And maybe like you say, Adams will end up right about this. But it's just so darn painful waiting for that to either pan out or the shoe to drop. (How totally different would this season feel right now had that puck not gone in off Fasching's knee and the Sabres score that next goal to win that game in regulation rather than losing it in regulation? It would be annoying, but not horrendously so and would likely be viewed simply as that slight step back that @Thorny kept expecting and that the Bills went through in Allen's rookie year with a lot of hope for what the next year would bring.)

Am expecting that come the AS break, they'll be following the course that you've been advocating for. We'll see soon enough.

Yep. When challenged, the Sabres often curl back to regroup rather than trying to win the 1v1 battle. How many times have the Sabres taken a penalty because a F was about to drive past them for a solid scoring chance? Either intentionally or accidentally, the Sabres take at least 1 if not 2 penalties like that each game. They need to start forcing the opponent to do that also. (Well, at least once they get the PP working. Right now, NOT getting PPs might be the more effective strategy.)