Taro T

Can't see any scenario where he walks away a week from Wednesday. But, getting spelled a few games, can see that happen. (Probably would only be 1 every 9 or 10 games; and personally would prefer it to be 1 every 2 or 3.)

The '86 Habs were built primarily through the kids all coming up at the same time too. There were players on that team that had come via trade, but the ones that pushed them all over the top had been in the AHL the prior year. And, the point of both of these is, the claim was "nobody" had ever done it. Not saying that it's a common occurance; merely that it can and has happened. And, with all the high end talent that had been accumulated over the prior 6 years, that got converted into current assets and futures, this team has an unusually large influx of higher end talent that is all pretty much at the same age. IF it is possible to "draft your way to the top" so to speak, this is the scenario where it would be possible. And you and I are on the same page on that issue. If they miss the playoffs this year (they won't, but if they do), change needs to happen.

But those weren't "sudden" firings and those were very much due to incompetance. The exception taken to your post was the "sudden" part, implying they were made impulsively. Forgot LaFontaine, but am certain there was more to that departure than we've been made aware of. Except for LaLa (which again, there's more to that story than we know about), ALL the firings were due to pure incompetence, were well warranted, and any other management was onboard with. Can't see Adams getting on board with punting Granato before the end of this season at the absolute earliest and likely after 1 more unsuccessful season (should those in fact happen).

You sure about that? What big FAs / Trades did the 80's Eulers make to get that team rolling? Almost all that talent that was there when they joined the NHL was augmented by guys they drafted over the next 4 years. Anderson, Kurri, Messier, Coffee, Fuhr - all added through the draft.

So which female intern are you having throw herself at Granato to make that happen? Except for the relieving of Botterill of his duties for refusing to can the majority of the hockey department staff, can't think of an other "sudden" firing that wasn't precipitated by a bit of hanky panky. (Didn't even the Racconia (sp?) departure have that same undertone?)

Was fine with bringing Girgensons back. Still am. He is exactly what he always has been. Defensively responsible (on a very irresponsible team), doesn't fight but does forecheck hard and will throw hits (on a team that doesn't do much of even that) that will chip in 10 or so goals while helping to keep the other team bottled up in its own end more often than not. Though we seem to be watching a 4 one-way offensive line team being built; league history says you need at least 1 defensively responsible line to keep the other team honest. Still expect that if the 4RW could skate better, that line would look a LOT better.

The 2nd valid criticism of Adams is that much like Regier couldn't adjust a plan after it was made (wtf didn't they re-sign Zubrus after the 1AC and the 1BC both walked?), nor would Botterill (wtf didn't he use Berglund's money on a player that would help that team after he caught the break and he walked away from the team?) there doesn't seem to be a significant adjustment to the "plan" when conditions on the ground indicate that something that was expected and planned for isn't happening. (Quinn would be a huge piece of what they're doing were he healthy. They knew months ago that he won't be until December at the earliest.) Like Adams and do believe he's building something special here. But there are times it's frustrating to be a fan of this team. Btw, still say this team will make the playoffs.

One problem (several actually, but one will suffice for now) that was very foreseeable was bringing Okposo back. Completely understand why they did it - he's been a very good soldier, is a leader on the team, and he & management both wanted very much for him to be a part of the team that finally makes it back to the playoffs after so many years in the desert, and he was only about 16 games shy of 1k NHL games. But he had clearly lost a step by the end of last season and there was no reason to believe he'd be good for more than about 20 games this year before he was completely spent. Visions of Pominville's last season were clear all over this re-signing. Getting absolutely nothing out of the 4th line (Girgenson's 2 goals not withstanding) this year is not helping them move towards the goal of playoffs. Don't know how they fix this short of Kyle suffering (wink wink) an injury that puts him on IR for about 5 months, gives them opportunity to trade for what they should've brought in or at a minimum keeps Jost or Rousek in the lineup in his spot, and lets him come back to triumphantly play 8 minutes in their 1st playoff game before reinjuring (wink wink) himself again. Would really like to see if having 2 viable wingers rather than just 1 would bring Krebs game at least back to what it was last year. Not sure how many games he had prior to last year; don't believe this is officially his 2nd season, but it is his 2nd as a full time regular; and his sophomore slump is worse than Power's is.

To the bolded, we absolutely are in agreement.

Which is why they'll win tonight. But, isn't that supposed to be a big part of their drafting seemingly (not really, but it sure seems that way) only highly skilled undersized forwards? You draft what you're good at identifying and then trade some of that for what you need - grit. They've made 2 trades in that style (Greenway and Stillman) but they need more of it. Would like to see them make another trade for another Greenway and start dressing him in Okposo's slot after the Bruins game. (Know it isn't going to happen; but one can dream, right?)

Really wanted Levi to get the start last night. Knew it wouldn't happen, but still, wanted it to. Last season, they played Anderson (their obvious #1) in 5 games against bottom feeders and they went 0-4-1 in those 5 with Anderson giving up either a bad goal to start the game (the typical scenario) or giving up a bad goal to start another period; each of which caused the bottom feeder to believe they could not just hang, but win. Those goals also seemed to deflate the Sabres. Unfortunately, that script played out again last night. (But, but, but, that 1st goal was a screen, UPL had no chance. Well, yes, he had no chance when he decided to lean hard to his right to see around the screen leaving the glove side of the net wide open. On the 2nd goal, yes, that would've been a very difficult save to make with Jokiharju effectively passing the puck to the Phlyer winger, but UPL didn't react until the shot had already been taken.) Even with that, UPL had a chance to raise the energy in the building and on his team by making a stop on the breakaway. Go off script and make that save and the game LITERALLY turns around. But no, he was completely flat footed, not moving at all by the time of the shot and got beat to the glove hand, again. Teams that aren't having things going right for them need the goalie to make a big stop, one that he "shouldn't be able to make" to get the momentum to shift for them. UPL too often doesn't make that stop. And, btw, that was the fifth consecutive game that UPL played in. Everybody was decrying how Levi playing 4 games in 8 days caused him to break. But UPL playing 5 straight over 11 days; hey, no biggie, he's the "hot hand." That game wasn't all on UPL. The skaters needed to pick it back up after getting put in a 2-0 hole. They can't stay in a funk the entire period. Wonder if Samuelsson going out only 6 minutes into the game on a rather innocuous play contributed to the sustained funk. (He and the Phlyer crashed into each other but as the Phlyer went down he inadverrtenly slew footed Muel and somehow another Sabre's stick got under him as well. He finished the shift, but was obviously laboring (only caught that on the replay, didn't notice it live).) This was another game that the Sabres managed to generate a lot of pressure in the 2nd with little (or in this case, nothing) to show for it. Would really like to see them simplify when they are flying at home and take the shot when they 1st get it rather than trying to maneuver into a better shot (Thompson is excused from this criticism, that and the slapper is his bread and butter) or making 2 more passes to get the clean open net 1 timer. They were playing a sieve; get shots from a little further out and let the goalie battle that; get guys to the net and clean up the bad rebound he's going to leave (providing he even makes the initial save. Don't know what Granato can do for Power. He's clearly in the "sophomore slump" and playing too much. When Samuelsson comes back, would move him to Power's pairing (playing with Jokiharju isn't working and Clifton is too similar in style to Henri to believe he'd help with the funk either). Wanted Owen to get a stay at home partner all off-season. He's now at a point where he needs it. Until Muel is back, would call Stillman back up and move Henri to Dahlin's pairing and put Stillman with Power. (Isn't ideal, but is better than overworking Johnson on the 2nd pairing.) Liked Peterka's effort but still don't know how he didn't score on that pass from Dahlin at the start of the 3rd. Score that goal, and MAYBE they manage to pull the comeback off. And will cut him slack on the bad pass that led to a goal against. He was flying all over the ice. And something just isn't right with Tuch. They keep saying he isn't injured, but that last goal likely doesn't happen if he's 100% because he couldn't go the full ice back after the turnover and that guy was the eventual goal scorer. Before this season, he would've broken that up. Could go on about what was wrong with last night, but no real point to it. (Vented enough.) The good thing is, Granato's squad doesn't dwell on the bad games and are usually ready to go after a true stinker. The bad thing is, likely no Samuelsson, and would really like to have him against a team with this much firepower. Hopefully, Levi is back to 100%. He could help them steal one.

1986. That team won the Stanley Cup. Had a whole bunch of rookies on it too.

Trick question, right?

Believe it is tickets distributed. It definitely was in the Rigas era. Golisano put an end to a massive comping of tickets. Honestly not sure what the current policy towards that is. Perhaps. But pretty sure those tix wouldn't have been comped, but sold at a discount from normal window prices in group sales. That's the way it's worked in the past. And next Friday's game will be the one where Highmark and Roswell Park use their comps from being "gold ring partners" or whatever it is they now call their major advertisers because it's "hockey fights cancer nightTM." Am guessing the rep was rounding up. 16.6 rounds to 17. And nearly all of those 16,612 tickets actually got used. The barn was reasonably full. Too bad the game was such a stinker.

Back to the topic of this thread, would estimate that though the crowd showed up late once again, there were probably 16k in the building. (Nearly full in the 300's; with several sections in the 100's full and all at least 80% full; even the 200's weren't sparely populated.) With well over 90% of those in attendance cheering (or at least they would've, were there anything to cheer for) the guys in red and black. There were a TON of youth hockey groups in the building. Everything was set up to help attendance at future games and they flat out laid an egg. Just like they did in the opener which also was very well attended. Know it's extreme, but want to see them make the team stay in a hotel Thursday night and treat the entire day on Friday like they were in Minny rather than the other way around. They have to get this home ice issue solved.

There was no doubt that they were going to run with conventional wisdom as soon as the 1st Phlyer game was over. They also probably are factoring in last year's TO game in Buffalo as well in their decision. But, with that said, given the fact that tomorrow will be Levi's 1st game back since his injury from the 19th AND tonight is Black & Red against a bad opponent that is trending in the wrong direction with a backup goalie starting, would rather give Levi this game and trust that UPL can play well even if he isn't playing every single game.

Granted Krebs hasn't stood out on any line and he hasn't been exclusively Okposo's C; but can't overestimate how much one guy that is (or at minimum appears to be) in over his head can affect the rest of the line. Should Okposo start to get maintenance days sometime after the B's game, will be very interested in seeing how much (if any) more effective Girgensons and Krebs seem to be. Still say one of the biggest issues with them not having made the playoffs last year is Okposo decided to stick it out 1 year too many. (Really hoping that take doesn't age well; but expect it does sadly.)

Figured Jost would be the odd man out. It would've been very un-Granato-like to call a kid up and then not let him play in that next game. Hoping going with UPL today and Levi tomorrow doesn't blow up in their faces. If they went the opposite, felt good that they'd win both games this weekend. Here's to hoping they still do. 🍻

Not sure if it's 5 games or not. If he's on a "normal" conditioning loan, it's 14 days that the player can be in the minors without any issues while on the conditioning loan. If he's on a BF-LTIR conditioning loan, then yes, 5 games is the max he can be in the minors. Considering he isn't counting against the 23 man roster (or at least he wasn't when there were 23 healthy bodies in Buffalo) it seems that it's a BF-LTIR conditioning loan; but it was reported as he could be down there for 14 days (which is the other conditioning loan) so again, not positive if he can only get 5 games or the 6th that they'll play in his 14 day window.

At 5v5, it can. They're taking waaaaay more penalties than last year. IIRC PP time is down slightly, but not as much as PK time is up. Also, with the 8 game stretch early in the year, at one point they were down to 2 regulars in the lineup. They both would've been getting more ice time, and as the other regulars came back into the lineup they'd be getting extra ice time too to keep the tweeners and AHLers ice time as limited as possible. The D has been healthy this year so far (knock on wood). That also effects deployment.

Yeah, the STH base will never get larger than it currently is in the 1st season following a season with a winning record in ~11 years. Especially if the team is in the playoffs. So, the building will NEVER fill again with Sabres fans if there aren't 19k+ this February. 😒 The STH base has gone from ~4k --> ~8k --> 10k+ over the past 2 years. When it's back in the 12-14k range and the Sabres are good, sellouts the last 2 months of the season will become a fairly regular occurance. 1-2 more years like last year (or better) will get it back to that level. Nah, it's 'cause that's where all the cool kids are at. 😉

When was TO here last? (Actually, the opener was close to a sellout.)

Your observation about the PK is spot on . On PP1, there are options. On PP2 it is pretty much exclusively that Power recovers the puck (typically directly, but even if not, it almost always is on his stick at his own blue line) and somewhere between there and the red line, it gets dropped back behind him for the trailing F to pick up. Cannot recall a single time that was not the PP2's transition/entry. One of these times and opponent is going to fake the engagement with Power and just pick up the loose puck sitting 10' behind him and will either have a full breakaway or a partial depending upon how unaware he caught the F that was expecting to pick up the loose puck. Now that Tuch &/or Dahlin are primarily carrying the puck into the zone on PP1, the entries are getting more effective than last year and the 1st 4 or so games. And they are trying to move the puck around more physically (rather than simply passing from stationary spots hoping to somehow use Levi's Jedi Mind Tricks to move the D from the passing lanes) before passing which should begin to open up passing and shooting lanes and sometimes they do - in the Moe-ray-all game they generated at least 4 scoring chances on one PP in the 2nd but couldn't convert any of them. But, until the puck starts going into the net, it will remain an extremely frustrating thing to watch; and as the game goes on they tend to have the PP slide back to their old tendencies - stand around, pass around, hope to get Thompson a 1 timer attempt.

Officially, most likely. This puts them with a more standard 14-7-2. Probably a combination of reward to Rousek and also insurance if Tuch can't go tomorrow night. Doubt they'd call him up just to sit him, so am expecting that if Tuch can go tomorrow that Jost is out of the lineup and if he can't then Olofsson is the only odd man out. Wonder if Olofsson gets any more games as a Sabre? Umm, probably because he didn't.

On PK, Greenway said the plan is "patience." They don't chase guys to the boards nor behind the net. But with the long reach of everybody on that primary unit, they still generate pressure even though they aren't chasing. Am totally with you on being fine with Dahlin not getting any PK time. Even if they get a rush on the PK, he likely isn't joining it; so give him a breather and let him come back fresh to help generate offense and keep things settled at 5v5. Still would like to see them alter the personnel on the PP, but just don't see it happening due to internal politics. (Granato ISN'T pulling Skinner off the top unit (and yes, he's actually scored on the PP which very few other Sabres can claim; but how many could claim they've scored on the PP if it was more efficient?) nor is he taking Okposo off the 2nd unit.) Also, am very surprised that no opponent has picked off Power's drop pass as he uses that play, literally, every single time he brings the puck up the ice. Somebody is going to jump it and hopefully that will spur the coaches to have him do something, ANYTHING, else. Though the PP was ranked in the top 10 last year, it was a steaming pile for almost the entire season minus a roughly 6 week span when it was pretty much unstoppable. So, really not surprising that it's a steaming pile again even though the players are skilled enough that it SHOULD be very good, if not excellent.