darksabre

I feel like the last 4 seasons have been an exercise in extremes. We went from Bylsma who was absolutely choking this team to death with a play to not lose system, to Housley who somehow opened up every single hole in this team so much that all they could do was lose. Maybe we can get something in the middle this time.

Rayzor made a lot of comments this season that led me to believe that as far as the alumni around the team were concerned Housley was blowing it. Very similar to things he said when Bylsma was here too.

I agree entirely. I don't think this roster is great by any means. But they probably shouldn't have been *this* bad. I look at the power play as something of a metric for measuring a coach. You can have a team that isn't great and have a good power play. Housley, with mostly the same players Bylsma had, totally tanked the power play.

Well, there it is. Clearly Botterill thinks the roster is better than the results.

My feeling is that, given Pegula's comments recently, I suspect that Botterill has already kneeled before Terry and accepted responsibility for this situation, even if it's not entirely his fault. He's likely a better communicator than GMTM was and that will allow him more leash with ownership than GMTM had.

I suspect that, if you put it to Botterill, he would tell you that this team's failures this season were a combination of his trades not working out as hoped, his younger players not being as ready as they needed to be, and his veteran players struggling to find consistency. I think he would place the blame on himself and the players, exempting Housley. If he fires Housley then we can infer that he doesn't blame himself or the players as much. Choose your own adventure as to where the blame lies.

He played almost every game this year. So at the very least he's durable.

Ted Nolan praised. Pat Lafontaine praised. Dan Bylsma panned. Tim Murray panned. I'd really like to hear from Pat Lafontaine about all of this someday. Little tidbits here and there seem to paint him as the only guy who actually had his head on straight, contrary to the narrative at the time that he was the problem...

Pominville is done here. Housley refused to deploy him in the only role that made sense: Eichel's smart veteran wingman. If he's not playing on Eichel's wing then he has no value. Thanks for trying Jason. Sorry Phil nuked your last season as a Sabre, and maybe as an NHLer.

Logging in just to appreciate this post. It would be nice if this team were Not Fragile. They'd be Free Wheelin and beating opponents down like a Sledgehammer. Jack would say "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet" and they'd Roll On Down the Highway. They wouldn't be Givin' It All Away every night, and the fans wouldn't be Blue Moanin'.

Yup, that's it. Just log in and see if the tickets are there.

Patrick Marleau has been exactly that guy for Toronto.

I just want to note that I never got an email this year but when I logged onto My Sabres Tickets the tickets were there.

Lookit you still up at midnight! I like your tenacity.

It's distinctly possible that Jack isn't at his peak as far as strength goes. Look at Risto. This is his first season of really being a physical monster.

I actually don't have a problem with Eichel on that goal. There were Winnipeg players up high still and those guys are his and Skinner's responsibility. Eichel was also in a good position to pick up 44 if he managed to get around Okposo and cut to the middle. The player who screwed up was Dahlin, who needed recognize that Okposo and Eichel had everything taken care of and to take care of his man around the net. Instead he's watching shooter and screening his own goalie to boot while letting his man totally get open.

Here's hoping it helps us out.

It'd be a coup if Botts were to do it and it's very doable. We also have the picks and prospects that might get FLA on board.

Gotta figure a nice pile of picks and prospects for sure. This is exactly the kind of trade I could see Botterill actually making.

I guess they would need to move him for cap reasons if they get the deal they want with CBJ.

Why on earth would Florida want to trade him? He's productive, young and has a good cap hit.

Josie and I are in 117.

Every time I watch an old Bond movie (and I like and accept them for what they are) all I can hear in my head is Douglas Reynholm from IT Crowd going "sexy sexy sex sex sex i like sex".

So here's a little something I kinda want to do. I've been a bad Beauts fan this year and have only made it to one game so far. But the Beauts play the Riveters right after this game at 5:00 at the Harborcenter and I think I want to make a day of it and do Double Buffalo Hockey. I know we already have Cole's booked for beers and wings after, so don't let me dissuade anyone from sticking to that plan.

I thought the Sabres played a good hard game today and I can't be too upset with the loss. I wish they'd play that way every game.