Ruff Around The Edges

Did I see this correctly that the Buffalo Sabres scored not 1....but 2 goals 5X5???

Maybe we have all been a little too hard on the Sabres this week given what they have been through with the COVID pause and illnesses affecting the team in several instances. This season so far has pretty much been a pointless exercise, and the Sabres have to be careful on how to assess certain players because of this.

I agree with you. I think the biggest thing that Sabres management and fans need to realize is: Forget the generational talent talk with Dahlin. We need to answer can Dahlin be a legit top pairing defenseman in the NHL for years to come and produce say 50-60 point seasons, and not the 70-80 point seasons a lot of us dreamed about when Rasmus was drafted? And also, when Rasmus needs to be signed this off-season, what is the term and years we should give? I wouldn't give Dahlin 8 seasons, a 5 year bridge deal is the path I would choose.

Dahin was showing great strides under Housley, under Krueger Dahlin has been a complete disaster.

5-1 Caps Next.

Agree completely. Watching Florida/Carolina on NHL Network now and i hate to say it but Carolina looks like a legit SC contender. Necas very underrated player, Aho is a legit elite star in the making. Jordan Staal is so good too.

Look at the bright side: At least a good amount of posters here who probably go to games aren't losing a lot of $ on this product.

This franchise is a complete disgrace. I miss the COVID pause.

I agree, I still think the utilization of Skinner is more the problem, I still think he can be 'somewhat salvaged' and be a 30 goal guy and not make the contract look as incredibly bad as it does right now. This team to me just lacks a true pulse, lack of physicality and grit is overwhelming IMO.

I want to know what has Ralph Kruger proven to earn a PROMOTION upstairs?

Another night to find alternative options rather then watch a 5-2 loss.

Agree 10000000 percent. I start watching this team and then I start thinking 'maybe I can do some things around the house' and barely watch. This team is infected with Eichel-15 and as of now it has taken on many strands. I'm sorry but I am tired of Eichel. Move on from him NOW. Eichel is a great talent that will not equate to many wins. He should have not been handed the captaincy so quick and easy. It almost feels like Buffalo bends over backwards because they fear so badly that they will upset him and he will want to leave. Something stinks with this roster, and you have to look at the top. While Eichel has big trade value, move him. Move Ristolalinen. Heck, even move Dahlin at this point. Taylor Hall: Nice idea but this could be a blessing in disguise. Move him and get what you can and do NOT fall for that trick and sign him long term like they did Jeff Skinner. Hire a real Team President, allow the GM to do the dirty work and build this franchise CORRECTLY up and down. Enough IS enough.

So are the Sabres set to play next week On Monday is this official assuming nothing goes sideways?

When Columbus acquired Laine I really wondered if this would be a situation where Columbus them flips Laine to a team who wants to win now to get more assets and then Laine picks his destination for 2021-2022 and beyond. Hearing Tort might be on thin ice on Columbus, if o I hope Adams gets on the horn, makes Kruger Prez and hires Torts as the coach in Buffalo.

I only go back to the mid 80's and cant speak to the 70's Sabres but I always enjoy and appreciate reading about them. For me its 2 and its very close: 1999: Jason Wooley and the 'hockey shot heard round the world' in the Stanley Cup Finals and the Sabres went up 1-0 against Dallas 2006: Jason Pominville and the 'these guys are good, scary good' and beating Ottawa in 5: At that moment Buffalo was a hockey crazed town again and I think a lot of us felt looking at who was left in the playoffs that the Sabres have a very strong shot to win the Cup.

I remember when I think it may have been Jeremy White on WGR who was screaming to the mountaintops that the Sabres should have offer sheeted David Pastrnak when the Bruins were 'on the ropes' with their cap. Opportunity missed at the time and I feel that way even more now. EDIT: Of course we will never know if Pasta would have even signed it anyway

I do understand and also I think we had our GM's reversed timeline wise: JBot with the way he wanted to rebuild the team would have been better to have as the GM the year before we drafted Eichel, because we would not have made deals for guys like Kane, OReilly etc, tanked AGAIN in Eichel's rookie year and maybe the Sabres land Laine or even Matthews (instead of Nylander who was a waste) the year after the Eichel tank. THEN after JBot built the roster through the draft, THEN bring in a guy like Tim Murray to be more aggressive to help the team for the now.

I still say the tank was not a bad idea. In many ways, we just have not had the lottery luck to justify the tank and in some cases, made the incorrect picks.

A little perhaps but even with Skinner at his best now I would say to have his contract match his production 6M per is about where it should be. An incredible egregious overpay by JBot which will impact other moves made by Adams for years

To me the choice is easy. The crazy part the O'Reilly trade is a distant 2nd but that does not mean that trade wasn't a disaster on its own. You trade for Skinner, that trade in itself was excellent. You pair him with Eichel. Skinner scores 48, THEN you pay him as if he is Patrick Kane. THEN you move him OFF the Eichel line and move in Olofsson and the you have to pay Olofsson more as well. Skinner as a 9M dollar cap hit for 7 more seasons playing as a 4th liner with currently 1 point to me qualifies as easily the worst contract in the NHL currently, and might go down as the all time worst when its all said and done. The level of fail with this is breathtaking.

Do tell!

In an NHL season there are some games when one team has such a high sense of urgency that the opponent has a hard time matching it. This was last night with the Rangers. The Rangers needed this game a lot more then the Sabres did. They came out with a determination and it showed. The Sabres didn't lose because of effort. Kudos to Ullmark for stealing a point. We have rarely seen goalies on Buffalo steal points over the last decade. Other good teams have nights like that more often then most realize. Lets hope Ullmark has a few more like that when the team isn't firing on all cylinders.

Does the entitlement ever stop with NY and Boston fans when they think a player should be on their team?

I'm gonna take a different approach here. We know sadly there are still stories of racism out there and I absolutely hate it, on all sides from all different colors, ethnic groups and the like. But I feel this movement we have seen lately (and we kind of all know why it part this truly happened in 2020 and they have accomplished their goal as of 1/20/2021), while it has validity to it, also in some ways the new rhetoric feels like a slap in the face as to the progress that has been made over many decades and continues to be. As far as the media goes, the NHL is a very strong target given the demographics in the sport. And as Taro pointed out, this has a lot more to do with other factors then bigotry and it is not reported. You can say that the NHL can do more and I get that and I am all for it. However, regardless of what the NHL says or does, they will be exploited by the media a bit because of a very high white participation rate. I live in Southern California, and a few times I have went to the facility where the Los Angeles Kings practice in El Segundo close to LAX Airport. There are lots of kids there playing on the ice and something struck me: A lot of young Asian kids are taking to the sport and other minorities too. As a white guy who has loved hockey and played when I was younger. I LOVED seeing this. I think Asians will have an impact on hockey more and more and time goes by. I say: All ethnics get on board with hockey its a beautiful sport! When I go to games and see other races then whites at the game, I like it. The more fans of the game, the better. We all want the sport to grow and be available to everyone and I truly feel as time goes in that will happen. Naturally. We all want any player or fan, regardless of where you are from, skin color, etc, to be comfortable playing or enjoying the sport just as much as anyone else. 100 percent. I just don't want this to be used as a political weapon. And sadly, we are seeing that. And it needs to stop.

I don't know about all of you: Who is absolutely FIRED up and has those nerves for this game??! I can't wait for Sunday! LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOOO