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A lot of people say this or something like it. I don't buy what it implies. It implies that Ruff is an inflexible fool not capable of learning or evolving. It implies that we are stuck with the entitled, soft players we have today. Not a damn thing since Ruff's "old, outdated style" has worked. Not the effort-beats-all motivator, not the well-crafted strategies professor, not the seat-of-the-pants Stanley Cup winner, not the Hall-of-Famer defense whisperer and certainly not the new age guru. The top 10 teams in the league now are represented by a variety of coaching styles whose head coach ages average around 55. Lindy is 59. Would I welcome Ruff back over RK? Absolutely. I think his experience since being with Sabres has probably taught him a lot of valuable things. And he still has a passion for the Sabres, and this club desperately needs someone at the top with some genuine fire for the crest.

They nailed him actually three times in short order, and Tampa was smelling blood big time. Hutton was hanging his head just as Tampa had to leave the zone for something, and he wasn't watching the bench. So when they called him over, he clearly didn't feel there was a need for urgency, which there wasn't, because I guarantee you the conversation we were having here was the same conversation he was having with himself in his head.

I think this is true. There's an added dimension, though: saying we have soft players doesn't automatically equate that we need goons. That's a ridiculous leap the kind of which Paul Ham-fat-sandwich makes all of the time in his open loathing of the fans. PA does it a few posts up and it is both unacceptable in the unfolding of the discourse and intellectually lazy. We don't have to accept that straw man. There are players out there who have skill and who are also bad-muthas. We don't need a roster full of them, we need them sprinkled tactically throughout the roster. And then we need a coach who understands not only how to assemble lines with these guys, but who also has their backs in the press and to the league. We need a GM who can recognize a soft player and avoids them unless their skill outweighs their softness. We need players who understand and respect the fact that on a team like the Sabres, it's not the individuals the fans root for, it's the crest. The players are the stewards of the crest while they are here. If and when they do well defending and playing for the crest, for the city and for the fans, then their individuality gets recognized.

Apathy and selfishness. That's the culture.

It's a concussion! Of course it's a long-term injury. No heart. No nothing from Krueger.

Concussion! AND NO REPLY! And Ralphy-boy had nothing to say about the hit? JFC on a pogo stick.

And here we have Paul too-many Ham Sandwiches again creating strawmen and snarkly blowing them down. No one says we need John Scott, no one is saying we're expecting Hasek in goal. PAUL HAMILTON, you fat, bitter, old man. You hate the listeners - the people who you RELY upon for your check and your content. You're awful and nasty and deserve to not travel with the team. You deserve to have a 6am Sunday morning hour-long show at best.

No team or coach interviews on MSG. Not surprising.

This game represents the greater point I was trying to make the other day, and lgr has helped, today, to bring it all home. None of the people we have had in here have solved the essential problem of creating a team. No matter what talent we've brought in here, the guys with talent were here because they got the money. Skinner, got good enough money plus a major quality of life boost. These guys are about the money and no one has been able to make it more than that.

I'm completely serious when I say I agree with you. The sentiment, or something similar, seems to be very strong today. Usually, people are like "there's no place in the game for that anymore" or "why?" Nice to see, but the people who promote softness will prevail here on the board within 24 hours.

They're just going through motions now, more to hate them over.

Well, my guess is that there is absolutely no honor on display. No loyalty, no nothing from this team than dudes taking the money, and not wanting to risk anything beyond what it takes to get the money. We've all be duped by the dupes on this team.

Correction: not strong enough for the past four seasons or more. @LGR4GMhas come across the perfect, efficient description of this "team's" problems.

This is what you'll get.

Woohoo, small victories.

This is where the bench-clearing brawl needs to come in. The game is lost. Oh yeah, so, people bitch about Dahlin's turnovers - the team is doing a great job of turning it over without him.

This team blows. I don't know if I can watch this garbage.

HUTTON YOU SUCK!