...

Not if the lack of competent officiating can help it. There's a whistle.

The color guy on the Amerks broadcast just said Thompson (who just scored) wanted to come down and play with the Amerks. Made it sound like it was Thompson's call.

Obviously not. The callers to WGR are a mere sliver of the total fan base, so if you think that's who Sabres fans are you're pretty mistaken. Those are Sabres fans who call talk shows. This is not to say the info coming from WGR is poor, just the callers are, and many times it's difficult for the show hosts to hide their impatience with those callers. Do you know how big hockey is around here? How many kids and adults play in some sort of league? That in itself raises the understanding of the game and cognizance of what should or should not be done to escalate chances at winning. The general social atmosphere around here involves discussing hockey, discussing what the Sabres do. Nearly anyone interested in the team learns about hockey organically. Few people don't want to share what they think or know. I would consider this to be a sophisticated hockey market. Therefore, you can get away with a tank, like we did. You can explain what a re-building process is and it will buy the organization "time" because, generally, Sabres fans understand why things are they way they are and understand how the game works. Between what WGR talks about, the Athletic and the News, not to mention the entirety of the interwebz, we get a lot of solid information and education on hockey (just like anything else). People around here eat it up. We all know advanced stats exist, we all know they need to be used as a tool to aid in winning. The fans, in general, recognize: Murray was an attempt to be contenders within a short amount of time. Nolan was re-hired because fans love him and we needed to tank. Bylsma was a superficial hire based on availability, name recognition, with no real respect for the fact that he didn't earn his ring. Botterill was, perhaps, the first thoughtful hire by the Pegulas. Housely was a disaster that no one expected. So, now, do they retreat to the "we just need to get into the off-season to please them all" camp? Because if they go this route, the odds are good we're going to want this guy fired after a while, or that, like Martin's record (and Ruff's), he might get you to the big dance once, but you won't win it. The goal was to win Cups...with a "s". Or do they take a chance on someone new who is ostensibly on the "cutting edge" of hockey game management? Whose future in the NHL is yet unknown, but, like a first round pick, whose potential is unlimited? What do you think the fans would appreciate more?

You know the source?

It's a lack of understanding the fan base. We are far more sophisticated than the Pegulas give us credit for. When we boo the team, it's not simply because we want a winning team, like children would cry to get an ice cream cone. We boo because we understand exactly WTF is playing out before our eyes. Floating the Jacques Martin tease is an insult to the intelligence of your average Sabres fan, IMHO.

The best Tweet so far:

Dude, there's 27 pages of that.

STL 1986–87 80 32 33 15 – 79 1st in Norris 2 4 .333 Lost in First round STL 1987–88 80 34 38 8 – 76 2nd in Norris 5 5 .500 Lost in Second round OTT 1995–96 38 10 24 4 – (41) 6th in Northeast 0 0 – Missed Playoffs OTT 1996–97 82 31 36 15 – 77 3rd in Northeast 3 4 .429 Lost in First round OTT 1997–98 82 34 33 15 - 83 5th in Northeast 5 6 .455 Lost in Second round OTT 1998–99 82 44 23 15 - 103 1st in Northeast 0 4 .000 Lost in First round OTT 1999–2000 82 41 28 11 2 95 2nd in Northeast 2 4 .333 Lost in First round OTT 2000–01 82 48 21 9 4 109 1st in Northeast 0 4 .000 Lost in First round OTT 2001–02 80 38 26 9 7 94 3rd in Northeast 7 5 .583 Lost in Second round OTT 2002–03 82 52 21 8 1 113 1st in Northeast 11 7 .611 Lost in Conf. Finals OTT 2003–04 82 43 23 10 6 102 3rd in Northeast 3 4 .429 Lost in First round FLA 2005–06 82 37 34 – 11 85 4th in Southeast 0 0 – Missed Playoffs FLA 2006–07 82 35 31 – 16 86 4th in Southeast 0 0 – Missed Playoffs FLA 2007–08 82 38 35 – 9 85 3rd in Southeast 0 0 – Missed Playoffs MTL 2009–10 82 39 33 – 10 88 4th in Northeast 9 10 .474 Lost in Conf. Finals MTL 2010–11 82 44 30 – 8 96 2nd in Northeast 3 4 .429 Lost in First round MTL 2011–12 32 13 12 – 7 (78) 5th in Northeast - - - (fired) I don't see any Stanley Cups there. Lots of first round exits. Probably very similar to Lindy's record. Unless he's an actual proponent of using advanced stats as a tool, and actually uses them, I'd prefer to take a chance on a "modern" style coach.

Yes. This is absolutely a serious lack of courage and imagination on Botterill's part, especially if he makes the hire. Dunno. If they were, that just makes his record worse.

Older re-re-re-tread with no history of real success.

#NoJacquesForBuffalo I so don't want this.

Maybe Babcock will be available after this game.

What a ridiculous bunch of criteria to have for your next coach. No wonder we're a bunch of losers.

I think a lot of this would be mitigated if we simply knew whether it was the other hip or not.

6 months means he'll be available in October (assuming all goes well). When did he come back this past season?

If they go deep, it likely will change the way GM's think of how they approach their rosters.

I found some interesting Twitter activity on this I put in the coaches thread.

So, this is interesting. Same fundamental problems in Nashville and it looks like the natives are getting restless. Some are even saying Housley ought to come back. What if we did a coaching swap with Nashville?

So, Nashville is going to have to do some re-tooling. Their system and ours are very, very similar and it's pretty clear, without some changes, that system is less than ideal for the playoffs. I think Laviolette is safe for next season (unless his contract is up, I don't know), but I bet he cycles through some assistants.

Whoever is directing this Carolina game sucks. I am posting in the Playoffs thread, right?

Goodness, Nashville is so Buffalo like.