Eric in Akron

Also, the belly aching over the flag taking a great play away (Mahomes own words) is such BS, since the flag was thrown as soon as the ball was snapped. There was no play outcome yet, so it is not like the refs were out to get them.

I see a link on the sabres.com homepage but it goes to a 404 (not found) page. Works now - link above provided by SabresBaltimore

Oilers over the Hurricanes. Got 7 of the 8 series correct, best I've ever done in the first round. I have a feeling if Bobrovsky is on his game then Florida will eliminate Toronto (I picked Toronto for that series). Should be some fun match ups in the second round.

Sabres make the playoffs as the 6th seed. Nothing more bolder than that.

Eichel is way more talented and it's not even close. However, Drury was better at being the soul of a team (leadership, will, and determination). Jack is the talent but someone else needs to be the captain.

Fair enough. Believe me, I'm not a fan of his. I'm just trying to point out to those that think that goaltending is the issue that it is not the core issue. We have more talent (on paper) than we've had in years past and our production is worse. That points to system issues and if our fragile roster has no confidence then a good coach would know how to get them inspired. It is his job to ensure the team is ready to play, crap when you come out first game of the season and say you weren't going to coach that night then you should be fired because that is your job!

I think he is an okay backup. If you remove the first game played (1/14) where the team seemed to sleepwalk through that whole game and he had a .815 sv% then that certainly adjusts his overall sv%. Again, I'm taking the subset up to Ullmark's injury and the post COVID pause debacle: 1/18 - .955 1/19 - .950 (back to back) 1/31 - .889 2/16 - .913 2/25 - .840 (replaced Ullmark) This is the game that the wheels started coming off. Again, he is an okay backup. The team's problems go beyond goaltending - it's a problem but is not as big of a problem as the system is, IMHO.

I think people are also forgetting that we are comparing goaltending prior to all of the injuries (and Skinner benching) versus what we've seen afterwards. Ullmark's performance may not have been as good after all the other circumstances have played out. We cannot compare.

With Krueger gone, I would never have to worry about seeing Tage Thompson trying to skate with Jack Eichel on the 1st line. Watching his inability to skate with and think with Hall and Eichel in the first game had me wonder what possessed anyone to think that was a good idea. The real crime was that he was put there again in a following game!

Yes. The Browns went 4 - 0 in the preseason. I think that proves that the preseason means nothing.

Hmmmmm.... isn't that a dive?

Just do a search on 'space' and it will pop up.

Bylsma should've been on the hot seat at the beginning of last year when he said the team didn't practice 3-v-3. It is part of the game now and you didn't practice it!? That was the first sign indicator. Additionally, I truly believe a coach needs to be able to make adjustments quickly and anticipate the other teams strategy. I don't think Dan does that well enough during the game. I don't question his hockey mind just his in game abilities and the way the team prepares before a game.

No offense but we said let's see what we are like at the end of December. We keep waiting to see how the next games go and then waiting again. I'm sorry - I've seen enough to know that right now that the system is not working.

I don't think it is a roster issue as some here have indicated. The guys that have been brought in have had really good seasons prior to their Sabres arrival (Kane and Moulson) and some had good years prior to DD (Girgensons and Ennis - although Ennis may be due to his injuries). These guys can score - heck they are scoring on the power play so they know how to beat a goalie... 5 on 5 is the problem, which means that the players are not creating the right chances and this is partially affected by the system. How many times are they shooting right at the goalie - into his chest? Now, how many times are they shooting while the goalie is moving? They need to start opening space (system) to be able to pass into opportunities and get the goalie moving. Also, seeing the 4th line out there right after the Reinhart goal made me cringe. This is all on Dan.