nfreeman

I've been thinking about Jarmo's perspective on this. He got canned by CBJ in February of 2024, which gave him 1.5 seasons, and 2 off-seasons, to get a GM job. When he didn't get one, he took the Sabres' gig at the end of May of 2025. He almost certainly still wants to be a GM somewhere, which is why he took this job -- i.e. it was pretty obvious that KA was running out of chances, and this job would put him in the on-deck circle if KA were to be fired. But still: he has to know that if the only change is KA out, Jarmo in -- he is doomed to fail, and probably won't ever get another shot at a GM job. So, would he take the job under those conditions, because it's a bird in the hand, albeit a crippled and decrepit bird? Or would he say thanks but no thanks and go home to cool his heels and wash off the Sabres stink until a better opportunity comes along? Or: is he perhaps negotiating, even as we speak, the terms -- salary cap spend, front office turnover, coaching staff turnover -- under which he will agree to take the job? And if so, does TP maybe want no part of a GM search, and does he maybe want Jarmo to take this mess off his hands and restore his good name in the NHL enough, to give Jarmo enough of what he needs to get Jarmo to take the job? I'm guessing this is what is going on -- TP wants Jarmo to take the job and they are negotiating the terms. Jarmo knows he can't overplay his hand, but at the same time he doesn't want to step into an unworkable situation. Please give him what he wants Terry. We're still here on your team's message board after a ridiculous number of terrible years. At this point you kinda owe us a real GM with a real budget.

If it happens, by far the most likely outcome is that Jarmo gets the job. If it is Jarmo, and he doesn't fire everyone, then we'll be stuck in business as usual mode and they will continue to stink. If he does fire everyone, there will be some hope.

Almost but not quite. I want a Lindy redemption run. It’s highly unlikely but I want it anyway.

Well, we both know that NHL .500 is a freaking joke and is utterly meaningless. And I've already admitted that you are right that 0.600 points percentage is more accurate than real .500. However: - Real .500 is very closely correlated with making/missing the playoffs -- i.e. teams that finish below real .500 very seldom make it and teams that finish above it usually make it (and teams that are 2 over almost always make it). - For example, last season, every team that was above real .500 made the playoffs, and every team that was below real .500 missed the playoffs (except one -- the Habs, who were 1 game under). - There is NFW that I am going to mentally keep track of the number of games this pathetic franchise has played -- so I am not going to be able to determine where they are relative to .600 points percentage without checking the standings -- which is more effort than I'm prepared to dedicate to them at present. But I can remember pretty easily where they are relative to real .500. So while I won't criticize your purist approach on this, I'm not going to adopt it either. The quick-and-dirty approach works almost as well and is much easier -- and this franchise doesn't deserve any better just yet.

They're currently 4 under real .500, which means they will miss the playoffs by a considerable margin. They need to go 4-2 on this roadie to get to 2 under. Then we can start to daydream about gradually working their way up to 2 over and a Lindy redemption story. Any worse than 4-2 and all that's happened is that they are 6 games closer to missing the playoffs by a mile yet again.

Given his history and how skinny he looks, it seems impossible that he would stay healthy through a regular season and especially those extra games after the regular season that some other teams get to play in.

They are 4 under .500 with a high likelihood of being 5 under in a few hours -- and it's Nov. 8. Their best player has left the team indefinitely (and understandably -- God bless him and his family) and their next 2 best players are having mediocre starts. Their goaltending started off better than expected and has now started to stink again. They could be 10 under by Thanksgiving real easy, and at that point the season will be unquestionably over. If that happens, will everyone get fired?

I watched the last 10 min plus OT. Like in the Caps game, the Sabres got dominated and got a point only because of the goaltending. Quinn has negative-evolved into another Derek Roy -- skilled but soft and gutless -- minus the productivity.

I’ll say it again: McD can coach my team as long as he wants.

Not sure a victory lap is called for here. They are 2 under .500 and they looked like crap in the 3rd and OT.

Let the record reflect that UPL kept them alive in the 3rd and OT. Good for him. I’ve only been watching since the start of the 3rd but I didn’t like what I saw from Power or Quinn in particular. edit: or Tuch

They are playing like they expect to lose.

That was an exciting game. Power makes infuriatingly soft plays on the regular but also makes quite a few nice plays. Dahlin looks distracted, understandably enough, but in any case is nowhere near his best. Quinn and Östlund were really bad to start the game but hung in there and had a number of nice shifts as the game went on. I think though they are both too soft to play with each other. I'd like to see Östlund with Doan and Tuch and McLeod with Quinn and Zucker. Kulich is out of his depth on the top line. Lyon was sturdy for the most part but the 2nd goal, from the blue line, was lousy, and the 3rd one wasn't great either albeit deflected. Still: they are 2 under .500, with 2 consecutive losses, and they need to get some wins.

1-goal lead with 9 minutes to go in a game they should win if they want to have a shot at the playoffs this year. Let's see what they're made of.

They started the 1st period terribly, I agree, but after about 8 minutes it was pretty even IMHO. I really like the Doan-McLeod-Tuch line.

This is a pretty good game. The Sabres are flawed but definitely improved. Lyon and Doan are huge improvements.

You cannot seriously think that Adams has not terribly mishandled the goalie position during his tenure here. 20-21 -- Ullmark, Tokarski, Hutton -- let's give him a pass for inheriting a very difficult situation with Krueger, Covid and a belt-tightening owner. 21-22 -- after butchering the Ullmark contract and losing him to Boston, where he shines, KA goes with Craig Anderson, Tokarski and Dell. Grade: F 22-23 -- UPL, Anderson, Comrie. Comrie was the shiny new toy, who crashed and burned, leaving us with mediocrities in UPL (.891, 3.61) and Anderson (.908, 3.06). Grade: F 23-24 -- It was supposed to be wunderkind Levi, but he couldn't handle it, so UPL got the #1 job and had the best year of his career. Comrie was bad again. Grade: inadvertent B. 24-25 -- UPL got a big contract before the season and promptly pooped the bed with .887 and 3.20 in 55 games. Reimer, the definition of "journeyman", was better and took over down the stretch. Grade: F That's 3 Fs, a lucky B, a charitable incomplete in his 1st season and an incomplete in his 6th season. And it wasn't because it couldn't be helped.

What’s the mosquito situation like in NS? I ask because it’s not far from Maine, and often compared with Maine, which is very pretty but has more mosquitoes than anywhere else I’ve ever been.

I hate myself for caving so quickly, but I'm reading this GDT and I'm watching the game tonight. I have NP at all with Lindy dressing a designated fighter. Of course it would be better if the team had enough guts and toughness throughout the roster to make it unnecessary, but they don't. They've been mentally broken for some time now. This is designed to address that. It may not be effective, but I have no problem with trying to address it. Who TF is Dunne? Go Sabres. Next stop, DeLuca .500.

TP isn't firing anyone tonight. But at some point he will have to act. The pressure, including from the NHL, will be too great. The question is when will the camel's back break. If they start the season, say, 0-10? I think KA and Lindy are gone. But what if it's just 0-6? Or 1-9 with a couple of OTLs? We all know the answer: TP will stall and delay and hem and haw until Thanksgiving, or New Year's, or the Spring for that matter. In the meantime, everyone can see that the wheels are falling off, and it's a question of when, not if. Thanks for another great season, Terry and Kevyn! Great job!

Kinda seems like an insurance policy against Lyon being a complete washout, understanding that Lyon himself is an insurance policy against a 2nd year of UPL crashing and burning.

And, I believe, drafted by Winnipeg with a first-rounder provided by Tim Murray in the ill-fated Evander Kane trade. So maybe GMTM still has a chance to win that one?

Serious question: wasn't it just like a week or 2 ago that the Sabres were crawling with young, talented, highly-drafted forwards (some of which were supposed to be consolation prizes for being forced to trade Eichel and Reinhart)? But now there is a big hole in the top 6 and not enough offense? It kinda feels like when Botteril accumulated too many RHDs, then squandered them via terrible GMing, leaving a hole at RHD.

Most likely outcome: BB is traded next summer. Sneakily possible outcome: BB outplays Power convincingly next season, Power is traded and BB signs a long-term extension.