nfreeman

... and he chose the wrong coach, and the wrong goalie, and created a dysfunctional atmosphere, etc. I have been thinking though that even if the Sabres finish this year well out of the playoffs, JB might still be the right guy. I think slow, steady, methodical and professional is what this organization needs after the upper-management dysfunction and coach/GM revolving door of the last 5 years or so. As @dudacek has ably noted, though, we still don't know whether JB has the mission-critical skill of talent evaluation. He's had some successes but quite a few misses as well. Separately, and with apologies for derailing the GDT, here's why I keep bringing up the tank: it is the central defining fact of the franchise now and for the last 6-7 years, and will continue to be so until the Sabres have an extended run of good playoff appearances. It's like a close friend getting laid off at his job, and instead of pounding the pavement and looking for a better job, he decides -- against prudent advice -- to throw himself in front of a truck in the hope that he wouldn't be badly hurt, that the truck would be owned by a rich company, that the friend would win a lawsuit, that he would receive a huge award in the lawsuit, that the award would be paid quickly, that the company wouldn't appeal, and 10 other contingencies that need to play out exactly right. Sure enough, when we fast forward 7 years, he's still out of work, and is badly hurt, broke and bitter with dim prospects for improvement. And yet some of his dudes are still insisting that his plan was a good one.

The bolded is ridiculous on its face. As I have said multiple times: the point of the tank was to get Eichel, and thereby to become a good team. If becoming a good team weren't the entire point of the tank, then no one would ever pursue a tanking strategy. The reason I and many others opposed the tank is simple: as a strategy for a bubble team to become a cup contender, it usually fails -- and it usually results in semi-permanent residence in the basement. This is exactly what has happened to the Sabres. The reason tanking usually brings these disastrous consequences is that it is too difficult and unlikely to climb from the basement to cup contender. There are too many moving pieces and too many things have to go right. In the meantime, losing has been internalized as the expected result. So saying "they screwed up the rebuild" isn't an accurate description of the post-tank era. It would be more correct to say "their plan relied on a 50-1 longshot paying off, and it didn't pay off." It gives me no pleasure to say it. But when I see/hear utter nonsense like the bolded, or other defenses of the tank (and you are far from the only one), I feel like there is a real risk that the team will just repeat the same idiotic tactic, and a decade in the desert will turn into 20 years, which will in turn lead to the team leaving.

The late and sparse GDT is a symptom of a broader malaise IMHO. It's not the fans' fault, but I'm sensing a growing fatalism and "whatever" attitude in the fan base. The arena is pretty quiet and there are thousands of empty seats. Stubhub has tickets in the lower level at center ice for $34 (face value is presumably 3x to 4x that amount). The hardcore fans here are pretty close to writing off yet another season (in freaking mid-November!). And it's hard to feel any optimism about a turnaround anytime soon. Behold what the tank hath wrought. A great franchise has become a joke and a great hockey city doesn't give a crap. It's an abomination. And don't kid yourself and think that we've made it to the other side and annual improvement is assured.

Holy mackerel do we need this kid to be both a great player and a great leader.

Here's something positive: I think last night was ERod's best game of the season. He skated well and created a number of chances. Getting him back to the 50-pt pace (or thereabouts) that he had in the 2nd half of last season would be a big help.

I've seen quite a bit of Lamar. He is terrific. He is also sturdier of build than Vick was and a better passer. But when running with it, pre-imprisonment Vick was a supernova. He was the fastest guy on the field, when the field was filled with world-class athletes.

I don't think this question can be answered in a vacuum -- i.e. I think everyone would like to keep Reino at the right price, but everyone would also trade him for the right return. So, I would suggest assuming: - To keep Reino, the Sabres will have to give him an 8-year deal at a minimum of $7.5MM per year (and that may be low). - If they trade Reino, they won't be getting back a guy Reino's age who has produced as much as Reino has -- i.e. you're talking younger players/prospects/picks -- not an established star. IMHO, Reino is a good player, but not good enough to justify the contract that it will take to keep him -- but the Sabres can't let him go either, as they need all of the talent at forward they can get, and trading him would almost certainly result in a downgrade in their forward talent at scoring. This unfortunate situation -- having to overpay to keep your own guys, who aren't great and who haven't produced anything for you, but who are the best you've got -- is where mismanaged teams often find themselves. In this case, the Sabres will probably find themselves being forced to get married to Reino in part due to the ROR and KO debacles and Mitts' failure to develop, and of course the idiotic tank.

Negative. Vick was a better runner.

It has to be said: the Sabres were 1-5 without Scandy (maybe 1-6; I'm not sure). He returns and they win immediately. Discuss.

I agree that they need a goalie but I think there is close to zero chance that they trade for one this year.

Yes indeedly. And, it also has to be said, that while Eichel has shown flashes of greatness, one could easily conclude that in his 5th year he isn't a top-10 NHL player (and maybe not top-20), and thus nowhere near worth the blood and treasure that the franchise paid to get him.

My guess is that ERod or Vesey gets benched.

I didn't think any of the goals was awful, but I thought all of them other than the 2nd one, which was a deflection in close, were savable -- and a good goaltending performance would've saved a couple of them.

I agree with @dudacek that the Sabres did not get good goaltending last night. I will also note that the concerns most commonly cited at the end of last summer regarding unaddressed roster flaws were scoring depth and goaltending, and both continue to be concerns (although to be fair, the goaltending has been pretty solid for the most part). So it’s more than fair to criticize JB for not taking steps in these areas.

I loved the show -- it's in my top 3 all-time shows (with "Mad Men" and "The Sopranos"). The movie wasn't great but I still enjoyed it -- it was just nice to see everyone again.

This is reasonable and quite possibly true as regards Kovy, but the value, as mentioned above, is unloading KO, who IMHO contributes zero and is a significant net negative due to his contract. Both of these are fair, but I'd rather ditch KO and hope that RK can get something out of Kovy.

I think the value from the Sabres' perspective is unloading KO's contract. I think Scandy's value has improved, but he's still a lower-pairing defenseman on an expiring contract. It's hard to see the Sabres getting more than a 3rd-rounder for him under any circumstance (which would probably be a low 3rd-rounder if it's coming from a playoff team looking to bolster its D group for the stretch drive) -- and I'd rather be rid of KO's contract than pick up a low 3rd-rounder.

Am I missing something, or did you just take both sides of this?

Scandella and KO for Kovalchuk. Who says no?

Bumpity bump.

My wife and I binged season 2 of "Jack Ryan." I thought it was OK, but not great, and about as good as season 1. About a B. We are currently binging "Succession" and are most of the way through season 1. It's good, but not as good as the hype IMHO. B-plus.

This seems like a likely move to give JB a bit more time. Separately: for those demanding a trade ASAP -- I think it's pretty likely that the right trade hasn't presented itself. i.e. no one is offering a good forward for Risto -- more like their version of Erod or TT or KO, or maybe a draft pick. I doubt anyone here would be satisfied with that kind of return, or with a 5th-rounder for Scandy or similar move that wouldn't bring in a clear upgrade at forward.

I know Sobotka is a whipping boy around here, but I'm glad his injury -- which looked potentially quite bad -- isn't a season-ender.

Or maybe it's about whether certain expectations of certain groups of people are reasonable, and about whether and how those expectations may be voiced, and whether those with whom one disagrees can fairly be dismissed as bigots or hate/fear-mongerers. All of these are political issues. And didn't you argue, during the not-so-glorious days of the debate over whether we should have a politics thread, that everything is political?

OK boys. Let's take this to the politics club please.