ska-T Chitown

It seems if his buyout creates a cap dent so large that we cannot sign a decent replacement <insert dozens of arguments as to what that would be ... a traffic cone could replace his defense>, then the team is not better without him. He is maddening, he is frustrating, he is inconsistent ... he is also their leading goal scorer(ish), electric upon rare occasions, and likely a heckuva guy. I don't think Skinner is the problem with this team and likely not the biggest of the many problems.

Word. That game was a hard one - mostly because they did not play well. I don't expect them to win them all and I don't expect them to outplay all the other teams, but play well, please. I know top teams can make 'tweeners like the Sabres look bad - but they looked awful 😞

where have all the chicken head gone?

I think the important bit is at the end of his quote about the team playing better at home and getting the fans on their side. To me, he (and thus the team, assuming they all feel that way) are taking the initial responsibility of winning so that the fans will cheer. Seems legit to me.

"At risk of taking this off topic" <reaches over grabs wheel and pulls harrrrrrrrrrrrrrd> lol

I want so desperately to disagree ... but barring the miracle of miracles (and maybe an entire team quitting?), we are - as you say - "playing out the stretch"

As one non-doctor to another - I guess we need to seek out a third non-professional opinion! If they wait to bring Quinn back until they have a legit shot at the playoffs, he might need to retire now 🤣 Maybe I am being selfish, but I want to see the best quality Sabres games possible for the rest of the season. I paid for the VPN that I use to watch the games in relative anonymity and the team owes me! If he looks like a shell of himself, then I would support pulling back - but if he looks like he looked right before unfortunate bad luck injury #2, let the kid play. And frankly, the tiny part of my brain that just wants everyone to think I am cool died a little when @inkman gave you the Stanley Cup "Awesome" award 😞

I think I did a poor job of trying to agree with you without just coming out and saying it. I just think the big club "saves face" by not having too many rookies making the kind of mistakes that young players make for everyone to see. I fully agree 22 yr old Benson will be better off having spent this year in the NHL. I don't think the top teams in the league would have had a roster spot for him due to their far superior talent depth, but I guess good for him that he came to Buffalo! My remark about Rodgers was that he became a great QB because he had all the physical and mental tools to be a great QB and would have likely been as good in year 3 or 4 whether he had "learned" from Brett or not. Having any formulaic approach on how to deal with people might be convenient, but I think it is just an excuse to be lazy and not think about each situation. (It happens in my industry a lot "grumble grumble, these young engineers need to just sit at their desk and do calculations by hand! grumble grumble") Tangentially - with star player contracts rising a bit disproportionately to the cap, I wonder if we see more NHL teams needing to fill gaps with entry level contracts, similar to the "rookie contract QB" craze in the NFL. I am in Chicago and all the talk about resetting the rookie contract clock at QB is amazing.

I would wager the advantage that the big club sees is that the player who "marinates" in the minors gets to make their growing pain mistakes in minors with no bearing on the big club's W-L. When a player is then granted access to the NHL as a more finished product, the difference is more glaring as most fans have not seen them before and marvel at the more polished version they are presented with. It takes more effort to objectively go back and look at the 18 yr NHL old rookie and compare him to his 22 yr old self. Not to mention the perhaps unrealistic expectations that come with entering the league at a younger age. I don't suspect that much, if any, of Aaron Rodgers' mid-to-late career success had anything to do with the year or two he spent on the bench behind Brett Fah-ahhh-vruh. (sticking with the QB thing as our other example)

I would also include his mental health. Many athletes openly talk about depression setting in when they are away from the sport and unable to compete. He seems like a happy go lucky kid from the outside looking in, but you never know especially with this being his second injury within a year.

*not a medical doctor, nor did I stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night* I am not sure that is how broken bones work. (if that even was what this was - I think some medical professionals here on the board have speculated as much)

This is a commonly held sentiment. And although it is probably objectively correct, his 10-16-26 pace (0.38 ppg in 69 games - hehe, 69) is not terribly far off JJP's 12-20-32 (0.41 ppg in 71 games last year) and it seem to recall (again, memory is a bitch) people being far higher on JJP's offense last year. I am wondering if the conversation around ZB is different because he did not get that chance to "prove" he was ready by shredding the AHL like JJP did? He is also doing it as an 18 year old while JJP was 21.

I would poop with excitement over the initial qualification. The rest would feel like that year the Bills finally got in, then played one of the worst playoff games in history.

Not for nothing - but also not really for anything 'cuz we will likely miss ye olde playoffs again, but at least there was not an 8-game (or more) losing streak this year? ...yet.

PSA: Benson 👏can't👏play👏in👏AHL👏next👏year👏 We now return you to your regularly scheduled thread ...

The sabres broadcast audio cut out and it is surreal, but somehow more enjoyable?

So tonight we root for: Islanders over Dee Troy It in regulation Jets over Devils Canes over Phlyers (just cuz I loathe Filly) And Ovie and Sid to get crippling but totally curable illnesses that knock them out for the rest of the season?

I wanted to say "but you can't hire a milquetoast with NHL experience" ... then I remembered who coaches our vaunted PP. If that was your point all along, I formally withdraw my objection.

I don't necessarily disagree that DM might not have what it takes to be a successful NHL coach - but the "he didn't play high level hockey" argument is a strange hill to die on when other posters have provided contradicting examples at a 2 or 3 to 1 rate. As an aside: Not to detract from "Bowman's acumen" - but other than his early success with the expansion Blues; he took over the defending SC champion Montreal team. With only slight hyperbole, I feel like I could lead a team with Henri Richard, Guy Lafleur, Steve Shutt, Larry Robinson, and Ken Dryden to many victories. No cups were won in Buffalo while he was there. Again, in Pittsburgh took over a defending SC champion team. And coaching the early 1990's Pens to any kind of success probably required 5 active brain cells. Then he went to mid 1990's - early 2000's Detroit - lol. Osgood and eventually Hasek in net. Fedorov, Konstantinov, Kozlov, Lidstrom, Fetisov, (a few other "ovs"), Shanahan, Holmstrom, Cheap-shot-Chelie, Luc Robitaille, Datsyuk ... yes, I can see how great of a hockey mind you must need to win with that group, lol.

There needs to be a smirk reaction for this ^^

haha, yeah - totally get that. It can be tough to keep up with everything with the 100's of options to follow. I was just having some fun on a particularly slow WFH home day while I wait for our suppliers to actually do things so I can do my job 🙂

I specifically did not mention which side of the debate I would be on, nor will I do so now. I shall not take your bait, however masterful it may be. Good day to you, sir. Good. Day.

slippery slope ... we might suddenly veer into a discussion on Justin Timberlake's questionable actions with/around/towards women and I haven't the energy for that.

could we hire Dave Andreychuk as a "netfront presence" coach? lol

Personally, the only false hope I get from it is for maybe a playoff berth this year, becoming mediocre this year does not change my perception that to really compete for a ship, hard choices need to be made.