thewookie1

I am curious though if Skinner really cares about making the playoffs? His competitive streak seems to ebb and flow game to game and he never seems angry about holding the record for most games without a playoff appearance

I don’t think the players need motivation to play, I think they want guided motivation to help focus their energy. I have never doubted that the players work hard to get better and play in games with energy. I just believe they don’t exactly focus on anything in particular and accomplish nothing because of it.

Just so you all know, Girgensons is selling his West Seneca house; I know this because my coworker’s niece and her husband are bidding on it and have met Girgs twice. Now he could just be upgrading seeing as he presently has a classic 2 story house that you see in most middle class neighborhoods.

It’s been theorized all year that Cozens more or less crushed himself with his expectations to live up to his contract. So this isn’t anything new to be honest. I’ve subscribed to this theory since the year started based on many of his unforced errors at the start of the season seemed to originate from overdoing things and trying to play contrary to his instincts. He wanted to prove his value by becoming another super dynamic forward who’d dipsy-doodle up the ice and score. When all of us just wanted him to be the straightforward bull he was most of last season. When Quinn came back you saw last year’s Cozens briefly only for it disappear slowly after Quinn was injured once again. With the whole booing saga going on he doubled down and tried to wow the crowd into cheers only to make it worse creating a vicious cycle.

Honestly I think the NLL actually told him that he’d need to sell them at some point. My guess is he’s trying to secure their home in Rochester and thus it’s taking time

Effectively Wawrow is stating the last NHL approved interested party in the Sabres was flat out declined 6 months ago. Sounds more like a buyer hunting for a team versus a seller looking to unload

Supposedly it was found in/around a dumpster at the stadium and then potentially saved by an employee planning to use it for something as there are supposed pictures of it draped on a lawn chair prior to being acquired by the man in the video.

I’m not exactly sure how much more angry or sad you want Tuch/Dahlin/Thompson etc. Do you want them to be crying? Throwing benches and threatening reporters with a stick? My only issue with Tuch as captain has always been, can he be a bad cop? Dahlin seems capable of pulling off an angry Swede. Tuch almost seems too friendly and upbeat to be threatening.

I had a dream once that Lindy came back as an assistant coach. Not terribly relevant but hey?

I see literally zero reason to trade any of those 4 guys. A new coach with structure and discipline will be enough of a catalyst; we don’t need to start picking apart the core. Tage is a 1C when healthy, Dahlin is a 1D and Power has the potential to be another 1D regardless if you like their approach or not they are all extremely talented. Cozens is the only member that’s more of a wildcard. He could be a 2C or top line winger and when he plays how he should; he’s a force to be reckoned with.

After Carolina is eliminated I’d imagine Buffalo could request permission to speak with Rod. Until he signs his extension with Carolina there is always a slim chance. Not to mention Rod would be stupid not to wait until after Buffalo can talk to him since he can ask for more money.

Your disdain for Dahlin is akin to PAs against Pegula. He’s a gifted player and gifted players do make mistakes of arrogance due to their confidence in their play. Every player worth anything will do that every so often because the opposite is far worse. (Essentially Dahlin under Krueger where he’s playing on broken glass terrified to make any mistake.)

Well how exactly is he supposed to find out who’d be ready for the NHL without them playing NHL games. Levi was promised games, UPL wasn’t waivable and Comrie was already under contract and the vet in the group. A. Do what he did B. Waive Comrie hoping that Tampa doesn’t poach him and run with two unproven young goalies C. Go back on your promise and send Levi to Rochester this angering the player and the agent D. Waive UPL and pray he doesn’t get scooped up leaving you with about 40 NHL starts between your goalies. E. Sign another vet goalie, as well a combo of B and C. Wilford is a an Assistant Coach but his fate will be up to the new coach, Ellis could be retained by the new coach but has already been slated for another job. As everyone has said, he needs to walk the walk now but I’d rather think positively than just wallow in misery.

He had a great interview about the whole incident with Strickland; was interesting

1. Anderson actually did rather well, Subban was great in Rochester, Dell was awful, Comrie was a great guy but also a mediocre at best goalie. He attempted to get other goalies but failed to. In the end though he ended up right about UPL and Levi has shown signs of future greatness; he doesn't get kudos for it but your need to harp on this point everytime and it ended up looking ok by year's ended. 2. Well he did make attempts but when your shopping in the bargain bin or getting rejected by better players there isn't much there to work with. Clifton did look better as the year went on too. 3. He brought back Jost once, Okposo(the Captain) once and Girgensons(a solid defensive forward) twice. Haven't we learned that cycling an entire bottom 6 every year doesn't exactly work all that well? 4. Mitts was going to want 8x7mil which would of put us in cap hell in trying to adjust the roster, Byram was likely the best asset available that could potentially help both now and later. Unlike fans, GMs can't just do kneejerk reactions and expect to accomplish anything. As they say, hindsight is 20-20 and we have the same benefit of that as he does. Perhaps like many of us, Adams hoped things would work out even if the voice in his head got louder about issues he saw creeping up. He can make suggestions and shop around for potential fixes for the issues but that doesn't necessarily mean they are widely available to grab. He chose to see if the players could work it out themselves with their coach; all of which he liked. And when they didn't find the correct answers he decided to be more direct. For us its been 13 years but for the players it most certainly hasn't; you can't crucify a player for something he wasn't even a part of to begin with based on a whim. Even if he saw the issues in January or February; he very likely didn't want to fire Granato and that while a mistake was not something done out of malice or a lack of a pulse. He likely just really wanted this group specifically to succeed and turn things around.

Reading between the lines: After last season he believed the roster would take the steps forward needed to go from 9th to Playoffs. UFAs to replace Quinn temporarily were far too expensive to acquire but he does feel some regret there. He felt that with Erik Johnson and Clifton's experience coupled with our other vets that the players would correctly grow. However while the team did seem to like Johnson and still do like Clifton neither could quite break the over abundance of arrogance. They were kids who acted like kids who thought what they did last year would just instantly comeback this year. Adams hoped that Granato and the vets could reign in the issues and salvage the year. The players loved Granato, as did Adams, but when that still didn't fix the issues the kids were then punished. Feels like Adams akin to Krueger proving himself inept wanted to prove to the players that they were wrong to believe they were owed a playoff spot or that playing wouldn't require a great effort. Some of them probably believed Adams wouldn't fire Granato like we did and he called their bluff. Now we wait to see what else happens.

Very true, he'll have to put his money where his mouth is but at very least he's finally saying what we want to hear.

Arguably I'd say the opposite; I think he effectively said he wouldn't hire him as HC due to his lack of NHL experience but would be happy to let him be an assistant

Arguably the best conference he's had

Adams seems pissed that his team didn't make it this year. Remember how we kept UPL up last year because Okposo vouched for it. I think he truly was counting on the the coaching staff and players to bring it together. They failed this year; but I don't think he has any more patience for it.

They do say that the first step to fixing something is knowing your own issues.

Briere's situation was also prior to Kim's medical incident

It would we better than Julien or Appert for sure

I wouldn't hate it

Don't disagree with you