Mango

And Levi was just sent back to Rochester. It’s the Uppie show.

This season is by far the biggest gut punch. This year was the year we were supposed to start some sort of positive trajectory and we didn’t. In regards to the NFL, it’s just easier. It’s a couple months and you reserve Sunday at 1pm. You almost never have conflict. Hockey you have City Council meetings, or kids TKD practice. Maybe a date night with the misses or a work event. It’s unpredictable. Different days and different times. When your team is bad it takes a lot of effort to carve out time for every game.

I feel like JJP and Mitts were on a line for a bit this season with either the Benson or Greenway injuries and it went well. Moral of the story is that Mitts is probably our best player right now.

Are John Biebe and Judge Burns available. (It is bonkers to me that there are no Mystery, Alaska Giphy's anywhere. Sheesh)

The Cozens injury thing has been driving me nuts. His game been slow and sucked to open the season. He got punched in the face a couple of months ago and his game still sucks. He looks like Hellen Keller playing "ring around the rosie" in the defensive zone. That isn't an injury.

They're something else alright.

Protect Levi at all costs. It doesn't matter if he is better or worse than Levi, Comrie, or UPL. Send him back to the AHL. Let him work on his craft and get some more swagger. Keep him away from the stink that this team has at the moment. After re-watching some of last night, this team is playing some of the most uninspired hockey of the Pegula era. I am starting to wonder if there haven't been any moves because Pegula has handcuffed Adams until he is fired at season end. A girl can dream I guess.

I was busy tonight and went to turn on the 2nd and it was 5-2. Turned it off right away. I’ve pounded the table to send Levi down to the AHL. Are these 5 sloppy goaltending, our standard terrible D, or both?

I think Terry sells the team and tells everybody that it’s because he needs to pay for the increased cost for the new stadium and two major franchises keeps him away from Kim far too long. That will all be true. But he’ll leave out a very measurable part that is he sold because he was really bad at his job. Everybody in Buffalo will accept this answer because Josh Allen.

I don’t think this is how it happened and I loath the Sabres version of Terry Pegula. I think the biggest condemnation of this franchise is that both Miller and Vanek should have easily retired Sabres and both actually asked to be traded after Pegula’s second year even though Terry was very open about wanting them to stay here. They were offered extensions and they responded that they’d be open to being traded. Even the long time vets under Golisano were like “get me the fork out of here”

I think (hope?)they’re tanking/planning for the future. Protect the kids with promise from the cancer that is the 23-24 Sabres. I hope they send Levi back down too. Protect anybody’s development they can. The guys they extended with good money need to start carrying this team through the slump. Benson and Ryan Johnson are covering for Cozens and Power.

Here is my Mount Rushmore of worst problems. 1. Adams. and everything that comes with it. 2. Granato. Peaked with a bad roster. 3. Power. Part of this is on Adams 4. Cozens. I said it. Thompson has a bit less offense as 2C he had to take a step. Not stumble back. 5. Also Adams.

Terry has already irreparably damaged this hockey fan base and it has had absolutely zero, zilch, nada, no impact on his NFL product. He has more or less ruined the Sabres brand and I will be attending the Pats game this weekend. The NFL doesn't care either. It is myopic to think anybody cares about hockey enough to even put a dent in the monster that is the NFL. If the Bills win a championship and Terry sells the team to be able to "focus on Kim" the city will tuck their tale between its legs and continue to show up in droves all over the world. Hell, if the team doesn't win a championship and he quits because he needs to commit more time to a single franchise in order to win one the city will love him for it. Hell, a measurable portion of this board is calling for Terry to sell the team. And these are people who prefer the Sabres to the Bills. The Sabres have some of the worst attendance numbers in the NHL. But some of the best TV viewership. This city likes watching other peoples hockey teams, but doesn't have a product to support. In theory removing the team doesn't change the TV viewership short term. Now if the Bills take a nose dive? Then I think the city sharpens its pitch forks towards Pegula.

Right. I’m not blaming Buffalo. I’m blaming Pegula. What I mean to say is that I thought having a hockey team in Buffalo because it is a quality hockey market was important to the league. But since Terry has purchased the team they’ve been the worst franchise in the history of the sport. Literally. And instead of averaging 99.99% attendance nightly. They average something like 72%. And likely much lower this year. I’m starting to think that the league would prefer a team in Utah not run by Pegula if it means removing a team from Buffalo. I agree that Buffalo can be a good hockey market. But it’s not now for the Sabres. And in a league with 84 games per season I’m not sure how long it would take to get this city back on board. I don’t think we can overstate how bad Pegula has hurt the Sabres fan base.

Utah getting a team was back on a few of my social media algorithms today. This was the first time I thought “there goes the Sabres. Mark it down.” I’ve defended Buffalo as a meaningful market for the NHL. But I’m honestly not sure anymore. I can’t see any other path for Terry.

This franchise has been painful since the tank. Not just bad, but for the most part just not fun to watch even if they aren’t good. In the covid year I sensed a tide turning. Then last year they flashed. More often than not it was fun hockey even if the team was “meh” overall. But when you’re bad and just terrible to turn on, you’re effed. For that reason alone the entire FO and coaching has to change. It just has too. Adams inherited a bad unwatchable team. And now here we are a few years later talking about a bad unwatchable team.

I’ve defended Buffalo as a meaningful hockey market for the league. But this is just getting crazy. The Utah rumors got bumped again on Reddit today. For the first time after reading about it for forever I thought “oh Buffalo could end up there”.

Family is staying with us for the holiday so I put the game on in the other room and popped back in and out. Every couple of minutes. In total I probably got 60-70% of the game but it was roughy to pick up the flow. Fun game. Obviously better play. One wild stat. We scored 9 goals, only 4 skaters failed to register a single point. Samuelson, VO, EJ, and Cozens. Samuelson gets extra points for being negative in the plus minus. 3 of those players have been catching a lot of flack to be benched or traded.

Two things: 1. Terry Pegula, is, was, and will always be a problem. I sincerely believe that this city cannot afford to lose both McDermott or Beane. McDermott can get a new GM and Beane can get a new HC. But relying on Terry replace the entire org would destroy Buffalo as a sports town. This is a legitimate quote from Pegula in 2013 after his second season as owner. https://buffalonews.com/sports/sabres/sabres-owner-pegula-states-his-case-for-regier/article_720ab6fa-7897-54ed-be8e-530b0e2e620e.html 2. When it comes to coaching or trades, I think the Sabres need to stand pat for the season. I had expectations of this being a 100 point team this year. That sounds lofty but it really only asking for about 5 more wins. Hell, 3 wins and a couple of OT losses would do the trick too. What we are seeing isn't close. I have said the last few months that the first thing this org needs to do before moving any piece is ask the GM "what do we need to be successful" and if his shoot from the hip answer is anything similar to "time to develop" or "stay the course" then you pull the rip cord immediately. You escort the guy out of the building right then and there. Conversation over. No convincing. No "Fix it or you are done". That answer is from somebody who has no idea what they are seeing on the ice, which means they have no accurate solution. Any move by somebody who says that about this roster is only making performative moves to keep their job, not somebody who is making moves with a plan. I have a hard time hearing Adam's "this is an execution problem" as anything other than "stay the course". Any major move anywhere in the org needs to be executed by a new GM. 3. Until you fix point number 1, I have little confidence in point number 2.

In no particular order: Dahlin Levi Thompson Mitts JJP Benson Ryan Johnson There are a couple of tweeners in there that I would listen to offers for, but be hesitant. But these are my absolute "no's". When it comes to coaching or trades, I think the Sabres need to stand pat for the season. I had expectations of this being a 100 point team this year. I was only asking for about 5 more wins this year compared to last. Now we are seeing it isn't close. I have said the last few months that the first thing this org needs to do before moving any piece is ask the GM "what do we need to be successful" and if his shoot from the hip answer is anything similar to "time to develop" or "stay the course" then you pull the rip cord immediately and escort the guy out of the building right then and there. Conversation over. No convincing. No "Do this or else". That is somebody who has no idea what they are seeing on the ice, which means they have no accurate solution. Any move by somebody who says that about this roster is only making performative moves to keep their job, not somebody who is making moves with a plan. I have a hard time hearing Adam's "this is an execution problem" as anything other than "stay the course". Any major move anywhere in the org needs to be executed by a new GM.

Some how Ryan Johnson made it in McDermotts Schmitt list.

The issue this team is having is that benching doesn’t work when there’s no comparable in the pipeline. This team needs a lot of vet free agent help to not just kick these kids in the arse but push them down the depth chart a bit. I used to coach at a pretty high level, did some stuff with the USOC, team USA, etc. Sometimes a young group can push each other forward until they leap frog themselves and become world beaters But sometimes they need to be the JV before they become starters. Even in college a really good freshman class can be great out of the gate but if you miss the mark in the next class or two it’s common to see them hit their ceilings pretty quickly. All sports aren’t the same, but there have been times that young studs have plateaued without having anybody pushing them from out front out behind. Sure Mule needs to be benched. So has Cozens, Tuch, and Skinner. But when the replacement is Krebs or Rosen it isn’t really a threat or a punishment for the player at all.

After Adams comment that the coaching is on point, the players are all talented, and it’s all purely an execution issue. To then get this performance? Walk the guy out the door tomorrow morning. Edit: there are no “go for it” years. He all but said him and Donnie are aces. He wants to roll it back. Get him out of here before we ruin another good group of prospects.

Everyday I might mail Terry Pegula a postcard with that quote and the days since the last Sabres playoff appearance on it until he hires a president of hockey ops and stays in Florida.

A couple of things worth noting. 1. Regier helped assemble the 99 Cup team as well as the huge run we had post lock out circa 05-07. Darcy didn’t totally suck at his job until Terry came to town. 2. Found the interview I was thinking about. It was WGR a bit of a state of the union. Here is the quote. Who knew this would be so telling. “Pegula hinted that his arrival as owner in February 2011 hasn’t been universally accepted. “I think if you probably talk to other owners around the league, they might think that I may spend too much money,” Pegula said. “You may hear that or whatever, but that’s my style. … You might talk to some of the other owners around the league, and they’ll tell you, ‘Who’s this new owner? What is he, crazy? Why did you give this guy money or that guy?’ Hey, it’s my decision. It was something I wanted to do.””. 3. With the benefit of hindsight and being drunk on a full wallet compared to Galisano, being reminded that Vanek and Miller basically asked to leave fairly early into this process wasn’t fun. “…Ryan Miller and leading scorer Thomas Vanek have made it known they’d be accepting of trades as they head into the final year of their contracts.… “I can tell the fans I’m concerned, too,” said Pegula, who has turned down numerous interview requests by The Buffalo News. “Yes, we want them here. They have a say in that decision. What that decision is, no one’s been re-signed yet, so we’re still working. … Don’t forget, they’re part of that decision.”” EDIT: sorry, I forgot to link. It’s behind a paywall. As a good citizen I want everybody to know that piracy is bad, and if you know anybody using removepaywall.com you should report them to the proper authorities. https://buffalonews.com/sports/sabres/sabres-owner-pegula-states-his-case-for-regier/article_720ab6fa-7897-54ed-be8e-530b0e2e620e.html