Mango

Good call on why he was on the Thompson line. It was a bit of a head scratcher because Quinn has been pretty good there. It’s clear Greenway has no idea where to be with those guys. It felt like there were a dozen times he was on top of either Skinner or Tage and they had nowhere to pass the puck. He looks slow and clunky to me. Right now I like KO a lot better. But he’s old and on his way out.

This went down a rabbit whole I don’t want to go anywhere near at the moment. Being afraid that Granato might max himself out with this roster is wildly different than saying the org is effed and moving in the wrong direction. You might be right. But it’s waaay too early for that.

I am a fan of the work Donnie has done here with the kids. Baring a full collapse doesn’t he last 17 games I welcome him back with open arms. But this is part of my frustration. Adjustments. We seem to only breakout through the center. When teams clog the lanes we just bash our head into the wall and won’t go near the boards. We almost refuse to dump and chase against a strong forecheck. And to your point about Tomers, a bit, it feels like we are allergic to working the puck from low to high in the offensive zone. I have some mild fear that Granato built some talent but the team is one trick pony’s under him.

We are tied for wins from last year. So I actually expect them to beat that by some margin come April. I think the judgement starts to circle around Donnie/Adams next year. The 2023-24 version of Tomers, Tuch, Skinner, Cozens, Dahlin, Peterka, Quinn, Dahlin, Boosh, Powers, Stillman, Muel, should be good enough to put us in the Rangers, Lightening, Penguins range. We shouldn’t be fighting for the 8th seed in 365 days with a competent system and offseason moves.

The Darcy GM tree is becoming a thing.

If the Sabres finish the season playing hockey like tonight I’ll be happy with the overall season and our direction going forward.

That certainly wasn’t clear to me. But I’m not the smartest guy in most rooms. I might have mouthed off about this comment earlier. Sorry. Internet ramblings and all.

At scale, I get the feeling at defeat. But to post that this is getting “unwatchable” after that game is insane. Thy was very watchable hockey. Go pout about the last two weeks in a different thread. That’s fair.

Tonight wasn’t an implosion. That was a good top level hockey game.

I thought that call could have gone either way. Which to me means you just don’t call it in that situation.

VO should have 2, maybe 3 goals. Jesus. Greenway and VO have been on the ice in situations that normally would have been Tuch with scoring 2-3 scoring opps that I’m confident Tuch would have put in the back of the net.

Unsure who Joker got wrapped up with but he was staring through his soul. Also Quinn needs to get that shot off quicker.

I don’t totally understand Greenway on the Thompson line. Quinn is playing well there. Cozens line has been better with some vet presence too.

This! As a fan I can go into the offseason drinking the Adams/Donnie koolaide. Stay the course. Don’t upset the locker room mid season. Let some of these guys try and figure it out live and make the moves in the offseason. Etc. But if we hold this 1-5 rate through the last 18 or whatever games I’ll have a hard time not getting angry at the org. To start the season I thought we were capable of making the post season. We can miss the playoffs. We can be streaky. But the wheels cannot fall off.

Points aside, we have equal wins to last season with 18 left. As long as the ship isn’t sunk we should be able to see measured improvement. If we don’t though….I’ll likely start to sharpen my pitchfork

Right. I get all that. I was here for it, I certainly know the expectations hoisted upon Eichel. But I don't think the Sabres ruined Eichel. Eichel is having a "Hall of Very Good Career", but he isn't "the guy" and likely never will be. He isn't a generational player. And even in his new home on a great team, his one millionth NHL coach is saying he isn't living up to the hype. He is an awesome piece to have, but he is a standard deviation behind real generational players like Ovi, McDavid, Crosby, etc. Eichel was totally fair to want to leave here. That period is/was a disaster. But the organization was equally as just to not want him in the building.

Who? Eichel? Ha!

Man, I bet this is the last time Donnie wears a normal collared shirt. Hopefully he goes back to the cut away asap!

Marty doing his best to spin this one. I did love that 13 game win streak. We couldn’t ask for a better back up here. If he dressed tonight, I bet he only lets in 9.

Part of me wishes we’d pull the goalie here.

God I hope not. This last stretch has sucked, but this Sabres team has gotten better under Donnie. DG doesn’t have to be “The Guy”, but if he loses this roster before we get a little closer than we are now we are in huge trouble.

We were right there. Damn you Comrie, what could have been!

10th goal after 10th goal.

He’s let in 10 goals. There’s a lot that Comrie needs to do.

It’s not PP specific but it’s super obvious right now. Why do the Sabres suck so bad working the puck from behind the net in the offensive zone. Do they not know they can work the puck low to high?