LTS

Well... it might work, it might not. While I was firmly in the camp of Ruff is not the answer for this team I am also not sure the management knows what the question is anyway. Bottom line.. I find myself completely ambivalent about this. I want it to work, but at this point they could have hired anyone and I think I would feel the same as I feel now. Which is nothing.

https://www.cityofrochester.gov/article.aspx?id=21474854444 You for got that PSE has also opted out of the operating contract for BCA as of April 30, 2025.. as announced on March 28, 2024. 🙂

Ugh, sorry. What a wonderfully impersonal way of handling things. Group layoffs... And yeah.. maximizing profits for shareholders.. short term gain because they can always put their money elsewhere... it's a bad system made worse when the economy is bad. As the CFO of the hospital system I used to work for often said, "Not for profit does not mean not for revenue." They aren't so much making money but finding ways to fund lots of other things, not all of the necessary or worth the cost. US everything it would seem. Same situation as our vet. We did finally learn that while the "owner" vet who has had his name on the business for a long time still has his name on it. It's corporate run explaining every change we've experienced over the past two years. All the other vets left and just the office staff as largely remained unchanged. I am glad I do not have to spend much time in the US healthcare system and this just confirms it even more. Unfortunate.

Devils fans chant "Fire Lindy" - November 13, 2022 Sabres fans change "Fire Donnie" - December 23, 2023 Why do I bring this up? Everyone keeps looking at only last year to this year for Ruff. But people seem to ignore that the Devils sucked the year before their great year last year. Lindy Ruff - year over year with NJ 2020-2021 - 19-30-7 2021-2022 - 27-46-9 2022-2023 - 55-22-8 2023-2024 - 30-27-4 He had ONE good year. There's nothing here that says he's going to perform better with the Sabres. Do the Sabres have Jack Hughes, Timo Meier, Dougie Hamilton, Ryan Graves, Damon Severson? Nope. So if Ruff's success is because of the players then why do you expect he'll have success with this roster? Brunette took over in Florida and had a 51-18-6 record. Florida last year? 42-32-8. Nashville this year 47-30-5. The man coaches winning teams. When Brunette came to NJD he ran the power play, that improved from 28th the year before to 13th. That NJD last year also boasts the largest single season turnaround in NHL history. It's not all Brunette, but it's also an outlier at this point. There's just not much to give Ruff all the credit here. And if people point to the roster for the reasons of his success then you have to account the Sabres roster and ask if that roster will give him success.. because either he's a coach that wins because of the roster or he's a coach that can make the roster win. The difference is important.

He's clearly calculated how long it will take for him to get his next drink.

I assume you mean.. what if he doesn't perform this off-season? If so.. see what I bolded below. If that's not what you meant, can you expand upon your question?

Thank you for pointing out the Devils record last year... its important to note because.... This. As I posted elsewhere. Ruff with the Devils: 128-125-28 Granato with Sabres: 122-125-27 When you factor in that Ruff's only good season with the Devils was with Brunette and that netted them a +30 W differential I would say its easy to see that Ruff is not what people think he is. He's not the Ruff from so long ago. I like Lindy, but he should not be the coach.

Dog went in for surgery today. Thankfully my wife has connections with people who work at vet offices and to some vets herself through her organization. The vet she uses with her organization gave us some straight shot answers... over the weekend we forwarded her medical files and the doctor cleared a spot for surgery today. Doc said it went really well. My poor girl is exhausted (as to be expected) but she put up all the energy she could when she got home. Doc later on let us know that the tumor had cratered (or some language) and that it could have burst at any time which would have led to her bleeding out if we had not had the surgery so soon. FWIW, the original vet had let us know that she was a "ticking time bomb" but as they needed to call around for specialists to handle this the best they could get was August and at 4-5x what we paid. Nothing is a given and she's not out of the woods by a long shot... but she's home and the path is there. This dog survived eating 40 pieces of sugar-free gum without a single side effect. It helped that she doesn't chew food and apparently has an iron stomach (we could not get her to throw up the gum even giving her stuff that made me want to vomit). I can handle 13 years of suffering with the Sabres.. I cannot handle one hour of suffering for my dog. But... again, the road ahead looks good. So... cheers!

Tom webster?

So Kevyn Adams has an offseason to improve the team eh? Sounds good. If they don't come out of the gate much improved over this year I don't think he makes it to Thanksgiving. He can say anything he wants, but he said playoffs were the expectation this year... and it did not happen. He might have decided early on to let the season play out and to back some of the things Granato and the team were saying rather than cause even more distraction like what occurred in Vancouver with Boudreau... who knows. Either way... one offseason... that's it.

I'll quote the Devils record with Ruff. 128-125-28. Granato 122-125-27. As you rightly point out, the only good season was with Brunette behind the bench with him. Lindy is most assuredly not the answer.

Well.. he could have 0G.. so it means something. Relative to what you are looking for perhaps not.. but would you feel better he had shown no success? It's just there for perspective.

All good stuff. I'd be curious how those stats break down against teams in the top 50% of the league versus the bottom 50%. Is it a situation where against lower quality opponents they were able to play better defensively and still score or was it even or worse? The macro level look certainly indicates what we all thought we saw. All of that aside.. I still saw too many opponents able to drive our net while not enough Sabres doing the same. Having an improved defense only matters if it translates into winning and it did not. Now, if they can continue to improve and find the scoring ability again then fantastic. We'll be able to look back and say this season was where they figured out defense. If it doesn't.. then it didn't matter at all. Good stuff by the way. It should be long. That's research.

At least after tonight the official off-season starts and as such the debate over management changes can really take hold. We knew they wouldn't change in season... But for tonight.. they can enjoy one last game. Not sure I will bother.

One of my dogs has been officially diagnosed with a tumor... This dog does not get upset about how the Sabres play, so she means a lot to me. (The other dog, her sister, also does not get upset, but this isn't about her.) This sucks. But what sucks more is just how impersonal the vet has been about this whole situation. They've been a good vet but in the past year or two their quality of service has declined greatly. This will be our last time ever dealing with them. Not only them, but they needed an ultrasound done but the "traveling" doc who does them is only there on Thursdays and we're not allowed to be in the waiting room even while the ultrasound occurs? Damn right I asked for an image from the ultrasound before I pay that bill. Oddly enough, had the same experience with our dental practice. They'd been great but the past two years they've seen massive turnover and every visit feels impersonal. Then, they try to sell you snake oil. Like some new owner took over and decided that trying to sell BS services and pushing unnecessary treatments is a great way to improve revenue while also treating customers like garbage. Sure sign I am getting too old at this point. But... I really want my dog to be better. Nothing else matters... not right now.