LTS

That's where I sat on Sunday. Row 9.. seat 5.

Zero proof of this. Zero. You are telling me at the trade deadline that Skinner would tell Botterill, "Hell yah dude, we're on the verge of setting a new record for pathetic by going from first to worst. I'm totally in for next season."? I don't think so. Then they fire Housley.... that only makes it more uncertain what will happen in Buffalo the next year. I would bet money that Skinner's agent was like.. "Pay up, it's your only choice to not look like a fool. Right now your claim to fame is trading away the Conn Smythe trophy winner. Why on Earth does anyone want to play there? Oh yeah, my other clients all have Buffalo on their NTC/NMC. Skinner is throwing you a bone. Pay up." That said $9M wasn't REALLY out of line for someone who scored so many ES goals. It's unfortunate he's not scoring them this year however.

Thanks? He's been building for awhile. Tensions are high. Everyone is frustrated.. the fans, the owner, the players, the GM... its when people explode. Well, we don't know that he didn't. It's not like they need to announce they said something to him. I've been warned before too. It's all good. People are going to pop off once in awhile. It's what they do outside of those moments that are what matter to me. Lots of really good stuff posted? So be it. Always blowing up? Another story. I actually found it somewhat amusing. Perhaps because at this particular point in time I have more stressful things happening outside of here so I have a different point of view. Of course, I've been where he is on here too... sooooooo I'm not saying nothing.

Well, tearing it down now would be easy. There are 18 players with no contract for next year. Of the ones remaining, only 2 will get you anything of major value. 1 will get you a mediocre player and perhaps a pick. So... no, it would be a monumentally bad idea. But I'm, not convinced that back then it was all bad. It wasn't all bad until they followed it up with what turned out to be a monumentally stupid "hold my beer" move. So yes, and 3 of those players are still here. 1 didn't really want to be here at all and the other one found his buddies Pooh, Piglet, and Christopher Robbin. But.. yes, this team isn't good enough. The results tell us that. I just don't think the team had the resources to make it any better. Perhaps we should be thankful we lucked into Dahlin and Skinner (despite the contract). Imagine if we didn't get them? People now say we should have let Skinner walk instead of pay him. Could you imagine not having him right now? That roster.... but yes, because Buffalo.. you have to overpay him to be here. Otherwise we'd have $9M in cap space and still no players who wanted to sign here.

Do you think those that are blasting Skinner will bring up how he will progress to the mean? ?

Here's the thing. Trading away those assets that started the tank wasn't necessarily a bad thing. The team obtained the components it needed to start a rebuild. The problem was then taking those assets and using them to acquire players that aren't even here anymore. It basically wasted 3-5 years of this franchises existence. I know you hate the tank. I'm not sure I loved the concept, but trading those players was the kind of direct, decisive move, that people want from Botterill right now. And of course the Sabres had talented players to trade away back then. They don't now. Meh.. the history is the history. I don't worry about it. This off-season is what matters to me. Everything that happens between now and Oct. 6 2020 will let me know if I need to concern myself with Sabres hockey for the next few years... ?

Queue the comments... The same ones from the last game... although at least Johansson is back.

It's what a series of idiotic decisions by the ownership led to. You can call it precipitated by the "tank" but the decisions to bring in Bylsma and Murray and fire LaFontaine were the precursors. Then the desire to stop tanking overnight by bringing players and trading away prospects and picks... then realizing your boozehound GM and bad choice at coach needed to go... It's been a series of events and not any one in particular that caused this problem. It's a continual go left, go right, mentality. It's disruptive to everything and in the NHL it takes awhile to recover from that. It just does. The last point is the most salient. The instability and continued lack of success has led players to NOT want to be here. There is nothing any GM can do about that. I don't think they don't want to be here because of the GM, I think its because of the owner. Because of the lack of success. The same reason players don't want to come here is the same reason fans are all out sorts. Losing is not easy to overcome. It takes a specific mindset to accept the position and then want to be part of turning that around. Given the choice between a winning team and a losing team, not many are going to opt for the losing team (not those with options). It's how it goes. You don't build a brand as a winner by constantly playing/working for a loser. Overall, out of the gate, I think players come in refreshed and ready to try and turn things around. At this point in the season you are seeing fatigue of trying to be positive all the time set in. Jack looks nothing like he did a month ago. He looks checked out. He's frustrated. Others are too.. it's why Reinhart spoke up. The players, owners, fans, and GM are all frustrated. It's one big downward spiral. It's what consumed Buffalo last year and is going so again this year. It's going to get worse before it gets better. Because barring a miracle, no trades are going to go Buffalo's way.

Outer Worlds is good.. but not great. It's lacking in the combat department. The conversation, while engaging, I found never varied enough. So, even if i wanted to be a jerk as opposed to being a nice guy, it never felt different for me. Still, it was fun to play.

Damn.. pulling out the stats. ? Something needs to change, but my guess is that because players in the league are developed better at a younger age that they are closer to playing in the league at an earlier age. As such, GMs want them in their systems earlier. Think about it.. we're on here talking about the prime being 23-25 now when it has traditionally been 27-29.

So you're saying he took the QEW and not I-90. ?

So... a lot of panic over nothing. It was tough on him making that I-90 drive in the snow though. ?

It's been a long time since i enjoyed the Amerks. I didn't dislike it, but I didn't love to go. I agree with attending hockey games. I might also have some bias given that I spent my first 22 years calling Buffalo home. But yes, I have gone to a few games since Pegula took over and it's noticeable how out of touch things are there. I trust your opinion, you are the die hard fan. I'm half-tempted to reach out to LetsGoAmerks to get his take. Our kids played together for awhile. His still plays for a guy I used to coach with.

It would be, but I think some of the old school GMs are going to scoff at the idea because it could mean diluting their previous Canadian Juniors program. That said, more and more players are coming in from outside that program and with players ultimate goal being to play professionally they are going to head to places where GMs are likely to look for them and select them. If the CHL holds out on this upcoming agreement I could see an even greater spike in kids being chosen from outside the league.

I'm fascinated by the concept of the single shot movie. I saw a quick snippet about how the directors filmed this it was intriguing. I've read more about it in recent days. I'm short on time and probably won't head to the movies to see it, but I'm looking forward to watching it at some point.

Yes, recency bias. Yours is from 1 game earlier. You do realize you are the pot in this story right?

Sorry, I thought you were questioning it. I mean, if Murray gets the right players, things might have been different. If he had post-depression Lehner, it might be quite different.

Absolutely. Despite the standings, what I see from key players on the ice for the Sabres also gives me hope about Ralph. The Sabres just don't have the talent to survive the injuries they've had. Last year the Sabres would spend far more time (seemingly) in their own end and very little time in the opponents end. This year they seem to get out of their own end far more regularly and have periods of time where they control the puck in the opponents end. In order for it to translate into winning however you need goaltending and defense to keep the puck out of your net and you need scoring talent to put the puck in the net. The Sabres are short on both of those.

I'll be there at the game today. Was supposed to be there with my kid, but his Friday game was rescheduled to today... 3 hours after I bought the tickets. So I'm bringing an old friend i haven't seen in a few years. That said... he may have a conflict come up. Anyone interested in joining me, just say so here. No promises, but I'll know by noon if he's gotta bail on me.

It's both. The coach manages the game and puts players out there but he can only choose from what he has. So he works with the GM to discuss what players could make a difference and which ones are not. In this case, Mittlestadt was not doing anything and they finally sent him down. Some players don't need the AHL. Most benefit from it. But yes, you want players to be put into a place where they can succeed. You can only do that if you have enough talent, properly distributed. The Sabres, by virtue of trading away the ability to build that talent pool, caused a situation where the talent was forced to play at a higher level than they were prepared to do. As such, you get failing throughout the organization. This is why the Sabres are STILL recovering. You need competition for every position, if you don't have it then people get complacent. Relatively few people are self-motivated to the degree that they never need anyone pushing them. Professional athletes are more motivated than others, but once they are around other professionals the differences in self-motivation are tiny, but do manifest themselves in noticeable ways.

Well, is he? The Western Conference is a pushover this season. 10 of the top 15 teams in the league are from the Eastern Conference. That puts them 5th in the Western Conference but if they were in the East they'd be tied with Florida for 10th. And he has the top two scorers in the league. I'm not saying he's terrible, I think he's been great and I have respect for him, but I don't think Edmonton is all that.. not yet.

I would not be surprised if the the Pegula's aren't looking for a reason to move the Amerks to Buffalo and consolidate hockey in that city. Rochester, in general, has not cared about the Amerks for a long time. I don't even have a desire to go to a game. The concessions are terrible, they always have been frankly, even a few years ago. They were awful compared to Frontier Field and they charged the same amount. Now they charge more. The only way I go to an Amerks game is if someone gives me a ticket, and even then, It's a hard sell. Given what Ogre was posting I am surprised anyone wants to be there. Check off the list the last time i was there... The sound in the arena sucked The scoreboard in the arena was terrible Concessions are sub-sub par and expensive Seating is uncomfortable Parking is expensive Yeah.. I'm just getting worked up thinking about how bad the Amerks are. Hell, I'm glad my kid is past the "skate during intermission" garbage that local hockey clubs like to force on their parents. I felt slimy just trying to get people to buy tickets so the kids could get on the ice for 3 minutes.

I mean.. if your fingers feel dirty talking about Marchand it has to be really bad... given some of the things you say on here. ?

I love your passion. I disagree with you about Ralph. I think he's made the team better, it doesn't show in the standings to be certain, but overall they play a better game. The team often looks like its on the same page. I think its the lack of talent that gets it done. You point to Detroit beating them. Detroit beat Boston too. Those kinds of games are going to happen. The depth isn't there and the injury to Olofsson is having a major impact on the team. Dahlin out hurts the team too. I do think there are areas that can be improved in the coaching... I'm still struggling to understand how our PK can be so bad when we basically have the same guys as years before out there. It makes you wonder. The power play as well... those areas need to be improved and that's on Ralph without a doubt.

For blocked shots I think it would make more sense to track the number of blocked shots / shots allowed (or possibly even opponent shot attempts, but that could be really tough). Naturally, as you said, teams that give up a lot of shots (ie. don't have the puck) are likely to show higher shot block totals. Of course, it might still end up looking the same when you plot it out. Cool stuff though... thanks for doing the leg work.