LTS

How do I respond to this? You provide no counter discussion. You essentially are dismissing what I've said and yet that is basically the story line that comes up with every UFA, regardless of team. It's not my narrative, it's the league's. If the two sides are not talking then what ray of light exists that they are interested in pursuing a longer relationship?

I have to wait a whole day to see this game? And there's snow on the ground? I have no idea why any of that matters. Can't wait.. here we go.... in 11 hours.

All scenarios where Kane is on the Sabres next year favor Botterill discussing a contract now. The longer Botterill waits without ANY communication the more Kane thinks the Sabres are not interested or don't want to pay him. The longer Botterill waits without ANY communication the less Kane has to wait to test the market. Botterill can wait as long as he likes but by the time the cap is set the trade value for Kane will have diminished unless you can find someone who will sign him to what Kane wants and is where Kane wants to be. The less time another team has Kane under contract the less valuable he becomes in a trade. The longer Botterill waits the more another team may rightly assume that Kane is not interested in signing with the Sabres and they can low ball the trade. If Botterill wants Kane on the team then he has to offer him a deal and make Kane think about the guaranteed money in front of him versus the market that's months out and that ANYTHING can happen between now and then to diminish his value below the contract offer. if Botterill offers him a contract and he refuses then he knows he can trade him now for maximum value (or very soon). I don't see any scenario where the probability of Kane remaining a Sabre is benefited by Botterill waiting to have a discussion.

I also think this is the case with Pouliot. He's going to be able to flip the two of those players for assets. I think Kane goes earlier and grabs much more but Pouliot will pick up a draft pick or two. It's possible. However I think they would have had to have conversations and there are NO indications of that yet. You won't know what you need to sign Kane unless you ask him first right? I'm going to say that Moulson still doesn't move until the off-season (if at all) until there's no chance he can influence a signing of Tavares.

Eichel was an RFA... he had no option to leave. Moreover, I certainly don't believe that the contract signing of Eichel was set long in advance and that the signing announcement was planned.

Well, he's now listed as the top trade prospect on most NHL media sites. I think those who hang around and talk to people have a decent take on the probability of him signing with the Sabres. I believe it was a TSN article that mentioned Botterill and Kane's agent haven't even had talks about a contract.

Well, if you were looking for some supporting evidence on today's game: http://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/nhl/red-wings/2017/11/06/empty-seats-pistons-wings-home-games/107393976/ In short, arenas are TOO nice these days and fans don't have to pay attention to the game because they can see it anywhere, checking out other distractions, etc. In other news about talent. I was listening to NHL radio on SiriusXM and they were talking about the Oilers and their lack of depth scoring. They were making a point that right now McDavid and Draisaitl feel compelled to do more than they should because they are the only one's scoring. So rather than play that extra second of defense they are looking to jump out of the zone because they feel compelled to get the puck and go score to help the team. It was said it's not uncommon and of course the exact opposite happens. The puck never comes out of the zone and it only makes things worse, not better. Essentially, by trying too hard to do one thing they are screwing up the other. The Sabres are in that boat as well. The offense is lopsided and while I think that's changed a bit over the past few games with ROR and now Pouliot adding some scoring the rest of the team has not really helped much, the D especially. I think that's part of the problem with Ristolainen. He's trying to do too much and as a result is not doing what he should.

It's been permeating sports at all levels for some time now. Of course you still have to point out what people are doing wrong, but it's how you do it. Talking about something negative doesn't make you negative, you can't change the subject matter. For example, it's not being negative to talk with a player being out of position. However, you can be negative in how you tell them about it and only focus on what they do wrong. Now, if they do nothing right.....

These players are generally their own worst critics. They know if they mess up and hearing about it won't help the situation. I think the coach does have to provide a viewpoint that doesn't harp on the negative and provides different viewpoints that emphasize good. No one tunes out the sweet sounds of Mozart but if you had to listen to a dude banging a garbage can all day you'd become desensitized to it quickly.

Wait. ROR saying it doesn't mean its him. You could very easily interpret that as there are players on this team that are fragile and the leaders are going to have to carry the team more [than they should have to]. I don't see ROR quitting and being fragile. More often than not he's the guy who has responded as the team slips away. Eichel might be the fragile one here. He's the one who you can see stop trying at times and look to the rafters as through he's asking the kid above with the Xbox controller why he made him miss a goal.

Same fans?

Sounds like a team that still has a decent amount of D depth needs a forward. Sabres have one!

Perhaps I was wrong but I thought they were still scheduled to broadcast some games and then told the NHL they woouldn't be doing it. Either way... I am sure NBC isn't happy because it would have been a lot of good ratings for hockey during the NBC broadcast. Those games will draw less now.

The real question is what did the coach (or his teammates) say to him after he did that. Stupid will happen. It's only a problem if it continues to happen.

What breaking point? The underlying tone of your entire message is that somehow ownership, management, and players are all perfectly happy collecting the paycheck and aren't trying to win. You are talking about people, who throughout their entire lives, have held themselves to a higher standard in order to excel in their profession. Pegula wasn't gifted his business earnings in a will. He made himself a successful business person. Phil Housley became an All-Star defenseman because of his desire to succeed. He debuted in the NHL at 18, very few players do that. Even Botterill who had no NHL career still was able to make it to the NHL as a player, a feat, that despite some people's perceptions, is quite difficult. He's managed to succeed even more inside the business of hockey. I am sure that after leaving Pittsburgh's "culture of winning" he came to Buffalo because it was so much more acceptable to lose here. Each player on the team puts hours of dedication into their profession. They did not get to the NHL because they were just happy to be here. If you need to spend your time calling into The Instigators and writing editorials in the BN to help yourself feel better about things go for it. Wear a bag over your head, go nuts. I can assure you that you are in the VAST minority of people who feel this way and are bothered by what ANY sports franchise does and how it performs. Right, well, then, keep insinuating the rest of us are losers because we don't spend time being an activist for change within the Sabres organization. In any 24 hour period of the day there is a list of things I think about, there is a smaller list of things I actually spend energy on, and when it comes time to decide where I am going to spend energy in any given day the Buffalo Sabres don't crack the top 100. I'm going to go spend my time today more interested in the voting outcomes for my town supervisor, for the acts of politicians who will shape how my life will be impacted, and even more importantly supporting my family and transporting my children places. I've not the time, nor desire, to call Andrew Peters and complain about something I have no control over. Your rhetoric is tired. You are upset, we get it. You are going to win over a lot of people by continuing to call them losers for "accepting" a losing hockey team. But, because I believe in redemption I will give you this offer. If you can get a member of the Sabres management team or a player to acknowledge you by name during an interview that they changed their game or have performed better because of your public activism then I will join you. Just make sure to post the link to the interview where Phil Housley answers the question about the SAbres turnaround and says, "Well Paul, it really began when this fan <insert name here> started a twitter campaign, and wrote an editorial in the BN, and then called into a talk show and told us that we can't accept losing anymore. He said that he wasn't going to support us anymore. I relayed that to the team and they took it really hard. I believe O'Reilly stood up and said, we can't let that happen. We can't have one fan complaining about us in social media and on talk shows. It's unacceptable. We have to be better. It's not about us and how we feel about the amount of time we put into being a professional hockey player. It's about this guy and his willingness to put a bag on his head. Yep Paul, that's what turned it around."

Well, people in Buffalo tune in anyway, even when the Sabres aren't playing. They'll be happy to pull in some NYC numbers. After that it's a wash. Given the row between NBC and NHL over the Olympics I am surprised they are putting any effort into broadcasting games. Go Buffalo..

There are two ways to go with this team. Some don't choose to be angry over all of it as it serves no purpose in life. What good does it do me to get upset about the Sabres? Be angry if you want. But stop calling out others for dealing with the situation how they want to deal with it. It serves no purpose other than self-gratification and if that's all you are after I am thinking there are other sites on the Internet you should visit before this one. I think the bright side is that he's not turning away from the style he wants them to play. If he was to change the system now to try and protect his players he'd be taking a step backward in the development. They need to learn the system and the only way to do it is to play it. So they take their lumps but ultimately they learn who can adapt and who can't. They keep who can and discard who can't and all the while the team has been gaining experience with how to play. As for a D whisperer part... he might be able to improve some of that D corps a bit but it probably doesn't help that the forwards aren't always in the right position either. They have to settle themselves before they work on bettering themselves. it's ugly right now, there's no doubt.

No. The moment the trade is agreed upon he has to leave the ice. He walked out of the arena, bags packed while the game was still going on. What makes this even more interesting is that he supposedly needed to be traded right then so he would be able to join the Senators who are on their way to Sweden to play two games in the coming days. Their opponent? The Colorado Avalanche. I'm thinking Duchesne might be motivated. Not only will he be with Sweden's current hero Erik Karlsson but if he can sink the Avs he'll be sticking it to his former team who jerked him around AND to Peter Forsberg.

Agreed. They might not have been the best quality shots either. However, it is indicating that they were at least in the zone more than what might have been expected by simply watching the game. It's those little things that are easy to overlook. Let's face it. A team that is lacking confidence let's in that second goal after the first and it was crumble city. Part of it is certainly that Dallas stopped shooting, but even at the end of the first Dallas had their goal on 10 shots I believe. That's insane.

So you aren't now?

After the first 15 or so games played last year the Sabres sat 1 point behind Nashville and Toronto in the standings. Both of those teams made the playoffs. (The Predators and Leafs had 15 points). The season ended with 95 for the Leafs and 94 for the Preds. So, yes, I do have hope that they will make it. However, I don't think they will make it so long as 3 of the starting D are coming from the group of Falk, Fedun, Tennyson, Bealieu, and Antipin. In reality there should be 1 spot and at most 2 for that group. I never thought they would do more than battle for 8th. They'll need to turn things around and they're going to have to find serenity in their defensive zone.

I think the team is playing better. They were outshooting Dallas which means they generated some chances. They continue to be soft, they continue to be a disaster in their own end. This is a byproduct of injuries and a lack of skill on defense. It does need to be fixed and they aren't going to do it through the draft. Kane can get a defender, but they may have to wait until another team becomes more desperate to maximize the value. It will continue to be a sad looking group back there. I would think that Gorges, Bogosian, RIstolainen in the lineup would improve things quite a bit, even given how bad Risto was playing. Oh well.. on to the next game I guess.

If a GM believes enough in Reinhart then perhaps he's someone you can tie Bogo or Moulson with as a salary dump. Unlikely but more likely than Kane unless the Sabres will take less for Kane just to clear a salary.

Kane or Reinhart get traded soon. It has to happen.