LTS

Nice... tomorrow I'm having a small beer tasting at my house.. a little party after to celebrate 40 great years on this planet. Featured in the lineup: - 2008 Stone Brewing Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout - 2006 Atlantic Brewing Company Braggot - 2011 Allagash Curieux - 2009 Hoppin' Frog - B.O.R.I.S. - Bell's The Wild One - 2010 CB's Brewing "Pierre" (a Saison that has gotten better with age) - 2011 CB's Brewing "Jack" (originally a wee heavy aged Jack Daniels barrels, the ale was originally whiskey tinted, then it went sour from the sour mash that Jack uses, now it's a fantastic sour beer) Probably more.. can't wait. And more.. can't wait.

It certainly look like it.. the All Knowing Trash Heap..

C'mon, I expect better from you. Of course I'm not paid to watch and analyze the games. This has nothing to do with my ability to do exactly that and provide some factual based analysis. Since Robi and Hamilton aren't going to be on here to debate me (I can reach out to Hamilton if I'd like) then I would expect that you, rather than just take a pot shot at me, offer some counter-analysis. Robi may watch from his house but Hamilton is paid to work the Sabres beat and is at every game. Good for him. This doesn't mean he's faultless. Lord knows his opinions have been debated on here before. Sure I can't watch everything Enroth did, but I can watch what happened on the goals, and really that's what matters right? When a goal is scored there are dozens of camera angles that show the play leading up to and including the goal. If you want to debate what I said, please do so, but don't hide behind the words of Robi and Hamilton. If you can't back up what they were saying with your own thoughts and opinions then you are doing yourself a disservice and allowing the words of another to dictate your actions. I'll have to watch for that when he gets his next start in 2018.

I'm pretty sure the fans in Toronto don't go around pointing fingers. Well, actually they probably do but that franchise is more screwed up than the Sabres. They keep trying to change the front office and end up in the same position as the Sabres. As for Montreal, they were a joke last year. They did make changes this year, we'll see how it goes.

Good for Hamilton and Robi. Here's what I saw on the goals. First goal, deflected off Pominville's stick if I am not mistaken, the shot appeared to be going over the net at that time. Second goal, lost faceoff, quick shot, massive screen, and it barely gets through Enroth. Third goal, Alfredsson in the slot on a quick turnover, not an easy save given the short amount of time to see the puck against a top notch scorer. Fourth goal, turnover, slot to Neil with even less time to see the puck. Where am I supposed to hang this on Enroth? I just don't see it. Unlike Miller leaving the short side wide open on Fratton, or going down to early on every goal ever scored over his left shoulder. I didn't see egregious mistakes on Enroth's part so much as I think the team in front of him put him in a position to fail.

It's pretty much what I heard as well. I think it was telling that Ted said point blank that just because Darcy had an extension doesn't mean they wouldn't get rid of him if they thought he was the problem. This happens in sports all the time and it is a situation where an owner with money is willing to eat a loss on that to improve his product. I completely agree with him as well. Calling out your GM and coach does nothing more than create an environment of fear. You end up with reactionary responses that aren't necessarily well suited to the environment you are trying to create. You encourage a combative environment. I think Lindy and Darcy know that winning matters and I think the pressure to perform is there. Ultimately they will evaluate on their schedule and make changes as necessary. Ted certainly demonstrated his frustration with things as well.

I have many other reasons.. the Sabres don't drive me to drink. I won't allow it.. I'm not into alcohol poisoning.

Agreed. A lot of people support this team because regardless of winning or losing they mean a lot to the region and certainly to the city. The Sabres probably mean even more so because they actually play downtown. Win or lose the arena and the subsequent investments by Pegula and other businessmen in the area for the HarborCenter, etc. are making a difference. Hopefully this leads to a change in the perception of Buffalo. Even though I now live in Rochester, I grew up in Buffalo, spent 22 years there. I want the area to succeed. Pegula and Black will make a change when they feel it is necessary. I'm not going to beat my head against the door because they have more patience than most fans do. Ted Black is the one who still goes on the radio on Thursday mornings and takes a ton of crap from people. He doesn't have to do this, but he does. He mentioned today that he'll be in the 300 section tonight, that says a lot. Hell, Black at least refers to tickets as tickets and not inventory unlike some other President of a Buffalo sports organization does. I think it's absolutely incorrect to assume they do not care. I'd like Ruff to step aside and some day it will happen. Until then I will hope that the players do their part. No matter what Ruff wants, once the players get on the ice they have control over how they play. They are the one's who choose to play hard or not. Nobody in the Sabres front office is going to say Regier and/or Ruff are in trouble until they fire them. So why should we expect it to happen? The more changes that Regier and Ruff make that don't work the less excuses there are to hide behind. It ultimately gets us to finding out the source of the problem, whatever it is. I'm tired.

Perhaps it's a ploy to get his team angry at him for blaming the wrong person? They all know that Enroth was hung out to dry in that game. Blaming him for any of those goals would be a stretch. Just curious.. the only comment I ever recall hearing about the Sabres front office is from Brian Burke. What do you base this "laughing stock" comment on? I mean, if you think they should be the laughing stock that is one thing. But to come out and proclaim they are is another. If i missed something (entirely possible) then I'd like to go read aboot it. :)

I'll watch the game. I'll swear at the TV. I'll be annoyed for about 30 minutes after the game. Then I will go back to life and prepare for things that really matter. Hope for the best... I like seeing people succeed. All in all, we can analyze the game tomorrow!

Wish I could say that... been far too long since I brewed.. Oh well.. time will come back to me. I always forget to stop in this thread.. not sure why.

Perhaps I missed the comment. His name hasn't popped up on potential injuries from the conversations I had heard. I'm waiting to see some signs of life...

Perhaps is Vanek stops carrying the team the rest of the guys will put their skates on the ice and realize that they too can skate? Look, this team needs someone to come out and throw Ruff under the bus... someone has to open up the locker room and make it apparent that there are problems...

Adding to the woes.. The locker room problem is back. Last night I watched numerous times as Steve Ott and Marcus Foligno both peeled away from big hits. Ott seems particularly disinterested out there on the ice. There is no more fire, no desire, no anything on this team. They look like a group of guys who are going out there with the expectation they are going to lose. Game 1.. we heard about how it's different this year. everyone holds everyone accountable, all that crap. Game 10 - sorry guys, you are on your own. This is not a team, it's a collection of individuals. Ruff just has to go.

You'll be paying, one way or another. Yay.. game tonight. I've decided to show the same level of emotion as the guys getting paid a ton of money to play a game.

And Carolina also lost Brandon Sutter, I'm not sure what the point is here. Semin is a head case, that was known from his days in Washington. Are you trying to say at least they have something to look forward to? Point is.. Buffalo has the same group of players and the same coach... they have no excuses. Philly has the same players and the same coach and I'm betting that Laviolette will be fired before Ruff if both continue to under perform. This team is not devoid of talent on the roster, the coach simply isn't getting it done with them. Right now, if for no other reason in the world, I would like to see Ruff go to another team and see who was right and who was wrong all along. I really want to know if Ruff is as good as people in the league say he is and if the talent on this team is as good as we think it can be.

Carolina and Washington have brand new coaches with no training camp to practice system changes. So, not a huge surprise there, but the Sabres probably don't stay above them for long. As for Philly, no worries, Laviolette will lose his job before Ruff does if they remain down there.

I'd like to point to St. Louis last year sucking wind at the bottom until they brought in Hitchcock... they don't appear to suck right now. They made a huge run last year and it's continuing this year. They've made some changes but I don't think their roster reads like some of the other top teams. They've had great goal tending and their scoring is clearly spread out. They have a few big leaders on the team but most of what I notice when I watch them play is that they are moving. A coaching change can suddenly make some players that much better... freeing them from the constraints they had before. The time is now..

There is no way Ruff is responsible for Vanek today. If the Vanek-Hodgson-Pominville line is what Ruff has been teaching all along then I've clearly underestimated him as a coach and we really need to trade everyone else. They are not playing like a Ruff trained line. They are playing like a highly-creative, intelligent, line that knows where each player will be and throws the puck there in anticipation. Everyone else plays like what I expect from Ruff coaches lines. I don't know if there is another team in the NHL that is worse at the blue lines (both of them, in both directions) than the Sabres. They let people into the D zone too easy and can't get the puck out. They struggle to get into the O zone and can't keep the puck in. As for Grigorenko.. given that the entire team is in the crapper I guess I expect it to impact him even more. This might be his first taste of adversity... let's hope he pulls himself out of it.

Winning a cup isn't necessarily a reflection of the captain. The Blackhawks, Wings, and Pens are loaded with talent. The Devils (when Gionta won, but not captain) were also loaded with talent and an all-time great goaltender. I could have been the captain of those team (and out with a season long injury) and they probably still would have won. Vanek, until this year, has never played a consistently strong game. It remains to be seen if he can keep it up. Right now things are rolling for him and he feeds off that. The problem with Vanek has ALWAYS been when things stop rolling for him. That's when he gets overly frustrated and begins getting lazy and taking the lame tripping calls and missing the net. Right now he's smooth as silk and playing like his brain is completely shut off and it's awesome to watch. Naturally, but you are basing your opinion on a single playoff series when the overall body of work for Gaustad suggests that he's basically good at faceoffs. Remember, he was one of the heartless gang of 5 that did nothing to protect Miller. That's the guy who are putting up for captain. It's not cherry picking captains to prove my point. My point is that there are captains out there that are not tough as nails. There are captains who are as well and I would consider many of them to be excellent captains. The reason I didn't choose Iginla, Staal, Landeskog, Morrow, Jovanovski, Brown, Weber, Callahan, Doan, Backes, and Ladd is because I would take any one of them on the Sabres, today, no questions asked. They are all excellent players (or have been in the case of Iginla). I think we undervalue Pominville relative to the rest of the league. He's Mr. Dependable and that goes a long way in my book. Besides, there is no one else on this team, at this time, that is a more deserving player to wear the "C". The problem on this team now is not the captain, at least not the one wearing the "C". It's the one who is coaching the team.

And a lot of NHL'ers. I wouldn't let one incident really get you down on a guy. The entire team really sucked hard yesterday. Brennan should be in for Leopold at this point. Assuming Sekera is out we are down to only 6 D and so one of the not-so-dynamic duo have to be left in to play. I would still take Myers because he at least has reach and size. Leopold has proven nothing to me this season other than he is very good at being out of position. Myers needs to stop thinking offensively. His feet are slow this year. He is trying to pinch at the point and teams are continually playing the puck around him leading to an odd man rush. He is unable to get there sooner and he can't, I'd rather let the opposition out of the zone and take them out coming into the defensive zone than watch the other team jump around him and get down on a 2 on 1. I think the extra weight they are trying to put on his frame is killing him right now. You cannot change the top line. The chemistry there is what gives the Sabres a chance to win every night. Juggle 2-4 but not the top line. Move Grigorenko with Foligno and Stafford, I could get behind that. Since Grigorenko is not impressing me with his play along the boards it would be better to have two players who can dig the puck free. I see Stafford carrying the puck a lot and I don't think that's his strength. He's not bad at it but I think if Grigorenko could get the puck in a little space he'll be able to find Stafford to bury some shots. However, juggling the lines will do very little if the team comes out and lays an egg like they did in Montreal. You can tell when those games are coming because the Sabres are continually a half-step out of position and always a little late to the play. It was like that against Carolina as well. They forget what they should be doing and end up out of position.

I'm not even going to wade through the pages of posts that probably sounded a lot like "Fire everyone, trade everyone, they all suck." The last page or so on the captaincy is rather funny however. I really don't know how you hold up Gaustad as the guy who should have the "C". All he was good at was face-offs. He never really hit people, he never really beat them up, and he sure as hell did not inspire people on the team. I don't ever remember saying to myself, "Gee, Gaustad really has his team fired up tonight." It's a complete joke. You may not like Vanek and Pominville but Gaustad? Really? Comments like that stink of pure desperation. If you look at the list of current NHL captains I think you see a lot who are similar to Pominville: Toews, Zetterberg, Koivu, Gionta, Alfredsson, Sedin, Crosby. Chicago, Detroit, Minnesota, Montreal, Ottawa, Vancouver, Pittsburgh. They aren't really bottom feeders there. Face it.. captaincy is about a lot more than just "fire in the belly". An overly emotional leader is prone to melting down in the face of adversity and thus not leading his team anywhere. Sometimes having a stabilizing voice in the locker room is what is needed. Since none of us know the locker room dynamics I think it's a complete farce to judge things like this. Hell, Subban plays with a fire in his belly and did you see his teammates responses to him being re-signed? Sure as heck didn't sound like he was wanted there.

I do stand corrected on Stafford's hit though. I had said earlier that on the replay on TV it didn't look like he got him that good and with his shoulder, etc. That sequence clearly shows I was wrong. I think Hamilton embellished it a bit and he even returned to the game. But I wouldn't be surprised if Stafford got something.

There is a rule in place that fines the team, etc. However, the penalty would not be severe enough if their goon demolishes Pominville. People asked why Ruff did not just put Scott and Foligno on the ice in the first place. If he does he sets the stage for an unnecessary round of fighting for his guys where anything can happen. He just puts his line out there and once Julien responds with his goons Ruff nonchalantly calls timeout and sends out a reminder of the first period. I hope Thornton recovers soon. I don't wish injuries, especially concussions upon anyone and given the recent focus on brain injuries amongst fighters and the impact it has had on their lives I doubly don't wish it. The last thing I want to hear about is that his career is over and then 4 years down the road he commits suicide because he's completely messed up.

That was fast.. well done sir.