Sabre fan

wearing out OReilly and Risto and not showing any faith in most anybody else and treating them like babies is no way to get the best out of any lineup...no wonder he failed in Pittsburg and is failing here...Babs does the opposite...allows players to play to their strengths and shows lots of confidence in them and it shows on the ice both in detroit for so long and now Toronto...the Leafs would not be where they are if we had got babs instead like we should have

Absolutely correct and I did forget that one...I don't mind Sam and all but yeah Ekblad would be sooooooooooo nice

Okay, I am wondering how we all feel if things had turned out differently when it comes to... 1) we got McDavid instead of jack 2) we got Babs instead of Blysma 3) we had not have all those nasty injuries at the start of the year that tore the core of this team apart 4) if Kulikov was healthy all year and used properly would we be debating whether to re-sign him 5) if Risto had no got suspended would Dan still be wearing him out while not using other D like Bogo and Kulikov enough 6) does anybody remember we lost in the Vesey sweepstakes? 7) do we have ANY hope next year if Dan returns

Let's face it, Pegula's hired Disco Dan after being rejected by Babcock after he (Babcock) gave a gentleman's handshake he'd come to Buffalo). terry was (with reason) angry and bitter and went out and landed the next "big fish" after Babs, thinking Blysma would be all that ails the Sabres. The truth is, babs has the Laughs (I mean leafs) playing with something Blysma has no clue about...confidence. ANY player on any team anywhere will only play up to what he has been led to believe or think the team feels about him (or her..I coached girls hockey for many years as well as boys). Babs has a way of making any player feel good about themselves by using them only in the role and at the times they merit. Blysma is trying to get the whole team to play one way and by doing that making many players play against what hey have always done and what they have always been good at and as the old saying goes, you can' teach an old dog new tricks. Simply, asking offensive-minded players to play defense first is great in theory but absolutely the recipe for disaster as we have seen. A great offensive player can still chip in defensively but o expect him to put D before O and to make them afraid to be themselves and do what comes naturally is not going to work everytime. Babs had Detroit playing with that confidence and swagger and no the Leafs...the results show. He makes these players believe in themselves and feel good about themselves. I know many argue that they are paid huge sums of moolah and should not have to have their egos stroked or made to feel good about themselves but he truth any player plays a mile better when playing with confidence and a swagger...putting down young players and criticizing them as we have seen constantly with Jack is the negative way of coaching, something other coaches have tried too with little or no success (see Mike keenan). When dealing with young egos one needs to mke them feel good about themselves which is clearly something Blysma has no ides about...

beautiful dog...I miss my dog soooooooooo much...anyways yes as stated earlier there is no doubt they will instruct Rochester to coach Blysma's system and beliefs as to how hockey should be played, which of course is scary in itself...

My question is if we are all experts at this and have all that ails this team figured out, why aren't we running the team (and coaching)? I really believe I could do a better job, which of course is absurd

actually that is probably 100% right on although I just love Iginla's passion and fire...this team could use some of that BAD

After watching highlights of the LA - Calgary game last night and seeing Iginla lead the team and even beat up Calgary's tough guy, I think he would be a great leader and addition to the Sabres next year. My does he play a great game! Tough, good hands and still has the fire to win! meanwhile that Tkachuk is really annoying and shows absolutely no respect for players who probably deserve to have that. Mind you, I do think Doughy needs to stand up for himself at some point (which he didn't last night). Either way, I just love the passion and fire Iginla brings to the table EVERY NIGHT which is exactly what the Sabres need! Eleven career Gordie Howe hat tricks is simply amazing! Also I must note that slashing is the new big thing apparently...TSN showed how Minnesota slashed Calgary's Gaudreau like 20 times and again last night LA hacked away at him. Eichel gets his share of slashes too and it is something the NHL needs to stop all that crap (like Cindy's that cut that guys finger in two)...I guess Tkachuk is like those type of players whereby you love them when they play for your team bu hate him when they are on the other team (like Boston's Marchant)

It is important to acknowledge how lucky the city of Buffalo was getting the pegula's to buy both teams and keep them there. They have hired what they feel to be the best people available and have spared NO EXPENSE to do so. babcock reneging on a gentleman's agreement and going to Toronto as NOT the pegula's fault...they offered the vault basically. Things would be different if Babs had come here for sure. otherwise, Pegula's have stressed they want a winner and are paying big bucks to try and fulfill that goal. Not sure exactly what else they are suppose to do...they are passionate people and have a great passion for you, the people of Buffalo and you all should be proud of thankful of and for them.

This is truly funny...I am sure the NHL will step up and fine Melnyk a few hundred thousand

can't figure out why we are so quick to want to ship Kane and kulikov out...Kane is showing he is an elite power-forward and kulikov played very well when given big minutes last night versus the leafs.

and the fact remains no one is sure whether to re-sign him but he sure looked good

anybody notice that when given big minutes kulikov responded in a big way?

meanwhile Cindy damn near took off Clutterbuk's head last night with a elbow to he head...needless to say, NO PENALTY

I have played hockey for a ton of years, and watched too and not often you see anything close to Methot's injury...Cindy is getting worse as he finds that he is getting away with this **it...he will get even worse too unless the NHL does something to send a massage and stop him (which they won't do to him in a million years)

I think it is safe to assume that if we had signed babs instead of Blysma, we'd be in the playoffs and the Leafs would not. babs is getting amazing mileage out of his players and has them playing on the same page. Obviously the same can't be said for Blysma...these days in the NHL a good offense is the best defense, which is to say that puck possession is everything these days. The other team cannot score (or even get many shots or chances) if you have the puck more then them. Our puck possession is awful but that is Blysma's system (Lindy's too over in dallas where it ain't working either). They preach the old try and score early then hang on and allow the other team to keep coming at you...in Lerner's defense he faces alot of rubber as our team allows the opponents to keep firing away at will. We desperately need someone who allows a free-flowing offensive style system...we have the players to play that way and I still think we have more talent the n the Leafs but are not using our players properly

The thing is that Polak from the Leafs got two games for a hit that was not worthy of any suspension just like Risto's certainly wasn't. The NHL is a joke that continues to get it wrong time and time again. Of course certain players like that douch from Boston can slew-foot anybody he wants and gets a slap on the wrist...meanwhile terrible plays and awful hist from behind go uncalled and I can't count how many concussions have been given on questionmable hits that the NHL does virtually nothing about. Great consistency haha

The Pegula's hired Blusma, not GMTM...Pegula's were pissed (rightly so) when Babs reneged on his handshake and word and signed instead with the Leafs. If we had got babs we'd be a whole lot better trust me...that was not GMTM's fault. As for the lineup it sure is better then it was before he came. and are young talent has been improved immensely already.

anybody see the hit in the Leaf game versus Columbus that Torts as all upset over...it looked like maybe a 2 minute boarding call bu nothing more...Risto's hit was not even close to anything that should have even been a 5 minute penalty never mind a hearing. strange cause the refs miss obvious calls then call stuff that is so borderline...

agreed...I think he's fine if healthy, it's the "system" that is dragging the whole D (and team) down

Probably the biggest question is do we try to re-sign Kulilov, who I have no doubt is much better then we've seen. I agree with someone who posted that he will no doubt go somewhere and immediately become a strong 3-4 d-man on another team. That trade by the way allowed us to move up and draft Rasmus Asplund, who many thought to be a first round guy. That was a good trade at the time and looked like a steal for GMTM. who could have known Kulikov would no be healthy for nearly the whole year? Again injuries played a big part in this year's disappoointment

this is about the most sane and truthful thing I have seen in a while...we are closer then we think and injuries (especially Jack missing so many games then not being near 100% for another bunch as well as Kane, OReilly, just about all the D-men) have taken their tool this year. Think where we'd be if we had a healthy year like the leafs and we didn;t miss these players like we did...Jack would be at around 30 to 35 goals, Kane would easily be over 30, and with all the injuries on the D maybe Kulikov would have shown he's much better then we've seen this year actually does trying OReilly on D make sense???just might (certainly not jack)

One could say Ennis player over his head and is now performing as expected except that I wonder if the coaching is holding him (and others) back...and really...Cody Hodgson??????????????

the strength of coaching is to be able to recognize each player's individual strengths and play them to those areas. Also, by allowing players to play to those strengths and excel at whatever it is they can it allows the players to play with confidence and also, as we see with the leafs, Babs is getting a ton of mileage out of different players and has just about all of them playing over their heads (see Kadri). When as the last time ANY Sabres played over their head? I simply cannot remember even when Lindy was here. I heard the Oiler coach (who I have never liked ) going on last night about how wonderful McDavid is and raving about him in general...when was the last time a coach raved about Eichel or any player here for that matter? The difference is day and night....also, I do think if Jack was never hurt this team would be up there with the Leafs battling for a playoff spot. we tend to forget that this team missed Jack for a big chuck of the first half and we also have had numerous other injuries that have obviously hurt this team. I think the combination of a new coach who brings a fresh and confidence-inspiring outlook and maybe a few less injuries next year wil make in itself a huge difference

I still can't figure out why the Sabres insist in playing tired worn-out D-men over young guys...I hate Toronto bu give them credit cause they are playing meaningful games right now and doing it with a bunch of young guys on d hat are not very good but who knows, maybe they'll get better....at least one can find excuses for them, unlike we can for aging vets like Gorges, Franson and Kulikov (and Bogo for that matter). Either way, nice to see a win...ANY WIN is good