In The Buff

I would too. Especially when you factor in our our draft history & what we've used our 2nd rd picks on. Jury is still out on our 2nd rd choices under Jbott, but nothing really blows me away with them. Sure we all hope UPL will be the real deal or that Samuelsson's career is at least as good as his fathers. But in 10 years prior really only Jake McCabe has done anything with us. Sure we've used others in trades but i'll take Strome over Asplund or Marcus Davidsson or the many other players we got in the 2nd. Sabres draft history in case anyone wants a good cry: https://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/draft/teams/dr00005054.html

I just hope they don't screw this up. The reason for the change in the 1st place is because its "what the fans wanted". Idk if there's been any fan input into the design changes, but it would've been nice. Between the slug that got smeared across a windshield mess & the alumni jerseys from last year with the embarrassing spelling mistakes, I really don't have much faith that it'll be what we hope it'll be. But after so much disappointment over the years, getting this right should be a gimme right? As always hoping for the best.

I hear ya. However when i lived deep in the heart of the West Side here, in the summer time i'd have a bonfire in the backyard, with a few grills going & my HD projector playing Katt's standup shows on the back of my house. And the whole neighborhood would come over, often people I didn't even know, with the demographics being heavily slanted towards african americans & hispanics. Maybe it was just the perfect setting for me but we would've had the cops called on us from everyone laughing so much, if it wasn't for the whole neighborhood being there too. Tbh watching his standup's together in that setting really seemed to bring us all together, kinda ironic given how disgusting that word is on its own. Chappelle is also known for gratuitously using the N word... context is everything i suppose. This was also like 8 years ago, when times were different & not everything was weaponized like it is today. But yeah that Chappelle skit was funny as hell... just like most of his stuff imo.

Besides from the other names on this list. Katt Williams had some pretty funny standups back in the day. And from my childhood days i'd toss in Gallagher. He was pretty witty & he liked to smash things with sledgehammers. The sledgehammering alone gets him on my list haha These 2 still wouldn't be Top 5 imo... Just other names added that havent been mentioned yet

I can't see Calgary trading Tkachuk, Lindholm or Gaudreau... suppose anythings possible but those are 3 players I can't see them wanting to move on from. I wouldn't move them, not for what we'd be willing to send their way, unless they really value our 1st rd pick in a deal. Vancouver makes some sense. I'd love to have Horvat but i cant imagine the Nucks would move him, as he's sorta like their Eichel & on a good contract still. But Boeser, Virtanen, Gaudette seem like attainable pieces. I also remember their GM Benning wanting Reinhart in the past, and that area is where Sam is from. The Nucks also need some defensive help. So maybe Risto & Reinhart for some combo in return? Chicago also seems plausible. Strome & Saad could be possible targets for us. What they'd be interested in return i have no idea. Strome is up for a new contract & will be getting a substantial raise from where he's at now. Still gotta figure his salary will be less than what Reinhart will get on his new deal. If thats part of the trade, Chicago ends up paying Reinhart but knows who theyre getting in him & we pay Strome & take more of a chance we get the numbers right. Maybe that is attractive to both teams for different reasons. I hope the names we're mentioning are the targets we're looking at & not a bunch of middle 6 tweeners we're hoping can be 2nd line players.

Considering the rumor involves a team currently in the playoffs, at least we're spared all the potential trades regarding Adam Henrique. He's probably been talked about more here than on a Anaheim Ducks messageboard haha. But i wouldnt be surprised if these rumors are true. It's what I'd hope our GM is doing. Wonder if its connected to the rumor we heard about Jbot, how he had been working on a deal prior to his firing, or if its something brand new from KA. Either way i hope for the best!

I was only speaking of the players who scored yesterday when i mentioned Sheary & Ennis... but yeah thats a lot of players. Thanks for doing the research... i guess you really could fill out a roster with all those guys haha. I'm sure you could perform the same exercise with other teams too. But given how many years we've missed the playoffs, when I see all these ex Sabres in the post season i can't help but reflect on all the mistakes we've made & wish i were seeing Blue & Gold on the ice instead.

I am, its Chris Cuthbert & Louie Debrusk

Sheary scores tonight, now Tyler Ennis. In years past I would see all our ex Sabres playing in the Playoffs while our players played Golf. And there'd be so many of them you could almost field a complete team of them, heck you probably could. But I used to wonder if that assembled team of ex Sabres were better than the team we currently have. Hopefully I won't have to think about stuff like that & we'll be in the dance soon enough lol

I still buy the Rooties Blue Cheese tho ?

For me its LaNova's on West Ferry because the size of their wings are as big as a little kids forearm (sorry for the visual but all i could think of haha). They're also made right. Fried, then sauced, then put on the pit to char & then topped off with more sauce. Lots of places skip that all important step. Mattina's on Delaware Ave in Tonawanda has pretty good wings too. They might even be bigger in size than the LaNova wings, but still have a good char to them. Gabriels is good for sure & their BBQ sauce is tasty. I also remember there being daily specials from time to time but idk if they still do that. They're good but the wing sizes are probably 30% smaller than the above, so unless we're going to Gabes i usually go somewhere else. 1 great thing about Buffalo is theres no shortage of options

You can tell its Peak Offseason when we debate whether Sam can be a center on this team. Seems it happens every offseason haha. Just goes to show how long we've had this hole on our roster. I would say since he hasn't played C yet (while on a team badly needing one), we won't be seeing him at C & any help to that position must be found via draft or trade.

Yeah i could get on board with Torey Krug if it could happen, with the addition of moving out Risto and/or Montour for some forward help. And to your bolded: "I'd like to see us land some Bruins or Blues" 1st thing i thought was the ROR trade where we got 3 Blues players back in the deal. How'd that work out? haha But to the overall sentiment, that was also one of Jbots goals i remember. Adding players that have had some playoff experience, since nobody on the Sabres has gotten that experience with the team itself. Yes, adding players that come from successful organizations that know how to train & play & win should help lift up the youth on our team for sure. Makes sense to me, it just needs to be the correct player... easier said than done if our history is any indicator. But i think thats been the idea with Mojo & Simmonds, even Sheary, bringing in players who have that experience.

He'll get his 9 games & he'll stick to the NHL roster this time. Development wise, I'd be more worried about Cozens' if he had to play another season in the WHL. He's already risen to the top & likely learned as much as he can versus that competition. I want him to continue to grow & be challenged. If he had to play another season there, would his focus drop off, would his attitude change for the worse? Why even mess around with it. Plus we need him to contribute now. That doesnt mean we just force him into a role but i think after training camp & this extended period of time prior to the season starting, he'll be ready. Cozens isn't Casey Mittlestadt, his body is more developed physically so he shouldn't be such a liability out there to get pushed off the puck. I'll be shocked if he's not on the roster come this season.

Possibly. But given the long time off from playing here in the States, what is it, 9 months before the Sabres might play a game again? I wouldn't possibly expect Pilut to come back at all til the following year. Why come back sooner just not to play yanno? So change in regime or not, at least for now i don't see it impacting things in the short term. Down the road possibly & i hope it does, at the very least so we can use that asset which is Pilut in some way that can improve the team. For whatever thats worth...

I'd honestly feel more comfortable if we had Yzerman or Davidson or Gillis taking over. Kevyn Adams? A guy who can't even get the spelling of his 1st name right? Idk man haha. But like others have stated, i don't think we're that far away from being a playoff caliber team as it is. We don't need the best GM in the world, all we need is a competent one & we're a playoff caliber team. Maybe Kevyn is that guy, i certainly hope so. We'll know more once we see what he does. Sticks crossed i guess

Well depending on how far those conversations went, the agent could get in contact with Adams to carry on with the discussion & probably will i imagine. This isnt the 1st time a GM got fired & the business carried on. I was just curious. We've been waiting & wondering for awhile who will get moved in & out & our GM Jnot is rumored to have been working on a deal & then gets fired before being able to. Its just fitting

Wonder who the free agent was that was being discussed.

The firing of Jbotts should have provided some optimism for all of us. But after firing half the hockey department, some needed to go for sure but as a whole its pretty much done the opposite to me. Hearing the Pegs talk about how they want to surround themselves with Non Hockey people, when they have no idea how to run a hockey franchise, doesnt sound like the recipe for success. Sure our organization is leaner & more efficient today. But same thing happened to me after my house burnt down, i was leaner & more efficient, but everything was a mess & a huge pile of ash. Nothing the Pegs have done so far gives me any confidence whatsover to be optimistic about anything. Only thing i hope for is that somehow we make 2 or 3 solid moves that gets us over the hump. After trying for so long, the law of averages has to swing in ur favor eventually right? Maybe we'll get lucky, maybe we'll trade for the right player or win the draft lottery... thats pretty much where i'm at.

I have to imagine that the Pegula's talked to Jack before they made this move, just to get his thoughts & opinion on it & even speak on behalf of the players. I wonder how that conversation went & how on board he is with Adams. Knowing the type of guy Jack is, im sure he said he's on board with whatever it takes to turn the ship around. But i really wonder if he feels more confident today than he did yesterday.

This article here talks about what changed over the past 3 weeks. Goes into the discussions JB had with the Pegs about the restructuring plans & him being opposed to them. Maybe its just WGR messing with me but if u follow the course of events it seems probable his firing was at least due in part to those "philosophical differences" in this restructuring plan. https://www.tsn.ca/talent/buffalo-sabres-decide-to-start-over-once-again-1.1486570

I would've preferred firing Jbotts because of the performance of the team. But now it appears it was at the very least partly due to him being opposed to these other staff cuts & the firings with the Amerks. So now Jbotts is a martyr?

hey maybe we'll get lucky with the NHL Draft Lottery like we did with Dahlin Pretty much the only thing i'm hoping for at this point.

You'd think a competent organization would at least do a general GM search while going thru the process of firing your current GM. At the very least just to see who is available that potentially could be better. Not us. To me there seems to be other reasons going into their pick of Kevyn Adams for why that was the case. More to do with their familiarity with him and/or ability to communicate/control him i guess. I suppose its possible Kevyn Adams is the next great GM & the Pegulas are the 1st to see it. But i'm not holding my breath