In The Buff

I'd prefer to see some fight in our players, not necessarily a fighter to be brought in. But can you teach toughness? I believe you can but it takes a long time to develop it. Not to mention a cultural change. Ruff does have the stuff to make us tough, but will it be enough? Our teams have been a bunch of cream puffs.

the lost Superbowls to the Cowboys, in addition to No Goal, have made me hate all Dallas teams to eternity. I'm sure i'm not the only one 😛

some of it is talent, some of it is coaching, some of it is heart. We need a net front presence period. If you have a net presence you can screen the goalie, throw off the defensive formation & get a lot more dirty goals. The ticktacktoe plays are nice when you can execute consistently. But Lindy will have them attacking the net more i hope.

Seems we've been labeled as the team with the top prospects for the past 8 years. But with many of these 'top' prospects, we've developed them to just ship them out for another team's benefit. At some point you need to field a playoff caliber team yourself, if you know: the goal is the playoffs. But to do so one must use all available assets at their disposal. Short of trading 1 of our 'star' players, trading a 1st rd pick makes logical sense, to get someone who can help us NOW. So naturally we'll draft a 5'7 Swedish LHD. He's great on his skates tho

big no goal keeping the Syracuse lead at 1-0. Going down 2 in the 1st would've been bad.

awesome! I finally catch a day when the Amerks are playing. I have a website to watch the games & everything but i keep forgetting when they play... Not today! Big big game tonight in a pivotal Game 3, after last game losing a heartbreaker in OT. In this Upstate NY battle, only 1 team can emerge victorious & claim the title of the Kings of NY. Lets CRUNCH the CRUNCH!

watching the press conference now. My 1st thought is: man, age has not been kind to Lindy haha 2nd thought is: i hope Lindy still has some of that fire & energy that he had back in the day. We're gonna need every bit of fight in this man, to turn this thing around. i wish him the best, because we'll need it

I understand everyone who thinks rehiring Ruff is a cop-out or in my words: the lowest hanging fruit to bringing back the glory days. But it very well could be worse. It couldve been a Ralph Krueger. It couldve been Matt Ellis or Seth Appert. Whenever you think something is bad, just think of how it couldve been worse. And be thankful we didn't go with the worse option. Ruff at least brings some respectability to the role. Players will take him seriously & Ruff will hold them accountable. I would at least, not expect us to take a step back next year. We should at least be even or better than this year. Im really trying to find the positive in this lol.

if anyone needs a link to watch the AHL games, send me a dm & i can hook you up. GO Amerks!

I agree. This issue has come up a lot this year (and in many years prior) but its not the size of the dog in the fight that counts, its the size of the fight in the dog. We do have some tall guys for sure, but none really use their size to their supposed advantage & i can't really say they play a physical game at all. I mean 1 of our offenses biggest failures this season was their inability to get to the middle of the ice, yet alone in front of the net. To me that all comes down to 1 thing, heart/physicality... being wiling to take a crosscheck or contact & still claim that spot on the ice as your own. A "big" team should be expected to do that. Why our 'big' guys are incapable of that, just shows to me they're not as big as they appear to the eyes at all.... they're still too soft imo.

Yeah theyre generally a wash, but they do have 2 different styles. But i'll be honest, i'm not completely aware of what coaches are even available this time around. I know Craig Berube is another name whose out there. He won a Cup coaching St Louis 5 years ago, i'm guessing that was when we sent ROR there? In years past i would be hyper-focused on potential coaches, thinking that we'd surely get a more experienced coach this time, but now that we're on our 7th HC after Ruff was canned, it seems like an exercise in futility lol. If TP's plan is to bring back the atmosphere from when Ruff was coach, it just makes sense that bringing Ruff back would be high on their list of options. Mainly because he's available & theres our shared history, but i also think he's the most likely to say yes. Whereas with other candidates, we simply don't know if they'd want to come here. I'm not on his bandwagon either. Before Granato i was supportive of the idea. Now? I wouldn't hate it but i dont think he'd take us to the Cup either.

Lindy Ruff to me seems like the low hanging fruit TP would sign off on, with the goal to appease a restless disinterested fan base. I can see that conversation playing out & hiring Lindy on its own would raise some local interest. From the wording of today's Presser, it doesnt sound like we're hiring from within & thank the Gods for that. They emphasized how they want someone with real experience, but i also have zero faith we'll hire a Gallant level HC. So that leaves Lindy & for obvious reasons i think thats exactly what we'll do. Lindy would at least hold the players accountable & that in & of itself might be worth it. But i'd be all for a Brindamour, Gallant or even Torts.

i havent read the whole thread yet but this will be our 7th HC after firing Ruff i think? 7th Head Coach is the charm!

Haven't we had the "best prospect pool" for like the past 5-6 years? It hasnt translated into much success, thats for sure. Every postseason you cant help but see all the ex-Sabres in the playoffs & here we are in year 13 of the drought. I cant help but wonder what would happen if you put them all on our team... would we be a playoff team with the roster just of exSabres? Makes you think our problems aren't just talent related. Given how many exSabres are in the postseason. They were good enough to make it with these other teams. Just not here i guess 😢

yeah until they break the drought, they are the drought lol. So they're not responsible for the 1st 7 years, but theyre responsible for the last 6 (or however long its been... i stopped counting after 10). 1 thing that i see missing is accountability. There's none, nowhere in this franchise. Not from or for the owner, the GM, the coach or the players... and thats a problem. It just feels like everyone is going thru the motions. Playing their part in the play for today. And it seems like we're the NHL's development camp for the rest of the League. We develop them, ship em out, get picks/prospects back & rinse cycle repeat. Being the absolute youngest team in the NHL is an anomaly... When you've missed the Playoffs for as long as we have, anomalies stand out & one should ask: perhaps we shouldnt be the youngest team in the League, maybe we need some vets? It doesnt seem to be brain science but we've struggled so much with very simple things, for multiple years, that its appears like it is. Most of this Board has said for years what this team needs. Its self evident to anyone watching... except to those who actually can do anything, the GM & Owner. Idk what the solution is at this point. Just like every year, we seem to be close yet so far away. Maybe Seppuku? 🤣

I hear what you're trying to say i think but Terry hasnt exactly been cheap in the wallet when it comes to spending money on the 2 franchises. And fan ticket boycott or not, Terry paid $165 million for the team. Its now valued at $750-900million (depending on your source). I'd say Terry can withstand any boycott & still be content with gaining 5-10x his original investment. To me the issue is more on who we're spending the money on & who we have to develop these assets we've acquired. Anyways this is a more detailed breakdown on the team's valuation for anyone interested: https://www.forbes.com/teams/buffalo-sabres/?sh=32921f3664f3

Like Weave said: nobody ever thought Wayne's records would be broken. Its not really fair to compare players of different generations, where the rules & regulations were different, not to mention everything else. But perhaps a good question is whose goal totals are more impressive? Is Wayne's or Ovi's more impressive? Who had the harder path? I'd say Ovi probably had the higher degree of difficulty, getting to these totals. Either way, 2 greats of the game. Akin to the Jordan/Lebron debate.

sorry that i just saw this post now. I pm'd you a site that captures all the NCAA, OHL, QHL, WHL, basically any hockey leagues other than NHL for ya

what's the over/under on when he becomes a shell of his former self? 10 games? Was a good 1st game by him tho. Hope he doesnt get jaded too soon

this team has a hard enough trouble putting a 3 game win streak together. Idk how they're going to go on a playoff run with what it'd take to actually get in. But i was wrong about the BILLS after that Denver loss, i thought the season was over & yet they found a way to turn everything around on the back of Josh Allen. Who is the Sabres Josh Allen we can expect the same from? Answer is: exactly... & i dont think we can expect it. Up to each fan if they want to hold out hope for it. But 13 years now, 20, how many years we've missed the playoffs? Whatever it is ive stopped counting & ive stopped hoping, it just hurts too much lol. I'll still support them & root them on but reality bites.

who?

Ive seen a lot of praise & hype around Savoie since we drafted him & while I'm hopeful for his future i just dont see it yet. Any 'pro' game ive ever seen him play, you simply dont see him at all. And it may take a few years before we do see it. But if we can move him for anything that can help us sooner i'd be all for it. Like others have said: he doesnt really offer much that we dont already have. And the things we do need he doesnt bring so what do you do? Since it doesnt look as if Savoie will be ready in the next couple years, if i were GM: I'd package him together with some other assets & try to help this team upgrade one of its many weaknesses now. You know, any of those issues that we have discussed here for years. Time will tell I suppose. GO SABRES

Don Granato as Axl Rose: "I've been walking the rink at night, just trying to get it right (need some patience). Its hard to skate with so many around (yeah), i know it must suck to be a fan in the crowd (could use some patience). And the excuses dont change but maybe the names (yeah). I aint got time for the game cuz i need you (yeah), just a little patience'. Man 12-13 years & counting: i'm about all out of patience

acquired him, sorry. I'd like to respond to some other part of your reply, but the main part was missing 😛

as far as legacy players go: we had an opportunity with LaFontaine but we know how that worked out. I've often wondered what differences there may be, had he stuck around. Would he have been able to bring in other names & would we have more respect around the league as a result? Suppose it couldnt be much worse without him.