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Ross Rhea

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Posts posted by Ross Rhea

  4. Travis Yost on WGR-550 Today; Worth Listening To

    in The Aud Club

    Posted

    2 hours ago, jad1 said:

    The only thing even remotely good about this team over the previous couple of seasons was the top line (Eichel, Reinhart, Skinner, Olofsson).

     The first line play was playoff-quality over the last two seasons.

    The Sabres didn't lose because the first line "free-wheeled." They lost because no other line could produce NHL-quality offense.

    Bluntly said, if Eichel didn't have the year he did last season, the Sabres probably finish last in the league, and Krueger would have been shown the door with Botterill.

    So I don't know what bad habits he needed to break for his best players, but if that's what he is trying to do, he should stop it immediately.

    At least Krueger has figured out that Eichel and Reinhart need to play on the same line together.  You would think he would have learned that last year, but again this guy believes Tage Thompson is a top line foward. So, progress, I guess.

    If this was the tank year, and the Sabres roster was loaded with bottom six fowards, Kruger's approach wouldn't be bad.

    But a roster with Eichel, Reinhart, Hall, Olofsson, Skinner, Staal, and now Cozens should be better offensively. 

    You got to believe that if Trotz or Laviolette were coaching this team (guys who can coach both offense and defense) they would be be challenging for the division lead, instead of struggling to be .500 against the Devils.

    Don't forget Dahlin and Ristolainen are very good offensive defensmen. Not sure what RK plan is but he is neutering this offense, IMO a good coach shouldn't have to neuter something in order to make something else better. Liked the RK hire at first but he seems very stubborn and a guy forever trying to fit square pegs into round holes.

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  6. Taylor Hall signing: 8 million one yr with Sabres

    in The Aud Club

    Posted

    4 hours ago, Zamboni said:

    CURRENT (not future potential) value of Thompson AND Mitts ... would garner an aging borderline NHL backup goalie. No better than a Hutton level. It would be nice to think they would get us a “starting level” of goalie. But current value ... no way.

    It is clearly why I originally stated Mitts, Tage and someone else. Reino? Risto? Montour? IDK, but my original comment was more than just Mitts and Tage.

  7. Taylor Hall signing: 8 million one yr with Sabres

    in The Aud Club

    Posted

    1 hour ago, SDS said:

    Package the parts that you think you have  little value and give it to someone in exchange for something with value? 👍

    Two young, former first round picks are little value? God forbid that every player isn't an Eichel or McDavid right out of the box and take some time. Being afforded that time is now considered little value, got it. I consider guys like Lazar, Okposo, Sobotka, Hunwick to be little value,  Casey and Tage have considerably more. 

  13. Do you believe? in the Sabres.

    in The Aud Club

    Posted

    For the most part, nothing JBot has done has made me believe he is capable of righting the ship. IMO he has this year and that is it or if he continues to show the same incompetence during the off season, then he only has until end of Dec should the Sabres still be floundering.

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  16. GDT:Caps at Sabres 7pm MSG, WGR

    in The Aud Club

    Posted

    6 hours ago, dudacek said:

    Linus is really, really good at shootouts.

    Kahun’s mix of skill and hockey sense continue to surprise me. I admit I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. How any GM, let alone a cup winner could possibly prefer Conor Sheary boggles my brain.

    Every time the team plays well against a team with a force of nature player like Ovi, I want Risto on my playoff team.

    I posted a few days back that Baby Rasmus has yet to have the type of game that you can look at and say “we won that game because of him.” How about tonight? Two absolutely sick assists capped by conjuring the guy who used to be the Sabres best 26 in the shootout. That was #1 overall talent on display tonight.

    You know, I don’t think the guys down on some of Ralph’s decisions are completely out to lunch, but giving Kahun and Dahlin the nod ahead of 17% Shootout scorer Jeff Skinner was the right call, wasn’t it?

    I think tonight was par for the course for Sam Reinhart. Game tied late wins a puck in the corner, fakes driving hard around the back of the net only to unexpectedly thread a needle through the slot to set Monty up for what should have been the clutch winner. Goal gets called back. Sam (who has the team’s best shootout percentage among frequent shooters at 35) misses in the shootout (like Jack and Victor and Mojo). Sabrespace talks about Sam’s miss.

    Jack looked more like Jack than he has in two weeks. Ralph talked about the post-Vegas games being a mourning period the team is starting to come out of. That’s what I’m seeing.

    I know many here disagree, but when the goalie plays well, I see the Sabres as a well-coached team with a balanced blueline and a distinct lack of creativity up front. Ralph is a good leader. I haven’t decided yet what tier of coaches he belongs in, but he has at least partially addressed the morale and own-zone tire fire issues that plagued the team last year. Coaching is not the problem.

    Not really game related but has anyone else noted that Alex Nylander has one more point than Jeff Skinner?

    I cant help but wonder if JBot called Pitts GM and asked for a favor and a little help "winning a trade" because he is on the hot seat.

  19. Will Eichel hit 90 points this year?

    in The Aud Club

    Posted

    2 hours ago, PASabreFan said:

    Don't know, but it's another thing that doesn't matter

    As for Jack, how does he "check out" when he just vowed as team captain the team wouldn't collapse again down the stretch of another season? If it's a "nagging" injury that still allows him to play, like I posted last night, welcome to the NHL playoffs, Jack. If it's closer coverage, again, same point.

    I find all of it somewhat disturbing. We still don't know, five years in, what we have in this player when the rubber hits the road.

    As good a player is Jack is, I just don't think he is captain material at the NHL level.

  21. Rumor: About Botterill’s Future Being in Doubt

    in The Aud Club

    Posted

    42 minutes ago, 3putt said:

    Not in the least.  The indicator should be that the solutions to the self made problems are not there in the near term. No A prospects ready to step in, including Cozens, terrible ufa market, a depressed market for mid pair d due to said ufa market, an albatross contract for a streaky scorer that is impossible to move due to full nmc, no goaltending prospect in the near term, and inability to assemble a roster where the parts are collectively more than the sum of their parts.  And this was all self inflicted.  No handcuff from a prior administration.  This administration let a Selke, Conn Smythe level talent go for nothing, a Vezina winner for nothing and a 20 plus goal power forward for a middling d prospect.  We will be cap challenged due to Skinner who doesn’t fit the coaching “philosophy” currently deployed and any trade will require a commitment to either the players needed to implement said philosophy and a major retool.  By not getting value from the other moves a major mortgaging of the future will be required to fix the present.  I hope ownership understands this. If they do not then it really doesn’t matter whether they keep him or not.  For all the talk about communication it seems that the folks at the top may be very well informed but utterly unqualified to understand the information.  
     

    I responded in another thread to the idea of a big move for a Larkin type player.  Whether it is him or someone similar it is the type of move that will be needed to turn the corner. But it will be costly, possibly decimating the shallow talent pool and draft assets remaining after failing to get returns for players that did nothing more than fill a spot and collect a paycheck.  The present is bleak and the future perhaps even bleaker.  
     

    And it was all self inflicted.  I do not buy the handcuff mandate on the ahem trade.  I think it was just an inexperienced and incompetent person trying to do things his way contrary to established precedent that it was a fools errand.  If I am wrong and the lack of an offer to EKane, the trade and letting Lehner walk for no value in return were organizational decisions from the top, well again it doesn’t matter, because the type of person needed to turn this around will never inhabit the offices of KBC.  That person will need to be bigger than ownership and able to operate without any consideration except icing a winning team. I fail to see any history indicating that will happen.

    Yup, I agree but i'm not sure I want JBot to be the one to make said trade as I don't think he is capable of doing it correctly for what is needed.

  22. Rumor: About Botterill’s Future Being in Doubt

    in The Aud Club

    Posted

    8 hours ago, nfreeman said:

    They have 66 pts with 17 games left, 8 of which are at home and 9 on the road.

    If they go 8-9 in their last 17, they’ll finish with 82 pts — ie 4 pts better than the final year of TM and DDB.  That probably gets JB canned. 

    If they go 7-10 in their last 17, they’ll finish with 80 points, and I’d say JB getting canned is a certainty at that point.

    An extra OTL pt here or there might make all the difference in the world.  

    I really don't care if they go 15-2 and miss the playoffs by one point, the incompetence JBot has displayed in 3 years is overwhelming, he needs to go.

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