Jsixspd

I think the Olympics article is relevant to our problems with Bylsma. The article questions the defensive strategies of Bylsma that he had the team playing in the Olympics - which seems to be falling back to a "prevent" defense, to borrow the football term. Same basic principle. I've often said Bylsma gets the team playing NOT to lose, vs playing to win. Aggressive offense to start; then he gets the team sitting on its heels. IF Bylsma really has a fascination with one goal wins, as another article alludes, and intentionally structures the game play to end up with a one goal win, then he should be fired. That's just inexcusable - what kind of lunacy is that? Or is it something to do with the Vegas 'line'? Either way, he shouldn't be the coach.

Well, it's not do or die yet in terms of playoffs. They can afford to lose 2 games in regulation before being effectively eliminated. So if we lose this one, season isn't over. This one isn't a must win, in terms of the playoffs. LOL

And just to add - I have to wonder after the disastrous firing of Rex Ryan, if the Pegulas are completely gun-shy now about any more high profile firings, at least for a few months? They might be counseled by the old Ralph Whisperer, Russ Brandon (from a marketing standpoint), to take a lower profile? I still don't understand how the Pegulas could take a firing (Ryan) that was completely understandable to EVERYONE and their brother - new coach comes onboard, team's record takes a nosedive in each season, coach needs to go - and send an utterly clueless and inept Whaley out to 'sell it' I still smh at how stupid Whaley is/was - all he had to really say was - "The team's record declined steadily under Rex.... it seemed clear to us the team wasn't going in the proper direction, especially the Defense - we didn't want to fire him, but we had to make this change for the good of the team". No fan or sports analyst would have questioned it - everyone knew the team was nosediving under Ryan. But instead, Whaley meandered and rambled about not being 'privy'... blah blah blah, and was totally unprepared. It's hard to fathom that a guy could rise to such a high level, highly paid position, and be such a ham-handed incompetent dolt. And how Buffalo fans can still think he can be a good GM, when he obviously lacks basic smarts and common sense.... I myself wouldn't hire him to run a LUNCH counter. smh!!!

There have been any number of major fails this seasons that should have resulted in Bylsma's firing, like losing 6 out of 7 games played against Boston in the past 2 seasons, swept by the Devils, ad nauseum But he's still there. I wonder if his hire is more on Kim 'n Terry than it was on Murray? And now Murray is being a good company guy and saying nothing? Might explain why he's still collecting a paycheck. It seems pretty clear that he's lost part or all of the locker room, given the chaos of the past several weeks.

I have always thought Bylsma's hire was a bad move - the squalid performance of the American team under Bylsma's command in the 2014 Olympics a clear memory when he was hired. http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/dan-bylsma-deserves-blame-for-usa-hockey-s-olympic-embarrassment-231757389.html So how much of Bylsma's hire was on Murray, and how much on KimNTerry? Who holds the most blame?

Which makes their re-signing to lengthy big dollar deals in 2014 all the more inexplicable; I was glad to see Moulson go - why Murray brought him back from the Wild....seemed like madness. Does/did Murray really think "Cup Run in 2017-18 or 2018-19" with those two on the offense? I don't see guys like that taking the Sabres to the Big Dance. We're stuck with both of 'em for 2 more seasons. About $9 million per year in cap hit too. Everyone criticizes Murray's defense - but those are a couple toxic offensive contracts.

Yup. How many of those multi goal leads have the Sabres blown this year? Not to mention getting swept by the Devils and the Bruins - with the Bruins the multi streak is now multi-year, and began when Bylsma was coach; and that with an improved roster, and a big name big dollar franchise coach at the helm - the latter at least if you believe the hype from Murray and the front office.

Now the magic number is 27 points in 16 games. 3 more regulation losses and T-T-That's all, Folks!

One big neg against Kane - he's got a mountain of penalty minutes already even though he's missed 12 games! 89 minutes, and 8th most PIM in the NHL! Almost 1 1/2 full games that he's put the Sabres shorthanded - and the Sabres have the 2nd worst PK in the league.

Gonna have people that love him, gonna have people that say he should go. Typical of Buffalo players and Buffalo fans. One difference - Tyrod was a definite UPgrade at QB over the players before him (Manuel, Fitzpatrick, ad nauseum). I have yet to feel that, despite all the money spent, that Lehner is an upgrade over the goalies of the past few years.

I don't think there's any rule against substituting a goalie for overtime or a shootout - coach can pull the goalie any time he wants. He couldn't change MID-shootout, but before the shootout? I don't believe there's any rule against it. There are just few, if any high salary starting goalies that are as truly awful against shoot outs and breakaways as Robin Lehner. So we never see it done. If Bylsma had any brains, he'd be doing it, especially with every point critical now in hoping to get to a WC berth. So with 17 games, there are 34 pts left in the Sabres Season. To get to 93 pts, which is the minimum point level with any hope of earning a WC berth, Sabres need 27. Basically, 4 more regulation losses - playoff hopes are gone.

Breakaways are harder to track - I haven't found stats for them - but the one on one breakaways I've seen Lehner defend against don't leave me with warm fuzzies either. As much as Lehner wants to claim shootouts are not hockey (despite them becoming part of hockey when he was a freshman in high school, battling acne), the breakaways ARE part of hockey, and he doesn't strike me as effective in those circumstances.

We need a big win here - to have a chance at a wildcard spot we need at least 93 pts or so - 93 was the low bar in 2013-14 season - every season has been higher - 95, 96. But even at an optimistic 93, that's 27 points in 17 games. We need to post 11 or 12 wins, and 3 or 4 OTLs to get there out of 17. Every game is becoming increasingly critical

Risto with 33 minutes of ice time! That's ridiculous - Bylsma is going to burn out Risto And shoot outs began in the NHL in the 2005-06 season, and in the AHL in 2004-05. Shoot outs began in NHL when Lehner was 14 years old - how can he say they 'aren't hockey' - it's been part of the game since before the start of his hockey career, and since before his entire adult life!

If veteran guys like Gorges, Bogosian, Kulikov, Ennis, et al are doing worse than they ever did before, on a Bylsma coached team, then how do we not conclude the coaching itself must be a major factor in their sagging stats?

So Lehner has yet to stop a single shot in shoot outs this year - unbelievable! No team could win a shoot out with Lehner in the crease. WTF didn't Bylsma put Nilsson in instead of Lehner? Lehner said post game that shoot outs aren't real hockey ""I'm working on it. It's different. It's not hockey."- If I were a coach I would jump all over Lehner for saying that and rip em a new one! Like them or not, they've been part of hockey for YEARS now, and good goalies need to be good at shoot outs. Period! No argument - no discussion. This guy was a big mistake by Murray - along with Gorges, Moulson, Ennis, Bogosian, Kulikov. Yeah, Murray has added talent - but he's also added a lot of liabilities too.

Ennis, Moulson and Gorges' contracts are all owned by Tim Murray. He has ownership of, and accountability for, their duration and performance (or lack thereof). And good coaches may be avoiding Buffalo because OF the ownership situation. I'd still like to know how much say Murray had (or didn't have) in Bylsma's hire. Bet he's one of Terry's boys, even though he 'works for' Murray. Supposedly. And if you look at Chicago's roster from the final tank year (2006-7) to the first improvement year (2007-8) and then to 2008-9, it was virtually a clean sweep. That's what the Sabres needed - a clean sweep. Too many slugs have been either retained, resigned, or acquired by the current Owner/GM regime. Getting rid of some average players, and replacing them with average players - isn't a formula for success.

This game should be a gimme. Sabres have had an easy schedule since the end of the bye, but haven't been able to capitalize. Hope that changes tonight

Why does Murray think he should be granted 5 years when he promised that the rebuild would be faster than 5 years? For those praising Murray - the team isn't even BACK to the winning % and points earned before the Pegulas bought the Sabres 6 years ago and turned 'em into a fire sale - 96 pts. When Rocky Wirtz took over the Blackhawks at the start of the 2007-8 season, they were a 71 pt team that was 20 games below .500 - they jumped to 88 points and 2 games below .500 the first year of Wirtz's ownership, and that was without Quenneville or Stan Bowman. Then the NEXT season, STILL without Quenneville as HC or Bowman as GM, the team soared to 104 pts, 10 games above .500, and the conference finals, So after 6 years with KimNTerry, we have a 96 point team when they bought it brought down to 80 points - after 6 years. 2 years with Rocky Wirtz - a 71 point team soars to 104 points. It can be DONE - it has been done. Just not with this owner. And apparently not with this GM. I don't know if the villain of the piece are the meddling owners, or Murray - but someone isn't getting results. 6 years of ownership and still an 80 point season! Those who are "Praising" the improvement from the tank seasons? LOL - that was a team intentionally set up to LOSE, where every bit of talent was sent out the door. Comparing the points of a historically bad tank team to a non-tank team and deeming that 'improvement'- that's like comparing apples to oranges. Ridiculous! How can anyone be satisfied with where this team is after 6 years of 'hockey heaven'? After so many years of fail??? Apparently Murray is completely complacent - he's got a fat contract - what does he care? He's probably just another bootlicking corporate yes man to the Pegulas, who is more likeable because of his gruff persona than his "I KNOW NOTHINK!!!" counterpart at the Bills, Whaley. EDIT - I said Wirtz took two years - I was wrong - he took over a horrible team from his father in Oct 2007. The Blackhawks hit 104 pts by April of 2009. That's only 1 1/2 calendar years of his ownership. That's a great turnaround, and what we could have seen with competent, savvy ownership instead of the Pegulas' committee driven dysfunctional structure.

I would bet so too - he's spent a lot of money - just not effectively or efficiently.

Then there are GMs like Stan Bowman - who start in July, and in the fall sign top shelf coaching like Joe Quenneville, and win the first Stanley Cup literally 10 months after beginning as GM. Or there's an owner like Rocky Wirtz who took over a basically rock bottom team in October 2007. In 1 1/2 years, under his ownership, the team made the conference finals. In 2 1/2 years, they won their first Stanley Cup. It can be done. Just not in Buffalo, and not with meddling ineffective committee based ownership like Kim and Terry Pegula - who are now 6+ years and counting as Sabres owners, and GM Tim Murray will be finishing his 3rd season as GM and the team likely won't even SNIFF at a wildcard berth.

So the Sabres have captured only 1 point in the past 4 games! And managed to piss away a 2 goal lead in the 3rd. What happened? More "prevent" defense by Bylsma? I didn't watch it yet, so I'm actually asking, not commenting. EDIT - I answered my own question - only 6 shots in the 3rd by Buffalo - Bylsma clearly had them sitting back on their heels, like usual, and playing not to lose, instead of playing to win!

Hard to argue against Bowman being at the top of any list. What he's accomplished in his tenure with the Blackhawks is amazing. He's even NAMED after the damn Stanley Cup - there's some weird synchronicity stuff right there. He starts in July 2009; and just a few months later makes a fellow named Joe Quenneville the 'Hawks coach. That's not a bad move, right there. What's sad - Stan lived in Buffalo and went to Canisius. If only we'd ended up with HIM in the front office. Sigh!

At least Franson has some offensive contribution - he has more goals and points this season than Bogosian, Gorges, and Kulikov combined. Those last 3 are the ones who should be sent packing - probably impossible to get rid of though with their high salary and horrendous performances. Can they buy one of em out? It wouldn't be anything new - Terry Pegula spending more good money after bad. That seems to be a Pegula Hallmark - spend millions for nothing. Lameo himself was signed during the Pegula era - and they're STILL paying that slug, I believe. His 6 year deal ends July 2017. Not sure if they paid him lump sum, or 2/3rds of his contract each year.

The Sabres lost to the Coyotes, one of the WORST teams in the league, the 2nd game after their bye week. I think the Sabres, under Bylsma, just plain suck and underperform and underdrive.