DarthEbriate

I'm folding laundry... I need to fold as quickly as this team does so that I can stop watching.

Maybe some boos would wake them up. Or a huge euphoric roar at a hit would wake them up. They certainly can't seem to motivate themselves. Perhaps GM Sheevyn will find new ways to motivate them.

This team folds so easily. Gave up a quick goal and have had no response. One great chance and Montour did nothing with it.

I imagine the intermission speeches were something like this: HCRK - Great first period! We had energy. Gotta keep it up. AV - What the heck is going on out there? Go score some goals!

That was quick.

Uecker can manage it because it's baseball and half the point is to fill time and joke and tell stories. But he was never known for his actual calling of the game. RJ was fantastic, but hockey is hard to tell exactly who and what even for young eyes. RJ has the job as long as he's willing, but I often watch NHL TV opposing broadcasts because the calls are better and the production values are superior (save for Biron. he's solid). Sabres posts = 2 Sabres goals = 0

Lazar - verify range to goal. One ping only, please.

Mitts played well on the 4th line and Cozens missed that shot from the slot... Or just that he's a rookie and needs a rest? I would've thought Okposo or Sheahen if Skinner is back. But perhaps not.

Fight and bite time, eh?

I agree RK doubtfully starts him. But maybe if Hutton gets rocked for... what... four goals in the first period? Then maybe we'd see JJ.

Eichel is always going to be the Face of the Tank on this franchise, the consolation prize. Now, if we win a Cup in the next 5 years it could vindicated. If we need any reminding as of the latest hockey-reference update: Eichel 370 GP / 351 points, -66. McDavid 374 GP / 509 points, +46 as well as lower percentage of Ozone starts and higher Corsi in his career. When Eichel is healthy and engaged he's in the Hart conversation -- we saw it last season. And if the Sabres had been near the playoff race in 2019-20, he would have garnered several more votes. We have not seen an engaged or healthy (we think?) Eichel this season and he still has tons of PP assists and is doing well in faceoffs and hitting the goalposts. As a captain, his body language is disheartening as has been noted before, and not in a "this-guy-might-have-anger-issues, but darn it if he doesn't rally the team when he goes on a tirade" way. He doesn't lead by example in terms of exuding more effort (like a Drury) or starting a fight to get the team going (like a Nick Foligno with CMB). He leads by scoring points. If we want to blow it up -- not tank -- but rebuild quickly on the fly, then Eichel is the key. Somehow, convince Skinner to waive his NMC. Then, it's working with Seattle. We leave Eichel unprotected. Seattle takes Eichel AND they trade for Skinner, and in exchange, Buffalo gets two non-protected Seattle firsts, several other draft choices acquired from other teams in the expansion, and a cluster of players mixed-and-matched as both building blocks and veterans to fill in the current roster and that $19M in cash we just freed up. And Seattle doesn't need to name Eichel as captain as they can go the "we're a team we don't have a captain this first year" thing. They get 2/3 of a proven top line and a Hart candidate right from the first puck drop. Then, buyout Okposo in June of 2022 (one more season on the roster or in the AHL, but if you buy him out this year the savings just aren't there for next season). You're marching forward with a new core around Cozens and Dahlin and whomever else is brought in. And get in a bona fide hockey coach ASAP as well.

Philly I'll take the goals. Sabres I'll take the posts.

Aside: Hey ESPN, I know you're the "worldwide leader in sports" and therefore very busy with "people with takes" shows and all, but do you think you could update your NHL Rosters pages? It's 2021. Dalton Smith is not a Sabre. Casey Nelson is not a Sabre. And, as cool as it is... David Ayres is a Zamboni ice resurfacer driver in Toronto and not on the Carolina Hurricanes roster.

Second day of a back-to-back... we should see Johansson this afternoon.

Exactly. The best coaches adapt to what they have available. The best players make the best coaches look better. But the best coach can take a bunch of players and get a team out of them.

Wayne and I have had a lot of good discussions. He’s working on the things that we need and he’s really positive about it. But in the meantime I think a game up above the ice will help him see what we’re trying to do and refocus.

And if you’re going to go defense/suppression as your primary mode then you need to become a counter-transition team. The isles are good at this. The Hasek-Sabres were the poster child for this. And that means you need to look like you have a clue what you’re doing when you get a 2-on-1. And you need to get the puck and explode up ice because that is your primary form of offense. Ullmark makes a save... full attack!

Sure. But McJesus would be miserable in this particular Sabres outfit, too.

Any coach, even a retread, that would get these players to look like a real hockey team that plays at NHL speed regardless of who is on the ice, and has some shred of battle consistently from game to game (not even shift to shift)... and maybe even gets average play out of the likes of Hall, Eichel, Eakin, and Montour and Joker would make this team amazingly better. And... respectable. Goaltending could still sink them. But at least they could look like an NHL team that plays for each other and has each other’s back.

Well... he was a super small goalie in a world where pad size and positioning is key. He was what he was, a capable backup who can get hot, if you have a true #1. He’d be better than Hutton!! But he wasn’t going to become a steady .916+ guy if you played him more than 15 games a season.

Yeah. This team is flat and lost. And has been since December of last season. Any self-respecting owner/GM fires their coach after this much garbage. The coach has lost the team. That is rule number one for making a coaching change.

Enroth got rolled into the tank. And then he got traded when he stole wins during the official McEichel season.

It’s very possible Skinner is rebelling as best he can. But he also isn’t saying anything until he waives his NMC. Reinhart. Or someone like Montour who’s been elsewhere. Okposo. One of those guys saying “get me out of here” would be doing something.

HCRK won’t do it. They’re all about the veterans and they’re going to keep Hutton as the #1 while Ullmark is out unless GM Sheevyn makes a move for a goalie. Maybe JJ gets a shutout and wins some extra starts, but I don’t see it happening unless he’s demonstrably better in games and practice. And if the team in front of him is going to have the breakdowns they did today he’s not going to have a chance to look good or build any confidence.

True, but Miller got to go back to Rochester to hone his craft over multiple seasons after that first taste of the bigs. Johansson has been languishing on the taxi squad and playing only in practices this season. He’s not played a game in nearly a year.