mjd1001

Seems a bit pricey. Maybe not for a lot of consumers, but if you go by the fact that a large portion of 'cord cutters' are younger people or people who can't afford a full cable package, then $10 a game or $30 a month doesn't help much. The NHL is so afraid of giving their fans/consumers 'too good of a deal' today where they might lose that $1 right now, they are losing out on $10 in the future. The NFL gets it, and the NFL already has the fan base so they really don't need to make their games as available as the NHL. The NHL, with a much smaller fanbase, should be falling all over themselves to make as many of their games free or at a very, VERY low cost for fans. Let them watch your game, let them love your game, let them want to buy tickets, buy jerseys, T-shirts etc. I posted in another thread about this. I have 2 nieces, a nephew, and our daughter and her boyfriend all in their 20's and no longer 'living at home'. They all are/were big Sabres fans, but none of them watch the games anymore as they won't buy a full cable package. $10 a game, $30 a month or $300+ dollars per year will do ZERO to get them to sign up so they can watch games again. Does the NHL want to grown their fanbase today? Or would they rather not grow the fanbase but squeeze every dollar they can out of their current fanbase? they are doing the latter.

I think the truth is some version of what you said. Things are more structured on the road, with more oversite. Many of us did see that sabres video where the guys do hang out on the couch and play video games alot. Nothing against video games, but again, on the road there is a lot more structure that a young team may benefit from.

I agree they need D-men. I agree there is virtually no upcoming quality depth in the system. I agree this team would be better now if they trade for a good D-man. However, I'm still not all that upset if nothing gets done. Why? We can look at free agents lists, cap numbers...all that stuff.....but no matter what that says, I tend to think there are usually MORE quality players available from the Draft until the start of the season (offseason) than there are at the trade deadline when the contenders are bidding things up. Even this past offseason I wasn't upset at the lack of moves. I'm not uspset at the lack of moves now. I WILL be upset if there isn't more quality depth and quality roster players on the back end come the start of next season.

I don't mind that he didn't take a swing at this. For me its about the role on the team and the cost. First, what are you going to be paying him for the next 5-7 years. Next how much ice time will he be getting. I KNOW you can pair him with Power or Dahlin and they would be better than pairing either of those guys with a lesser player. But you CAN pair those guys with a lesser player (not an AWFUL player, but a lesser player). Pair Chychrun with Dahlin or Power (once power has a couple years more experinece) and you are going to be getting a better pair than having them with someone else, but likely not SO much better that the money will be worth it. To me the Key to this D-unit is to have Power and Dahline eventually be on the ice for 75-80% of the time between them, and find somone to pair with each of them that you can pay in the $3-$4 million dollar range....freeing up the rest of that money for use elsewhere. People who are all up in arms about not 'topping' the ottawa deal aren't putting much thought into who will be paired with who, will it be worth the ice time and the money you spend....oh, and by the way, exactly what will not equal, but TOP the ottawa offer to ensure you get him and then deal with the other things I mentioned above? Then, there is also the chance, not definite but the chance, where he didn't want to go to a team where he would be the #3 guy in the D-corp. I'm not saying he would refuse the Sabres, but he might prefer a team where he was going to be the #1 guy. The guy who gets top PP minutes, the guy who gets top ice time. The guy who is on the ice for all the critical situations. In Ottawa he has Chabot above him only, and in a year or so he just might take the #1 spot from him. Thats not going to happen in Buffalo. If Ottawa had 2 similar offers from buffalo and Ottaway, they may have gone to him and asked him where he wanted to go, and as much as he has a supposed relationship with the Pegulas, he might want to go the place where he will be "The Guy" and get "The Guy" money.

Medium to long term (beyond the current season), I'm OK with the goaltender situation. Anderson should be gone next year. Comrie I don't want to give up on yet (he had a moderate injury and hasn't been given a big time chance yet) and UPL is playing as well as most young goalies do (Is he that much different than what Ulmark was at his age? I don't think so). UPL will have ups and downs but you hope as he gets older/more experience those 'ups' will occur more than the 'downs'. Again with Comrie, I'm not 100% sure he is back 100% from his injury. The D-unit will get better, primarily as Power gets better. Is he playing good for a 19 year old? Yep, he is playing GREAT for a 19 year old, but we have to remember he still IS a 19 year old D-man. His fancy stat numbers are good, but he does make a lot of mistakes out there that cause goals allowed. Is he bad that way or worse than half of the NHL-Dmen out there? No, but he has room to get a lot better and I think he will over the next couple of years. Orginizational Dept on the D-unit is a big issue. They really could stand to find 1-2 guys in their mid-20s that are talented/capable enough to be at least 2nd pair D-men, I dont' think they even have 3rd pair potential young guys in Roch or juniors, let alone 2nd pair. D-man Depth to me is the #1 priority. Physical forward is something that was brought up by many? Eh...maybe. I mean if the forward is good overall I'm not against it, but I don't think you need a physical forward If the guys you do have are skilled enough. I guess give me a winger than can hit on the board and I'm good, but I'd be just as good with a guy who doesn't hit but has such good hands he can go into the corer and get the puck out by gaining control of it and moving it. I don't need my forwards to hit IF they win puck battles other ways. And as far as getting a big physical guy to stand in front of the net, like a Dave Andreychuk, Rick Vaive or Tim Kerr, who were just so big and they planted themself in front of the goalie and let the D-man cross check them over and over waiting for loose pucks? I don't think you need that either. Jeff Skinner doesn't do that, and couldn't do that, but he scores so many 'garbage goals' around the net from the same place those guys did. The difference is Skinner hangs around the net, skates around the net, takes runs at the net while he is moving instead of just planting himself there. Different body type, different 'style' but a guy like him can get the job done. So sure, get that huge physical guy if you can, but I don't NEED it if I can get the garbage goals a different way (like how Skinner does it). If they do NOTHING other than finding another good/very good D-man to play on this team right away AND restock the organizational depth with good quality NHL prospect D-mean I'll be happy.

I did notice that when RJ was radio only years and years ago, he was better than he was when he took over TV. There was a time he did radio and Darling did TV, and RJ gave the score much more often then, once he took over TV and they just broadcast that on the radio, he got worse that way.

Looked at some of the goals last night: 1st goal allowed: PP goal, nothing major stands out as a huge mistake, just want anderson to make that save. 2nd goal allowed: Nice shot, but want Anderson to make that save. But a couple of other minor 'mistakes' that led to it. Power was caught up ice (probably the Sabres style of play not a mistake by him) but he was late getting back to take the winger to the boards. Jokiharju lost a puck battle behind the net. The ALL the forwards collapsed down low too far leaving the slot open. I'm putting that one 1/4 on Anderson, 1/4 on Jokiharju not getting the puck out, and 1/2 on the forwards not covering their slot and ALL being WAY out of position down low. 3rd goal allowed: Exact same crew on the ices as the above goal (Joki, power, thompson, skinner, quinn). Last one was on the forward group being down low too much but not this one. Forwards are in position, this time its on the D. Jokiharju whiffs on a puck on the boards, Power covers behind the net too aggressively instead of staying out front. Anderson didn't have a chance on that one. Joki with a bad game so far, minor issues leading to 2 goals. 4th goal allowed: The play started with the most of same guys on the ice as the 2 above goals, Thompson and the forwards attempted a line change. This one is on the D-unit, Joki not here, but this time Samuelson and Power..mostly Power. Samuelsson has a chance to knock the puck away at the last minute but it woudl have been hard. Power just got walked around/through here. Anderson got beat high yet again and I might want that save to be made, but Power looked bad here. Last goal was an empty netter. There were a few mistakes made all around on the goals allowed, The Skinner/Thompson line didn't make huge ones but they just aren't a lock-down-their-own-end line. The goals allowed though, well, this game could have had a different result without mistakes or with better play by Jokiharju, Power, and Anderson this time.

Of course I'm not happy with last nights game, but this is what this team is. They go on a winning streak and many fans think the playoffs are inevetible, BRING ON THE BRUINS! Then they lose a game like last night or go on a couple game losing streak, and there is NO WAY THEY ARE MAKING IT. Whether this team makes the playoffs or not may very well be determined on just which streak they are on the last week of the season. If Dahlin misses a few more games and Tuch is out most of the year, that MAY sink their chances early. But other than that, it is likely going to be the mindset/streak they happen to be on the last 2 weeks. This is what they are. This is what they have been all year.

I know the broadcast on the radio is secondary to the TV broadcast....but one thing I think they could do when calling the game that would NOT take away from the TV broadcast is every couple of minutes just say the score. On the radio, it is almost critical to listeners....when there is that 5 second gap where not much is going on just say "3-2 Sabres with 8 and a half minutes left in the second" It would take zero away from the TV broadcast and would make the radio call that much better. A lot of people listening on the radio are running errands or getting in and out of the car. Frustrating to get in the car, turn on the radio, listen to the game for sometimes 5 minute or more and STILL have no idea what the score is. It is such a simple, EASY thing to fix. Just say the score every few minutes, work in that 4-6 word phrase.

If that happens, great, you get some bargains. If it doesn't happen, no big deal. You have a team full of young guys that have worked well together so far.

Maybe its overblown for some people, but not for me. I can often list to shows just as background noise and not have an issue with them. When I lived in Boston, every show on WEEI all day long gave me not problem. On WGR, I can deal with the morning show, the 10-2 show, the old instigators, old hockey hotline...at any point I can tune into 590 out of Toronto (even their baseball centric show), and have a problem with none of them. Years ago I could tolerate Shopp and the Bulldog, but I can't do it anymore. I think Schopp has the voice and the technical ability to run a show and I have nothing against them personally, but of every radio show I have ever listened to, they just are the worst for me.

I think it is "their thing" (as if they are so special that they need their own 'thing'), that they get on the air and talk about taking their kids to school, their non-sports experience at the Casino, what their neighbors did...maybe MAYBE schopp talks about his fantasy team. They about 10-12 minutes in they do the "oh well, I guess we should get to the Bills/Sabres topic at hand". That alone is a big enough problem for most listeners, but often times there is a pretty big sports story, a an upcoming big game, and they still don't get to it right away. Its like they (especially Schopp but both of them) think they have so much time in the station and they are needed so much that they can just do whatver they want. For a lot of listeners, it just gets us to tune out. Their ratings may be high, but I think that is much, MUCH more of a function of their time slot AND 'muscle memory' that causes listeners to tune into 550 for sports talk, and has little to do with their actualy show quality or their performance. If Sal's Bills schedule would allow it I would LOVE for him and Dibiase to get the 3pm-6pm show, and move some young guys into the 10-noon slot.

I have been saying that for a few years now. I referneced this with regard to the Bills, a typical Bills caller after a loss or a win that they barely got by "I'm Jim from West Seneca and I have been a Season ticket holder for 25 years, the problem with this team is they don't run and stop the run. They are never going to win until they do that. I remember the 1985 Chicago Bears and that is how you win championships." Or the Sabres call from Bob from Lewiston "this team needs to fight more, they need 30 hits per game at least. if a player doesn't hit I don't care who they are waive them, and bring back Ted Nolan as coach, he is what this team needs." As Night train said, take questions from text, twitter, even use email if you want, but let the hosts get by that way. I much, MUCH more enjoy the shows when its the hosts and guest interviews and not callers. Except for Shopp and the Bulldog who spend about 25% of their time talking about sports and the rest of their time talking about everything else.

I agree on all of that. I think they need a new strategy, this bend-but-don't-break doesnt' seem to fit the current NFL as well as it did in the past. HOWEVER, that is what McDermott wants, so I don't think that will change. I'm following Bills news, but on a personal note, it is amazing over the last 3-5 years how much I care about anything other than watching the games has declined with the Bills. Traditionall I have always been a fan of the Bills and the NFL as much as all other sports combined. I now spend 3 times as much time following/watching/enjoying the Sabres as I do the Bills. Not quite sure why.

Trading Bloom is what I don't get. I get he is a raw prospect, but he is one that is performing well in the juniors so I would think he has some value. Ok, maybe Bloom is so far behind in the depth chart they don't see a spot for him down the road. BUT, he was a 3rd round pick that seems to have been outplaying his draft spot, and in junior is a goal-every-other-game player. You don't have a spot for him fine, but don't just give him away for what appears to be a good AHL-level/Bad NHL-level D-man that, at first glance, only fills a sport on your roster where he is going to barely get by due to injuries. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but the Sabres aren't up against the cap, aren't there guys routinely on the waiver wire on a weekly basis that are ALMOST as good if not as good? With that said, if someone knows something else about Stillman other than he was a late 4th round pick, He is a 2 goal, 12 assist guy over 82 games, he was Vancouver's 6th option (in terms of ice time per games played) with penalty killing..is under 200 lbs, and got scratched a lot with Vancover and Chicago over the last 3 years. Again, someone tell me what he is good at over someone you can get off of waivers? Maybe this move is just the first one and another D-man is coming, one who will bring a little more to the team. But if that is the case, and Stillman is the 'break glass in case of emergency' guy...I still go back to why give up Bloom, when Bloom could probably be used for a greater asset sometime in the future?

Organizational depth for the Buffalo-Rochester level because one of the Sabres current goalies may be on the move without one coming back. Making a move now in anticipation of signing one (or both) of Levi/Portillo...so someone on the current roster goes out...houser comes in. Or, MAYBE one of the current goalies is nursing an injury we don't know about yet. I HIGHLY doubt either of those are it, but that is all I have on this one.

Well, there was that Road game in Edmonton against McDavid and the Boys where he made almost 50 saves (46 or 48) while allowing only 2 goals as the Sabres held on for a narrow win.

I like the Black and Red. I grew up watching the team well before they were introduced so the first almost 2 decades of me watching the Sabres were in the Blue and Gold....but I have always liked the red and black better. I know the Blue and Gold are here to stay, but what I would like is for EVERY year going forward, at least 5-10 games get played with the Red and Black. Make them a permanent part of the rotation.

I'm going to both agree with this move and criticize it at the same time. If I'm Toronto I do what they are doing. I go all in. This group isn't going to get any better form within, so you do what you need to do to make a run. So what is my criticism? They should have gone 'all in' last year or the year before at least. You are going to have the same problem this year as you did last year. You're probably going to have to beat the Lightning in a 7 game series, then Boston in a 7 game series, then someone like Carolina in a 7 game series. You are mortgaging the future for this core. And yes, you SHOULD mortgage the future for this core but it should have been done a year or two ago. To my knowledge in the next 3 years the Leafs now have a total of 1 first round pick and zero second round picks. A second round loss is likely a loss to Boston, meaning the Bruins move on. You have to pick one or other, but from a Buffalo fan's point of view, is Boston that much better than Toronto?

You are the one with double talk, try following the whole conversations. Again, I NEVER said Adams should take the players feelings into consideration. NEVER, you just must want to make your point at the expense of my post. Let me summarize this for you again, the post i was RESPONDING to basically stated that he needed to show the players he would make a move for them. If you are arguing that what the players say doesn't matter, then that is the same point I was making. I was saying him 'making a move to show the players' he is willing to doesn't matter, because it can be taken either way. I was making a COUNTER point to the original posting. Its cute how YOU are responding to MY post saying "enough double talk" when that is not what my post was even about, if you actually read the post I was responding to before replying to me. Wow, you guys got to get a grip about going after other people with an attitude just to say what you want to say.

I never said the players were in charge. The post I responded to said they had to show the players he was 'all in' If you are saying the players aren't in charge, that actually supports what I am saying in that there is ZERO need to show the players he is 'all in' to begin with. Can't argue both sides and maintain any credibility to that argument.

There are 2 sides to the 'he needs to show the PLAYERS he is all in". Over the years I have heard the opposite to that....some former players have said that is you got to where you were through 2/3rds of the season with the guys in the room, some of the player DON'T want an 'outsider' coming in, that not making a move can show that you have confidence in the guys who are there. I'm thinking if a team is decimated with injuries hand you have 2-3 AHL call ups on your backend, the current players will want the GM to make a move. However, if a move is made becasue you just think the current team is not 'good enough', some current players (even the ones that ARE good enough) may be less inclined to be for that.

At his next contract he will be 30 years old? One one hand this current team will/should be competing for a cup then. On the other hand, I don't want to sign anyone to a long term contract that STARTS when they are 30. I'd probably pass.

Someone pulled the numbers.....in games where Draisatle played without McDavid, 49 games, 16 goals, 33 assists for Draisatl. That annualizes out to 27 goals, 55 assists over an 82 game season. Good, but not great. Of course of lot of that was earlier in his career when he was younger, but he already was putting up points then with McDavid anyway. Recently (in the past few years, taking out when he was under 21 years old), Draisaitl has played 12 games since 2018 without McDavid. In those 12 games, he has 7 goals, 12 assist, and 19 points in those 12 games.

Are we talking players how are 'listed' at Center on NHL.com, or legit centers? Because Draisaitl does play some center for Edmonton, but he also is on the wing alot, probably more than center. Petterson is having a great season, and when you watch him play, he is playing a LOT better now than Eichel has played in years. He for sure should be ahead of Jack. I'd aslo move Jack Hughes up the list. Right now I think he has passed Crosby and Barkov, probably Point.