jad1

Along the same lines I was thinking about swapping Reinhart with Mittlestadt. Let Casey play on Jack's wing for a while, as a playmaker without center responsibilities and let Sam work with Skinner.

Right now, the Sabres are a one line team. Opponents known that, and they smother the Eichel line. The first line knows it, and they're trying too hard to make the perfect play. Short term, this is where the O'Reilly trade hurts. Until Mittelstadt can improve his game to the level of a 2nd line NHL center, the team is going to struggle. Mittelstadt is taking some steps to improve, but Skinner has been orphaned while Mittelstadt finds his game. And Okposo might be trying hard, but he was a give-away machine on the power play. He was a possession killer last night.

It'll get better when they have a functioning 2nd line. Mittelstadt needs to grow into the role as the 2nd center as the season progesses. He taking steps, but not having a true 2nd center at this time is holding the team back.

As the Sabres prospects mature, Murray will be vindicated for his ability to access talent. It's his trades and over-all demeanor that will vindicate his firing.

Makes you wonder about the coaching. Dumping Kane and O'Reilly who accounted for 100 points on the ice because the coaching staff can't handle the mood in the locker room is not encouraging.

I agree with Marty that ROR would be a great 3rd line center, and with what Toronto did today, that would have been worth his salary the next few years. Average O'Reilly's and Mittlestadt's salaries for the 2nd and 3rd centers, and even with ROR slotted at the 3rd center, the Sabres would still be getting a bargain.

So Botterill has Well he better explain his perspective to the fans then, because with what Toronto and Vegas have done in the league, his perspective makes no sense. Botterill talked a good game about waiting for the right deal with Kane and O'Reilly, but when it comes right down to it, he traded over 100 points for a bunch of nothing. He needs to convince the fans that this was the "right" deal he's been bragging about, because right now, it looks like this roster is going to set more records for futility.

This team needs to be relegated. At least Bots can get back to his beloved AHL then.

Risto is a complete mess. The guy barely looks better than a 7th dman.

McDermott's not the guy to turn this franchise around, and neither is Beane. It's Levy/Jauron part 2.

Bailey makes you wonder if there are other players in Rochester who play like they give half a damn. Maybe it's time that those guys get a shot to hurdle the low bar set by Moulson, Okposo, Pouliot and like 10 other guys on this sinking ship.

This whole roster is nothing but a cap hit.

It's a great deal, but I just realized how old I'M going to be 9 years from now. It isn't pretty.

So Jon's real name is Aegon. The name of Rhaegar's and Elia's son is also Aegon. Is Rhaegar Weteros' George Foreman, giving all his sons the same name?

The Levy era was almost 30 years ago. For the last 20 years the Bills have looked bad in preseason and played poorly when the season started. For the post-Levy Bills, preseason has proven to be an excellent indicator on how the season will go.

I think this is it. The article points out that Risto is poor at defending zone entries and making zone exits. It doesn't correlate this to the system the Sabres played last season, but it is in line with much of the analysis posted on the board last season about Bylsma's system.

Bettman is such a smarmy a-hole.

The Sabres are going to get a new jersey this year for the winter classic. Wonder what that will look like. Hopefully it will feature the original colors. And why doesn't the NHL just have teams switch home jerseys after the new year. So they start the year wearing light jerseys at home and then wear dark jerseys at home after Jan 1st. That way fans will be able to see both home team's jerseys live during the season, as well as the opponents jerseys.

There are too many indicators that there are fractures between the players and the coach. At this point and time, the front office has to do what's best for the players. Most would agree that Eichel is the future of the Sabres. Almost none would agree that Bylsma is the future of the team (aside from the BN staff). As for Murray, his most imprtant job right now is rapid talent acquisition, he's has success adding 5 top 6 forwards in 3 years. There's more work to be done, but he gets at least another year based upon his work so far.

We could just trade him, before he fails again.

The Leafs missed the playoffs 10 of the last 11 years. They've average 73 points the last three seasons. Their rebuild has been pretty painful.

He's been saying this all season. It's defensive zone coverage 101. It's something a good coach would have fixed five games into the season.

They're a team trying to play a system rather than play hockey. And it's a system they don't believe in. I'd much rather see these players with a new coach, rather than this coach with new players.

The team has given up on him. Blame his system. Blame his lackluster, life-less personality. Blame his stupid attempt to implement discipline 75 games into the season. Blame his lack of attention to detail that manifests itself in every lame defensive zone turnover. Blame his inability to coach defensive zone coverage. Blame the brain-dead way he continues to play Lehner in back-to-back games. Blame his total inability to develop Reinhart into a center. Or stop placing the blame and just fire this stooge and bring in a coach who understands how to coach a young, talented team without killing theirs and the fans' souls.

How do we convince them to take the coach?