jad1

3 penalties in the offensive zone tonight?

Senators 31st power play in the league. 3 for 4 tonight on the power play. Someone on this coaching staff needs to be fired.

Another Sabres coach taking that 'kick at the can' of putting Girgensons on the top line. It's freakin' exhausting.

Eric Staal could also be a short-term solution to bridge the gap until Cozens is ready. If Minnesota sinks any more in the standings, they might take a Skinner-lite type of deal (mid-level prospect and 3rd round pick-ish). He's older, but still producing, and could fill the 2c role for another season or so while giving veteren leadership to the locker room. He's cheap and would add production this season (38 points, 17 goals this season), and would allow Cozens to transition to the NHL on the 3rd line or on the wing. The playoffs are a longshot this season, but you get the feeling that the team needs a functional 2c in the lineup to get an idea about lineup decisions moving foward (for example, does Skinner need to be on a line with Eichel or can he thrive with a moderately talented center on the 2nd line).

Every freakin game it goes back to O'Reilly. It's an open wound that never heals.

He is fun to watch on the power play.

So mountain men and choir boys?

Give 'em the Moulson treatment.

Nobody wants Bogosian. It's time for Boterill to quit fooling himself and plant Bogo in the pressbox the rest of the season.

If I'm Pegula, I'm telling Botterill that his next move is for a legitimate NHL 2nd line center. No more defensemen, no more bottom six forwards, we're full up on those. He can claim that Cozens is untouchable, and that's cool, but at this point he is not the answer. Other than that, make the deal using prospects, draft picks, bags-of-pucks, whatever gets the job done. And I'd get a life-sized poster of O'Reilly and hang it in his office until he makes the deal.

Ralph is giving Eichel Risto minutes. We should enjoy watching Eichel while we can.

It's mind-boggling when you consider how much they've invested in defensemen.

Been that way for 10 years. Can't find a coach to instill any defensive zone responsibility.

Clown show.

Yeah, Krueger should have paired them up for at least a few games this season. Goes back to roster and cap management. Pairing a 9 million dollar guy with a converted winger at center doesn't do much to maximize that investment.

Agree. Who does more with less?

Without Eichel, you would have to be borderline blackout drunk to watch this team. Botterill picked him up for his penalty-killing skill....So check that box.

For the love of god, get Jack some help...this is a recording.

If you looked close enough, you could see it. This team is built to fail. - A team that invested heavily in defensive resources, but plays mediocre team defense - A lack of investment in secondary scoring - Bottom-half-of-the-league goaltending - A head coach who has been out of the league for 6 seasons, who hasn't been able to get the team to play 'out of character' - No experienced veterens on the team to help young players deal with challenges that occur during the season It' a team with poor talent, poorly constructed, and poorly coached.

They've had 3 months to figure something out, and haven't done so. You'ld thing the coaching staff could come up with something.

When the Sabres have an NHL-quality coach, we can stop using the excuse.

Krueger's comments also apply to the coaching staff.

Two different sports, requiring different skill sets. An NFL GM builds his team mainly through the draft and free agency. A GM with good scouting skills makes a good GM. Because the NHL draft is riskier than the NFL draft (drafting 18 year olds vs 20 year olds), and the NHL free agency pool is much shallower than the NFL pool, NHL GMs need to use the trade market much more than NFL GMs do. And experience is an asset when evaluating the trade market. When reviewing Botterill's record, he's done okay in the draft; he's okay when it comes to free agency; but he's been terrible when it comes to the trade market. He got too little in return from the Kane and O'Reilly trades. He made targets of mediocre players like Sobotka, Sheary, and Sobotka. He's been unable use the trade market to resolve the glut at defensemen, which calls into question his ability to manage the salary cap. (If Krueger scratches Bogosian and Miller, that's close to $8 million sitting in the press box. That money could pay for a 2nd center.) So having a GM that has better experience in the trade market would help the Sabres, where it really isn't needed by the Bills.

The Sabres need to be concerned about their own roster. If a team has players available that the Sabres believe can improve their roster, and the deal is fair, they should make the deal, regardless if the team is in their division or not.

Well the locker room has obviously improved since O'Reilly's and Kane's departures ?. The Sabres have really vaulted to the top of the league with their improved locker room morale. This is why people want the Sabres to hire a hockey czar, because when the owner comes up with an idiotic idea, the czar talks him back to sanity. Since the Sabres don't have a czar, Botterill should have explained the math of removing O'Reilly after trading Kane (losing 60 goals from the worst offense in the league), and fought Pegula's desire to trade O'Reilly, if that's how it actually went down. Hiring a coach with a strong locker room presence should have been a high priority for Botterill, considering the rumored issues in the locker room. A coach with experience working with NHL egos would have done a better job than Housley.