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Not even a question sir! Absolutely an unwatchable product right now. I do think Phil needs to go, as players have had more then enough time now to try and play whatever his system was supposed to be. I do believe they can score as they did have the #1 PP last season and this is the same group. Under Phil's group, even that has disappeared. No way They will get better under Philly's soft tutelage. No one is being sat. Half hearted effort is tolerated. These few intangibles are all on the coach as the team is a reflection of its teacher. Lets see who else is out there and if they're actually interested in the gig.

In all honesty, I had high hopes for Phil also and I am so disappointed it hasn't worked out for him here. But I do believe the team is a reflection of its coach.

The problem is Phil. You'll see. The team is a reflection of it's coach. Phil was a soft player (talented, but soft) This team is a soft as Wonder bread. (and it's tolerated) Yup, management chose the wrong coach for the 3rd time (Rolston, Bylsma now Phil) Nolan doesn't count as he was the babysitter for tank team.

My analysis ( for what it's worth) It is the coach. Phil has to go. These guys can score but they cannot (or will not) play Phil's ###### system. These guys can score as we saw last season with the #1 power play. This season, they're a mess and they're the same group. This club (unfortunately) has chosen the wrong coach 3 times in a row (Rolston, Bylsma and now Housley) I don't count Nolan 2.0 as he was just babysitting. I think management should be seriously checking out who is available out there and see if they'll even come to this club. Then, if they have another candidate, cut Phil loose. This club is a reflection of it's coach: SOFT! (and lets be honest, for a D-man, Phil was soft but he could skate and put up points) Other posters are correct in that Torts and Gallant would not tolerate this crap for one minute and butts would be sat. No way this club gets better with Philly as coach. Just my 2 cents worth. They have had enough time to try and play Phil's system. These are professional hockey players and I have never seen this club worse then it is right now. The tank teams were much better. This isn't even watchable.

I'm for "traditional" also. Rpyal blue and gold. Eichel's red hair would be Schoenfeldian 2.0!!!! Count me in under traditional!

Bingo Neo! Because we actually do have some talent here that should be better then the abysmal record we have. And I'm sorry if anyone gets offended at this, but there are several nights so far this season, that this club just went out for a skate. That's on the coach. I got lambasted on this site for suggesting Babcock was way better then Bylsma when Babs went to Toronto. Everyone cited that Babs only won one Cup in Detroit with a stacked lineup as had Bylsma so there really was no difference. I got lambasted suggesting Gallant would have been a better choice as well and hell, I even wanted Tortorella which really got this crowd frenzied. Not to say, I told you so, but they are all doing very well and I do believe still, any one of those afrorementioned would have us playing way better then what we are seeing. There is talent here, perhaps not an over abundance of it but we should not be where we are and look how we look. I believe Edmonton will deal us an embarrassing loss tonight but I am glad Neo, that you see the same thing. coaching makes a huge difference. The Nolan Sabres (when he won coach of the year) were not a greatly talented group, but they were a team and played like a team. They played for each other and their coach and we had an emerging Hasek to boot. But the Nolan team was exciting in that they played hard every freaking night. The Leafs are similar in that regard under Babs. I now fear that Phil may be Ron Rolston 2.0! (and I did have high hopes for him)

Quite frankly, I would love to see Phil snap and come out angry. Why is benching guys in this city not an option? They aren't performing so call up a rookie and bench someone. I do believe it might be a country club atmosphere in the beautifully renovated Sabres dressing room. Babcock does it or threatens to. Aside from sitting one of our D-men, maybe Phil sits a forward for once. Hell, we're barely scoring more then once per game.

I hate to agree with you, but I suspect you are correct. With Marcus and Ennis each with a goal for the icing on the cake!

Well posted Thorny. Seeing it too many times on these posts that we are still 3 or so many years away from being good. Time is wasting and Jack gets another 3 years older. Don't think that Jack and his agent are going to stand for 3 more years of this either. If things don't start to look much better, they will start making noise about getting traded out of here. Some team may be more then willing to eat his contract if they figure they are close to a Cup and can acquire his skills to bring it home too. jack is not cemented here. Is the tank mentality what caused Pat LaFontaine to quit? I always believed it was and that he wasn't on board with that strategy. I know GMTM was his boy but I think Patty wanted to go the rebuild mode, not with a tank. Can anyone clarify this? I remember it was kind of shocking when he just up and left the organization.

Cheers SwampD- you have stated it exactly! So tired of hearing about 'the future". It has been beaten to death by this organization. Great post!

Again, sorry to mention it, but it has been negative on the Buffalo Sabres hockey scene for going on 7 seasons now. I appreciate the "optiimism" that you guys try to bring forth, but I can't find the merit in it. 7 seasons most likely headed to an 8th, perhaps 9th as JBot will need to draft players in his vision and then mold them in Rochester. This will take more time. No quick fixes here and the big "if" in all of this is whether or not Phil is the right coach going forward. My point is: What I feel is right for this club is for JBot to go and draft the players he feels will fit his mold. Free agency, trades etc, have not helped us and will not down the road, given this clubs performance. So now we need to rebuild (again) under JBot and while this will take some time again, I feel it is the only way we will see decent improvement in the on ice product. I think this is the route he is set to go and this is what is right. Not a bad time to be a Leafs fan by the way. I should know, I am surrounded by them and they keep reminding me of this.

So essentially, we are all in consensus on this: The Buffalo Sabres are a bad hockey club who will not make the playoffs for a 7th consecutive season.

Pokey, where have you been all my life? Totally agree with your assessment once again. Julien will be canned by the end of this season. Montreal doesn't look good at all, even when Price was in goal to start this season. Rookie Lindgren is stealing some games and they were ripe for the picking against the Sabres. Not sure why the Habs are stinking with the guys they have and I do like Julien, (hell, I wanted him here!!) but his methods seem to wear thin with the players after only a few seasons for some reason.

Guys, I hate to rain on everyone's optimism. They WILL NOT MAKE THE PLAYOFFS THIS SEASON! I will go with TSN's stats on that subject. If you are out of a spot by US Thanksgiving, the odds of you making it are very heavily stacked against you. They did the math, not me and I believe them. I wish things were truly different for this club but the reality shows when they hit the ice. They do not score near enough to win games (and as Pokey has posted earlier, this has been an ongoing issue for several seasons now) Even when entirely healthy, aside from Falk, Risto and McCabe, I hate the rest of our defense. Soft as hell. Our hope is that JBot is able to draft and scout wisely (better then previous regimes) and build from the farm up. This will take a few seasons so I believe we may actually go a decade now with no playoffs. You heard it here and feel free to argue my points. Believe me, I would love to be wrong on all counts.

Great quote on the bottom of your post North Buffalo. Schoenfeld was one of the reasons I became a Sabres fan. Tough as nails and sacrificed his body a ton to block shots. I really miss him. Wish we had someone on D who plays like he did. I once had the pleasure of sitting next to his Dad at the old Maple Leaf Gardens when Schoenfeld was a head coach. Great guy and so proud of his son. He was beaming as I gushed over how much I enjoyed watching his son play. It was a cool moment for me. I really hope JBot rebuilds via the draft and good scouting. We are starved for some good times again.

Exactly, and my age! Have been a fan since then!!!! Just one Cup before I leave this earth, it is all I ask! Which is why my impatience with this franchise grows with each season that passes by on the calendar. Especially when you're old enough to remember the old Aud and even HSBC electrified with energy during a playoff run. There really isn't anything like it!!!

You're right that it comes down to coaching Pokey. The Leafs have Babcock, we don't. There's one of the differences. The Leafs have also just reeled off 4 wins in a row. I think their talent pool is better then ours as is their front office (now, with Shanny and Lamoriello) I will give Jbot a few more seasons as I do believe he inherited a mess. Housley gets a shorter leash from me because I do not see any effort from the group he coaches. If they played with a stronger and consistant effort, and still lost, then it's on the crew assembled. Right now, the coach is part of the problem.

Now if anything deserved a T-shirt, this does! (and I would definitely buy it!!!) Great Post Jacque!

Kudos sir! Once again, right on the mark. I believe the bar has fallen incredibly low on these blogs. Watch St. Louis and even the Flyers this year. We may have been "in" last nights game, but we will get smoked several more times this season unless we get incredible goal tending to hold us in. we are not nearly fast nor physical enough to play with any of the big boys. Washington was tired when they played the Sabres (2nd night of their back to back) and they actually have been underachieving so far this season. Don't take that game as "we're turning the corner". We most definitely are not. Again, Chad Johnson deserved better. If we wait until US Thanksgiving to reassess, the season can be officially declared over. TSN stats indicate, that if you're out of the playoffs by US Thanksgiving, the odds are heavily against you from that point on, to get in.

and once again, little to no offense AGAIN!!!!!!

Chad Johnson deserved so much better in this one.

Nailed it again Pokey- we lost production once Briere & Drury left. We haven't been the same since attack-wise.

They play for Babcock. See Kadri. Wilson didn't like Naz and I think Naz wasn't crazy about Wilson or maybe Carlyle. He plays for Babcock and plays well. We unfortunately have the crappy Nylander (mark my words on this one) Even freakin Zack Hyman made a beauty play on Conner Brown's goal in St. Lou. Who are those guys? We aren't even seeing an effort anymore.Leaf players are playing with effort at least. Their lineup isn't that great save for a few but the effort and speed with which they play the game keeps them in games and makes them dangerous if you're not on your game. St. Louis owned them last night but the moment they took their foot off the pedal, the Leafs started to claw their way back into it. They don't quit.

Totally agree with your post. Eventually it will have to come from Rochester. I also believe this because there is no way any decent free agent will want to sign with this current mess of an organization. Honest, why would you sign here over another club? To play with Jack? Jack hasn't shown me near enough for his pick status or salary.........yet. Leadership is currently not his forte.We will have to draft wisely and build the farm club correctly. Right now, neither has flourished.

You see it in Toronto. Babcock doesn't tolerate "lack of effort". That translates into: You're sitting the next 1 or 2 games or you're going to The Marlies to "find your game". You saw it in them last night being down 6-2 to St. Louis. They made it close at 6-4 but kept playing hard because they knew what was coming off the ice. Hell, he moved Bozak to the 4th line to "find his game". We need a coach that makes things uncomfortable for this group. They look completely disinterested on the ice right now.