Thorny

The response you were looking for is “what could Kevyn Adams have even done?”

Legitimately had to check the standings again after reading through this thread with my coffee we are in TWENTY-SEVENTH (27th!) place. There’s always a little bit of tongue in cheek when I say expectations have reached bottom of the barrel low, but from now on there shall be no tongue at all. things are never going to change.

Dunno why you Xd this @Taro T, this is the reality Why the heck would Adams be on the hot seat now? The Sabres won a game. Jury still out

The games he’s missed have already started to paint the picture of what he “is”, though, that’s the point. It all counts. Best ability is availability “the results” is always the answer to “what do we have” - the context of my post was Norris-in-so-far-as-he-contributes-to-the-result-this-year, and not a definitive analysis and judgment on his once and future career The context is the team build. “What we have” is currently a roster pacing for 78 points

the job of the GM is to build a team that is good not one that is incrementally better than the sh*tty one he just built. It’s not good enough to just be “better than the guy who was an awful 2C”, the goal is still “good 2C” There’s no logical reason Adams’ failure to field a proper 2C grants him lowered expectations going forward for the position. ”anything we get from Norris is gravy” would be applicable if he wasn’t the planned 1C / 2C: gravy in terms of “winning the trade” but building a good team far supersedes that as an aim I mean great, we don’t need anything from Norris to justify the trade. But we need something from him to justify the damn roster

For some fans one win resets the clock. It’s where expectations have cratered to. The regime is always one solitary win away from “well maybe the plan is working after all”. Sort of masterful on the team’s part in a way.

Their standings placement is consistent, respectfully I think the issue is with your chosen metrics if you land on “can’t figure” Bad teams win games when you play 82. Sabres have averaged 78 points per season under Adams. This season so far? 78. Go figure.

These are the types of games that result in “the sabres don’t need scoring” being parroted all offseason.

He hasn’t tried. The MO of every hire has been “patience”

Nah didn’t we all universally agree Eichel was in the right? I seem to remember him being resoundingly cheered in his return He doesn’t care about doing what is necessary to field a team that wins in the now. The problem for 14 years has been a lack of expectation and accountability

Hit me like a brick tonight watching highlights (you honestly do sort of become desensitized to it): we had Eichel AND Reinhart along with Dahlin. There was no gun to anyone’s head just because the Taylor Hall, Covid! short season failed. We really could and should have made something of that excellent core and, instead, opted to punt expectations. They should have had a spine. Main requirement of next GM oh damn 40k

I dunno. Probably not unique but there’s a glaring disenfranchisement from the fans even if what one normally hears is lip service. We don’t even get that - “oh this drought has been a black mark on the history of this once admired franchise and the fans deserve to see the playoffs and we are going to give it to them.” think Lovie Smith’s introductory press conference in chicago, “our goal is to beat the packers”. Leaning into the historic past of the team this group doesn’t just avoid claiming they drought, Adams and the players have quite literally scoffed at it make no mistake, they don’t like the fans and think we are silly for being so hard on them

In the year Forton-five forton-five…if Sabes are, still alive.. 🎵

I think the turning point for me was the stick salute fiasco the ultimate “we don’t claim the drought” moment (a topic they’ve reiterated multiple times). They’ve always made the fans hyper aware of the difference between the 2 parties. The drought is for the fans to worry about, for the fans to suffer through, waiting for the eventual end. That’s not THIS group, the fans are just angry and are taking it out on this poor regime that’s only missed a mere 5 years straight They don’t claim the history of the crest - I think that’s quite telling. Buffalo Sabres aren’t in their blood. They are paid mercenaries

Prob cause they’ve missed the playoffs for 95% of the lifetimes of those posting The board isn’t negative or positive, it’s reflective assimilate to the board we are the borg

UnFortonately he’s a lifer

I’d imagine there’s communication to Adams that he cannot save his job by making the playoffs in year 6, therefore to approach the roster as if the long term aim is what matters If he’s as much of a puppet as everyone says, he should have no problem attempting to operate under those parameters. Success rate another issue

Next year is an evaluation year

The playoffs are the theatre of Will. Everyone is talented, the difference is the men from the boys the regular season is a showcase of who’s talent shows up more on a random Wednesday in the dog days of the marathon, cold, regular season The regular season is about your lowest common denominator output, that you can’t help but serve up because you are inherently skilled and apt

It’s essentially the same logic point as injuries re: excuse making the idea isn’t to construct a team that doesn’t get injured it’s to build one that has the depth to win anyways if you need your roster going balls-to-the-wall to scrape Ws in November, you’ve already lost

A common denominator with all 3 of his GM hires is a low expectation to win in the now

It’s largely a commentary on the roster i think people forget sometimes that this isn’t the nfl. In an 82 game season the bad teams win a lot of games, it’s that simple And the good teams lose a bunch. It’s why I am always poking fun at the extreme nature of the GDTs Like the players recently said, it’s an 80% league. Of course no one gives full effort every shift, every night. That’s pie in the sky, it’s not human the functional difference is the teams with the talent and roster construction to win when they play at 80. That’s not us

Some of this is probably the symptom of a GM who has overstayed his welcome in the sense that his original plan and core (cozens, Peterka, Quinn) is gone or sort of fallen by the wayside at this point, whatever his vision was whether we like it or not is essentially long gone in favour of whatever the current mish-mash of players is. I don’t think we have a coherent team build right now, it’s a salient thing you touched on there Why would they feel they are accountable when the owner has proven management is not