Thorny

Honestly, I hope one day you are rewarded for your blind, unwavering, and unquestioned support. You deserve it. I know we are at odds a lot but we just see it differently: you post at me telling me to leave once a week, I get you want me gone, I’m sorry. I try not to respond to your posts generally because I anger you, but you keep quoting me. I’m trying to explain the organization is reliant on your mindset and using it. You’ve explained you are comfortable with that: all power to you then, thanks for the explanation in seriousness

Botterill “no, I won’t fire those men, I don’t believe in cutting costs” Adams “‘no, I don’t mind trying to win while intentionally handcuffing ourselves, just keep expectations low, thanks one of these is far, far more loyal to the crest and one is far more loyal to a paycheck. you aren’t supporting the Crest by sticking with them as Terry burns them down: you are actively harming them. I use the republic comp cause it’s true. It’s not illogical to say he’s selfish: it’s illogical to say “f*ck him for doing it” Because we, like him, know the organization is a bad place to be If your bias as a fan extends SO FAR so as to be able to hold it against him, in THIS case..yes, you truly are lost

I’m talking about the reaction to him wanting out he wasn’t traded due to not responding to coaching, my friend. He was traded because he asked to be It’s the great part of being a fan: it doesn’t need to be logical. In fact it arguably requires one to check their objectivity at the door, if one wants to fit in. This thread is evidence of that

I’m not saying martyrdom. I’m not the one speaking with delusions of grandeur. Loyalty! The Sabres are not a real franchise. If a draft pick immediately after getting selected said “no bueno” they’d be right to say it I cannot stress this enough. You are all so utterly desensitized: I get it, it’s understandable. I have to pinch myself to make sure i dont allow it to creep in. We will talk about the absurdity of ownership and a paragraph later say “and now, how about that 4th line.” No. Terry Pegula is a scourge, and he’s ruining the team. Terry isn’t the Sabres, he’s not the crest, and we’ve all been here way longer than he has, and we’ll be here when he’s gone. That they are a fraudulent organization under Terry isn’t just something we say: it’s true. We move on and talk about other stuff because we are hopelessly fans. Anyone turning down membership outright is absolutely right to do it

This doesn’t really have anything to do with where the conversation was at or what I was saying. But i do throughly disagree. You are just regurgitating a narrative that he was somehow so bad defensively he was essentially a net neutral player. No one thought this before we traded him - cause it’s not true. The offensive value he provided far outstripped - and that’s the hard to find skill in the league. You work around it, you don’t trade those players “But that doesn't mean that every player can play the way he wants to without respect to how it affects the team.” Is that supposed to be our canon now? That he was running around selfishly ignoring coaches and going into business for himself on the ice? lol take a nap

Anakin remains loyal to the sabres. If not, you’re the enemy

Adams has his own thoughts they are just hard to specifically divine because they are part and parcel with Terry Adams is a bad hockey executive, he’s not a helpless child Agree, but the Byram plan was clearly proactive - the plan was to string it out as long as possible to have the plausible deniability to avoid spending to cap again I really hope people can see that lol I miss when “woke” meant “woke” people need to be Woke, here. I cannot stress the conflict of interest management has with fans enough *WHEN* they don’t spend to the cap, and you accept that excuse, let it be known, now: you are a sucker

Utter horse hockey, so not in line with your other postings I’m sorry. Not sure what it is about players leaving, but the small man syndrome “we can criticize Phantom Menace cause we are fans, you can’t!” line of thought just brings out the most hypocritically biased takes there are I’m sorry, you don’t think JJ is smart enough to see *just* what we see? Not even anything more? (*of course he knows more*). We lambast the owner and organization and sign back online the next day because we have no real power JJ is a professional athlete with an exceptionally short window to maximize his career. OF COURSE HE SHOULD ASK OUT. Are you are a human being, or are you a Sabres Avatar? Knowing what we know, how could you possibly require him to stay, be angry at him for leaving, simply because you selfishly want him on “your” team??? We *know* the environment is bad and toxic. We should want athletes to be free of it. “Pay your dues” in misery, because we are. Lol what sort of boomer hell is this Separate from bias for a solitary second and look at the league as a whole. The sport as a whole. Imagine you didn’t have a team. All else being equal you want players to play in reasonable environments. This isn’t your average equation. We don’t get to pretend the Sabres aren’t an anomaly when we want to to fit an argument. They are HISTORICALLY bad - that doesn’t go away because you are in a good mood. It doesn’t go away cause it’s Monday. They are an anomaly - even expecting players to behave similarly to how they would approaching these things in other environments is deliberately obtuse. No, I have no requirement for JJ to play under a DEMONSTRABLY BAD owner and manager and organization that *does not prioritize winning* simply because I, myself, am here. That’s literally the definition of bias. It’s wrong. The stance is objectively wrong. You get that Adams has already been GM longer than the average player career, by FAR? These athletes don’t have the time to put up with nonsense (and they shouldn’t) just because us key board warriors do. Would the organization buy out a contract they don’t like? It’s a business

It’s not so much trading JJ I have an issue with on its face. It’s more so that the sabres didn’t make any real moves to improve their team Which is utterly flabbergasting They traded JJ because they had to and “did the best they could”. It wasn’t the plan. I struggle to see a plan, at all And when I say that, I mean “plan to improve” Short of making a trade because a player asked out, Adams has done…nothing. The Sabres haven’t changed management, coaching, or looked to improve their team this summer what are they doing?

Well said

Terry tasks me. He tasks me and I shall have him! I'll chase him 'round the moons of Nibia and 'round the Antares Maelstrom and 'round perdition's flames before I give him up!

Reinhart on D Don’t trade him or live to regret it

I’ve only been saying it…forever lol It’s Adams’s show And boy does that guy suck

ADMIRAL Pegula?!!!! Admiral…..

As much as I struggle with my utter hypocrisy in continuing to support the franchise as it’s run by a regime that’s willingly damaging the Crest, literally prioritizing the saving of $ over winning, a group that has a distinct and documented conflict of interest with the fans…I find myself able to draw the line at being unwilling to painstakingly dig, on my hands and knees, to find squint-and-you-can-see-it potential avenues for improvement from this roster, when those assembling it showed little to zero care in assembling the roster for those purposes They do not deserve it.

Good luck avoiding any EEE entanglements

You might say Adams improved the team TOO much July 12th, man But we ditched Peterka. Forwards are better now, addition by subtraction. Could approach upwards of 350 goals. 375 with a healthy Norris Edit: forgot we swapped Lafferty for Danforth. We could scratch 400 goals

Bowen Byram negotiations and rumour

Unironically yes The temptation to become desensitized to it is a prevalent, strong and natural process We shouldn’t turn our minds off to the true absurdity of it, nor remove it from it’s proper historical context that’s how they win: indifference

Bump

Right but while Adams may bank on better luck on the injury front as a means to improvement i don’t personally find that to be a smart tact (and one should balance the injury playing field when comparing year over year, anyways) I get that’s not the mindset you’d have should you actually be responsible for building the club thankfully but tbh I don’t even feel comfortable projecting better overall health even as a thought exercise considering, as mentioned, injuries are a guaranteed part of every year. It’s been 3 seasons since neither of Dahlin or Tage missed at least 10 games, and Tuch nearly missed double digits that year team is break even at best on paper