Kruppstahl

I have noticed that for quite a while now, fans have suggested this idea of firing Botterill but retaining Ralph and maybe also elevating him to GM in the process. I have no idea where that comes from. I guess people figure Botterill is not a quality mind and the organization should move on from him, but that Ralph is a quality mind who should be retained for the organization's benefit in some way. As you point out, they will likely both go as a pair. No new GM is going to retain Ralph as his coach, unless he was ordered to do so by Pegula prior to hiring...and a guy who agrees to that is not the guy you want as your GM in the first place.

The "Hey Jason" song is good! I like the attention to detail in all the lyrics. Well done!

Schopp would definitely NOT have cut the call short and he would definitely have used it as an opportunity to go off on the organization. They dedicated several hours to that last week.

Many people have put this theory forward. I think it is possible this is what's going on. We'll know it was NOT what was going on when Botterill gets fired, if he does. If he stays despite the ugliness that is going to unfold, this theory may gain some credibility.

They talk all the time about how not many call the show, straight up. That's why they don't take a lot of calls. And it's not that select only the worst callers; they are looking for intelligent, informed callers, believe me. What they get is what they get. This is WNY we are talking about.

Fire both of them commensurately with hiring Mike Babcock to be Team President, GM, and HC. Or whatever else he wants to be. Give him total control or whatever else he wants. I know his stock is way down right now. That's perfect. He might actually come here this time around.

No, not Pink Floyd. It's Led Zeppelin: The Song Remains the Same.

Not sure what you mean about the Tweet about Duane's call. Was this at Twitter or WGR-550's website? It's worth pointing out that the direct link to the recording of Duane's phone call in the online audio vault is still there!

The call came about 10 minutes into Hour 4. Here you go: https://wgr550.radio.com/media/audio-channel/1-30-hr-1-schopp-the-bulldog

This is absolutely fantastic. https://wgr550.radio.com/media/audio-channel/1-29-caller-duanes-sabres-rant

Neither! How about acquiring and playing good hockey players? Radical idea, huh? Pommer was a great player, fifteen years ago.

I expect Hutton to be used heavily while Ullmark is out. Johansson will play after Hutton has looked terrible in several games and Ralph has no choice but to try the kid.

On the 4th line. He is way over his head where he is being used right now. But I would cite him and Joker as the only 2 adds to the team I like under Botterill, aside from Skinner.

Fair enough, I guess, but wins just lessen our draft position in every round of the coming draft. I was just thinking: this prolonged period of total suckage falls directly on Pegula. It was on his watch that LaFontaine came on to hire GMTM and now Botterill. No one running this franchise for quite a few years now has a f-ing clue as to what they are doing, or any experience to speak of in such a role. Does anyone wonder why it's all gone straight in the shitter?

Yes, very similar to the odds of the Bills missing the playoffs for all those years. Was it 17? I believe the ESPN stat guys had it at like 6 or 8 million to 1.

I wouldn't trade Dahlin, but Inkman's thinking here is spot on. Without a shakeup that impacts the core of this team, we are going nowhere. Now ask yourselves who we have that might garner serious interest around the league and result in quality coming back at us. The only real name is Sam Reinhart, with honorable mention going to Risto, who I think still does have some value. This is yet another reason to move on from Reinhart. I would LOVE to see Reinhart and Risto both gone after the deadline as part of 1 or 2 packages of moves with multiple assets coming back to the Sabres. The problem is, even if these moves were to be made, they would be made according to what Botterill likes, and that is not a winning formula. Which is why I would love to see Botterill gone before the big moves happen, but that's not going to happen! So now we have to pray he not only get these moves done, but he gets lucky in terms of the players coming back. This guy thinks Sheary/Montour/Vesey/ type players are good pieces on a winning hockey team. So we have problems, of course.

The Sabres would be in the American league for quite a few seasons now!

I expect us to be sellers at the deadline. I hope he can use the deadline to FINALLY put together a large deal perhaps involving multiple players. Contrary to what some posters here like to suggest, this team needs to be substantially replaced with fresh blood. Lots of fresh blood. We can't ship enough of these deadbeats out the door. Of course, Botterill rarely does what needs to be done. Maybe he will make no moves of any kind at the deadline! I think a mob would march on the arena downtown if that happens. That could be entertaining.

There's no way in hell this team digs out of this hole this season with this many games left. They are not nearly good enough to produce consistently enough to be able to do that. The highlight of this season will be the trade deadline. Try to enjoy it!

Why? He is one of the few people who routinely calls out the garbage product the Sabres franchise produces. The way he asked BOGO last year after another loss "Has this team already quit on the season?!" was fantastic.

I would love to hear some "Botterill must go" chants at home games or anything similar. How about "We're not gonna take it anymore" chants, Twisted Sister style? Come on Sabres fans! Do something!

This is the part that really bothers me. I can't stand the makeup of this team; not only does it suck, it is extremely unlikeable and I hate the style of hockey we play, if we can say it has a style at all.

I noted several times tonight just how freaking slow Johansson's hands are. He and Skinner are polar opposite types of players and I agree Skinner should be on Eichel's wing. If you are referring to that penalty he took, I agree, that was really bad.

Ottawa won 5 road games all season and has the 31st best PP in the NHL. Anderson has lost his last 4 starts in a row. So what happens? Ottawa wins with 3 PP goals! Zero atmosphere in the building, no energy to the game, outshot 2:1 most of the night... Just another night in Hockey Heaven!

He's getting ice time b/c they are working like hell to find a trade partner for him, I assume, and they need to play him to make that happen. Don't get me wrong--I don't think he has any trade value--but Jason Botterill probably doesn't know that or at least has to try and work through that problem. Of course he should have been cut from the team the day he demanded to be trade, as I pointed out in the thread on that topic about 1.5 minutes after news of the trade demand hit the airwaves. For the 10,000th time, I will reiterate that guaranteed Ks have ruined NHL hockey! NHL, lock them out next CBA, miss a season (or two!) and get rid of guaranteed Ks! It's the only way to save the sport.