Kruppstahl

I discovered some of this by accident the other night. They were doing the "bullseye" "pick the corner" goal scoring routine, only now with an electronic target instead of styrofoam. The glass broke and there was a long delay. The shooting was pretty lousy, as usual (LOL), and crowd reaction was non-existent. I watched like 3 shooters and then did something else. I give the NHL credit for working to try to make the show work, but it's still a mess. Just can all of it. Name an "all star" team as a matter of professional achievement and pride for those on the list, and leave it at that. Keep the regular hockey season running! It's way, way too long as it is.

I agree with the author's observations too. In one of the ongoing threads around here, I recently pointed out that Schopp and the Bulldog dedicated several hours to this theme last week. I think it started for them when on "'90s Saturday afternoon" we didn't wear the black/white/red Goat head uniforms, and several players had their names printed incorrectly on cheap, knock-off jerseys. I guess that was true on '70s night as well. Bulldog went off on how the building, in general, needs cosmetic attention. Several callers called in contributing to the feeling that the organization is totally clueless as to what fans want. This is nothing surprising for me in general, but I did think Pegula would be a bit better than this. I wonder if he is truly distracted by owning the Bills. For a guy like him, the Bills ownership gig is the big game he really wanted, and I wouldn't be surprised at all if he has somewhat forgotten about the Sabres. His wife running the show was never going to help, as some of us said the day she was named president. And let's not forget something: Kim and Terry Pegula are billionaires trying to enjoy the big life, with their domicile in Boca Raton, Florida. Just exactly how much time, thought, and energy are they dedicating to making Buffalo hockey heaven? Is it even possible to compare Kim's efforts (whatever they may be) to a professional who lives in Buffalo and whose only concern is running a hockey team? As I mentioned in the other thread, one of the WGR-55 callers last week mentioned that he and his buddies have been asking if the team is any better off now than during the Golisano years. Their conclusion was that it really isn't. I think most fans, even "Zamboni" and "Dudacek" have to agree with this.

Who the hell is Jeremy Moser? Someone tell him "Neglection" isn't a word. Neglection of the team is felt by fans, not organization

10 years? The Sabres (and Bills) have been two classic "also ran" organizations from their inception, with brief moments of quality thrown in for good measure, mostly due to luck.

For those interested in this story, Schopp and Bulldog spent several hours teeing off on the Sabres organization on Wednesday, January 22nd, and then most of Hour 1 of their show yesterday on Thursday, January 23rd. Their shows are recorded and you can listen to them all at WGR-550.com. The theme was that the organization as a whole is tuned out in terms of what fans want and they continually make inept decisions resulting in a diminished fan experience at the games. The spelling errors on the sweaters were mentioned, the generally poorly maintained state of the building, various acts or omissions made during games, etc. This is nothing new; S&B have hit on this topic many times over the years, with many owners. As Mike pointed out, the tank years were better than right now, b/c there was a sense of purpose to the tank, it had a defined vision, and it was fun to follow it through to completion. But now? What's the plan now? We are smack dab in the middle of the absolutely WORST era in Sabres history. Congratulations Buffalo Sabres! One of their callers mentioned that he and his buddies have asked recently if the state of the organization is actually worse now than under Golisano. An interesting question, that.

Praise Jesus! Someone with some sense around here. I love how this team is hot garbage for a bunch of years now, under a variety of coaches, with only a handful of key pieces remaining constant, and folks want to continue to keep those key pieces in place! To all of you, I say:

It's going to take time. Look at what Jack is doing this year in his fifth year. He's a totally different player to anything we have seen before, and way more consistent. I think I always said year 4 for Dahlin but it might be 5 or 6 or 7 before he is really in stride and dominating NHL hockey games. The good news he can probably get there and once he does he will stay in that role for a long time, unless he gets some weird injury. It's not like physicality and rough stuff is a part of his game. He can play 20 years in this league.

I watched the entire game on their feed and had a similar reaction. Did they not also have some sort of country music star on there as well? It's getting to the point where I enjoy listening to the away feed much more than the Buffalo one. It usually provides some interesting commentary on the Sabres you wouldn't get otherwise, and let's you know what's going on around the league with the opposition. I actually really like doing it that way, but KLG doing a live wine commercial during a real game as though it was a pre-season scrimmage was too much.

Billy Sheehan's bass playing is worth more discussion than this sadly composed hockey team, so here's one of my favorite videos for your enjoyment.

The glacial pace of the Sabres organization has me wishing for a little bit more jerk in the old knee around here. Botterill's continued indecision or inability to effect change is costing us entire seasons.

If 3 MLB teams are doing this, they probably all are, or were. Just a question of who did it best, who got caught, who didn't, etc. For some reason, fans of all sports assume their favorite team competes in some sort of honorable, fair way. In reality, I am pretty sure all of these organizations, in all sports, are looking to get every edge they can get, legally, illegally, or otherwise.

I thought the same thing. Some college experiences take place at giant universities with tens of thousands of students and classrooms that seat 250 people. I was fortunate (as it turns out) to go to a small liberal arts school that never had more than about 18 or 20 people in a classroom, all my teachers had personal relationships with me and knew me by my first name, and in fact we had a policy that said if you miss more than 3 classes in a semester, you automatically fail. Difficult to be a faceless number lost in the size of the school in that type of atmosphere.

I have run into this type of thing several times myself. I think non-Americans assume all Americans voted for Trump and they tend to come at the conversation from that perspective. It's the price we all pay, as a society, for the colossal mistake his presidency unfortunately is. End of political commentary! On a positive note, at least you are/were in Glasgow, which is a great town and you get to enjoy those lovely Scottish accents all around you! I can listen to that stuff all day long.

Here's a good photo of Hutton, Eichel, and Frolik. I think this proves convincingly that Folik is, in fact, invisible. ?

No thread here regarding Botterill's visit with Schopp and Bulldog yesterday? He clearly indicated he is looking to make trades NOW and not waiting for the deadline. Sounds like he has trouble getting it done. Could be on his end or the other end. Remember back when Darcy would be criticized for sitting on his hands and doing nothing? Brian Burke then mentioned publicly that you couldn't negotiate or make trades with Darcy because he overvalued his players. Wonder what's going on with Botterill exactly.

He's a nothing anyway, shoulder surgery or not.

Absolutely! Sign him up!

Oh God. The thread title says "sign him or trade him" but what about Option 3: sit around and do nothing? That's Botterill's favorite strategy. I can't imagine Botterill engineering a significant trade with Reinhart at the center of things, even though that is what we should be doing with him. I'm already expecting him to be here long term as a big part of our continued problems.

The problem with Reinhart is that he is incapable of driving his own line and just doesn't do enough to warrant the big $ he is going to get with the next K. That (as it turns out) throws the entire lineup off kilter...as he should be the 2C we desperately need. If he was there, lots of other pieces that don't fit suddenly do, and it would allow Skinner (when healthy, obviously) to play with Jack, where he naturally belongs IMO.

This is kind of a fun statistic. Since January 1, 2019, up to and including the Vancouver game, the Sabres are 4th worst in the league. 73 points. 31-45-11 in that time period. Keep Dahlin and Jack and move the rest please. Oh, and fire Botterill before we start doing the moves.

Dahlin has gone into a dark place and I don't like the look of it. He needs more confidence. Watch how little he attacks the net with the puck. He was doing much more of that his first couple months in the league.

You write that as if to suggest they had an edge and focus prior to the break. ?

Agreed. Frolik is a nothing player, it was a nothing trade, and it will do nothing to alter the landscape around here. Next!

Made me LOL; he seems to be suggesting we are who we are right now b/c of the 2 injuries.

This has been discussed for quite a while now. It remains to be seen how Jack might handle this situation rolling forward. Is he the kind of guy to demand a trade, or stick with the team that drafted him and made him rich? We will find out I guess. I would not personally fault him for holding out and demanding to be moved.