Kruppstahl

Trade him. He's going to want (and get) like $9 million a year for a huge amount of term. The fact is he is utterly incapable of driving play on his own, away from Eichel.

Oh there's an end in sight! Botterill's end, that is. He'll be gone end of this season, if not before. They can go from the frying pan into the fire.

Crawford's career stats against us are incredible. Won every game with a great save % and GAA. I think he's now 11-0 against Buffalo!

Looked like a dislocated shoulder. Eichel's steal and goal were really nice. This team sucks. We are now in "see how long it takes to win 2 in a row" mode.

Best post of the game thread.

Someone sweep the leg on #77. This Dach kid is killing us!

A fight in a Sabres game?! Vesey (despite totally sucking) is my new favorite Sabre!

Pat Foley.

You got that right.

The goal wasn't nearly as great as Eichel's floating was!

Anyone else listening to Chicago feed? Foley was going nuts on those last 2 saves by both net minders. SAVE!

Going with the Blackhawks feed tonight as I love Pat Foley.

I just sort of speed skimmed through the entire game in 30 minutes or so; saw all the goals, a few PPs. I thought we looked terrible! All of Jack's goals were nice; he was really picking his spots with some great shots but it wasn't a team effort and this was against Ottawa. But a win is a win! Let's see how this transitions to the next few games.

Very refreshing to see such criticism of Josh Allen here! Try this at TBD and you'll get your balls cut off. Ironically, there is a healthy criticism of the Sabres over at TBD lacking here! Something going on there.... I.E., you have to get rid of the passion for the team before you can get some objective commentary regarding both teams.

Sounds like Darcy Regier. This guy isn't the answer either. I fear that after the ROR trade--possibly the worst in Sabres franchise history--Botterill is going to be gun-shy about entering into any trade again. Maybe he should be replaced for that reason alone, though I can think of plenty of other reasons too.

If the test is "do they play in the NHL?" then yes, they are NHL players. If the test is "should they be playing in the NHL" then the answer might be a bit different. Sobotka, my favorite whipping boy, was arguably the worst forward in the entire NHL last year. He is beyond terrible. If guaranteed contracts did not exist he would have been cut a long time ago and would be working for a living in the American league, or more likely, back in Europe. He does have a cute girlfriend and should be a multi-millionaire by now. Good for him. Just get him off this hockey team.

I think this is right. I was focusing on him in tonight's OT loss to the Hurricanes. He just doesn't make enough plays that lead to good scoring chances or goals. But I would not single him out among this team's lousy secondary and tertiary players. We have a lot of guys that fall into the "not enough" category.

Another Sabres season not ending with at least 1 playoff series is definitely something to complain about. The illusion of Josh Allen being a franchise savior is something else. Luckily at the moment I don't have more serious things to complain about.

This isn't the first HC we've tried with this bunch of players, you know! How many coaches do we go through before we begin to question the makeup of our core? Eichel started out tonight with a lot of jump in his step and seemed engaged. That didn't last for the entire first period and then he faded. Sheary and Vesey are both beyond worthless. I mean they are worthless. Olofsson is overwhelmed at this level for the most part. He's got that nice release and has some value on the PP, but 5 on 5 he doesn't do nearly enough and looks out of place. Mittelstadt shows some improvement and some promise; he's not a complete zero but he is not a contributor consistently enough at this level. RISTO is terrible! Terrible! He is the only guy on the team who plays with any degree of physicality/toughness whatsoever, but defensively he is hot garbage. We were collectively terrible from the face off dot tonight and that took its toll, particularly in OT. Our goaltending was very mediocre. Neither of our goalies is the answer long term. This team is incredibly soft. No secondary scoring. RISTO continues to get big minutes on D for reasons known but to the HC and God. Dahlin's progress has become stunted; he has had a really rough season so far for the most part. We know the talent is there but he seems to need more guidance than he is getting so far. I am a big fan of Steve Smith going way back to his playing days and the Twin Towers, and Housley should know a thing or two about being a young puck moving phenom D man in the NHL, so I am not sure what's going on there. Reinhart is going to get a new K soon and he's going to get big money. I sometimes wonder if we should move him, or keep him and move Eichel for a King's Ransom if we can get it. Let's see how things continue to play out this season. If the progress just doesn't come and things look bad all season as they did last season, let's think about shaking up the core. What else is there to do? Moving around secondary and tertiary pieces isn't going to do squat.

I'm thinking we aren't in a playoff position again this year. Who's with me?

Yes they look quite sharp and perky. Jack in particular is on his "A" game tonight.

You mean the uniforms? They have one of the worst logos in the league. More suited to corporate letterhead than a sports team.

Great play from Eichel behind the net for a great chance and lovely goal by Skinner. Really nice goal; he just has that scoring touch doesn't he?

Hey, let's all argue about sports schedule listing conventions! And while at it, I say red is much better than blue. Who disagrees?

Just wondering. When will we next win 2 games in a row?