Kruppstahl

Why provide 7 minutes of broadcasting when you can stretch/morph the whole thing into an hour long piece of broadcasting with obligatory commercials as well. Why show the Superbowl at 6:30pm when you can start televising garbage at noon!

It will be at the end of this hour long piece of programming. They'll probably leave a few moments at the end to comment on the winner. You probably don't need to tune back in before 8:45pm.

Just played a bunch of times and got like 3 or 4 THREEs, a couple ONEs, a couple TWOs, but also slipped down to 6 or 7 several times. I'm still going to hold out hope for a Top 3 finish. Why not?

In all seriousness, he would fit right into the St. Joe's Glee Club, circa 1986 when I was in it, aged 15. We all looked like this.

1st or 2nd is where it's at this year. After that it doesn't matter so much. Here's to hoping we get really lucky. I'll be watching.

I've been pretty consistently hitting on "3" which is not bad. I hope we get seriously lucky tonight.

Great listen from earlier today. Johnathan Willis from the Athletic, Edmonton. Considers McLellan a good fit for Buffalo, but also considers him a "mid-tier" coach not at the top, not at the bottom. He also comments on why a Risto for RNH trade with Edmonton doesn't make sense for Edmonton. https://wgr550.radio.com/media/audio-channel/4-8-jonathan-willis-talks-todd-mclellan-bulldog

I'm not suggesting Shannon is right; I'm suggesting he is a professional hockey news reporter who just reported information which conflicts directly with this thread. So you might want to take that into your calculations.

Nah, he's just not very good.

I assume you mean the part about turning it around... It's the only player quote I like. He's smart for an 18 year old. That Risto clip is classic player non-speak. He said nothing. I would be highly surprised if he is not moved out this summer, as part of a package involving players out and players in.

John Shannon of Sportsnet was on with Howard today at GR-55. He says McLellan is likely to go to LA. He seemed to suggest that's a done deal. And Dallas Eakins going to Anaheim as also another done deal.

I agree with you. I listened to the WGR-550 broadcasting yesterday. For what it's worth, the idea was put forth, based on "knowing how the Sabres organization works," that they will probably end up hiring Chris Taylor. That was suggested by Schopp but everyone else thought this made sense. I have a fear that the organization will in fact do this. I would suggest this is even likely. I don't think he's the right choice for this job at this time.

John Shannon was on with Howard on GR-55 today; he reports that Hitchcock is out at Edmonton for sure. Is he going back to retirement? He could make a great choice to get the ship righted in Buffalo, even if only for a year or 2 before he goes back to retirement.

I hope this process moves quickly, and I think it will. Especially if we are going to get a very experienced, veteran coach (my hope), it is important to get him in here as quickly as possible as he should have a hand in rebuilding the team this off-season.

Interesting that Botterill said the decision to fire Housley was totally his and he contacted Pegula this morning to tell him. That's not a good look for Pegula IMO; it suggests he wasn't aware he had a coaching problem. And that jibes with his comments made recently at the NFL meetings in support of Housley.

Save 3 or 4 names, I'd replace the group. Right. I'm sure it was just that simple!

Many fans feel the same as you. One thing he would have, though, is the weight of credibility when he tells our kids that they are doing it wrong, or how to do it right. He can drop references to how it was done in Chicago all day long and who can really argue with that? I think he is too big a name to end up in WNY anyway, so it is probably moot.

Regarding your 2nd paragraph: this where the spotlight moves from Housley to Botterill. If he does not make broad, sweeping, and comprehensive player changes this offseason, he goes next. Phase 1 was to remove the coach as he was clearly lost. Phase 2 should not be to completely revamp this roster.

Been busy doing some housework and it just hit me: better check to see if Housley got fired! I really thought it would come in a couple of days, but the sooner the better. My #1 concern is that they go with an NHL veteran who has been around the block a few times and knows what's what. This is not the player group for trying out the next up and coming new thing at HC.

You can say that again. They literally ceased playing defense and large portions of the game had the feel of a pre-season exhibition or even All Star game. Nice to see Skinner get his 40 goals. Now the fun starts. When does Housley get axed? Or does he survive? How does the draft lottery play out? What will Botterill's first moves be? He needs to make a million of them between now and training camp.

Jury is still out on him. I think there is still hope he will develop into what we hope for, but the result is far from determined.

In the sense that a "C" is supposed to mean something like "satisfactory" meaning you did what was asked of you but not much more, no facet of this organization earns a C or higher. It's all lower than that. I would suggest GM and Coaching are close to "F". Defense is a D. Forwards as a group are a D to F. PK = F. PP = C-. And the scary part is those grades were earned playing soft, easy, regular season hockey. This team would be destroyed in a best of 7 playoff series.

Winning back to back games is not a "win". That's a loss. We need everything we can to convince Pegula that Housey needs to go, and who knows, Botterill could be at risk too. I don't expect the latter, but you don't know with Pegula. Would like to see the season finish out in as an ugly as possible fashion; this term deserves that, and nothing substantive is to be gained by a win anyway.

A loss here is critical.

We can argue all day long about why they are in the playoffs. What we can not argue about is whether or not Rod Brind'Amour is an ugly F***!! Case closed! That dude is FUGLY!