Kruppstahl

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!

He's always done it for himself! He has an ego and loves being in the spotlight; it suits him well and it's a part of why he was so good at his job. He's a natural entertainer. He would have stepped down a long time ago if it wasn't about that sort of thing.

I think by any objective standard, he has to be fired. Has to. I also think he would probably have been fired before now by almost all other teams in the league. The fact that he hasn't been fired, and may not be fired, says a lot about why we are in the situation we are in. But I'm not going to get too worked up until maybe this time next week, if he hasn't been shown the door!

There isn't a Sabres fan who loves RJ more than me; I have listened to some of his best calls dozens of times on Youtube simply to enjoy his broadcasting. I have watched the Soupy Campbell hit on RJ Umberger alone about 50 times. "Campbell stepped into his check at the blue line, AND NOW THEY'RE ALL CHASING AFTER CAMPBELL!!!" God how I miss that sort of hockey. Anyway, RJ is nothing close to what he used to be and the team of Rayzor and RJ is pretty bad overall as compared to the crews around the league. I don't have a problem with RJ stepping down at any time, especially if the team is going to remain a cesspool.

I agree with that. I don't know how you can throw a lot of blame at Dahlin for anything, particularly when you consider he will have played the entire season at age 18! He has made mistakes and had some rough nights, but good Lord, he's 18! He's done a lot right too and his offensive numbers are elite for a kid aged 18. He's only going to get bigger, stronger, and much better, and when he "arrives" he's going to be fantastic.

Right. That doesn't happen very often in regular season hockey. In the playoffs, when everything is amped up about 10,000 times, sure. I can probably show you a goal from every game of the season where a guy scores an easy garbage goal from prime real estate and isn't touched by anyone, other than someone maybe trying to lift his stick blade. Another hockey-ism that needs to go is "You aren't going to beat an NHL goalie if he can see the puck." Right. There are multiple goals scored in the manner in every single game that has multiple goals. Goalies get beat clean 1-on-1 with no interference all the time. Modern sticks and the number of guys with great shots allow for it. It's usually quick snap shots or wristers from say 20 feet out and in. You can beat an NHL goalie all day long like that if you are accurate with your shot.

"Paying the price" is a hockey-ism that needs to go away. This isn't the '90s and there aren't 300+ PIM enforcers in the league anymore, and very rarely, at least in regular season play, does anyone "pay a price" for getting to the net. That aspect of the game is mostly gone now, again, at least in the regular season. When real hockey starts in the playoffs and injuries quickly mount, things are different.

That's bad on me; I thought LA could still catch them but obviously they can't. 5 points behind with 2 games to go. We can still be caught by NJ though! So let's go for the big loss tonight! A really ugly showing followed by boos for our home season finale would be particularly appropriate for this cesspool of a season and team.

So picking first in all the remaining rounds has no value, huh?

I would like to think so and this may well be true, but look at the poll I started about his firing! Nearly 39% of respondents think he'll be back to start next season!

Ottawa bringing up a 22 year old rookie goalie to "join the team" for the rest of the season. LOL. Epic tank move. https://www.nhl.com/senators/news/senators-sign-goaltender-joey-daccord-to-a-two-year-entry-level-contract/c-306343172

I'd rather have Dahlin. If he develops into the phenom he should develop into, he will be far more valuable than McDavid. A game controlling, picking moving, half-hour-per-game-devouring D-man is the most important thing to have, IMO.

I'm not talking about the PP. I'm talking about him skating forcefully and dominantly in the O zone with the puck on his stick, pulling defenders out of position, breaking the defensive posture of the team down, and moving or passing to dangerous areas. He does that all the time when he is on his game. He has the skill, puck skills, size, and speed to play a very physical game in that manner any night he chooses to. Unfortunately, he takes nights off. It's important to point it out on a night when he is really on his game so you can see what I'm talking about in terms of Jack on his game. Other games you don't hardly notice him all game long. When Jack blends in like that he's not being Jack. He has the skill to be able to, and should, stand out in any NHL game on any night. Too often he doesn't. That's my entire point. But our woes go way beyond Jack, and he is a very small % of the problem. He has room for improvement however.

Of course. It's all about draft positioning now, and piling it on to ensure Housley gets fired. I'd like to see these guys actually be good some day. Which part? What are you trying to say? Don't like losing, or you thought the overall team performance was bad?

I think we have a solid shot at 3rd worst when the smoke clears, which his outstanding. Hopefully we don't slide too far in the lottery, and even have a solid shot at moving up. This team desperately needs the talent we would acquire with a 1st or 2nd pick overall.

That's not a well. It's a cesspool.

I would LOVE to see a big, old school trade involving like 6, 7, or 8 players switching sides with Edmonton. A good old fashioned hockey trade with "a change of scenery" being good for all parties involved.

I think he looked pretty good all things being considered.

Phil surviving still has the most votes with nearly 39% of the vote! This may well be correct, but damn! If he sticks around, it's gonna be a tough summer for the marketing department.

Notice how Jack was skating with the puck and making things happen all over the ice? And how he kept doing things that shouted "look at me, I have a ton of talent"? Know why he isn't like that every game? Because he likes to take nights off. Tonight we got motivated Jack (for whatever reason), and it's a very different Jack than we see on a lot of nights. Overall performance was much, much better tonight. Glad we lost.

Consider this: In 2015/2016 we finished the season with 81 points. The following year, 2016/2017, we had 78 points and GMTM and Bylsma were fired. Last year we finished dead last with 62 points. This year, we may well end up where we are now, at 72 points. The best we can do is 78 points, the same we had when GMTM and Bylsma were fired. I am not convinced that Botterill is safe, and I now fully expect Housley to be fired at season's end. Does this franchise have the look and feel of one that is moving in the right direction? 78 point was bad enough to fire the last GM and it might just be good enough to fire the current one too. There hasn't been much talk about this b/c folks are mostly focused on Housley and the coaching situation. Hang in there, and let's see what goes down next week.

We need a loss here! Would love to see NJ overtake us in the standings, and our point total this season might even be good enough (that is to say, bad enough, LOL) for Pegula to go for the Exacta---canning Phil and Jason at the same time. ?