Kruppstahl

The last day of the regular season is Saturday, April 6th, also the day of our last game. The playoffs will start a few days later, maybe Wednesday April 10. That date is a choice.

LOL. It's almost like you didn't listen to any of ROR's post game comments in his final season with the Sabres.

I think it will come a few days after the season ends and they have had some time to discuss things, do the player exit interviews, etc. I do hope they act quickly though, as mentioned above. Interesting and valid points.

Yes. That is my point. It's been 4 seasons and we have a good idea of what he can do. He can do an awful lot, but he is not the generational talent promised prior to his drafting. When Sabres fans come to accept that more widely, I think our problems will be better understood. It's also why I have been saying that Dahlin is, potentially, the guy who should be the Captain and face of this franchise. With time, he will emerge as a much better/more important player than even Eichel. At least that is my prediction.

I think a lot of Sabres fans, Mike Schopp at the top of the list, think we are supposed to be on the fast track to multiple Cup wins, simply b/c Jack Eichel is on our team. And then they wonder how it can be going so poorly as a result. If one reconsiders their position/expectations with Eichel, things start to make more sense.

I believe, technically, it is "Caca for Kakko". LOL There's been a ton of mediocrity in this franchise's history, but make no mistake: this current stretch of "pain" that Darcy predicted is easily, by far, the worst stretch in franchise history. It's never been close to this bad for this long. Four is enough. No need to add to the pain. LOL

Vote now Sabres fans!

Something to be considered as well is that the overall talent level of this team is rather low, and generally greatly overestimated by Sabres fans. Fans always over-value their own talent. Most of the stats during the win streak showed that the success would not be sustainable and the streak was largely a focus of luck. We also got great goaltending during that time, and had a super hot goal scorer. For at least 3 months now, our goaltending has been atrocious, not bad, but atrocious, and Skinner is now colder than a witch's t*t. Time and again the organization has failed to put the best possible lineup on the ice for a given game, and then Housley has failed to have that lineup prepared and ready to go from the opening face-off. We still have a lingering culture of failure. We greatly overvalue Eichel in particular. Almost every team in the league has an Eichel in their lineup, at least in terms of points. He is not a generational superstar talent. He's just a very good hockey player. It's a combination of many things, but this organization is broken right now.

I totally agree that what athletes and people around the business of sports say in public in front of a microphone is not necessarily to be taken seriously. But I also would now be surprised--regardless of anything he has said or failed to say--if Skinner would actively choose to return to the Sabres, unless we are going to give him some sort of bloated super K he can't find anywhere else. Even then, a certain kind of player might well ignore that last year of term or that last million or 2 in total compensation for the ability to play in a certain kind of city in a better atmosphere with a good chance of winning. Not sure Skinner can really taste the difference between $45 million and $50 million anyway...but he will definitely notice life in a different sort of environment free of a chronic losing problem. Everything I have heard all season long suggested he and the Sabres were close to agreement and it was just a matter of time before the deal was signed. Now, based on how this season has gone, I'd be surprised if he returns. I have no idea why he would. It would be a pretty obvious decision to make for almost anyone who is not a lifelong Sabres fan. I feel the same way about Vigneault. Lots of Sabres fans seem to be in his corner these days...don't get that.

Some folks have been suggesting this for a long time, going back to that Paul Hamilton requested PC with Botterill...when Harrington mentioned to Jason that fans want to see a coaching change. Botterill was caught off guard and said something like "What? The fans want to see a coaching change?! NO!" He was incredulous and then emphatic. Folks at that time were suggesting that Botterill will not allow a coaching change to go down on his watch. That "NO!" was a message to the players that they are not going to be able to pick and choose who their coach is as they did with the last GM. That's all just a theory, but it seems plausible. It's part of why I have wanted us not just to lose, but look TERRIBLE in this last chapter of the season. It has to be ugly enough that Botterill has no choice but to fire Phil, or so ugly that Pegula orders Botterill to fire Phil. If there is any way Botterill can sneak out of it and retain Phil, I think he will try to do so.

That miserable atmosphere in Buffalo that Lehner was talking about was alive and well in the Sabres locker room after the game. I know just what he's talking about. We all do.

That's where the owner steps in keeps Botterill honest. If he refuses, he can go too. It will be beyond embarrassing if PH is not fired the day after the season is over. If he isn't, you will know how serious this organization is about trying to win anything.

Why in the world would he sign here? He'll get $$ and term anywhere. Why not try to win too? Kim has no business acumen of any kind, and why should she? Good thing she's running the show now. LOL

This game was the sort of disaster that should get someone fired. They've all quit. All of them.

Sabres fans over-value Eichel because he was advertised as being some type of generational superstar prior to his drafting. He's not that player. If you could find a team willing to give you the moon for him, I'd probably do it.

I love TSN's Travis Yost. He is one of the smartest voices following the game of hockey I know of. He tells me that many of our crap players can be moved. If that's true, I hope to see at least half the roster changed for next season. That may be a little ambitious, but that was the conclusion I came to making my selections in the poll. This roster is filled with the wrong names and needs a giant influx of new names, including 4, 5, or 6 big important names. It would be fantastic to pick 1st, 2nd, or 3rd in the draft with a little luck.

My guess is that scouting across the league is roughly equal. I'm not sure why it wouldn't be. So then that's not the explanation, if my theory is correct. I would look at the level above the scouting. I highly doubt Botterill, specifically, is looking for players with the same attributes I would be looking for, other than "raw talent" which everyone wants in every player. But as one example: this franchise drafted Joel Armia who is a classic Sabre prospect IMO. He's never going to be much of a player and yet we thought he'd be great. Even when he was still in Europe, pre-NHL, he was developing a lovely reputation as being a guy who only plays when he feels like it and takes shifts, periods, games off. We seem to have a knack for finding those guys. So perhaps some of the problem lies in a lack of an "institutional goal" to find players at lower levels who are known for their hustle and competitiveness. I think that is important in the NHL, which is mostly a "hustle" game most nights. Hustling talent beats hustling lack of talent, but hustling OK talent beats lazy prima donnas all the time.

It would be nice if the Sabres fans in attendance could make Lehner feel more comfortable and remind him of the old days by giving him a solid booing before the game starts. The overall Risto situation has developed to the point where I think I would be shocked if he is not traded this summer, hopefully as part of a multi-piece package that moves some bad players off this team and brings some new life onto it.

I have heard others speak of the building these days too. What's going on with it? It's still brand new in my mind (!) and certainly a modern construction compared to the old generation of buildings. What's so bad about it? What should be improved?

I actually like Mike Schopp a lot more than most, and consider him the only guy worth listening to at WGR-550. Having said that, just the other day he went on another rant about physical play. On this point, he is clueless. He lives in a world of gambling, game theory, fantasy sports teams, and advanced statistics. On top of that, he's likely the least athletic guy you've ever known and certainly never played any hockey, which is why he is so sensitive to people who point that out. He doesn't get it. Physicality is a huge part of playoff hockey and it directly relates to puck possession time, scoring, and winning. He recently said "Look at who has won the Cup recently...smaller, skilled teams like Chicago and Pittsburgh." He chose to ignore the 2 Cups won by LA at the height of Chicago's dominance, and the fact that they did so with a giant, super physical, hard hitting lineup that mauled people along the boards, and possessed the hell out of the puck while doing so. They emerged as the best of the huge/fast/super physical Western Conference wars that we have seen in recent playoff campaigns. And they were also skilled and talented. It's not a "this or that" type thing. You need both. The Sabres have a lot of skill in just a few players, and even those guys have their flaws. Eichel is in no way comparable to Patrice Bergeron or Kopitar; those guys are made for playoff hockey in a way Eichel may not be. Just last night Reinhart's terrible defensive play led directly to 2 goals, including the game winner in OT. We need more talent in the lineup, much better attention to defensive play, and TONS of physicality inserted into the lineup. There's not need to argue over this. We can all just watch the first round of the playoffs next week and see what role physicality plays in the games. It's huge! Schopp recently proudly proclaimed that not only does he not watch NHL hockey, he wouldn't even think to do so, unless the game involved the Sabres. Makes sense that he doesn't understand how playoff hockey works, as the Sabres haven't tasted that stuff in 8 years now.

Agreed. When the topic comes up that merely changing the coach will not help (which I agree with and have been saying all year), people mention that players need to be changed out. But then this usually leads to people mentioning names like Larsson, Zemgus, or even poor old Pommer as people who have to be gone next year. Changes of that type are not going to help this team. The roster problems that people don't want to talk about involve, IMO, Eichel and Reinhart first and foremost. Reinhart is very clearly a laid back, passive guy by nature. Can't fault him for that, but don't expect him to pull a Messier and throw a teammate up against a locker and tell him mailing it in isn't going to work in Buffalo. And it's the same with Eichel. He takes too many nights and/or shifts off himself and is bad at playing at his maximum potential on a consistent basis. Eichel and Reinhart are both excellent players and they should be part of the solution here, not the problem. I'm not suggesting they should be moved. I'm saying this team cannot look to those individuals as the core of its leadership; it's not in them to be "that guy" IMO. Eichel needs to be sort of left alone, Reinhart even moreso, and let them do their thing. Let Jack get his point a game and do his thing, but don't expect him to be the engine that drives the car. I think Dahlin can be that guy eventually, but not any time soon. He's way too young and green for that role right now. Ironically, a player who would nicely fill this gap is ROR! Too bad he didn't want to be here.

The WNY media community and in particular sports media community is TINY and it very much has a pleasant, go along to get along mentality. Harrington never bought into that and conducts himself like an annoying, confrontational big city guy. He's unpopular in WNY as a result. None of that bothers me; I'm not the one dealing with him.

I record and watch them all on "tape delay". Highly recommend it. You can eliminate all pre-game and between-period garbage that way, as well as commercials. Doesn't take too long to get through the actual game.

I know it's part of the group-think common at online Sabres forums to piss on The Buffalo News in general, and Harrington, Sully (prior to his departure) and others specifically. Harrington is the only guy in a post-game Sabres dressing room asking anything close to tough, relevant questions. Perhaps you prefer Paul Hamilton. "Jack, you hit 2 posts and were stopped on a breakaway with an incredible save. Was that a frustrating game for you from a goal scoring perspective?"

Remember that one! Could make for a fun thread title in another week, when this sorry excuse for a Sabres Season is over. Thread title: "Sobotka's Dossier on Botts and Phil: the Hidden Truth" Everyone can contribute whatever "rumor" they have "heard" on this! LOL