Kruppstahl

No offense, but I can't believe you would ask this question this late into the season. This team is not making the playoffs this year and in fact will finish in the bottom 3. It's not a question of what we want or don't want, that's what is going to happen. Bogo and Risto will help, of course, but they really have nothing to do with the problems that afflict this team and Bogo is f-ing horrible. Risto is quicky turning into f-ing horrible too. Risto is NOWHERE close to the standout player he was supposed to be. He is average. BOGO is terrible. We can only pray, as fans, that we somehow back into the top pick in the draft. Dahlin would go a long way toward giving us the stud D-man anchor this team desperately needs, and he would help lighten Risto's load considerably. This team is going to be rebuilt from where it is right now; a high draft choice would help a lot in that regard.

Kind of interesting idea. The OP is proposing a sort of soccer relegation approach to the roster after wins and losses. I don't think this would work or solve the problem in the intended manner however. The problem with this club is that there is not a core of inherent team leaders pulling the team forward from the top. That group should be led by Eichel, Reinhart, and ROR. They are supposed to be the 3 best players on the team most nights and they need to lead by example and work ethic. That is not happening b/c it is not in those guys to play in that manner, by nature. It is the same problem we had prior to the breakup of the old core. You solve this problem by eliminating players and replacing them with players of a different makeup. I feel we are 6 or 7 bodies away from being where we want to be. Unfortunately, Eichel is part of the problem, big time, in this regard. He may grow out of it. Let's hope so. He is still a baby.

http://www.wgr550.com/media/audio-channel/11-22-paul-hamiltons-thoughts-wild-sabresmp3

Listen to Paul Hamilton's post game report (wild vs. buffalo 11/22/17) Post-game meltdown in the locker room. Pommer fuming; Nolan calling out the culture of the team (no accountability), Housley at wit's end with the group, and all that sort of good stuff. Blow it up! Rebuild the rebuild. This group is done. :w00t: http://www.wgr550.com/media/audio-channel/11-22-paul-hamiltons-thoughts-wild-sabresmp3

These winter classic sweaters look like the old Original Six uniforms we would have had, had we been an original 6 franchise. Also, I guess I am the only Sabres fan on Earth who dislikes the old royal blue. It is a cheaper looking color compared to a deeper, more navy blue. I actually rather dislike the overall look of our old uniforms; it's kind of a cheesy color combination. I didn't like it back when it was current and I don't like it now.

I agree with almost everything you write here and your observations about Eichel are pretty much spot-on. Jack is not a generational talent to be compared to Crosby or McDavid. He is a "very good player" to be compared to Getzlaf (as you mention) or Jason Spezza, or lots of other guys who are damned good hockey players but not difference makers all by themselves and who make everyone around them better, every time they go on the ice. Sabres fans need to get used to that thought, b/c it impacts how you view him and what you do with him. ALSO: It is a mistake to value Eichel by the amount of pain and misery we fans went through to get him! Unfortunately, that doesn't count for anything! The pain we endured should make Eichel a mini Gretzky, but it doesn't work that way. I would be open, for sure, to a deal involving Eichel, but it has to be the right mega deal. To be honest, I don't think Jack would garner the interest around the league for the type of deal it would have to be, so this discussion is all moot for me. At least so far. His play could dramatically shoot up (he's young) and his value could as well; revisiting the issue then could be interesting. The entire formula in Buffalo need to be completely re-worked. We are no closer to the finish line now then we were the day we traded away Paul Gaustad for a 1st round draft pick. If this team ever becomes "The Team" we have been waiting for, it will not look much like it does right now. The rebuild has almost yet to begin. It is going to be really interesting to see how far the Sabres F.O. is willing to go to try and make the team good, who will be shipped out, how dramatic the name changes will be....and if the current regime is even going to do the heavy lifting. They may well get dumped before the heavy lifting begins. Who knows. It's all wide open right now and there is a very long way to go.

Did anyone notice Jack's performance with like 2 minutes to go? We were trying to tie up the game on the PP and a face-off in the O-zone. ROR won the draw and the puck went to Eichel. He was just extremely forceful and dominant...out hustled his man, drove to the slot, and made a lovely pass that led to the crazy melee in the net. It was Jack at his finest. As I watched, I immediately thought: "Where the hell is that level of play from the is guy 99% of the time!?" He plays nowhere near his max potential most of the time. That's a problem. He's becoming a floater. Doesn't help that we have no ass-kickers in the lineup to keep him honest. This is a very soft team, and that needs to change.

Of course he is; big K year for him! UFA this summer...has to actually work for a few games this year Get rid of the guaranteed Ks; they are killing this sport.

I have no idea if this is actually the case, but this team consistently plays like they have turned on Housley and he has "lost the room." I actually do not think that is the case. Rob Ray has said since Phil's signing that he would be a good coach for this team and that the kids would like him; he is a new-era type coach who coddles more than he whips. There is most certainly some kind of "culture" problem on this team that is a much bigger deal than the playing performance of any one particular player or group of players. Could our goalie be better? Yes. Does our D suck ass? Yes. Do we need more speed all over the ice? Yes. Do we need more depth and scoring from the wings? YES.... But none of that stuff is going to matter if the team is going to decide, on most nights, that they are not much interested in playing hockey. If nothing happens before then, this should be a very entertaining trade deadline in February. I wouldn't be surprised to see us ship out entire chunks of the team, wholesale.

Well the first few posts seemed productive and on-point, then it deteriorated into typical chat forum ######. Too bad, b/c I thought the original post was interesting and Mike Schopp's comments caught my attention as well. I had not heard anything about the "partying rumors" that he mentioned. Isn't this place filled with college-aged kids who still live in Buffalo? What do you guys see? When I was that age and living in Buffalo, we used to see then-current Sabres out all the time. Buffalo is a pretty small place. Do some homework! Get out into those clubs and bars and do some stalking! That's got to be at least as interesting as watching the actual hockey; this team is terrible.

In another month or so, this team is going to quit if they have not done so already....once it is obvious there is no way in hell they can make the playoffs, it will get a lot uglier than it is now. If you can imagine that. What happens to Housley then? How is the organization going to let this play out? When does Pegula snap and want to fire someone? Do Bots and Phil have Pegula's total support? Is he OK with us being this bad, again? I guess we will find out.

Yes, he's a pouty prima donna type with a poor work ethic and in the National league, his talent level is not hugely out of proportion with everyone around him. He's being exposed.

The new core is as bad as the old core was, once it started to finally get broken up. This group is lost and there is no passion, toughness, or "compete" to their game. None. They panic easily, as a group. They can't string 2 good games together, and rarely have strung 3 good periods together. They often come out flat and need to get into the game by playing. The best we can hope for, at the moment, is that we somehow win the lottery and get Dahlin. I don't think we are capable of winning a draft lottery, however.

Lehner was terrible tonight, but picking on him to explain this team's many failures is ridiculous. The guy who needs to come under some fire now is Housley. He clearly doesn't get it, refuses to make in-game adjustments (can't make?) and quite clearly has the team lost or flat out playing to spite the guy. We all know that Pegula is not afraid to fire guys when he thinks it's time. I wonder when Pegula will think it's time with Phil. His days are numbered around here.

Don't give him the luxury of assuming he has simply "checked out." He is part of the problem too. His game is completely directionless, he plays in fits and starts when he feels like it, and has a bad habit of metaphorically hanging his head when things don't go right or he doesn't get a good bounce. I am quickly turning into a detractor of Jack. As far as team-leading generational talents go, he sucks.

Strongly agree with the first two callouts in your post; mildly agree with the Jack comment, and flat out disagree with the final callout. Nylander is still an unknown and needs time to shows us what he is, but... The entire idea behind destroying Sabres hockey to its lowest point in the history of the franchise for a period of years (we are still in that phase now, 5 years into the process) was to build a wildly strong team that would be talented enough to contend for the Cup, year in and year out, for the bulk of the careers of the key players associated with the rebuild. Enough has already played out to see that this is not going to happen. Reinhart was selected as the best forward in the world in his draft class. A guy who GMTM called "the most intelligent guy on the ice in every game he plays in" and who would be killer center 1B to Eichel's killer center 1A position. By those standards, Reinhart is a bust. People need to figure that out. His strengths are too subtle and he lacks a lot of the raw athleticism to be a standout at the National league level. He is slow. He needs talent around him to be his best; he does not bring everyone around him up to his level. On many nights he looks like a borderline NHL avg. player, let alone a star in the league. Then we get to Eichel. I like your comments, Neo, but I don't know why you feel you have to dance around the Eichel Issue. There seems to be some unspoken rule among Sabres fans that he must be accepted as some superstar beyond question. Eichel is also a bust, but not on the level of Reinhart. He is measured against a much higher standard, because he is a much more talented player. Auston Matthews performs, consistently, on a "My God, this kid is going to be a superstar" level, and does a lot of superstar stuff now. McDavid is indeed a "generational talent" who busts out now and again with some play that is like a force of nature; he makes NHLers looks like kids. He reminds me of Mogilny in that he is super fast and can stick handle while moving at top speed. Very few talents can do that. Eichel, in contrast, plays when he feels like it, rarely strings 60 good minutes together or 2 games together, whines, loves to do his gestures of frustration when things don't go his way, is not good enough in breakaways to be relied on for shootout work, and just doesn't do enough exceptional stuff to make you think he is going to be the best player on a team that contends for multiple Cups. He is not going to be that kind of guy; he is not that kind of guy. He is going to be a very good player who needs better players around him. I think of him as a Thomas Vanek type, with a broader skill set. Very, very talented guy. Generational super stud talent that makes you stare in disbelief at his latest great play? No way. This team is likely a bottom 3 finisher this year. The best thing that could happen to us is finishing at the bottom and somehow actually winning the draft lottery for a change, taking Dahlin to help out the D. If we luck out and end up with Dahlin, he will be the biggest star on the team. Barring him crapping the bed, of course. But he is a multiple Norris winner waiting to happen. Couldn't agree more with you that the playoffs are not a realistic option, even for next year. This organization has a long way to go.

Here's a smart man. Not only will we not make the playoffs this year, we won't make them next year either. We need to rebuild the rebuild and Botterill will try to rebuild from within. The farm is mostly bare and this team is a long way away from contending. Expect more of this sort of crap, night in, night out, for the next 2 to 3 years.

The problems this team has far exceed the wounded D. They play with zero heart or compete. They quit tonight after the 4th goal. A guy like Reinhart was expected to be a major cog in a Cup contending machine....he is almost ready to be declared a bust as far as I'm concerned. His NHL game is nowhere close to where it needs to be. Risto is regressing badly; goaltending is mediocre; Our team is totally devoid of talent/scoring from the wing, save Old Man Pommer. Eichel plays when he feels like it, loves to pout and hang his head and call out his teammates (not by name) after the game but often doesn't show much in the game, relative to his huge talent. For the moment, I am willing to give Housley the benefit of the doubt with these post-game comments. I am going to assume he said that crap for the press, for the sake of saying it...but is actually ripping the team a new one behind closed doors. I never liked Housley as a player; he was soft and aloof; hugely talented, one of the best natural skaters I've seen...but never liked the guy. I think he is guaranteed to be the HC for this entire year, no matter what happens. But his days are numbered. This entire thing is a freaking mess and how it is all retooled, no one knows at the moment. The "core" that we had in place courtesy of GMTM needs to be totally redone.

Have you noticed that Rochester is a tire fire rather devoid of up and coming talent, save for 1 or 2 names? This team doesn't compete and Eichel is more Turgeon than LaFontaine or Perreault as far as big name superstars go. Our only bright light on the blue line is RISTO, and he is nowhere near where expectations would have place him by now. He is regressing. Rheinhart is a borderline "bust" relative to expectations for the #1 forward taken in an entire draft... For all of the pain and losing we have gone through for what? 5 years now? This team is nowhere close to emerging as something special. We'll finish this year in the bottom 3.

Jack does that type of pouty bitch stuff all the time. I am not a fan of his psychological makeup, insofar as I understand it. I can only go by what he shows me. Bury your chance right in front of the net, Jack, if you hate losing, and spare the innocent stick. Pommer is the only decent NHL caliber winger on this team at the moment...with maybe an honorable mention going to Kane. K.O. is complete crap. Something is going on with his illness. He is not the same player. I feel bad for him and feel like it's not his fault, per se, but he still sucks. This is not only a non-playoff team this year, it is likely a bottom 3 finisher.

Holy we suck.

Get a new hobby. Something more productive and more under your direct control. There's lots to choose from. This team is not worth your precious free time. Hasn't been in at least 5 years.

Those pesky Arizona Coyotes! They are always preventing us from having sole possession of last place. Wait. Are we tanking this year? Are we a playoff team in a slump? Deliberately tanking for a high draft pick? Is this a building year of pain while we wait for key assets to develop? It all looks the same. I can't tell which it is.

Kinda boring? This hockey is f-ing unwatchable. I'm trying to watch the game right now on the DVR, knowing the score. Kane just scored his first goal in the 2nd period... There is something wrong with this team that greatly transcends early-season rust. They look lost, the overall talent level of the squad is low, and we seem slow. Passing is horrific. No heart, no jump, no grit. And before I could finish typing this post, NJ has just scored a shorty. Again! Now 3-1 NJ, 14:00 left in 2nd. I'm already wondering if Housley is going to get fired mid-season or what. I hope there is some kind of plan for this show.

He's the best player on the team right now, but he has had a pair of horrible games to start the season.