Kruppstahl

I find it interesting that people who want to talk about the Sabres all day every day do not actually watch the hockey games. It's *all* about the hockey games. Of course the games are terrible, it's been that way for years now. But are you a fan of the team or not? If you are, you gotta watch the games! You can do so easily for free and if you wait an hour or so after the start, you can knock an entire game off in about 1H 20 M. No commercials, no pre-game BS, no intermission BS. Watch the games!

Only 3 guys I can think of right now who make me say "I like that guy" are Zemgod Girgelzuns, Cozens, and Risto. I think I actually like Risto as an individual more than anyone else on the team, despite the fact that I do not like him as a player and would actively like to trade him. LOL. I think I could get along with him well if he was my next door neighbor. He also has a "no BS" demeanor about him that I love, and I think he actually enjoys hitting people, which is totally unique among the current Sabres roster. I do not particularly like Eichel or Reinhart as individuals, despite their quality and the fact that I am all for retaining both.

Good read from this morning over at NBC Sports Network. https://sports.yahoo.com/mckenzie-insight-sabres-coaching-search-133002944.html?src=rss

I actually don't think winning games will be the central focus for the rest of the year, per se. They are going to see who is paying attention, who is responding to coaching, and who is delivering EFFORT more than anything else. It's an audition to see which players management will want to retain moving forward, and who will be part of the pending massive player exodus from Buffalo, NY.

He always should have been anyway!

The 2 photos are very similar, aren't they? Guys talking about their moment in the sun, and how they'll never have those positions again.

His speed is actually astonishingly slow for a kid who was promoted as heavily as he was. The next Bobby Orr? With that level of speed? Bobby Orr used to skate circles around the entire opposing team, go end to end, score single handedly, and then lower his head in shame because he just embarrassed everyone on the ice. Dahlin is a million miles away from being able to do those things. Can he be utilized in a different fashion to improve his game or focus on his strengths? Absolutely! The other night when Ovechkin turned him inside out, he was beaten as badly as I recall an NHL player ever being beaten. His game is just totally lost right now.

That is the #1 thing I want to see as well. I'm curious to see all the lines and how players are used. I wonder if the interim staff will see things as Ralph did, or go in totally different directions. Can we please not use a game thread to discuss COVID vaccination distribution logistics in NYS? Thank you.

I feel like this is probably a bad idea in terms of the big picture, but I'm glad it is going to continue (as of now) nonetheless. Looking forward to seeing what happens exactly.

Boston should kill us, regardless of the coaching change. Maybe even moreso because of it!

Great little article from Chris Parker over at WGR-550 today...pointing the finger squarely at the Pegulas and asking them to write checks and get out of the way. https://www.radio.com/wgr550/sports/sabres/bulldog-what-now-2021

I just turned on Battle of Alberta a few minutes before end of 2nd period. I see good guys are up 3-1. Liam McHugh says hard hitting night around the league with LA and Vegas highlights coming. You forget that Sabres hockey is just Sabres hockey some times. It's not nearly so bad around the rest of the league.

I'm as hard on the Pegulas as anyone, but suggesting "none" and that they find out who the coach is when we do, is just not how the world works. They are going to give a sign-off, but that's OK. As long as they basically sign off automatically on whatever is recommended to the from Adams, which is also how it should work.

I would like anyone who actually is a former Sabre to not be considered, on that criteria alone. I've always said that, going back many decades.

I would be shocked if the coach search begins TODAY. It's been going on for weeks, at least on some level, almost certainly.

Karmanos is the only name I have seen mentioned so far, but it's awfully early. PS: We desperately need an assistant GM; if we actually hire one it will be an encouraging sign that Pegula is now willing to spend some money to turn things around.

I just listened to the PC in full. I thought Adams' comments about "culture" were quite interesting. He sounds like he acknowledges that there is some type of culture problem and that it is important to get that fixed going forward. The easiest way to do that is by stringing some wins together. The easiest way to get those wins is to hire a good, proven, NHL HC. So why wasn't Boudreau named new HC today? I fear they are going in another direction not involving Boudreau, Julien, Gallant.

I remain hopeful that Pegula will sell the Sabres at some point in time. A hugely important factor is that he now owns the Buffalo Bills, which he did not own when he bought the Sabres. The real jewel in his trophy sports franchise ownership crown is the Bills and it always will be. If the Sabres remain nothing but a depressing drag for him (maybe another 3-5 years?) I can see him selling the team. It's mostly just based on hope, but if I don't have hope, what do I have?

This is hugely important, but an even more important stage with the "rebuild" is... ...not doing anything stupid and NOT moving big names off this roster until a competent HC comes in and we see what he can do with the group AS IS. I'm talking mostly about Reinhart, Eichel, Dahlin...names like that. But THAT assumes we hire a competent NHL CALIBER head coach who we can trust. I am deathly afraid of them getting YET ANOTHER UNPROVEN NHL LEVEL COACH in here, like Nate Leaman. He *could* work out, but why not bring in a proven NHL level coach? The fact that none of the Big 3 names were mentioned today is really frustrating. I don't think any of the 3 will be hired. Just remember, if names like Reinhart and Eichel leave the team, equally good players ain't gonna be coming back in a trade. That's number 1. Number 2: the easiest, quickest path to success is to stay put with the current core, but give them competent coaching and direction. If they start moving Eichel and Reinhart, we will be back to where we were in the tank years. It'll set this all back 5 years. We've already endured enough pain and suffering.

"Style" is meaningless IMO. What they need is an experienced NHL coach who knows how to win and has won in many different situations. It's why I love Boudreau for the job, but Gallant or Julien would be fine too. The fact that none of those 3 have been named HC as of today tells me they aren't going to be hired. So I assume we will hire the wrong guy again. Probably a college coach.

It's way early to be crying tears of joy. We have stopped wandering cluelessly in the woods, and we can see the path up ahead. Still need to get back on it and try to move forward, though.

It is NOT going to be one of the "big 3" names currently available (Boudreau, Julien, Gallant). If it was going to be any one of those 3, they would have been announced as the HC today. They have had plenty of time to prepare for this and I would guess KA has been harping for Ralph's firing for a long time. For some reason, Pegula finally caved in. I expect it to be a college coach or someone like that out of left field, maybe Leaman, who I voted for in the poll. Dumping Ralph means nothing in isolation! They must replace him with a GOOD coach going forward or this is just more frustration waiting to happen. We are a long way from being out of the woods right now!

You need to have a re-think about the power structure at the Sabres and how it all works. If you play with it long enough, I think you'll see the problem is Pegula, not Adams or even Ralph. Ultimately, it's Pegula. He appointed a "yes" man to run what is fundamentally *Pegula's* team. He saw that Adams was reliable and loyal in other areas of the business, and so he got promoted to the top slot. Further, Pegula decided, a couple of years ago, that there would be no more buying out of bad Ks, after spending tens of millions of dollars on them in the first many years of his ownership. So the directive goes to Adams: don't fire Ralph, and Ralph is allowed to continue to destroy the team on the ice. As of right now, we should assume Ralph will be here for the remainder of this regular season, and possibly into next season as well, if he isn't fired at the end of this one. We now know Krueger is a worse experiment than Ron Rolston! Think about that. And yet here he is! It has *nothing* to do with Adams. It has everything to do with Pegula.

What possible reason, other than money, would be the cause of Ralph's retention at this point? Their top candidate isn't available yet? Ralph should still have been fired before now with any one of a number of suitable interim coaches put in place until the real candidate is available. It's money. It has to be money.

As of 2020, the Sabres were valued at $385 million. They were the 4th least valuable team in the NHL. The top 5 franchises are all valued at or above $1 billion: Rangers, Leafs, Canadiens, Blackhawks, Bruins.