klos1963

Tonight should be another great game to watch. It's been said over and over, but nothing like playoff hockey. Too bad our team never participates.

Well, this certainly is a view through 'Buffalo colored glasses'. An earlier poster mentioned most potential big names don't generally make it to the free agent market. Buffalo right now is a tough sell, it's not a franchise that would be viewed well from an on ice perspective. All warm and fuzzy things aside like living close to home(Toronto is likely also close to home), a lot of players are also from Western Canada as well. Buffalo needs to be a better option than other offers and that might be pretty hard to accomplish.

Doan coaches his son at the rink my kids play at here in AZ- he never wanted to leave Phoenix as a player, I wonder if he would as a coach. Super great guy, always has time to chat with everyone at the rink.

The point was not enough talent to be a playoff team. Like the Sabres for the last 7 years.

Just because you don't want to hear the teams had no talent, doesn't mean it wasn't a valid reason for not making the playoffs. It's actually an incredibly valid reason. One of the best reasons.

Are there any coaches out there with a reputation for developing young players?

I live in Phoenix and always found Tippet to be a solid coach. And after the reached the conference finals, it was a mess out here. I think he did as well as anyone could have, but they decided to go full rebuild with new ownership and they gutted the hockey department. I think we should feel comfortable if he is the choice.

He got the Coyotes to a conference final , isn't that impressive? I find it amazing to see that so many fans will just assume a coach, player... will just duplicate their exact record at their latest job, seemingly totally oblivious to the fact that no 2 situations are remotely comparable. All different players, different management, different competition....

What about losing 40 goals from the first line?

Sullivan is the head coach - he's the one doing the talking

wear and tear injury. Was hurting much of this past season. Didn't practice as much later in the year.

Even if you don't like the idea of Martin as our head coach, to pick one picture like this to justify your reasoning is just plain ignorant. Maybe the head coach wanted to make a point to the player, is it that hard to imagine?

Maybe you just don't understand what the word means. Or maybe you are wrong about the 'old school' approach. Maybe the recent coaches we had didn't try to coddle the players and we just didn't have the talent or the right coach. But you're probably right, we need less communication. Brilliant.

He made it twice, once with Ottawa and once with the Habs

That's a pretty solid record.

Pressure from whom? They can start him in rochester next season with out issue if they wish. I don't think that's something to worry much about.

Too bad. Seems like a great teammate, but it's won't get any easier as he gets older. He's not long for the league.

I doubt he would want to come back.

Yes, ask around. I was listening to a broadcast recently, I think on TSN. They were discussing him and mentioned how is he thought of as a solid coach well regarded. I'm not saying I agree, but have no reason to disagree.

He is very highly regarded throughout the league. Certainly wouldn't be a glamorous pick, but it wouldn't surprise me.

He's certainly a big name signing.

We'll probably never know, but how often do we hear of negotiations with high end players. I'm not putting Tavares in that category. My guess is agents tell the Sabres not to bother. I may be wrong, I hope I am. Let's see how we do on this list of UFA's this off season. Let's sign Skinner first. https://thehockeynews.com/news/article/the-top-30-unrestricted-free-agents-of-2019

They are two terrible team contracts - maybe okposo might have gotten that contract elsewhere , but Moulson was way overpaid. Jury is out on Pilut.

Not meaning to disagree with bulk of your post. But Okposo and Moulson are/were here in part because they were offered crazy contracts. Not sure Erod Pilut and Nelson are high end free agents that were in high demand. Players will come here, but I think the stars need to align a bit to get top end players.

Did the Sabres know he had a problem? Just wondering why he is ok now , did we try to help him?