GASabresIUFAN

Did he watch tonight's game? This team isn't close.

Just when they pull me back in they push me out again.

He was Chief Financial Officer for the NHL at one point.

When he bought the team he hired Teb Black as team president (he worked for the Penguins) and Ken Sawyer (also from the Penguins), but both were financial guys. I think I found what you were remembering. In Jan 2014 they hired Craig Patrick as a special advisor. He last a year.

When he bought the team he hired Teb Black as team president (he worked for the Penguins) and Ken Sawyer (also from the Penguins), but both were financial guys. I think I found what you were remembering. In Jan 2014 they hired Craig Patrick as a special advisor. He lasted a year.

@tom webster The above quote is the missing ingredient. TM and Jbot were not out of left field hires like Adams, but they were also 1st time GMs without a proper veteran hockey person to consult with.

9 days until the trade deadline. So far nothing. Greenway & Zucker haven't been extended or traded. Cozens, Quinn, Power and Byram are all still Sabres. The team has been better of late. The team is 7-3 in their last 10 games and 4-1 in February. Their only Feb loss, was an incredibly terrible game against a beatable opponent in Nashville. Despite their better play, the Sabres remain in last place in the Eastern Conference with 53 points in 56 games. They also remain nominally in the 4th draft position although Sea and Pitt have worse winning %. The Sabres have 3 games in hand on both teams. Who is hot? Dahlin - 14 pts in the last 10, TNT 13, Zucker and JJP 11 points each. TNT has 8 goals in the last 10, with JJP adding 6, plus Zucker, McLeod and Kulich have 4 goals each. Given this backdrop what should Adams do? I was hoping for blockbuster earlier, but now I think we'll see next to nothing done at the deadline. He'll probably trade Joki and maybe Quinn. I suspect he holds on to Zucker for the rest of the season and tries (but fails) to re-sign him. Cozens, who is showing some small signs of life also remains.

So you would give McLeod $6 mill a season for a career 12% shooter who is in the midst of a career year with a 24% shooting %.? I'm sorry this is why the Sabres make bad decisions. Cozens shooting % for his career are 6.5%, 8.1%, 9% and 8.7% except his career contract year in which he shot 14.7%. The Sabres gave him a contract based on the career year and he immediately reverted to his previous shooting level% McLeod's career shooting % are 11, 14.1, 11.3 and this year 24.1 . This year is an anomaly that is unlikely to be repeated.

If he puts up 50 pts this season, no way he settles on a 3 mill per season deal. AFP estimates were also based on his stats while he was in the midst of his 6 pts in 22 game slump.

Which is a pretty sad commentary on Cozens. Are you willing to pay $6 mill a year for McLeod given his 24% shooting %?

My issue with McLeod is that he is incredibly inconsistent and always has been. If you look at his season he had 12 pts (6g) in the first 18 games and then disappeared for 22 games (0g, 6a) and then got hot again with 12 pts (8g) in the last 13 games. Now add that he's never been a good playmaker. This year he is having a career year (on a contract year). Unfortunately setting himself up for a big payday at the Sabres' expense. The key here is his 24% shooting % for a guy with a career shooting % in Edm of 11.9%. His scoring is not sustainable. If Adams give him a long-term deal or even a Mitts type 3 year deal, we will come to regret it. As a 3rd line center he is perfectly ok given his solid 5 on 5 defense and speed. We just can't overpay on a career year and we still must find a top 6 playmaker.

You can be “un-involved in the day to day”, but still put the franchise behind the eight ball. For example TP tells his GM here is your internal salary cap, but allow the GM to spend it as he see fit. Another example could be simply saying the GM is not allowed to retain salary in any trades. This isn’t day to day involvement, but it does handcuff the GM. The two examples are how I feel TP meddles besides his terrible management hires, and so I think that’s what the agents mean. Adams can make any hockey personnel decisions he wants in terms of contract $ and term and trade any prospect, player or pick as long as he doesn’t spend above x$ and doesn’t retain any salary to get the deals done.

The fall starts in the second period. We have scored 67 goals in the first. It then drops to 54 in the second and we have now scored 57 in the 3rd. We have only allowed 42 1st period goals. That numbers jumps to 71 in the second and 71 in the 3rd. It’s pretty clear that our performance as a team falls off in the 2nd and then carries over into the 3rd.

It could be that the Sabres come out hard and fast and their effort and attention to detail then fall off as the grind of the game continues? It’s kind of like a sugar high to start the game and once the sugar gets out of their system they crash and go to sleep. or It also could be that good teams don’t take them seriously and then once they get behind they start picking up their intensity, start physically man handling our weak players and grind the Sabres into submission. or It could be that our team’s flaws get exposed over the 60 minutes, especially our poor defense and penalty kill. The defense and PK get exploited time and again as the game progresses destroying the hope created by the quick start. or It could be a mix of all these issues.

Yet we have one of the worst PK in the NHL. Maybe the problem is bigger than one player? Maybe that player isn’t as effective on the PK as alleged?

The D in the 3rd period was the most activated I've seen by this team all year. They literally skated a tired Ducks team into the ice in the 3rd. They probably should have had 6 goals.

Yep.

The Sabres lead the NHL in scoring first this season. In fact they've scored first in 35 of 55 games. Unfortunately, they only have 18 wins when scoring first and 12 regulations losses. Their 12 regulation losses when scoring first is 2nd only to Chicago. Their 17 losses (Reg & OT) when scoring 1st is also second worst to Chicago's 19. They also have 6 losses after leading after 1 period. This is the second worst in that category as well (Chicago has 8). Defense wins championships and this team doesn't have any.

You forgot that we are also 22nd in ES goals allowed (in other words we have allowed the 11 most goals 5 on 5. Our defense also falls apart as the game progresses. We are 6th best in the NHL in least 1st period goals allowed at 41. However he have allowed 70 goals in the 2nd period (3rd most allowed) and 71 in the 3rd period (4 most allowed). Our offense also slips significantly after the 1st. We lead the NHL in goals in the 1st period with 67, but our 54 in the 2nd is 19th and our 54 in the 3rd is 21st. Hard to win in the NHL if you can't hold a lead. The problem with this team is defense and special teams.

Different team, different system. He thrived here and our team was better with him. I actually don’t have an issue with the McLeod trade as I did earlier. Since being demoted to the 4th line McLeod has really picked up his game at both ends of the ice. I still wouldn’t commit to him long term but how much better would we be with both Mitts and McLeod in the top 9?

Except Zucker none of the players you mentioned are seasoned vets none have actually upgraded the roster. Since these players were added and guys like Mitts, Skinner, VO, and others were subtracted the team is worse. The only two legit non-goalie vets Adams has added that could be argued are upgrades are Zucker and Greenway and both are 3rd line players (or would be on a real team). There is no question McLeod has been good but he isn’t a 50+ point player like Mitts or any sort of playmaker like Mitts. He is a downgrade. Byram has improved this season but the analytics say he is being carried by Dahlin. At least he’s better than Power. Still is he worth another huge long-term Adams contract? I don’t think so as his in zone D is still very suspect. Malenstyn, who maybe the only 4th line acquisition who has somewhat done what was expected, is playing over 4 minutes a game less than he did with Wash last season and they don’t miss him at all. Their front office must be laughing at Adams for giving them a 2nd for him. Maybe all 3 of these players are part of the Sabres future, but remember all 3 were dumped by teams with Cup aspirations.

...and they are still at the bottom of the Eastern Conference and 4th worst team in the NHL. At least it's more entertaining.

Nice win. Sad they didn't have this kind of effort for most of the season. They blocked shots, played hard until the final whistle. A few guys even tried to stand up for teammates. This game showed why the US lost to Canada in the final game of the 4 Nations..... Too many Rangers.

Is it me, or do the Amerks have much more fun playing hockey than the Sabres. Sure winning is a factor, but they just seem to play with more joy and enthusiasm.

Since when has that ever mattered to the Sabres in the last 14 years.