GASabresIUFAN

Briere topped out at 95 points. That’s an elite number and drove that team to the President’s Cup. That team also had very balanced scoring. Overall he had 230 points in 225 games as a Sabre. Vanek was also an elite goal scorer with two 40 goal seasons, 254 goals in 598 Sabres games snd a 84 pt campaign in 06/07. I don’t see any current Sabres putting up those kind of numbers and even with those players and a balanced roster, good goaltending and good coaching that team still fell short. Where thus bunch will have an advantage over the Briere teams is Power and Dahlin. Soupy and Teppo were excellent players, but neither is at the level of the two top picks. Maybe that is the dynamic element.

I think coaching is a matter of degrees at the pro level. A bad coach can sink any amount of talent (see RK). However a good coach can make decent talent good and excellent talent great. Scotty Bowman would not have succeeded with the rosters given to Housley, Disco Dan, Donnie Meatballs or even RK. To many bad players. However find the right coach for the right roster and you can win a Cup like Washington did when they hired Barry Trotz. He took a perennial lethal offensive machine gave them defensive structure and they finally won a Cup. Of course his message got stale there quickly and they fired him and haven't played for a Cup since.

I agree that we are in a much better space because of our depth. However that doesn't change my feeling that we need at least one dynamic forward to elevate us to a Cup contender.

One of the best things about our current team is that we don’t need this year’s picks to step in immediately. Our roster is young and getting deeper. We can afford to be patient with our prospects. In the past guys like UPL, JJP, Quinn, even Laaksonen would already be in the NHL. It’s possible that only Quinn makes the jump to the NHL next year. No matter who we draft this year, I’m confident we’ll let them develop at their own pace. Now of we get just get the goaltending fixed.

I think most people here believe this team is on the cusp of being a playoff contender, especially with better goaltending. I also think most people here like the depth we are building at forward and look forward to truly running 4 quality limes night in and night out. During these regular season, a team that can roll 4 lines has a distinct advantage. However, can this team become a true Cup contender without at least one Superstar forward? When I look at this forward group I see Skinner, Tuch, Thompson, Mitts, Krebs and Quinn as potential 60-70 pts players. Cozens 50-60 and possibly better. That’s great depth, but is it good enough? I watch our OT play and PP and worry that we lack a dynamic forward to help those specialty areas thrive.

I’m going to have to agree here. RK’s coaching of Dahlin was like a 400lbs jockey on Secretariat. However this team ran the offense through Jack regardless of coach. With Jack gone, it freed the team and allowed more of the offense to process through Dahlin and the D in general. Raz has also physical matured and become an on ice leader. DG deserves a great deal of credit for allowing his best players to be his best players.

Odds are that they play another year in Europe before coming over. Then a year in the A to adjust to the smaller ice surface. If they come over immediately then maybe they get a look in year 2, maybe. Broberg spent 2 years in Europe, received 22 games this season and then got sent down to Bakersfield. Even Cale Makar spent two years in college post draft and neither RHD in this draft is at his level. Nemec will be gone when we draft and I really like Jiricek. If he’s there at 9 we should take him. However don’t expect him to be a Sabre before the 2024/25 season.

Not with us he didn’t l, but he had the best winning % of any post Lindy coach. This team is making progress. I believe and have believed the DG can get us to the playoffs. However since he has been our coach we have had only two truly good months of play, the beginning of this season and this March. Until we are a consistently competitive team, this whole discussion is which of our coaches has been least bad.

I can accept that and the like the trajectory the team is on. However Disco Dan has a much better win%.

Still No. Until he coaches the team to the playoffs, the answer remains no.

No idea. Certainly some infractions are reviewed after the game for a suspension. I doubt the NHL cares. In tennis, destroying your racket during a match is penalized.

He should be suspended for a game, although a better punishment might be playing behind the Hawks defense.

Other then Wright and slafkovsky, who I think can help this team sooner then later, everyone else seems like good depth long-term. I don’t think any of the forwards besides the 2 above are better then Krebs, Cozens, Quinn or Mitts. The RHD look solid but 2-3 years from even drawing into the lineup. JJP might be a top 8 pick in this draft. The depth in the draft looks fine. I like Snuggerud and he is 22nd on Pronmans board. Ultimately it’s kind of nice not to be so desperate for talent that you have to project every 1st rd pick immediately into the lineup.

6-1-2 since beating Jack and the LV Knights on March 10th. What a difference a few weeks make.

Hard to celebrate your GWG when your skating back to the bench without your stick and don’t see it go in.

They came back in OT in 1989, but this I think is the best regulation comeback.

Thought this belonged here as well.

From your lips to G-d’s KA’s ears

1983. 2-25-1983 to be exact. Trailing Bos 6-1, the Sabres came back and won 7-6. No OT then.

Gotcha.

I guess Jbot knew something about drafting after all.

I asked this after the Las Vegas game. With that game the Sabres are 6-1-2 since March 10.

Did you just watch the same game we did?

Dear Jack, this is how superstars lead their team to victory.