msw2112

Adams will run the hockey side. Scouting and signing players, signing and managing coaches, draft prep, hockey analytics, etc. I assume that Roth will run the business side. Marketing, advertising, lease negotiations with the city and county, managing arena improvements, TV contracts (with MSG or other), food and merchandise vendors, HR, payroll, tax/finance, legal, IT, etc. There are many aspects to running a business (including a professional sports business) that are separate from the hockey operations and it makes sense to separate them. Problems arise when you have someone from the operations side participating on the hockey/sports side (see Brandon, Russ) and the guys on the hockey/sports side should focus on their side of the house. Kevyn Adams does not and should not be spending his time negotiating with food vendors, making sure the marketing, IT, Legal, HR, tax/finance, etc. departments are running properly.

I don't agree with this. The best way for a hockey player to improve is to PLAY. If the chances of your playing time are reduced by others in the organization and you have the option to go to another organization where your chances to play are higher, I would probably do the same. Also, by going the free agent route, he could still potentially sign with Buffalo if he wanted to. So there's really no downside. It's not just that the Sabres have goalies in front of him - all NHL teams do - it's that they have 2 young guys in his age range, one of whom has a major head start (UPL). The Sabres also invested a relatively high draft pick on a goalie this season. I'm both a major Sabres fan and Michigan fan. I would love for Portillo to sign with the Sabres. With my pro-Sabres bias, I want him to come to the Sabres organization. Looking at it objectively, however, it seems like the best move for Portillo is free agency.

I agree that someone is likely to get injured, given how many games they have coming up in a short stretch of time. That will ultimately self-correct the situation. I didn't realize that Krebs is also eligible, but agree that he's been playing well and should remain in the lineup, and that Cozens and Power are not even to be considered for Rochester (on paper or otherwise), as those two are big-minute regulars in the lineup.

I thought that someone suggested they send Quinn or Peterka back to Rochester, on paper, for those games that UPL is going to start. They don't need to clear waivers. I could go with that solution. Pick whichever one has been playing less effectively at the time. Basically, sit/swap one of them for UPL. Neither one has been terribly productive lately and the Peterka-Cozens-Quinn line has not done much as a line in some time. That may be preferable to waiving Hinostroza or someone else, putting Anderson on IR, etc. They could even alternate them so that neither one sits more than 1 game in a row and both get needed development time on the ice. For games started by Anderson or Comrie, both would be able to play, so each guy may end up only having to sit out 1 in every 3 or 4 games.

For me, I agree with this 100%. If I had paid full price for tickets, plus parking, given up an entire night, etc. I might feel differently.

I live in the western part of the country. I set my DVR to record this game and was planning to watch it after watching my recording of the College Football National Championship game. I got through the (terrible) football game and started watching the Sabres game around 11 PM. For some reason, my DVR had an error and never recorded the game beyond the first 10 seconds of the broadcast. I was pissed for about a minute, then looked up the score and realized that it did me a huge favor. I got 2 more hours of much needed sleep. Based on what I am seeing here, I would have been a whole lot more pissed if I had stayed up well past midnight to watch that sh(% game. Will give it another go tonight with Seattle. I'm guessing that last night's sleepwalk got their attention and DG will have them ready tonight. Plus, Seattle has always given them fits, so I think they will be pumped up to play very well against this opponent.

The fact that there are few/no defensemen is silly. Dahlin belongs in the ASG under any circumstance and it should not be left to chance the way that it is. That video was also awkward, contrived, and silly. I realize what they were trying to do with it, but it just didn't happen. Thompson is obviously a reserved, low-key guy off the ice, and it showed in the video. If I was the Sabres PR/Marketing team, I would have abandoned the idea after seeing how it went. Notwithstanding my comments above, it was earned and well-deserved for Tage, so congrats to him!

UPL has earned his spot and has won some key games for the team against top opponents (the Vegas win being a great example). I like Vinnie, but I think that Asplund is more valuable. The Sabres have more guys with Vinnie's skillset (smallish forwards with good speed and some scoring ability) than Asplund's (a solid defensive forward with some limited scoring ability) and Asplund is younger and cheaper. So I think that you have to waive or release Vinnie, and on D, probably waive Fitzgerald when Joki returns. I don't know if Fitz had to clear waivers to be sent down - but hopefully not. While I hate for the Sabres to lose a decent player, isn't it nice to have first-world problems for a change?

While I know the Bruins are one of the top teams in the NHL this season, I had not followed them very closely. After seeing this post, I looked up Ullmark's numbers and was shocked at how impressive of a season he is having. While I can understand the Sabres making the decision that they did (not offering Ullmark top dollar and term, given his injury history and the developmental stature of the team), imagine where this year's Sabres team might be if they had retained Ullmark.

I guess if they had to send him down to free up roster space, they had to expose him. It seems to me that they hope he clears and goes to Roch and they are not trying to outright release him. I haven't seen enough to know if Fitz and Clague have been better, but certainly this board has been more complimentary of Clague of late, and Fitz does bring a physical element to the team the they need.

I agree. I thought he played well against Vegas, even without the puck. He was forechecking and playing with a bit of a physical edge. He also made a couple of decent passes. Perhaps there is little more to his game than the 1-timer on the power play.

I'd go with whatever Coach Granato thinks is best. He seems to have found a winning formula over the last strech of games. It was great to see goaltending finally make a difference for the team last night against Vegas. Also, it seemed like he had a clear lane to see a lot of shots, so perhaps the defense did a better job of clearing out the traffic.

Very true. Between work, wife, and kids, I barely have time to keep up with the Sabres, let alone guys on the farm team. That's why I come here for information! I'm familiar with Laaksonen, but wasn't aware of his current standing in the organization. Now I certainly am. Hopefully the local kid can make good.

Seems like an odd trade to me. Laaksonen is younger and was at one time thought to be a solid D prospect. Cecconi is 25 and has not made it out of the AHL. To me, that means he has less upside. I suppose the logic is that the Sabres no longer see Laaksonen as a future NHL player and that Cecconi can add more to Rochester than Laaksonen does. The one thing I like about Cecconi is that he's a Michigan Wolverine. Maybe having more Wolverines in the system (to go along with Owen Power) will influence Portillo to sign with the Sabres. (I say that in jest - Cecconi left Michigan before Portillo arrived, so there is likely very little connection.) Upon further review, I also see that he's a local kid from Youngstown,NY and he played with the Jr. Sabres, so further plusses for the kid. Upon my first read, I thought he was from Youngstown, OH. Either way, it looks like the Sabres have given up on Laaksonen.

I don't like this. I enjoy seeing the Sabres play all of the teams throughout the league. I never liked too many games between the same two teams. Save that for the playoffs. I think we play our division rivals more than enough already. I really liked it many years ago when they had the balanced schedule. Back in those days, it was great to see the Gretzky Oilers 4 times per year, twice in Buffalo. Under the current system, we only see the McDavid Oilers twice a year, once in Buffalo. The balanced scheudle is also inherently more fair. If every team plays every other team the same number of times, every team can more fairly be compared to every other team. Currently teams in tougher divisions inherently have tougher schedules and a more difficult road to making the playoffs. I'm sure many will disagree and I do see the benefits of less travel and more intense rivalries with the unbalanced schedule. I just like the balanced system better.

This is an excellent post. Realistic and rational. Adams is not responsible for the last 11 years. He is responsible for the last 2 or so years. He did pretty much a full tear down and is doing a full rebuild. The last time the rebuild was "rushed" by Tim Murray, it did not go well. Sure, I am frustrated at how long this is taking, as I'm sure all of us are. But Adams has a plan in place, he's been transparent about the plan, and the plan appears to be working. Some of the moves a team like Detroit has made may get them higher in the standings in the short run, but I think that Adams' plan will put is in a better position in the long run. I think that a Colorado Avalanche, or Houston Astros type of model is the goal. The Astros were historically terrible for a long time, and now they are historically excellent. I hate the Astros, and disdain their cheating a few seasons ago, but you can't argue that their plan has been highly successful. Back to the Sabres: of course, the goaltending needs to be fixed by the start of next season. Adams has proven to be highly competent thus far and it's just a hunch that he's aware of the goaltending issue and will do something about it.

I was not quite old enough to be at that game, but I definitely remember Schony as a Sabre and I do own a copy of this:

Sure, the losing streak makes it much more of a stretch, but they are hovering just below .500 and it's early December....Plenty of time for a lot to happen.

I'll go with this. They do need to right the ship and win a game this week, though. Forget about the playoffs. Just stop the bleeding and get the ship back on course.

Development and trying to succeed are not mutually exclusive. You can try to develop a young team, giving minutes to younger players vs. veterans, and letting the young guys play through some mistakes, and STILL try to win games. Despite the current horrid losing streak, I think that's where the Sabres are. They are not tanking with the goal of landing a high draft pick. Despite the losing streak, I do think this team has enough talent (at least when all of the injured defensemen are back) to finish in the .500 range and be in the middle of the pack. That likely puts them on the outside looking in for the playoffs, but would still be their best record in years and would represent an upward trajectory. But what do I know? Just my personal opinion based on what I have seen.

I was hoping for more from Comrie, but given his numbers, I don't think there will be much, if any, drop-off with UPL. UPL's prior NHL numbers were pretty decent and better than his AHL numbers. While there are other reasons to be concerned about the direction of the season, I don't think this is going to have any negative impact. If UPL continues his prior trends of better NHL numbers than AHL numbers, it may end up being a "net" positive.

Yes. It's too soon. It's the middle of November.

I don't watch too much NHL hockey outside of the Sabres, and at that, I can't watch all of the Sabres games. Is it true that other NHL teams "finsh their checks" like hockey teams did in the old days? Not to overly criticize the Sabres, beacuse from what I have seen, other teams don't do it all that much either when they play the Sabres. I do watch some playoff hockey every year, and it definitely looks like guys finish their checks in the playoffs. These comments are anecdotal and not tied to any statistics. I'm curious what others who watch more hockey than me think. To my mind, if there's no penalty for a clean hit, why not hit as often as you can? It's fun to dish out (although not so much to take) and it sends a message to the opponent. It also helps get the crowd into the game and sets an aggressive tone that can help create positive momentum for a team.

Who is available that fits this category? I saw another post that said we needed a 50 goal scorer on the wing? Who doesn't? How many 50 goal scorers are there in the league and how many of them are available for trade? I think we are developing our own 50 goal scorer in Thompson, alhtough he's a center, not a wing. Back to the original post, what this team needs the most right now is solid, reliable goaltending that can steal an occasional game. Comrie stole one game in Edmonton, and that's about it. The defense will get better (for this season) when Jokihariu and Samuelsson get back, and it will get better in the long term as the younger guys mature. Adding an expensive veteran at this point doesn't feel like the right move to me. Yes, they have the cap space, but I think they want to give the ice time to the younger guys so they can develop. Plus, they WILL need the cap space as the contracts of the younger guys come up.

When does a player stop being a "prospect?" Dylan Cozens, for example, is in his third year in the NHL and is a full-time NHL player that plays a regular shift. It he still considered a prospect? This isn't to say that Cozens is not still a young player who can develop more and become a better player. If a rookie comes into the league at age 18, plays a full-season with a regular shift at the NHL level, lights it up and wins rookie of the year, is that player still a prospect in their second season? And, as to the original thread, yes, I still believe. This young team was not going to play .700 hockey (or whatever pace they were on a couple of weeks ago) all season. They around .500 and have had a bad run against some good teams (excepting Arizona, who, although playing better, does not qualify as a good team). By all accounts, they are still playing hard and staying competitive. From what I have read, they played strong, competitive hockey against Carolina, Tampa, Vegas, and Boston, but ultimately lost out to better teams. If they play that way against most teams, they should pick up their fair share of wins. The younger players will improve. Not everyone has the talent/skill to be as a good as Thompson and Dahlin, but they are two examples of patience with young players paying off. I expect a few others among the group of Peterka, Quinn, Krebs, Cozens, Power, Samuelsson, and others (not to mention draft picks in Rochester and juniors) to improve over time and be very good NHL players. Goaltending does still need to be sorted out and if they don't sign Levi or Portillo (or both) for next season, moves will need to be made. Although this 11 year period has been rough, you have to remember that they basically started over when they moved on from Eichel, Reinhart, Risto, Ullmark, etc. Rather than short-circuiting it like Murray tried to do, they need to stick to the plan this time. And I think that Granato is a good coach. I hear people say that he's a good coach "for now" but not the guy to get us over the top. That may be true, but how in the hell would anyone know that now? The team has not been a real playoff hunt, or in a playoff game, since he's been with the team, nor would anyone expect them to be, given the rosters that have been in place. They certainly did well in "high-profile" games last year. For now, it's a developing team, and Granato is a good coach for that kind of team. If they become a playoff team, then we can judge how Grantao does with that kind of team. And if they don't eventually become a playoff team, Granato won't be around for us to find out how good or bad of a coach he is with that kind of team.