msw2112

I was advocating for Leone as an in-house candidate (which means it won't cost much) and a new face who I believe is on the rise, but I agree that DeBoer or Gallant are experienced coaches who have had fairly recent success in the league. Of course, Ruff had a good season in NJ a couple of years before the Sabres hired him....

I've been a Lindy Ruff fan since he played for the team. Loved him in his first coaching go-round. That said, it's time. I'd be in favor of Leone as HC and Jarmo as GM to see what they can do with the rest of the season and go from there. While Appert had some success in Rochester and has nice hair, his college coaching record is bad. He's been terrible as an assistant coach/power play coach. Leone just seems to be a guy on the rise and he's in the organization already. I don't even know what he (or his hair) looks like, but I don't care. Give him a shot. It can't be any worse than what's going on now and sometimes in-season coaching changes work. Berube did extremely well in St. Louis and Kris Knoblauch did the same in Edmonton, as in-season hires. I realize that Connor McDavid is not going to come walking through that door, but the team was on a major skid and Knoblauch came in and turned it around quickly. Some guys just have good systems and/or relate well to players and I think Leone may be that kind of guy.

Ass

It's a tough call. I don't like when players are rushed back too soon from injury and it lingers, and maybe never fully heals during the season. On the other hand, this Sabres team will struggle to succeed without their supposed #1 goalie and 3 or 4 of their top 6 defensemen and this team absolutely cannot afford a poor start to the season. They're just not good enough to dig themselves out of a hole. It's too early to judge whether all of these injuries are a) freak, largely unpreventable occurrences that have all, by chance, happened around the same time; b) the team being extra-cautious and not rushing guys back that are dinged up but able to play; or c) a failure of the new strength and conditioning program. Let's hope it's a) or b) and not c).

I'm only going on what's been said on this board - I don't listen to Hamilton and as such, I don't really have an opinion on him one way or another and I have not personally heard him mispronounce the player's name. My take is that if he mispronounced the name once or twice, that's fine, but he apparently does it repeatedly, which is very poor form for a member of the media. It irritates me when media members don't do their homework and mispronounce names and/or overlook or misstate important facts. Most of us have to be prepared to succeed at our jobs and we would like to see our media members prepare for theirs. Having a good handle on the people or events that they cover is part of a media person's job. But enough lecturing on a media member I don't follow. I'm much more concerned about the Sabres' defense and goaltending injuries....

How it is supposed to be pronounced: "Hell-en-eee-us?" Not as easy as the monosyllabic "Krebs" but doesn't seem THAT difficult to pronounce.

Ryan Johnson might stick around, particularly given the injuries on D. The fact that Zac Jones was waived and sent to Rochester seems to support the notion of Johnson getting some kind of shot, as Jones was expected to stay with the Sabres and possibly take the 7th spot from Bryson. That Bryson contract, although not very old, is not aging well. I think that most would prefer Johnson OR Jones over Bryson. And don't get me started about Bernard-Docker. And I don't dislike Bryson as much as many on this board, I just think that Johnson, Jones, and Bernard-Docker are better players.

Interesting to see Bernard-Docker in the Wings' lineup. He played pretty well for the Sabres last season which may have helped tilt the Cozens trade in the Sabres' favor if he had a successful career in Buffalo. Then they let him walk to go sign with Detroit for around league minimum (1 year, $875K), while re-signing Bryson instead. I thought I read somewhere that B-D was not interested in re-signing in Buffalo, and if that's the case, OK, but if the Sabres elected to let him move on, I consider this yet another blunder by the organization.

You can tell from my avatar and screen name that I'm a big fan of the song, album, and band! I would love it as a goal song, but I'm not sure the appeal would be universal enough. I thought the list of options were pretty weak and went with the Metallica song by default, as it's the only one that I thought was close to being a good option. I think the song they're using for the Goathead games is far better than any of the options offered for the Blue and Gold games.

For what it's worth, I thought that when Johnson played a bunch of games with the Sabres a couple of seasons ago, he looked pretty decent, especially for young, inexperienced player. I have not watched him play in Rochester, nor do I have any insight on training camp, but from what I saw, he looked like a player with a promising future. From the handful of games Rosen has played in Buffalo in the last couple of seasons, he's shown nothing. He's been good at the AHL level, but he may be one of those guys that is simply not destined for a NHL career. I'd love to see him break out this season, but I haven't seen anything yet that would indicate future success at the NHL level.

I think the Sabres, like the Bills, are a collaborative environment. I believe that the roster is created by a coordinated effort among Adams, Ruff, and now Jarmo. Other individuals on the coaching and hockey-side management staffs also have input. I don't believe that Adams is a puppet for Ruff, but they certainly communicate and work together to assemble the roster. Given his level of experience, Ruff may have more input/influence than Granato did. In any case, I don't believe that Adams (and his staff) and Ruff (and his staff) are operating in a vacuum. Borrowing a concept from an old Bill Parcells (NFL coach) quote, Adams is doing the grocery shopping to purchase the ingredients and Ruff is cooking the meals, but Ruff works closely with Adams to determine what goes on the shopping list. I suspect that Ruff has a lot more influence on personnel than Adams does on practice and game management. In my opinion, that's how a professional sports team should operate, but it doesn't mean that Adams is good at shopping or that Ruff is good at making the meals.

I'd think that if UPL is still injured and not yet up to speed that we'd see Lyon, or maybe even Georgiev, as the plan seems to be to allow Levi additional time to develop in Rochester. That said, training camp and the preseason have not even started yet, so maybe the Sabres are waiting to see who performs the best. If Levi looks the best in camp & preseason action, should he get the net on opening night? And if so, what's the plan for Rochester?

While it's not about palm trees and taxes, it's about wins and losses, I do agree that Adams and the Sabres are fairly limited in the moves they can make. A team in their current state has a hard time attracting free agents and overcoming no-trade clauses. Given those limitations, Adams has made some fairly significant moves. As stated above, Peterka, Cozens, and Mittelstadt were all top-40 draft picks who played major roles on the roster. Trading Savoie, a top-10 draft pick, for McLeod is not an insignificant move. The Eichel and Reinhart moves were huge trades - although if the team had been better managed, they could have been avoided. The point I'm making is that Adams is not simply sitting on his hands. That doesn't make him a good GM or say that every move he's made was a good one. But it does refute the point that he sits on his hands and does nothing. I think his handling of the coaching situation (and I have been a Lindy Ruff fan for years) was poor. Even if Lindy was the right guy for the job, where was the "extensive search" that was promised? And why do they continue with the failing assistant coaches? I realize it was a money thing, and the team not wanting to pay guys not to coach, but a strong GM would have convinced the owner that changes were needed, extra cost be damned. Eventually, if the team doesn't turn it around, Adams will be gone.

I'm a fan of Greenway, but he is oft-injured. I understand the injury-prone comparison to Milano, but the difference is that a healthy Greenway is a solid contributor whereas a healthy Milano is a standout player. Let's hope both guys can get healthy and have productive seasons.

When I was a kid in the 70's, Dryden was my favorite "non-Buffalo" athlete. He had an illustrious career on and off the ice. May he rest in peace.

Sadly, this is not limited to goalies.

The freedom to work where one wants to is a trade-off when a group is part of a union and collectively bargains an agreement. In exchange for that trade-off and others, players get a certain percentage of the revenue and a minimum salary that is many times more than most people will make (annually) in their lifetimes. If NMC's are hurting the competitive balance of the league, then it should be addressed in the next CBA. That said, it was pointed out above that Winnipeg and Edmonton are two of the top teams in the league and are in (arguably) not the most desirable locations. It has also been pointed out in numerous threads that winning cures everything. The Bills don't seem to have a problem attracting free agents to Buffalo, because the team is a well-run, successful franchise. The Sabres never had a problem attracting free agents or making trades when they were a winning club. Thus, although NMCs may be an issue to be corrected, I don't believe it's a great excuse for the Sabres. If the team can get its house in order, players will want to come. Buffalo has been a desirable market for hockey players in the past, given its proximity to Southern Ontario, where many players come from, and its relatively easy and laid back lifestyle. A well-paid hockey player in Buffalo can live in a big beautiful house in an area with great schools for their kids and have an easy commute down to the rink for practice and games and a short commute to the airport for road games. Players can be big fish in a small pond - local celebrities - if they so choose, but they can also stay out of the limelight if they prefer. It's extremely common for players who played for the Sabres to settle and remain in Buffalo after retirement, and it's even common for players who left Buffalo to play elsewhere to come back to the area to settle after they retire. The area is not for everybody, but certainly has a lot of appeal to many of the types of individuals who play (and coach) in the NHL. Get a competent coaching staff, a capable GM in the front office, and regularly participate in the playoffs, and the Sabres will not struggle to attract players via trade or free agency.

I asked my parents if they knew that Chuck was from Rochester and my Dad said, yes, and that they went to the same high school and even shared classes together! Not sure why he never mentioned that back in the day when he used to listen to that music all the time. After high school, my Dad moved to Buffalo to attend UB, and he stayed until retirement (hence me being born and raised in Buffalo)....he was also a Sabres and Bills season ticket holder before retirement to warmer climes (hence me being a huge Sabres and BIlls fan).

Never knew he was from Rochester, but always liked "Feels So Good" and one or two of his other hits. My parents played his vinyl when I was growing up and they were big fans. Prayers to his family.

I'm not familiar with this player, but if he can help the Sabres, maybe the Jarmo connection can get this done. Below are his stats from NHL.com.

While I'm not deep into the details of the Amerks' roster, I believe that their last two playoff exits were to teams that were bigger, stronger, tougher, and older, but perhaps less skilled. Adding some tenacity and muscle doesn't sound like a bad idea. Same applies to the parent club, except that in order to have a "playoff exit" you must first have a "playoff appearance."

Good move for the Sabres and finally they've done something that makes sense. I like the signing and have zero issues with it, except for the fact that it doesn't improve the team. McLeod was already on the roster. Can they please sign someone who is a positive addition to the roster? Alex Lyon, assuming the deal is actually done, is a fine backup goaltender, but essentially just replaces Reimer, so not really much of a net add (no pun intended).

While it's true that Rayzor could upgrade to a shirt with a collar and tie that actually fit around his neck, that could be fixed without firing someone....If the reason is truly that the broadcasts are too critical of the team, that's pathetic.

Let's hope so. The guy played well last season and turned out to be a major piece of a big trade. If they let this guy walk, they are truly the imbeciles that we all believe them to be. And yes, Bryson continues to be a head scratcher. He's fine as a 7th-8th D-man and has played some decent minutes here and there, but there was no reason to lock him up when they did (early) and how they did (one way contract). I'd be OK with re-signing him at the price that they did AFTER the draft, free agency, etc. If they still needed a 7th-8th D-man at that time, he would have been fine. What was the hurry?

My thoughts: The pre-draft press conference is probably a regularly-scheduled event that every team has, every year. If Adams is up to something behind the scenes, I'd prefer he keep it quiet and doesn't tip his hand in the media in such a way that could cost him leverage in potential deals with other teams. Someone above said "I don't care what he says, but only about what he does." I agree with this. I don't have a whole lot of confidence in Adams either way, but maybe the presence of Jarmo can help. It's a huge disappointment if the entire coaching staff returns. Again, no need to publicly make statements in the media to humiliate guys who may be bad coaches but good people. Just say they're under contract publicly, while, hopefully, privately, he's searching for their replacements.