PerreaultForever

To the bold, I think this might have more to do with it than we realize. As incompetent as Adams has been in some areas he may be actively trying to improve the work ethic and attitude of the team and when he has to choose, will choose the guy he sees as more committed to the game, and that would be Cozens. My own view on Cozens is he needs a tougher team around him to allow him to play bigger. I do believe Hathaway pasting him has made him a little skittish.

The Tiger Williams moment stuck in my brain forever was an interview he did with Dick Beddoes where Beddoes used the word "metaphor" and Tiger looked a little perplexed and said "metaphor? is that a kind of rock?" A real life Slap Shot moment for sure.

Hockey purpose? Is that a phrase used in the rule book? I don't think so but idk. It was not deemed a deliberate swing towards his face. Your face is down by the ice you might get a stick in it, it's kind of how hockey goes. You can change the rules for an interpretation but as is, by rule, it wasn't a penalty. The announcers on ESPN said the same thing.

I get that. I think in my first post on this I said speaking selfishly or just for me (or something to that effect). I will reverse this though and give you something to ponder. If you'd moved away from the Buffalo area over 30 years ago, given this period of garbage, would you still be a Sabres fan or would you have moved on to a real team? It would be a LOT easier out here to just be a Canucks fan and I'm sure @bunomatic would agree with that.

They might try, but league rules don't allow that (yet) and they'd need a new arena. being from Hamilton I'd be okay with it though.

It SHOULD be a suspension but I bet it won't be. HNIC announcers are so Leaf biased it's nauseating.

That's reasonable but for myself I just don't know. If they became the Salt Lake City Sabres (for argument's sake) I think I could and would cheer for them but I can't be sure.

No idea if they are hockey fans but they could be. David Thomson 41.8 billion Tobi Lutke 9.8 billion Mark Scheinberg 5.9 billion (tricky since he owns a gambling platform) Peter Gilgan 3.7 billion Carlo Fidani 3.2 billion Barry Zekelman 2.78 billion Mitchell Goldhar 2.7 billion Bruce Flatt 2.6 billion Hal Jackman 2.6 billion Mark Leonard 2.5 billion That's 10, but there are more and of course you could add in ownership groups with collective pools of money. All these guys live in Ontario (so they could be hockey fans and they don't own the Leafs, so maybe they'd rather have an Ontario team, but Buffalo could be the next best thing) (google says Pegula has 6.8 billion by the way of comparison and according to Forbes the Sabres are valued at the near bottom at .61 billion which might be viewed as a bargain) So, far from impossible.

There isn't a single D man who came into his own in his teens. In general wingers are the fastest, then centers, then D men, and goalies take the longest. There are exceptions of course but that's the general rule due to the difficulties of the positions involved. Our D man development plan is go out there and be yourself and learn from your mistakes. It's dumbass. Nope. Not imo. It was not high, and there is no penalty in the rule book for a low stick to the face. It was not a slash.

Useless is the wrong word. Not ready for the NHL is more reasonable and we are definitely not developing him properly.

Well the stats are nice but this isn't really news. It's been a thing for quite a long time.

Bruins looked awful today. Sabres could have probably beaten them the way they played. I only mention this because THEY got booed by their fans (and they are still in first place) and Montgomery's response was not a complaint about the fans but rather to say "they were right". It's just different.

This is a spin. The value of ALL franchises has risen because of the sport itself. Franchises in sports are just escalating everywhere. I suspect the value of the Sabres relative to other franchises is actually the same if not lower. Pegula had nothing to do with it.

Probably, but I (selfishly) don't really care if they move as I don't live in the area any more. I just want them to win. You never know though. There's rich guys out there with money to burn. Somebody might want a new toy.

I (and others) have been saying this for a while. The only way to save this is either Pegula finally "retires" and puts it in the hands of a hockey guy or he sells the team as you said. Pegula is clueless about hockey and the parade of inexperienced yes men make too many mistakes while learning on the job.

Ultimately this goes back to LaFontaine. We all know this. Pegula will not hire a hockey guy who says no to him. Hence, inexperienced guys glad for the opportunity and money and willing to be yes men. The minute JBot said no he was shown the door.

I don't disagree with any of this. I don't think Cozens slacked off on purpose this year but I do think he worked extra hard for the contract and maybe relaxed a little too much after getting it. Mitts today was garbage (St. Louis game if you read this late). As I said there, almost like he heard the 32 Thoughts talk and decided well, no reason to work my ass off here any more. In general I think this team has too much of a fun and relaxed room and lacks a work ethic and accountability. Players here do give effort for contracts and then relax (and drop off often) when they get them. I think a Torts type coach could make Cozens into a superstar. Not so sure with Mitts. Totally agree that if he was traded for a top 4 D we'd have a 3C hole to fill and we have to do that in a trade or free agency as well, but a more defensive style player would be the ideal choice. Definitely not Savoie/Kulich/Rosen/Östlund. Krebs imo is irrelevant.

The penalty non call was correct by the rule book. Just saying. It's better hockey than we saw earlier in the year but it's not good enough. imo we saw 2 pretty even teams in terms of talent and ability but they are coached better and have a much better defensive structure. They play the low score defend a lead game much better than we do. All the same usual issues were in evidence. Mitts played like he was sulking after hearing 32 Thoughts and feeling unloved. Garbage today. Parayko is another example of exactly the kind of guy we need desperately in our top 4 D. Dahlin, Peterka and Cozens were our best players today. Mitts, Krebs and Skinner our worst.

Why would you think this? He's never been in the playoffs, ever, and he specifically wanted to be in this geographical area. I'm sure he'd go to Toronto or maybe even Detroit, but they aren't taking on his salary. We are stuck with him.

It's not that he COULDN'T pay Mitts, but I suspect it's a mapped out vision of what percentage of the payroll they have designated for each position. Hence he paid Thompson and Cozens as 1C and 2C and 3C is probably a LOT LESS so Mitts doesn't fit his model of where the money goes, now and later. That's my guess anyway. I'd love to get rid of Skinner but he's not going to waive his NTC. Besides, he has way too much fun on a team that doesn't hate to lose.

I'm not upset with the idea of trading Mitts. I'm pretty sure that this would be "selling high" and if we signed him to Cozens money he'd drop off next year much like Cozens (maybe worse). We've accomplished nothing with this roster so I'm not against ANY deal, but only deals that bring back a return that leads to a better constructed roster. We need a goalie, a 2 way 3C, a top 4 D, and one or two gritty bottom enders. This season is a lost year. Whatever we have to do to fill those holes and change the make up of this roster is fine with me. Mitts could be step one.

Sounds like the guy who wrote that article just listens to 32 Thoughts. Probably all true though. The question is will Adams actually make moves, or will he just "talk" to a lot of people about potential moves that never happen.

Absolutely. My opinion of Adams is simple. Incompetent. I think he is a failure. If they do not fire him, he can redeem himself with the present/future and we can write off the past, but right now we are still a failed franchise. imo although it was supposed to be the minimum bar for this year making the playoffs finally next year is success (finally) and total failure is if/when another talented player loses their love and wants out. If that happens it's basically over.

No I don't. I suspect it would be picks and prospects and I have no use for that (unless it's a sure fire group of prospects with different skill sets from what we have but that seems unlikely). Not agreeing with what they do, but I suspect they've decided our top 2 centers are Thompson and Cozens and they aren't willing to pay Mitts top 2 money for a 3 role. So this is the choice they are making. I won't evaluate it until I see the full trade though. Quality for quality might help the team as a whole, you never know.

Do we say better late than never on the goalie idea? Adams should not get a pass for finally recognizing something we all have discussed for a really long time. Trading Mitts is a reactive situation. One could argue you are "selling high" and if the right return comes back, the team could improve with it. It's possible. You're not getting that for Mitts unless we are also sending a prospect or picks with him.