PerreaultForever

Well I'm going to disagree. We have size in terms of body size but they don't use it. Even a giant like Thompson rarely hits anybody. You think a coach can fix this, I'm not so sure. Yes, a few of them might be fixable, but I think quite a few of them are just what you see and won't be anything else. The problem with guys like Krebs is there's nobody backing them up. Krebs has fought, but he's mostly bark and no bite. Skinner? Skinner is no threat to anybody. If Krebs was on a line with a DesLauriers type he'd be just fine in that role, but he's not. Ultimately though it's an impossible argument to prove until we get a good coach in here and then he either benches players and they get moved out or they respond to the message. Until that happens we have a divide on whether or not the "talent" actually has the character or they just don't.

If the implied suggestion is that Pegula will not pay for free agents because of the Ehrhoff mistake it's clearly false as we signed Hall and Skinner to big money deals. Arguably both mistakes, but the money was spent. If they shifted to not signing any more big money deals voluntarily it's because of those deals and not Ehrhoff. If the implication is some sort of German voodoo curse, JJ Peterka should have cancelled it. If not, I guess our next coach has to be Uwe Krupp.

Yes, this all sort of comes together. We need more people with Benson's aggressive drive and effort (along with his skills and hockey sense) and the speed is always good, but we do not need more little skill guys and goal scorers. No more soft Euro prospects for now. We need size, grit, 2 way ability, leadership qualities and even some more fighters and rats. AND more goalies in the system because we do not have THE goalie yet,

I'm not going to argue further than this but you suggested certain people should leave. ANYONE who suggests someone should leave, needs to be told.

Well okay fair enough. I suppose I'm always locked on building playoff sustainability and not just some squeak in fluke early playoff exit thing. If we'd have somehow gotten in and one point over Florida I'd have bet anything we'd have been swept 4 straight (5 with some lucky game goalie thing) and the Bruins would have maybe won a cup (or at least been in the final with Vegas). So the Bruins haters here should probably feel good about that 🙂 Most of the off season talk around here was how Levi would save everything and be Patrick Roy. Lots of instant Levi believers here and I think KA was one of them. Folly.

That whole "one point out" argument has many flaws I hope you realize that. Part of it's presumption is of course, that all the teams around us stay the same or get worse. They don't.

Kostin is clearly a few cards short of a full deck. Why would anyone voluntarily take their helmet off against DesLauriers? https://www.hockeyfights.com/fights/n268773

Yes. we're not "real fans" ffs

So you are still a believer?

BUT in 13 years they haven't done it. That takes some massive incompetence.

There is no evidence, BUT we all know they only hire inexperienced guys (in terms of NHL coaching) and we all assume Peca will make them play like Peca. Honestly, can't be worse than it is.

To the question yes, it was a horrible off season with only one idea and that was these kids will grow into a force as is. Stay the course and that's it. To the bold, I hated that more than anything this year and have said so. Big mistake. I was a huge Peca fan back when he was a Sabre player and was gutted by the way he left the team. Devastating. Peca was a true leader, a real captain, and he played 100% the "right way" as they say. If we had a Peca captain on this team I am sure things would be different so having a Peca coach was the next best thing. I suspect, however, that Peca's philosophy does not mesh with Granato's philosophy and Granato didn't want him as an assistant and since Granato is Adams' guy that was that. My dream hope is that Brind'Amour will in fact be available come season end, Adams will hire him and maybe we also bring back Peca as his main assistant. Pipe dream.

Well yes, ultimately we're left with the question, is KA completely incompetent, or are his hands so tied and he's so limited by how few people will come here that basically no GM could do the job. Either way we are screwed and ultimately the fault lies with Pegula for letting this franchise grind down into a bottom feeder. It was a prime destination once upon a time being so close to the border and the big Ontario hockey markets.

Well ya, I think that part of the equation is inevitable but it might take a LOT of money and some guys in their prime might just not be interested, even if they get more from the Sabres.

That was definitely a balanced roster. Old and young and it had role players as well. Sadly, there is one possibility that no one wants to think about. It is POSSIBLE that in this era where players have lots of NTCs and get to express their wishes more and control their own destinies, we have been bad for so long it truly is the case that basically NO ONE wants to come to Buffalo and so he offers and tries but there's just no options and no takers. So the only guys he can get are over paying a guy like Clifton over 3 times what he was making (an offer too good to refuse so to speak) or an old guy nobody wants any more who decides to take a fat payday for his retirement fund. It's not something anyone here wants to believe is a reality, but it just might be.

Clague was on it. Lots of current NHL guys on it, but presumably not all involved or even there. I believe they are saying one drunken woman went up to the room and had consensual sex with one player. After that 7 or 8 players(not sure if they are counting the original guy) came into the room and then some things happened that went into the rape scenario. She was too drunk to leave or resist but did not consent to any of what went on after. If that is in fact how it went they are all guilty, but the original guy is the lowest of the low imo since he allowed the other players in and basically passed the poor girl on like a plaything. Truly revolting. full roster: https://www.hockeycanada.ca/en-ca/team-canada/men/junior/2017-18/world-championship/stats/team-rosters?teamid=175

Well I can't be sure on Skinner's influence, but you can look at how Carolina wanted him out, how he clashed with Kreuger (yes I know he was a bad coach but there was still the issue of Skinner being uncoachable) and how on the ice he clearly does whatever he wants to and is out of position all the time. It's hard to have a structured system if you have guys just doing what they want and maybe, just maybe other guys look at him and think "well he's not doing it why should I?" idk, longest non playoff streak in the NHL for a player. You can argue it's just bad luck for him but maybe he's part of the reason for it too.

"Drew Doughty believes selfishness has crept into the dressing room over the past month, saying players “started thinking [Wednesday] was a cookie night, and we stopped playing the way we know how to play” after going up 3-1 at 9:44 of the first period against Buffalo." (from NHL.com) That makes sense. Sabres in town. Cookie night.

This is amusing to me that you still think VO would command the most interest on a deadline deal. The only way I see VO being moved is if a team like San Jose strips away so much of their roster they need bodies to finish out the season. Playoff teams will have absolutely zero interest in VO. EJ will get us the most (unless we deal Okposo) simply because veteran depth D men are in demand at deadlines and he's a cup winner.

I seem to remember Hart being in the rumor mill about this issue way back when it started. Those "indefinite leaves" did sort of pop out of nowhere suddenly so a connection here is likely.

Maybe, if they are the right moves, but I'm not sure a "couple of tweaks" is enough. They didn't address it this off season so I have no faith they address it next season either. I half expect a big off season announcement of "the captain's back" as they re-sign Okposo yet again and act like it's an accomplishment. I would personally give Skinner away for free because I do think he is part of the problem, but I've thought that since they signed him and with his NTC he isn't going anywhere and Pegula will not buy him out, no way. They do not consider him a problem or at least I don't think they do. I'm keeping Kulich over Savoie/Rosen/Östlund but I'd entertain any good offer on anybody. I personally think Kulich MIGHT be an NHLer, or maybe I should say decent NHLer, maybe even a good one, but I have little faith in the other 3.

Oh I think that is definitely true, and L.A. has something off in their game but it was still better viewing then the night before.

I don't disagree with this, but there is an element of quit on this team that shouldn't be there. Better veteran leadership would definitely help. I am not sure how coachable some of these players are.

I can't quite decide if the Sabres horrible start lulled the Kings to sleep, or the Sabres woke up after no doubt being yelled at. Maybe a bit of both. This was more like a proper hockey game but as you all know we don't get that every night. We get the opposite more often than not. Peterka was obviously very good but I found myself thinking it's the kids who don't have the long term deals yet leading the way again. Cynical? Why yes, it's what this team's done to me.

This is a difficult but inevitable discussion. I was all for the initial Adams blow it up and start over and prior to this season I would not have wanted another one. I did say last year though that we were in a very fragile culture building moment and it could fall apart easily. I think they blew it and broke it when they failed to make a free agency impact (or hockey trade(s)) and brought back Kyle as captain. Now to be clear, it's not Kyle's fault. He actually does a lot of the right things despite his diminished talent and on a good team he'd be just fine, but he was not the right leader for this fragile young team. They blew it with ROR and they blew it here and I suspect they will blow it again. There are multiple factors, but I think it's broken again and I think it's possible it does need to be blown up again. I do not think Pegula will make the right moves, but here is what I believe needs to be done. 1. Fire Adams, Granato, and all the assistant coaches (you may need an interim to end the season so you can use Appert for that) 2. Hire a hockey guy. A senior advisor. Listen to him. 3. New GM, new coach. Let them evaluate attitude and desire and accountability and decide on the subtractions like Philly did. 4. Bring in veteran leadership to surround the kids you keep. 5. Tear out all the luxuries in the locker room. No ipads. No games. No between the stalls. No frills. No spas. You want it? You f'n earn it and then it'll come back and not before. As I type this I realize there's a lot more numbers and this could go on and on so I'm going to stop cause I know it won't happen. We need a new culture of hard work every night and full accountability. If we do not get it, this nightmare will never end.