PerreaultForever

Again, those sort of stats are misleading. Who is he on the ice against? Who else is on the ice? It all matters. As a quick example, you're playing Boston, Dahlin is sent out against Pasternak's line. Clifton gets sent out against Jacob Lauko's. End of the game Clifton ends up with better stats because Lauko's line didn't score and Pasternak's did so that makes Clifton the better D man statistically speaking. Like that.

Thanks for the details which confirm what I said. He and Pegula did not see eye to eye. Patty didn't want to work for an owner who meddled. To the original point though, it IS the moment the franchise goes south and stays there. Patty put a voodoo hex on it maybe.

Officially. But did he? Exit packages along with letters of resignation and NDAs are not exactly a new thing. Him and Pegula did not see eye to eye that is obvious. The rest is just details.

Disagreed with Pegula simple as that. I think it's obvious Pat had his own vision and wasn't going to work with an intervening owner. So basically he said "no" and that was that. Bring on the stream of yes men. I mean the minute JBot said "no" out the door he went as well. Okay how about a buck fifty then? I will go as low as a dollar.

Just for clarity, the reason I keep mentioning Hathaway (besides the fact he'd fill a need) is he signed LATE in free agency. Lots of teams either passed on him and/or wouldn't meet his price> I cannot believe Philly (projected to be a bottom feeder) was high on his list. He took the best money he could get as he got worried. Have to believe he'd have taken an offer from a young (and projected to be up and coming) Buffalo as a result of that. Heck Boston signed Heinen from a PTO and even he's far better than Jost was.

In fairness he has yelled at refs. We've seen the occasional on the bench outrage. Don't think I've seen him yell at players though. More significantly I don't think he benches players for poor performance. Not the main guys anyway. Benching a rookie or a Jost or Olofsson doesn't really count. They also seem to get rewarded too easily and mediocrity is accepted. Remember when Torts took over Philly? Called them all fat and lazy and had them doing sprints for hours until some of them puked. Some people here laughed about the dinosaur. I can't speak to all teams, but I know the accountability threshold in Boston is really high, but they also have a really strong veteran leadership core that functions to get the most out of players. There's a lot of internal competition to be great. The lack of that in Buffalo is on KA not Granato. To your second point most definitely. I said this in the Boston game thread I think but the TNT guys nailed it in the second intermission. "too many of the same guy" and the prospect pool is pretty much more of the same. That's most definitely on KA. I know a lot of people might scream don't trade away the future but imo at this point you either move several guys off the roster or you move prospects for the things we need now (which we needed in free agency but didn't act on) imo we still need 1 good veteran goalie, 1 solid big defensive defenseman, 2 tough 4th line grinders and one bigger veteran winger who will drive the net (or a 2 way 3C and you move Mitts to the wing, either way but a leader type). They don't have to be top level guys but they do have to be hard working character guys. That's what we need now, and that's likely what we will still need next year and none of that is waiting in Rochester, Europe or any other junior league. and I would be fine moving any combination of Savoie, Kulich, Rosen, Östlund etc. to get those things if need be.

I think Granato is a good coach for the NCAA or as an assistant. He could play good cop/big brother/best friend under a hard ass Tortorella type head coach. The system he is using doesn't work in the NHL and his game management is atrocious. I'd also say he's a poor leader/motivator but that also falls on the (lack of) leadership. There are too many nice guys around and not enough warriors who want to win badly at any cost.

Stop telling people what they can or can't do.

It's funny how the analytics matter when you like what they say, but when they are bad they become meaningless or there are "other" factors. I heard him talk about how he really liked the first 4 minutes against Boston before the Bruins scored. He thought they possessed the puck well in the offensive zone. Which they did. Good analytics. But not one mention of how all that possession was around the outside perimeter and they didn't actually generate a single dangerous scoring opportunity. Those would be the other bad numbers. Granato has no real answers.

Sure, but I suspect the timing/market isn't right. Johnson definitely and Okposo maybe are deadline type players for cup run teams. D depth is always a deadline concern for teams so a veteran cup winner, easy deal unless you're greedy. Okposo has a little grit so the right fit if the salary works. Maybe the Islanders would want him back? He'd be a fit on what they have and do. I'd also trade Girgs and Olofsson, all the UFAs but I doubt there'd be much interest in them.

Yup. 2 million was nuts for a lesser version of what we already had. Philly got Hathaway for 2.3 as an example of what would have been better for us and what we needed.

They should move him (and Okposo) at the deadline.

Haha you won't get rid of me that easily BUT, for most of the last decade I've (often painfully) watched every single Sabres game in full. If not live, on replay but every single game. This will end unless they do SOMETHING to make me believe they have a clue.

At this moment, obviously. In 3 years I'm not so sure. But, I do not believe we are developing Power properly or even know how to develop him properly so he might never become what he should become in a proper system. Right now, Power should be in Rochester on a heavy diet/strength building program working on simple defensive aspects of his game while adding strength and muscle. Then next year he should be eased into bottom 6 minutes, preferably paired with a solid defensively responsible veteran. You do that and in another year I think you'd see the beginnings of a Pietrangelo type defenseman. Would that be "better" than Dahlin? Depends on how you look at it. (Looking at yesterday's game as an example) right now I suspect you'd say Dahlin is a better defenseman than McAvoy because he's flashier and scores more but I'd say you are totally wrong. Dahlin, for all his offensive prowess still makes big defensive errors and costs us goals. Sometimes at key moments. He generally makes up for it with offense, but "better" in terms of defensemen involves more. I am not giving up on Power, I just think the Sabres are clueless as an organization when it comes to player development. Slapping a young kid like that into a number 2 D man role with big minutes is just dumbass.

Nope. About 1/3 of that roster should be in Rochester learning to win and getting an AHL championship. This, as absurd as it would be, would not shock me. It would also make me watch less Sabres hockey next year. I'm browsing other teams already.

This is just speculative but I think his wife had cancer a few years back so it's possible something returned. It would explain his season and maybe his head not being in the game this year. Hopefully it's something less serious.

Ya, I was surprised we signed him to the deal we did as he didn't bring what we needed in the bottom 6 but that's what we do. So Quinn in Jost out no big shock. The shock was why Granato thought making him emergency 1C was a good idea in any universe but that's Granato. Robinson doesn't bring much but he's better as a bottom 6 than Jost.

Interesting question since many of them are works in progress and the definition of "built from the ground up" also varies. I would suggest any team that had a point total similar to ours and is now ahead of us is one of those teams so maybe do what I do and favour teams that play the style of hockey you prefer personally. Or maybe just a nice looking jersey 🙂 Otherwise Vancouver might be an option. There's a team that is the exact same age as us, was worse than us, was expected to still be worse than us, but hired a competent coach, made a few moves and is at the top of the heap. L.A. would be another team that did a rebuild much faster and better. That team looks built for years of success. Carolina was the model but they seem a little stuck and just can't take that final step. Jersey if you like that softer fast style (and there's always Lindy to cheer for). I think Florida built themselves well but it wasn't ground up. Personally I am interested right now to see a few things around the league. Will Vancouver keep it going all year? Will the Yzerplan get them in the playoffs this year (they seem to be faltering at this point). Will Torts keep that Philly grind going all year and how will that rebuild continue since they should have been near bottom. Will Seattle rebound or did they draft poorly? Will the Nashville rebuild work as it too seems unexpected at this point? OR, go out on a limb and start at the bottom. Become a Sharks fan and see if they too can pass the Sabres before the Sabres make the playoffs. That's your longshot option but it also wouldn't surprise me.

Ya, and the PP for Boston is actually not a strength. Highly criticized as a team weakness, BUT they practice and play like a team. Everybody has their assignment and they know how to keep the motion going and where their team mates are going to go and they stick to it - like many teams. Sabres? As always, too much individual play, over play, panic under pressure, and as ever virtually no net front. SOFT.

"Absurdly dumb" is that your rebuttal cause you won't last long around here with that. Harlem Globetrotters on Ice? FFS are you new to hockey because you sound either really young or really unknowledgeable. Do you actually think winning at hockey is just about scoring goals? Just that easy is it. Other teams just sit back in awe. The system is flawed buddy. The approach is all wrong. There are SO MANY things wrong with what this team is doing it takes weeks to list them all. Stick around and learn something (or don't) but you do have a LOT to learn.

I'd suggest the answer to this is it's hard to be the guy who cares when you are surrounded by the uncaring.

Ya, but it wasn't. There was nothing about this team that was "lethal" last year. If there had been, they'd have made the playoffs. As for beating Boston 3-1, Boston is not showing up every night. Tonight they played their defensively rigid and highly structured game. They are either getting old or pacing themselves on purpose for the playoffs, maybe both, but as I often say, it's not just about what the Sabres do or don't do on ice, there are 2 teams out there and what the other team does (or doesn't) factors in. Yes, we can lay absolute turd games like we did against Columbus, but we also get taken lightly often and thus get some unexpected wins. There may have been one or two, but I cannot think of a single time in the last.......decade?........where another team brought their A game with their main goalie and Sabres still dominated. imo the team is clueless and the plan is stupid.

I think it's a very legitimate and interesting question. I think he is serious about winning, all GMs are, but I do NOT think he is serious about winning right now. As fans we are all feeling it's overdue, and one point away has to mean playoffs or bust the next season right? But not to him. The "plan" they believe in is that they will build a long term contender no matter how long that takes but they will not deviate from that "plan". I think they firmly believe that top players can be developed playing in the NHL, rather than the AHL as a whole, and the timeline for them is in line with where Power, Levi, Benson etc, would be given normal/usual development paths. Hence, I think their timeline for actual "winning" is still 2-3 years away. They can't say that, because fans don't want to hear that, but BIG moves, BIG additions, nothing like that will happen for the next 2 years still. After that, MAYBE if they feel they have holes they will try to fill them, but otherwise I truly believe he will just keep plugging along with the same "plan" preaching patience and growth/learning experiences. It is imo complete and total b$$%%hit and destined to fail by perpetuating another cycle of loser culture.

Well, I guess you got your wish - sort of. He did get a whack in the beak. About as much as you can expect from the Sabres I think so congrats, you got your wish 🙂 Men against boys. No more, no less. I thought they nailed it in the second intermission. Sabres have "too many of the same guy". And the prospect pool is pretty much more of that same. One team skates fast, possesses the puck, stays around the perimeter and lets loose low percentage shots that are easy saves. The other team goes to the dirty areas rather than avoiding them and gets high percentage chances. Pretty much sums up the difference I think. The perimeter stuff doesn't lead to wins though and I think just about everyone here knows this by now, except Granato/KA/the Sabres themselves. Games like this give me the feeling that it'll be like this forever.

Sure, why not. Can't make that beak look any worse. Now who on the Sabres has the courage to do this? Ya, it's a tough question I know.