PerreaultForever

Come on man, it wasn't very hard and it was off the shoulder. He shouldn't have followed through and he made contact so it's the 5 and a game and that's fair but if you're thinking suspension go watch figure skating.

Thriving in their respective roles. They are all bottom end guys but they all play with effort and character, which is what a lot of people keep pointing out we are missing, that's all I was saying. Yes, they are easily replaced.............but oh wait, KA didn't feel that sort of player was valuable or he couldn't get them to come but whatever the reason they were NOT REPLACED. (Robinson seems about the same as Fasching so that'd be pin step one in the right direction) As for the pipeline, he had the picks and he traded the picks for those key pieces and veterans. The point was, it's not all one or the other but it's hard to do all things at once. If you think KA is right and it should be all pipeline first and add veterans later good for you. I disagree and the results so far do as well.

It's not as simple as to reduce it down to tanking and drafting vs. signing vets. and so on. Now to be clear I'm not addressing this specifically to your comment but to the whole thread and conversation. Everything is connected and it's not about just drafting, or just signing, it's about who you draft and who you sign. TM did what a lot of people now want KA to do. It failed miserably but think about it. We've had lots of talk about goalies here. He traded a first for a top goalie prospect. Guy turned out to be a psycho but the idea was sound. He brought in a power forward goal scorer to play beside Eichel and a hard hitting physical D man with the Winnipeg trade. He already had his 2 way 2C in ROR. Added DesLauriers, Carrier and Fasching as your bottom end toughness guys. All 3 of whom are still in the NHL and to some extent thriving by the way. Lots of the pieces were there and in theory that should have worked right? Why didn't it? Bad coaching, bad locker room, disunity, and then horrible drafting with the picks that remained. You can go through every GM/coach combo and think the plan SHOULD have worked but it never does. Now the plan has been almost all draft picks. A lot of talent. But no leadership and again it has to fall on the coaching and the culture. "Hard to play against" is how you start any successful rebuild. That's how Vegas started. That's Philly with Torts now. Not once in the last decade I have I heard anyone say the "Sabres are hard to play against". To me, that's where it starts and ends.

That's the problem Punch, no rings for the Sabres.

The list of mistakes is long. Really long, but there is one repetitive constant. No experienced hockey guy in charge of the operation. List of inexperienced or limited NHL experience coaches and green GMs. The constant failure has made the franchise a no trade list priority and so they are stuck with drafted rookies and very little leadership. This produces limited accountability and a losing culture. The problem, is Pegula.

I hear you, but are we really asking the 18 year old to lead the rest of them? wtf is wrong with them if that's necessary.

Skinner doesn't know what a 200 ft game is and doesn't care.

Dubas must be killing himself tonight.

Another relatively soft and uninspired effort after a good one, that pretty much tracks for this team. They are lazy and spoiled and have no inherent work ethic in them at all. Philly just knocked Detroit off 1-0 on the same night. Points in 8 straight games. Low skill and very very hard work. Coaching does matter. This was a real nothing game. Like nothing much happened. They play shut down and we do not drive/work through it. over as soon as it starts. I don't know how many of you have noticed this but watch for it if you haven't. I watch a lot of the games on a delay/replay so I've noticed it for years but on almost all nights Sabres games are much shorter than other games in terms of total real time. A lot shorter. Because less happens. The old "low event" hockey. Lots of skating around, lots of moving around the edges, very little activity in the dirty areas. It's nothing hockey. I found myself raising an eyebrow when Thompson had a little shoving match and Dan said words to the effect of "that's the last guy you want to have fighting" and I thought no, quite the contrary, that's what I think might turn this team around totally. Man is huge. His hands are huge. I remember a few years back he took on K. Miller and handled it okay. If he played with that type of edge all the time we might really have a team playing with that type of edge. I mean he's not scoring much anyway. So back to being garbage. One win out of three on a round trip will keep us in the forever top ten pick group of who cares anymore.

Name Tuch captain and I would be willing to bet he retires a Sabre.

I expect them to be more physical than they were in Buffalo. They won't take us lightly in any event so it'll probably be a tough game. Result could rest with the specialty teams.

I know, I know, but we don't spend to the cap anyway so maybe it wouldn't matter. imo the signing was a huge mistake and I still think that. The alternative is a very strong leadership group that drives the locker room and elevates everyone, including him (as much as he listens to anybody).

See, that's the thing and it illustrates what's been wrong with this team for so long. Benson going to the net front should NOT be that noticeable and should NOT STAND OUT as something new or special. It's a VERY GOOD thing, but it's what lots of the other guys should have been doing for years and many of them still need to start doing it now. Benson has been outstanding, and all his instincts are correct and his attitude appears to be correct as well but he shouldn't be leading them, they should be leading him. Well, it is what it is. Perhaps he will help us turn the page finally.

idk if Skinner is a problem, but that was what they were saying in Carolina. The "uncoachable" thing has come up many times in the past right or wrong. He certainly does seem to very often be marching to his own drummer out there. Offensively this can lead to a goal, but defensively it can be disastrous. There are guys with talent who simply make teams worse, and teams are better off after they jettison them. It's possible, that's all I'm saying. Not necessarily even probable, but possible.

There's always a buy out 🙂

Good goaltending is always the key - which is why this plan has been so............. (fill in whatever expletive you prefer).

In fairness to them though, as we saw with this Vegas game, when they do bear down and bring it as a team they can play quite good, and even the team D is much better. maybe we have to get rid of Skinner like Carolina did. Just a thought.

When I watch the enthusiasm Tuch has after a big win and he does his version of a goalie hug, I just think anyone else, even Dahlin, would be a huge mistake. Both times the team stunk bad and then rebounded this year the 2 guys that really seemed to step it up were Tuch and Cozens. So my view is the same as it was before this year started. Tuch captain, Dahlin and Cozens assistants.

Well go figure. I guess the million dollar question is how do they get these guys to play hard EVERY NIGHT and not just after they get yelled at for a stinker.

I've seen a few Flyers games and they (usually) play very solid disciplined hockey. Very hard to play against. Decent goaltending, solid D, very good PK and physically tough. They lack goal scoring but can counter punch really well and most of all they DO NOT QUIT. They are tenacious, which of course all points to Tortorella. I still remember him last year end of season up in the press box with Briere pointing out who has to go. Guess they got it right. I still expect them to miss the playoffs due to the lack of offense but the games will stay close and it's not impossible for them to hang in there with a little luck. Whatever happens I think they are doing their rebuild correctly. If/when they get Michkov added to the mix watch out.

Sadly, I suspect another happy night for Eichel, if he even cares any more after winning the cup. Maybe we catch them napping, but I doubt it. More likely they man handle us badly with that big D.

Islanders might be interested in Kyle. He had success there and they like old slow veterans with a little 2 way ability. Perfect fit for all, including Kyle who can retire where he started. Does naming Dahlin captain change anything though? I'm seriously asking. Is he the "leader"? I have not seen him elevate when the team is down. I don't know if he can "lead". Sure, he's a very good player, but so was Eichel. Not saying they are similar, but the idea of the "star" being the captain is questionable. Is Tuch not the better choice? Sabres fan since childhood. I have seen him elevate his play but idk what his locker room presence is. Not sure any of that will change anything though. While I did favour the tear down and the trade of Eichel/Reinhart/Risto (the old young core) I do not think they have handled the rebuild properly at all and when you do that wrong you just end up shuffling deck chairs on the titanic. imo when you tear down you really tear down and you build back with a lunch bucket hard work tough to play against (nasty even) team and when that is firmly in place and that is the vibe around the locker room, that is what rookies come in to, then and only then you add the young talent on top and they see that culture as the ONLY culture there is and they follow it and you win. Veterans with a work ethic have to be the "core" of your team for several years. A young core is almost certainly destined to fail.

I guess ultimately my question would be do you keep just looking at a season of stats and keep throwing money at something that isn't working or do you need a completely different plan. The contracts/rewards KA has given out so far certainly do not seem to be paying dividends in terms of wins.

Starting not to. The scorn and disgust is building though. As Johnny Lydon famously said "ever get the feeling you've been cheated?"

Not cursed, soft.