PerreaultForever

But it does work. Cassidy won a cup.

Because that's what we have. I suppose this is what I'm hoping Terry would do. I mean I would never have gone down these roads period but for this discussion I'm kind of saying if I was Terry. Terry trusts and respects Ruff (apparently) so why not give him the power?

Playing as individuals and not a team has been a thing here for all the last decade since the tank. They destroyed the culture. They didn't rebuild the culture. They let young star players just go out and "play". TEAM as a concept has been secondary for a long long time. Believing that this has finally changed in the last 20 games is questionable to say the least.

The idea of bringing in Lou as a senior advisor appeals to me in the same way Dudley did years ago but I think he's a little too old at this point. I do however firmly think we need someone in that role. Someone with a lot of experience. Someone who will sit in the room and say "hell no that's stupid" . A dissenting voice (or three). I think this Sabres group lives in a fantasy bubble of their own creating and they need dissenting voices and more arguments in the room instead of yes men. The problem is Terry doesn't believe in that role existing because he sees himself as the de facto director of hockey operations (or whatever you want to title it) and the GM just says yes to him out of fear or subservience or whatever. Unless he steps back and lets someone else have that role we are in trouble. Maybe latter part of the year as he experienced the failure Ruff started to speak up more and be more dissenting and maybe Terry respects his views but it's still a disconnect. If I was the owner? 1. Fires Adams and all the assistant coaches. 2. Elevate Ruff to Senior advisor/director of hockey operations. 3. Allow Ruff to choose the GM from the existing assistants but he will ultimately answer to Ruff. 4. Hire a coach like Pandolfo or Carle. new but also tested. Allow Ruff to have a say and choose the assistants (Peca, McKee, Ott maybe idk, his choices) 5. Spend to the cap adding D, more D, goaltending and toughness. 6. Sit back and enjoy the winning.

Yes. I like all 3 of them. I identified Peterka's potential early and some people laughed at me when I said he'd be better than Quinn but all 3 of them are good young players. They are too young however to be the driving force of the team. Peterka's maybe there now but the other two aren't ready to be the top line (yet). Zucker was an okay add (although his durability still worries me) but I want more and even better. Make some more McLeod for Savoie type deals.

Perhaps. But that also speaks to having veterans in the room who want to compete and who drive the kids rather than listening to the kids get their way. Consider that in Buffalo Eichel was in charge. They did whatever Eichel wanted and ran things Eichel's way. Eichel goes to Vegas, with Bruce Cassidy, a far harder coach than Ruff. Probably the meanest next to Torts among recent coaches. Eichel needs to adjust but gets on board. Why? Because that team was led by people like Mark Stone who are warriors and competitors. That's the difference.

Yes, remember though the bs about calling it a "development year" earlier. How do you think guys who feel they are already developed feel about that? It's a horrible way to try to build a culture. We all know that but for some reason Adams didn't. He had a firm plan in his mind. Subtract the disillusioned stars and acquire picks to stock the cupboard. Then spend several years developing the young guys all together and then magically it will all come together and under the veteran coach they will launch into the next level and stay there forever. That was his plan, and it always was and still is stupid.

The case of Erik Johnson is interesting. The way it's worded there seems odd to me and yes, he didn't work out but I remember his being the first veteran voice to speak up that year and in Philly I heard he was considered a leader and culture builder despite his declining play. If I'm not mistaken he's dressing for Colorado right now. So it seems weird to me to suggest he was seen as not wanting to win by others here. The bottom line though is many people here, myself included, have been screaming to have more veterans on the roster for years and it just never happens. A little bottom end rotation is all we get. The few adds they have done recently are a step but only a tiny one. They have to do much more and yes, as others have said, all of this screams FIRE ADAMS and yet he's still here. The one thing I don't like regarding Ruff is the statement he made saying he "met the players half way". That still says a little the inmates running the asylum to me but I suppose details on exactly what that meant might matter. To me though, if he was brought in to be the man, he should be that and the players need to step up and step in line. Now fire all the assistant coaches. All of them.

You think it's physical? I'm not saying it's not fast and skilled. Just that it's not as physical as I expected.

The hockey is decent but it's disappointingly tame overall. Winnipeg and St. Louis are trying to hurt each other but otherwise it's been pretty tame. I thought Florida and Tampa were supposed to hate each other? Gonna be a war? Looked more like they were getting ready to go golfing together. Maybe the 4 Nations spoiled me but so far the best hockey of the year was in that not this.

Basically yes. Remember it's not a one way street either. If they are phenomenal down there and your AHL coaches tell you this guy is "fully cooked" as you put it you can bring him back any time and waive some stiff. What I'm talking about is building a team and roster that isn't dependent on rookies and youngsters having to be good for the team's success. The Sabres way.

They did, but then they didn't build back culture first. Look it was well known ROR was pissed off before he got there when he wasn't named captain and then we didn't name him captain. The guy really wanted to be a captain and should have been. You don't make the kid the captain no matter how talented he is. We also threw away a heart and soul guy like Foligno instead of naming him captain and building from that idea. We had nothing in the locker room to provide direction and then we brought in slackers like Skinner instead. Funny guy. Thinks he's Zac Galifanakos. Great. Pity it's hockey and not stand up.

I'm really not sure what you are trying to say, especially listing off star players as comparisons. Benson isn't Pasternak. You need to compare them at the same age for example. Tuch was a first round pick. 60 games in the minors doesn't seem to have hurt him. Since you are listing off Bruins the better comparison would be Poitras. Another guy who was too young to send to the AHL at first. Before he got injured he was producing roughly the same as Benson. Bruins, despite sucking, sent him down this year to learn and grow. He's becoming a solid leader in Providence and I suspect will be a Bruin next year or the year after depending on their full plan which nobody seems to know. I guarantee you he will be better for it.

I don't disagree and I really like Benson and I really like Kulich, but if we go into next year and our top line is Benson Kulich Thompson we are simply NOT making the playoffs. We need more veterans.

Which speaks to how the Sabres do things backwards. Their culture is strong and they retained it and hence inserting a guy worked. They added veterans not just rookies. It's a very different (and correct) methodology. Sabres should have focused on establishing the culture right after the tank. They still haven't done it.

So that's the plan? Just better marketing? Sometimes I think Pegula has already decided he will eventually sell the team and he's just extracting what value he can and waiting for that expansion money to roll in and when franchises hit the level he's decided it'll be gone. I mean is there another explanation for the lack of effort and direction that actually makes sense? He's not a dumb man I don't think.

Yup. That's how you build a hockey team, and that's how you can rebuild quickly on the fly. Lessons there. Consider all the trades and signings they have made and what type of players they have drafted. They do not sit and wait. Crazy ending to L.A. Edmonton. That loss should demoralize Oilers after the comeback.

How many picks do they want? I am not saying it's viable. I'm just saying Rutherford will try. I don't follow NJ so I have no idea how happy or unhappy they are with things or what their direction will be going forward. Maybe they have no interest at all. Maybe they make an offer for Quinn. Maybe Sabres should offer their whole roster both ways and bring the 3 Hughes boys here. lol, who the f knows.

I don't understand this sort of statement. Who is "throwing the baby out with the bathwater"? The AHL is supposed to function as a development league. It's not punitive. It's beneficial. Remember Thompson came back a much better player. Benson would benefit from it. I firmly believe that and he would be a better player sooner if he went down for the year. If Sabres were actually in the hunt he could come up end of the year if not sooner. If the timing was right. Sabres fans have come to accept a very unusual and skewed vision of how hockey players develop and mature. I guess it's the Sabres' way.

See, where we differ, is I'm tired of having players on the roster who need to learn. Using the NHL as a training ground. Losing games while we grow and learn. That stuff is for your AHL team. NHL team should be too busy competing to spend all their time teaching. Get me some veterans who already know how to play.

The injury is overplayed but Jack Hughes is also injured and some believe injury prone. All I'm saying is I think Rutherford will TRY to do this. NJ may prefer the reverse absolutely. But you never know. Some offers are hard to refuse.

Eichel was Tuch, a prospect (Krebs), a first and a second is that right? I think that was it. So if you start with Pettersson, 4 firsts, some other prospect(s) and some roster player? idk, anything's possible. As I said I think they TRY and if they can't they will go the other way and send Quinn to NJ, Pettersson somewhere else and tank for McKenna. I just think Rutherford swings for the fences. He isn't always right, but he goes big. Or at least tries to.

My take on the Canucks is this. They are going to try hard to trade for the Hughes brothers to join Quinn. If it fails they will deconstruct and tank for McKenna.

So Francis gets to fail upward and JBot gets the job. I wonder if this might give Terry a new idea. Disco Dan? Not a shock. What are they going to do with the female assistant? That could get awkward.

wtf are you talking about? If that sort of attitude is the Sabres attitude it's no wonder they never win and then never will. Proper player development is in stages and has many aspects to it. I think Benson's great, but he still has a LOT to learn. One year in the AHL as a team leader would do him wonders.