PerreaultForever

NJ fans didn't like his coaching either. They felt (right or wrong) that he couldn't communicate with the young talent on the team and his style didn't fit. I wasn't paying attention to them so idk if any of that is true or not. What I do know, and everyone here knows it too, is Lindy has not succeeded here. There is little fundamental change in how this team plays and it's really not very different from what we had under Granato. If Lindy had changed anything, I'd still support him and blame the players but at this point I do think he is nostalgia and well past his prime. Hiring him, although I was for it at the time, was a mistake. Not sure there is a coach that can get this team going but he didn't get it done.

I would suggest maybe too much business success and too much wealth and that has indeed made him convinced that he just knows best. he just seems firmly set on one idea and he just won't turn it over to a hockey person. This started when Pat LaFontaine walked out the door and it hasn't really changed since. I remember at the last big change he (or maybe it was Kim at that time) said something about how they felt they had gotten bad information from the "hockey people" and their solution was to be even more involved not less. When JBot said no to firing people he was booted was he not? You have to be a yes man. Look at that image of the 3 of them in that empty box and think about the state of the franchise. It all rests there.

Nobody paying any attention to them and now suddenly Islanders only 1 game out of a playoff spot. Go figure.

I was really hoping for a shot of Terry and his minions when they shot it in their own net but what can you do. I'd say that game exemplified everything wrong with this team. Especially that first Utah goal. D taking off for the quick exit, nowhere to be found, nobody near their own net and then a brutal giveaway for a 2 on 0 for Utah and an easy goal. Net front problems on all the goals. It's just a massive pile of garbage. I really like the way that Cooley plays. Wish we'd have gotten him. He's going to be a really good one.

Watching the Buffalo Sabres "you feel shame, and then you are free"

900k is kind of like your journeyman depth guy and if you have better guys you don't give a crap when you waive him. I would rather we gave that contract to a Gilbert type guy but for KA I guess Bryson is a sure thing he can check off his list rather than hunting for a guy in free agency. League minimum would be a better number but whatever.

I still believe the difference is he thinks he knows hockey and he knows he doesn't know football. Hence he lets the football people run it their own way and doesn't meddle as long as they keep doing well he leaves them alone. The same is not true of hockey where he will not turn things over to experienced hockey people and step back and let them run it. He's too involved and thus influential. I also think maybe he's stuck on the idea that the Sabres just need their Josh Allen not understanding that hockey dynamics are different from football.

True, and to some extent he's tried to bring in veterans along the way. Erik Johnson was a Staal like attempt to bring in a veteran leader. He overpaid Zucker to get him here. Zucker isn't bad, he's a decent player when healthy, but it's not enough and overall he has failed at bringing in veterans. So Adams complains he has tried but it's "hard". "No palm trees". blah blah blah. Ultimately he's failed and that's it. Can anyone succeed with the franchise where it is? Likely not easily. So if free agents won't come, the only option would be to overpay in some trades. Get the guys you need any way you can in order to change the mix and right the ship. The McLeod trade was the right idea. He needs to make 3 or 4 more of those. I personally don't care if on paper he "loses" every one of those deals if those deals make this team on the ice better.

No, the one point out narrative is a false one to follow. We were not that good. We went on a late roll as teams took us lightly. The team was not that good and not that different from what it is now. Adams has failed to construct a proper balanced roster. The team has had internal cultural issues this year (which they've claimed to have fixed now but we shall see). Nothing has really improved yet for some reason (called Terry Pegula) he still has a job. Just wait until he trades Peterka for Rempe 😉

That's not entirely true. There were question marks. He didn't sign quickly. Lots of teams passed on him.

idk about this list. Power? Right now Hutson should be on ahead of him. Celebrini's looking better than Bedard and imo Michkov is probably a better player in the end than most of them. There's a lot of guys I wish we'd taken ahead of Quinn in 2020. That's becoming a glaring thing for me.

Not exactly the same but yes, I suppose that was a failed gamble. Really the worst part of that was giving him the trade protection where he could demand Bruins and thus we got a crap return as well.

I hope he doesn't become a little whiney bitch like Skinner but I get your point. He's smaller so he goes for the stick check more rather than using his body and he has to learn to take that extra step and/or get stronger and actually take the body. Instigate and not retaliate. I'm actually perfectly fine with Benson turning into Marchand if the production comes along with it.

Most of his penalties have been stick penalties not roughing. He has taken a lot of them and they aren't unwarranted. It's a flaw in his game. I like Benson, but he still has much to learn. In general, Sabres take a lot of dumb stick penalties and that adds to the total. Also, penalties happen when you are under attack and do not defend well physically. Too much stick defending and not enough bodying off the puck.

Those aren't equivalents imo. It's true that some of their kids are leading their scoring and maybe they got lucky with Hutson but they've made more moves and trades. Took a chance on Laine. They've picked up assets along the way with various moves like Monahan and DeSmith and just a generally more active GM building around character as well as talent. They also have guys to step up if the kids get challenged and the team plays braver. There's never been a softness question on that team has there? In general I just see a more balanced roster with more of the necessary parts for success. They might not even make the playoffs. Rangers and Columbus are still there and maybe Detroit too but they are in it and it's exciting. They leapt ahead of the Sabres and they are a lesson in how to do it properly by comparison. I think trying to look for similarities is a mistake (all rebuilds have some similarities). The key is to look at the differences, even if they seem small.

Clifton was a 7/8 guy in Boston on a league minimum contract. Because of injuries he got into their bottom pairing and played decent hockey in their structured defensive system. But that's who he is, a bottom pairing guy and expecting more is silly. I guess we had to overpay him to get him but we grossly overpaid him and if the idea was pair him with Power on the second pairing it was a ridiculous idea. When we signed him Boston fans were like "wtf? well good for Cliffy, get the money, but that's a ridiculous contract for him". It's a good point about who he plays with though. He hasn't exactly been put in the best situations and his own pairing isn't helping his stats.

I don't agree that the roster is similar at all. They have put much more emphasis on physicality and tenacity and they have a much more balanced roster. I heard the TSN guys refer to Anderson as a "culture driver" and I found myself thinking we haven't had a "culture driver" since Foligno got traded.

Montreal looking like they know how to rebuild better than the Sabres. That development is more annoying than Ottawa ahead of us.

The argument that it's a bad idea since we don't develop players well in the AHL is a valid point. I would prefer the AHL methodology overhauled as well.

So why do you feel having him LEAD an AHL roster would be a bad thing for his development?

Samuelsson. Wasn't that obvious? Power looks lazy a lot too, but there's a whole development argument there.

We've heard this locker room coming together stuff in other years too. There's a lot of sameness to this season.

I view it differently. I don't see it as a demotion but as a necessary and useful part of long term development. A year where he is the #1 guy in all the big responsibility roles. If he's too good for the AHL he comes back up before the season ends but he'd grow more there than on a 3rd line role in the NHL imo. It helped Tage and Mitts. Point being I want to develop him into a top 6 forward not a utility player. I also want veterans on our NHL roster and there's only so many roster spots.

and I didn't even mention Will Borgen 🙂

Defensive D men. The guys we all hoped Samuelsson would be, but he is not. Wouldn't hurt if one or two of them put a little fear into attacking forwards as well. As an example if our D was a group roughly equivalent to Dahlin, Power, Braydon McNabb, Jake McCabe, Zadorov and Ristolainen we'd have a pretty damn good D core wouldn't we? Now you can find individual faults with those players (like most players) but they were all Sabres at one time and they are all in the league and they'd be a balance of puck movers, thumpers, defensive stalwarts, size and speed and thus a very solid and balanced D. We have 4 puck movers, I lazy piece of crap and a mighty mite who tries but is marginal at best. In addition our 4th line is garbage. Too soft to have an impact or energy shift like Ruff said he wanted and unskilled as well. Adams gave us a downgrade with the moves he made there not an upgrade and it's just about the easiest line you can make.