Scottysabres

Well that was just beautiful puck movement by Dallas. Well deserved goal.

Well, ROR is present and accounted for.

I hope they get blown out. Force bots hand to DO SOMETHING!!!!

Just turned it on, YIKES! This team is definitely heading for a top 4 pick.

Duchene would be a nice addition to the top 6. Even though he mainly plays center in Colorado, I remember watching him and ROR on the same line, interchanging at center and left wing. They really played well together. Would love to see a re-union.

Vodka

Been liking his game to. Really a good fit for our d.

:D Never fails. Big game, Thursday night, bills fall to pieces. Never change bills, never change.

Oloffson and Asplund I never get to see save the occasional highlight videos. If these 2 come over next season, combined with Pu, who else can we see in Rochester?

Nice pick up for need and price. Tall guy, should get a lot of Tyrod attention for 5he 2nd half of the season run. Have to admit, Beane and McDermott are looking competent so far. Really changing the fate of the organization imo.

I fully concede it is a hindsight conclusion. I don't know what the odds would be coming out of such long tenured time like Regeir and Ruff had at finding successful candidates. And while I don't believe it was a total butcher job, the Lafontaine, Nolan. Murray, Bylsma fiasco was, at the very least, a botched recipe. Imo. I view it through the lens of "conditions on the ground", which Pu 5hose specific moves post 6/22/12 you mentioned. Trading up for Girgs p8ck while drafting Grigo was an attempt to offset the center depth issue with youth. The Roy trade wasn't so much about grit to me as it was a concession the Hodgson - Roy 1\2 center situation had failed. Scoring continued to be a major issue. Moving Roy was going to happen, then or at seasons end. Imo.

I won't make an argument, just express my opinion is all. I am in the yes column as I stated previously. And here are my reasons: 1. Hockey rosters are cyclical in ups and downs over the course of a couple decade window. Yes there are a few exceptions, notably the red wings, but when looked at against other organizations or becomes clear they are not the norm. 2. The organization was devoid of center depth, after the Drury/Breire departures the team relied heavily on its wingers for creativity and its goaltending to make up the difference. Not many teams find success this way post 04/05 lockout. 3. 1 playoff appearance in 5 years, assets (Pommers, Vanek, miller, etc) approaching peak years of prime and an already failed attempt to throw money at the situation contributed immensely to the final decision. 4. Removing the tenured status of Regeir/Ruff afforded the opportunity for new vision, no matter how botched that process was, it was still a further component to tearing it all down. Regeir was correct in his statement, "suffering", of that there can be no denying. However, it was "who's strategic plan" during the suffering that would determine the overall length of time, and to a large extent, what the product would look like on the back side. 5. The Pegulas, they bare ultimate responsibility for the decision. Terry dreamed of The French Connection days, and, in pursuance of his vision to relive the glory days, building it from scratch appeared to be his second choice after originally trying to spend his way to a cup. The reason I list these items is specifically because they all had significant impacts on where the organization is today. I happen to agree with the Pegulas decision to do so, even while I disagree with the personell they put in place to do it.

June 22nd, 2012. On this date the trade for the Girgensons pick occurred. Prior to this, they picked up players, following this date they picked up primarily dump contracts and picks. http://www.nhltradetracker.com/user/trade_list_by_team/Buffalo_Sabres/2

And again, you could be correct. Hard to say one way or the other since none of us appear privy to what, if any, discussions bots is involved in.

For me, the tank began June 22nd, 2012. From that day forward trades were made primarily for picks as a steady stream of players were shipped out. Many of those draft picks were flipped, at least high end ones, in deals for building block players. The ROR deal was worth it. The Kane/Bogosain deal is still playing out, but Kane is an impact player to be sure. To me, it comes down to the draft picks themselves. Outside of Reinhart, Risto and Eichel, not seeing a lot of impact there. Of course, I consider last year as the last year of the tank and there are players still in the juniors and AHL that have yet to have an opportunity maturity wise to show if they can contribute. Tim Murray was a mixed bag, the now famous "2 seasons of the Disco" is what brought his regime down imo. But we do have a cornerstone franchise player in Eichel, we appear to have some youth with speed in the pipe line. Yes, I believe it was worth it, long term.

I don't think Bots is just going to sit around and wait until early March to address some of the roster issues if this continues. He is more than aware I'm sure of the defense needs on this team. He's already started addressing that by getting Scandella in the off season. Somehow I think he's aware Bogosain isn't going to be the super hero when he does eventually return.

On watching a few games. Yes his numbers don't appear bad, but he's been fighting the puck. I catch a lot of the Rochester games on my feed. Sorry if my opinion offends, but its what I've seen.

Well, they were deployed directly in the areas where public safety would be an issue.

Yikes!!! Well aren't you just the messenger of death. ;)

Way to go Bills! And a bunch of first 3 rd picks in a deep draft this coming off season? Looks like the Pegulas got this one right. Now bring us a downtown domed stadium!

You could be right, I just don't see them letting a quarter of the season go without addressing something. That something to me, in any event, is defense.

This is a phallacy. They've had training camp, pre-season and over 10 regular season games to evaluate one ice personnel. That is adequate time to come to conclusions on strengths and weaknesses roster wise. 20 games is such an arbitrary number, why not 27 or 18? The point is, ample sample size since day 1 reporting is now in place. You can bet the GM, the coach and staff aren't waiting for some magical 20 game number, especially given the season is already slipping away.

Jack's time is now, not 3 years from now. Get him the help he needs, both defensively and offensively. I'm going to get brutally honest. And it's going to create controversy on the board in sure, but here it is. Larsson, Girgensons these 2 guys are bottom 6'ers, period. They're not game changers to be sure and if we run balanced scoring lines with the top 2 lines consistently driving play, these 2 belong no where near those lines. Okposo just had a scare, its not his current play individually nor his contract length that concerns me, its his inability to find consistent chemistry of some type with any of our current centers. That's a problem considering 6 mil a season is tied up in his presence. I've written off Kane. We've beat this horse to death, he's gone, now or at the deadline, I don't care, as long as the return addresses RD or a top 2 line LW. Even if that return addresses line 2 LW. Reinhart, yes its only just over a couple of seasons. He was ok on Jack's RW, but to me, he is the perfect trade chip to land a big fish winger for Jack while his value still has weight as a center. There are teams looking for a center of his pedigree, and I don't ever see him unseating jack or ror as a top 2 center on this team. Pominville, Moulson, these guys are on borrowed time. At least Pommers contributes, but I don't see Moulson doing anything. Move him in a cap dump deal if possible. The defense, (facepalm) Who's brilliant idea was 2.4 mil for 2 years for Beaulieu? That guy is a disaster. McCabe is on a serviceable contract, Antipin shows promise, Scandella is a great pickup. But Risto has regressed and some of his on ice decisions and play are frustrating. Goaltending is a complete disaster. From the big club to the farm team, not one clutch netminder. "Houston, we have a problem". Get Jack and ROR their LW'ers. We are RHS RW heavy in the organization. Guys like Middlestadt, Nylander and Guhle I don't expect to see up here for a couple of seasons yet. We need help now. A couple of trades, it can't possibly hurt anymore than the painful crap we are seeing at this time. The time for evaluating is over, Boterill, Housely and staff have had a training camp, pre-season and an over 10 game regular season sample for that. Its not working. Change of personell on ice in this case is not a change for change sake, its a change to attempt to find a winning formula of personnel. It's time to make a couple of trades.

While I think Ullmark will transition as a solid backup next season, I tend to agree with you, we need a starter. And not 4 years down the road, but right now. Lehner is very suspect on the posts and up high, and there is a reason Chad never kept a starting position. Every game that goes by, I shake my head in full appreciation of just how great the goaltending in Buffalo was for 2 decades. People will chastise Miller, Boron, Hasek, and so on for their short comings off the ice, but those guys and others who've come and gone masked a common Sabres problem, the 05 to 07 years not withstanding, and that is to dominate puck possession and control the flow of games. We've relied on goalies to bail us out, and now even that safety net is gone.

He's getting pummeled.