Pimlach

Interesting comments Taro. The only players the US Olympic Team decided on are Quinn Hughes, Charlie McAvoy, Jack Eichel, Auston Matthews, Brady Tkachuk, and Matthew Tkachuk. The rest is decided in January. Matt Tkachuk is out until late December, maybe longer. Olympics start Feb 5th. Tuch and Thompson should be going hard because what they do now really counts. With injuries there could be surprises. With Zito helping select players I think that players that are gritty and tough will be prioritized, after skill of course. Tuch was dinged up in camp, he might be nursing something. He also can be streaky and break out at anytime. Moving Tuch up with Thompson and Benson will help him get going. I hope that line sticks for awhile and all three get going.

You made my day. Dick Bauerle wrote the song, looks like him on guitar. He had a recording studio in Kenmore. Teddy Reinhard opened the song on drums. One of the best drummers I've ever seen anywhere. His brother Tommy played bass on the song. They both starred in the Jazz Fusion band Gamalon and played with numerous great musicians for decades in Buffalo. They are in the Buffalo Music Hall of Fame. I lived in their neighborhood. Their parents owned a florist shop in the Town of Tonawanda, still there and still family run. Thanks for the memories! That was Ed Kilgore a local sportscaster, channel 4, I think (?) As for the Sabres - Housley with some air guitar. I also recognize Larry Playfair, Scott Arniel, Mike Ramsey, Dave Andreychuck, and Mike Filigno. Probably some others .... Loved It!

Charlie Jacobs did last year. The owner of the Bruins, ironically a guy from Buffalo, sent a letter to the Bruins fans. https://www.facebook.com/NHLBruins/posts/a-message-from-nhlbruins-ceo-charlie-jacobs/1147449590729769/ Not sure this is an apology exactly, but it was a sincere effort to let their fans know that missing the playoffs one time in over 20 years was unsatisfactory. In addition, after the Bruins were booed at a home game the coach said their fans were right to boo and the team deserved it. Their Captain, Marchand, said the same thing. Quite the contrast from the Sabres players, coach Granato, and Captain Okposo, when this happened in Buffalo. Culture is not a throw away word in Boston.

Adams is trying to reduce the number of negative posts.

It is all quite true to this day. Ryan McLeod is still young and is at least top 9 and can handle a top 6 role in certain situations. But the FACT is he was not top 6 on a Stanley Cup finals team in Edmonton. Zucker was top 6 in his prime years at Minnesota but was not in the recent years before coming to Buffalo. Look at his career stats. Both are good hockey players that benefitted from more ice time, power play time, and playing higher in the lineup than they did on past teams. They can probably be top 6 on a wild card playoff team, but I specifically referenced contenders like Florida, Avs, Vegas - the top tier teams.

Actually Forton is probably more qualified today than Adams was when he took the reins.

Are you saying Kulich had an injury? He doesn't look good. If he is hurt then rest him. What is Quinn's excuse?

Fire Adams and Ruff. I know that is going to hard for Terry. Maybe Ruff has an advisory role. Hire Jarmo to GM. Hire DeBoer. Let them do their jobs just like Beane and McDermott. Let DeBoer, or whoever the coach is, build his own coaching staff of his people. Let Jarmo add his own AGM(s) and Advisors. Jarmo gave Bill Zito a chance as AGM, Zito was a players agent prior to that. Pegula interviewed Zito, twice. Has Adams or Ruff ever done anything like that? Maybe this Jarmo guy knows what to look for? Take a shot Terry.

Forton would be a worse choice than Karmanos or Jarmo. I think Karmanos will move on if he isn't given the GM job. His AGM role includes being the GM of Rochester and I think that will get him some looks in more desirable places.

Kevyn is out, the only concern is he moved into another job, which would not be a smart move. He will not touch Beane and McD. They will be accountable for the teams record and they will also have a plan on how to improve. Terry will concur, which is the smart move for him.

This is a pretty small list for taking over a last place team five years ago but lets look at it. Mitts for Byram weakened the center spline and improved the defense. He got the better player but he took another season to address the hole at center by adding McLeod. McLeod was a good trade for Savoie. Cozen for Norris is not working so far, and we have an even bigger contract to swallow. Plus we gave up a 2nd rounder. Peterka for Kesselring is TBD - and he didn't add to the top 6, and he is counting on Benson/Quinn/Kulich. If Benson becomes a 25-30 goal player then ok, but we had both of them at one time and we didn't have to trade Peterka. Zucker was probably his best FA pick up. Add it up. His work on the top of the roster does not show any improvement in the W/L column.

I like Doan but we should have guys like Doan in our farm system. We spent time developing Peterka, and he turns out better than Quinn or Cozens, and now he is gone simply because he was smart enough to want out. At least they got Kesselring and hopefully he really is a top 4. All this obsession with Adams working on the bottom 6 and 4th line is a problem. Fix the talent on the top 6. They overrate their young players. They are now counting on Quinn/Benson/Kulich to emerge - that is not a sign off a playoff ready team. Their best forward is Thompson and he plays out of position because they don't have good centers. Norris was a gamble that is probably going to fail. The next best is Tuch and he looks lost. He is coming off his best season and has no contract. He appears torn between his internal desire to play at home and his real knowledge of how bad of a decision that will be for his career. Can Zucker can play top 6 on Florida, Vegas, Avs? No. Zucker is a valuable guy, a middle 6 that can move up if needed, and we need his vet savvy, but he and McLeod are 3rd line players. Lyon is playing well but pretty soon he will buckle under all the games, all the losing, and the pressure of playing in a rotten culture. Adams is over his head, but Terry likes him and trusts him.

No one can look out 5-10 years, but I get it. What you are saying is they need another rebuild with a new GM, new coaches, and lots of players need a change of scenery.

Good stuff Archie.

Only if they move on from Adams now.

Rico if that happens there will be severe damage to the fan base. Just put Jarmo in there and see if he can find a coach. Overpay DeBoer or bring up Leone, just do something.

I didn't expect anything different. Every off season we say the same thing and it goes something like this - "in order to win we need every good player to have another great year, and we need all three prospects to take a big step up." We never say we added 3 impact players. We never say we shored up the goaltending. We never say we brought in winning veteran leadership. Never. That no compete game against Boston was horrific. I was a bit surprised that the team already quit on Ruff, they often play better on the road without crowd pressure. The mental impact of losing Norris seems to frustrate they key players who were counting on him. A sign that our vets have never accomplished anything.

Not one Sabre player, coach or GM ever has. Leaders take responsibility for the fix, what already happened has happened, leaders take responsibility for fixing the now.

Lots to unpack here. Yes, I liked your post about owning the drought. I still don’t think Tage, or any players benefit from dwelling on the past, just review the game tape and learn, and work harder to correct, stick together as a team, and move forward. Tage has a fixed income under contract, and a rather large one. I don’t get your CEO comments either. He wants to play to be a star? He wants to play to win games? He wants to play to make the Olympics? Then he needs to play better. Yes. The team has had a great motivating issue to rally around. The couldn’t do it with ROR, Eichel, Reinhart, and the current roster so far does not look up to it. I think he is saying it’s only 3 games and they can turn it around, but to do it, they have to move forward. That is how I interpret it. I am ok with that mindset if it includes self improvement and holding everyone in that room accountable. I’m not a fan that gets offended by some perception of attitude in a post game interview. This is a guy who just lost another game, and he got booed at home once again. Some people made that judgement with ROR and they were proven wrong.

Gallant would not last long working for Terry.

So what. He can score 25-30 goals on a 3rd line and win, so be it. Did you take the Grandkids to the game today?

Tell us what you would have said in that moment? Moving forward and continuing to work is the only message I want to hear.

Were there "fire Adams" chants this afternoon?

I thought he was fine given the circumstances. Calm and honest. If he had some edginess toward the end of the interview that is to be expected. He is 100% right, they can't keep looking back and talking about the negative. Three games is three games. But you and I both know the Sabres talent is overrated, the team is poorly coached, they do not play as a cohesive unit, and there is no pride in that building.

If only it worked that way. Only a small percentage of players drafted by the NHL ever play a game. No, the Sabres AHL team is not filled with great prospects, but there are a few good ones. Of the forwards Helenius and Östlund might be able to play middle 6 or even top 6 in the NHL someday. Most teams have several players (tweeners) in the AHL that they can call up, but how many make an impact? So far the Sabers have called up Kozak and Dunne - they did ok on the 4th line but but we are looking for top 6. Last season they called up Rosen and he had 1 assist and was -3 in 8 games and did not make any impact. Kulich looked promising last season with 15 goals but so far has zero points. My point with Florida is that they signed Marchand or depth, and now with Barkov and Tkachuk out they will need him. Name a similar move that the Sabres made under Adams? How many of Adams top picks are panning out? Some are still to young, some look like they won't be impact players.