Pimlach

There is a lot to like about Benson's game. I was trying to say that Doan and Benson are not problems, but they are getting opportunities on the top 6 because the other players on this roster are not consistently good enough. I do think that Benson must improve his shot. A faster release and more speed on the shot - both can be improved with practice. The issues I have is this teams are: this GM/FO has expired, the coaching staff is not good enough, the goaltending, the inconsistent play from the top 6 forwards, and the leadership from the Core players. That is a long list. They need to be fixed in the order listed.

The obvious move is a new owner. OR, he steps away from Hockey Operations entirely. I prefer he sells the team to group committed to Buffalo. Every move that Terry has made has been the wrong one. From Terry's very first and extremely obnoxious press conference displaying his brash overconfidence, and crying in front of Alumni, to his constant hiring of buddies and unproven people that he can influence. From losing on purpose to putting his wife in charge of a hockey team that just tanked and needed experienced FO help in the worst way. From casting away NHL All Star level players, to his 180 degree flip to "Economic, Efficient, and Effective". Hiring a soccer coach. Hiring a GM with no Hockey Operations experience. The worst part is that Terry Pegula quit on us and he settles for losing. He has poisoned the culture and disgraced the crest. He hides from the hockey fan base. Flies to Montreal, give a "pep talk", the team skips practice and gets trounced - another season ruined. His worst offense is hiding from the fan base and doing nothing to fix the mess. Need I remind everyone that last season the Boston Bruins finished 3 points below the Sabres and last in the conference with a -50 goal Diff. Their owner sent a apology letter to his season ticket holders with a commitment to improve. The Boston Bruins do not have a better or more talented roster than the Sabres. Yet they are right now 2nd in the Conference and the Sabres have dropped to last. It starts at the top. I believe the "rumor" that Terry told Brendan Shanahan he was the teams POHO. The Sabres will never win with Pegula running the team they way he does. He needs to stop pretending he is a hockey guy and let a proven hockey guy run things, and give him all the resources that he pledged to us. Drill another well Terry.

Benson and Doan may be playing higher in the lineup than they should, but they are not the problem on this team. Doan is performing on any line. Benson seems to have cooled off after a good start. His playing on the first line and having 0 goals at this point in the season is a problem. Benson does not have an NHL shot. Hate to say it, he is a good player, but the fact that he is one of the teams better options to play on the first line is a problem. I look at teams like Utah and the Ducks. Even Montreal and Philly. Why are they better? Is there really much difference in the talent on the rosters of these teams? I think not. The Sabres just give up too many goals and it is not all on the goalies. The team makes way too many mistakes in their own end. I think the Utah coach is getting all there is out of his young and improving roster. Joel Quenneville is getting everything out of the surprising Ducks roster. Martin St Louis is getting everything out of a middling Habs roster. Lindy Ruff is not pushing the right buttons. He seems just as defeated as the players. You can tell by the Sabre Power Play that this coaching staff is not good enough. But the big problem is goals against. Like the TNT guys said, and Biz has been very negative about this team, the Sabre take plays off and they take short cuts, and they get burned by it over and over again. The TNT cast pointed put that none of the defense other than Dahlin will even hit the other team. No forwards have any fear playing deep in the Sabres zone. Lundqvist was trying to be nice but said it clearly - they can't figure out how to defend because its hard and too many of their players don't want to play that way. Sure, they have a lot of talent but they don't play the game the right way. They can fire Ruff but they will likely just hire another coach that is in lock-step with Adams, the creator of a poorly constructed and mentally weak team.

The Jets will probably be thinking of the 5-1 drubbing we gave them a few days ago. Expect them to come out fast. The Sabres have played 1/3 of their games for the season and are in last place in their conference. They have now dropped to 7 points behind the wildcard teams. If the are going to be involved in the race they need 4 wins out of this 6 game road trip, which now means 4 out of the next 5. Another UPL vs Comrie match up is expected.

There are always teams in need of goaltending help. St Louis is one of them. I wanted Ellis to be a steal. I watch his interviews and I like his temperament.

My Medicare costs went up. My Part C supplement cost went up by a lot. Just wife is still too young for Medicare and her he insurance won't pay for a needed orthopedic surgery (fine print hidden cost "gotcha"). So we went back to the ACA market and the price is staggeringly high, more than it was in 2023, but with no tax benefits either. At least this insurance will accept the pre existing condition an not kick us out.

I am like the Sabres. 0-1 so far.

Is KoShack hurt again?

Tage @ Wing: Tage @ Center: Tage Norris Tuch Benson Tage Tuch Benson McLeod Doan Zucker Norris Doan Zucker Östlund Quinn Östlund McLeod Quinn Malenstyn Kozak Greenway Malenstyn Kozak Greenway

My worst nightmare is that you are correct and yet they trade UPL and he is in fact a solid goalie on a good team, like Ullmark. We know what UPL is. At best he is a streaky guy that can win games if he plays a lot and if he gets support, but he will eventually stumble and cost you games. We know what Lyon is. At best he is a short time 1B that can get hot, but the reality is that he is a journeyman #2 We are learning about Ellis.

It was tongue in cheek, just want to keep in mind that Expected Goals is not the same as actual Goals. You have guys who bury the puck and guys that do not. Another poster here used analytics to argue that Errson had a better game than Ellis. Did we not see that by watching the game? I also saw him throw his stick to make a save, and I saw him make back to back pad saves, giving off huge rebounds, while being so far out of position that he never knew were the puck was or when the shot was coming. Do they have analytics for good luck and bad luck too? I see the value of these analytics and its mostly when you look at them over an extended period of time and the lucky/flukey stuff can balance out.

Goals scored needs to be better, no?

Sure. Only you stop the photos in the frames that best proves your point. "begin the unnecessarily slow moving dipping mechanism" ...

Taro, to me it is easy to read into last nights game. It shows something massive about the character and maturity of the team. They are a work in progress. Still lacking some key pieces, and we saw example of good game day coaching (Tochett) and bad game day coaching (Ruff). How many times have they won 2 in a row and failed to show up to get a 3rd win? Did they look hungry? They expect teams to roll over for them. All the events that preceded the 3 goals in 59 seconds says a lot. Their inability to regroup and come back, they had a lot of time to get back in the game. By far the worse line out there was Benson-Thompson-Norris, the line you expected to carry the team was not at all in sync. The only line I liked all night was Östlund's line. So, after two games I am ready to break up Thompson and Norris to see what else they can do. I think Tage is mediocre center, but as a winger he doesn't seem to know how to get himself open for a clear shot. So put Norris with other players and see what else we have. I also think its time to move Benson off of the 1st line. ZERO goal production and the season is more than 1/4 over. That is not first line worthy. Maybe Benson can work with Östlund? Try a savvy vet like Zucker with Norris? On a side note: I find it odd that Dunne challenges Deslauriers once before the game, and again during the game - only to have Deslauriers pass. My interpretation is that Dunne is viewed as insignificant, and Deslauriers did not want to risk losing a fight and letting Dunne influence the games momentum which turned to all Flyers after the first 5 minutes and 30 seconds - the time that Tage Thompson took a lazy penalty on a power play after playing lazy in his own zone. Note to Dunne, stop looking for silly staged fights. Fight only when it means something, and don't wait for an invitation or for clearance. Just go. Deslauriers waited until the game was all but over to get involved in any scrums, he took an extra 2 minute roughing penalty on Dunne, and then watched as our PP failed to put a shot on net for 2 minutes. Tochett told the TNT guys he wanted to control the ice in front of both nets and they did. That is were hockey games are won.

When the team plays a game like last night its easy to blame the goalie. The Flyers game result was more about the Sabres leadership and focus, about playing smart hockey, and keeping self control. Brutal mistakes were made all night and usually by the best players on the team.

Interesting commentary. Pretty much everything went wrong and the Sabres once again failed to handle adversity. The best players did not step up once again. Thompson’s lazy effort on a PP leads to his hooking call that nullified the PP. Tuch’s failure to clear the puck on a PK leads to a goal. The failed challenge, and another goal. The coach not calling timeout to settle things down, then another goal off of a Benson-Thompson give away. 3 goals in 59 seconds is a BIG problem. After that it was still dysfunctional. Missed opportunities, the goalie throws his stick, a power play that does not shoot. The Sabres finally score and then give up a goal immediately afterwards. Then the Benson goal comes off the board, for offside - Tochett shows Ruff how it’s done. Dahlin’s match penalty. Hell, Dunne couldn’t even convince Des Laueriers to fight. The team lacked cohesion and maturity last night. This road trip will either make ‘em or break ‘em. Terry knows him.

They don’t get the little things, they take short cuts, and they play without passion much too often.

Of course. No goal.

Wha5 a terrible power play.

Well TNT just saw once again why this team doesn’t win. They nailed it. The problem tonight was way beyond Ellis.

This TNT crew are a bunch of Lunk Heads

Really sloppy on the zone exits. Too casual.

Ellis is a good passing goalie. He kept the play going and we scored.

Dunne takes off 2. Now score a goal. Another bad whistle