Pimlach
-
Posts
16,175 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Posts posted by Pimlach
-
-
8 hours ago, SwampD said:
Just, ugh.
Is this really what we’ve been reduced to?
The discussion is excellent, but this thread is pain.
Really high quality pain.
Yes. This is what we are as a franchise. Hope to make the playoffs as a mediocre wildcard team. It is a realistic next step.
I am in North Carolina on vacation. All I hear is how great the Canes fan base is. Sell out every game. Buffalo is a joke here. Not a threat at all. They laughed at the Brind'Amour to Buffalo comments.
-
1
-
-
14 hours ago, Thorny said:
Taking 5 years to make the playoffs is already wrong. He can’t “turn out correct.”
the red wings aren’t relevant to that
- - -
The only reason people mention the red wings is to feel better about the sabres: our competition is with the league not one team. There is nothing gleaned by comparing the sabres “patient approach” and the wings “more aggressive” approach: both have sucked. Neither represents a verdict on the type of chosen strategy: the league has hundreds of teams providing hundreds of examples over a hundred years of GMs moulding their teams into playoff contenders over a year or two or 3, or teams successful implementing a more patient approach. We don’t need to look at these two failed approaches.
Either strategy can work. Either strategy can fail based on the aptitude of the person implementing it. Both GMs have been bad. Trying to achieve a victory over Detroit is purely cope
Lots of passion here @Thorny
I am still going to hope Adams plan is the right one for the long term, it’s already failed in the short term, as you mentioned 5 years is long enough. Since he started with a deliberate, slow, long term approach, that is what we have and were we are.
-
1
-
-
Good to see this. I don’t get to see the lacrosse game very much but it’s nice to see Buffalo had a strong team that wins.
It’s something positive for the sports fans and the team deserves more honors.
-
1 hour ago, B-U-F-F-A-L-O said:
I think we’ve already decided to do nothing this summer. It is going to be another year to develop prospects in Buffalo….
Kulich and Rosen are already locks on the 2024-25 roster.
This is not what we need.We need bigger, stronger, grittier players that win in the corners and go to the net without exception. We need forecheckers and backcheckers that win on the dot. We need players that make other players not want to play us.
Yes, of course you need talent too but talent without toughness does not win in the NHL…
So we only need 4 defensemen and 8 forwards?
-
Leaves signed Berube.
-
11 hours ago, Gatorman0519 said:
Carolina… yikes. What a choke. Brindamour might not be as great as everyone thinks.
Brind’Amour is fine. The Canes are a result of his coaching and his disciplined system.
The Rangers are the better team, and their goalie was amazing in the 3rd period.
-
1
-
-
7 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:
I know most of you guys hate Marchand, but maybe you can respect this:
If he were a Sabre he would be a legendary fan favorite. He dishes it out, he takes it.
-
1
-
-
Rangers tie it in the 3rd
Trochek turned out to be a fine player, a 3rd round pick.
-
8 minutes ago, dudacek said:
The fact that Ruff signed for 2 years to work in Buffalo when he could have collected millions from NJ to do nothing is evidence the bold is not the case.
It will be interesting to watch over the next 5 years if the Wings were short-term gain for long-term pain, or we were.
The starting points were similar. The Copp, Chairot and Compher contracts were exactly the things Adams refused to do.
Yes indeed. I sure hope Adams turns out correct in the long term view.
-
1
-
1
-
-
18 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:
I heard a lot less and IMO a different message from Dahlin. Tuch was still bringing it up months later.
Either way, the fact none of the "leaders" of the team, shot that ***** down is beyond concerning. Again, it is not the thing they stopped doing, it is the why they stopped. They wanted retribution on the fans and that is a bizarre fight to have as a player for those fans. Especially over something so insignificant. You want to support your coach, play better. Shows how everything is always an outside forces fault, not the players fault.
100%.
Contrast to Boston, who's team got booed after one lax home game. Montgomery said the fans are right and that they are smart and know what's going on.
Marchand shrugged and said if we play better they will cheer.
Even fans in Buffalo and several here at SabreSpace dismissed this as a nothing because the fans salute is "stupid". Maybe it is, but the players and coaches reaction was the exact opposite of what it should have been.
-
1
-
-
On 5/15/2024 at 2:02 PM, PerreaultForever said:
I didn't scapegoat anybody. Stop making stuff up to make your points.
If Okposo isn't that guy (and he isn't) then he shouldn't have been named captain just cause he was what? Likeable? Old? It was just one of many dumb things this franchise has done. He was a bad captain, simple as that. The lack of good veteran leadership on this team is a huge issue. Huge. imo the "plan" is dumb unless it has in fact just been a difference of opinion on timelines and Adams is set to shift things this off season. If they do not make moves and give Ruff what he will need to win it'll be goodbye Adams and get ready to start again.
I do laugh in general at the "inadequate from a talent standpoint" argument that I see now and again which gets juxtaposed against the how great Quinn and Benson and Peterka and Thompson etc. are. We have more first round drafted players than ANY other NHL team. We have a ton of young talent. Compare them to Boston. They have Pasternak. Offensive superstar. An aging Marchand and who as high end offensive talent? DeBrusk maybe? That's about it. Zacha is middling. Coyle is a good 2 way forward but he's no offensive star. That's it. Way less "talent" than the Sabres, and yet.....................................
Yzermann in Detroit has been trying a different approach than Adams. Yzerman has not had great results yet either, but he is a bit closer than Adams.
After stockpiling picks and acquiring some good young players (like Adams did), Yzermann then added decent goaltending (Husso and Lyon) plus many veterans with some tread on the tires (Perron, Fabbri, Copp, Sprong, Compher, Brindicat, Chiarot, Gostisbehere, Petry, etc). Contrast this list to Sabres who shopped in the $700K bargain bin to prevent blockers.
The results are that Detroit is only 7 points better, and they missed the playoffs once again due to a late season slump, and a tie breaker. But more important, not all the pressure is on Larkin, Raymond, and Seider to carry the team - which they are doing anyway.
I like Buffalo's young players better than Detroit's, Buffalo has more good looking young players, but Buffalo's overall mix is way wrong and has been for the past few seasons. Players like Perron, Sprong, Compher, Copp are so much harder to play against than Borg, Jost, Robinson, Olofsson, etc.
Kane's decision to go to Detroit over home town Buffalo says something about what players around the league think.
Hoping that Ruff's presence can help Adams to upgrade about 5-6 spots on the current roster. The team needs to get past their ~24 average age and join the NHL, were most teams average age is between 28-29 years old.
I am so dam tired of watching boys against men.
Adams so far is not helping his Core, and bringing in more 20-21 years olds is not helping them either.
-
1
-
2
-
1
-
-
20 hours ago, Weave said:
Given the makeup of the team, Okposo was as good a choice as any. Actually, he was a better choice than arguably anyone else on the roster, including Dahlin. KA is squarely to blame not just for the failures on ice. He is also squarely to blame for saddling Okposo with a responsibility he wasn’t well enough equipped to execute upon. There wasn’t a single player on the team that was properly equipped to do it.
Common denominator of failure in this organization. Not putting people in places where they are equipped to succeed. Gm, coach, assistants, captain, role players. All under qualified to do what was needed.
Okposo was the best choice given what had on the roster for captain. Looking back we can say he was too tame a person to really make a difference with this young club. I think they needed a much stronger hand (refer to the booing and chanting reactions, the complaining about UPL/Levi, the slow starts and home record)
Overall, I think the Captain role is being overrated here at SabreSpace. I am not looking for a transformation because of who has the C. Some teams have a guy like Barkov or McKinnon, but most do not.
What do have going forward?
Dahlin - best player on the team, one of the few fiery players on the roster, but still young, shows immaturity and erratic play at times, and has never experienced winning in this league.
Tuch - would be the right age and right experience, not sure he has enough leadership influence, but he seems to do the little things that captains do.
Cozens - too young and still very immature, not an option. Maybe in 4-5 more years.
Z - not influential enough, the longest standing drought player should probably be moved along
Tage - Maybe give him an A, we need a bounce back scoring season from him - giving him a C might add more pressure.
Trade for a player that has been a Captain before - not out of the question for Ruff but not ideal either
No C - share the role with three A's.
-
1
-
-
Maker ties it up.
-
5 hours ago, That Aud Smell said:
Holy hell.
I just stopped in at Adams’ wiki.
His lack of qualifications is worse than I had recalled.
He was an assistant coach with the Sabres for less than 2 years (8/11-5/13). Then he was hired to manage Harborcenter in September 2019. Less than a year later, he was appointed as the Sabres GM (June 2020).
(I’m assuming his wiki is complete and accurate.)
Just — yowza.
I know. And his assistant coach job was based on being a player with a Cup.
He managed Harbor Center but was also Terry and Kim's boy around the business side of things.
He was assigned by the owners to help figure out what is going on within the team. There were stories about him going on a road trip with the team, even though he was not part of Hockey Operations. He basically provided Terry and Kim with his assessment of things under Krueger/Boterill.
I thought Murray and Boterill had minimal qualifications, especially to take on a tank/rebuild.
In some areas Adams has been good. Analytics and drafting seem to be a strength.
Acquiring NHL level professional personnel has not been one of them.
-
1
-
-
On 5/14/2024 at 9:44 PM, PerreaultForever said:
Ya ya ya, but that's not what I said. I didn't say he'd have CHANGED things, but a good captain takes responsibility publicly. If he doesn't, nobody else does either.
You heard over an over from Granato, Adams, most of the players at locker cleanout, and now Okposo - you hear them speculate on what went wrong, you hear them say that they felt it and realized it it, but no one stepped up.
But you NEVER hear any accountability. No one says they have to get better and hold their teammates to be better.
Adams just wants the players to stay, "we want to be here", and not make waves. The players just want to be friends and have fun.
It is still in the culture to expect to lose and to excuse it away.
If they ever needed a trade for a Drury/Briere type its right now.
-
2
-
-
22 hours ago, Taro T said:
Don't recall and can't find the notes. Thought it was Adams himself, might've been Okposo.
I recall reading about grumbling from some Sabres players when Levi came up from NCAA and was handed a job.
-
1
-
-
22 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:
More a function of UPL than the defense. The Sabres allowed the 6th most high danger chances (791) and allowed 7th most high danger shots (505). So while UPL was stopping the puck, the defense continually put him behind the 8 ball. It’s why we were always playing from behind, it’s one of the key factors in why the Sabres gave up a league worst 97 1st period goals.
UPL was a key factor. Now those high danger stats are a problem with the entire team defense, including forwards, and including the face-off performances in our zone.
20 hours ago, Broken Ankles said:+1 on this take. I’ll add, Dahlin and Samuelson regressed. Individually as well as a pair. Clifton played his offside for a good 2+ months before any changes were implemented. And the recommendation to move back didn’t come from Wilford. Lastly, the payroll of the Blueline went up 78%. Not just UFAs that were mid range signings replacing bottom feeders like Stillman and Clague, but new contracts for Dahls and Mule. Expectations were higher.
I don’t think Dahlin regressed defensively, but Samuelsson did.
They added Byram, which will lead to another considerable jump in pay for the blue line. -
19 minutes ago, CallawaySabres said:
I am starting to think that the Sabrs actually need to blow the entire team up for better talent after seeing the rosters on these playoff teams. The problem is…how are they going to get better talent when they have wasted so many high draft picks on mediocre Players?
The only solution is to trade their top level prospects for proven players and hope that somebody bites.
The Sabres are close right now. They needed better coaching. Let’s give Ruff a shot.
They also need to replace 4-6 players on the current roster, depending on how much risk Adams will take. Past tendencies are that he doesn’t cover risks.
-
1
-
-
1 hour ago, stinky finger said:
Marchand still is, and will always be King of the Rats. He is currently suffering from what he's been dolng out for his entire career.
I so wish he were suited up tonight.
Kenny Linseman was also a major Rat. Butch Goring. Matt Barnaby.
-
1
-
1
-
-
Reinhart scores after Maurice inspired them with a spirited conversation.
-
1 hour ago, triumph_communes said:
Ullmark isn’t even playing in the playoffs. He just had a good defense in front of him, he’s nothing to moan about.
So your saying he didn't win a Vezina Trophy?
-
1
-
-
10 minutes ago, tom webster said:
The last paragraph is wrong and the others make assumptions disguised as absolute truths.
He convinced TPEGS to build/rebuild the analytics, scouting and front office staff. He has kept him at arms length by keeping him informed. Yes, he has made mistakes and I have blasted him for it. Ullmark and the assumption that progress was linear have been my biggest beefs. This year is obviously crucial and there won’t be a sixth without playoffs next April.
I think my last paragraph is 100% correct. He has not earned anything. He is there because of time and the new coach. Those are the things keeping him in the job right now. Being loyal and following Pegula's demands are another factor in his favor. As we know, Boterill eventually refused to do that
Yes, he brought in some good analytics guys and he seems to have drafted some decent prospects while dealing away Eichel, Reinhart, Risto, Montour. The loss of Linus and the subsequent handling of goaltending for 3 straight years has been a big problem.
I made not one assumption either, it all there in the reality of what happened.
-
33 minutes ago, Taro T said:
Except it was the previous season. When Comrie was finally healthy again, the players (aka Okposo) lobbied for management to keep UPL up in Buffalo rather than return him to the Amerks thus birthing the "3 headed monster." Absolutely would believe that management asked for Okposo's input on moves and how the season was progressing as Adams has stated repeatedly that he does solicit opinions and has "honest conversations" with everybody in the organization.
And, with that said, no, the roster deficiencies were NOT on Okposo or any of the other players. They fell in large degree on Adams and to a far lesser degree on Granato.
To the bolded: When Adams is having all of these "honest conversations with everybody in the organization" he is in fact getting opinions, and this technique is actually a method of soliciting them.
We should all have learned by now not to take Adams comments to the press at full face value.
-
1
-
-
1 hour ago, tom webster said:
This where I’m at. However, I do think he has earned the right to correct it and learn from it, which know us not a popular sentiment.
In what way has Adams earned the right? The "only missed by one point" season was Granato's coaching effort almost overcoming Adams poor effort with the roster.
I do agree to giving him more time ONLY because this team still looks like a $hit show from the outside and all the change gets amplified when you lose. Plus he hired a new coach so he should be tied to him for awhile.
Adams still looks to be a mile over his head as a GM, but who else are they going to get? The owner has huge trust issues with bringing in experienced and strong hockey leaders and he is not respected in the league.
Adams coaching search sure raised a few eyebrows. He said one thing and he did another. He knows Lindy, they live in Clarence, Lindy helped give him a start, Lindy is a true Sabre, Lindy has credibility, Lindy is proven, ya da, ya da, ya da.
He may have talked to a few candidates, but he never had serious interviews with any of the top candidates - Toronto is doing that now and actually bringing guys like McLellan and Berube into the building to talk, and taking more than 3 days to do this.
Adams did the easiest thing he could do in hiring Lindy. You could have made that hire happen.
Lindy could work out, and he might be enough to get whatever growth is needed to make them a playoff team. But Adams is still there because his time as a GM is not up yet, I do not see anything earned.
His ascent to become an NHL GM still looks like a puzzling and desperate move, made by a billionaire couple worried about the family fortune in the face of a global pandemic.
He has not proven or earned anything other than his ability to be Pegula's trusted yes man. His timer now moves on to season 5.
-
2
-
1
-
UFAs Sabres may want to sign
in The Aud Club
Posted
This is old. The Cali teams are nothing great, in fact 2 of them are worse than Buffalo, and not everyone wants to live in crime ridden and depraved south Florida.
Like the Bills, avoid the rock stars, look for rock solid people instead.
The Sabres have very good young talent already and they have a sufficient pipeline. They need vets in their prime to fill the holes on the roster. Trades need to be made to jump start the current core players we have or the losing will continue. Mid priced free agents are also out there.