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Pimlach

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Posts posted by Pimlach

  1. 8 minutes ago, K012010 said:

    Yeah, a period like that where you are beaten so soundly including every single puck battle is just a backbreaker for a franchise. 

    Florida is such an impressive team. They are essentially my second team and I really just want the Sabres to be built like them going forward.

    Finding players like Tkachuk and Ekblad will be tough.  

    • Agree 1
  2. Marchand was excellent that period.  He is a spare part third liner on Florida and has played just 1 minute less than Barkov and Reinhart.  He kills the Leafs and his coach knows it.  

    • Agree 1
  3. 4 hours ago, dudacek said:

    Most people don’t expect Adams to make a big move because Adams.

    But there is no shortage of Sabre names in the rumour mill.

    This thread is a place where we can discuss some of them, what similar assets have been traded for in the past, and what we might expect in return.

    To me, Byram is clearly on the table, as is pick #9 and any of our pipeline players.

    I think we also have to consider the possibility of Tuch and Peterka being moved due to their value and contract situations.

    And I think Quinn, Samuelsson and UPL could be had due to last year’s poor play and the need to upgrade their roster spots.

    I would be upset to see Tuch and/or Peterka leave.  
     

    Byram being moved seems inevitable.   Moving Quinn and Muel would not bother me.  Moving UPL, that depends on what is coming in.  

    • Like (+1) 3
  4. 3 hours ago, Thorny said:

    If anything we completely ripped Florida off when we bagged Kulich.

    Kulich and Levi could eventually become a good haul for Reinhart but right now this trade is in Florida’s. favor.   
     

    Reinhart’s SC winning game 7 goal is going to be hard to beat.   Plus he is a steady two way 50 goal scorer.  
     

    Im doubting they will ever regret the trade. 

    • Like (+1) 2
    • Agree 1
  5. Some good players at forward.  Very still young overall.  A lot of similar style players and most of them lack a two-way game.   They need another top 6 veteran, not sold on Norris due to health reasons but a good and healthy season from him would be a pleasant surprise.   

    They need better play from the bottom 6 in the line up.   Some true shut down players.   Last off-seasons  4th line remake was not a success.  Get a guy that will punch the lights out of people and can play 4th line minutes. 

  6. Some excellent ideas here.  

    Pulock is a guy we need but not at 5 X $6.1M for a 30 year old.   Muel was supposed to be like this guy, but he has not been as we all know.  Which is why you don't give big contracts to guys with 57 NHL games under their belt.  

    Braden Schneider is intriguing but will be an RFA after next season and then we have another decision.  Again, Muel's salary will become an issue.   

  7. 9 hours ago, Mr. Allen said:

    Not that long ago Bennett was pretty much considered a complete bust. 

    I wouldn’t say bust but he was looking like 3rd line skill level player.  Now he is in his prime years and on a team that can best utilize what he can bring. You can see he brings elements of strength, will,  perseverance, grit, toughness, and skill.  He shows up in big games and he defends his teammates against anyone.  
     

    I want him on the Sabres someday.  He is a throwback player IMO.  

  8. 59 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

    Punch, don't forget the mystery man who accompanied LaLa to Ot-wa Ot-wa Ot-wa (RIP Art; I'm assuming he's gone toes up) to interview Murray: Battista!

    Coffee... ask for it by name.

    Ah yes, the man from Penn State. 

    He was in the days of the bloated organization where it seemed everyone reported to Terry (President of Everything).  There was Ted Black (President of something-something), Craig Patrick (Special Advisor to the President of something-something ), LaFontaine (POHO - but not if we tank), Murray (GM -but only if we tank), and Joe Battista (President of Hockey and Business Administration - of which there is really no such thing). 

    After this we had Kim Pegula (President of the Presidents) and Russ Brandon (President anything else that Terry and Kim are not already President of).  

    Maybe the simpler and scaled down one GM and a few AGMs isn't so bad?  

    Maybe the answer is in between the first one and the current?    

    • Like (+1) 1
  9. 19 hours ago, dudacek said:

    How did the thorough and professional searches that yielded Tim Murray and Jason Botterill end up?

    How about the whimsical and insular hires of Rod Brind’Amour and Eric Tulsky in Carolina?

    There is no magic formula; if there was everyone would follow it.

    The Sabres haven’t sucked for a long time due to any one thing, as much as people need to find one. It’s through a series of poor choices exacerbated by the resulting fragility that has manifested within the organizational psyche.

    TLDR: not enough good players and/or good leaders in the same place at the same time.

    It’s not really any more complicated than that.

    Murray was hired by LaFontaine and Murray was supposed to report to LaFontaine, but that is not what happened and that is what led to his abrupt resignation.    Both were very bad choices IMO.  

    Botterill  was pushed by the Pittsburgh connection that Terry trusted, and Botterill is a bright guy.  He was chosen over Bill Zito, who is now a Cup winner in Florida.   Just because you interview a few people and you apparently pick the wrong guy doesn't mean that you completely change your processes and the very next time you go out and hire an inexperienced person for the most important job in the organization simply because you know him and like him.  But that is what happened. 

    As several here are alluding, there is an element of luck at play, and I agree there is no magic formula, but you still need sound logic and discipline in how decisions are made.   

    So the logical move after Botterill was fired is to ask yourself what were the key factors that led me to pick this person over the other?   Was my criteria wrong, or was the weighting used on my criteria wrong?  What should change?    You have to be brutally honest with yourself.   But at that time Terry was not interested in finding the best GM.  He was interested in preservation of the family wealth.  PSE was scaled back, One Buffalo ended, the Bills were spared, the Sabres were not.  

    So when Botterill left he simply hired the guy he knew,  and liked, and was comfortable with.  In this case Terry must have known it would be hard to find an outside "hockey guy" that would agree with EEE, or with trading Eichel (using the injury as a fulcrum) and driving another full scale rebuild.  

    You say the Sabres haven't sucked for a long time due to any one thing.  I say they have.  They have sucked for a long time due to poor decisions made by the owners.   Terry, Kim, and back to Terry.   That is the constant that everybody sees.  That is were the buck stops - and in the Sabres case the bucks have stopped for a long time.  

    So the pandemic is over and 5 years of losing is the aftermath.   Terry  is now at a fork in the road  - make a change now, or wait one more year since Adams and Ruff are on contract.   He knows them and he likes them and he has very few reliable connections in the league.    Ruff really deserves better than one year.  Adams does not, but it is easy to see where this is going.    

    I am bracing myself for another year of Adams and Ruff.  Best case is that they do add a legit Senior Advisor.    

     

    • Like (+1) 2
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  10. 10 hours ago, dudacek said:

    it was interesting that nearly all the braintrust was there together: Terry, Adams, Lindy, Ventura, Staal, Guelli, Appert, another guy I recognized as a member of the analytics department.

    But no Karmanos, the guy who is actually most responsible for the team on the ice.

    Maybe he was in the bathroom lineup?

    No one mentioned Karmanos yet.  

    He is the Rochester GM, his team is playing a home playoff game.  The Owner and his top staff are there.  He had to be there somewhere.  

  11. 50 minutes ago, Thorny said:

    No room in Buffalo for a guy who has 62 points in 68 playoff games 

     

    1 minute ago, Thorny said:

    A higher career points per game in the playoffs than any current Sabre has in the regular season 

    Ok, we all know that Marner is very good in the regular season.  How much are you going to pay him?   Where does he fit?   

    How many actual GWG or GTG does he have in the playoffs.  He is a near PPG playoff scorer and yet I never hear the guys name in the playoffs and his team loses, many times in the first round.  Last night was a critical home game for him and he was -2 with no points.  So yeah, 62 points is great, but is he leading his team to victory?  Doesn't seem like it to me.  

    On top of all this he will not play for the Sabres.  

     

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