Pimlach

Wow. Our Power play is back. Dahlin that was bad.

Our Pk getting more chances than the PP

We are getting good pressure, I hope the PP doesn’t screw up.

Nice job by EJ. The Montreal player tried to draw a holding call by putting his stick in EJ’s armpit. Ref didn’t bite.

FIFY

Good evening Teammates, Punch checking in. Ready to see some hockey. Looking for a W tonight with Levi playing against his hometown team. MUSCLE WEIGHT. nice anthems.

Pegula inherited Ruff. Ruff was the first to go, he should have got to know him better, he should have been the last. The two "not new to the NHL coaches" are Nolan and Bylsma. Nolan was out of NHL hockey for a long time. Not a marque pick made at the genesis of the tank. The found a desperate to get back candidate that was known. After the Sabres, Bylsma has never got back as a HC job in the NHL. He is an outlier that was handed a SC capable team, and he did the job that year and they won the Cup. After that not much. I was puzzled by his failure, he had some good young players. The tendency is to hire new, unproven, damaged, resurrected, available at the time and we now him, kind of coaches .... How about a relevant and recent winning NHL coach? There are several out there right now.

ESPN+ and you can watch the games on demand. You don't get the post game show, no Duffer and Marty, no interviews.

Ok, I get that.

That Caps team had a .640 winning percentage, they won their division, Barry Trotz as coach. Looked at that Caps line up and it is completely opposite of the team we have. It was built more like the Bruins team, or the Blues SC Team. Their size, their experience, their willingness to play physical, plus they had skill. We are not even close to that level. Our 1000 game players are done. I doubt they hold up in the playoffs past one round, and they are the ones everyone here wants to get rid of. Our physical players like Greenway and Tuch could not match what Washington brought. Just Wilson and Oshie alone would handle these two, and they had much more. You are comparing a rough and tough veteran team that had been together a long time and eventually were Cup Champions, to a team that has not made the playoffs on 12 years, still does not hit anybody, and is playing .460 hockey.

I posed this question recently (in the "be patient" thread). Of Savoie, Kulich, Rosen, and Östlund who do you trade/keep? Also, at what point does their value go down, i.e., when is their enough games seen to determine what they can be? From AHL play you would think Kulich is the best, but Donnie gave him one game, very sheltered minutes, and then sent him back. Rosen lasted longer which surprised me. Both looked very tentative.

We don’t have anywhere near the physical players or the veteran leadership that Washington had. You don’t survive a playoff run without both.

He takes the C seriously. As long as he holds himself to the same standards he won’t have a problem.

“Powerfully” translates to, they will say controversial things because the Sabres do not pay their salaries. Last years power play started good and went to $hit, were it has remained to this day. Ellis deserves no credit, anyone with a brain knows that. The power play is the single biggest reason why the Sabres are not in the race. Listen to what Marty said today, he just broke down all the numbers. The disgrace about Appert coming up should be on the assistants, although the management is responsible for them being there, they can all share the disgrace Rivet and Peter’s are a clown show. Good for a chuckle, or when you want to vent.

I like Lindy. Look at the trail of coaches since Lindy. Pretty sad state of affairs. If you were a guy that bought a team and publicly stated you wanted to win Cups, when you fired Lindy wouldn’t you have asked your GM to bring Cup caliber coaches in for interviews ? I guess Blysma was that, he inherited a team.

I agree with this. A few players away still, but I don’t think we get there with the current coaching staff. As for being patient. It helps me get through the rest of the season by venting on occasion. I don’t think me being patient is warranted. I think Adams needs to convince Terry on a major coaching change. I think Adams has to seize the moment and make a few roster moves. His prospects are getting more eyes from other teams scouts, they could just as easily lose value rather than gain. Adam’s has to get to work.

Rivet acts like a clown and his comments are usually not very insightful. I don’t care about Rivet, I care about Power. I want to coach him up. I don’t know what to do to toughen him up. The old school tactics are frowned upon. Dahlin got tired of getting pushed around and decided to push back. I guess Power has to do the same, or decide on how his wants he career to unfold. Probably should not have made him rich for life at 20.

Need a coach. You can bring in 3 Selke winners and it wont help much given the way they play. Their style reminds me of a team put together for a tournament. Limited time to put in a system, you rely on talent. Whatever system we have is well known and even the worst teams can beat it.

Yes, because lethargic players that don't care are better to have on the roster because they always play clean and exhibit sportmanship. More Olofsson and Jokiharju types for you PA. They will never get into that situation. Good and smart upstanding guys. EJ was upset by the refs explanation - "you guys were complaining too much in the last period". I side with EJ on that. Had the ref said "clean hit, so you are getting an extra 2 for instigating" he would have still been pissed, he would have still complained, but not to that extent. EJ comes from real hockey teams so he naturally defended his rookie linemate. Buffalo hockey has not had that since the Briere/Drury teams. Heck, that team had a coach that sent his players out to "run 'em". Quite a few Sabres fans do not like when a player shows emotion, unless they are on the other team. Then they wish that player was on our team. Until they are, then they want them out because modern hockey has no place for that stuff.

No, he is old. The Avs would have kept him if he had more gas in the tank. Adams is the fraud. EJ will get traded at the deadline and then help a team that does not operate in chaos.

Power is the best player of the three. You are embarrassing yourself with your attacks on a kid that just turned 21 and is still learning how to be consistent in the NHL. This board did the same thing to Dahlin, who is now getting Norris votes. Defensemen take awhile, and for Power he will need help to bring a more physical game. Was Adams stupid to pay him big money after just 1 season? Yes, and Adams also failed to bring in an effective partner for him that can play top 4 minutes Cozens will continue to develop and will be a very good 2 way player. Krebs has no shot, very little offensive upside, and he doesn't scare anyone. He is is playing a role that is absent on the team, but he is not right for that role. He better continue to try hard because he is barely good enough to make bottom 5 team in this league.

First two comments in bold is the exact kind of thinking that is wrong with the Sabres. 1. Why not expect the Playoffs next year? Every good team the Sabres have ever had came up with a big year that surprised every one. That happens to most teams (Philly/Kings this year, Devils last year). Talent-wise they are close right now- get a coach, get a goalie, get a veteran top 4 D that is already in his prime. Then add few vet forwards that bring defense, muscle, and grit to round out the bottom 6 - this does not cost a lot or "block anybody". We have lots of assets to work with, including a prime draft pick coming, plus we have cap room. 2. Lets stop giving tryouts to players that everyone knows are not ready. Savoie needs a year in the AHL and he really has to get stronger. He literally looked not ready out there in his few NHL minutes. Novikov is not ready. Walhberg and Östlund will also be not ready. Rousek will never be ready to do much in the NHL, he is a call up spare forward at best. Kulich/Rosen should get another look next year but given nothing for free. We have guys like them right now. We should be adding the missing elements. You want to get better? Make some decisions on Savoie, Östlund, Kulich, Rosen. With the emergence of Benson/Peterka/Quinn do we need all 4? No, start adding a few players that are proven NHL players and in their prime right now. I would be shopping Skinner too.

Samuelsson earned his way down to 3rd pair. Would love to see a Joker packaged in a trade to upgrade the defense. A big, tough, veteran top 4 type in his prime years, that steady stay at home presence is missing.

Actually its from The Sopranos. Christopher Multisanti (many saints) dreamed that he was going to hell. Paulie assured him it was only purgatory. "What's a few thousand years in purgatory compared to eternity? I could do that time standing on my head"