Pimlach

This is what I see lately: 1. UPL is looking tired, slower, and less sharp. We might as well give Levi more games and let UPL stabilize and not loose his mind. Adams better remember this for next year. UPL cannot play a 60+ game pace next year. He cannot hold the pace. We need ~30+ games from the backup, not Comrie and maybe not Levi either. 2. Byram is looking like a Sabre now, he waits for the play and he has slowed down his game. Defensively he is just like the rest of them. He gets paid $4.6M next year and after that he is an RFA. Adams seems committed to him so we will have another big investment on the blue line. Joker is an RFA this off- season, so he could leave at anytime with nothing in return. 3. No player on this team ever owns anything. All I ever hear is how the problem is something else, whatever happens they always have something to say except "I need to be better". Just recently I heard lame excuses from Tuch, Cozens, and now Dahlin. They don't even know they are doing it, these guys have been infected by the bad culture. 4. Adams won't own the drought, so no one on this team will. Adams allegedly talks to Beane. He had McDermott come out to the prospect camp last year and talk. Is this all for show? Does he listen and try to do what these guys do every day? I don't think so. 5. Future salary structure was a key reason that Adams would not bring in "blockers". We still are going to have some serious cap decisions to make this year (Joker, Krebs, UPL) and next year (Byram, Quinn, Peterka). 6. For a team that drafted 3 centers in the first round just two years ago they are really hurting up the middle. The departure of Mitts will have to be filled in with someone not named Krebs if this team is going to get better and going to handle normal injuries next season. They need to bring in a 2/3C and 3/4C - but salary space is almost gone with Power getting $8M next year and other guys on deck. 7. They could have made a better environment for the kids to come up and play in, and still have these same cap decisions. We should have been better - I am still not sure Adams knows what to do once the money constraints are lifted (if they ever are). 8. Coaching is a problem. This staff has reached their limits and they are overmatched on gameday. The entire staff needs a friendly handshake and a good bye after this season. The search for a coach is my only hope for next season.

Are the players going to stop talking to the press now?

There are videos of his first conferences. Promises made and unfulfilled.

8:11 in 3rd down 5-2, and I just heard the “Let’s Go Buffalo” chant.

Wow. 4 shots in minutes. This team is not working.

No comeback so far. Ho hum

Dahlin getting a double. WTF?

Cliffy. He isn’t going to get that playoff check this year.

They were just little kids. They will hear the boos and what will their experience be? When I was that small I was lucky, we had good teams wearing the Pepsi bottle-top jerseys. Coached by Freddy Shero. GM was Freddie Hunt. Both better than what we have now.

They were barely alive for sure, but this game is at home and against a division opponent. Didn’t cozens just tweet something about connecting with the fans? This team quits. You cannot trade them all. You have to look at the coach.

Did you see those poor fans. 5-0 after one period. pathetic.

Lacking of accountability, expectations, effort, and pride.

Even our Sabres photographers are getting accolades.

That thread was closed, even though we keep reaching new levels of ineptitude.

Ehhh. Not enough movement. Not enough traffic. Not enough shots.

That would send a message to the team. I have never seen DG use that tactic.

Good evening Teammates, Punch checking in late. I see a two goal deficit. We have to beat these guys. Muscle Weight

Certainly want to beat Ottawa no matter the circumstances.

Totally agree. But Adams doesn’t own it, and neither does Granato. It has to start there if the goal is to be changing the culture, (refer to Sean McDermott, who did take ownership in stopping the 17 year drought).

Who is advocating for 3rd line players? Let Adams sit on his hands and take no risks. Lets see how many of these prospects are actually good NHL players and wait another 4 years for them? By then Dahlin, Tage and Cozens will have lost their love for the game and will be gone, and todays prospects can be the new Core.

He is being honest. The quote shows his youth, and it also reflects on the type of leadership and the kind of comments he hears from whoever the leaders are or were. It is awkward, but obviously he feels the divide between the team and the fanbase. The divide is still there in the area, in the community, and on this forum. I guess I took for granted the real love for this team that the community once had. All it took was great leadership at the top, a real commitment to winning, and some good players that were fun to watch.

I think Tage is the 1C on this team right now today - look at his role, his pay, and his ice time - on this team. I never used the words "TRUE 1C" because I don't know what a "TRUE 1C" is - it appears to be a subjective term that apparently changes from team to team and year to year. If you are referring to McDavid and McKinnon as the definition of a true 1C then say that. In that case, there are 5 to 10 players in that category and some of those names change from year to year. What is Draisaitl? A two 2C+ or a 1C-? Tage was a 1C last year, but not this year? Is that your claim? Ok, fine, maybe next year he will score 45 and you will put him in the 1C club again? Mitts has nothing to do with this either. Yes, he was our best center this season, in a year when Tage and Cozens both had injuries and off years. So what, Mitts is gone. The only point worth discussing is in your first sentence, it would be great if we can acquire a center that pushed Tage to 2C. First, I guess you do think Tage is a 1C if you want to push him to 2C? Of course, make that trade Adams! Good luck with that. Cogent and logical.

Recall 2019-20, he was injured in the very first game and he missed the entire year. He was a total workout warrior prior to the start of that season, and then again the season after that. He got a lot stronger and much more coordinated and confident during those two years which included COVID and the RK to DG switch. He was not in Bolivia or Peru, he was ready to show what he could do but he had some set backs. The theory from DG is that he gets more room to move in either direction when at center. But on another roster, with another coach, he may have been "unlocked" as a wing. His time spent creating and driving play is more often to free himself for a SOG, passing/playmaking is secondary for him. I think he is a good center but I can see him as a wing for an elite passer/playmaker. From a scoring perspective, this season has been rough for him and many others, but it is far too early to think he cannot get back to last seasons level.

My issue with Granato is right there in bold. Granato works well with individuals and is helpful to them in finding their game. He has not been able to translate that into putting 18 skaters on the ice and utilizing/motivating them get them to win consistently.