Pimlach

Columbus has some young guys that are coming up.

Tage finally gets a shot. He and Tuch are not playing or leading.

Completely outplayed this period.

They score on the first shot and had their goalie scared, a guy who played one game all year. Then they stopped. The have no energy at all.

Matter of time. Quiet game. Fans sleeping. No atmosphere in the morgue tonight.

BJ’s are outplaying us. They keep beating us to the puck. The Sabres should be firing everything at their goalie. Learned nothing from the first shot. Ray, you’re wrong. Some shots were there, they didn’t take them.

Cozens are you nuts. Attack that goalie.

Good start. Dahlin on the first shot.

Good Evening Teammates, Punch checking in. Give me a well played and dominant home game. Time to start winning. Quinn back, Goat Heads, Holiday Cheer. MUSCLE WEIGHT

Regarding Quinn. He has been skating and working it for 4 weeks. They must have a way to look at it and measure progress. It will always be a concern on when to come back.

Cozens cares enough to someday be a Captain. But he is not ready and he does not yet act like one. Proof is losing his cool and picking a fight with a heavyweight (Hathaway), then slamming things on his way to the locker room for repairs. That is caring, but still acting like a young player and not doing anything that was actually effective, the game was over. Next he went a rant after another loss, saying not enough "F" in their game. Two games later the team was playing the same way. The folks on TNT actually laughed at that comment (although they agreed with it). Cozens has potential to be a good Captain. Consistent play, caring, holding others accountable, and setting an example by his own ACTIONS - that is what it takes. He is not there yet, but he might be someday.

Probably right on this. It will interesting to see how many minutes he gets tonight. If he plays strictly with Jost and Olofsson it may be 12 or less.

It depends. Does McDavid's worth involve team success? Is McDavid better than Eichel? Look who has a Cup. Dahlin alone is not going to get you there. My gold standard defenseman is still Bobby Orr. He had a lot of help. So did Robinson, Potvin, Coffey, Lidstrom, etc. Dahlin would be a key piece of the puzzle, but he alone won't give you team success.

If team success played into it all then we would not have had a Captain since Drury/Briere we allowed to leave. Almost half of the NHL would not have Captains either. As for Dahlin, why are you being negative? Or, why are you asking questions you already know the answer too? Do you think they put enough around him so far? Do you think the Sabres have supported the young players that they developed? If you cannot see that he is the best choice then make another recommendation rather than asking cryptic questions.

Jacques Martin is still in the game? I suppose he will be demanding and will try to wake them up, maybe get them to play harder and be more consistent, but interim means interim. This is actually his 3rd time being a mid season interim replacement in the NHL. Granato will survive the year. Unfortunately he just got extended but I really think it is time to move on and bring in a coach with proven NHL success. Looking at Laviolette in NY, he had no trouble installing a system that included offense and defense and special teams in one off-season. We have to get the NHL club out of the developmental mode, that is for Rochester. Granato is a great guy and he did a fine job to the point that he can. He has not been given a full NHL roster either but his system, and his glacial pace of teaching it, is not NHL level. IF you are not improving you are getting worse. We are getting worse again. Teams just know how to stop us and we have no counter.

I believe that @PASabreFan's GIF signifies he is not convinced that adding Quinn does anything substantial at this point. Think contrarian.

All this talk about Columbus being bad. They are, but Buffalo at home scares no one. This is a game they have to come out strong dictate the play. With Levi in net I like our chances. Now, if Tage and Tuch also show up we might be able to do some damage.

Bryson waived is logical. I wish him well. I just hope they are not rushing Quinn. They clearly rushed Tage back, but a thumb is much different than Achilles.

Nope. Terry came up with Efficient, Effective, and Economic when describing to the media why Boterill was fired. Recall that JBot was given a vote of confidence as GM, Terry liked him and publicly supported him. Shortly afterwards, JBot was fired for not wanting to comply with the new business plan, which looked nothing like a hockey plan. Adam’s agreed to carrying it out, Terry knew him and liked him, he was a rising star on the Business side of the operation, so he made him GM after an exhaustive search of ZERO candidates.

Agree but let’s add that he has taken a beating to get to this point and he came out stronger. He stood on his own and he pushed back and has earned respect in the league. There was no help for him either. Not like the GM getting Horton to teach Schoeny. Dahlin is a Norris Level player, a premiere talent, and he is still just getting started. His contract tracks with his play and his worth.

I can tell you I’m not throwing in a towel and I have high expectations for the lineup we have. Concerning Benson, he keeps making plays and creating, he is outplaying some opponents and most of his teammates. So sure, play him in the highest level he can handle, but they better protect him. Whoever is on the ice with Benson better jump into any fracas and answer for any action taken on him. My beef is with the FO for being in the position where they can’t spare him for a short time in the first place. It’s Bush. I can see @Brawndo ‘s point but coming at it with a bit of scorn for Adams.

I am very happy that Benson is playing so well and that Adams drafted him. He looks like a future star. I see nothing to celebrate in the decision to not let him play in the tournament It’s a sad state of affairs that he is so important to the team at 18 years old that he can’t miss 5 games and play for Canada. It’s a sad indictment on the Sabres, not on Benson. I never expected him to make the top 6, or even the top 9 if we had a healthy lineup. Again, this was supposed to be a playoff run. He will say he wants to stay with Buffalo. What he really wanted we will never know. What is best for his development has already been decided and there is no going back now.

Pretty sad conversation regarding Benson, the Worlds, and the job KA did in the off season. On teams serious about the playoffs, Granato would probably be fired by now. On some of those teams Adams would be fired too. Benson is already becoming a victim of playing for this backwards run organization. He looked very good in camp, giving him a few NHL games was fine. Logically, an 18 year old would then he go back to juniors then to Worlds, etc. But this is the Buffalo Sabres and somehow he emerges as one of their better and more reliable two-way wingers on the team. Pretty sad statement about the rest of them. So now people with a hockey conscience and a long term view feel bad that the kid misses out on playing for Canada and possibly winning a championship - all because the Sabres need him now, so that the FO can continue to communicate that they are "trying" to win. Let's keep in mind that they need to play ~ .670 hockey to meet the playoff goal.

Rugby style play in the NFL.