Pimlach

Yes, I know. I am fully aware of his play. It was a question of whether he is fiesty and the answer is yes, he is. He is a liability in a lot of cases. He has 343 goals and 642 pts in 957 games, and yet he is a lifetime -132.

The biggest knock is him coming back to play defense. Offensive zone he is a finisher. And Skinner still is one of the feistier players we have, you take the bad with the good. What is interesting is that Peters said on his podcast that Boterill was not intending to want to re-sign Skinner after his 40 goal season, and it was Pegula that made the call.

Peters admitted that they had guidelines on what he could say. LOL I can imagine he was a handful for management.

Here is mine ...

I think I just met that guy at a Jr. Sabres game this year. It sure looks like him, my cousin told me he was a scouting director. Seemed like a nice guy. An easy hire for Adams, local, wants to be there, wants to help, yada yada ... Pro Scouting is underutilized. They found Jost, ok. He advises on trades, but Adams seem to have trouble making them happen - either teams want too much or the player won't come here. That is a real barrier that supports Adams approach of build from within.

I just listened. Clearly, Peters wanted to vent about the organ-eye-zation and he did. The most informing stuff to me was their comments on the coaching staff. They are very negative on what this staff can bring to the players and on the game day coaching. Specifically Ellis running the power play, and the overall acceptance by the head coach as to what is happening. One thing that bothered me, but is certainly a reality, was when they talked about the President's Trophy team of 06-07. Rivet told Peters that even back then, players did not want to go to Buffalo. It may have been true, but to a much lesser extent than it is now. Any veteran that wants to win now and has a NMC is not going to agree to be traded to Buffalo, so we have to understand that Adams might have a major constraint to deal with. They mostly talk about the young guys not being supported and the overall softness of the team. They have no use for Skinner either and feel that his scoring does not overcome the rest of his game. I tend to disagree, I see is Skinner is one of the few feisty players and he has improved his two-way game although he does get into the lazy doldrums - the entire team does. Rivet wants a veteran partner for Power that will help him and teach him. Power's soft play was a big subject. The fact that Benson is one of their best forwards right now was viewed as a negative reflection on the rest of them. The Krebs v. Aho situation was brought up by Rivet. Krebs may not have known that Aho was going after him. He should have obliged him and beat the tar out of him, but Rivet stated that a player like Aho knows he is protected, while Krebs is on his own. McCarron was gunning for Krebs on several shift, that would not be a good match up (see Cozens vs Hathaway). Peters says that fighting is trending up again in the NHL, not sure he is correct, however it appears that more teams are going with one big physical line that can and will engage in that part of the game. Overall it sounded like SabresSpace - maybe @PerreaultForever was filling in for Rivet that day? Dahlin was the only positive. Highly skilled, he brings it every game.

Can't agree with this. Owner's hire the GM (or head of Hockey Operation on some teams). Adams should feel more heat than DG, but it will not work that way because Adams is carrying out his bosses wishes. The roster, when healthy is still a handful of players away, but not that bad. It always starts with the owner. He hired marginally qualified and untested GMs three times in a row. The owner has over-spent at times, and has under-spent at times. The owner fired coaches that he wanted here. The owner is doing nothing to fix the facility or improve the game day experience, he doesn't show up, he doesn't know how bad his product is. The owner has sole possession of the worst record in the history of the NHL. He can and should rightfully take the blame. No real NHL GM would have agreed with Pegula's idiotic and silly 3 E's edict. He was worried about paper losses to his fortune, and his families lifestyle on their Yacht during Covid --- he put this team on another bad path. Which is why Boterill left and Adams got his chance- as long as Adams carries out this slow roll, stay under the cap, spend money on people that want to be here, the someday over the rainbow plan. This rebuild is about cost control for the next TBD years - probably at least until the damm football stadium is built. How many teams in the East have already rebuilt or re-tooled since pre-Covid --- Devils, Isles, Panthers, Rangers. How many are passing us this season? Detroit, Montreal, and Philly are doing that right now. We are closer to Ottawa and Columbus than we are to the aging Tampa, Washington and Pittsburgh teams - all of which are teams we were supposed to pass soon. We are closer to a bottom 5 finish than we are to the playoffs right now. Tons of injuries are not helping. We can draft another highly acclaimed 18 year old this off season and add him to our stable of shiny new toys. Meanwhile the young guys we already have cannot play their game because they are getting no support. It is hard to do on TV, but watch the play away from the puck. Carolina and Preds just physically pounded the crap out of this team. Partly because this team stands around to much (that is coaching). I expect that in our next 3 games we will see the physical side of Detroit, Boston, and Montreal. Either the players get together and decide that enough is enough, or another season is lost. That will be hard to do with Tuch, Greenway and Girgs out and replaced by what - Biro and Rosen? There will be no help from above until maybe the deadline, and it wont matter by then unless the players fix it themselves. We will be Sellers at the deadline - which might be good for someday, someday over the rainbow. The root cause of the Buffalo Sabres being a terrible franchise is all on the Owner. 100%.

The Wings are starting their backup, Alex Lyon. Same guy who beat us for Florida last year in the critical late season game. Those head to head points decided who got in to the playoff.

Detroit is on the same rebuild timeline as Buffalo. They are choosing a different path to get there. With Tage,Tuch, Quinn, Greenway and Girgs out this isn’t a real valid comparison showdown. But Detroit was been ahead all season, even when we had a healthier roster. Sure, Buffalo has more “pure physical talent” but we are learning that talented prospects alone is not enough. This will be a very interesting match. I expect Detroit fans will be present in large masses.

They can be likable, fun and good again. Maybe they can turn it around yet. I just don’t see enough investment by the players and by the FO. That’s what is so bad about it.

That’s just sounds too easy.

Talk to young people in WNY, age 10 to 25, unless they play or have played Ice hockey, they don't even know the Sabres in the least bit.

Why would they trade Duclair for a 3rd rounder? Seems to easy to be true.

I think you are correct. It has to come from Tage, Tuch, Dahlin, Cozens and Mitts. Its their team. I want to replace the lesser vets (KO, Z, Jost, VO) with NHL ready players that fill needs that balance the team. Balance mean add some solid 2 way players that are ready now.

You missing the point, you're way deep in the weeds, pull up a bit. Cozens was essentially a rookie in 2021 because his real rookie season was the Covid year, but Ok, I stand corrected. Samuelsson was, Krebs was. 2022 we had Power, Quinn, Peterka, UPL . UPL struggled the other 3 were fine. Power is not fine right now though, is he. 2023 the fact that Benson is top 6 speak volumes for the problems we have at forward. Injuries aside, Benson in the top 9, ok we found a unicorn, maybe. I personally would have sent him back to Jrs right after camp, AKA, the the long extended day care of Kevyn Adams pet prospects. R Johnson at 22 had as little time in Rochester as possible. Lets see how he holds up, but the last week or so he is showing signs of stress and has been targeted by opposing forwards. It will get harder for him, just like it is for Power, and it was for Dahlin. Levi - how did that work, give him the #1 after 7 games. Nothing caught up to us this year? Everything caught up to us this year. 1. Age - We are younger than last season and that was young enough. So we bring in 3 more rookies and then are forced to bring in more rookies due to injuries. The games are Men vs Boys every night. I was fearful that Benson, Rosen, and Johnson were going to get destroyed against the Canes and the Preds. 2. Style - We still play the same game as last season, the notion that they are "installing defense" into the system is garbage. Whatever they gained from that they lost more of on the scoring side, you see that in the GF and GA stats. The players watch the game, they are thinking, and they are taking a pounding. Every coach in the league knows exactly what to do to slow us down, stop our PP, and wear us down. We fall behind and we lose because they cannot beat a neutral zone trap. We get a lead and we can't finish it because we don't back check and break out cleanly. We play a heavy team and we get slowed down and we get limited. Yes - in every aspect of the game the teams in the league have caught up to us. 3 - Injuries are forcing us replace solid players with even more rookies 4 - Finally, six guys coming off of career seasons and are not on any kind of pace to duplicate it back to back (Tage, Tuch, Skinner, Dahlin, Cozens, Mitts). Everything caught up to us. No one is looking past us. This season has 3 bright spots in terms of players performing. Benson, Peterka, and so far UPL. Benson being there only magnifies how weak we really are. My main point was that we cannot keep absorbing rookies next season so I am at least happy to hear you agree with that. Other than Cozens, everyone I listed is correct. In three seasons we have added 8 rookies, not counting Levi or the temporary call ups.

It sure seems like bringing in 2-3 rookies a year is going to eventually catch up with us, and it probably has this season. Recent Rookie Consumption: 21-22 -- Cozens, Samuelsson, Krebs 22-23 -- Power, Quinn, Peterka, UPL 23-24 -- Benson, R Johnson, (Attempted Levi ) 24-25 -- Possible Levi, Kulich, Rosen, Savoie

A nice vine ripened tomato is great, and rare unless you grow your own.

Take your pick on any given gameday - Okposo, Krebs, Jost, Olofsson, Rosen, Biro ... None of these guys would crack the lineup of a Cup contender. Krebs and Rosen should be in Rochester, they actually have NHL potential. Krebs might be ready for the NHL right now if he was developed better, like on a normal team that didn't rush him into playing roles he is not yet suited for. He should be in the AHL developing his offensive game, which is holding him back in the NHL. Rosen is not really very close IMO. So far he looks too timid to shoot or to hit anybody. Kyle is done and will retire soon. Jost is a JAG spare forward. VO is nothing. Biro is an AHL player. Add Bryson to the list while your at it. That is 7 right there would not smell the locker room of a contending Cup team right now.

I think I read that he (TP) pays for stadium cost overruns, is this true? If it is true then yes, DG’s $2m/yr could be used to cover fuel for the yacht. Uh, pleas pass me the smoked salmon canapé , some of that beluga caviar, and of course, the Dom Perignon, would you my good man?

Many here stated all of this before the season started. Hockey is a business. KO is here for sentimental reasons. A bad move given the way they handled (1) thru (3). The offseason was the time to improve the roster for TODAY. Adams is still thinking about the long term, still worried about the players relationships, still playing the den mother. The Leadership has to come from within. I still feel they handled the preseason like one big tryout for prospects with no chance of making it. The real team was unprepared to go to work from the very start of the season and how many of these nagging injuries (Tuch, Comrie, Greenway, and Cozens) are because of that? These four have had availability problems all season.

Why do people think we have to trade 3 pieces for 1? Jenner is on the wrong side of 30 right now. He is a good player but if Columbus is rebuilding then Östlund and a second should be enough. It is probably best to wait until the season ends and then build from there. Besides, he probably has a NMC and says no to Buffalo.

Yup. Probably right. He would probably take less money to stay in Raleigh than move to Buffalo. There was a time when Buffalo was an attractive place for hockey players to bring their families, but that was long ago.