Pimlach

Why is Adams admitting he was "wrong" so important to you? He gave the kid a shot, the kid is not ready yet. Most of us suspected he would not be ready, therefore we wanted a proven NHL goalie brought in. Now we can see that the kid is not ready and he goes to Rochester. So be it. Part 2 of this is that Adams was comfortable with UPL/Comrie and did not bring in a vet NHL goalie. If UPL holds up as a decent #1 then Adams will get praise for sticking with him. Some members here wanted UPL traded, and other more learned members said just waive him. Right now those opinions are looking more wrong than the plan to keep him. If UPL does not hold up, Adams will get scorn for not bringing in the NHL goalie. But not until then. Adams is not going on TV and saying, "hey, I was wrong, I thought one of the 3 goalies would handle #1" that does nothing but make the 3 goalies feel tossed under the bus. What is Terry Pegula's expectation on Adams? I have a feeling that Adams is comfortable about his job, even if the playoff goal is not reached.

Due to neglect and poor ownership, Buffalo barely supports the NHL team is has anymore. Attendance at the games has been mediocre for 10 years. However, there is no way Buffalo alone is supporting both the NHL and the AHL. Las Vegas metro is 2.3 Million people and growing, which is double that of Buffalo's metro. Henderson alone has 330,000 people - more than the city of Buffalo. Tax revenue from Vegas gambling is huge and dwarfs Buffalo. Private investment is much, much higher too. Comparing Buffalo to Vegas is a fools game. Vegas' owner has been brilliant. He hired the best he could find, expected the best, paid for the best, and he got the best. Buffalo's ownership has been abysmal under Pegula. All talk, no action, and a revolving door of poorly qualified people in key positions year after year. Rochester is one of the classic and most successful AHL franchises of all time. Rochester and Buffalo make a great combination. Their buildings may not be modern and pretty but it should be more about the players, the coaches, and the tradition/culture. The tradition and culture were ruined by Pegula and his Tank Commanders. Buffalo is not struggling because of Rochester's arena. Most teams have their AHL affiliate close by, very few have them in the same city. It takes a lot of people and wealth to pull that off. Buffalo has neither the people or the wealth. You want to fix the Sabres you start with (1) the head of Hockey Operations/GM/Sr execs; (2) the scouting/analytics/player development, (3) coaching across the entire organization, and (4) the business office. The building you play in is not even a secondary issue.

The injuries are facts. Your point is we have good depth. My point is we really don't know what we have at forward but the first look is it is not enough. We carried just one spare NHL forward in Jost, so that we could carry 3 goalies. Kulich and Rosen are skilled young prospects but is that good depth right now? They were both overwhelmed in NJ. Rosen played 6 minutes in NY, he held up ok. Biro is ok. Rousek is ok. We have depth, but "good depth" is a stretch IMO. I want you to be right, but I need to see more.

St Louis game is tomorrow, Thursday 30 Nov. Greenway listed as IR NR Personal Reasons. What is NR? Not ready?

Yes. Biro is taking Levi’s spot I assume.

I don’t see it. The defense depth is improved from last with EJ, Clifton, and Ryan Johnson we have a rotation of 7, plus Bryson drops from 6 last year to 8 this year. That is a positive. The goalie situation has a first time #1 in UPL, an oft injured backup in Comrie, and Levi in the AHL. This is probably not what they expected but at least the goalies have been adequate as a whole. Forward depth is terrible. We ran 11-7 and basically played 9 forwards last game with Rosen getting 6 minutes, and Jost just over 5 minutes. Kulich was scratched in favor of the 7th D. This is not sustainable at all. Looks like Biro is taking Levi’s roster spot as a spare forward. Tage, Quinn, Girgensons, Greenway all on IR.

Greenway listed as IR NR Personal Reasons Girgensons is IR - Lower Body

I think Jost was a waiver pick up. Greenway was a in season trade, we gave a 2023 2nd rounder that we got from Vegas, and a 5th rounder in 2024.

He might be a decent rental for Buffalo now that we have the roster down to 2 goalies. Former Hart and Rocket Richard winner. He could help a team down the stretch

So you're saying that Pegula has him on a tight leash?

Why? Two possible answers: (1) he thinks Detroit is further ahead as a team; or (2) he just doesn't like how things are run, or the perception of how things are run. My personal take is good-bye Kane. If the Sabres are really willing to spend some money, then make a trade and get a middle 6 forward with the experience, and size/toughness along the lines of Greenway and Tuch. Then we need more of that.

And most of todays cagey veterans came up in a very similar way as the current young players.

The bold could be true. He should actually be happy that UPL is ahead of him though. If UPL can carry the #1 role it takes a lot of risk out of his very high risk plan of not adding a proven goalie to the mix.

He won't say he made a mistake nor should he, he will call this what it was. A tryout under fire period and one goalie, UPL, pulled away.

60 miles away Hank. He can play for Rochester and still get a few Sabres home games in.

Oil the glove, but a softball in it and use rope to tie it closed tightly. Put it under your mattress and sleep on it for a few days. That helps to break in the glove.

I am not convinced Comrie is better right now either, their stats are about the same, Comrie is good enough to be the back up. Levi needs to get reps, he needs to excel in the AHL and feel the day to day grind of being the #1 in Rochester.

If he made that agreement then he is stupid. Levi should understand that a few months in the AHL would help him. Levi should also understand that he has to beat out one of the two to stay up.

In the second period when the Rangers started taking the body and skating better, they did take control of the play for a while, but were thwarted by UPL. The Sabres put the dagger in with Tuch goal in the last minute of the period. What was nice was that we dominated the 3rd period too.

Youth is the biggest reason why the highs are so high and the lows are so low. Teams with more veteran makeup tend to have the similar sine wave but with lower amplitude peaks and valleys. Veteran teams are more consistent and steady. It is easy to blame the coaching when a team is not ready or not playing well but a winning team will tend to have a lot of players that don't need constant coach "pep talks" because the leadership comes from within. An NHL player has to prepare himself and be accountable to the team, that is part of being a professional. That is why having veteran leadership is so valuable. That said, the coaching on this team is still something to improve upon. Whoever runs that Power Play is not getting nearly enough from the abundant talent on the roster.

He had a good run, they scored a lot of goals for him too. This season he is keeping them in games. He has definitely improved.

Detroit is currently 3 points ahead of Buffalo with 2 games in hand.

@Spoonman Ok Spooner, back away from the coffee pot