Pimlach

I am giving no credit or discredit until this plays out. I was against not acquiring a goaltender. I was against Levi playing four straight games to start the season too. I am for Levi in Rochester. Right now UPL is a pleasant surprise that has a long road ahead to prove he is consistent enough to be a 1. Comrie is still Comrie. He can backup. Levi is in a place were he can work on his game and contribute. It is what it is and we will know as the season progresses.

Pegula built the Penn State Arena for a massive tax write off to offset massive fracking profits. He won't get that in Rochester, it would not count as a charitable donation, he owns the team. The rest of your spouting about the quality of the Rochester Amerks facility is senseless and has little or nothing to do with player development.

OK @PASabreFan, I looked at the old Levi Expectations Thread. Just one (1) member voted that he would spend time in the AHL - that was @mjd1001. The majority picked the middle option - lots of games and lots of ups and downs. Almost as many picked the first option - lots of games and Calder conversation. Looks like you did not vote. Some of the longest standing members here, and most ardent followers of hockey, picked option 1. So the board here is becoming more "rah rah"? Maybe so. I would say we are a fan base looking for a savior. Probably because there is little else to cheer for other than our prospects developing. We spent the whole off season talking about prospects as the FO only bought in two players from the outside to help with a playoff run. It even seemed to me like the preseason games were a prolonged tryout that actually extended into the regular season. And people wonder why they started slow? I see where your frustration is but the diehard fans have to cheer for something.

Hmmm. Seems weird to keep the Rosen-Jost-VO combo together given the limited ice time that Rosen and Jost got in the last game. If Greenway plays in St Louis then I expect Rosen could go down and Kulich will get a look. On defense who will the 6 be? Joker had a good game in NY. Johnson is looking good. Clifton is strong on the PK and might be good to have against a team like the Blues.

Granato is not drawn to 11-7, he has had no choice on some nights. Imagine running the bench and having to constantly shelter minutes because of 2 or 3 skaters cannot hold up. I look at it negatively because we don't have 12 NHL forwards right now, and that the bottom 6 has been bad all season. Of course there could be, and there have been, cases over the course of the season were 11-7 is a better option. Granato did a great job with 11-7 on several nights. But it is not sustainable. Saying 11-7 it works great is like saying "this tourniquet is really nice, oh boy - works great. Look no blood!" The teams that win roll 4 lines.

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.