Pimlach

Where are you going? I was talking about the big contracts given to young players, such as Muel, Power, and Cozens, and all of it happened before Lindy. You keep asking about Lindy. My full evaluation of Lindy comes after the season. I have commented on him in other threads, this thread is not the correct one to delve deeper into Lindy. Bringing Lindy into this thread topic - At this point, with 29 games remaining I don't see that the coaching change did much to improve the play, or the confidence, of either Muel or Cozens. I heard Hamilton say this morning that Adams gave out the C and the A's. I have no idea if Lindy had input but to me four A's was excessive.

Translate RD and OOT please?

Normally a good thing to do, but this is the Sabres. The danger is he flashes in a few games and then Adams thinks they have someone who is ready. Adams goes into his "no blockers" mode and they don't add what the really need in the off season, and inevitably when he gets extended work they find he is not ready yet. Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

Everything I talked about regarding those contracts happened pre-Lindy, so of course its not his fault, he had no part in it.

Nah. In hindsight yes, but the thought was Cozens would return to the 30'ish goal Cozens, plus the size, etc. Mitts coming back does not do anything to change the culture in Buffalo, which needs changing. Adding an old buddy is a lost opportunity to bring in a vet player with a better work ethic that might show them how to be an NHL professionals. We got the better player in Bryam over Mitts, yet we did not improve the team. The team needs a true 1C/2C type of player - Bryam and/or Cozens can help us get that in a trade package. Mitts is not cutting it as a 2C on a Cup contending team. I say move on. Mitts is a backwards move.

I don't blame the kid for the Sabres bad decisions. Muel gets a big contract after 57 games, Power gets a big contract after 88 games, Cozens same thing - all of it is turning out to be too much too soon. This falls on the GM. I am in Buffalo for a few weeks. Was listening to WGR 550 this morning and Paul Hamilton commented on the negative reactions around the league to the Tage no response. A lot of this falls Muel who wears the "A". He said he does not see the A being removed this season, but he also does not see this kid recovering from this in Buffalo and will probably will be moved at some point. It is just more disfunction that reflects poorly on the franchise and makes it harder to rebuild.

Can you review the changes the team tried to make and fill us in on the results.

Lindy also said the two points against the Devils were important.

I have seen gambling issues ruin people and destroy families. I despise all the gambling ads and promotion. Would like to some more controls in place.

The Power deal is a bad one in principal. Eyes were raised around the league. A classic example of GM falling in love with his draft pick and jumping the gun. The contract was offered when he played only 88 NHL games. There was no need to give him that much term and that many dollars when he did not earn it. He made a very young player way too rich and way too comfortable at 21 years old. Could it look good in 3-4 more years? 50-50 chance.

Cozens did nothing to deserve his A being stripped and taking it away during the season would be wrong and would be another bad look. I don't think he should have got the A to begin, but that is on Lindy or Adams or both. Muel, another guy that did not deserve the A, should have his removed in the off season. That may not be necessary as I do not think he will be back.

Yes. Something like it would have happened if they had a contending team over the years. The younger generation is creative like that. There have been several times in Buffalo Sports history when the Sabres were more popular than the Bills.

Cold and in the middle of nowhere and Wives. add Montour, Ullmark, and many more ... Doubt it. This is the media age and players know what's going on in Buffalo. Hard sell to Europeans, Russians and North Americans. The shame is that a competitive and hard working team would be revered in Buffalo. They wasted a generation of Sabres Mafia and that has consequences.

Pass. No vote. It's the same coaching staff basically, even Seth Appert is part of the old Granato mindset. Same clown of a GM running the team - he thought he "fixed" the bottom 6. Yeah right, unfortunately he needed to fix the top 6 and move some of his former top 6 down to the second and third lines. Cant blame Lindy for everything. It is February and his best center is a 20 year old rookie winger from Rochester. Not one on the new 4th liners will fight for this team. Malenstyn will skate fast and check hard, and we need that, but his gloves stay on. Lafferty can't beat out Krebs or Kozak. Abe Kubal is in the minors. Great job Kevyn! Ruff is trying to teach the kids things they should already know about playing in the NHL. Several of them regressed by over-thinking and stress.

Indeed. It is a dry cold.

Mocking old people is a time honored tradition. There was just less media, and no social media, back in the 70's. And back then when a player spouted off they got moved, and no one cared. Ruff was a very good coach, but from all accounts he is done as a coach in this league. You can see it in his team, you can hear it in his interviews. Maybe he has a role in the FO. Maybe, but some coaches will never let go of coaching.

We need a big tough guy back on this defense somewhere, might as well be in the 3rd pair. Clifton is a mid-size tough guy, we need a big tough defenseman somewhere on this team. If you keep Dahlin, Power, and Byram then Muel as a 3rd liner and does not bring enough. . He is not a strong physical force, he is not a solid and steady top 4 player, and he is not reliable to be ready to play. We don't need him. PS- I am not impressed in his PK ability either.

To the Bold. Until now I hadn't connected the two. Adams was waaaayyy over his head. Thanks Terry. That EEE is working great.

My one comment in that one thread: Seems like a long term commitment for a player with 54 games under his belt. Hmmm Not understanding why they couldn’t wait another season.

You play the cards in your hand. The Sabres do not have enough of players needed to play that style effectively, at least not for 20 minutes. I agree with implementing some sort of neutral zone trap, and a defense first system to "grind it out", but we have seen time and again that the bench gets too short and terrible fatigue sets in when they do it for an entire period. What Lindy is doing does not match his roster strengths, I am sure he is teaching with the intention they will learn and get better. I was told by a reliable person, that the next coach after Granato was going to have his hands full with this group. You can see it.

That means win more puck battles, be stronger on the stick, play with head up and don’t panic. They have too many guys that panic and toss the puck around like a hot potato. Puck Possession means the other team can’t score. A problem with Lindy, and my list is growing, is they lay back to start the period. They put pressure on UPL for the entire 3rd period.

The fight was a show to the league that we are a serious team. 😂 The 3rd period is the way Lindy wants to play. Rarely are two guys deep in the offensive zone, most of the shots are harmless, they back up into the neutral zone, than back into their zone, then back up around the goalie. Then they fail to clear pucks, miss breakout opportunities, and ice the puck constantly. After numerous lost defensive zone face offs they break down. They are among the worst in 3rd period scoring in the league, and they have blown the lead more times than any other team. Lindy is teaching them how to “grind” (his words).

Why would UPL do that? Why do you think players get involved in those type of transactions?

Look at who they were missing.

I give a lot of credit to Reimer and Tuch tonight. Columbus missing about 5 key players was a good break. The third period passive play is a strategy I guess. It’s not sustainable.