Pimlach

Panthers 2-0.

The Sabres hockey organization deserves to be criticized for the on ice product, but the City of Buffalo has been a friendly place for players to play in. Both hockey and football players have an easy time finding good housing, good schools, easy commutes, relatively low cost of living, easy press to deal with, and nice people dying for a winning team again. The City of Good Neighbors is not just a slogan. What will hold Marner back is he has a chance to go somewhere and win more. Why gamble on the Sabres?

But he does play solid defense from the RW position, he is a playmaker, and he can score goals and take face-offs.

Correct. Marner is an upgrade over Quinn in every phase of the game. He would improve the two-way play of the top line and bring in playmaking. This pushes someone else to the second line, and pushes another player down to the 3rd line. Three lines could get better if there was a way to sign him. Quinn could be packaged for help at goalie, defense, etc.

No doubt he can make the pp better, and he will make the team better. The cap increases from $88M to $95M $12M+ is going to be a tough target if we are also going to improve defense and goaltending. If Levi emerges next season we catch a big break but its a gamble to count on that.

It will take really big money for a player that so far does not elevate his team in the playoffs. It is not fair to lay all the playoff blame on him, as pointed out he is 0.9 ppg player in the playoffs, and 1.13 ppg in regular season. He has two 30 goal seasons, and four 90+ point season. Will he as a winger get all those assists playing without Mathew and Nylander? I suspect he will not even consider Buffalo.

I have little problem with first time NHL coaches. I have very little problem with first time GMs when they are brought in by legitimate hockey people such as Front Office Senior Execs and/or POHOs, and the new GM is joining a stable organization and not on an island with only Terry Pegula. You can defend Terry's approach but it is not the same as everyone else in the league. He put his wife in charge, he runs things lean, he hires people he can control, he does not spend to the cap. His record speaks for itself.

Nothing remains today from the original 70's team except the Uni's and logo. The root of why everything was better in 1975 than today is simple. The ownership (Knox's) was far better and engaged on the right things, they in turn hired better leaders across the organization and they let them do their jobs. That said, the league is different today, there are way more teams, there is a salary cap, there is free agency, there are teams in the land of palm trees and no state taxes, and players today are much different and motivated by different things. The only blueprint that Pegula needs to follow its to put together an experienced and proven Hockey Operations FO and let them do their jobs. He has yet to do that. Look at his hires: three first times GMs, one first time POHO that lasted just a few months, his wife and some friends/acquaintances from Pittsburgh and Penn State. Knox hired Imlach, Bowman, Meehan, and Muckler. Big difference.

He could change it to Kevin Adyms, no one will ever know.

Florida is pouring it on. 5-1

It’s the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2025 and the NHLs National Coverage cannot tell us what the penalties are without annoying debate.

The Rat is under the Ghosts sheet. (Tribute contribution to the Phamtom Sign Makers)

My hatred of the Leafs goes to the Sabres first season in 1970. Start with having Punch Imlach as our GM and coach, add the close proximity, Toronto was an immediate rival. The Sabres won the first ever meeting between the teams, 7-2 in Maple Leaf Garden, and that was the start of it. I went to the first Leafs game ever in the Aud. The Sabres lost and I got my first taste of Leafs fans in our building. The Leafs fans were loud, maybe 20% of the crowd, and that was the start of my anti-Leaf journey. Fortunately the Sabres quickly past the Leafs as an Eastern Conference contender. The league kept expanding and went to 4 divisions. Toronto moved out of our division, putting them into the weaker Norris division to help them. It was a move that the Leafs irrepressible owner Harold Ballard favored as he thought it would help them, but it didn't. That moved failed as Detroit and St Louis and Chicago all got better and Toronto lagged. As a result the Sabres and Leafs have only played ONE playoff series ever. Sabres won that series 4-1 back in 1999. Amazing to think that or closest rival has only played us once in the playoffs. That is Sabrey.

You kind of ruined your point with the last statement. Yes. Winning is the goal. Make the playoffs, you get knocked out and you learn from it and build off the winning. Fine tune a young playoff team into a veteran contender but the only way to establish a winning culture is to win. Adams was trying to build what he calls a "sustainable winner", thinking of the future so much that every year he is banking on too many unknowns while paying fairly big salaries to unproven players. We are seeing that this plan is not going to work.

He should be able to get more than Mitts for Byram, but we are the Buffalo Sabres so you will probably be right on this.

1975 - Better hockey team, better home arena, better league, better behavior, and better times.

Considering his TOI, I hardly ever hear Marner's name in the playoffs.

McKinnon and Maker will keep them in contention. They can re-tool for a year or two. I don't see them slipping into the bottom half of the league with the core that they have.

Yes, I think Ruff was talking about Samuelsson when he talked "pre-conceived thoughts on players" or however he worded it. Fair or not, the non-response to the Thompson head hit was a factor. I watched it again today and not only did he not respond, he actually backed down when challenged by Sigenthaler. That unfortunate event aside, he also has a weak net front presence. There is very little physical aspect to his game. I can't help but thinking he, like Cozens, was developed poorly. Too much money, too much on ice responsibility, too many expectations as a leader - all at a very young age with almost no resume to back it up. Thanks a lot Kevyn.

No. Byram for Schneider and something else.

Mathews has 401 goals and over 727 point in 629 games, includes two 60 goal seasons. Where is he going to guy and not be the main guy? He is the highest paid player in the NHL.

So you don't want to trade Quinn or Samuelsson? Who would you trade to improve the team? Sound like only the goalies and Byram?