JohnC

Excellent observation about his current hardnose style of play. Who would have thought that about Mitts a couple years ago who many considered him to be a soft player? He's now an effort and grinding player like Grier only he has more offensive skills. He made some nice long passes in this game to set free players who had some open ice in front of them.

You hit it on the mark! Big crowd, fans filling the pubs before the game and the buzz of an excited crowd. The fans understandably lost a connection with this flagging franchise. It lost its way. Hopefully, as this franchise climbs back out of the deep hole that it dug, things will soon come back to normal. The downtown is steadily being repopulated and entertainment establishments are popping up. The stage is set for a renewal.

How can this team not be inspired tonight? A full house on behalf of a legend announcer and person. Hockey is a quirky sport with ricochet and fluky goals. So the outcome is never preordained. But if the effort is not consistently full throttle, I will be disappointed. I see the players feeding off of the crowd. They got to win!

There is a different feel about this team as the season winds down. That becomes evident when we play superior teams yet are able to match their play whether it ends up in a win or loss. In the last dozen or so games, other than the Edmonton game, I can't recall saying to myself that this team was overmatched. The game that struck this chord for me was the Colorado game at home. Entering this game Colorado was playing exceptionally well and were having a terrific extended road trip. This was a game where the Sabres played at the minimum evenly or in my eyes outplayed the Avalanche. We ended up losing a late lead because of a couple of soft goals. What's encouraging is that you can see the internal improvement of young players currently on the roster and know that there are a few young prospects (Quinn, JJ and Power) that are near ready to make the jump to thicken the roster. Once this organization is able to solidify the goalie position the team will be ready to climb up rankings. Even the pessimists have to acknowledge the major difference of where this team was between the beginning of last season and the ending of this season. That's a big leap forward.

I agree that KA made a mistake in assuming that he could sign Ullmark. He should have established a deadline with the player and his agent, and then draw the line. If a deal couldn't be made, then move him. I'm not sure if there would have been much of a return for the UFA player at that point. There were reports that Ullmark would have signed back with Buffalo but only at a premium price of an extra year on his term and more money per year than what Boston offered. I still believe that premium would have been worth it for this team that was significantly under the cap. As I said in prior posts I don't want to elevate Ullmark beyond his talent level. In my mind he is a mid-tier or a little lower starting goalie. And it should be noted that as a Sabre goalie his record was more than respectable. Some people believe that his contract demands were too grand. Considering the team's cap situation, I do not. And considering the alternatives that the GM pursued after the departure, Ullmark's contract price was far from being onerous. Overall, I believe that the young GM has done a good job. With respect to how he handled the goalie situation I find it puzzling that he was willing to put this team in a vulnerable position by not seriously addressing the goalie position. I hope this offseason he has a different attitude toward the position.

The issue related to our goalie situation. It could have been handled better where this team would be better this year without damaging our rebuild strategy. At least in my opinion.

Yes, I am assuming that he could be traded. He signed with Boston, a playoff team with Cup aspirations, which is an indication that he was marketable. As I said in prior posts he could be dealt prior to the expiration of his contract.

Last year, with a less talented roster Ullmark's record with the Sabres was respectable. I'm not attempting to over-estimate his talents. But considering where this franchise was cap wise this season the contract he wanted was a contract that the organization could easily have absorbed. Should I laugh or cry?

It wouldn't be surprising if KA intends on making UPL our primary goalie next year. That would be a big gamble! This team has made some big strides this season. I would hate to see that progress placed in jeopardy. I don't know what established goalie would be available this offseason. If there was one I'm not sure that KA would be interested in pursuing another option to the position. Don't know for sure but it is what I'm sensing.

He wanted an extra year and not much more per year than what he signed with Boston. If you look at what our cap situation was entering the season the Sabres could have easily absorbed his contract. And even if the return on him would not be so great if dealt, it would have made up some of the difference in his contract. This average starting goaltender was affordable and an upgrade at what we currently have. Anderson was signed at a minimum contract. If you have Anderson and Ullmark in tandem working the nets this team is maybe a 12 to even 16 points better.

If the deal that he was going to sign was longer than the GM wanted, he could trade him before the contract expired. Reports were that Ullmark was requiring a premium in length and money compared to what he signed with Boston. If UPL or any other goalie prospect was ready sooner, then he could have dealt Ullmark and got something in return. Ullmark would have been marketable because there would be plenty of teams who due to injuries, backup or upgrade would have vied for his services. In my opinion, the Sabres would have more than a dozen points if he was on the roster this year. And it should be noted that the Sabres struggled to meet the cap minimum. In fact, it took on a contract for a player that it had no interest in bringing in. In my opinion in retrospect not signing him was a mistake.

I was deliberately being conservative in my assessment. Looking back it would have made sense from a value standpoint if the GM would have signed Ullmark. Even if the contract was more and longer than he wanted, it would have been worth, especially considering the struggle to meet the cap minimum.

Right now, he is by far the best goalie at our disposal. As I said in the prior post if Tokarski would have played in yesterday's game the Sabres would have been overwhelmed. We both agree on the need for an upgrade at that critical position. Looking back, I don't understand the GM's reluctance to re-sign Ullmakr, even if it wasn't at the GM's preferred price. The Sabres were dramatically under the cap to the point that it took on an expensive contract for a player that it had no interest in bringing in other than to use the contract to meet the cap floor.

I'm more aligned to your view than not. Players aren't weaklings. If Drury was so oppressively demanding and didn't apply his standards to himself, his teammates wouldn't have tolerated him. The locker room is composed a lot of personalities and intrigues. It can sometimes be fractious and sometimes fully unified. The locker room identity for one team is not the same for all teams. When you have a mixture of personalities and egos it usually works out to some acceptable accommodation. That's how it usually works in all workplace settings.

I agree. However, we don't have that caliber of goalie right now. The reality is 90% of the teams don't have that caliber of goalie. And let's not forget that Anderson played very well for us during the game. His brutal shootout performance shouldn't cloud how well he actually played in this game. The problem with Anderson is that he is a 40 yr old goalie who is not capable of being a workhorse goalie. I believe (opinion) if Anderson were able to be a workhorse goalie for us this season and play most of the games assigned to Tokarski, this team would have garnered at least 12 more points. That wouldn't put us in the playoff picture but it sure would put this team and season in a much better light, and a more promising light for the near future. Recognizing that some of the young prospects in our pipeline are near ready to move up, you can see the roster pieces falling into place. The challenge is addressing the goalie position. At a minimum the GM has to bring in another goalie, even if only as a stopgap player, in order to allow this team to be consistently competitive. That's one of the biggest challenges for the GM this offseason.

I thought the Sabres played well. As @SwampD noted Hellebuyck was the difference in this game. He doesn't get caught out of position and always seems to square up to the shooter. I was really impressed by him. Anderson had a good game but his shootout performance was brutal. If Tokarski would have been in net Winnepeg would have stampeded by us. The Asplund/Mitts/Olofsson line is starting to gel as a line. Mitts is becoming one of our best on the wall battlers for the puck. Skinner created some good chances for himself but Hellebuyck prevailed. Kudos to Girgs for scoring two goals. Eakin attracts a lot of criticism here but he fills a critical need in taking the draws in our end. The Sabres have earned points in seven consecutive games. Hellebuyck demonstrated what exceptional goalie play can do for a team.

Well stated commentary. It just seems to me that the GM and DG are in sync in what the rebuild strategy is and the type of room they want to have. And your point that the GM wants to construct a roster that is capable of earning the respect of the frustrated fans is insightful. KA has often stated the notion of the team reflecting the ethos of the community. And he is backing up that lofty notion by his personnel moves. Evander Kane is certainly not the type of player/person that he wants in the room. (I'm not intending to smear him but he is not the type of guy he wants influencing the youngsters.) That notion of a team reflecting the values of the community is easy to verbalize. The challenge is to implement that value system with the players you bring in. What has happened with previous Sabre administrations is that they opted for the quick fix short cut instead of staying true to a more meaningful long term plan that in reality set this franchise back. When the Pegulas first bought the team they thought they could make a splash and quickly become a prominent team. That was like chasing fools' gold. Substance usually trumps style. And it is much more sustaining.

The GM's job, by its nature, requires the person to know what is going on both on the ice and in the locker room. When the situation becomes so visibly untenable, he would be a blubbering incompetent not to recognize what was going on. The GM formally, and informally, keeps in contact with the players and staff. In this case it would be difficult not to realize what was going on. The challenge for the GM was how to present the situation to the owner so that he would approve of the remedy.

You didn't need a mole to understand the disaster that was unfolding right in front of everyone.

I understand your view and perspective. However, I disagree agree with it. All you can ask any coach is to maximize the talent he has to work with. No question that he has done that. He took a number of players who were playing substantially below their talent level (ex. Dahlin, Skinner and Mitts etc) and put them in a position to succeed. What more can you ask of him? There is certainly more to do and evaluate him on. As the talent level rises the expectations will increase. As it should. As it stands, he has done a marvelous job, at least in my opinion.

He has said it on numerous occasions that last offseason when there were a number of coaching vacancies he had no interest in applying for any of them. He stated that the only head coaching job that he wanted was the Buffalo job. I'm not sure if it was KA who put DG on Krueger's staff. If KA was responsible for adding him to the staff, and then elevating him after the firing of Krueger, he deserves a lot of credit.

Attached is a link from Sabres.com. Within the link is a 6 min post game interview by Granato (lower right hand corner). The coach is terrific at summarizing the game and players. I thought the comments by Tage post game about the team and its attitude were interesting. If someone already posted the link I apologize for the redundancy. https://www.nhl.com/sabres/

I didn't read all the posts that were made about the game. I was commenting on my observation that is consistent with what you noticed.

The biggest positive takeaway from this game was the play of Olofsson. He seems to have confidence back in his shot. And on top of that he is playing a much more well-rounded game. Getting him back to his sniping play is like adding another good player to the roster. Those who believe he should be dealt are misguided. He adds value to this roster. The general takeaway after watching this game is that this team doesn't quit when it gets behind. In this case although they were significantly behind they just kept at it. This is a mentally strong cast of players. There were a lot of big plays in this game. One of the biggest was a pass from Mitts ??? to Tuch for his tying goal at the end of the game. I believe the Sabres have earned points in six consecutive games. The tide has turned!

Even with an infusion of talent next year Carolina, Tampa, Pittsburgh, healthy Vegas and Rangers will still be ahead of us in the talent pecking order.