JohnC

Juggling is an art that some coaches are better at than others. Some coaches are simply too rigid and aren't flexible enough to experiment with line combos. Krueger was determined to bury Skinner while Granato was determined to try different things to put him in a situation to succeed.

When the time comes where there is a demand for tickets then not participating in the secondary market makes sense. When the arena is 2/3 empty for a rivalry game it makes little sense.

Whether at full price or discounted prices the attendance numbers are paltry. The Sabres have to be at the bottom or near bottom for attendance. And it is basic economics and business realism that a $10 ticket sold for a fan who is buying food and drink stuff at the concession stand is better business than having an empty and silent seat. The basic economic rule of supply/demand for ticket pricing is a fact of life.

The pass TT made to Skinner who was open in front of the net for a score showed he has the vision/instincts to be a center. And correspondingly the pass from Skinner to Thompson in open space for a score was a gem. I thought the Skinner-TT-Asplund was the best line in the game. Skinner playing on that line has been brought back to life. He smiled more in this game than I have seen before. Granato has made a number of smart line moves. Putting Tage at center and moving Skinner to his line are two examples of that.

The problem that is worrisome isn't having Leaf fans in the building as it is having an embarrassing low number of fans in the building for a rivalry game. The announced attendance was 7942. Just estimating but it is not unfair to deduct between 1000-2000 people who actually attended the game. And if you deduct maybe another 1000 of Toronto fans who crossed the border you are looking at a disturbing low number of Sabre fans who attended the game. It's acknowledged that the Sabres are in the midst of a rebuild and realistically are not a playoff team. But this is a team that consistently plays hard and is entertaining. This is a team that the fans should have no trouble getting behind. Considering how this franchise has functioned over this past Pegula decade I don't expect capacity crowds. No question the fan base has been demoralized and reduced .However, when you repeatedly witness games when close to 2/3 of the seats are empty then that is disturbing. I wrongly thought this was a game in which there would have been a bump up in attendance. I was wrong.

It wouldn't be much of a surprise that towards the end of the season JJ and Krebs are brought up. However, it might make sense if Rochester is involved in a playoff run that the organization keeps at least two of the three aforementioned players with the AHL team for the playoffs. It's certainly is a much more pleasant topic to discuss which players in the system are ready to move up the ranks than to discuss how barren our system is compared to other franchises. The tide is turning!

It may not stop the transmission but it makes it less likely that if infected the person will be seriously ill or die. I recently learned of a person who I worked with who didn't get the vaccine because of religious reasons. He died from covid. I still remember when he scored one of his scintillating goals and went to a Toronto section and banged on the glass. Classic!

What you see is what I see. It is both hopeful and frightening to see so many young players on a roster. The one saving grace is that Granato is the right coach to work with so many young players. He is masterful in loosening the rope and tightening the rope when working with youngsters.

The requirement by Canada to get a recent covid test on top of the required vaccinations upon returning has hindered the return of the Canadian fans to the arena. I just don't see the need for the covid test for the vaccinated. I agree with you that the owners have grossly mismanaged this franchise and damaged this market. But after so much carnage you can see the franchise moving in the right direction and offering more than a glimmer of hope in the near future. Even if the crowd is mostly comprised of Toronto fans I would like to see a full house and a electric environment.

Do you project Peterka-Krebs-Quinn on the Sabre roster next year? I'm not suggesting that any of these players will immediately be ready for the top lines although one or two of them might be. If you add Power, Samuelsson and Tuch to this group you can see this roster being reshaped rather quickly. That is not to say that it still won't take another year or longer before they become significant contributors. Compared to a year or so ago the future does look bright.

For those in attendance or watching this game it may seem more like a home game for Toronto than for Buffalo. That's disappointing.

That appears to be the case. I don't know if it is an accurate figure but one estimate that I heard is 40%. I'm still disappointed in the attendance. Although this is an incomplete team it gives effort and is entertaining. It's a team that you can root for.

If you go to Sabres.com you can bring up the 8 min post game remarks of the coach. He was asked about Cozens and what he said to him prior to the game. He is really brilliant in understanding the psychology of each player on his roster and bringing out their respective talents. In the human relations and people skills this coach is masterful. I apologize for not being able to bring up the specific link for the post game comments but they are on this page, including the highlights. The reported paid attendance for this game was a 8258. From what I saw from the clips it looked like there were at best 6000 fans in attendance. That's disturbing especially when one of the best players in the games and one of the more entertaining teams were playing.

Adams traded a pick to move up to get Peterka. It appears/hopeful that maneuver added a potential second-line caliber forward to the system. With the number of second and third round picks we have in the next couple of drafts maybe that maneuver will work again to add another high quality prospect or two into the farm system.

With respect to the highlighted commented of yours I totally agree. The organization has recently added a bulk of draft assets to its bucket. As you suggest are they going to make good use of them? The more assets you have the more room there is for error. Most draft analysts thought our last draft was solid. Will they make good use of their multiple high picks in the next draft? We shall see.

Odds are more likely than not that these three players (Peterka-Krebs-Quinn) will be on the Sabre roster next year. It wouldn't be surprising that at the end of the season this troika or at least one or two of them will be given a stint with the big club, if not sooner due to injuries. I'm not suggesting that they any of them are now ready for top two line responsibilities. If you add Samuelsson and Power to this young mix you can see the roster significantly reshaped in the next year or two.

I agree with you that the Peterka/Krebs/ Quinn line shouldn't be rushed beyond their development stage. My point is that these three players and the other players that I mentioned are arguably at the minimum second line players. These young players with potential are in the system and are not far off to moving up the ranks not only to the next level but also to higher lines. I wouldn't be surprised that the trio I mentioned will be on the Sabre roster next year, and if not, shortly thereafter. The timeframe that I think is reasonable is two years.

If you factor in the Krebs acquisition in the Vegas deal that included Tuch you can see KA in the not too distant future putting together two genuine top six lines. The current Rochester line of Peterka-Krebs-Quinn should in a short period of time be moving up to the big club. At the minimum they are second-line players. And with Tuch you should be able to assemble another top six line with some of the young players currently on the roster. Some of the candidates for one of those other upper lines could come from the group that includes Cozens, Mitts, Olofsson, maybe Asplund and Thompson. However, I see Asplund and Thompson more as good third line players although they are not far off the mark as second line players. What is becoming evident is that KA is adding enough talent to fill both the top and lower lines. Clearly the roster is being thickened with more talent spread throughout the lines. Upgrading the roster in general is better than being too reliant on a star player.

As I said before it is a different market with its own characteristics. When the product on ice isn't as positive as it is now the Vegas ticket buying market won't crater as it is in Buffalo because the hotel and entertainment industry will be able to provide more ticket support (through customer comps) than the Buffalo business community could.

This is a well thought out and written analysis. Where I disagree with your take is that with respect to the course of treatment there was a genuine disagreement between the two parties. The medical experts for each side simply had different medical judgments regarding which procedure was most appropriate. In my view this is simply was a case of medical professionals disagreeing. You can't fault the organization for relying on the medical opinion of their expert/s; and you can't fault the player and his camp for being more receptive to the views of their medical experts, especially when the timeframe for healing is much different for each procedure. The more information that comes out the more apparent it becomes that Jack wanted out. He felt that he was stuck in a situation with the prospect of a dismal future. I understand his stance and I'm not critical of it. Considering where the franchise was from a competitive standpoint this breakup was inevitable. As you astutely noted looking back KA handled this situation wisely. It took a lot of fortitude to be patient and hold out until he got what he considered the best deal he could in this high stakes situation. The return he got certainly fits in well with his rebuilding strategy.

Attached is a link of an article from the Hockey Sporting News by Tony Ferrari. There were other topics I could have attached this link but it is related to the Jack trade. It gives a very positive outlook on the future of this team based on the prospects that are in the system. It listed the young players who are not far away from making the jump up to the NHL. They are the same players that are frequently cited in this forum. It's going to take some patience. https://www.si.com/hockey/news/after-eichel-what-does-the-future-hold-for-the-buffalo-sabres

As you well know Las Vegas is simply a different market than Buffalo. Every hockey market has its own unique traits. Nashville, LA, Minnesota, Toronto, Montreal, NY etc. have there own unique traits that distinguish each of them from other markets. As I stated to @Pimlachwhen your team plays in front of an empty building I wouldn't be in the business of criticizing another market's authenticity when since its inception the team has played in front of capacity crowds. And it should be noted that when Toronto plays in Buffalo the crowd is dominated by the visiting team. Maybe now is the time to be a little more humble and less critical when judging others.

Just because there weren't fans to meet Jack at the hotel that doesn't mean that the people in the area, and even tourists, aren't authentic hockey fans. Did the fans even know when and where he was coming into town? Vegas has been selling out since its inception. That's to their credit. There is no need to denigrate their fanbase especially when our local fanbase is understandably dormant.

You make a good point that one of the more prominent attributes that best describes KA is that he is a collaborator. He has assembled a quality staff and listens to their input. He is very deliberate in getting as much input as possible and then for the most part makes a consensus decision. Some executives are ego driven and want their staffs to follow their direction. That's not how he operates. He seems to be the type of person who is as much receptive to the input of the lower level staff as he is to the higher level staff. Without a doubt he is not a high profile top-down executive as he is a person who creates an environment where there is a team effort in working toward a decision. His management style is very modern and far from being old school.

If Jack was healthy he would be playing in front of a capacity crowd in Vegas. If Jack was healthy and still with Buffalo he would be playing in front of a less than half full arena. My point is that there are plenty of hockey fans in Vegas. Make no mistake about what I am saying here. I have no criticism for the fans in the local area losing faith in the organization and demonstrating it by their refusal at this time to buy tickets to the games. Even the GM has acknowledged the organization has to earn back the fans' support.