JohnC

You sound like a trustworthy fellow. I'll get right on it. On a serious note, I did have personal experience with stolen identities and fraud. Someone stole a credit card from my wallet out of a locked locker at the gym I used to go to. In less than an hour, over five thousand $$$ worth of goods were bought from a number of stores. As it turned out, this was a theft by a multi-state theft ring. I was really pisssed off at the brazenness of the theft. I had a police background, so I really pushed the issue with the police department/s involved and the credit card company. This case ended up with multi-agency involvements, search warrants and seizures from stash houses that held the goods purchased by stolen credit cards. It first went to a lower Maryland court, and as the case developed it continued to get bigger and more complex, ending up in a higher court. Part of the group was arrested. Some of the members flipped on the honcho. He ended up being arrested and taken to court. After more than a year or so of wrangling, he ended up pleading guilty, resulting in jail time. What was aggravating about the case is that the credit card company offered me no cooperation. So the records were subpoenaed and turned over. What perturbed me the most about this theft is that not only was my credit card taken but also my house key was taken out of a wallet compartment. So until I got the lock changed. I slept on the couch on a lower level with my gun nearby. Moral of the story: Criminals create havoc and disruption for victims.

What services do you offer? I heard the back room is where the most stimulating massages happen. Of course, I'm willing to pay the premium price for what your advertisements indicate are satisfying results. Can you schedule me sooner rather than later? After visiting a particular hocky forum I feel very tensed up. Can you give me a guarantee that I will be satisfactorily serviced? 😀

It's stunning to see so much disorganized play at this level. Chaotic play leads to more chaotic play. There is such a stark difference when you watch a Sabre game compared to when you watch other games. You can be unschooled in the game of hockey and still recognize that qualitative difference in play. Pathetic!

The owner doesn't skate. But what he did do is hire an ill-equipped person to be his GM, and kept him on the job for five years. During that interlude, his franchise has degenerated to being a laughingstock franchise in the league. He elevated a person that no organization would have even considered for the position, let alone allow to interview for the job. Common sense 101: If you put an incapable driver in your race care, expect a crash and casualties!

My growing concern is that our best players (Dahlin most notably) will get so frustrated with being stuck in this hopeless situation that they will demand to be dealt. You don't think that there are some pangs of jealousy when they see former teammates (who demanded out) such as Eichel, Reinhart and ROR hoisting the Cup? You don't think that Dahlin sees that his friend, Mitts, is happier with his new team and will feel some envy when he sees Mitts playing in the playoffs while he is on the couch watching the postseason games again? How many road games are played in raucously full arenas while the Sabre home games are played in front of half-filled sleepy and agitated audiences? And don't you think that the players take notice that when the Sabres play the Maple Leafs at home, it seems like a road game? The players are very much aware that the franchise they play for is a league joke. You don't think that it bothers them that their place of employment is universally mocked? There is a lot of mention that a lot of players don't want to come here to this toxic waste site. There is an even more worrisome problem that the players here are desperate to get out of this manure pile. The irrefutable truth is that through its own ineptitude the organization put itself in this pitiful situation. It didn't have to be this way. An accumulation of bad decisions has sunk this franchise into the depths of irrelevancy. So freaking pathetic!

I'm in the minority in my positive view of Power. He's not a banger and never will be. He's more of a skater and finesse style of player. I'm confident that as he gets older, he will get stronger and will play a tougher game. If this dumb organization put him on the market, there would be a lot of teams salivating to get this young player with a lot more potential to tap into. The shame of it is that he is stuck here to wallow in this garbage pile of franchise.

I'm not disagreeing that this team is fragile. However, if that fluke play wouldn't have happened, the Sabres would still have gotten pummeled. The play was disorganized throughout the game. Individually, our players are not bad. If you put them on a pro functioning team, they would thrive. But from a team composition standpoint, this team is disjointed. It just seems to me that both the coaching staff and the players can't get on the same page and react as a team. Everyone is scrambling around, and the concept of team play has been lost. Sandlot hockey might work in midget hockey but it certainly doesn't work in the NHL. Players have lost their confidence. They expect bad things to happen leading to an onslaught. It's so sad that things have gotten to such a low point. The diminishing fan base deserve better. This franchise has become the laughingstock of the league. What more can be said that already has been said. Simply pathetic!

I think you are excessively optimistic about the prospects for the not-too-distant future that this GM and franchise is facing. The hideous disarray that is evident right now is going to reverberate to the point where our options will be limited in attaining help from the free agent market and in making trades because there are so many no trade clauses. Next year, Byram is going to be in his UFA year. Do you think that he has much appetite to stay here with this lagging franchise rather than pursue better options somewhere else? If that materializes, then the Mitts trade will turn into another boondoggle just as with the Eichel and Reinhart scenarios. The plummeting of this team has stunned me. I didn't expect it. The players seem to be just as dazed as the HC seems to be. Who would have thought that there is less structure and cohesion now than under Granato, the developmental coach. I'm simply at a loss for words trying to understand what has happened. Because of this ignominious/embarrassing losing streak, the erosion of the already withering fan base will accelerate. The damage to this franchise is self-inflected. It starts with the top of the pyramid. It's both sad and pathetic.

https://www.buffalobills.com/video/20th-anniversary-greatest-comeback-highlights-9268067 Historical classic!

I've said this before as have others, especially @LGR4GM :Cozens is better suited to be a winger than a center. Reading plays is not his strong suit (as you noted). When he plays in the international tournaments at wing, he usually thrives. He's simply miscast. That's what happens when you traded away a potential 2C and don't have an option to fill the hole you created.

The coach is already limiting playing time during games and sitting players out because of poor play. Maybe seeing and touching some robust titties can re-energize some players who are in a fog. Let's see if it works.

Maybe just giving the players more down time will help the players get their minds off this losing streak. Players, especially Cozens, are too tensed up and tight. They seem to be worrying too much about making mistakes and waiting for the inevitable tide to turn against them. This is a fragile team that can't handle adversity. The players need to just play the game with less anxiety. There are many who would rather see the coach have some rugged practices as punishment for their less than stellar play. What would that prove and do at this point? Having the team enter the game with heavy legs so that they will skate as if they were stuck in cement won't help the cause. I have no problem with the staff giving this mentally weak and anxiety wrecked team a little off time to refresh. I predict the Sabres will win tonight. As a note of caution, I have been wrong on six consecutive times during my prediction slump. For the bettors out there, bet the opposite and your pockets will be bulging with cash. Do you hear me @Wyldnwoody44?

Forget it.

You never paid me the commission when I advised you to run the table with your parlay. I'm a Sicilian. My boys will be knocking on your door to collect on what is due. Nothing personal, simply business.

I'm not sure what you are referring to. Everything the Hockey Guy stated was a reprise of what has been repeatedly stated in this forum. The-is inept organization created a deep hole that it hasn't figured out how to solve. When you constantly shoot yourself in the foot it is difficult to keep up when racing with the big boys.

You don't have to be historically bad to keep your franchise stuck in hockey irrelevancy. Simply being mediocre at your job is sufficient enough to maintain a generation of non-playoff participants. The standard is so low that it is a testament to where this franchise stands in the hockey world. Simply pathetic!

Stop complaining. Haven't you won enough gambling games to absorb some small losses? That football parlay that you won last week should give you more than enough margin to keep your wallet bulging and you smiling. 😀

What you noted is probably a big factor. But however one looks at those early upgraded contracts, the return on value is not maximized because the young players don't have the benefit of playing with a better mix of more rugged and muscular players who complement the more skilled (finesse) younger players. After almost 5 years on the job, our GM hasn't figured out what the structural problem of the roster is when it is plain to most people. He's a checkers player playing a chess game. Futility laid on top of futility!

More big artificial boobs on that show. 😀 Planet idiot.

What planet are you residing on? If you aren't aware of what my position has been on this issue for a long time, then your ability to discern is minimal.

What has exhausted my patience with this franchise is not that this is a bottom feeding team as it is another season of lost opportunities due to the passivity of the front office. Even in this ignominious losing streak, and against many good teams, most of our losses are by one goal. The difference between success and failure is minimal. This staff simply didn't properly assess its own team and make the right adjustments to better balance out the roster. It's more of the "should have been" than that gets me agitated. Just a few more smart tweaks could have made a big difference. This team should have been on an up cycle while the some of the standard good teams are on the down cycle.

My worry is that some of the young talent get so frustrated with the extended struggles they are having and with the team that they end up requesting a change of scenery to be reinvigorated. I can see that happening with Cozens, Quinn, JJP and even Power. It certainly happened with Eichel, Reinhart and ROR. This organization needs to demonstrate more urgency to address issues rather than let them linger in the hope that it will work itself out. Losing is corrosive.

Terrific summarization of my evaluation of KA as a GM. A scout looks at a player/prospect as an individual. While the GM looks at a player with a wider lense, taking into consideration the prospect's role and how he fits within the roster. The problem that I have with KA is not that he isn't drafting well enough as he is not augmenting his picks with the right players through free agency and trades. Team building is more than stocking the team. He simply can't get the mix right, and he's had more than enough time catch up with his lapses.

Put Cozens on the wing where he belongs and get an authentic 2C for his line. We had Mitts and he was dealt. When you dig a hole you can't forget to go back and fill the hole. Bad judgments lead to bad consequences. The problem wasn't in dealing Mitts as it was in not having a reasonable backup play to fill the vacancy. We have one dimensional thinkers attempting to play a 3-dimensional game. Even Forest Gump knows that!

It would be great. You are sitting next to a fellow who isn't a chit chatter. Plenty of uninterrupted snooze time.