Archie Lee

Last night was an example of how being outplayed doesn’t have to mean being out worked. The Sabres were outplayed. The Canucks had the puck, the zone time, the scoring chances. But the Sabres worked their butts off to defend the lead. It wasn’t pretty, but it was the sort of win you need to get on the road, in game 5 of a 6 game trip, with a depleted roster. No complaints. They all can’t be master pieces.

Best case scenario is we beat Seattle, come home on a three game win streak that keeps us in the mix (barely), on Monday Adams is reassigned in the organization, Jarmo takes over as GM and promptly makes a trade that signals there is a new Sheriff in town, and that sparks the team on a run.

I saw a follow-up where he clarified it has nothing to do with the start time of the game.

I gather this is the clock striking midnight…for someone? I’m not good at this.

It drives me crazy that a goal can be disallowed because Greenway was offside by an inconsequential 1/2 inch, and then the linesman can miss an icing by 3 feet that directly leads to a goal, and that’s not a concern. For clarity, I would prefer that neither can be challenged, but if the missed offside can overturn a goal then it is crazy that the missed icing cannot.

I enjoyed the game. I still like the players. I don’t think they are a collection of losers. I think they have been collectively placed in a near impossible situation. So when they win a game and it is clear that they are getting to experience some joy and satisfaction, I like that.

I think it’s conjecture mostly. Adams hasn’t gone out of his comfort zone on coaching hires. He promoted Granato from within, and then replaced Granato with the one NHL coach that he knew and was available. Had the team been successful under Ruff, then Appert would likely have seemed like a reasonably logical next in line. As is, it is hard to fathom. I can’t imagine the next GM hiring Appert, unless it is someone like Forton.

Who is clamoring for any coach from the past? I've defended Granato's record. There is no denying that Granato got far more out of the team than Ruff has gotten. But, defending Granato's record isn't the same as arguing he should still be the coach. Better coaches than Granato are fired all of the time. The point is that Granato was fired after getting much more out of much less.

He has not been good enough and has flipped between average and downright bad. You can almost always find a mistake that led to the chance that led to a goal. But a goalie can also make a save. Too often, UPL has not made the save that gives the team a chance That said, there is a pall that has set over the team that goes well beyond an underachieving goalie. It is reminiscent of how the team played prior to Krueger getting fired. I recall Granato telling the team when he took over, that being on a last place NHL team is not the worst thing that will happen in your life. Then he backed that up by setting a new path for how to play. The Sabres have needed that for some time now. There were moments this year where a change in coaching might have given new life and made a difference. Pegula and Adams are intent on punting this season though.

Sure. But the team was not awful in the Granato years. Which isn’t meant as a full-throated defence of Granato. I reject that this group of players is incapable of playing better, more structured and consistent hockey. The 3rd goal last night was a great example. The lack of situational awareness and attention to detail is startling. There is 8 seconds of 5v3 to kill and we immediately get out of position and chase, leaving Huberdeau for a back door tap in. Just continuous failures to execute basic strategies. It’s not all on Ruff, but he has been truly awful for this team.

I agree on Tuch. I think a good GM would find a way to use the $10 million more wisely over the course of the 6-8 years. Of course, we don’t have a good GM. Also, I will add that a Benson extension should be relatively cheap. I love the kid, but he has 2 goals in his last 51 games and has gone 33 games without a goal. After his great start to this year, he has 5 assists in his last 13 games. Though he brings a lot of other things to the table, forwards who score like he does simply don’t get big contracts.

Thompson and Tuch have had their share of bad games this year without Greenway.

Entirely disagree with this. They are playing to a 73 point pace right now; that’s below what they played in Granato’s 1st full season when their key players were younger and the line-up was dotted with Wil Butcher, Andres Bjork, John Hayton, Aaron Dell, and Dustin Tokarski. In Granato’s next two years, with a younger core than now, they played to two games below DeLuca .500 and had a goal differential of -2. In a season and a 1/3 under Ruff, the Sabres are 17 games below DeLuca .500 and have a -35 goal differential. We act sometimes like we have been embarrassingly bad year after year. For 3 seasons under Granato we either met or exceeded reasonable expectations, based on the roster, every year. Ruff was a terrible mistake. He has had precisely the opposite impact that he was brought in to provide.

Every player on the team needs to be better. But they are as sloppy and unstructured as any Sabre team I have seen. They are playing to a 73 point pace and trending down. This is going to get very ugly.

Two sloppy plays, a turnover, Power lets his guy come right to the front of the net for a backdoor tap in, and…UPL? Good Lord.