Kong

Here's an interesting tidbit from the NY Post: Could you imagine Terry & Kim not meeting a new head coach before hiring?

To me, these last ten years have had a cumulative effect. The weight of ten straight years being a laughingstock has gotten to me. The organization cut costs during Covid and maybe they weren't expecting the season to really happen. In retrospect, it looks like that to me. They weren't prepared. It's tempting to say this year was the absolute bottom but there were a number of circumstances that happened that torpedoed the Sabres chances of being competitive. The overpaid, unqualified psych guru coach who mesmerized the rube owners, the rash of injuries to Eichel and other key players, Covid and the unfortunate mess caused by the Devils, placement in the toughest division in hockey when we have been the worst team for the last ten years, the inability of Taylor Hall and Eric Staal to mesh with the squad, the inability to come up with an NHL caliber goalie who stays healthy, all these things made this past season a perfect storm, which I don't think was entirely the players' fault. But the thread that goes through the last ten years is the butchered management led by the Pegulas, who really need to sell the team. Would it have killed the NHL to put the Sabres in an easier division for this one Covid year? But the dishonest and toxic tanking was the absolute worst for me. The fans and players didn't know how to react when they were told to lose. It's so unnatural to ask this of players especially. We all knew it was happening on pupose so that they could draft Ekblad and McDavid but it didn't work out that way. What we got were scraps as usual...the Sabres instead drafted a couple really expensive guys who never delivered as advertised, were too young or didn't have the character to lead and were ruined by the experience. The owners wrongfully thought that they could cheat their way to the top but they have cheated their way to the bottom.

Eichel might have a better scoring ceiling than Scheifele but Scheifele's team wins and Eichel's team doesn't. I haven't seen Eichel as a leader since day 1. He seems to think he's better than everyone else. Skill wise he's right but ...no one will run through a wall for a guy like that. Looking at the highlights, Scheifele's a team guy and his mentor: Dale Hawerchuk. I'd like a heart transplant like that, damn the age difference. The only bad thing I can see about Scheifele is I can't spell his name.

Mark Scheifele is apparently in play...https://www.foreverblueshirts.com/rangers-roundup-mark-scheifele-trade-talk-and-gerard-gallant-provides-update/ I'd take Mark on my team anytime.

My money's still on the Vegas Knights. (see above from 4/30)

As well as Granato did, and I saw improvement from several players as well as a better attitude, , he went 9-16 and I don't think that's a good enough record for him to be retained. I'd much rather have a coach with a lot of experience winning in the NHL. A Boudreau or a Gallant. Also if I was Eichel, I'd simply sit out this entire upcoming year and let it heal completely. I think if he comes back too soon or surgically tries to fix it, whatever team he's on, he'll be courting disaster.

I was just thinking how different things would be if the Pegulas had taken the $10 million they sunk into the locker room and used it to choose the exact correct coach and GM from the very beginning of their regime, instead of this endless parade of front-office losers.

Let. Eichel. Go. This is like a bad marriage. Don't try appease to him (again) with a different "tailor made" coach. He doesn't want to play here anymore. Realize this and just end it on amicable terms.

Blah blah blah. Whatever. Same to you.

First of all, several have objected to my statement about having more local players at the expense of foreign players and a coach with an NHL track record and not Gronberg. I don't like the unfamiliarity of that coach to this level of competition. We've already had that. I think there's a bunch of people over-reacting and nitpicking and I don't care what other people think. You can think what you want to think. I'm not going to prevent you. Even if you're wrong. But these brave people with their digital pitchforks want to squelch or stamp out ideas about more local players. Even a Patrick Kane. The formula to assemble a championship team, has eluded the Sabres for 50+ years. The way things are going, a Stanley Cup may never come here and the Sabres may never emerge out of the basement. The owners, who "know better" than the fans, will make sure of that. But who among us really knows what it takes? I don't think anyone knows. Not even people with tens of thousands of posts, and not even people in different time zones. All these ideas about acquiring this or that player or coach is interesting speculation but it's strictly a hobby and a way to blow off steam. It's fantasyland and people should remember this. Nobody here knows the real answers. Maybe more Swedes, Finns and Russians (whoops, Buffalo doesn't sign Russians anymore) might be a good idea but...but the formula and balance of the team is more important. Who among you would've picked a Scott Mayfield? A town like Buffalo in particular with the ten years the Sabres have had, needs players with heart, passion and a real committment to turning this around. because it's not the glamorous or rich place that a New York or Chicago or LA might be. This makes it really hard and character has to be at a premium. It takes a special kind of player committed to scratching and clawing their way out of the basement. And I've seen a lot of the Sabres players succomb to the never-ending losing. Because of the longterm lack of success, Buffalo feels it has play catch so it has to overpay players. What the management doesn't seem to realize is that overpayment money has ruined several players and it throws a balanced roster out of whack. Look at the Avalanche. McKinnon has taken the hometown discount to sustain the winning combination of the team. Do you think Eichel would? . I don't see passion that it takes with this team, although jettisoning Krueger has helped. Since most players in the NHL don't want to be in Buffalo, not only because it's Buffalo but because the management team is a laughingstock and the team is historically bad, assembling the right combination of players and coaches is extremely difficult. It will require a surgeon, not the butchers Buffalo has had, to assemble the right pieces.

I was just advocating for more local players. I can't remember a Buffalonian Sabre besides Bailey and Gionta (if you count Roch.) who ever really played on the home team, and I'm talking about 50 years. Someone might point out 1-2 more, but my point is we never get to cheer for good players, and there are some, who come from around here. Thinking outside the box has become inside the box and the Buffalo area is outside the box. Are there any conservatives on this board, whether republican or otherwise? Please shout out.

...if Jack agrees with the Sabres on how to fix Jack. He probably figures the Sabres have been wrong about everything else...Wouldn't it be typical if the Sabres' medical guy on the bench who pressed Jack's neck on the bench, causing him to wince in pain, might have done damage to it?

One of those opinionated days... One thing about the Sabres, they have a huge contingent of Swedish players with whom Gronberg theoretically could communicate. I've never seen a team with so many Swedes. But many of them have experienced so much losing on the Sabres, I think most would prefer to play elsewhere. I would prefer to see players on the Sabres to have a regional American/Canadian majority. Not sure there are any French Canadians on the Sabres but we've had some outstanding players play well for us through the years. I honestly think, besides the losing, that most of these overseas players have no feeling for the city of Buffalo and don't get Buffalo. Mercenary players (I'm including Eichel, Okposo and Skinner) will demand more money, put less heart and soul into their job and give up easier. To me, the players who are instrumental in winning Stanley Cups aren't the Eichels of the world, it's the guys named Smith. I'd like the Sabres to take a conventional NHL coach like a Boudreau or a Gallant that has a track record of success and not always come up with outside-the-box major hires. I'm sick of outside the box. We've tried many different flavors of outside the box. It hasn't worked for us.

This isn't going to end well.

Granato did well...I hope he has righted the ship. He had been with the team for awhile so he knew all the problems internally and he also had inside info of all the idiotic instructions Krueger gave the players and how to fix it. I like Granato. One thing I think we can agree on, Krueger is not hockey coach material. And the Pegulas spent about $4 million a year to buy his services. Gronberg might do well as an outside-the-box hire. I don't know enough about him. Buffalo tends to overpay in order to bribe people to try to fix this disaster. I wonder what kind of $ Gronberg would demand to take charge of the Sabres. Buffalo has been through this outside the box hires and we don't do well with it. We don't do well with anything, come to think of it.

Krueger (20 games), Housley (asst. coach experience but no hc), Ron Rolston. All Pegula hires. I bet Gronberg is a fine coach but I want someone with extensive experience and knowledge of the NHL game so strategies against NHL teams, players and coaches are a built-in benefit to the organization. Boudreau is my choice.

I don't want another coach without NHL experience. We've had our faces rubbed in the dirt with all the inexperience. I want a coach who already knows the tendencies of all the opposing coaches, players and teams. Please no more outside the box hirings and please don't ask the NHL for recommendations. I've never heard of a team asking for the league to recommend a coach or GM. How embarrassing.

After getting suspended for the fraction of a second late hit on Evans, Schiefele not only has to suffer a four game suspension, but his parents and family are now being bullied. Brutal! Dale Hawerchuk mentored this guy. He's a great player. He's no goon and this is first offense. I think he just missed the timing of the hit and it was unintentional. He should have been suspended maybe two games tops. https://www.tmz.com/2021/06/04/mark-scheifele-family-harassed-cheap-shot-hit-jake-evans-nhl-winnipeg-jets/ On the other hand, wishing all the best to Evans for a speedy recovery. I've had six concussions. It's not fun.

He certainly looks the part. All he needs now is an eyepatch.

I stand corrected. She does have at least one major successful accomplishment.

I wouldn't be surprised. This is what the modern athlete does.

Depends on who's doing the trading. Hopefully this time, we won't have to ask the league for recommendations.🤢

I'm the OP.

If I had a choice, I'd be 6'1 Jack Dempsey over 6'6 Jess Willard every time. In fact, give me an an entire hockey team filled with Jack Dempseys. "A champion is someone who gets up when he can't." - Jack Dempsey “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” - Mike Tyson

I don't know who to pick. Not sure about another LHD, even though he looks like he's still going to grow and is already a beast. Sabres have been historically terrible at scoring goals for such a long time. But if KA stays and doesn't get fired like he should, he is the one who's going to leave his imprint on the team and what style the team plays. I wish Sam Pollock were in charge but unfortunately, he's dead.