That Aud Smell

Why does this persist? Please stop. Also, PSA: Please don't feed the trolls. Blocking a poster does not prevent you from seeing those posts when they're quoted by others.

I saw PA call our HC Tony (Granato) in another post. Is this a thing?

Yeah. We may have finally bottomed out. The Sabres need to work up some marketing angles for people arriving from the Middle East as well as southern and southeast Asia.

Perhaps not. Then again, not all opinions are quite as strong as saying that the Sabres don't currently have a legitimate NHL coach. The stronger the opinion, the more apt it is to be an agenda, or, perhaps worse, a narrative. Hailing from a family of hockey royalty should help as well.

You take the position that he's not "an NHL coach." But no agenda. 🤨

That does seem like an area that can be lacking. Biron seemed pretty insistent during the Kings game broadcast that the plan the Sabres had coming in was not working and that they needed to change their approach to gaining the zone.

Paging @PASabreFan ... paging @PASabreFan. Please pick up the nearest blue and gold courtesy phone.

I saw the talk in the Kings GDT about how Granato was a cheap-ass budget option as HC, that no legitimate NHL coach wanted the job anyway, and HC DG is so deficient that he's holding the team back (or will hold them back, maybe?). So I dug around and found this thread. I'm not really objective when it comes to DG. I just like him. I really like him. I like how he carries himself. I like what he says when he's interviewed. I like his "vibe." I like what appears to be his core philosophy as an NHL HC - in terms of how you develop players and how you build a team (positive reinforcement, play to your strengths, don't play scared, develop an open and fast pace of play). I like that he was instrumental in turning around Dahlin's stalled/failing development. I like that he helped turn Tage Thompson into a good top-6 NHL forward. But there are others who think he's not enough. @PASabreFan, for one. So, what gives?

The Panthers are apparently really, really good - but not in the dull way that the Kings are good. Let's go, Buffalo!

It was brutal. I'm thinking so.

That was what I was thinking - Marty Biron said it too. Ugly.

Collar bone? 😔

Yeah — Tuch?

The Kings are good/efficient/stifling/boring. I was unaware. And, man, they have some “names.”

Matinee Whoopin’

Morning article re stadium financing (TBN). If it’s true that the Pegulas are on the hook for 400M of a 1.4B project, then, according to the article, they could cover that through: * $200M loan from the league, 150M of which the other 31 teams would repay (by surrendering part of their share of the gate at the new facility), and $50M of which would be a 15 year loan at a competitive rate. * $200M from the Pegulas, a portion (?) of which they can cover through PSL’s. The article cites $50M as an estimated take there, but my guess is that it’d be more like $125M+. So. If someone were to buy a piece of the Sabres for, say, $50M and the Pegulas took a note payable over 15 years — well, the Pegulas could be getting their new stadium without having to come out of pocket for more than $75M (or even far less). Nice work if you can get it.

I am wondering whether McDermott would want him, given that … Tyler Dunne’s piece — which is not about McDermott Mafia’s omerta with the media regarding 13 seconds, but about the story that the coaches didn’t address the issue with the players (reportedly not a whisper before everyone left for the offseason (“they preach accountability, but, with this, there was none,” said one unnamed player (quote may not be precise))) — is almost certainly sourced in part by his good friend Isaiah McKenzie (with whom he does/did a radio show/podcast IIRC).

I really like this observation. Samuelsson started off shaky (in his initial NHL games), but now seems to be on a really good path. He stymied Tavares the other night too.

Hear, hear. Hayden is the only player on that 4th line who is worth keeping around. Also: I audibly groaned every time Eakin came over the boards last night.

I was. What a hoot!

Nasty/chippy Dahlin is a force.

My post-game bathroom stop yielded this exchange with a fellow fan: ”70 shots on goal …? 9 goals …?” ”And a win?” ”Happy Friday.”

Sabres arena experience: They had a rockin’ band playing intermission (right by the organ platform). Man, they was blowin’ like a hoor-ah-can. Good stuff.