Doohickie

Okay, let me try a different response: at this point, the last decade of Sabres futility all blends together so sure, I probably got my timelines messed up. Your post was well supported, mine was not. I'm not really looking to pick a fight at this point.

*Disclaimer about the thread title: Inky's mother-in-law does not play favorites. She loves all her illegal streaming options equally. Messy Wigwam

You've obviously put more thought into this than I have. Congratulations. I'm done thinking about it.

Meh.

Okay? What's your point? They're one of the better teams in the league with one proven NHL D right now.

Oh come on. Not one person on this forum thought it was in bad taste when Cody Eakin "neck rolled" Eichel to his face. How is what she did worse than that?

I agree that we are almost at that point but I disagree that it is an either/or proposition. If they are in a solid playoff position come the trade deadline, they will likely "go for it" and try to augment the roster with a piece or two.

On paper what you say make sense. And the right coach could have helped the situation. But by the time Kevyn did his retooling the Sabres locker room was a hot mess of cliques and personalities. I think everyone from the fan base through the ownership felt that viewing Jack as the team's centerpiece and building around him was the way to go. That was exactly wrong. Let's just say for the sake of a thought experiment that Kevyn Adams was the GM in 2015 and Granato was the coach. Would the team dynamics have worked out differently, or was it still going to be a shitshow of cliques and personalities? I don't know the answer to that and I'm not sure anyone does. If they had Eichel, O'Reilly, Dahlin, Reinhart and Okposo, but they still had brought in Evander Kane and Zach Bogosian, would the toxicity in the room still have formed? I think so. BUT if KA and DG were the GM & coach maybe they wouldn't have brought in those two, maybe they would have focused on character from the start, maybe they wouldn't have treated Jack like some sort of god. I dunno. Too many variables.

There won't be That Day. It will be a gradual transition from Development to Win Now with lots of overlap.

They'll be on the second night of a back-to-back in a game they should have won. The Sabres need to run them out of the building with speed. It's a TV schedule thing: The game is on TNT.

In our division, certainly, and even in the conference. I saw a stat when the Sabres were finishing their road trip that the East was 26-5-4 or something like that versus the West. The East has 11.25 standings points per team on average. The West has 9.31 points per team (I didn't go so far as to look at games played, assuming they're more or lease even).

I've got no issue with you. To me, those stats you posted contradict the narrative that Reino is a slow starter. Behind his average pace? Okay, sure. But slow starter? Eh, not really, at least not the way I see it. I really thought you were citing those numbers to present evidence that Reinhart does not start slow. Sorry if I misinterpreted.

They're not mutually exclusive. They're 6-3 right now and are showing top tier analytics. Granato has always said he doesn't worry about winning: He just wants the team to play the right way and the wins will naturally follow. I think we're seeing that this season. Player development is part of that: Develop them right and they will bring the winning up even more. Let's see where they stand in a week or two; if they're still in the top-10 league-wide/top-4 in the division, it may be a case of having our cake and eating it too. And I think that's the way it will work: He will still be developing the team even as they're challenging in the playoffs.

It's not just transit. It's proximity to Harbor Center and the whole downtown vibe.

Not to mention Phil Housley.

I think I would save that.... until the playoffs if possible.

Some people maintain both teams can't "win a trade." An important aspect of any trade though is the time phasing. The Sabres weren't ready to win when they dealt ROR. We thought the were but they weren't. The Blues were and ROR filled a critical need. So yes they won the trade; they got exactly what they wanted from it. But as it turned out, so did the Sabres... they got a foundational player who was not yet mature, and who is maturing just as the team is also maturing as a team. Perfect for us too. Win-..........Win.

Never let facts get in the way of a good narrative.

My knee-jerk reaction is JJ. Quin looks better since he's been back but I think JJ's game is naturally more complete. JJ ~= Cozens; Quinn ~= Olofsson. And I've probably never been more wrong about anything in my life. If Josh Allen played hockey.

It's the ***** internet. You should accustomed to that by now 😄 I get the sense he does more than he says he does, and more than the players realize he's doing. He doesn't allow them to go open loop, he keeps them grounded, even if he won't admit it.

Bills social media at it again.

That's an interesting question. I think from Granato's perspective (and he's said this several times), if the team plays the right way, the wins will come. He often says how little actually coaching he does in games, that the players figure it out themselves, which he takes as a gauge to how he's been coaching them in practices I think... or perhaps he's minimizing the role he does play in-game to put the spotlight on the players' accomplishments. But when this team is in the playoffs, will be able to "go to the whip" so to speak? Will he know how to get the something extra out of them? Or does he think that if he builds the right mindset the players will do that for themselves? I think when it comes to that point he will. He preaches stability but he's shown that he can tweak lines and defense pairings to elevate the teams' play. Okposo's been a fine addition to the top line, but end-of-the-season Okposo might not be nearly as effective there and I would expect Granato to put another winger there, likely Tuch but depending on how the other lines are clicking maybe it will Ollie or Peterka or Cozens or Asplund or Zemgus. I think when it matters Granato will answer the call.

That's tough because each of those players faced different situations as they came into the league.

Two points: Dahlin was dropped into a dysfunctional team with suspect coaching, a cliquey locker room and poor leadership Given that, I think he felt more motivated to live up to expectations now rather than give himself time to grow.