Robviously

It could be any of those four. Or any combination of them.

If there is another move. Is there? Maybe Regier just trade our 2nd round pick for someone else's garbage. He did that a few years in a row not long ago.

According to Chris Parker (Bulldog) on WGR, a veteran player told him last year that Ruff was the "harshest" coach he'd ever had. Probably not a good sign if true, and probably not an indication that Ruff can just reinvent himself this year as a friendly players' coach. At some point, relationships between unrelated adults just are what they are. A coach, or a boss, can't hit the reset button and have everyone look at him like a whole new person. First impressions matter, and they're hard to shake. I don't think Ruff is a bad coach, but I think he's way past his expiration date here. I think both he and the team would benefit from a split.

The Tops Commercials with Kristin Peca. There's a blast from the past.

That they might be moving to another city real soon? He might just be going to Rochester or he might be on his way to another NHL team. It's the sort of news you'd want to share pretty quickly.

Yes, I am going to blame coaching. Because no one on this team ever knows what they're supposed to be doing and that trickles into all aspects of the game. We have about a million examples of this. The part where the players can't be sure when to retaliate and when not to is a part of this. The bazillion examples of confused, tentative defensemen are another.

How does this happen?

"We disagree." - No one

That's what I'm talking about. They won ONE Cup in the post Yzerman years. Obviously a spectacular accomplishment given where they found their talent but certainly not something anyone (even Detroit) can replicate easily. Yzerman won it in 1997, 1998, and 2002. Another huge part of those teams was Brendan Shanahan, a 2nd overall pick in 1987, and a player the Red Wings acquired by trading Keith Primeau (the 3rd overall pick in 1990). So, again, high draft picks tend to do well. And they can help your franchise even if you trade them (e.g. Boston trading Kessel to get Seguin).

"Assisted" or to have the hockey equivalent of a "show biz dad"? Because the latter seems to have a lot more risk than reward. O'Reilly's dad writing long emails to reporters is not going to help the situation. Is it ever a good thing to have a player's family members publicly arguing with management? It's a fine line. A dad with a background in the game who maybe played in the league? Good. A dad who is maybe living vicariously through his son? Bad. I could have done without reading O'Reilly's dad's letter there. I wonder if Ryan O'Reilly feels the same way.

I consider management/coaching separate from our "core" players, but point taken.

Errr, you know I'm on the completely opposite side of that argument right? Pominville isn't my favorite player or captain of all time, but I've definitely defended what he's done since getting the "C." There's more than one way to be a good (or great) captain.

He tweeted last week that he just started skating again. I think he's still a ways off. [Pretty sure I posted his tweet in our injury thread if you want to check it out.]

There. Problem solved.

I doubt the problem is that the players are "under-coached." If anything, they may be over-coached since no one seems to know what they're supposed to be doing out there. To get a sense of the level of confusion, when Lucic ran Miller no one knew what to do. One of the most basic hockey ideas is that you go crazy if someone runs your goalie and our guys didn't even have that straight. The culture within the organization has to change. And that means management has to go, and the coaches have to go, and at least a few of the players have to go. And hopefully a clean slate means we build something better.

Aside from Stafford, the last remnants of "The Core" (Miller, Vanek, Pominville) are still our best players.

The Canucks are literally built around a 2nd overall pick and a 3rd overall pick (the Sedins). Detroit was built around Yzerman (drafted 4th overall in 1983) but did win one more Cup thanks to finding lightning in a bottle with Datsyuk and Zetterberg. The Devils are an outlier because they have one of the greatest goalies in the history of hockey (if not THE greatest). The Oilers are better than we are. There's no one on the Sabres I wouldn't trade to get Tavares from the Islanders. The Blue Jackets had some 6th/7th overall guys fizzle out in the mid 2000s (which were pretty bad draft years) but Rick Nash (first overall) was a stud for them and it's too early to say on Ryan Johansen (4th overall, 2010) and Ryan Murray (2nd overall, 2012). As for the Jets, Evander Kane (4th overall, 2009) made us look ridiculous last night. In general, high draft picks are very helpful for a team over the long term. It's not the ONLY way to win, but it's helpful.

Makes sense to me, although I hope we move Leopold at the deadline too since we definitely aren't re-signing him. Probably not a good thing that all those scouts were in town to see our worst game of the year though.

Could we hire someone's Assistant GM right now? Was the guy that Columbus just hired under contract with anyone?

Thank you for pointing out that Pominville actually did make a difference tonight. And in the big picture, he's been one of the only guys we can rely on these past few years. The team needs a fresh start with a new coach and ESPECIALLY a new GM. I don't think Pominville has been the problem. He stepped up his game when he got the C and has done everything he could.

It was Mike Harrington Mike Harrington ‏@BNHarrington At least Ruff didn't try to argue when I made my point that this fanbase clearly hates this team. Good lord. What a mess. #Sabres

Not the whole show, but you'll be able to hear post-game audio tomorrow.

Lindy's post-game. I didn't recognize the voice but one of the first questions: "Lindy, the fan base clearly hates this team. What do you say to that?" Wow.

Ted Black's weekly interview with Howard Simon this Thursday should be spectacular too. "We're trying our best! We're doing everything we can!!!!1!"