GDT - Sabres @ Colorado - March 9, 2019 - 3:00 PM - ALT; MSG-B

[eman]

1 hour ago, Ogrish said:

Same here, born 64.  some of my first memories are holding the rabbit ears on a 13" B&W TV so I could see Roger Crozier.

Been watching a long time and this pathetic effort is at the bottom of the sabres history barrel.

Firings are needed now.

 

Same boat here. Born in 65' and this is why I am now hard on this coach and management. I have seen enough over the years. 2 great Cup runs and some unbelievable players and goaltenders come through Buffalo. The past 8 years have been an all time low for me. Some posters on this site have set the bar so low that anything even remotely better than the season before means "headed in the right direction" or "they're still young", or "Coach Phil doesn't have the right group of guys to play his system" - whatever the hell it is, (I'm guessing soft & speedy- hardly a recipe for playoff success) Patience has run out. Time for the organization to just show me results as in wins and losses. I couldn't give  a #### about possession time and whatever other stats you wish to look at. Bottom line: Wins & Losses and man have there ever been a ton of the latter these past 8 years. This club will not finish above 0.500. Too many times have we seen an effort like this one tonight over the years and that is on the coach. (or several coaches over that period of time)

[eman]

1 hour ago, LGR4GM said:

They aren't smaller. They lack tenacity. 

Bingo! Nailed it!

[klos1963]

2 hours ago, Scottysabres said:

I don't believe Phil is the problem, nor Jason.

I believe the mess left by Tim needs a bit of time to correct. Now Jason should have acted this season, I agree, but I can't really fault him to error on the side of caution. If they don't come out next season as a playoff favorite, fire the owners.

In the mean time, UPL records his 6th shut out, recording a 41 of 41 saves.

Nylander, Olofsson and O'Regan look promising, and the off season should be fairly telling.

Maybe Olofsson.

1 hour ago, LGR4GM said:

They aren't smaller. They lack tenacity. 

They lack talent.

[mjd1001]

2 hours ago, Jacque Richard said:

So the Sabres have fired the coaches, GMs, management and the same results. Maybe it’s the Jersey. Lol

Or ownership?  The Sabres only made the playoffs the year he bought them (in the middle of the season.)  As owners of the team for complete seasons,  this will be 8 seasons. 0 playoffs.

In the 8 previous seasons that were started with him not the owner, they made the playoffs 4 times.

In the 8 previous seasons before THAT, they made the playoffs 6 out of 8 years.

Before Pegula bought the team, their longest streak of no playoffs was 3 seasons. We are going to be 8 now and counting.

[Ross Rhea]

1 hour ago, Pimlach said:

Did you watch the game?  They were the ones hitting and battling.   Skinner was tangled up in several scrums.  Eichel was, Reinhart, Dahlin.   

Yup I did, but who is scared of a physical Skinner, Eichel, Reinhart or Dahlin. C'mon on other teams laugh at them trying to be physical!

[klos1963]

2 minutes ago, mjd1001 said:

Or ownership?  The Sabres only made the playoffs the year he bought them (in the middle of the season.)  As owners of the team for complete seasons,  this will be 8 seasons. 0 playoffs.

In the 8 previous seasons that were started with him not the owner, they made the playoffs 4 times.

In the 8 previous seasons before THAT, they made the playoffs 6 out of 8 years.

Before Pegula bought the team, their longest streak of no playoffs was 3 seasons. We are going to be 8 now and counting.

They started off on the wrong foot, hiring the very wrong coach. Lafontaine hired his good friend, not the best coach available. Murray thought they were closer to a playoff team than they really were, all downhill since then. 

With Pegulas, be it Bills or Sabres,  often has his coaches hired before his GM. Just doesn't make a lot of sense.

[Jacque Richard]

So now their pissed off after 65 games.  There are too many floaters on the roster again. Revolving door 

Edited March 10, 2019 by Jacque Richard

[Eleven]

3 minutes ago, Jacque Richard said:

Revolving door

Oh, tell me about it.

[Jacque Richard]

Just now, Eleven said:

Oh, tell me about it.

Been watching them since 1970. It’s hard to believe they can’t build a friggin team. 

[Formerly Allan in MD]

When Kyle becomes our "physical" presence, you know we're in trouble.  Phil's system, if he has one, doesn't work, and Jason needs to fix the lack of grit problem. 

[PASabreFan]

3 hours ago, Broken Ankles said:

I’m surprised to see so few comments regarding the Dahlin hit to Rantanen.  Quite aggressive game by Dahlin.  Nice to see him show some heart.  He could see a game or fine for the elbow to the head.  

 It's good to see Dahlin developing an edge. But he got ragdolled. He needs to be a lot stronger.

I think a lot of the anger here comes from what very much looked like a team lying down and dying at the end. But Phil said he liked the third, or they started coming around in the third, or something. Huge disconnect. And here we are.

[Ogre]

2 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

 It's good to see Dahlin developing an edge. But he got ragdolled. He needs to be a lot stronger.

I think a lot of the anger here comes from what very much looked like a team lying down and dying at the end. But Phil said he liked the third, or they started coming around in the third, or something. Huge disconnect. And here we are.

I like Jack’s response about finishing checks...I’m not knowledgeable enough about contracts to have an informed opinion, but it seems like I would structure a contract to reward playoff play...if these guys can make their money in 82 games...why play more?...pride? That’s a old fashioned thing...

[Pimlach]

10 hours ago, Ross Rhea said:

Yup I did, but who is scared of a physical Skinner, Eichel, Reinhart or Dahlin. C'mon on other teams laugh at them trying to be physical!

Exactly my point, thank you.  

You complained that they (above) can be more physical.  “What are they waiting for”, read your post.  

The guys who contribute little, and there are many of them, can at least work hard and play physical.  

Edited March 10, 2019 by Pimlach

[JohnRobertEichel]

Wow, reading through all of the comments now...there are a lot of Pollyannas on SabreSpace, but this game might be the one that has finally broken you all. Hmmm, I guess getting outshot 43-18 in a 3-0 loss in a technically "must-win" game in the 8th straight season of an unprecedented run of futility will do that to a fanbase.

While we're all playing the blame game, I hope more and more start hovering the magnifying lens over the Pegulas, who are arguably the most incompetent owners in any of the 4 major North American sports leagues right now.

  

[Brawndo]

6 hours ago, PASabreFan said:

To believe Terry, Jason was his first real hire. Jason ain't goin' anywhere. Jason likes his job, so his first hire ain't goin' anywhere either. We're screwed by pride and career preservation.

I’m not 100% convinced that Phil was Jason’s Pick. After he was hired all the Insiders were saying that Rick Tocchet was Botterill’s Top Choice, and afterwards Dreger said the Sabres never requested an interview with him. And the first statement Pegula made at Housley’s Opening Presser was “I remember watching him play at the Aud” 

Botterill has also done fairly well in every trade he has made with the exception of the ROR which is a giant CF. The Pegulas were not happy about the fact that ROR celebrated being the at the time highest paid Sabre in the club’s history by “allegedly” driving his truck into Tim Hortons.  Then came the locker room/ organizational dysfunction that lead to GMTM and DD’s Dismissals. Perhaps during his interviews with TP, Botterill was told to move Kane and O’Reilly ASAP and Botts said he wanted to evaluate them and the team first as he said in interviews at the beginning of last season. Things continued to spiral  and ROR was available in trade prior to the 2018 Deadline.  After the season he made his infamous comments which lead to Pegula saying I’m not paying him another dime get him off my  team before the 11:59pm July 1st when the bonus is due.  I also believe there is merit to the rumors that ROR didn’t want to play second fiddle to MacKinnon in Denver and he sure as hell wasn’t doing it in Buffalo either. 

Botterill had discussions with multiple teams that we know of, Montreal, Carolina, Arizona. Armstrong thought he was out and signed Bozak on 7/1 and Botterill contined discussions with the Islanders as Lou was trying to alleviate the sting of losing JT. Of course those talks fizzled. 

Pegula still most likely kept his self imposed deadline intact on Botterill so he called Armstrong again. The Blues initial offering could have been the First and any prospect not named Thomas or Kyrou. When he called again Armstrong said I need to move money out, so Berglund and Sobotka were added along with the second to close the deal. This would also explain why Berglund was blindsided by the trade, as Armstrong moved fast to get a dealIt was and remains a horrible deal for the Sabres, but I believe there was Ownership Pressure to get it done. 

Now what I wrote is most likely completely dead wrong, but Botterill seems to calculated to mess up this badly. 

All this being said I think Botterill and the Pegulas have seen the regression of this team the past two years under Housley and realize it’s not working, particularly since Housley has final lineup decisions.

6 hours ago, Pimlach said:

Losing sucks. 

 

I live in St Louis. Remember how great we started  and how bad the  Blues started.  Some thought ROR was the reason for both.  Look at the standings now.  Look at the contribution from Berglund, Sobotka, and Thompson versus ROR. 

 

Did we get Montour for the Blues pick? Anyone know?  

 

If the St Louis Pick falls 21st or higher Anaheim gets to choose which selection they want. 

Edited March 10, 2019 by Brawndo

[Indabuff]

If there is truth to the Pegs meddling both teams are going nowhere fast. 

[Nitro60]

1 hour ago, Jacque Richard said:

Been watching them since 1970. It’s hard to believe they can’t build a friggin team. 

No core philosophy of what kind of team that they want.   Establish a philosophy and build the team to match it and hire the HC to run that team.  Looking at the past 10 drafts this team is all over the board. 

[calti]

2 hours ago, Marchand'sNose said:

Wow, reading through all of the comments now...there are a lot of Pollyannas on SabreSpace, but this game might be the one that has finally broken you all. Hmmm, I guess getting outshot 43-18 in a 3-0 loss in a technically "must-win" game in the 8th straight season of an unprecedented run of futility will do that to a fanbase.

While we're all playing the blame game, I hope more and more start hovering the magnifying lens over the Pegulas, who are arguably the most incompetent owners in any of the 4 major North American sports leagues right now.

  

yep it is getting ridiculous with the pegulas.theyve accomplished what it is hard to do. and i guarantee their egos are too big to change anything. they want the the credit if things go well.

[Kruppstahl]

Just finished watching on DVR; one of the worst efforts of the season.

Has the team quit on the coach?  Do they just totally suck and lack all character?

I did enjoy big Z's hit on Eichel; he seems to have gotten his attention.  Z always did have that mean streak in him...

The game had a strange chippy-ness to it which was the only thing holding my attention or which could be described as entertaining.

Wow, what a ***** show!
 

 

 

[Kruppstahl]

8 hours ago, Pimlach said:

Relative to finishing checks and being physical Jack basically said “other teams do it, why not us” 

Skinner said he would like to see more response.   Reinhart said it too   

Ok, what forwards are going to play that way?  Larry.  Girgs ??? 

What defensemen?  Don’t even talk about Bogo, he has not been fighting or very physical since November.  Risto will only cross check after the whistle.  

 Every team in the league knows we can be pushed around.  This goes back to the Florida game were Skinner was slammed and we did nothing, blew the lead and folded.   We are just not a team that stands up and is accounted for.  The Avs are not a physical team yet they came out blasting.  Sure we answered, but when we answer we cannot play an honest game and muster shot attempts.  Today we could not do both against a mediocre team.  

Phil said we have to “execute before we get physical”.   His interview just makes me know that he is not the guy. 

The entire postgame was about this team not standing up.  You guys that argue with me about the response, or lack of, by this team need to watch this postgame.  Our three best forwards all said we need to be more physical.  Bots needs to get us the guys that make the other teams respect our top players.

 

In theory, this entire rebuild goes back to that night in Boston when Lucic lit up Ryan Miller and no one did a damned thing about it.  That was a LONG time ago, but the Lucic incident shined a giant spotlight on the shortcomings of the group of players we had amassed at that time.

Several tanks later and several GMs and a bunch of HCs and where are we?

More or less right back where we were when Lucic slammed Miller, just for the fun of it.

We need a huge injection of talent on this team, and an even bigger injection of competitiveness.

 

 

[Scottysabres]

6 hours ago, Brawndo said:

I’m not 100% convinced that Phil was Jason’s Pick. After he was hired all the Insiders were saying that Rick Tocchet was Botterill’s Top Choice, and afterwards Dreger said the Sabres never requested an interview with him. And the first statement Pegula made at Housley’s Opening Presser was “I remember watching him play at the Aud” 

Botterill has also done fairly well in every trade he has made with the exception of the ROR which is a giant CF. The Pegulas were not happy about the fact that ROR celebrated being the at the time highest paid Sabre in the club’s history by “allegedly” driving his truck into Tim Hortons.  Then came the locker room/ organizational dysfunction that lead to GMTM and DD’s Dismissals. Perhaps during his interviews with TP, Botterill was told to move Kane and O’Reilly ASAP and Botts said he wanted to evaluate them and the team first as he said in interviews at the beginning of last season. Things continued to spiral  and ROR was available in trade prior to the 2018 Deadline.  After the season he made his infamous comments which lead to Pegula saying I’m not paying him another dime get him off my  team before the 11:59pm July 1st when the bonus is due.  I also believe there is merit to the rumors that ROR didn’t want to play second fiddle to MacKinnon in Denver and he sure as hell wasn’t doing it in Buffalo either. 

Botterill had discussions with multiple teams that we know of, Montreal, Carolina, Arizona. Armstrong thought he was out and signed Bozak on 7/1 and Botterill contined discussions with the Islanders as Lou was trying to alleviate the sting of losing JT. Of course those talks fizzled. 

Pegula still most likely kept his self imposed deadline intact on Botterill so he called Armstrong again. The Blues initial offering could have been the First and any prospect not named Thomas or Kyrou. When he called again Armstrong said I need to move money out, so Berglund and Sobotka were added along with the second to close the deal. This would also explain why Berglund was blindsided by the trade, as Armstrong moved fast to get a dealIt was and remains a horrible deal for the Sabres, but I believe there was Ownership Pressure to get it done. 

Now what I wrote is most likely completely dead wrong, but Botterill seems to calculated to mess up this badly. 

All this being said I think Botterill and the Pegulas have seen the regression of this team the past two years under Housley and realize it’s not working, particularly since Housley has final lineup decisions.

 

If the St Louis Pick falls 21st or higher Anaheim gets to choose which selection they want. 

I'm paying close attention to that as well Brawndo. They brought SJ to OT. So that was a point I didn't want them to have. But at least some other teams moved as well. Philly has an outside shot of catching them, even if small.

[Tondas]

Phil said we have to “execute before we get physical”.  Reminds me of the Tampa Bay Bucs coach John McKay when asked, “What do you think of your team’s execution coach?” To which McKay replied, “I’m in favor of it.”

Edited March 10, 2019 by Tondas

[Cascade Youth]

They don’t hate losing.  I keep saying it.

In fact, most of them don’t seem to mind it at all.  Much easier than putting pressure on themselves to compete every shift of every game.

And that lack of accountability and urgency starts in the owner’s box.  The well-meaning Pegulas have run two franchises into the ground through poor hires, mismanagement, a stubborn insistence on learning on the job, and the mistake of repeatedly trusting the last circus barker they spoke with.

I thought the Wilson/Golisano years were bleak but these owners are somehow managing to lower the bar.

[Huckleberry]

I like to see this team win, but I come to a point I'm good at this team not winning much for the rest of the year to get a higher draft pick.

With luck we are this years Carolina.

[Sabres Fan in NS]

15 hours ago, SABRES 0311 said:

Welcome aboard. Normally @New Scotland (NS) is the welcome wagon. ?

Dude(ette) has been around since 2010.  No rookie there, but I like your spunk.

+++++

What a stinker.  Of all the stinkers this season this one may very well have been the stinkiest so far.