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Botterill, "imperative to keep our depth on defense"


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I might be in the minority here, but I still think the Sabres defense is not good enough. they may have too many defenseman, but not enough really good ones. 

I think the sabres need 1 more solid defenseman (in place of a poor one) and at least (stress at least) 2 good forwards. 

With all this said, I still think the sabres are better than they have been playing. they are not moving on the power play so the defenders dont need to move once in position. They need to have better pk  (back to needing 1 more good defender)

I also think Johansson and sheary are more important to the team then some give them credit 

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Every time I hear him speak, I think "moron".  Sorry, but I really do. He doesn't have a speech impediment, he simply doesn't have organized thoughts.  I think he's out of his depth because he simply can't process all of the information necessary to accomplish his goals.  He's in a constant state of information overload.

I'm in the Botterill Bunker.

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8 minutes ago, ... said:

Every time I hear him speak, I think "moron".  Sorry, but I really do. He doesn't have a speech impediment, he simply doesn't have organized thoughts.  I think he's out of his depth because he simply can't process all of the information necessary to accomplish his goals.  He's in a constant state of information overload.

I'm in the Botterill Bunker.

I'm almost in the Bunker. I just can't fathom him doubling down on needing defensive depth when the offense is a smoldering wreckage. 

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3 minutes ago, darksabre said:

I don't typically put too much stock in GM speak, but if this is the line Botterill is truly taking, then I guess I'll see you guys next season.

I don't either BUT he did not have to double down on defensive depth being something. He very easily could have said something bland and boring about assessing options with their defense and with trade scenarios. Instead he gave a mind numbing bad excuse for why they need... checks notes... Risto, Marco, Miller, Montour, McCabe, Dahlin, Jokiharju, Gilmour, Pilut, Nelson, and Borgen... on the team at the expense of being able to produce any offense with the soft (they don't go to the net) team that has been assembled. That's 11 defenders that could play NHL minutes. That's 6 RHD and 5 LHD. 

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I'll throw this out there:  Mike Ilitch bought the Red Wings in 1982.  He drafted Yzerman in 1983.  They really didn't look like much of a team when I moved to Detroit in 1991, but that was the point when they seemed to start to get better.  They didn't win a Cup until 1997.

You can't just will your way into a Stanley Cup championship.  There are 30 other teams trying to do the same thing.

I'm not going to say all is well with the Sabres; we know that's not true.  But pick a team that's had a good run- the Red Wings, the Kings, the Penguins, the Blackhawks- they all went through extended periods of being really bad before they finally climbed the mountain.  The Sabres are behind the curve for sure, but the Red Wings didn't really break out as a good team until Yzerman was in the league almost 10 years.

You don't get the sense that the Sabres on the right path, but when I got to Detroit in 1991, the Wings were regularly booed.  The fans were renowned for being particularly hard on goalies, and it showed as they typically went through 5 goalies in a season during the early '90s.  By 1994-5, they finally settled in with Mike Vernon with understudy Chris Osgood, and that's when they really started to contend.  But until then, the goalies, and the whole team, were regularly booed at Joe Louis Arena.

Given what the Red Wings did from the mid-90s on for about 20 years, it's hard to picture how bad they were leading up to that, but they were pretty bad.  But given the progression, I think the average Detroit hockey fan wouldn't trade how things worked out; they'll say that sucking for 10 years was worth it to become a contender for 20 years.  So here we are in Year Nine of Pegula ownership, Year Five of the Eichel Era, and things don't look good.

Yet.

Based on my experience following the Wings when I lived in Detroit though, I can say it looks pretty dark before the dawn.

Edited by Doohickie
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25 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

I'll throw this out there:  Mike Ilitch bought the Red Wings in 1982.  He drafted Yzerman in 1983.  They really didn't look like much of a team when I moved to Detroit in 1991, but that was the point when they seemed to start to get better.  They didn't win a Cup until 1997.

You can't just will your way into a Stanley Cup championship.  There are 30 other teams trying to do the same thing.

I'm not going to say all is well with the Sabres; we know that's not true.  But pick a team that's had a good run- the Red Wings, the Kings, the Penguins, the Blackhawks- they all went through extended periods of being really bad before they finally climbed the mountain.  The Sabres are behind the curve for sure, but the Red Wings didn't really break out as a good team until Yzerman was in the league almost 10 years.

You don't get the sense that the Sabres on the right path, but when I got to Detroit in 1991, the Wings were regularly booed.  The fans were renowned for being particularly hard on goalies, and it showed as they typically went through 5 goalies in a season during the early '90s.  By 1994-5, they finally settled in with Mike Vernon with understudy Chris Osgood, and that's when they really started to contend.  But until then, the goalies, and the whole team, were regularly booed at Joe Louis Arena.

Given what the Red Wings did from the mid-90s on for about 20 years, it's hard to picture how bad they were leading up to that, but they were pretty bad.  But given the progression, I think the average Detroit hockey fan wouldn't trade how things worked out; they'll say that sucking for 10 years was worth it to become a contender for 20 years.  So here we are in Year Nine of Pegula ownership, Year Five of the Eichel Era, and things don't look good.

Yet.

Based on my experience following the Wings when I lived in Detroit though, I can say it looks pretty dark before the dawn.

Only if the Red Wings had a plan they were enacting for those 10 sucky years, and only if Pegula is another Ilitch, and only if Eichel is another Yzerman, and only if Botterill is another Devellano, should anyone take any solace in your analogy.

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19 minutes ago, LabattBlue said:

50 years of following  the Sabres has beaten me down.  No longer part of a STH group after 20 years, no longer can waste 3 hours watching them, no longer spending any money on them...

 

 

???

I feel ya. I really miss when this team was fun. The streak last year gave us a little taste, a drop of water squeezed from some wet desert sand, but it wasn't enough. We're right back in the wasteland again.

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41 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

Only if the Red Wings had a plan they were enacting for those 10 sucky years, and only if Pegula is another Ilitch, and only if Eichel is another Yzerman, and only if Botterill is another Devellano, should anyone take any solace in your analogy.

The Wings are the example I'm most familiar with, but several other "dynasty" teams went through similar really bad times before climbing to the heights.

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57 minutes ago, LabattBlue said:

50 years of following  the Sabres has beaten me down.  No longer part of a STH group after 20 years, no longer can waste 3 hours watching them, no longer spending any money on them...

 

 

???

Let's face it, the 50 years didn't do that to you.  It's more like the last 10 or so.

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31 minutes ago, darksabre said:

I feel ya. I really miss when this team was fun. The streak last year gave us a little taste, a drop of water squeezed from some wet desert sand, but it wasn't enough. We're right back in the wasteland again.

Sabres fandom has become a soul-sucking place populated by people who refused to allow themselves to feel joy at 8-2 and fully embraced despair at 1-4.

Not blaming anyone for how they feel, but it is spoiling Sabrespace for me. It feels like being locked in a room with someone who hates their partner, and talks about nothing else.

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Just now, dudacek said:

Sabres fandom has become a soul-sucking place populated by people who refused to allow themselves to feel joy at 8-2 and fully embraced despair at 1-4.

Not blaming anyone for how they feel, but it is spoiling Sabrespace for me. It feels like being locked in a room with someone who hates their partner, and talks about nothing else.

It is what it is. This forum hasn't really ever been the place to go for sunshine and kittens, even when the team was actually good (looking at you, Team Storm Cloud).

This is what it means to be a dedicated sports fan now.

Maybe it used to be easier back when the only time you got sports news was through the morning paper and the discourse was whichever player your uncle pull-tab thought was a wussy that month.

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18 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Sabres fandom has become a soul-sucking place populated by people who refused to allow themselves to feel joy at 8-2 and fully embraced despair at 1-4.

Not blaming anyone for how they feel, but it is spoiling Sabrespace for me. It feels like being locked in a room with someone who hates their partner, and talks about nothing else.

I know what you mean.  I don't really think it's anyone's fault, either.  (Anyone on this board, that is.)  Good thing I have family coming in next week; I'll likely take a little breather from online life.

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16 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Sabres fandom has become a soul-sucking place populated by people who refused to allow themselves to feel joy at 8-2 and fully embraced despair at 1-4.

Not blaming anyone for how they feel, but it is spoiling Sabrespace for me. It feels like being locked in a room with someone who hates their partner, and talks about nothing else.

Here's what's really bugging me.  I gave up on the Bills for good about 5 years ago.  My viewing habits for this team are starting to be an exact copy of what they were for the Bills prior to that.  Each year I'd tap out at some point in the middle of the season and that cutoff hit earlier and earlier each year.  I really don't want to reach that point with the Sabres, but I'm starting to see the writing on the wall.

My one hope is that my interest in football, if you can call it that, was never anywhere near what it was with hockey.  But still, it bothers me that my fandom may be in the same exact death spiral as this team.

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50 minutes ago, darksabre said:

This is what it means to be a dedicated sports fan now.

This is what the internet has done to sports.  Thirty years ago the vast majority of fans watched games and possibly one or two locally produced shows tailored to the local teams.  Now there is essentially infinite data available about all teams to all fans.  While I enjoy having a greater depth of knowledge (even with my limited time spent on it), it comes with a price of having full view of your favorite team's warts.

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Jason's right to be careful about shedding defensive depth. 

Once Bogosian is healthy though, it simply isn't practical to have 2 guys capable of second pair minutes (not great second pair minutes, but NHL second pair minutes) on the bench WITH a third guy who was excellent for you as 7D who probably has to go through waivers then and get claimed. Whom you're currently playing at forward, because why not. There are also two guys capable of NHL minutes in Rochester, Pilut and Nelson, who were each fine-to-good as 7D, compared to other 7D around the league.

This is not a situation NHL teams find themselves in, and it's not good for the two guys who should be on second and third pairs. It's not good if you want to keep Gilmour as a useful depth defenseman, which he really is.

FFS, Scandella sat last night. He's been one of our best two defensemen this year.  I know I pooped on the guy last year when he was playing poorly, but if you play well you deserve praise and playing time. 

Even with this depth, Risto is going to be back over 25 minutes per game within a month. We're not even using the depth for the purposes we should. 

Man, look at your forwards, after just 4 injuries, only 1 of which is to a significant player. This is without question the most bizarre roster construction I've ever seen. It doesn't make sense.

We are 10-8-3. If Jason has the desire and the skill at his job that he should, he can make this season the best one in 10 years. He just has to want to do it. 

Edited by Randall Flagg
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