8th Place in the Conference

[Gatorman0519]

Looks like an 80-85 point team. Spinning our wheels in the mud. 

[Brawndo]

[Sidc3000]

24 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

Not surprised. Last season was an anomaly, a one off. This is what the team should have looked like last season. 

[Scottysabres]

6 minutes ago, Sidc3000 said:

Not surprised. Last season was an anomaly, a one off. This is what the team should have looked like last season. 

I disagree, respectfully. They are late season bloomers is all...... 😉

[Sidc3000]

12 minutes ago, Scottysabres said:

I disagree, respectfully. They are late season bloomers is all...... 😉

To little, too late bloomers 😂

[LGR4GM]

54 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

This reminds me of the Bills offense where you can tell it's off and no one seems to want to fix it. They need to wake up or this season is over... again... like every other f-ing season for the last decade. 

26 minutes ago, Sidc3000 said:

Not surprised. Last season was an anomaly, a one off. This is what the team should have looked like last season. 

We need the confused emoji back. No, they shouldn't have last year and no they currently shouldn't this year. They can play at last year's levels but so far don't seem to be bothered with doing the hard work in game to do that.

Edited December 1, 2023 by LGR4GM

[Porous Five Hole]

7 hours ago, Brawndo said:

 

I’m not saying the Sabres have Grant Fuhr waiting in the wings and they are going to be just fine, but my takeaway here is the Sabres commitment to playing better defense is cucking their offense. It’s not working. It isn’t balancing out. 
 

This might sound crazy, but I wonder if Buffalo should go back to trying to outscore their problems again like they did last year? Sure, they’re down some important offensive horses right now, but this trying to play better defense at the expense of a scary offense isn’t working.  Maybe the Sabres go back to high event hockey/offense-first like last year and hope for the best?

I don’t think this is the long term solution, but they don’t have the pedigree to be better defensively right now and still score. They just don’t. 

[seer775]

1 hour ago, Porous Five Hole said:

I’m not saying the Sabres have Grant Fuhr waiting in the wings and they are going to be just fine, but my takeaway here is the Sabres commitment to playing better defense is cucking their offense. It’s not working. It isn’t balancing out. 
 

This might sound crazy, but I wonder if Buffalo should go back to trying to outscore their problems again like they did last year? Sure, they’re down some important offensive horses right now, but this trying to play better defense at the expense of a scary offense isn’t working.  Maybe the Sabres go back to high event hockey/offense-first like last year and hope for the best?

I don’t think this is the long term solution, but they don’t have the pedigree to be better defensively right now and still score. They just don’t. 

We had 5 20+ goal scorers. The stars aligned. It was nothing more than a statistical anomaly.

The reality is that our team is much, much weaker than we anticipated.

[Doohickie]

The Sabres will make the playoffs.

 

[Sabres Super Fan]

The Buffalo Sabres aren’t going to make the playoffs this season is my prediction and they will most likely clean house in April both Don Granato and Kevyn Adams will be fired for missing the playoffs again in my opinion. Go Sabres! Let’s Go Buffalo 

[PerreaultForever]

10 hours ago, Brawndo said:

 

Do you have the defensive stats to go with it? One without the other has no meaning imo. Your offense can drop if your defense improves and vice versa. I suspect they are not better though. Not better enough anyway. 

4 minutes ago, Sabres Super Fan said:

The Buffalo Sabres aren’t going to make the playoffs this season is my prediction and they will most likely clean house in April both Don Granato and Kevyn Adams will be fired for missing the playoffs again in my opinion. Go Sabres! Let’s Go Buffalo 

I don't think KA will get fired. Pegula likes his yes man. Granato may take the fall but even that is uncertain imo. I'd fire them, but Pegula might not. 

[mjd1001]

9 hours ago, Porous Five Hole said:

I’m not saying the Sabres have Grant Fuhr waiting in the wings and they are going to be just fine, but my takeaway here is the Sabres commitment to playing better defense is cucking their offense. It’s not working. It isn’t balancing out. 
 

This might sound crazy, but I wonder if Buffalo should go back to trying to outscore their problems again like they did last year? Sure, they’re down some important offensive horses right now, but this trying to play better defense at the expense of a scary offense isn’t working.  Maybe the Sabres go back to high event hockey/offense-first like last year and hope for the best?

I don’t think this is the long term solution, but they don’t have the pedigree to be better defensively right now and still score. They just don’t. 

If they are playing differently this year then agree, go back to last years style.  This team didn't give up bad goals so much last year by being too run-and-gun....rather it was defensive positioning and decisions.  Making bad decisions in your own and and deciding whether or not to hold your position rather than chase a puck on the boards shouldn't have much to do with what you do in the neutral zone or offensive zone.

[Brawndo]

7 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

Do you have the defensive stats to go with it? One without the other has no meaning imo. Your offense can drop if your defense improves and vice versa. I suspect they are not better though. Not better enough anyway. 

I don't think KA will get fired. Pegula likes his yes man. Granato may take the fall but even that is uncertain imo. I'd fire them, but Pegula might not. 

 

[mjd1001]

8 hours ago, seer775 said:

We had 5 20+ goal scorers. The stars aligned. It was nothing more than a statistical anomaly.

The reality is that our team is much, much weaker than we anticipated.

Honestly in terms of goal scoring production, its really comes down to 2 things:

Thompson:  At this point last year he had 14 goals already, and he was ready to head into his best month for the Sabres (13 goals in December last year).   By the end of December last year, Thompson had 27 goals. This year he only has 6, and is not playing heading into December.

Cozens. Your 30+ goal emerging star from last year is on pace for mid-teens. Not only that, but he has been a non-factor/invisible in many games.

You are getting the production you expect out of Tuch and Skinner (both on pace for 30+), and Peterka is pretty much picking up the production from Olofsson from last.  

You MIGHT have liked one or two more goals from Tuch earlier in the season when he struggled, but honestly the biggest thing this team is missing up front is production from Thompson (injured) and Cozens.  The only way I think it was/is an anomaly is if you expect Thompson to be a guy that is injured quite a bit AND think Thompson is only a 15-20 goal per year guy going forward.

If nothing else changes, this team's offensive woes will be solved by Thompson coming back and not playing hurt, getting Quinn back, but mostly Cozens becoming a factor again.

[PerreaultForever]

9 hours ago, Brawndo said:

 

Well GA is down slightly but overall that ain't good. So the two together pretty much sum things up. Even the stats people can't argue this. 

[Sidc3000]

On 12/1/2023 at 4:30 PM, LGR4GM said:

This reminds me of the Bills offense where you can tell it's off and no one seems to want to fix it. They need to wake up or this season is over... again... like every other f-ing season for the last decade. 

We need the confused emoji back. No, they shouldn't have last year and no they currently shouldn't this year. They can play at last year's levels but so far don't seem to be bothered with doing the hard work in game to do that.

Last year they had several players have a “career year” which means they may not be that good offensively in their careers. No one would have predicted them to be that good offensively last season, no one. Now fans think that last season is the norm. It isn’t, at least right now obviously  

 

[Sidc3000]

19 hours ago, seer775 said:

We had 5 20+ goal scorers. The stars aligned. It was nothing more than a statistical anomaly.

The reality is that our team is much, much weaker than we anticipated.

 

11 hours ago, mjd1001 said:

If they are playing differently this year then agree, go back to last years style.  This team didn't give up bad goals so much last year by being too run-and-gun....rather it was defensive positioning and decisions.  Making bad decisions in your own and and deciding whether or not to hold your position rather than chase a puck on the boards shouldn't have much to do with what you do in the neutral zone or offensive zone.

Pure offense with no defense cannot be sustained. 

[mjd1001]

2 minutes ago, Sidc3000 said:

 

Pure offense with no defense cannot be sustained. 

Its not that they played pure offense. They leaned heavily toward offense, but they weren't giving up 2 on 0s and 3 on ones they way the Oilers were in the 80's.  

You will allow goals that way, but the issue isn't allowing the occasional goal on the break. This team is always challenged playing positionally in their own end. I'd say press the offense a bit more, but tighten up the 'half court' game in the D-zone.

 

[John Tucker]

14 hours ago, Brawndo said:

 

Yikes. So, the way I see it…

Offense = bad

Defense = bad

Goaltending = brutal

Coaching = horrendous

Management = inept

Ownership = invisible

How does this continually happen to an NHL franchise where half the teams make the playoffs and we’re picking inside the top ten every year?  Unfathomable.  Not sure how much I have left in the tank to continue following this dumpster fire of a franchise.

 

[Gatorman0519]

Ottawa has 6 games at hand. Win 2 of them and we are in the basement of the division. Progress. 

Edited December 4, 2023 by Gatorman0519

[CallawaySabres]

Even this looks like it is out of reach with all the games in hand other teams have on us. It's one thing to lose games when they play well, but this team has nothing, I mean nothing about them that I like. They are boring, weak, heartless and just plain ole unwatchable to me. I have not watched more than 5 minutes of any game dating back to 5 games ago. Is their a real GM out there that could fix this mess? 

[Warriorspikes51]

wait a few weeks and we'll be 8-10 points out 

[Sabres Fan in NS]

By Valentines Day the Sabres will be firmly in the playoff and not look back.

[Carmel Corn]

1 hour ago, Sabres Fan in NS said:

By Valentines Day the Sabres will be firmly in the playoff and not look back.

of 2025 maybe....and I'll happily eat some crow if you are actually right! 😊

Edited December 5, 2023 by Carmel Corn