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Blow the Whole Team up in the Off-Season - It's the Only Reasonable Thing to do


CallawaySabres

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37 minutes ago, atoq said:

You all need to be more patient. It's only fair to give Matt Ellis a few more years to learn how to coach the power play.

Welcome back!  And what a zinger to return on!

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Build or Sell!

Idling in 25th place every year while players keep skating on thin ice, management keeps shopping in the scrap heap, the arena falls apart and the fan experience continues to get worse shouldn't be accepted by the league.

Just a few years ago Terry was scolded and told to do better but is he?

Are they really investing the money and resources to become a top tier franchise and compete for the Stanley Cup or are they doing just enough to say they're doing something? 

Sell em at this point. ***** it.

Maybe the new owner will have some balls. 

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On 1/24/2024 at 8:42 AM, CallawaySabres said:

There don't seem to be any answers on how to fix this team because I really believe they are pretty awful from top to bottom. Obviously it will be impossible to trade people like Cousins, Mule, Skinner, Power and Thompson but what about the rest? Bring in a new GM who has no bias towards any of these players and trade as many players as possible. Target teams with needs and bring back players who are older and can compliment existing talent that is here.

Would anyone really care if anyone on this team was traded? Dahlin is on a straight line to exit like Eichel, book it. Nobody on this team should be safe and they can bring in that new GM and coach to reset the whole organization. Wait until some good, veteran coaches are fired and let everyone know that absolutely nobody is safe. I have fellow season ticket holders who also have not watched a game in weeks and can't even stomach watching them any longer. 

This idea of blowing it all up would be the only thing that could bring a sense of fandom back back to me in October since this will be the last year I will be a season ticket holder. I did not watch again last night but the end has to be near for Granato, I mean, it just has to be. 

Why can't they move Cozens or Thompson (i don't agree with trading them)?  They're both 25 or under and signed long-term with the 90th and 91st highest cap hits in hockey.  They are having poor years, but to act like they have no value is not true. 

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On 1/29/2024 at 5:31 AM, Weave said:

And that’s rub, innit?  We’re an ongoing case study into how difficult it is to start winning when two avenues to team building are essentially closed to you because you aren’t winning.

Most players in the league do NOT have NTCs. The implication that trading is “essentially closed” to us is absurd 

here’s the list, about 3-4 per team 

https://www.thefourthperiod.com/no-trade-clauses

Trading is a barrier re: the Sabres winning the Cup. You need a lot to go your way to do that. Trading isn’t a barrier to the Sabres being a playoff team, ie, mediocre, ie, 16 out of 32. Not with a shred of competence 

If a GM doesn’t have the competence to navigate the trade market as is, he’s not going to have the ability to navigate it from slightly higher ground 

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38 minutes ago, Thorny said:

Most players in the league do NOT have NTCs. The implication that trading is “essentially closed” to us is absurd 

here’s the list, about 3-4 per team 

https://www.thefourthperiod.com/no-trade-clauses

Trading is a barrier re: the Sabres winning the Cup. You need a lot to go your way to do that. Trading isn’t a barrier to the Sabres being a playoff team, ie, mediocre, ie, 16 out of 32. Not with a shred of competence 

If a GM doesn’t have the competence to navigate the trade market as is, he’s not going to have the ability to navigate it from slightly higher ground 

Discounting the “we only want players that want to be here” comments, sure.

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13 minutes ago, Weave said:

Discounting the “we only want players that want to be here” comments, sure.

Absolutely. We should definitely draw a distinction between avenues cut off to us and avenues cut off to us by choice 

It’s a referendum on whether KA’s plan can succeed, not whether a GM of the Buffalo Sabres can

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55 minutes ago, Thorny said:

Absolutely. We should definitely draw a distinction between avenues cut off to us and avenues cut off to us by choice 

It’s a referendum on whether KA’s plan can succeed, not whether a GM of the Buffalo Sabres can

How can I argue, get abusive, and leave in a huff if we don’t disagree?

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 1/24/2024 at 7:42 AM, CallawaySabres said:

There don't seem to be any answers on how to fix this team because I really believe they are pretty awful from top to bottom. Obviously it will be impossible to trade people like Cousins, Mule, Skinner, Power and Thompson but what about the rest? Bring in a new GM who has no bias towards any of these players and trade as many players as possible. Target teams with needs and bring back players who are older and can compliment existing talent that is here.

Would anyone really care if anyone on this team was traded? Dahlin is on a straight line to exit like Eichel, book it. Nobody on this team should be safe and they can bring in that new GM and coach to reset the whole organization. Wait until some good, veteran coaches are fired and let everyone know that absolutely nobody is safe. I have fellow season ticket holders who also have not watched a game in weeks and can't even stomach watching them any longer. 

This idea of blowing it all up would be the only thing that could bring a sense of fandom back back to me in October since this will be the last year I will be a season ticket holder. I did not watch again last night but the end has to be near for Granato, I mean, it just has to be. 

I'm coming around to this:  The whole team.  The players, the coaches, the GM, everything.  Blow it all up.  Just awful.

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1 hour ago, CallawaySabres said:

There has to be a button somewhere...

There is. Blowing it up is called the Tank.   

Lesson Learned:  Do NOT do it again.  

Hire a better GM.  Hire a better coach.  Then you let them fix the roster.  We have enough good players and young players to avoid blowing it all up.  

 

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29 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

There is. Blowing it up is called the Tank.   

Lesson Learned:  Do NOT do it again.  

Hire a better GM.  Hire a better coach.  Then you let them fix the roster.  We have enough good players and young players to avoid blowing it all up.  

 

Someone with no attachment to the players and prospects would make hockey decisions, not based on who wants to be here.

Winning attracts winners.

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15 hours ago, French Collection said:

Someone with no attachment to the players and prospects would make hockey decisions, not based on who wants to be here.

Winning attracts winners.

Exactly.  Even if Adams stays and hires a proven veteran NHL coach, he could let him have some say on the roster and maybe make the few changes that make us competitive.  We are talking playoffs but the reality is the team is regressing.  

 

The Blues knew exactly how to play the Sabres and they shut it all down in the 3rd period.  No one could or would get into the high danger places.

DG is showing he is over his head.  

 

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3 hours ago, French Collection said:

Someone with no attachment to the players and prospects would make hockey decisions, not based on who wants to be here.

Winning attracts winners.

I think many of us have the opinion that Pegula is not going to hire, nor work with, anyone who makes him uncomfortable and even the slightest way.

He wants somebody to let him be involved when he wants to be involved. He doesn't want somebody to tell him he's wrong when he's wrong. He basically wants to be a coddled owner that will always have rose petals thrown on the floor and to be asked for his opinion whenever he walks into the room.

Every owner has the right to do what they want to do and many of them want to be involved, I just have the impression that his priority is looking for people around him that make him be comfortable instead of looking for the best people.

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I posted this in another thread. One big thing that is becoming deeply concerning in year 4 is the Rochester Americans. This whole concept is based on drafting well, having depth in the system, retaining our own, and next man up from the minors when costs get high. 

Right now the Amerks are 4th in a division where 5 teams make the playoffs. 2 points out of missing the playoffs all together. They are 21st in a league where 23 teams make the playoffs. Granted they have some games in hand and I would be surprised if they miss. But it is not a good look. 

My tinfoil hat says that sending Levi down with some permanence has more to do with needing to secure a playoff birth for the minor team than it is about where they would rather develop the kid. I think If Rochester was winning their division Levi would be backing up UPL right now.

This whole thing is a mess on a million levels and reeks of a GM who has no idea what he is doing. None. Zero.

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What boggles my mind is the fact that this team was on the verge of making the playoffs last year and has regressed so much this year.   I could understand this happening with a group of aging players that are falling off the proverbial cliff but these were supposed to be young up and coming players that were poised to hit the next gear.

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1 hour ago, bob_sauve28 said:

 

The only thing that will help this team “now” is dumping the coach. He’s made enough money for accomplishing nothing already. He should feel bad for taking the money. Be that as it may, looking for players now is ridiculous. They aren’t going to the playoffs and should be hiring a new coach next year. Then let that coach decide what he wants to do with the talent. Last thing we need at this point of this lost season is to trade away young talent for a loaner. Unless it’s a 25 year old we are going to sign for 5-7 years. 

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35 minutes ago, FrenchConnection44 said:

The only thing that will help this team “now” is dumping the coach. He’s made enough money for accomplishing nothing already. He should feel bad for taking the money. Be that as it may, looking for players now is ridiculous. They aren’t going to the playoffs and should be hiring a new coach next year. Then let that coach decide what he wants to do with the talent. Last thing we need at this point of this lost season is to trade away young talent for a loaner. Unless it’s a 25 year old we are going to sign for 5-7 years. 

Yup. The time to help now was 2.5 months ago (when, admittedly, it's tricky to find a trade because many GMs believe they're still in it, or they've already tanked going into the season). Case in point, UPL is giving them elite goaltending his last 10 starts (.937 sv) and they're treading water at 5-5 (and not the good 6-1-3 kind of 5-5).

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Folks, lets not forget that to open this season Kevyn Adams said he thought this team was a Stanley Cup contender. That isn't hyperbole. 

He didn't think this was a developmental year. He didn't think next year was the year. He didn't even say generically "we expect to be competitive". 

He legitimately said the below:

Quote

“When I think about playoffs, our expectation of course is there but, honestly, our expectation is to win the Stanley Cup,” Adams said. “I think our window’s open right now and our goal is to be giving ourselves a chance every single year.”


The guy literally woke up in October and thought "Yup, this is a championship caliber team" To be so wrong without any outside catastrophe is fireable offense in any business unit, in any org, across the country. 

This is when I wish Buffalo was a bigger market and had less control over its beat reporters. Adams/Pegula should be asked about this quote everyday until they cry. 

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