I’m Sorry for Being So Negative!

[spndnchz]

Voice your thoughts…

[SwampD]

11 hours ago, spndnchz said:

Voice your thoughts…

Is there somewhere we can go to find a list of pre-approved thoughts? I don’t want to waste anyone’s time. 

[PASabreFan]

1 hour ago, SwampD said:

Is there somewhere we can go to find a list of pre-approved thoughts? I don’t want to waste anyone’s time. 

I love Southern Ontario Leaf thoughts.

[Sabres Fan in NS]

17 hours ago, Porous Five Hole said:

What makes you say that? Is it his recency bias because the Bills hit on Josh Allen and they’re very good? Or because the Bills are the shinier and newer toy?

Pegula gets a ton of shade thrown his way in the Sabrehood and I’m not going to devolve into what is fair and what isn’t. But maybe you’re thinking it’s because he gets so much Sabres related hate he cares less today?

Tell me everything…

No.  That's not it.

I think he and his family are good owners.  He hit sooner with the Bills.  I do think that he would prefer a Super Bowl win since it's a bigger deal nationally, but I am only guessing.

I think he was sold a bill of goods on the whole *tank* idea.  That has set the franchise back to the stone age.  I think he trusts KA to finally get it right and it has taken and will continue to take time.

I have never been critical of the ownership of the Pegula's.  They have done much more good by both teams.  Of course, your milage may vary on that.

Edited February 29 by Sabres Fan in NS
more goodly ...

[#freejame]

2 hours ago, Sabres Fan in NS said:

No.  That's not it.

I think he and his family are good owners.  He hit sooner with the Bills.  I do think that he would prefer a Super Bowl win since it's a bigger deal nationally, but I am only guessing.

I think he was sold a bill of goods on the whole *tank* idea.  That has set the franchise back to the stone age.  I think he trusts KA to finally get it right and it has taken and will continue to take time.

I have never been critical of the ownership of the Pegula's.  They have done much more good by both teams.  Of course, your milage may vary on that.

I’m sure many people here disagree but the tank has absolutely zero bearing whatsoever on this team. Every team in the league has made the playoffs since 2017 except for one. 

A second hot take, if Tim Murray was given five years he would have had us in the playoffs. 

More than anything the thing that has set us back so much was replacing Tim Murray and his hockey ideology with J-Botts who has an ideology on the opposite end of the spectrum. The fact that Bottrill was an awful GM is less impactful than that he wanted to completely rebuild the team in another direction. 

[SwampD]

3 hours ago, #freejame said:

I’m sure many people here disagree but the tank has absolutely zero bearing whatsoever on this team. Every team in the league has made the playoffs since 2017 except for one. 

A second hot take, if Tim Murray was given five years he would have had us in the playoffs. 

More than anything the thing that has set us back so much was replacing Tim Murray and his hockey ideology with J-Botts who has an ideology on the opposite end of the spectrum. The fact that Bottrill was an awful GM is less impactful than that he wanted to completely rebuild the team in another direction. 

Damn.

I still blame the Tank.

[Buffalo Super Fan]

On 2/20/2024 at 12:35 PM, GASabresIUFAN said:

My friend @Taro T once pointed out to me that I was once one of the most positive voices on the board and that over the last few years, I’ve become quite negative.  For that, I apologize.  I am not, in general, a negative person.  I am quite the opposite.  

However I looked at my posts recently and I have let my frustration and anger with Adams and the Sabres grow to the point that it’s ruined my enjoyment of watching the team.  Not that the frustration is misplaced.  However, it’s ruined the game for me, so it’s time to take a step back.  Time to concentrate on the Braves and fantasy baseball.

What makes me so frustrated is how different the management of the two Pegula teams are. Beane fires Dorsey and then trades for Douglas.  He swings for the fences on occasion with the Diggs trade and with Von Miller (he missed here). He moves up and down the draft to get the players and assets he needs.  He is proactive with his team and I have no doubt in my mind is that he’ll find a way out of the cap issues this season and Bills will be younger and probably better next year.  The Bills missed the playoffs from 2000-2016 (17 straight seasons).  Beane and McDermott arrive, and they make the playoffs in year 1 and 5 of 6 seasons with 4 straight division championships. 

I compare that to Adams who is reactive, takes little to no risk, and therefore has nothing to show for his efforts but his job.  Like Beane, he correctly cleaned out the old core.  Like Beane he drafted well, but that’s where the comparison ends.  Since the clean-out, he hasn’t made one proactive move, and his reactive moves have borne little to no fruit.   If Beane was the Sabres GM.  He would have acquired a quality goaltender as soon as Ullmark walked.  He would have added defense in trade last season as soon as we were down 2-3 starters on D and he’d have fired the assist coach in charge of our special teams this year.  

All that said, the Sabres have a ton of assets to work with, but it’s time for Adams to step up and learn from Beane.  This will be the 13th season without playoffs in a league where 50% of the teams make the playoffs every year.  If there is a 14th year, Adams will be gone.  

So taking a step back and just looking at the organization there are things I like still.

1) Goaltending - a source of weakness since Ullmark left, could be a strength as early as next season, assuming UPL can continue to perform at this year’s level and Levi can make the jump back to the NHL.  He is currently playing very well at Rochester.

2) Defense - Dahlin is currently the only top 4 D on this roster.  R Johnson may be that someday, but that someday is not today.  Clifton, Samuelsson, and Jokiharju are all 3rd pairing guys.  Power, although, young and talented and being paid to be a top 4 D, isn’t there yet either.  As a unit, they are just ok.  I think the pieces will fit better if Joki is traded and upgrade by a legit top 4 RHD.  The good news is that Mule is better than he played this year, Clifton has been good in 2024 and Power and R Johnson have more to give. The question is when (if?) they reach their potential.  

3) Forwards - An outsider looking at the Sabres has to wonder how a team that played with such spirit last season; playing hard from the opening puck drop until the final horn blew, completely lost their edge.  On paper this may be the most talented roster the Sabres have fielded on offense since 2006.  There are 6 Sabres forwards capable of scoring 30+ goals a season in the NHL in TNT, Tuch, Skinner, Cozens, Quinn, and JJP.  Mitts and Greenway have 20+ goal potential.  Benson’s upside is hard to gauge at this point, but 25g, 65 pts seems reasonable.  So where did the offense go?  Bad coaching? Injuries? Lack of effort? Why also won’t they commit to two-way play?  Once these talented guys figure out the effort questions and the 2-way play question, the sky is still the limit for this team.

4) The pipeline.  On paper, we have one of the deepest pipelines in the NHL.  We have 4-5 top-notch forwards (even without Benson) and at least 2-4 future NHL D headlines by Strbak and Novikov (not including R Johnson).  We also have a top 10 pick in the upcoming draft.  

Honestly, the roster is close to being a playoff roster. If Adams brings back the entire top 9 I outlined above, I doubt we’d have much room to complain based on talent. But the question for me is what would Beane do if he were the Sabres' GM.  First, he’d probably fire the entire coaching staff.  He certainly would get rid of the assistants except Bales who has done a good job, especially with UPL.  Second, he’d probably find a way to trade Skinner to save the cap and change locker room.  He made similar moves when he arrived with Bills.  He would also dump all ineffective players including KO, Z, Krebs, Bryson etc… Third, he’d trade this year’s no. 1 pick (and other assets) for the proven D he needs (like he did for Diggs).  I can then see him trading our 2nd rd pick and other picks to move up in the draft to grab a player he likes who has slipped on draft day like Kincaid last year.  Lastly, he’d probably add a veteran goalie as insurance if UPL backslides or Levi isn’t ready.  Beane likes to pair rookies in rotation with vets. This is easier in the NFL but works with goalies as well since Levi can easily be returned to Rochester if he isn’t ready even next season.

 

First it’s completely understandable. I have followed the Buffalo Sabres since 1975. What bothers me the most about this present Buffalo Sabres group is there doesn’t seem to be any professional pride. The rest of the NHL have to be teasing these losers and they don’t seem to get frustrated or really fight. When the Sabres are frustrated it’s misplaced towards the Buffalo Sabres fans instead losers.

I watched a Rasmus Dahlin interview done by Swedish television journalist online. He showed the Swedish journalist around the Sabres facilities at Key Bank Center. What stuck me is with all these tools available for the Sabres today from free breakfast and lunch. Up to date workout equipment yet they are still losers. The Buffalo Sabres I grew up with was primitive the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium locker room, no free breakfast or lunch daily it was basic locker room and players had a cigarette and a cup of coffee between periods and they put out. I am tired of the Buffalo Sabres fans excusing the present lazy Sabres players.
 

The Sabres were better off with primitive locker room a cigarette and a cup of coffee. This present Sabres team has no guts at all. At least Danny Gare, Craig Ramsay and Don Luce to name a few had some professional pride. No they didn’t win the Stanley Cup but they had guts to compete and not embarrass themselves as professional NHL players. This present Sabres team has no guts and don’t mind losing all that much in my opinion. I think the Sabres like not making the playoffs because that is two more months on the golf course or whatever the Sabres players do in the offseason to screw around. The Sabres players all get there contract money regardless. Why win a Stanley Cup that is hard to play an extra two months hockey like the Vegas Golden Knights. The Sabres have been exposed as a fraud most of the Sabres fans deep down know they are and that is why the Sabres fans frustration and the booing.

Don Granato has no guts either he needed to nip that in the bud right away the Sabres players taking their frustration out on the Sabres fans. He should have told the team coaches get hired to be fired don’t worry about me do your job and block out the noise. The NHL fans are why we make this fabulous living in NHL hockey. But Don Granato didn’t because he has no guts is as lazy and accepting of losing as his losers players. Don Granato should never have been hired he was Ralph Krueger assistant coach. Don Granato has been fired by minor league hockey teams. How any Buffalonian thinks Don Granato is going to get better next season are living in a fantasy hockey land. The Sabres need major roster changes in the area of leadership in the top 6 forward lines and a new coach with guts to tell like it is that doesn’t tolerate lazy players making excuses in my opinion. Go Sabres! Let’s Go Buffalo 

On 2/20/2024 at 12:35 PM, GASabresIUFAN said:

My friend @Taro T once pointed out to me that I was once one of the most positive voices on the board and that over the last few years, I’ve become quite negative.  For that, I apologize.  I am not, in general, a negative person.  I am quite the opposite.  

However I looked at my posts recently and I have let my frustration and anger with Adams and the Sabres grow to the point that it’s ruined my enjoyment of watching the team.  Not that the frustration is misplaced.  However, it’s ruined the game for me, so it’s time to take a step back.  Time to concentrate on the Braves and fantasy baseball.

What makes me so frustrated is how different the management of the two Pegula teams are. Beane fires Dorsey and then trades for Douglas.  He swings for the fences on occasion with the Diggs trade and with Von Miller (he missed here). He moves up and down the draft to get the players and assets he needs.  He is proactive with his team and I have no doubt in my mind is that he’ll find a way out of the cap issues this season and Bills will be younger and probably better next year.  The Bills missed the playoffs from 2000-2016 (17 straight seasons).  Beane and McDermott arrive, and they make the playoffs in year 1 and 5 of 6 seasons with 4 straight division championships. 

I compare that to Adams who is reactive, takes little to no risk, and therefore has nothing to show for his efforts but his job.  Like Beane, he correctly cleaned out the old core.  Like Beane he drafted well, but that’s where the comparison ends.  Since the clean-out, he hasn’t made one proactive move, and his reactive moves have borne little to no fruit.   If Beane was the Sabres GM.  He would have acquired a quality goaltender as soon as Ullmark walked.  He would have added defense in trade last season as soon as we were down 2-3 starters on D and he’d have fired the assist coach in charge of our special teams this year.  

All that said, the Sabres have a ton of assets to work with, but it’s time for Adams to step up and learn from Beane.  This will be the 13th season without playoffs in a league where 50% of the teams make the playoffs every year.  If there is a 14th year, Adams will be gone.  

So taking a step back and just looking at the organization there are things I like still.

1) Goaltending - a source of weakness since Ullmark left, could be a strength as early as next season, assuming UPL can continue to perform at this year’s level and Levi can make the jump back to the NHL.  He is currently playing very well at Rochester.

2) Defense - Dahlin is currently the only top 4 D on this roster.  R Johnson may be that someday, but that someday is not today.  Clifton, Samuelsson, and Jokiharju are all 3rd pairing guys.  Power, although, young and talented and being paid to be a top 4 D, isn’t there yet either.  As a unit, they are just ok.  I think the pieces will fit better if Joki is traded and upgrade by a legit top 4 RHD.  The good news is that Mule is better than he played this year, Clifton has been good in 2024 and Power and R Johnson have more to give. The question is when (if?) they reach their potential.  

3) Forwards - An outsider looking at the Sabres has to wonder how a team that played with such spirit last season; playing hard from the opening puck drop until the final horn blew, completely lost their edge.  On paper this may be the most talented roster the Sabres have fielded on offense since 2006.  There are 6 Sabres forwards capable of scoring 30+ goals a season in the NHL in TNT, Tuch, Skinner, Cozens, Quinn, and JJP.  Mitts and Greenway have 20+ goal potential.  Benson’s upside is hard to gauge at this point, but 25g, 65 pts seems reasonable.  So where did the offense go?  Bad coaching? Injuries? Lack of effort? Why also won’t they commit to two-way play?  Once these talented guys figure out the effort questions and the 2-way play question, the sky is still the limit for this team.

4) The pipeline.  On paper, we have one of the deepest pipelines in the NHL.  We have 4-5 top-notch forwards (even without Benson) and at least 2-4 future NHL D headlines by Strbak and Novikov (not including R Johnson).  We also have a top 10 pick in the upcoming draft.  

Honestly, the roster is close to being a playoff roster. If Adams brings back the entire top 9 I outlined above, I doubt we’d have much room to complain based on talent. But the question for me is what would Beane do if he were the Sabres' GM.  First, he’d probably fire the entire coaching staff.  He certainly would get rid of the assistants except Bales who has done a good job, especially with UPL.  Second, he’d probably find a way to trade Skinner to save the cap and change locker room.  He made similar moves when he arrived with Bills.  He would also dump all ineffective players including KO, Z, Krebs, Bryson etc… Third, he’d trade this year’s no. 1 pick (and other assets) for the proven D he needs (like he did for Diggs).  I can then see him trading our 2nd rd pick and other picks to move up in the draft to grab a player he likes who has slipped on draft day like Kincaid last year.  Lastly, he’d probably add a veteran goalie as insurance if UPL backslides or Levi isn’t ready.  Beane likes to pair rookies in rotation with vets. This is easier in the NFL but works with goalies as well since Levi can easily be returned to Rochester if he isn’t ready even next  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[PerreaultForever]

6 hours ago, #freejame said:

I’m sure many people here disagree but the tank has absolutely zero bearing whatsoever on this team. Every team in the league has made the playoffs since 2017 except for one. 

A second hot take, if Tim Murray was given five years he would have had us in the playoffs. 

More than anything the thing that has set us back so much was replacing Tim Murray and his hockey ideology with J-Botts who has an ideology on the opposite end of the spectrum. The fact that Bottrill was an awful GM is less impactful than that he wanted to completely rebuild the team in another direction. 

Was he? 

UPL, Dahlin, Samuelson, Thompson, Cozens, Mitts, like it or not, this is the team JBot built. 

[GASabresIUFAN]

56 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

Was he? 

UPL, Dahlin, Samuelson, Thompson, Cozens, Mitts, like it or not, this is the team JBot built. 

Don't forget Skinner, Joki, Ryan Johnson, and Bryson are Jbot's as well.  

The breakdown looks something like this (25 total players active and injured). Players listed by how they were originally acquired by the Sabres.

DR - draft: Girgensons

TM - draft: Olofsson; FA: Okposo

Jbot (10 players)

Draft: (7) Cozens, Mitts, Dahlin, Johnson, Samuelsson, Bryson and UPL

Trade: (3) Thompson, Skinner and Jokiharju

KA (12 players)

Draft: (4) Power, Quinn, JJP, and Benson

Waivers: Jost

Trade:(4) Robinson, Krebs, Greenway & Tuch

FAs: (3) Comrie, Clifton & E Johnson

Edited March 1 by GASabresIUFAN

[PerreaultForever]

44 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Don't forget Skinner, Joki, Ryan Johnson, and Bryson are Jbot's as well.  

The breakdown looks something like this (25 total players active and injured). Players listed by how they were originally acquired by the Sabres.

DR - draft: Girgensons

TM - draft: Olofsson; FA: Okposo

Jbot (10 players)

Draft: (7) Cozens, Mitts, Dahlin, Johnson, Samuelsson, Bryson and UPL

Trade: (3) Thompson, Skinner and Jokiharju

KA (12 players)

Draft: (4) Power, Quinn, JJP, and Benson

Waivers: Jost

Trade:(4) Robinson, Krebs, Greenway & Tuch

FAs: (3) Comrie, Clifton & E Johnson

Correct. I only listed the main guys who are important now imo but all of this is correct. 

You also have to factor in the subtractions each made to gain what they gained. When you subtract a ROR or a Reinhart or Eichel you should be getting a lot back but in all likelihood you didn't actually add. Right now, the core of this team is pretty much a JBot team. 

[spndnchz]

I guess compared to the team it seems best. But compared to the league not so much. 

[#freejame]

8 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

Was he? 

UPL, Dahlin, Samuelson, Thompson, Cozens, Mitts, like it or not, this is the team JBot built. 

And it’s never had any success. 

Anyway, I followed the rest of the conversation and agree this is largely JBott’s team. I think thats also an indictment of Botterill’s work. 

[PerreaultForever]

4 hours ago, #freejame said:

And it’s never had any success. 

Anyway, I followed the rest of the conversation and agree this is largely JBott’s team. I think thats also an indictment of Botterill’s work. 

That's fair, and in no way am I saying JBot was a good GM, I just don't see at this point how some people (not you) think KA has in any way proven himself to be better. At this point, I actually think he's worse than Murray and of the three (none being good) JBot was the best - so far. Unlike the other two, KA can still become better. 

[Marvin]

On 2/29/2024 at 12:18 AM, spndnchz said:

Voice your thoughts…

For some reason, in my head, I hear Sir Alec Guinness saying this like, "use the force, Luke."

[Hank]

6 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

That's fair, and in no way am I saying JBot was a good GM, I just don't see at this point how some people (not you) think KA has in any way proven himself to be better. At this point, I actually think he's worse than Murray and of the three (none being good) JBot was the best - so far. Unlike the other two, KA can still become better. 

I think peoples tolerance/agreement with Adams long term build strategy impacts if they think he's doing a good job or not. 

[PerreaultForever]

2 hours ago, Hank said:

I think peoples tolerance/agreement with Adams long term build strategy impacts if they think he's doing a good job or not. 

Maybe. That and their acceptance of a lack of progression. 

I look at two main things myself. First, is the team improved from the year before? You always want a big improvement so the goal for me (and others) was playoffs this year but the minimum is the team being better, and right now I don't think it is. Second, I compare the rebuild to other teams that have made moves he could have made. If they are doing better I consider Adams a failure. Everything's relative but when teams below you end up ahead of you it has to be viewed as failure. 

[Dr. Who]

4 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

Maybe. That and their acceptance of a lack of progression. 

I look at two main things myself. First, is the team improved from the year before? You always want a big improvement so the goal for me (and others) was playoffs this year but the minimum is the team being better, and right now I don't think it is. Second, I compare the rebuild to other teams that have made moves he could have made. If they are doing better I consider Adams a failure. Everything's relative but when teams below you end up ahead of you it has to be viewed as failure. 

I'd feel better about KA if he showed evidence of a willingness to trade prospects for NHL ready players, and if he prioritized top 4D, a 2 way C, and forwards with grit and toughness as trade targets. It's fine to draft redundancy in the types and grabbing BPA if you're willing to trade the assets to get the balance right on your team. It's no good if you think you're going to evolve into a Euro finesse team that scores a lot, and wins in an exciting way (I fear this is Pegula's dopey vision.)