Poll on the Causes of our Loses

[bob_sauve28]

You have been called in to do an assessment of the Sabres. You have watched, what's your take?

[Kristian]

All of the above.

[triumph_communes]

With Greenway the team looked great. Energized every shift

 

Without Greenway we look meek, lose confidence as games go on, etc. 

I don’t think we lack top end talent. I think we lack the complimentary pieces that give the skill players breathing room. And on a team as thin on talent in that regard it couldn’t handle losing someone like Greenway.  These are Lindy’s blue collar heroes and he doesn’t have them on this roster

[pi2000]

"something else"

They don't hate to lose enough.

The urgency to defend is not there.

I've said it in another thread... there's levels to hating to lose.   They don't hate it enough, and it shows in their urgency to defend and decision making.

[erickompositör72]

The GM has just not found the right pieces. We have talent, but we are missing key ingredients.

You can point this back to the owner, but there's an outside chance the owner could luck out into a good GM (see Bills) who could solve our problems. 

[Night Train]

LOL at fans. 

Yep... It's all me.

😃

[bob_sauve28]

56 minutes ago, Kristian said:

All of the above.

Judging by poll results, yes!

 

Except for Sabretooth

[JP51]

In Order

Incompetent Ownership - not hiring the right people with the right vision, skimping on resources, sending a message that we wont do all we can to win scouting cuts, video scouting etc.... Eichel surgery, handling of Reinhard, O Riellly, Montour etc...  Fan Boy decisions that had major effect on operations etc.... 

Incompetent FO - lacks vision with regard to what it takes to win, team is not balanced and comprised of too many perimeter players, bad trade decisions, grpss mismanagement of assets, refusal to take responsibility, denial.... which then transfers to ..... 

Skaters - I wont call them hockey players because they are not overall, they are skaters,  wont do what it takes to win, do not have the DNA or the mental makeup to over come adversity, tends to blame or take it out on others, lots of words of self reflection, little real awareness dont despise losing enough, but they all have really nice hair and are quite pretty... LOL we need people without a full set of teeth 🙂 

Development - too many critical players who would have helped this team succeeding elsewhere, too many young players not seasoned enough, too many young players whose psyche's are destroyed because of the situation, lack of veteran leadership and example and really bad coaching. 

Coaching - an amazing array of incompetent coaches, this also goes back to ownership, the Rolston, Housley and Soccer GM hire and maybe even trying to resurrect Nolan are the most baffling to me and reek of cheapness and fan boyness (I think I made a new word) again back to ownership.  In the end it wasnt good enough, too inconsistent, too incompetent to have the players believe they were part of something destined to succeed with adult supervision... I mean how can anyone take Phylis Housley seriously when he talks about "getting to the tough places on the ice" . Stop talking Phil you lost me at tough...  

Palm trees - in case you didnt know we dont have Palm trees in Buffalo and that is the reason players wont come here... has nothing to do with any of the above for going on 2 decades...  but in the end this viewpoint and assessment of the state of events from our mis management illustrates the defeatist, lazy, weak, arrogant attitude that pervades this organization like an irremovable stench... how can you possibly win when your leadership already thinks you lost. 

 

 

Edited January 13 by JP51

[Pimlach]

It’s a combination of factors.  

• The long 14 year drought points squarely at Terry Pegula 
• Since the JBot firing and EEE the entire blame goes to both Pegula and his sidekick Kevyn Adams 
• This season the blame goes to Adams roster construction, the coaches, and the ability and heart of many of the players 

Moving forward: 

1. Perform serious and professional search for an experienced and respected NHL hockey Exec
2. Fire Adams 
3. Let the new guy restructure the FO, the Coaching staff, and the roster 
4. Start establishing a WIN NOW culture. 

[EM88]

It is hard to pick just one. Many of them are an issue, some more than others.

-Terry Pegula. Everything starts with him.

-Adams.  They have 3 potentially good D-men, none of them great at a responsible, physical game. They also have a huge hole for a 2nd line. That is Roster construction --> Adams

-Players. Cozens is very bad almost all around. UPL is having a sub-expectations year. Tage is great when healthy, but every month he has another ailment so he isn't reliabe to do what you need from him.

 

[DarthEbriate]

Always two reasons there are. No more, no less. The master (Darth Pegulas) and the apprentice (GM Sheevyn).

The ##### rule the Sabres galaxy and we have playoff-less peace.

[Skibum]

I just don't think the players are good enough, and I think that's been it for most of the way. You could have a whole separate poll on a list of reasons why they aren't good enough, and all of those reasons would be true. It's just crazy that it has gone on so consistently for so long. Even the sun shines on a dog's bum once in a while. 

Edited January 13 by Skibum

[LabattBlue]

Fault starts at the top.  IMO there is no other answer 

[mjd1001]

52 minutes ago, Skibum said:

I just don't think the players are good enough, and I think that's been it for most of the way. You could have a whole separate poll on a list of reasons why they aren't good enough, and all of those reasons would be true. It's just crazy that it has gone on so consistently for so long. Even the sun shines on a dog's bum once in a while. 

Thats sure part of it.

Tuch would be a very good 2nd line winger. He's OK as a first line winger. Thompson is perpetually playing through injuries.  Benson, Peterka, and Quinn are up and down young guys, sometimes more 'down' than up.  Krebs is finding his spot in the NHL, but only good enough as a 3rd/4th liner.  Your entire 2nd line (Cozens, Quinn, and whoever else) are barely playing good enough to be an average 3rd line, let alone a 2nd.  Cozens is way over his head as a 2C, he should be at most a 3rd line winger.

On Defense, Byram is skilled but has a limited game. Power looks to be a couple years away from being a steady reliable guy.  UPL has flashes of being great, but he really only has been an average NHL goalie.  Even 'average' guys stand on their head every once in a while, while having bad games mixed in. That is exactly what he has been the last 2 seasons.

[ExWNYer]

7 hours ago, bob_sauve28 said:

You have been called in to do an assessment of the Sabres. You have watched, what's your take?

[7+6=13]

7 hours ago, pi2000 said:

"something else"

They don't hate to lose enough.

The urgency to defend is not there.

I've said it in another thread... there's levels to hating to lose.   They don't hate it enough, and it shows in their urgency to defend and decision making.

Would you say that specific to this year's team?

[Wyldnwoody44]

[French Collection]

There are numerous reasons that add up to creating a losing team. All of the key reasons are listed in the poll. Some play a bigger part while others compound things.

I have come to the conclusion that the only common denominator for all 14 years of hell is TP. His hiring has been terrible, which sets the table for bad decisions at all levels and leads to poor performance. The available cap space has not been utilized for many years and we know who controls the purse strings.

The constant losing has worn on everyone and there doesn’t seem to be any leadership showing the way with a plan and how it will work.

Draft and hope is not a strategy.

[PerreaultForever]

I picked talent, but focusing in on the too young and unprepared for the NHL aspect of that. Their development program sucks and given the complete reliance on the draft you would think they'd have focused on building the best development program possible. But no, they just seem to think these guys will all just get it eventually through trial and error.

[Archie Lee]

I’m basically done holding the players at fault. I don’t mean that on an individual basis they are no longer to be held accountable for their play. A bad play, game, effort, etc., should be called out. But, in the big picture this is so obviously not a player issue. The players may collectively lack what it takes to be a playoff team due to a combination of talent, experience, and roster construction, but that isn’t on the players, that’s on management. 
 

The situation that the Sabres find themselves in, falls on Pegula. It is unfathomable to me that he could attend the Sabre and Bill games this past weekend and not recognize that in one case he has found two people to run the team who are near the top of their professions and that has been enormous to the Bills’s success. And, in the other case the primary issue is that he has repeatedly failed to put the same quality of talent in the GM and HC roles, and indeed has repeatedly hired  below average talents.  That this continues, is simply bizarre. 

Edited January 14 by Archie Lee

[SouthernSabre]

Owner and talent

They also do not have an identity.  What kind of team are they, how they play, they are all over the place.

[Believer]

Leadership.

By the owner, front office, the coaches, behind the bench, on the bench, and between periods by players during games, and on the ice especially in situations (PK, PP, OT, and final minutes of periods and games).

 

[Hawerchuk]

Defense. All day! They are terrible at defending.

Pegula comes in a close second. Dumbass owner who doesn't know how to hire proper front office hockey people and get out of the way.