GDT: Sabres @ Bruins October, 11 2025 @ 7PM MSG-B, ESPN+, Fubo

[Taro T]

1 hour ago, K012010 said:

Obviously, this is all conjecture, and of the abstract variety, but has it crossed anyone else’s mind that the cup our dear GM won was flat out the best opportunity we ever had to win one and I’m including the 1999 series. I know that we could’ve taken it to game seven and very well may have, but the stars were just a better team. We had the best goalie of all time and a collection of average guys and a ton of grit, but I think the stars win that series 9 out of 10 times.

05-06 was THE year. It was ours and I posted the other day or maybe earlier today about how I am stuck mentally in that year I will never get over that year and that team everything aligned and came together and it was supposed to be ours. So many factors took it away from us so many little things, including Tim Connolly getting head hunted, then all the injuries leading up toward the end of the conference finals. 

Adams won the cup with the canes. The one that should’ve been ours. This bad juju needs to go and it needs to go now. We were never gonna do anything with a guy who was on the team that took our cup away because for some reason the will of the gods changed on a whim.

This guy needs to be gone for that reason alone, but adding the fact that he’s the worst general manager professional sports I think is also another big factor

With all due respect to the '74-'75 squad which couldn't win a game in Filly to save their lives but due to tiebreakers would have to win at minimum 1 game there heading into that series and as it turned out would've needed 2 wins there which was pretty much impossible back then, the 3 times the Sabres were closest to winning it all were '99, '01, and '06.

Yes, Dallas was the better team overall, but there was a reasonable chance that Modano and Hull (and maybe even Niewendyk) would not be able to go in game 7.  Take any of them out of the lineup and the Sabres have a great chance to win a game 7 if they can score 1 more goal in game 6 after they drop the puck at the Sabres blue line.

In '01 they should've beat the Pens.  If they did, they had Joisey's # that year, and beat the Avs in Colorado with Biron in net.  So, they had a great likelihood of getting past the Devils and then could've won a long series versus the Avs.

Yeah, in '06 they were 20 minutes away from facing a much weaker Euler team, but those injuries to the D and Connolly were killers.  Had they been able to stay healthy rather than lose a D-man after every victory in the Semis, yeah, they definitely win that and then hoist the Cup by the end of the next round.  

It's an interesting exercise to think of which one of those teams had the best chance to take it all.  The '93 squad needs mention too.  Yes, they lost in the 2nd round to the eventual Cup champs in 4 straight.  But all 4 of those were 4-3 games, 3 went to OT, and all 4 they had an injured Fuhr between the pipes rather than the best goalie that ever lived who, btw, was between the pipes when Brad May made Ray Bourque look like Phil Bourque.  Each of those 1 goal games also had at least 1 bad goal given up by Fuhr.  Get past Moe-ray-all and the Aisles were much weaker and then the LA series could've gone either way.

The '80 team had the misfortune of winning their 2nd round too quickly, or so the story goes.  They sat around for 9 days waiting for their next opponent and couldn't get back into the swing of things until they were behind the 8 ball facing a 3 game deficit.  Thing is, the Aisles sat around for a full week too waiting for Minny and Moe-ray-all to finish their series.  They had a chance to win it all, but they always had problems with the Aisles back then and the Phlyers too and even if they got past the Aisles, Filly would've been waiting there for them.  Personally felt they were further from winning it all than any of those other teams mentioned here, and were farther than '89 and '07 as well. 

[DarthEbriate]

1 hour ago, Brawndo said:

 

The team reflects the owner and the GM who orchestrated the tank and EEE and lack of action. Simple as that. This is their manifestation on ice. 

[K012010]

7 minutes ago, Taro T said:

With all due respect to the '74-'75 squad which couldn't win a game in Filly to save their lives but due to tiebreakers would have to win at minimum 1 game there heading into that series and as it turned out would've needed 2 wins there which was pretty much impossible back then, the 3 times the Sabres were closest to winning it all were '99, '01, and '06.

Yes, Dallas was the better team overall, but there was a reasonable chance that Modano and Hull (and maybe even Niewendyk) would not be able to go in game 7.  Take any of them out of the lineup and the Sabres have a great chance to win a game 7 if they can score 1 more goal in game 6 after they drop the puck at the Sabres blue line.

In '01 they should've beat the Pens.  If they did, they had Joisey's # that year, and beat the Avs in Colorado with Biron in net.  So, they had a great likelihood of getting past the Devils and then could've won a long series versus the Avs.

Yeah, in '06 they were 20 minutes away from facing a much weaker Euler team, but those injuries to the D and Connolly were killers.  Had they been able to stay healthy rather than lose a D-man after every victory in the Semis, yeah, they definitely win that and then hoist the Cup by the end of the next round.  

It's an interesting exercise to think of which one of those teams had the best chance to take it all.  The '93 squad needs mention too.  Yes, they lost in the 2nd round to the eventual Cup champs in 4 straight.  But all 4 of those were 4-3 games, 3 went to OT, and all 4 they had an injured Fuhr between the pipes rather than the best goalie that ever lived who, btw, was between the pipes when Brad May made Ray Bourque look like Phil Bourque.  Each of those 1 goal games also had at least 1 bad goal given up by Fuhr.  Get past Moe-ray-all and the Aisles were much weaker and then the LA series could've gone either way.

The '80 team had the misfortune of winning their 2nd round too quickly, or so the story goes.  They sat around for 9 days waiting for their next opponent and couldn't get back into the swing of things until they were behind the 8 ball facing a 3 game deficit.  Thing is, the Aisles sat around for a full week too waiting for Minny and Moe-ray-all to finish their series.  They had a chance to win it all, but they always had problems with the Aisles back then and the Phlyers too and even if they got past the Aisles, Filly would've been waiting there for them.  Personally felt they were further from winning it all than any of those other teams mentioned here, and were farther than '89 and '07 as well. 

Amazing breakdown and a lot to think about. Tough to choose just one as the best chance to have won it all, you’re right.  

[PerreaultForever]

1 hour ago, mjd1001 said:

I have said that all along but according to Thorny, I'm on an island.

Better make sure you don't keep on saying that or you'll get banished to my island with me.

Oh that's okay. @Thorny already disagrees with almost everything I say anyway. 

1 hour ago, Thorny said:

“Terry over meddles” is a narrative from 3 years ago. He’s generally absentee - the issue isn’t that he’s micromanaging, it’s that he leaves Adams to his own devices without adequate support both financial and otherwise 

see.

[Andrew Amerk]

8 minutes ago, K012010 said:

Amazing breakdown and a lot to think about. Tough to choose just one as the best chance to have won it all, you’re right.  

I don’t think so. 
 

2006 was the year without the Timmy injury and the bloody sock. 

[Thorny]

12 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

Oh that's okay. @Thorny already disagrees with almost everything I say anyway. 

see.

Absolutely. This post of yours is one of the few things I don’t 

Gotta say, I’m quite comfortable with that and frankly I think I’d begin to question my takes if otherwise given borne out track record 

Edited 11 hours ago by Thorny

[DarthEbriate]

1 hour ago, JoeSchmoe said:

While results don't seem to matter to Terry, I feel like the $40mil owed to Norris might be what finally gets Adams fired. 

I don’t think he gets fired. Instead, they agree it’s time for him to be POHO so Darth Pegulas the Wise still has his yes man. Jarmo will get the opportunity to be a yes man GM with Appert as the coach and Ruff as an advisor. If he doesn’t want that, they’ll do an exhaustive search… for Ellis or Forton or whomever is breathing the word yes. 

But there is a possibility they clean house after the season. However, I don’t think Norris is the final straw. It’s Tuch. Tuch is their golden local goose. If he wants out, Dahlin and Tage ask out. Benson can go the JJP RFA no-thanks route. That would end it all. 

[Thorny]

10 minutes ago, Andrew Amerk said:

I don’t think so. 
 

2006 was the year without the Timmy injury and the bloody sock. 

This 

[The Big Lebowski]

1 hour ago, Taro T said:

The '93 squad needs mention too.  Yes, they lost in the 2nd round to the eventual Cup champs in 4 straight.  But all 4 of those were 4-3 games, 3 went to OT, and all 4 they had an injured Fuhr between the pipes rather than the best goalie that ever lived who, btw, was between the pipes when Brad May made Ray Bourque look like Phil Bourque.  Each of those 1 goal games also had at least 1 bad goal given up by Fuhr.  Get past Moe-ray-all and the Aisles were much weaker and then the LA series could've gone either way.

I'm glad to hear someone feels the same way I do about that roster. I was fortunate enough to meet Dale Hawerchuk before his passing and he said "of all the teams he played on, that 1992-93 team had the best chance to win the Cup." I also think about how we traded away Dave Andreychuk for Grant Fuhr when we already had Hasek. Keeping him on the squad would've boosted us past Montreal and eventually to the franchise's first Championship.

[SabresBillsFan]

2 hours ago, OverPowerYou said:

Tim Murray was doing an A++ job until he traded for Lehner. I wish we still had that team. 

He did bring in some really great players but he tried to speed the rebuild process up way too quickly.

Avs in town next, that’s another Buffalo loss!

[PerreaultForever]

1 hour ago, Thorny said:

Absolutely. This post of yours is one of the few things I don’t 

Gotta say, I’m quite comfortable with that and frankly I think I’d begin to question my takes if otherwise given borne out track record 

lol

 

[bunomatic]

Who took Sabrespace blowing up after two games for 100 Alex?

[phil_soisson]

7 hours ago, Thorny said:

Can’t blame a player, it’s the GM who iced the roster

cant blame the GM, it’s the owner who hired them 

can’t blame the owner, it’s his parents that birthed him

lol enough. You still attempt to improve. At the highest level you can. Terry OWNS the team. Assuming that’s the case, you still expect him to try again at GM. 

Just like you expect a GM to address a roster that has holes (of that GM’s making!)

”there’s no use trying to improve the roster, the GM in the past failed when doing so so don’t try again” - it’s just an absurd line of thought 

that Terry should fire Adams because he’s done a terrible job isn’t an opinion it’s the only logical stance possible 

I should think the Pat Lafontaine fiasco was confirmation that Terry was/is the problem.

[mjd1001]

6 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

Oh that's okay. @Thorny already disagrees with almost everything I say anyway. 

see.

We all post our opinions on here and we all think what we say is correct, or we would not post it.

But @Thorny, he comes at you and tells us to stop posting things that he disagrees with, and then he feels the need to post to for everyone to read how he is right more than anyone on this board......that is some next level Narcissistic personality disorder stuff right there.

Buddy, we all may not be correct all the time but despite what you say, neither are you. Respect what others have to post even when you disagree with it.  There is responding to a post showing respect for it while pointing out examples of how your opinion differs...don't have to resort to telling people to stop posting stuff just because it disagrees with your high-and-mighty narrative.

[Kristian]

Second game of the season. Booed off the ice in game one, after being shut out on home ice. And they can't even be bothered to show up for game 2.

I'm actively rooting against them now. I want them to fail so bad that none of these overpaid lazy losers ever get a job again outside the Swiss third division, playing for 712 people in the stands, on Sunday afternoons, if at all!!

[EM88]

7 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

Oh that's okay. @Thorny already disagrees with almost everything I say anyway. 

see.

I notice 2 things about this poster vs poster battle going on above. It appears I have been drawn into it myself.

First, one side, Thorny, seems be almost as concerned with defending himself, and how smart he thinks he is, as he does about the actual content of his post.  There is a lot of mentioning of himself and how correct he is. As stated above, there is a larger than average does of narcissism when someone needs to do that so often.

 Second, the Island comment.  I think figuratively it can be viewed like one a cruise ship sailing by and telling the people of Australia they are on nothing but an island. It appears that island is very large.

I personally have a difficult time respecting a post or poster that feels the need to outright state that their posts are better than others, they know more than others, or they are correct more than others.  If that were true, it would not need stating.

[LGR4GM]

Sabres can't win a game without Zach Benson, just sayin

[LGR4GM]

10 hours ago, Gatorman0519 said:

When Adams picked him I sat there in disbelief. 

Since this thread turned into a "I'm always right" thing...

Marco Rossi! 

[That Aud Smell]

9 hours ago, Thorny said:

This is something you saw in an embedded sabres media video? 

I saw a quote in a report from someone with Boston who said something to the effect of “what are they DOING in buffalo, man?!” … because Adams needed to mother may I Joki for a 4th.

It seems to signal the worst kind of meddling: Largely uninvolved and uninformed, but wants a say in everything just the same.

[Porous Five Hole]

22 minutes ago, That Aud Smell said:

I saw a quote in a report from someone with Boston who said something to the effect of “what are they DOING in buffalo, man?!” … because Adams needed to mother may I Joki for a 4th.

It seems to signal the worst kind of meddling: Largely uninvolved and uninformed, but wants a say in everything just the same.

Listen we have scored a goal

[PASabreFan]

SABRES SCORE, BUT LOSE AT BOSTON

Raves WGR-55

[Pimlach]

9 hours ago, Thorny said:

I suggest the 4 folks who graciously “agreed” with this should rescind their green check: they added “Eric Staal” as an “advisor”

 

Which of course nullified the spirit of my argument 

The hired Jarmo too.  Jarmo is a former GM.  

[Pimlach]

2 hours ago, phil_soisson said:

I should think the Pat Lafontaine fiasco was confirmation that Terry was/is the problem.

This was a huge red flag. 

[Pimlach]

10 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

Adams told Terry nobody wanted to eat lunch with him so he hired him a "friend". 

Lyon was good. Dahlin was good. Rest of the team? Not so much. 

That should have been a blow out in the first but with Lyon playing well and the Bruins general inability to score goals it stayed a hockey game. 

I imagine there's a stat somewhere for this but if you counted puck battles and board battles how many did the Sabres win? I'd guess less than 5%. Just pathetic. Team will never win playing that way. Bruins weren't even hitting. 

Geertson's a joke. Sure, I like a tough guy as much as anyone but he does nothing outside of asking for a dance partner. Doesn't really hit, doesn't really dig or get in front. He's ballast. 

You have to wonder about the coaching and mindset of this team though. Clear entry on the PP and Thompson shoots from inside the blueline. Who else does that?? The point of any PP is to carry the puck in, set up all 5 and move the puck around for a good shot. That sort of thing is just dumb and they should know better by now. I don't get it. I really don't. Just blatantly bad. 

You can see the Bruins aren't as good as their record, but you can also see the structure and controlled play, the coaching, and the system with players supporting each other. Sabres? Just a bunch of perimeter possessions and individual play as usual. This team is garbage. 

I think you are hitting  on the right points.  Puck battles are a problem.  Slow to get to a loose puck, not working hard enough.  

The Power Play is bad and has been for a long time. 

I wanted Geertsen to pummel Zadorov, that would have been a worthy contribution because he can’t play a normal 4th line shift.  

[Pimlach]

10 hours ago, North Buffalo said:

Trade Quinn bring up Helenius and Östlund... sit a jag.

I can see Helenius coming up at some point but unless there are more injuries I expect they give him more AHL games first. 

Remember when Quinn-Cozens-Peterka became our 2nd line?   They were all like 20-21 years old.  They worked well together, could score, but had no two-way game.  

IMO Cozens suffered from too much too soon and lost confidence.   Peterka was smart to leave at the first chance.  

Quinn is a shadow of the Prospect he once was.  So far in two games he is invisible, he never has the puck and stays on the perimeter.   Something is wrong.  

Edited 2 hours ago by Pimlach