Dahlin is back with the Sabres

[Cityo'Rasmii]

Yay Rasmus!!!!!!!

[Archie Lee]

58 minutes ago, K-9 said:

I have to disagree about Lehner. The Sabres got him psychiatric help, including treatment for substance abuse to help with his drinking problem and gave him as long as he needed to get well. 

I recall reading that Lehner was grateful for the support Botterill showed, even after Lehner was no longer with the Sabres.  

[Doohickie]

3 hours ago, Brawndo said:

The Sabres Organization’s support and actions for Dahlin and His Family throughout this entire process more likely to lead to him not asking out.

 

Yes of course.  We saw what a difference it made in retaining Ullmark when they allowed him to take a leave when his father died.

[Doohickie]

3 hours ago, Taro T said:

they apparently didn't give Ullmark the support he felt he needed.  

That's not the way it's portrayed in this article on NHL.com:

Quote

The [Sabres] organization had been a haven for him around his father's death, allowing him to take every bit of time he needed. It had felt safe, a cocoon in a life and career that had gone topsy-turvy at times.

 

Edited 21 hours ago by Doohickie

[Doohickie]

2 hours ago, Taro T said:

And Carolina must be doing well too.  Wouldn't be surprised if he plays the best hockey of his life with that weight taken off his shoulders.

Pure speculation:  I wonder if maybe she had a follow-up surgery or some other procedure and he felt he needed to be there for her.  The procedure went well, she recovered and it's time to return.  If it was known ahead of time and there was significant risk involved, it could have been why it was affecting his play earlier, and why he's all smiles now.

[Doohickie]

2 hours ago, bunomatic said:

That smile makes me think he got his oil changed😘. Welcome back Captain!

If you've ever owned a Volvo you know you have to keep up with the maintenance.

[quill]

3 hours ago, Brawndo said:

 

Lindy you of all people should know that any jolt that Dahlin gives this team, as great as he is, will be a short term jolt at best. The real jolt this team needs right now is for Adams to be fired immediately, followed by another jolt if we fail to make the playoffs again where you are replaced as well, as much as I like you as a person.

[Crusader1969]

4 hours ago, Brawndo said:

The Sabres Organization’s support and actions for Dahlin and His Family throughout this entire process more likely to lead to him not asking out.

 

This is what a real franchise looks like.

Still want everyone from the Eichel disaster shown the door, but at least there’s finally a hint they’ve learned something.
 

I would love to know if Ruff, Adams and TP were all on the same page in letting him go?

45 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

Pure speculation:  I wonder if maybe she had a follow-up surgery or some other procedure and he felt he needed to be there for her.  The procedure went well, she recovered and it's time to return.  If it was known ahead of time and there was significant risk involved, it could have been why it was affecting his play earlier, and why he's all smiles now.

This makes sense 

[thewookie1]

3 hours ago, Taro T said:

Yeah, they didn't give Lehner the support he needed and they apparently didn't give Ullmark the support he felt he needed.  Good to see they learned from those experiences and gave Dahlin the support and leeway he needed.

Has to also go a long way in inner player circles to dispel the 'wow, they didn't let Eichel get the surgery he wanted, what a horrible place to play' vibes.  We can hope at any rate.

Wrong, they did get Lehner therapy for his depression issues. The Isles did better though by sending him to alcohol treatment.

Ullmark was happy with the Sabres treatment of him during his mourning. He even made note to mention that in his article that the Sabres treated him well but he wanted to get a fresh start in a different venue because it reminded him too much of his Dad. (In part)

Besides the whole Eichel thing, we’ve actually had a good track record with treating players well. Tage and his wife were also helped for instance.

[thewookie1]

52 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

Pure speculation:  I wonder if maybe she had a follow-up surgery or some other procedure and he felt he needed to be there for her.  The procedure went well, she recovered and it's time to return.  If it was known ahead of time and there was significant risk involved, it could have been why it was affecting his play earlier, and why he's all smiles now.

Unsure if it had to be an operation or just merely a very important appointment. For instance, finding out if the heart is working right and isn’t being rejected and thus can start working it some to retrain her body and actually recover.

[Taro T]

29 minutes ago, thewookie1 said:

Wrong, they did get Lehner therapy for his depression issues. The Isles did better though by sending him to alcohol treatment.

Ullmark was happy with the Sabres treatment of him during his mourning. He even made note to mention that in his article that the Sabres treated him well but he wanted to get a fresh start in a different venue because it reminded him too much of his Dad. (In part)

Besides the whole Eichel thing, we’ve actually had a good track record with treating players well. Tage and his wife were also helped for instance.

As stated in a follow-on post, the assistance the Sabres got for Lehner was well after he'd gone a long time without help.  Get him help when the issues were 1st arising and maybe we see a different result.

As for Ullmark, have seen stuff claiming they did provide him with enough support and stuff claiming they didn't.  Thus the use of the words "apparently" & "felt."  Do hope that you're correct that they were as supportive as he felt they needed to be and it was simply (not really the right word, but hopefully you get what was intended by its usage) his dad passing while the world was shutdown due to Covid and that alone was why he wanted to move on.  But wouldn't be surprised if there was more to it; they made him an offer that the Bruins then beat and they offered to then match that; that didn't sit well with him.

[clink]

5 hours ago, Eleven said:

With a BIG smile on his face, too!

Saw that as well 

[PromoTheRobot]

2 hours ago, Doohickie said:

That's not the way it's portrayed in this article on NHL.com:

 

Stop injecting facts into people's fan fiction.

[PASabreFan]

3 hours ago, Doohickie said:

 

Yes of course.  We saw what a difference it made in retaining Ullmark when they allowed him to take a leave when his father died.

You are bringing it today. Also, I will pray for you.

[Taro T]

4 hours ago, Doohickie said:

 

Yes of course.  We saw what a difference it made in retaining Ullmark when they allowed him to take a leave when his father died.

How much leave did Ullmark take when his father died?

[Brawndo]

8 minutes ago, Taro T said:

How much leave did Ullmark take when his father died?

None, it was also in the middle of the COVID Season where the NHL had tight travel and quarantine restrictions which may have contributed to his decision 

[Taro T]

2 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

None, it was also in the middle of the COVID Season where the NHL had tight travel and quarantine restrictions which may have contributed to his decision 

Sheesh, was hoping @Doohickie would answer that question. 

Yes, that, in fact, is the correct answer.  And that was the point of the question.  (Johanson did dress as the backup one game that weekend, but that was pretty much the extent of Ullmark's "leave.")

[Brawndo]

Ullmark had an estranged relationship with His Father as His Dad was an alcoholic with frequent hospitalizations. 
 

Here is an interview with Sportsnet when he spoke about the situation. 
 

At 7:25 he talks about leaving the Sabres 
 

 

Edited 16 hours ago by Brawndo

[OverPowerYou]

Looking forward to seeing Dahlin win his cup soon on another team

[Pimlach]

21 hours ago, Taro T said:

Yeah, they didn't give Lehner the support he needed and they apparently didn't give Ullmark the support he felt he needed.  Good to see they learned from those experiences and gave Dahlin the support and leeway he needed.

Has to also go a long way in inner player circles to dispel the 'wow, they didn't let Eichel get the surgery he wanted, what a horrible place to play' vibes.  We can hope at any rate.

I’m not so sure about this.

Didn’t Lehner hide all his issues while in Buffalo and then dump them on the Sabres before he left, only to have them reoccur?   

As for Ullmark, what could they do?  He doesn’t blame them for his relationship with his father. 

Edited 3 hours ago by Pimlach

[PASabreFan]

57 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

I’m not so sure about this.

Didn’t Lehner hide all his issues while in Buffalo and then dump them on the Sabres before he left, only to have them reoccur?   

As for Ullmark, what could they do?  He doesn’t blame them for his relationship with his father. 

I'm here for you.

[Pimlach]

1 hour ago, PASabreFan said:

I'm here for you.

I had to do a double check on the Lehner history. 

His career in Buffalo went bad right from the start.   In the first game of 2015 Lehner was injured.  He eventually became very upset about the medical treatment he received from the Sabres medical staff for a high ankle sprain.  Then there were his periods of depression and mental illness that he hid from the team.  In March 2018 he had a panic attack during a game.  After that game all his mental health issues came out and the Sabres rightfully put him in rehab treatment. 

He became a free agent that summer and ended up with NYI where he had a major comeback season, only to be shipped to both the Hawks and then to Vegas on the following season.   Something tells me these teams were more in tuned to Lehner's mental health issues and they moved him out quickly, even though he was playing well.  

Later he became publicly supportive of Eichel's neck surgery position, and was publicly critical of he Sabre medical staff, the team, even the fan base - He found the constant negativity and intense pressure from the Buffalo fanbase challenging, stating that the energy in the rink was often negative due to years of losing. 

So while Lehner hid his demons for a long time, he was not ever happy with the Sabres, especially with the medical staff.   He talked about the use of  sedatives, pain bills and anxiety pills.    His time in Buffalo was largely negative and he pointed to the locker room issues, he stated that players did not respect game plans and not respecting coaches.    He is not the only former Sabre from this era to report on the bad locker room - this is knock directed at the core at the time (Eichel, Reinhart, Kane, Bogo, ) whether this is deserved or not is open to debate.  The Sabres were known to have locker room factions.  

So when you think of all the disfunction from LaFontaine quitting abruptly and the team tanking, and then all of this crap that Lehner revealed from 2015 to 2018.  Then the ROR trade in summer of 2018.   Then Krueger soccer hockey, then the Adams spy trip and his magical accension to GM, the EEE policies, the long list of players that left and found great success, the "extensive coach search" -  it is not hard to understand why so many players do not want to play in Buffalo. 

It is going to take a special person, a special leader, to stop the bleeding and turn this franchise around.  

Edited 34 minutes ago by Pimlach

[JohnC]

3 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

I had to do a double check on the Lehner history. 

His career in Buffalo went bad right from the start.   In the first game of 2015 Lehner was injured.  He eventually became very upset about the medical treatment he received from the Sabres medical staff for a high ankle sprain.  Then there were his periods of depression and mental illness that he hid from the team.  In March 2018 he had a panic attack during a game.  After that game all his mental health issues came out and the Sabres rightfully put him in rehab treatment. 

He became a free agent that summer and ended up with NYI where he had a major comeback season, only to be shipped to both the Hawks and then to Vegas on the following season.   Something tells me these teams were more in tuned to Lehner's mental health issues and they from moved him quickly, even though he was playing well.  

Later he became publicly supportive of Eichel's neck surgery position, and was publicly critical of he Sabre medical staff, the team, even the fan base - He found the constant negativity and intense pressure from the Buffalo fanbase challenging, stating that the energy in the rink was often negative due to years of losing. 

So while Lehner hid his demons for a long time, he was not ever happy with the Sabres, especially with the medical staff.   He talked about the use of  sedatives, pain bills and anxiety pills.    His time in Buffalo was largely negative and he pointed to the locker room issues, he stated that players did not respect game plans and not respecting coaches.    He is not the only former Sabre from this era to report on the bad locker room - this is knock directed at the core at the time (Eichel, Reinhart, Kane, Bogo, ) whether this is deserved or not is open to debate.  The Sabres were known to have locker room factions.  

So when you think of all the disfunction from LaFontaine quitting abruptly and the team tanking, and then all of this crap that Lehner revealed from 2015 to 2018.  Then the ROR trade in summer of 2018.   Then Krueger soccer hockey, then the Adams spy trip and his magical accension to GM, the EEE policies,  The long list of players that left and found great success,  the "extensive coach search" -  it is not hard to understand why so many players do not want to play in Buffalo. 

It is going to take a special person, a special leader, to stop the bleeding and turn this franchise around.  

You don't have to be an organizational analyst to recognize organizational instability. Never ending turmoil from constant changing of staff shouldn't be a surprise. The leadership standard in any organization is set by the top of the pyramid. In this case, from the owner and the lackeys he has hired. When you are in a competitive endeavor it isn't a surprise that long-term failure creates a stress filled environment. It is evident with the players and even with the fans. The Sabres have been an unstable franchise since Terry P bought it. Lurching from one approach to another. 

What's the solution? It's not something magical. It's a basic concept that is evident to anyone who has a flicker of intelligence: hire the right people and empower them to do the job. If it doesn't work, then you hold them accountable for their performance and replace them with people who might be better options. There are no guarantees that the next option will work. However, you are guaranteed to fail when you continue on with failures. Common sense 101.

[Pimlach]

26 minutes ago, JohnC said:

You don't have to be an organizational analyst to recognize organizational instability. Never ending turmoil from constant changing of staff shouldn't be a surprise. The leadership standard in any organization is set by the top of the pyramid. In this case, from the owner and the lackeys he has hired. When you are in a competitive endeavor it isn't a surprise that long-term failure creates a stress filled environment. It is evident with the players and even with the fans. The Sabres have been an unstable franchise since Terry P bought it. Lurching from one approach to another. 

What's the solution? It's not something magical. It's a basic concept that is evident to anyone who has a flicker of intelligence: hire the right people and empower them to do the job. If it doesn't work, then you hold them accountable for their performance and replace them with people who might be better options. There are no guarantees that the next option will work. However, you are guaranteed to fail when you continue on with failures. Common sense 101.

I think of a leader with the knowledge, swagger, and confidence of Bill Polian, plus the mentorship, teaching ability, patience, and class of Marv Levy.  It would be great ti have long term leader that is the positive face of a franchise committed to winning and to excellence.  

Or they can just find a real hockey guy that has won before, like Knox did with Imlach and Bowman, and they let them figure it out. 

Terry almost found Zito before Florida did.  But would Terry have let Zito be Zito?  

Two decent guys out there right now.

Shanahan -  he can lead Hockey Ops 

DeBoer - he is fine coach, still no cup, but his teams improve and contend.