GDT Devils at Sabres 11/28/25 4pm MSG WGR550

[JoeSchmoe]

The Moneypuck simulator has the Sabres at around an 86% "deserve to win" rating. I've never seen a rating so high for an actual score that was so bad. 

I didn't watch the whole game but from the half I saw we looked really good. It's disheartening to get this kind of result.

[John Tucker]

2 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

I watched this on replay so late to the funeral but it was same same. In a way they played just as well as NJ for much of it but 2 brutal giveaways by Byram and weak D by everybody (just watching the puck instead of doing their job) on the other one and that's 3-0 game over. The rest of the goals I don't really count as much as they were pressing and playing up so inevitable if you lose possession. It's the same stuff all the time for years now. No real surprises. 

Mixed feelings on the Thompson fight but I do wish he'd be that guy more often. 

Anyone still think they will make the playoffs?

Not this decade

[SwampD]

4 hours ago, Thorny said:

Life is hard, I wish the sabres weren’t such a mess. Can’t even be mad at them today

we’ll be great again one day. I’ll always love them. Even though we suck. 

I have no reason to believe that.

4 hours ago, Believer said:

Truth.

 

Why?

4 hours ago, Crusader1969 said:

Anyone else done with UPL and Lyon? They need to rid themselves of 1 if not both and hand the keys to Ellis for the remainder of the season.  
 

Didn’t Ellis get lit up for 4 and 5 his last two outings? Not sure he’s the answer either.

[Crusader1969]

12 minutes ago, SwampD said:

I have no reason to believe that.

Why?

Didn’t Ellis get lit up for 4 and 5 his last two outings? Not sure he’s the answer either.

That's the point.  We don't know.  We do know about the other 2 

[HumanSlinky39]

2 hours ago, mjd1001 said:

And...the team you play tomorrow is on a 7 game win streak, has 19 of the last 20 points, and just took down Colorado.

Things are not looking up...

And given how this team doesn't seem to bother showing up against teams on the back end of back-to-backs, anything better than a 6-2 drubbing will shock me. I'll watch out of morbid curiosity.

Edited 11 hours ago by HumanSlinky39

[PASabreFan]

This young fella is worth a listen. He puts a lot into his videos.

 

[SABRES 0311]

All of our goalies are good backup quality. There is no number one starter quality in the organization.

We only have (2) top six forwards (TT and Tuch). (3) if you count Mr. Glass (Norris).

Team leadership consists of guys who have only known losing in an organization where the owner doesn’t hold management accountable.

Tuch is a second liner who shows up offensively every now and then. Trade.

Norris is talented but his unreliable presence is a liability to team chemistry/cohesion. Trade.

Power is not what this team needs. Trade.

Byram will want out. Trade

Quinn/Krebs/Greenway (see Power).

Benson was rushed.

[Jorcus]

8 hours ago, JoeSchmoe said:

The Moneypuck simulator has the Sabres at around an 86% "deserve to win" rating. I've never seen a rating so high for an actual score that was so bad. 

I didn't watch the whole game but from the half I saw we looked really good. It's disheartening to get this kind of result.

It certainly felt that way. You could just see the frustration set in. I honestly felt bad for them skating off the ice. There was effort but this lack of goal scoring is killing them more than anything else. Most games you need 4 to win these days. We just are not getting the production we need in spite of the good chances we generate. 

A few other comments:

On the Thompson fight it looked like Greenway asked Thompson if he wanted him to do it and Thompson waived him off. 

On Byram's goals against. The first one he tried to chip it off the wall but Meier made a good play to steal it from him then it took bounce into the paint. It was a good forcheck that cost the goal. On the third goal the Sabres were changing and Byram was expecting help behind the goal. Power got tangled a bit coming back in the zone but went to Byram's side of the goal leaving no outlet. I can't really blame Byram on that one as he was left alone on an Island. 

I know Timmons has had a few rough outings but he is way better than Clifton and has been a solid addition to the team. He is a sturdy D man who blocks a ton of shots. I expect he will have better games. 

I guess we will see if the Sabres can get out of this scoring funk.  

 

[Sidc3000]

29 minutes ago, Jorcus said:

I guess we will see if the Sabres can get out of this scoring funk.  

Bring it of scoring funk is a moot point. The team skills is not at the NHL level and they’re no where close to being a playoff team. The only reason why they’re still in it points wise right now is because the rest of the true playoff teams in the east have played like ass. 
 

A double digit losing streak is most likely in the immediate future for the Sabres that will cement them in the bottom of the standings for good. 

[Sidc3000]

13 hours ago, jad1 said:

And I doubt the decision on Tuch has been made yet, because it's not a stand-alone decision, unless the decision is to let him just walk or trade him for only prospects, two of the worst and laziest decisions possible.

It may have been made by Tuch already. I’m sure he is not happy that the Sabres took a hard stance on their price. Looks to me like he’s fine walking into free agency. Tuch and his agent know the Sabres shouldn’t be playing hard ball at this moment. 

 

[jad1]

16 minutes ago, Sidc3000 said:

It may have been made by Tuch already. I’m sure he is not happy that the Sabres took a hard stance on their price. Looks to me like he’s fine walking into free agency. Tuch and his agent know the Sabres shouldn’t be playing hard ball at this moment. 

 

Depends on how long he wants to sign for.  If he hits FA, he's probably going to sign for 5 years max.  With the Sabres, he probably could sign for 8 years.

But if both parties know that he's definitely not signing with Buffalo, the Sabres should be working on moving him NOW.  And a competent owner would not want Adams to have anything to do with that deal.

Too bad the Sabres don't have a competent owner.

[JohnC]

14 hours ago, Pimlach said:

I just had a terrible thought.  
 

They finish last in their conference again and Terry follows the rumored plan.  Adams to POHO, Jarmo to GM, Karmonos leaves, Ruff to Advisor, Appert to HC, Leone leaves, Prospal leaves.  

Why is this such a terrible thought? The key staffing change would be Jarmo moving up to the GM position, the most influential position for a franchise. That singular change would be the most impactful change that can be made. Would Jarmo automatically move Appert to HC? That's an open question. If he is given the authority to act mostly in an unfettered way, I would suspect that he would bring in his own preferred HC. And if Ruff is moved up to a more advisor role, that isn't necessarily a bad thing. I don't want to demonize KA as the sole source of what plagues this flailing organization. Because in my view, the main culprit for crippling this franchise is the quiet and stubborn owner. 

I'm not a fan in utter despair because I don't believe another tear down is required to become a respectable team and franchise. With a new GM who has some fresh ideas and is willing to make some judicious moves, this franchise can at least become respectable instead of being the laughingstock of the league. What needs to happen to get back on track is for this ridiculously stubborn owner to wake up and get serious. 

[PASabreFan]

Promoting someone and saddling him with KA, Ruff and Appert is not a serious move. TP of course would remain as the real POHO.

[Pimlach]

42 minutes ago, JohnC said:

Why is this such a terrible thought? The key staffing change would be Jarmo moving up to the GM position, the most influential position for a franchise. That singular change would be the most impactful change that can be made. Would Jarmo automatically move Appert to HC? That's an open question. If he is given the authority to act mostly in an unfettered way, I would suspect that he would bring in his own preferred HC. And if Ruff is moved up to a more advisor role, that isn't necessarily a bad thing. I don't want to demonize KA as the sole source of what plagues this flailing organization. Because in my view, the main culprit for crippling this franchise is the quiet and stubborn owner. 

I'm not a fan in utter despair because I don't believe another tear down is required to become a respectable team and franchise. With a new GM who has some fresh ideas and is willing to make some judicious moves, this franchise can at least become respectable instead of being the laughingstock of the league. What needs to happen to get back on track is for this ridiculously stubborn owner to wake up and get serious. 

First, with Adams as POHO it could limit Jarmo's ability to make moves.   Adams will likely side with Terry over Jarmo when they do their consensus building. 

And then there is Appert at HC.  

There are more reasons, but these two should be enough.   

PS - Ruff as an advisor.  I have seen nothing so far to think this is going to help. 

Edited 48 minutes ago by Pimlach

[JohnC]

4 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

Promoting someone and saddling him with KA, Ruff and Appert is not a serious move. TP of course would remain as the real POHO.

If Jarmo is hired to be the GM, the KA influence issue fades away. If Jarmo becomes the GM, he would be acting as the GM. When KA whispers his thoughts to him, Jarmo out of politeness nods his head, and then ignores him. 

[JohnC]

1 minute ago, Pimlach said:

First, with Adams as POHO it could limit Jarmo's ability to make moves.   Adams will likely side with Terry over Jarmo when the do their consensus building. 

And then there is Appert at HC.  

There are more reasons, but these two should be enough.   

PS - Ruff as an advisor.  I have seen nothing so far to think this is going to help. 

If Adams is elevated it is because he has failed as a GM. Even if he is elevated to the POHO position I just don't see him having the authority to limit the GM with making moves. Do I know this for sure? No. If our silent billionaire owner is dumb enough to bring in another GM only to stifle him, then all hope is lost. Continuing to empower a feckless man only to shackle a new GM is irrational. On the other hand, when you have a clueless owner, all stupid options are on the table. 

[quill]

15 hours ago, Believer said:

I want to see Norris in the lineup.

Has played a total of 4 games out of 50 since joining the Sabres. 3 last season and 1 this season.

Now he is day-to-day.

Time for him to show up and earn his keep.

No point in saving him for some playoff run.

Maybe he can give a spark to help salvage the season from an entertainment perspective at least.

 

We'd all like to see him in the lineup. Norris could be a first line player on the Sabres were it not for his history of injuries including 3 shoulder surgeries plus other injuries that sidelined him. Not counting Norris's first season where he didn't start his NHL career until late that season, and not counting this current season, Josh Norris has averaged 47 games per season during his 5 other seasons. Adams doesn't seem to take the injury factor into consideration when making trades.

Norris's history of physical injuries aside, the shock factor alone of being traded to the Sabres would be hard enough for any talented player like him to ever fully recover from.

[JoeSchmoe]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Jarmo's track record as a GM was never great in his own right. He's probably not the guy we want replacing Adams.

[bunomatic]

In regards to Tuch or any other player who voluntarily signs with this team I would question their sanity. I mean everyone has a price but morons will be morons. I’m looking at you Terry Pegula. 

[Pimlach]

33 minutes ago, JohnC said:

If Jarmo is hired to be the GM, the KA influence issue fades away. If Jarmo becomes the GM, he would be acting as the GM. When KA whispers his thoughts to him, Jarmo out of politeness nods his head, and then ignores him. 

 IF KA is retained, and is still a part of Hockey Operations, he will out-rank Jarmo.  

If KA is promoted and moved to another functional area then you may be correct.