All Activity

You said Sabres fans have a skewed view of how players develop and implied thats because the Sabres have a radically different way of doing things in the context of how long players are cooked in the minors. I showed that it’s not actually so different; by and large the core of that excellent Bruins team was cooked in similar fashion. Benson, as I said initially, seems to be an outlier, like Bergeron was, and Ryan O’Reilly a little later. Neither was a star at 18, or expected to play in the NHL, but made it - like Benson did - because of their surprisingly strong details at that age. Both added the offence in year 3 - with a lockout spent in the minors in year 2 for Bergeron, and a year 2 in the NHL for ROR that essentially mirrored his low-scoring year 1. Im thinking you would have had each of them in the minors to start year 3? I suspect both would have still become the players they did regardless of that 2nd season. Guess we’ll find out with Benson.

Sens took it to Oooohhhhvertime!!

Not sure that’s really what that said.

Sens tie it

They did, but then they didn't build back culture first. Look it was well known ROR was pissed off before he got there when he wasn't named captain and then we didn't name him captain. The guy really wanted to be a captain and should have been. You don't make the kid the captain no matter how talented he is. We also threw away a heart and soul guy like Foligno instead of naming him captain and building from that idea. We had nothing in the locker room to provide direction and then we brought in slackers like Skinner instead. Funny guy. Thinks he's Zac Galifanakos. Great. Pity it's hockey and not stand up.

I find it interesting that a narrative exists that Pegula will only hire from within for the hockey department when he clearly has no such qualms about the business side, or the football team. I mean I certainly agree he made a knee-jerk reaction 5 years ago with Adams over his intense dissatisfaction with the NHL head office because of the highly recommended Botterill and Lafontaine. Wonder how much of the Karmanos/Forton/Ruff/Appert/Ellis trend is Pegula and how much is actually Adams. I suspect this is an area where they feed each other.

Aren't we paying Power 8+ and his metrics are terrible with anyone but Dahlin.

Matty KA’ Chuck

I'm really not sure what you are trying to say, especially listing off star players as comparisons. Benson isn't Pasternak. You need to compare them at the same age for example. Tuch was a first round pick. 60 games in the minors doesn't seem to have hurt him. Since you are listing off Bruins the better comparison would be Poitras. Another guy who was too young to send to the AHL at first. Before he got injured he was producing roughly the same as Benson. Bruins, despite sucking, sent him down this year to learn and grow. He's becoming a solid leader in Providence and I suspect will be a Bruin next year or the year after depending on their full plan which nobody seems to know. I guarantee you he will be better for it.

Even our journalists are a joke here, anytime i hear "unnamed source or unnamed player" that journalist loses all credibility imo. They couldn't ask any tough questions in the interview so now they have to go make ***** up.

They’ll sell you the whole seat but you’ll only need the edge!!😁

They over tanked and got rid of every single vet that cared.

In the oil and gas business he was astute. In the hockey business he is obtuse. A generation of failure and he still hasn't figured it out yet.

I don't disagree and I really like Benson and I really like Kulich, but if we go into next year and our top line is Benson Kulich Thompson we are simply NOT making the playoffs. We need more veterans.

The best strategy to improve the business side of the operation is having a serious team.

I wonder if the other players resented Benson being there simply because he plays with heart and guts, unlike the majority of other older and bigger players already there. The young little scrappy kid embarrassed the rest of the roster by doing the heavy lifting that others should have (but didn’t).

Which speaks to how the Sabres do things backwards. Their culture is strong and they retained it and hence inserting a guy worked. They added veterans not just rookies. It's a very different (and correct) methodology. Sabres should have focused on establishing the culture right after the tank. They still haven't done it.

So that's the plan? Just better marketing? Sometimes I think Pegula has already decided he will eventually sell the team and he's just extracting what value he can and waiting for that expansion money to roll in and when franchises hit the level he's decided it'll be gone. I mean is there another explanation for the lack of effort and direction that actually makes sense? He's not a dumb man I don't think.

Not saying your proposal is what I would do exactly...but your style of thinking is what is needed. Major shakeup moves. D needs a reset.

On a different note, I am surprised that Ruff let Appert, Wilford, etc. serve as his assistants. Once again following Adams.

Pretty tip in.

Reinhart goal.

Part of it is that Dahlin isn’t a defensive specialist; he’s just good defensively + great at a lot of other things. However Muel is supposed to be the defensive guy so technically it should be his job to play the more defensive stance

Always loved him since his first playoff with Calgary. Thrives off playoff hockey