nfreeman

I gotta admit Appert taking over this summer is a distressingly possible scenario. I think if DG is canned during the season, Appert would get it on an interim basis until the end of the season. Not necessarily on a permanent basis but distressingly possible as mentioned above. Good stuff here boys. But the FO guys gotta pick better coaches.

I think the most likely outcome is that the Sabres stink for the rest of the year, DM is fired (but not KA) and a real coach with a legit NHL resume is brought in over the summer. If we're very lucky it will be Brind'Amour. But the rest of this season will be painful.

I don't know the right answer. It looks increasingly clear that if DG remains as HC, they will limp to yet another bottom-7 finish, with the stink of losing becoming further ingrained among the new core and the fan base becoming increasingly apathetic (if not hostile). A real NHL team wouldn't just sit back and let that happen without firing the HC. OTOH, firing yet another coach does seem like it would increase the apparent disinterest among experienced, accomplished NHL coaches/GMs in coming here. What a great idea the tank was.

I don't think it's merely ceremonial either. Beyond the factors PA cited, I think it matters to the players in that they take their cues first and foremost from the captain. I also think, without doing a minute of homework, that on most teams the captain isn't the best player.

IMHO, McD and JA are both great, but need to win quite a few more playoff games before they displace Marv and Jimbo. Jimbo was 9-8 in the playoffs. JA is 4-4. Five more playoff wins is meaningful IMHO. I don't agree that the Marv-Kelly teams were a juggernaut, other than the 1990 team that lost to the Giants in the SB, although it is true that there was no opponent on the level every year of Mahomes' Chiefs. Still, they had to beat Elway's Broncos, Marino's Dolphins, Montana's Chiefs and Moon's Oilers. And while JA has had some scintillating playoff performances, he's also had not great outings vs Houston in 2019, Baltimore in 2020 and both Miami and Cincy last year. Only one can be the best. At this point IMHO it's still Marv and Jimbo.

I wouldn't expect much out of Quinn tonight or for the next couple of weeks. He's recovering from a major injury and missed all of training camp and the first 1/3 of the season so doesn't have his NHL timing yet.

Allen is the most talented, but he's not the best QB until he starts winning more playoff games.

Well, I think most NFL observers would say Reid is a great coach. He's accomplished more as a HC than McD has, but Reid's been a HC for 25 years, while McD has been one for 7. Taylor is pretty well regarded too, although he has a career losing record. It's not crazy to say he outcoached McD in the playoffs last year, but I don't think that it's inarguable either. The Bills had a very difficult year last year, with a number of very unusual events hanging over them. Could a different coach have righted the ship and beaten Cincy in the playoffs? Possibly, but I don't think we can be sure either way. I too would like to see better and sharper end-of-game execution, and it's fair to hold McD accountable (although several of the end-of-game debacles have been freak occurrences that I don't think it's fair to blame him for -- the Kyler Murray hail mary, JA's fumble in the end zone vs Minny, etc.). I just think that that is one of many elements that a coach should be evaluated on, and that he shines in most of them. Let's see what happens this year.

If he weren't a great coach, they'd still be going 7-9 every year. The Bills were the biggest joke in the NFL for 17 freaking years. The stink of loserville was deeply ingrained in the franchise. He pulled them out of it. And this year, when they were on the ropes, he did what needed to be done in firing Dorsey and he got the team to rally and beat KC on the road and throttle one of the hottest teams in the league yesterday. There's another franchise in town that could sorely use a guy like McD.

I'll say it again: McD is a great coach.

James Cook is turning into a star. And the D has played a great, tough first half.

Nylander and Reino are going to get much bigger deals than Mitts will. The second point, and your separate one about continuing to commit to guys that haven't done anything as a team, are both completely valid and echo my concerns about giving Mitts a fat extension as well.

Yes but pls don't jinx it you hoser.

I think Dahlin would make a fine captain, but I agree that it's gotta be Tuch. He brings the fire, the speed and the inspiration -- I think they rally around him more than they do for Dahlin. They are noticeably better when he's in the lineup (as is the case with Dahlin, of course). I also agree with your alternates. Now this is a fair point. Tuch has 2 more seasons after this one on his contract, after which he'll be a UFA at age 30.

It has to be said: Benson took over a tied road game against the Cup winners in the third period in the way a great player does.

I don't think they should play Levi tonight, but I am pretty encouraged with his play since returning from Rochester. He's starting to look, as he did last year, like the prince that was promised. And the team certainly responded to him last night. Unfortunately, both of the contenders for #2 have royally pooped the bed in 100% of their outings lately. Come on Sabres. Play hard from the drop and win tonight and hope lives. Show up in a coma and get dusted again...I don't wanna think about it.

If they stay mired way below DeLuca .500 -- ie if the games are meaningless -- I will watch fewer and fewer of them as the season wears on. I won't stop caring about this team, which is in my blood, though unless and until it becomes clear to me that they have stopped trying to be a real NHL franchise. If they end up well out of the playoff race this year and don't bring in a new coach with a legit NHL track record next summer, I will probably come to that conclusion (I was originally thinking New Year's was the deadline, but @Brawndo may have convinced me to wait until after the season). Either way, it freaking stinks that here we are again, well before New Year's, and the season is probably over already.

I'm not expecting this either, which is why I posted yesterday. I am pretty skeptical about committing to the kind of contract that I think it will take to keep him. I think there is a limit to the number of big-dollar forwards a team can have, and I hate the idea of losing, say, Quinn or JJP because they gave Mitts too much $$.

I am a longtime Mittelstadt skeptic, so take this with as much salt as you like: I think he's been pretty bad during this last 2-week stretch, in which the Sabres have pretty much punted their season away (before last night, the Sabres had lost 5 out of 6, to drop to 6 below DeLuca .500). In the last 7 games, Mitts has 2 pts despite playing over 22 min per game most nights and getting top PP usage. More importantly, "dumb Casey" has IMHO reclaimed his prime spot in Mitts' game -- he makes bad decisions with the puck and turns it over pretty much every time he gets it in the O-zone. I don't think he created a single chance last night. Both he and Cozens -- who are supposed to be battling for the #2C spot and be team mainstays -- have spit out the bit right when the Sabres really need them. But Cozens is already under contract, so there is no decision to be made with him. I don't see how they can possibly give Mitts a contract in the ballpark of Cozens' deal.

Rayzor: "A lesser man would've been carried out of here." Outstanding.

Wow. I went to bed when Miami went up by 7 with 6 minutes left! So if the Bills keep winning and Miami loses one more before they host the Bills at the end of the season, that game will be for the division. The Bills may or may not win enough to get in, but they won't quit.

Good. Russia has been uninvited, right? So none of the Russian guys in the organ-eye-zation are going?

Let the record reflect that they showed up and played very hard for McD and, despite more injuries on D, grinded out a win they had to have against a very good team in a very difficult place to win. The grass always seems greener but it usually isn’t. McD is tough and honorable, albeit flawed, and so is his team. It’s not a coincidence.

This is likely an overreaction to the last few weeks’ worth of bad news surrounding the Bills, but it does kinda feel like the game tomorrow marks somewhat of a crossroads. i think they are going to show up and play hard for McD. We’ll see whether they execute well enough.

Well, maybe, but that kinda seems like an obvious fig leaf. Are you aware of any teams that have done this? This isn't realistic IMHO. Similarly -- are you aware of any instances of this happening?