Two or less

I think the difference is, Pittsburgh was ready to win the Cup. The season before Bylsma was hired, the Pens lost to Detroit in 7 games. They had all the talent in the world, that just wasnt respecting Therrien for whatever reason. They made the change to get back on the track of winning the Cup. Sabres- Darcy could of promoted Patrick or Adams, but he must value Rolston more. As someone on twitter wrote tonight, Sabres did not have a search for a coach. They didn't contact Patrick Roy (as Vogl wrote) because they didn't reach out to any coaches. Even during the 90-minute practice, Regier was more then likely still trying to save Lindy's job as he was meeting with Sawyer and Black. It's very possible he was told he's gone, or, you're gone, and new guy will fire him? Darcy probably wasn't trusted to find a coach. It had to be from within the organization. He needs to rebuild this thing and do it quickly. They need to make that 19-8-2 or whatever run if he has any hope of remaining as our general manager. That's all speculation on my part, but from listening to coverage all day, watching the presser and reading countless articles, that's what I got from today's events.

Only John Muckler. I started to watch with some regularity in 1992/93, prolly more towards end of the season i remember but i didn't truly get into the team until the 1993 season. In 92, i was drawn by LaFontaine and Moginly, my brother by May and Ray and like that we were in. In 93, i started to learn more about the team and went to school on gamedays excited to finish the day so i can watch the game at night. So, i saw one full season of Muckler, two seasons of Ted Nolan and rest Lindy Ruff.

The eve of Pegula Day, we get a new coach for the first time in 16 years. I'd be lying if i said i wasn't excited. But, based on talent on the ice, I am not expecting a victory despite the the much more improved effort.

I wouldn't agree. McCormick fights. He even fought Lucic. He is a energy guy though, Scott is all fight or bust. McCormick can go into a corner and win the puck. McCormick can go and keep the puck in our zone so his linemates can keep attacking. He'll hit anyone and he can fight, too. Is he a good hockey player? No. He is much better then John Scott? Theres no comparison. McCormick can give his teammates momentum, which is huge in any sport, at any level. Scott averages about 3 minutes of ice time per game, McCormick 6. So, how can you even say they are in the same class?

Theres different types of toughness. Are we individually tough? Yes. We do step up for teammates. We don't take pushed around and no, Miller won't get run over because if he does, we will fix it 1 on 1. Do we have team toughness? Very little. I love Ott and what he brings but it's a small sample size. There isn't a team in the NHL that has to worry about the Sabres "toughness" when bringing up the puck up the ice, or when dumping the puck into a corner, or do we ever wear anybody down because we are hitting and abusing them. These guys are SOFT, essp on defense and that is a BIG problem.

Lots to say. 16 years living by this team day by day, it's def weird. I wanted this to be made. I also want Darcy gone. Lots of memories, lots of good moments but a ton of awful moments. No way this was made by Darcy. Harrington mentioned it on twitter and he's dead on. Ruff held a extra long practice today, because he was trying to save Lindy's job. This move was forced by Sawyer, Black and Pegula IMO and i think Darcy is really on thin ice right now.

This may be totally wild theory on my part, but whatever- Tonight on TSN, they said that one team has asked Toronto for permission to speak with Brian Burke for a non GM, front office gig, a adviser of sorts. Which got me thinking- Even if Ted Black fires Darcy Regier tomorrow, who would he hire? Has he ever interviewed anybody to be a GM of a sports team? I'm sure all of these guys are smart and can present a way that if hired, they can win multiple Stanley Cups within 5 years. If they do fire Darcy, i think Black/Pegula will need to be 100% sure they need to, and also, make sure they hire the right person for the job. So, they bring in Burke, to oversee the organization and then we can have a hockey guy evaluate hockey operations. Another thing is, if Pegula is even slightly considering firing Darcy, he must be at the very least a bit worried about Darcy possibly trading away some assets for quick fixes to make a small run, even if it is 8th place, and lose, just to keep his job? Burke can have final say on any trades so our future is not hurt and at the end of the season, Burke would report to Pegula and Black about the futures of Regier and Ruff. Which of course he'd fire. He'd bring back to Buffalo Rick Dudley, whom Burke hired to his staff and be his right hand man, and a former Sabre would ease Pegula a bit i am sure as he's probably in love with all former Sabres, and then Dudley and Burke go out and search for our next coach, with Dallas Eakins getting the first interview. Done a great job with the Marlies, and Dudley and Burke know him well. So, maybe we are that ONE team that has asked to speak with Burke?

Francessa is good too, i will admit. I liked him more when he was with the maddog or whatever that guy called himself. I watch him sometimes on YES, and you have to admit, he covers national sports as much as he does local (NYC) sports, besides maybe Yankees as he's on the YES network. Never heard Somers but i will give it a try. I never listen to the Chicago or SF stations but the only other city i will listen to a good amount is Indianapolis radio, and they have 2 stations, because im a Pacers fan. If you think WGR is bad? These guys are brutal. And, it's not just basketball, college talk thats bad, i was in Indianapolis this past Thanksgiving weekend when Buffalo was there, and their football talk was redic. I couldnt stand it.

He'll eventually realize Ruff and Regier are not the way to go... but the real question is, what will it take/how long will it take for Pegula to actually realize how to run a hockey club the right way? Hopefully much sooner then Ralph Wilson (since i still don't believe he knows yet).

It's all perspective. You name WFan? I think thats the worst station i've ever listened to and since one of my good friends is a massive Yankees fan, i listened to it quite a bit. Few weeks ago i was listening to it, and they were discussing if Sabathia is fan or not? Ever wake up in the morning and listen to that MSG show (which is also on WFAN) Boomer and Carmen, which they promote during Sabres games? Talk about unlistenable. That is just pure garbage. Even the commercials annoy me. WGR isn't for everybody and they def have their flaws. But they focus a lot on local sports, Bills and Sabres are daily topics no matter if its December, March or June. WFan will avoid some teams, and also talk more national sports. On that Boomer and Carmen show, they literally spend like 30minutes on Lakers struggling. You are live in NYC, why do they care about the Lakers so much?

Have you listened to the new station, the Fan 1270 and the Rich Gaenzler show? If so, what do you think?

You lost me there. Please don't insult Ellis like that. I think Ellis does more positive for a hockey club then Gerbe does, and he isn't such a liability. The only thing that Gerbe has that Ellis doesn't, is the potential of being a NHL goal scorer, as in theory, Ellis doesn't have the hope, hands or speed. But, with just 6 goals in his last 75 games i think we can put his "offensive potential" to rest...

Not exactly the world's most reliable source, but Garth says Sabres are IN on O'Reilly- Link- http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog/GARTH/OReally/6/49395#.USMhJ2eSDqU

LOL this team ain't crushing anybody.

I personally try not to attack anybody over any topic even though i've slipped a few times in all my years here (non recently), I don't see any harm in this. I imagine, this happens to every passionate fanbase when their team who they believed was ready to take the league by storm like never before just drops flat. We ALL want them to win, we ALL want them to succeed, otherwise we wouldn't be on a Sabres only message board talking about. Fans are frustrated and sometimes take out their anger with other fans. I see no issues at all. During a interview today, Ted Black said "hell yes" about fans should demand more and be pissed. Steve Ott retweeted some fan telling him he should be playing in Rochester and a called to WGR the other day called Ted Black "blind" and an "idiot". It's only going to get worse when the Sabres finish with a bottom 5 record, and blame injuries, short season and ask for patience from fans while they retain Regier and Ruff...

Love your optimism and I wish i could share it. The team that has lost 3 out of their last 4 is going to win their next 5? Highly unlikely. I wouldn't even bet they will beat Winnipeg on Tuesday, let alone win the next 5. This team is just not very good.

Agreed. This was one of the better loses we've had in a while, if theres such a thing. If our record was much better then it was, even for our fanbase we could proudly say this was a good loss, as we had tons of positives. As Mike Harrington loves to bring up on a daily basis it seems like, this team has NOT quit on Lindy Ruff what-so-ever. The problem is obvious: lack of talent. There is absolutely zero second line on this team. The defense is too easy to play against and teams enter the zone with ease, while you can see the Sabres fight and climb to get into the opponents zone. They are getting shots and their intensity is high. I thought even the loss earlier in the week in Ottawa we played well but the thing that truly lacked was our talent.

I heard recently WGR quote a recent TSN intermission (or report?) that statistical experts predict you'll need 55pts to make the playoffs in the East. If so, going 19-9-2 will only give us 53...

The way I read it (didnt hear it first hand), it seemed like Black was trying to make us to be awe with the behind the scenes that Darcy is doing.... all i'm saying is, that's his job.

What a ridiculous statement by Ted. Isn't that the job of EVERY general manager in the league? What GM doesn't try to improve their team? I'm sure most GMs are trying to cook big things up, with almost 100% of what they begin to cook up breaks down since every GM wants to get one-up on each other. I am also sure, that Ted and Darcy, and the rest of the braintrust were all giving each other high fives and chest bumps when Ville Leino agreed to his contract. That deal is still amazes us and the league, for much different reasons...

From Allan Muir, from the SI.com Red Light blog on possible deals for O'Reilly- Link- http://nhl.si.com/20...-ryan-oreilly/#

You think it's completely ok with him sitting for entire periods while guys like Matt Ellis still got playing time? He has been getting his minutes brought up in recent games but theres still opportunity got Ruff to give him slightly a bigger role.

The only difference between using Seguin as a model for development of players is, how much different would his development had been if he had played on almost any other team in the league? Seguin's rookie season he didn't play too much because that team was loaded and won the Stanley Cup. In Buffalo, Grigorenko is getting beat out by guys who really should have no business in taking his ice time away.

I think Detroit-Colorado-Tampa was the last one... Quincey to Detroit, Downie to Colorado and 1st round pick to Tampa.

Yeah, Darcy said the struggling team "lost last night". Only leaves Coyotes and Minnesota. And honestly, it could see both of them try to get rid of some payroll soon. Coyotes because they're broke, and Minnesota just spend $200 million on two dudes, if they don't see this team getting anywhere this season, i could see them try to save a few bucks.