LTS

If Foligno's games from last year were his first games this year we would be talking about the slump he was in. Given that no one on the team has done much this season I can't say he's to blame. I've seen him play harder than most Sabres and I feel more confident that he's playing HIS game. There's no way I would get rid of Foligno. He may be a Ruff player, but the problem is not Ruff players it's that I think everyone is struggling to do whatever it is that Ruff wants them to do. So he's not going to make a change by himself. I don't think Ruff ruins players so much as he confuses the hell out of them. Unless someone can identify the remaining locker room problems I have to look at the coach as the reason this team shows no spark so often. So, shuffling players in and out of a lineup would be like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic no?

The problem is that you can't get the beer that would work in a hand pump situation. What you are talking about is cask conditioned ale and those are far and few between. You can't take a keg of beer and make it cask conditioned. The carbonation in the beer is through natural secondary stage fermentation. The released CO2 is absorbed into the beer because it cannot escape the container (unlike your typical primary stage fermentation which allows gas to escape. Regardless of the brewery the normal beers are all sitting in tanks that are 32-38 degrees and have CO2 being infused into the beer during the trip into the brite tank. This creates a fast carbonation sequence and is also why the beer has to remain at a certain temperature (until serving) and under pressure (CO2 delivery systems). You could theoretically create cask condition beers with homebrew but nothing from a commercial brewery that was not siphoned into the casks PRIOR to filtration and carbonation would work properly nor taste the same. Scarlet Sunrise was a great beer, but it's not going to be a popular style to most. Smoked beers in and of themselves turn a lot of people off and in many cases I think it's well deserved. It's tough to make a quality smoke beer and so people usually end up drinking a crappy one and being turned off to the style.

I love throwing the comparisons around where we see fit. What we know... this team sucks. Why does this team suck? Well that's where it breaks down. How much of the team sucking is the coach, how much are the players? I'm not saying O'Reilly isn't a good piece in a team but if Ruff is the problem how do we expect O'Reilly to solve that? If Ruff is not the problem then who says we aren't trading away some kind of talent that hasn't been horrible misused by the coach? This is my problem at the moment. I need a different coach before I can go any further on the players...

True.. although honestly this year.. many times when Vanek has the puck I am waiting to see what he does. It all just seems to be going to right for him. In the past I've definitely been on the anti-Vanek train, but right now he's playing the best I've ever seen him play.

In my defense.. the link for the pic didn't work when i first saw the post.. that is pretty good stuff.

Until the past couple of games Miller wasn't making many of those saves either. Miller's play the past few games have been despite the team in front of him doing nothing to help. Both goalies have suffered in that regard. The Sabres need to come out and dominate this game. I don't suspect they will because I think Ottawa plays a style that causes troubles for Buffalo.

Yea.. I don't doubt that actually. The teams seem lethargic. Given the way the Sabres fall down a lot and seem to have stick problems I sometimes wonder if the equipment team is doing their job as well. Who knows.. I'm not saying Rip is a failure... but it does seem abnormal.. but at this point the only thing about the Sabres that is not abnormal is losing.

Sure.. still I believe he has gained some size, just not where they think he should be. He doesn't look as slim to me as he once did. Moreover, if his workouts are based on gaining size then he might be neglecting working out to maintain agility in which case he would look slow on his skates too. I'm certainly not an expert however.

The full monty of what we consumed Saturday.. (there were multiples of some). ]

Either way... the line is good... one of the best lines the Sabres have had in awhile. If we had been lucky enough to have Ennis-Stafford-Foligno working together like they did last year the Sabres might be in a better spot..but I'm not going to sidetrack the thread... Hodgson has been what I hoped for and more.. I can't complain at all.

There's no doubt Myers is not playing where he should be. There's no doubt a lot of it is mental. I'm pretty positive quite a bit of it is physical. As I mentioned before, they've been trying to bulk him up and I think that's caused him to have to learn new balance on skates. I think it slows some of his ability to react as well. Now, toss that into a team that consistently looks out of position and isn't playing as a team and I think it gets magnified. I wouldn't look at Myers point production because that's largely driven by the success of the Sabres as a team to put the puck in the net. You can't necessarily judge +/- either because if he's covering his guy but the forward fails to cover the high slot then it's really not Myers fault for that. The Sabres, as a team, are struggling and so those players who are struggling as well will appear even worse. I just look at his decision making with the puck and that's where it becomes obvious that he has some mental issues with the game. He admits it. Every time he touches the puck I'm sure he's thinking "I hope I don't make a bad play." He has to stop that and get back to a simpler thought process.. something along the lines of " " followed up with "Well, that was a good play."

Nice... tomorrow I'm having a small beer tasting at my house.. a little party after to celebrate 40 great years on this planet. Featured in the lineup: - 2008 Stone Brewing Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout - 2006 Atlantic Brewing Company Braggot - 2011 Allagash Curieux - 2009 Hoppin' Frog - B.O.R.I.S. - Bell's The Wild One - 2010 CB's Brewing "Pierre" (a Saison that has gotten better with age) - 2011 CB's Brewing "Jack" (originally a wee heavy aged Jack Daniels barrels, the ale was originally whiskey tinted, then it went sour from the sour mash that Jack uses, now it's a fantastic sour beer) Probably more.. can't wait. And more.. can't wait.

It certainly look like it.. the All Knowing Trash Heap..

C'mon, I expect better from you. Of course I'm not paid to watch and analyze the games. This has nothing to do with my ability to do exactly that and provide some factual based analysis. Since Robi and Hamilton aren't going to be on here to debate me (I can reach out to Hamilton if I'd like) then I would expect that you, rather than just take a pot shot at me, offer some counter-analysis. Robi may watch from his house but Hamilton is paid to work the Sabres beat and is at every game. Good for him. This doesn't mean he's faultless. Lord knows his opinions have been debated on here before. Sure I can't watch everything Enroth did, but I can watch what happened on the goals, and really that's what matters right? When a goal is scored there are dozens of camera angles that show the play leading up to and including the goal. If you want to debate what I said, please do so, but don't hide behind the words of Robi and Hamilton. If you can't back up what they were saying with your own thoughts and opinions then you are doing yourself a disservice and allowing the words of another to dictate your actions. I'll have to watch for that when he gets his next start in 2018.

I'm pretty sure the fans in Toronto don't go around pointing fingers. Well, actually they probably do but that franchise is more screwed up than the Sabres. They keep trying to change the front office and end up in the same position as the Sabres. As for Montreal, they were a joke last year. They did make changes this year, we'll see how it goes.

Good for Hamilton and Robi. Here's what I saw on the goals. First goal, deflected off Pominville's stick if I am not mistaken, the shot appeared to be going over the net at that time. Second goal, lost faceoff, quick shot, massive screen, and it barely gets through Enroth. Third goal, Alfredsson in the slot on a quick turnover, not an easy save given the short amount of time to see the puck against a top notch scorer. Fourth goal, turnover, slot to Neil with even less time to see the puck. Where am I supposed to hang this on Enroth? I just don't see it. Unlike Miller leaving the short side wide open on Fratton, or going down to early on every goal ever scored over his left shoulder. I didn't see egregious mistakes on Enroth's part so much as I think the team in front of him put him in a position to fail.

It's pretty much what I heard as well. I think it was telling that Ted said point blank that just because Darcy had an extension doesn't mean they wouldn't get rid of him if they thought he was the problem. This happens in sports all the time and it is a situation where an owner with money is willing to eat a loss on that to improve his product. I completely agree with him as well. Calling out your GM and coach does nothing more than create an environment of fear. You end up with reactionary responses that aren't necessarily well suited to the environment you are trying to create. You encourage a combative environment. I think Lindy and Darcy know that winning matters and I think the pressure to perform is there. Ultimately they will evaluate on their schedule and make changes as necessary. Ted certainly demonstrated his frustration with things as well.

I have many other reasons.. the Sabres don't drive me to drink. I won't allow it.. I'm not into alcohol poisoning.

Agreed. A lot of people support this team because regardless of winning or losing they mean a lot to the region and certainly to the city. The Sabres probably mean even more so because they actually play downtown. Win or lose the arena and the subsequent investments by Pegula and other businessmen in the area for the HarborCenter, etc. are making a difference. Hopefully this leads to a change in the perception of Buffalo. Even though I now live in Rochester, I grew up in Buffalo, spent 22 years there. I want the area to succeed. Pegula and Black will make a change when they feel it is necessary. I'm not going to beat my head against the door because they have more patience than most fans do. Ted Black is the one who still goes on the radio on Thursday mornings and takes a ton of crap from people. He doesn't have to do this, but he does. He mentioned today that he'll be in the 300 section tonight, that says a lot. Hell, Black at least refers to tickets as tickets and not inventory unlike some other President of a Buffalo sports organization does. I think it's absolutely incorrect to assume they do not care. I'd like Ruff to step aside and some day it will happen. Until then I will hope that the players do their part. No matter what Ruff wants, once the players get on the ice they have control over how they play. They are the one's who choose to play hard or not. Nobody in the Sabres front office is going to say Regier and/or Ruff are in trouble until they fire them. So why should we expect it to happen? The more changes that Regier and Ruff make that don't work the less excuses there are to hide behind. It ultimately gets us to finding out the source of the problem, whatever it is. I'm tired.

Perhaps it's a ploy to get his team angry at him for blaming the wrong person? They all know that Enroth was hung out to dry in that game. Blaming him for any of those goals would be a stretch. Just curious.. the only comment I ever recall hearing about the Sabres front office is from Brian Burke. What do you base this "laughing stock" comment on? I mean, if you think they should be the laughing stock that is one thing. But to come out and proclaim they are is another. If i missed something (entirely possible) then I'd like to go read aboot it. :)

I'll watch the game. I'll swear at the TV. I'll be annoyed for about 30 minutes after the game. Then I will go back to life and prepare for things that really matter. Hope for the best... I like seeing people succeed. All in all, we can analyze the game tomorrow!

Wish I could say that... been far too long since I brewed.. Oh well.. time will come back to me. I always forget to stop in this thread.. not sure why.

Perhaps I missed the comment. His name hasn't popped up on potential injuries from the conversations I had heard. I'm waiting to see some signs of life...

Perhaps is Vanek stops carrying the team the rest of the guys will put their skates on the ice and realize that they too can skate? Look, this team needs someone to come out and throw Ruff under the bus... someone has to open up the locker room and make it apparent that there are problems...

Adding to the woes.. The locker room problem is back. Last night I watched numerous times as Steve Ott and Marcus Foligno both peeled away from big hits. Ott seems particularly disinterested out there on the ice. There is no more fire, no desire, no anything on this team. They look like a group of guys who are going out there with the expectation they are going to lose. Game 1.. we heard about how it's different this year. everyone holds everyone accountable, all that crap. Game 10 - sorry guys, you are on your own. This is not a team, it's a collection of individuals. Ruff just has to go.