In The Buff

I too have serious doubts. I know much has been said about it already in the past but he just plays so small in net. Levi may be able to mitigate it thru his athleticism in the AHL but when he plays versus high end skill guys in the NHL, who can pick the top corners with consistency, i just fear his lack of size in the net will be a detriment to him. I know there are other goalies his size who have found success, but those would be the exceptions & expecting Levi to also be 1 of those seems like wishful thinking. Time will tell & i hope he succeeds but from what ive seen in his limited time here, i havent been able to get as excited about him, as i have with other goalie prospects in the past.

I cant help but think that i wish we still had Cozens. Not so much for what he brings on the ice, but simply to still have him as a potential trade piece for someone who could actually be useful. KA trading Cozens for Norris, a player who costs more & doesn't play at all, has seemingly put us in a worse position. At least before you could still trade Cozens. Wtf are we going to do with Norris if this is par for the course for him (which given his injury history it has been)? I just don't understand why KA thought taking on this much risk was a wise idea. Surely there was an option available that wasn't as much of one? So on 1 hand I'd like to see major changes but at the same time, change for the sake of change isn't always a good thing... in fact it could make your situation worse... like this Norris deal is looking like right now. I pray Option #3 is what takes place, as it all starts at the top & unless we improve there, we'll likely not improve elsewhere.

this onslaught against Canada should sadden us all. And if we don't like what is happening, we all need to make our voices heard... because it could get far worse & none of us should want that. But its impact on season ticket holders will depend largely on how far our very stable genius of a President takes it. If things stay similar to how they are now, perhaps we'll just see a 10%-25% reduction. That number will increase as the severity of actions increase. But... Since Trump hasn't taken military force off the table & how there are some in his team that would support it... If we saw American armored columns cross the border, they would be met on the QEW with Javelin missiles. Canada is well armed & just like the American people, they would not accept losing their sovereignty to an invader. We will not be welcomed as liberators thats for sure, because we would be the illegal imperialist aggressor. We would be Russia invading Ukraine... except in America's case, invading her closest ally. So if that all sounds insane, i'm glad you still are thinking rationally. But if this occurs, season ticket numbers would obviously tank. Along with whatever remained of our dignity.

As for Karmanos in Pittsburgh, look at it a different way: What benefit can there be to our team, for our Assistant GM not being in Buffalo? Now what benefit could there be if he were in Buffalo? See what is easier? Their offices could be in eye sight to one another, randomly bouncing ideas & questions at each other thruout the day. Even assuring both are on the same page etc. After missing the playoffs for so many years, having 1 of your more seasoned hockey guys work in the building, just seems to make more sense than him being off site. Just like how maybe its not ideal to have the youngest hockey team in the league, year in & year out. These are anomalies that are self evident & i dont know how much of an impact its made on our specific situation, but i know for sure they haven't been a net positive to us. Perhaps these are 2 simple things we can change that help improve our team in the process

Is the team headed in the right direction? How would we even determine that? Team points per season? 2022 - 91 pts 2023 - 84 pts 2024 - 76 pts (projected) So very clearly we can see the team is going in the wrong direction. Not ideal for a GM on year 5 of his tenure. I was gonna say rebuild but i cant even say thats what this is anymore. I would expect more personnel changes this offseason than in past ones. There just seems to be too much pressure on our front office to do more than it has. However its anyone's guess if they'll actually improve us or not. Fingers Sabres crossed

Sabres lose their 6th in a row. Senators, how did they do? Sens down 3-1 with 10 minutes left in the 3rd, come back to win in OT vs the Rangers. Dylan Cozens had an assist, 9 hits (a career high) & was named the games 3rd star. I didn't see much of the Sabres game, how did Norris look out there?

the feeling when you realize you're hitting the F5 key to see the return for Jokiharju. How good could it even be? 😂

Adams is someone had to do it. You sir will be the 1st Adam's is methodical in his quest to build a contender. Piece by piece. Year by year. The journey continues...

all we have so far

Marchand got traded to Florida. No info on the return for Joker

the money Pegula would get from the sale would be a nice consolation prize for him. He promised Hockey Heaven but gave us Hockey Hell & in the end he'll be rewarded with millions

on top of that, what gets me is say we do decide to keep Byram & we give him a new contract. You have a large percentage of the salary cap being spent on defense, where you're paying top dollar for offensive minded defensemen... all meanwhile your defense sucks. This whole fixation on having offensive minded Dmen doesn't seem worth its cost if they can't defend well. For a team thats in playoff contention, sure it makes sense to want to have more offense from your back end. A Byram or Power might be that missing piece. But for a team like us, does it make sense to pay a premium on Dmen because they can score 10 goals a year? Or would it make sense to use that money on a forward who can put up 20-30? I realize this is simplistic in thought but its like we're constructing our roster in reverse. We're paying our D to play offense & as a result both our offense & defense suffer as a result. As it seems theres little thought put into how this team is constructed, with not much balance to anything.

I'm hoping this team has grown since November, when Cozens said that they thought their next game would be easy. Hopefully they've figured out that winning in this league is never 'easy'. You need to do the simple things right & compete hard. Winning 5 in a row would be a nice turnaround for these guys

the players who are here have it pretty good, as long as you dont care too much about the losing. They get paid pretty well... we may even over pay since we dont have the palm trees, & even if their production isn't that great. And if they make a mistake, its no big deal. Just keep collecting that pay check & after a 10 minute drive back home, they can completely forget about it & focus on other things, like their personal lives. Bars stay open til 4am & from things ive seen with my own 2 eyes, the women in the area throw themselves at the guys. I'm sure its like that to a degree everywhere. But in a city like Buffalo, we're not exactly flush with star power & celebrities. A pro sports player can live the life of a king here. I imagine the guys make the best of it. As we see, they love it here. Winning must not be everything 😂

100%. Having a player who holds others accountable for their mistakes? And passionately attempts to correct them? Someone who has a high standard & expectations for themself & his teammates & won't compromise on them? Sounds great compared to the Sabres who don't display 1 ounce of that. What do we have that's similar? We schedule a team meeting to discuss why you should stick up for your teammates? Its like night & day

if you're unsure of who caused the hit, you at least grab the guy next to you & give him the business. That should be the bare minimum response for a cheap shot on your teammate. It shouldn't even be something that's needed to be said or coached up. Should just be instinctual. You should have some pride in your team & want to stick up for one another. But theres no fight in these dogs. Dropping the gloves is what should've happened but i'm more answering this question while thinking of the guys we currently have.

Rob Ray: "best way to get back at the Devils is to make them pay on this power play" So far we seem to be the only ones paying for it. 1 more goal given up, another player injured. Good times

Great response by the Sabres after a cheap shot on their best player... oh wait, this is the Sabres

Whenever you're paying for a player to score goals against you, something went wrong somewhere

If what we value out of our defensemen is their offensive potential, then lets just stop messing around & lets make our Dmen forwards. We lack forwards right? Move Dahlin to Center & make Power his wingman. Then when teams play us, they'll have no idea what we're doing out there. We probably wont either, but we dont now. At least we wont be complaining anymore about how they cant play D. Lets not even try! We need more offense out of our D, 5 forwards on the ice at all times lets go! Sorry i couldnt resist. I'd keep Byram over Power & thats a big turnaround for me from how i used to feel. Byram has seemed to gel more with his role. Is more of an impact player than Power is at this point. And Power can bring more back in a trade. Especially if some Canadian team wants to bring him back home. All of this talk means nothing without a plan though. Doesnt help us at all if we move these guys for draft picks. In the end there's pros & cons for both so in truth i'd move whoever has the most trade value. But i would've already added a veteran Dman a year or 3 ago if i were GM to help aid in their development. I cant see us bringing in one now, while also resigning Byram to a longer term deal. Seems now its one or the other.

all of us fans have numerous stories from our childhoods, that connect us to & are responsible for our love of the Sabres. What kills me, and what should kill Terry Pegula or anyone who claims to love this team is that: Since Terry has been owner, whole generations of people havent had any similar experiences. For their entire lives, the Sabres have been the dumpster fire of the NHL. Looking at the big picture, demographically speaking, if this team cant turn it around soon, and with all of us older fans eventually going out to pasture, there wont be as many diehard Sabres fans around to support this team. Not to mention the fans who have just said enough. This area is one of the best hockey areas around. With a passionate & loyal fanbase. But we're talking almost 2 decades now since we've been any good. Its so extraordinary one cant really fathom that number & all it represents. Its like with money & billions & trillions, we really cant grasp how much that really is. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. It simply cant go on like this. Even for Terry as isolated as he may be, it has to all be coming to a head you'd think. If we cant right this ship soon, selling the team & rebranding might be the most logical next step. Because how much longer can this continue?

a couple veterans would help in moments like that. They'd help settle the kids. Its not brain science but yet we treat it like it is

Sorta looks like Elon Musk, as the Dark Sadboi Mime. If a tree fell on him, they'd be going cha-ching 😂 Regarding the game tonight: does anyone actually think we're gonna win this one? I just hope it doesnt get too ugly, but maybe thats whats needed

sounds like our next Sabre

When this team is mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, then we'll go on a 8 game winning streak. These guys are so weak, having no chance for the playoffs will allow them to play more free & less in their heads... even if theres nothing to play for. There are issues with roster construction no doubt. But too many players just arent playing good. Making mistakes they even just went over in the practices before. If they havent hit rock bottom yet, its playoff elimination day where we can maybe turn the corner. Thats my 2 cents