Jsixspd

Not expecting a ton of production from Gorges.... but not even a single assist one fourth of the way through the season and double or even triple his previous rate of PIM??? (his final season in Montreal he had only 12 PIM in 48 games!!! - he's got 21 already after 21 games!!) It's looking like the worst season of his career by far. Maybe it's not Gorges, but Bylsma's system he's playing under now? Maybe his skill set just doesn't mesh with Bylsma's system at all?

To show how bad this team is; Our highest point scoring player - Okposo -is ranked NINETY FIFTH in the NHL Our top goal scorer - Moulson -is 61st in the league. Our player with the highest assists - Risto - is 88th in the league Take heart though - We DO have a player ranked in the top 50 - that idiot Gorges is ranked 50th in PIM. Maybe they oughta give him another "A" for his 'achievement'?? HOORAH!!! *smh* BTW, this $4 million dollar D-man has managed to make it 1/4th of the way through the entire season without yet scoring a single point - Do you think ... he...could...go....all....the...way!!!!?? Gorges makes me almost wish for the return of Errorhoff or Myers.... jeebus christmas!

Things would be even more dismal without a decent PP effort. Even strength goals for this season is really brutal - only 1.1 goals per game average so far.

Well all I meant is - if the only available option at this time is a worse coach than Bylsma (as frankly Rolston was worse than Ruff), then why bother changing? I'm all for hiring a better coach. I was absolutely underwhelmed by Bylsma's hire. I have wondered for some time if it had something to do with Pegula's Pennsylvania connection rather than Bylsma being the best man available for the job? As soon as a better (hopefully long term) coach is available, then by all means they should drop Bylsma like a hot potato. Until that time - might as well keep him.

3rd season of the rebuild SHOULD be better than this, even with Eichel out. This is just downright awful. That being said, I think we're in for a LONG wait until Bylsma is dismissed - end of the season at the earliest.

Yup. I'm no Bylsma fan but there has to be someone as good, or better, to take his place first. Otherwise it makes no sense. Sort of like when Ruff was fired, and who did they bring in? Ruffton? How well did that work? LOL I'm biased - I want to blame Bylsma. I think uncoordinated line changes - heck, that's mostly on the coach - especially such an embarrassing and harmful rash of them.

In 2013, Lehner's ranking in shootout Save% was 40th out of 75 ranked goalies, which is a bit below average. 2014 was 30th out of 71, so a bit above average. blending the stats together, he'd be 35th out of 73 goalies, which is average to just a bit below average, I'm not seeing anything in his stats of the last 4 years to suggest that Lehner will ever be good at shootouts. And of course this year he's been abominable; like a sieve.

That idiot Gorges was on "D" for both of those Capital goals. What terrible puck handling by Gorges to bounce it back out there. Why does this guy wear an "A"? He can't defend... he can't score... he can't even get a point for an assist. Worthless slug.

I already mentioned that, but this is the breakout; Let's look at his final two years in Ottawa; In 2014, he had a SVG% of .714, 10 saves on 14 shots which is below average. Also, in 2013, he was 20 for 30 in shootouts, or a .666 SVG%. Again -below league average He doesn't have as big a sample set yet with Buffalo since he missed a big chunk of the 2015-16 season due to his injury. 2 for 6 in 2015, and so far this year 0-4. So he's faced 10 total shootout shots in Buffalo, and stopped 2 for .200. But again, not a big sample size. Even if he played as 'good' as he did in Ottawa, he'd still be substandard in shoot outs. And because he's a veteran, I don't see much chance of improvement in this stat.

And were 2nd in the NHL for the season with a 3.02 goals for per game average!

I bet Bylsma is hoping that Eichel will save his job for him with stellar performance when he returns; because Eichel's absence is pretty much his only excuse/final straw that he can grasp at to excuse the poor play of this 3rd year rebuild team.

Lehner had a mediocre shoot out record in Ottawa. 7wins, -9 losses in 3 years at Ottawa, and 0.63 SVG% during shoot outs. He's been worse since he got here - Last year he was 0-2 with only 2 saves out of 6 shots (0.33) and this year, I believe he's 0-2 with an even worse SVG% (what, one save?) He's just not good at shoot outs. Not sure he can improve given that he's a veteran goalie. http://hockeygoalies.org/bio/nhl/ottawa.html

So I was on my annual 4 day Thanksgiving Week trek to the Adirondacks with my best bud - the motel has lousy internet access - but grabbed a couple pizzas and we sat at the table in the motel room, watching this game. Fan-friggin-tastic!!! While we were picking up the pies, we saw that Calgary jumped out to that 1-0 early lead and I had that sinking feeling in the gutty wut! I was telling my pal, who doesn't watch the Sabres as regularly as I do, that the Sabres have a very good powerplay this season. And then BAM!!! 3 Power play goals!! So we watched the Bills win on Sunday, and the Sabres win Monday! Good stuff!

Perhaps everyone has a different definition of when a 'rebuild' starts. I'm using GM and coach. For Chicago, it was was 4 seasons from when Tallon took over(2005-06), until the team made the playoffs. 1 partial season for their HC, Quenneville. By 2008-09, in 4 seasons, the roster is ENTIRELY different, from 2003-04, as is the HC. I just compared rosters side by side. Totally different. A complete rebuild in 4 seasons. And they were vastly improved by season 3 of Tallon, coming close to .500. We need the team to have a winning record by next season, or else I think the rebuild (year 4) can be considered a failure if they can't even squeak into a WC by then. Year 3 we should at least be approaching .500; we're already 7 games below .500. Chicago Blackhawks turned it around in 4 seasons. Tim Murray said his rebuild would be FASTER than 5 years. I plan to hold him to that commitment.

Dinner is at my mother in law's house - dunno about the side-dishes, but the main courses should be Turkey and Spiral ham! Lots of great side-dishes with it last year - I'm anticipating another winner this year!

LOL - Maybe GMTM saw the last name "Kane" on the trade list and thought we were getting the good Kane? Our Kane isn't even 'good' for a single solitary measely point so far. lol

The most consistent member of the team. He gets my vote too. Here's list of Hat Tricks so far this year. Toronto and Winnipeg both have 2 already. Maybe we can hope for a "Gordie Howe" hat-trick? A goal, an assist, and a fighting penalty? http://scores.nbcsports.msnbc.com/nhl/league.asp?type=hat

The Sabres have, what, won only ONE game at home this entire season? SMH. The Sabres were embarrassed by a Stamkos-less Lightning. Not one full strength goal tonight. Again. Kane and Gorges with 0 points. Again. And no points for either of them for the entire season, 17 games in. Sabres have now dropped to 26th in the league, 7 games below .500, with a .294 winning ratio. They're also tied for the fewest wins in the season. This is the 3rd season of the alleged rebuild. Looking like Tank Year 3.0

Amerika - where we treat people with chronic medical conditions (addicts) like common criminals and jail them with violent cons and career criminals, and the insane (since we've also cut way back on mental health facilities). Great rehab right there - if they didn't need drugs before to escape reality, they will if they survive their incarceration, and subsequent inability to get a decent job due to their criminal record. How dare they be sick in our nation?

I agree with this litmus test - but - it would basically gut the present lineup. Eichel, Reinhart, O'Reilly, Risto, Okposo - check. Lehner - maybe - though he's a human sieve during shootouts and concerned about his durability. The rest? Hard to picture a Cup run including the rest of this team. Or even the COACH for that matter. And that's my main criticism of the rebuild so far - too little, too slowwwww. We want a quick and aggressive rebuild - not faltering haltering steps, wheel spinning, and slowly chipping away at the team's deficiencies with a 10-15 year plan. We had plenty of that from the Regier Regime. Want a lean, mean Chicago-like rebuilt - 3 to 4 years and you're there!

We could use an All-Star Game captain on the roster right about now. :)

Empty net goals happen. But usually not within 5 seconds of pulling the goalie! That was disgusting.

Remember when we thought perhaps our only real barrier to being competitive was the loss of Eichel to injury? I long for those innocent and carefree bygone days. Without Eichel and O'Reilly, there really isn't much of a team. This team has averaged only ONE full strength goal per game in all 8 games played in November. The only thing that's kept the Sabres from being at the bottom of the league has been excellent goal tending by Lehner (they're 25th currently in the overall standings) How often have we seen this over the recent years? Sabres offense sucks, and they depend mostly on their goalie to win games?

No, lol, I suppose not, but Gorges is kind of a lightning rod for my general dissatisfaction with the team and the coaching, and symbolizes a garbage team. Believe me, when I saw him get tangled with Lehner, and then the puck goes in the net, I had a number of choice words for him. Plus, the guy leads the team in penalties. He's the new Ville Lame-o to me. Some of the talent that Murray has acquired - they seem less than adequate.

I knew it was gonna be a LONG night when that idiot Gorges somehow managed to interfere with Lehner on the first St. Louis goal. Still no points for Gorges in the middle of November - that's just pathetic for a $4 million D-man wearing an "A".