mjd1001

If i'm one of the 6 D-men, I'm laughing for sure. He hangs them out to dry and makes the D look bad and I'm going to listen to that guy?

I don't want to keep repeating the same posts over and over, as some are probably sick of hearing it from me...but I agree with you. Its not just offensive production, Cozens is playing an awful game all around. He has been a bad hockey player this year. People like that he spoke up last night after the loss, but took in the mirror, you are one of the issues on this team now, you need to pick it up big time.

Agree with a lot here. As for the where the Scoring went...the Sabres are almost 1/3 of the way through the season now -Thompson had 47 last year. This year he is on 'pace' (due to injuries and missed games) for about 20. -Cozens last year had 31. This year he is on the pace for about 15 Skinner and Tuch are giving you the same production they did last year. Peterka is pretty much swapping production with VO. Quite simply, Thompson being hurt and Cozens not producing is where most of last year's offense has gone. Thompson needs to get back and be healthy. Cozens is not a good player in any aspect of the game right now, he needs to be better all over. That will solve 'most' of where the offense went.

If that's what they're going to do then I'm fine with it I just see a lot of people on this board calling for more team toughness. People who will skate harder and finish every check. I think that's actually going in the wrong direction. You need players like Cozens to pull the reins back occasionally, And know where to be not to be full speed all the time. Play SMARTER. You need players who understand where the pass is going, not just to be fixated on the puck now. The last thing this team needs is an old fashioned coach who is going to yell at the players to finish every check and to drop the gloves more. They need to learn where to be and they need to learn the mental part of the game in terms of preventing goals and covering your guys. In the NFL, if you are allowing 50 touchdown passes against you every year, you don't get a coach that's going to tell you to play more physical and to beat up the other team. You get one Who knows how to have their linebackers and defensive backs play better and play Positionally. And it's not about acquiring more talented players. It's about acquiring players who know mentally how to play the game until your young guys figure it out themselves. Right now the young guys aren't figuring that out.

I know it's not actually going to happen, just like a lot of the trade proposals that people have on here aren't going to happen. My point was that is the thing this team needs the most. Not more team toughness. Not another big time scorer, they need to learn how to actually play the modern game of hockey in terms of effort, position, and just the game inside their head between the ears.

Right now what I would do... Clear out cap space. Call Patrice Bergon. Make him the highest paid player in the league for the rest of the year (seriously, no joke if that is what it takes). Have him show, be the example, for how forwards need to play. The guy isn't physically tough, but may be one of the 'least fun' (hardest) guys to play against. He knows when to finish a check, when not to. knows how to forecheck. Knows when to chase a loose puck and when to hold his ground. This team, these young forwards, need that more than anything else you can give them. It's not going to happen, if he wanted to play. He'd be back in Boston but that's what this team needs more than anything else.

I think I found a new hill to die on. If Cozens thinks that, he is a bigger problem that I even thought. Do most of us want this team to be tougher, of course. But the problem is just being awful in their own zone. This team leave guys to wide open. The forwards don't cover their man. They have often times little hustle getting back to help the D out. Toughness, being hard to play against, the 'eff you' is not the biggest problem. Cozens is probably the best example of someone who is just clueless in terms of where he should be and who he should cover in the D-zone. If he thinks the solution is not to fix that but to be 'tougher', he is then one of the bigger problems on this team now. Is it just so ingrained in hockey players heads...and in our heads as fans, the the solution is more toughness? more hitting? When I watch the goals scored against, I see players who don't know where to be. I see opponents taking wide open shots from prime scoring areas more often that not. Hitting more doesn't fix that. You know what team is hard to play against? Not the team that throws one or two more hits..or the team that pushes and shoves more after the whistle. The team no one wants to play against is one that frustrates the crap out of you by giving you nothing, giving you no open ice, being in every single passing lane because they are sound positionally. THAT is the team that is the one you hate playing against. The guys on this team like Cozens don't get that. And many of us as fans who think more toughness fixes the issue don't get it either.

Right now I'm starting to lean on the train about trading for some mid-level forwards who are vets. Thompson, Tuch, and Skinner (when Thompson gets healthy) get ready, that line is good and you are going to get 20+ minutes per game. Those guys are going to carry this team like never before. Krebs, Cozens, Benson, Rosen, Kulich...The ones how are eligible for Rochester go there and between games you make them watch video of how the Bruins or Kings or even the Red Wings forwards play without the puck. Learn when you need to hustle, when NOT to chase the puck, and how they react in their own zone. The guys who can't go to Roch, you do the same. Lock them in a room and make them watch what THEY do vs what the vets on those teams do....and if they aren't learning they stay in Rochester or if they are in Buffalo you keep dropping and dropping their ice time till they DO learn. Play the middling vets you can trade for in their place if you must. Girgensons, Mitts, you aren't great but you are "OK" You can stay but don't get too comfortable. Who else can I do without? Okposo, thanks for the goals last week but he is too slow and hurting this team. Greenway? Good penalty killer but you aren't bringing anything else. Jost? Last year you hustled and played well positionally, what the heck happened this year where that is gone? Okposo, Greenway, and Jost can go and get replaced by someone else. Krebs, Cozens, and Benson, I'd consider sitting them and have a newly acquired vet take their minutes.

GOALS ALLOWED. Where are they coming from and why? The forwards on this team are historically bad at helping out the defense and any kind of positional play in their own zone. The Defense isn't THAT bad. A lot of times they 'look bad' covering up for the forward being non-existent in their help. Power has taken a step back and Clifton hasn't been playing GREAT, but they aren't as bad as they look at first glance. The effort and the positioning of the forward, however, needs to be shot into the sun. The first goal allowed...The D were caught back by themselves, where the heck are the forwards? It was off of an offensive zone faceoff, The d-men had to cover the whole zone and make decisions because NONE of the forwards hustled back. That is not on the D, that is not on coaching (directly). These Forwards are awful. When the shot was taken, Cozens was just finally showing up in the zone and Benson? He was still at center ice and coasting. AFTER AN OFFENSIVE ZONE FACEOFF. Be carful with how much credit we are giving both Cozens AND Benson for an all around game. 2nd goal, Carolina takse the puck out of their zone, skate through the forecheck like it isn't even there. Who's the right wing? Biro? No where near his side and that is where the goal comes from. 3rd goal allowed. scored from right in front of the net. Who is the center and where was he? Oh, Cozens AGAIN just deciding to skate away and chase the puck into the corner, by the time he gets there the puck is gone, and it makes it back to the slot where an opposing player is right there to score again (the spot that Cozens vacated). Cozens does this AGAIN and AGAIN and NEVER changes or learns. 5th goal. Cozens AGAIN. Now I understand at this point you might want to take a chance. BUT, when this team gives up PP goals MOST Of them, when you watch the replays, are when they get out of position. Cozens chases the puck AGAIN, goes all the way to the Blue line, but he had no chance of getting it. The Carolina defenseman got there well before Cozens and Cozens was still 10 feet away. The puck easily makes it down low to the goal scorer, while Cozens is totally out of the play. These forward....unreal how bad they are defensively, and Cozens has to be one of the worst in the league in D-zone positioning. He is awful, dreadful. He just does whatever he wants and his decisions in his own end are almost always wrong. And everyone who says you need a coaching change? IF a new coach is going to get these forward to get their heads out of their butt with how they play in their own zone AND skate harder on the backcheck, that is the only way this team gets better now. This D is not good but they aren't THE problem. The forwards absolutely are hideous and playing positionally and backchecking. I don't think I've ever seen a team worse. Tell me how to get these forwards to hustle back harder after EVERY TIME they lose an offensive zone faceoff? Tell me how to get them to stop chasing pucks they have no chance of getting in their own zone and keeping their position? Tell me how Okposo can gain back 5% more speed? Benson hasn't put full effort in. You know the guys who DO this well? Thompson, Oloffsson (Yes, Victor is THIS year) Tuch, and Girgensons. Those are the only 4 guys I see on a regular basis holding position in their own end.

I watched the replay of the 3rd goal. scored from right in front of the net? Who is the center and where was he? Oh, Cozens AGAIN just deciding to skate away and chase the puck into the corner, by the time he gets there the puck is gone, and it makes it back to the slot where an opposing player is right there to score again. These forward....unreal how bad they are defensively, and Cozens has to be one of the worst in the league in D-zone positioning. He just does whatever he wants and his decisions in his own end are almost always wrong.

Ok, I just watched the first goal again, and I feel the same way I have on a lot of my recent comments. that isn't coaching. That isn't the D. The D were caught back by themselves, where the heck are the forwards? It was off of an offensive zone faceoff, The d-men had to cover the whole zone and make decisions because NONE of the forwards hustled back. That is not on the D, that is not on coaching (directly). These Forwards are awful. When the shot was taken, Cozens was just trailing into the zone and Benson? He was still at center ice and coasting. AFTER AN OFFENSIVE ZONE FACEOFF. 2nd goal, they take the puck out of their zone, skate through the forecheck like it isn't even there. Who's the right wing? Biro? No where near his side and that is where the goal comes from. This D is not the problem. The forwards absolutely are hideous and playing positionallly and backchecking. I don't think I've ever seen a team worse.

Its not that they played pure offense. They leaned heavily toward offense, but they weren't giving up 2 on 0s and 3 on ones they way the Oilers were in the 80's. You will allow goals that way, but the issue isn't allowing the occasional goal on the break. This team is always challenged playing positionally in their own end. I'd say press the offense a bit more, but tighten up the 'half court' game in the D-zone.

It's frustrating that they're not doing well right now, but I agree with you. If you can get a superstar that you could fit under the cap on this team and it won't impact signing your own guys long-term than by all means go for it. But what I don't want is making a trade for the sake of making a trade.... Getting someone who may or may not help this team for a year, and then one year later if the team would have been patient they would have been better off... And yes, I know patience is a word on this forum that is dreaded. As I've said in other posts, if you trade for a top 6 forward to impact this team, whose minutes are they taking? If it's not a top six guy, they're not going to impact the team that much. Same thing with the defense. You want an impact player? They have to play a lot, who are you taking minutes from? I hear and read a lot of people saying make a move... There has to be a move out there. But honestly, what's the realistic move... We can't predict what's out there, but give me an example and tell me whose minutes they're going to take and who you're going to push down the lineup and how that's going to turn this team around? Cozens needs to pick up the pace. You need Thompson back. We need a little more progress and less bad games from Power. That will get this team on track, not bringing in a veteran that may not even exist.

I love the Bandits games but havne't been to one in a couple of years. What has attendence been like at the Bandits games in the last couple years?

I'm still going to think about what kind of trade really helps this team that much? You want to be good you need Thompson back and producing. HOPEFULLY that will happen soon. With that, your top 6 guys up front are Thompson, Tuch, Skinner, Peterka, Mitts, and Cozens. So...2 things: -Who do you bring in that moves one of those guys out of the top 6 and takes their minutes that will be THAT much better? -If you bring in someone to be a 3rd line player with less minutes, are they going to be good enough and make an impact on 3rd line minutes that will impact the team enough? I'm not saying you can't bring in someone that will be good, but the way the front end is structured, I can't see a huge impact unless you are bringing in a STAR and you move out one of those top 6 guys in a package to get them. But we are talking major MAJOR move there. Same thing on D. Dahlin, Power, and Samuelson get the bulk of the minutes. You aren't getting anyone better than Dahlin...and with Samuelson and Power being so young and being here long term, you are going to give them their minutes anyway. Power IS going to likely be very good but he needs to work though good and bad games to get there. They are going to get top minutes. SO, any D-man you bring in is going to probably get Jokiharju type minutes. Who do you bring in for the D that will likely get the 4th most minutes and will make an impact big enough to turn this team around? I think most people don't want those 'big 3' to play less, and most people think Ryan Johnson is earning more ice time...and Jokiharju has actually played pretty well this season. Again, not saying you don't make a move, but any move you make, with the way this roster is constructed and where minutes are available...I think will be less for making this team considerably better and more for 'making a move for the sake of making a move' because I just don't see minutes available that will be that impactful. You need Thompson back and producing CLOSE to how he did the last 2 seasons. You need Cozens to start producing CLOSE to how he did last year and stop making mistakes. You are going to give power 20-24 mins of ice time per game so you need him to step up. And while you are at it just have Skinner and Tuch keep on producing like they are...which is exactly what you expect from them. You get those 3 things and you are back on track. I know a lot of us would like to see a move being made, but that isn't going to fix this team. I think the things above are what you need.

I felt good about their chances against the Blues. They lost. I do not feel good about their chances tonight....hopefully that means I'm just wrong again and it will lead to a win.

I could add another one related to yours. I lived in Boston for many years after college, and I was there in the late 1990's and 2000s. It wasn't a Red sox game for me, as I wasn't a Red Sox fan, but the day before the All star game my boss at my new job offered me a ticket to go with him to the home run hitting contest. Sosa and McGwire were there. I honestly do not even remember who won, just the whole day was a great time. Sometime when you are too invested in a team, it becomes more 'stressful' and 'less fun'. When you can just take in an event without too much being invested in any player or a team, those are great days to be a fan of sports.

I was at the comeback game against the Oilers years ago. Yes I am one of the 100,000's of people that claim to be at the game but was actually there. The thing is, we would have left early at halftime. Me and the friend I had discussed it, but we drove with someone else who sits in a different part of the stadium, and thought "If we leave and go to the car and the don't, we'll just be standing out there" so we stuck it out. Good thing there were no cell phones back then, if there were we would have called or texted them, probably all agreed to leave and not been there for the end. I told myself I would never forget that game. And I remember the 'feeling' of being there, but I honestly can't remember any of the details anymore. I was in my late teens for that game and am in my late 40s now. But whenever I see highlights of it, I remember being 'there' for it, but when I see the highlights most of the plays aren't something specific I remember. But if I am honest with myself, the 'best' games to me, the 'most fun' games to me aren't the Bills games I was at in the past...they aren't the Sabres games where they have a big win. They are Bandits games...just because I love the atmosphere and I just have a better time there than I do with the Bills and Sabres games in person.

Hoping he gets a stint in Rochester, at least get him 'somewhat' up to speed for a couple weeks. There will be a lot saying 'if he is good enough to skate/play than we need him in Buffalo', but I think some time in Rochester would make sense.

Honestly in terms of goal scoring production, its really comes down to 2 things: Thompson: At this point last year he had 14 goals already, and he was ready to head into his best month for the Sabres (13 goals in December last year). By the end of December last year, Thompson had 27 goals. This year he only has 6, and is not playing heading into December. Cozens. Your 30+ goal emerging star from last year is on pace for mid-teens. Not only that, but he has been a non-factor/invisible in many games. You are getting the production you expect out of Tuch and Skinner (both on pace for 30+), and Peterka is pretty much picking up the production from Olofsson from last. You MIGHT have liked one or two more goals from Tuch earlier in the season when he struggled, but honestly the biggest thing this team is missing up front is production from Thompson (injured) and Cozens. The only way I think it was/is an anomaly is if you expect Thompson to be a guy that is injured quite a bit AND think Thompson is only a 15-20 goal per year guy going forward. If nothing else changes, this team's offensive woes will be solved by Thompson coming back and not playing hurt, getting Quinn back, but mostly Cozens becoming a factor again.

If they are playing differently this year then agree, go back to last years style. This team didn't give up bad goals so much last year by being too run-and-gun....rather it was defensive positioning and decisions. Making bad decisions in your own and and deciding whether or not to hold your position rather than chase a puck on the boards shouldn't have much to do with what you do in the neutral zone or offensive zone.

Who started this 6K garbage Anyway? I've been avoiding this thread most of the time because not only does he already have a nickname... UPL... 6k is just dumb.

I really don't know what vets you will bring in that will put this team over the top: -Who are you going to bring in that is a top 6 level guy up front, and who comes out of the current top 6? if you trade for someone who is not a legit top 6 guy up front (someone who would be the 7th or 8th best forward), I'm not sure that makes much of a difference. -Same thing with the D. Dahlin is getting his 25 minutes per game. Power his 22+ and Samuelsson 20+. They are all long term locked up and part of your young core. That leaves less than an average of 14 minutes for the remaining D-men. Jokiharju is playing pretty decent this year. It LOOKS like the younger Johnson is playing well and may be a legit decent guy by the end of this year and going forward. So again, who are you going to trade for that will be a player that makes a big improvement on the D-unit? Power isn't playing all that well but you aren't bringing in someone to take minues away from him. So, again its all well and good to trade for a top 'vet' but who is that going to be and who are they taking minutes from? I see 2 problems with this team. #1, the Defense is young. They are talented, but if you look at the top units around the league, for the MOST part the solid D-units have top guys getting top minutes that are at least 28 years old. This D will get better but you have no choice to give it time. Like a couple hundred additional games of experience. The second problem is the top guys aren't scoring. They went from last year being the 3rd best scoring team in the league to being in the bottom 1/3 this year, a major drop. Who do you trade for that fixes that, and who's spot do they take in the lineup? And remember, you can trade for a guy who is really good by giving away a top draft pick and 1 or 2 of your top prospects, but you aren't paying much for those 1-2 prospects and that top draft pick. You bring i a guy who is a VET who is really REALLY good its likely he's making decent $$$. This team is much closer to the cap now than they have been in the past and don't have that much room as they used to, not to mention Mitts, Peterka, Jokiharju, UPL, Ryan Johnson and Quinn all needing new deals in the next 2 years.

Last nights game took something big out of me. They played very well at times, but the results....We are hearing too many times from the PLAYERS (not the coaches, but the PLAYERS) things like...we have to do better...there were some positives....stuff like that. The season is still (kinda) early, and a 3-4 game winning streak makes the standings look a lot better. Teams have 3 - 4 game winning streaks (or more) all the time right? Well, the Sabres have had ONE TWO game winning streak all year. More than 1/4 way though the season and ONE single time they won back to back, thats it. So, when is that 3-4 game winning streak coming? You want to get to 95-96 points when things all shake out at the end of the year to have a good chance of making the playoffs. 98 almost guarantees you a wild card. So, from this point how do they get to 98? 76 points in the next 59 games. From today on, until the end of the season, they have to play at nearly a 106 "point pace". That is almost 65% of available points. Just to get be 'almost' assured of a Wildcard. The rest of the entire season. From a team that in 2 months has not had a single 3 game win streak and only ONE time has won 2 in a row. I usually am pretty positive, I tend to look at all the possibilities and lean toward 'they still have a chance and I'm going to enjoy the ride'. But this morning...Just not feeling it for the first time in a couple years. Too much "we know we are good enough" or "we have to play better" or "we had some good stretches in there" Last year they were fun, 3rd in the league in goals. Almost 56% of available points. This year they are 23rd in the league in goals) and they are getting less than 48% points. That is a major step back and a LOT less fun to follow. There is no talk around the league about an emerging superstar/potential top 5 goals scorer here. No talk of an emerging Norris candidate or a possible Calder candidate. Nothing. In 2 months this year, they have turned back into an irrelevant footnote of a franchise that is not any fun, and gets no attention or respect from anyone. Following a team like that is just about the most non-fun thing to do in sports. I still don't think a coaching or GM change fixes this quickly. I'm not out for 'heads to roll'. I like many of the players on this team and I want them to be successful WITH most of this current roster. I fall back on Pegula being a bad owner right now, and he was an AWFUL owner in the past. Just how much did he screw this up? The tank (not a bad idea but poorly executed). The rushed rebuild. Murry as GM. Bad trades. Gutting the scouting department with the resulting bad drafts. Until recently not much in terms of player development (and maybe even now we give them too much credit for just 'catching up' to the rest of the league and being average). Front office changes left and right. How many coaches? You can't fire the owner, and he DID keep the team here, but this has been a dreadful franchise since the day he took ownership of the team. It shouldn't be this early in the year where we start thinking like "well, next season will be the year they make the playoffs" because that means we would be 1/3 of the way though Calendar year 2025 before we have a CHANCE at seeing a playoff game with this team in it.

It was a few years ago, but someone put out an article that in the games the missed (small-ish sample size of coure), Draisaitl's production dropped only a little bit without McDavid, while McDavid has a slightly larger percentage of production drop without Draisaitl. This of course was in the years a little while ago when McDavid missed more games, but I think the Sample size was close to 50 games. Basically, he was a point per game player still in games where McDavid didn't play. A drop-off, but not a huge one.