mjd1001

Kinda agree. Unless Adams is a GM with total power (which he likely isn't), then this is just putting him out there to take the arrows. Whoever is the ultimate decision maker needs to be there taking questions

How about the media asking him for availability at a set, scheduled time at least once per week?

They are not getting back in the playoff race, no way. Right now Philly and boston are tied for the last spot... 4th place in the division, on a 75-76 point pace. If the Sabres got hot and took away points from those teams...and managed to get into the playoffs with 70 points (once again, not likely in this division, but for the sake of argument), that means the Sabres would need 55 points in 35 games...or 78.6% of available points the rest of the year. How hard is that? That is better than the best teams in the league are doing so far this year. They basically have to become the best team in the league for the rest of the year for a chance at the last playoff spot in this division.

Well, that is what this message board is for...to give opinions. As far as the same arguments? Well, there isn't much else to talk about with this team other than the same things over and over.

I had no problem with 'the tank', I was all for it and I would be again. The reason it didn't work well was a series of factors: -You got Eichel, not McDavid. Eichel is very good, but hes not generational..he's not even semi-generational. Just a very good all star. -Reinhart is who you got with our other '2nd pick'. Again, hes good, but probably less than you would hope from a 2nd overall pick. -This is the big one...you missed on SO MANY other draft picks during the tank. As a reminder to everyone (including myself) there is a list of all the players the Sabres drafted in the first 3 rounds since Eichel/Reinhgart: Lemieux, Cornel, Karabacek, Johanson, Martin, Guhle, Nylander, Asplund, Pu, Fitzgerald, Mittlestadt, Davidson, Lukkonen, Laaksonen, Dahlin, Samuelson, Cozens, Johnson, Portillo. You need to hit on MORE of those, especially the ones that are in their mid 20's by now. -Draft part 2: How did you do on the later round picks from those drafts? Here is a list of ALL the players who even played any games for the Sabres drafted in rounds 4-7 of all of those drafts (22 players drafted in late rounds, not even counting last year): Olofsson, Borgen. 2 guys. -Of course in terms of trades...I won't go over all of them but the Sabres have, for the most part, made pretty bad trades and free agent signings. So yeah, their current coaching staff doesn't look that good, but the Tank didn't fail because it was a bad idea in concept..it failed because of a little bad luck and a LOT of bad, terrible, awful decisions on talent (on ice)

Sabres should just have everyone on a one year contract...and I don't mean the players...the coaches...scouts..gm... Its not like you are likely to lose them to another franchise, who wants anyone that they Sabres can get now? If everyone was on a one year deal, maybe they would DO SOMETHING or DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT to save their jobs....not just sit on their hands because they had job security (or at least financial security)

Except that 65 is probably not going to do it. In our division, Philly is in 4th currently getting almost 66% of available points (almost a 74 point pace). Even if the Sabres got hot and took some points away from the rest of the division in doing so...it looks like you are going to need at least 70 points to be 'likely' to get that last spot. For the Sabres..that means playing the rest of the season getting about 78% - 79% of available points...which means they have to play the entire rest of the season as the best team in the NHL.

I'm sure he wants another opportunity, but do you really think any coach with past success wants to take over this team....that looks like it might take YEARS to get to the poing of being a cup contender? I think most of the 'bigger names' would rather just sit out..relax..do tv and radio work....and wait for a better job to open up.

For the sake of most fans...get rid of the coaching staff For the sake of the everyone, start re-tooling/trading the players. For the fans who think the talent is overrated...and for the players themselves who will probably embrace almost any other situation that being on this sinking ship.

I only watched a few minutes of the game.....shots 45-18......for those who watched the whole game was the game actually THAT lopsided?

I love this team

A lot of people didn't like the tank...and some said the 'losing culture' would take a while to get over....but, did anyone, ANYONE truly think this is where this franchise would be after Eichel, Sam...and then a couple years later the generations pick of Dahlin? Personally I was thinking if the GM made good moves filling out the bottom end of the roster they would be a top 5 team in the league by now....and even if the GM's screwed up the bottom of the roster this would still be a top 10 team. No way I ever thought this could happen.

The thing is..that is the opinion of fans and writers. Put Eichel out there to the highest bidder, and you may find some GMs willing to part with assets that the local sportswriters or fans don't think they should. The Bruins don't want to part with McAvoy or Pastrnak? Awwww, that too bad..then you don't get your home-town boy back from the Sabres..and the Sabres proceed to go down the list of other teams offers for someone who wants him more...and the Bruins are out of luck.

See the issue to me is...when I say the talent is overrated, I do mean that. But even if the posters who disagree with me are correct...all I am hearing from them is stuff like....they have enough talent to not be shut out 2-3 games in a row.....or they have enough talent to compete for the last playoff spot. Did the team tank to just compete for the last playoff spot? Or to not get shut out on a regular basis? I know no matter what you do you cannot be guaranteed a cup...but I want them to do whatever they have to do for the talent level on this team to be that they have the ability to occasionally dominate a game, and are considered at least a threat to go deep into the playoffs. The talent is NOT here to do that...and to me that is not good enough...after all the high picks...the big money signings.....the talent sure is overrated and is not good enough for what they have done to get to where they are now.

I don't know the details of whether they own it...own the building...whatever....but maybe the next move is the Pegulas divesting themself of any interest in the Labatt brew house also?

We will agree to disagree then. I truly believe the opposite.

Ok, I know its a joke to be made..but to go to a Sabres game now...how much would they have to pay ME? I'm a casual fan at this point, but I watch most of the games on TV (at least I start to). I follow the team, I WANT to like the team. But if someone said you could go to the game for free, including parking...I'd say no. Pay me$20...nope. Pay me $100....I'd think about it but it might or might not even be worth my time. No joke...

I agree with blowing it up. Dahlin I can have patience with. Look at guys like Victor Hedman, Charra, even Erik Karlsson. It took them years before they got to be elite. I remember the first few years of Hedmans career, people were saying stuff like "well, I guess he's not going to be great, but maybe he can still be good?" Karlsson didn't really blow up offensively until his 5th season. His first 3 years he put up Dahlin type Offensive numbers while being a train wreck in his own zone. Charra? His game on both end of the ice was a train wreck until his 5th or 6th season. He got better in the D-zone in maybe year 3...but it took 5 or 6 years for his whole game to come around. When you look at most (not all, but MOST) elite prospects on the back end, it is normal, and expected, for it to take a few years at least for them to develop. Hughes and Makar are the outliers, not the rule.

I would like to think that the long term plan was KA to be GM, Krueger eventually to have a president/VP type of job with the team, and an appropriate head coach would be found to take over from Krueger.

I think the team is not as talented as most fans think it is. I think fans in general think Eichel is better than he is. He can be a star, but not generational at all. I think Skinner is a below average NHL player. I think Halls best days are far behind him (his only 30 goal season of his career was 3 seasons and 1 knee surgery ago). I think Dahlin might be very good but he isn't yet, beyond him the current D-core is well below average top to bottom. You have an average to slightly above average goalie (who is hurt now) and a bad back up goalie. Olofsson is 1 dimensional, Reinhart can be good but not great. Overall, I just think this team has below average talent up front...below average talent on the D-core, and the same in goal. To me, talent up front is when you can see a few 30+ goal seasons potentially from some of your forwards, at least rely on 25 goal season from a few of them. Who has 30 goal talent up front (and I don't mean ONE time in their career, but something you can get a couple times in the next 5 years?) Eichel? Maybe, MAYBE VO or Reinhart? thats not good enough. You hire the best coach in the league (tell me who is available that they can get), and even then, with the teams current talent you are maybe competitive for that last playoff spot..but this this 'core' of players, you aren't going to be better than that. I'm not saying that the coach may not be a problem..or that there aren't better ones out there. What I am saying is the talent on this team right now isn't good enough with anyone coaching for this to be a top tier team anytime in the near future.

The point still is the same. Bylsma DID have experience and started with the current core (among some other good young players no longer with the team). Housley did have experience on the Nashville staff, not as head coach.....the point is...you have had a variety of different coaches..different ages, different backgrounds, different styles..and some with playoff success...and none have worked with this team. What kind of coach do Sam and Jack want? They had one that is a nice guy (Krueger). A former star player (Housley), a guy who won a cup with star players on his team (Bylsma). Nothing has worked with them..and just who are you going to get out there that will take this team and coach it into a cup contender?

Well, you have had a coach with experience (Bylsma), who had a few years experience, won a cup, and had experience dealing with star players. That still didn't work out. You had Housley who was a former star player that was an assistant on a staff of a very good team. That didn't work. You now have Krueger who has 'some' NHL head coaching experience but has a lot experience in other positions around the NHL and other sports. And Krueger and Housley weren't exactly 'young'. My point is you have had 3 head coaches with this current core (Eichel and company), with 3 different styles...with NHL experience and playoff/cup experience...and the results are the same. Talent of the 'core players' has to be considered as a big part of the issue.

I haven't been to a Bills game in a while...but are there things they do running the Bills that are....subpar...that has been glossed over the last couple years because the team is better? Seriously asking. It almost seems like when they bought the Sabres they were new to owning a professional sports team....but by the time they should have 'figured it out', they kinda lost interest a bit in the Sabres and 716 and Harbor Center because by that time they had their shiny new (and much more expensive) toy in the Bills to play with.

Knowing what you are doing....I think that is it. I don't know what happened behind the scenes of course, but that is the impression I get. We visited 716 twice...one time about a month after it opened, and then about a year and a half later and weren't impressed. The impression I got was....they hired people to run the restaurant who kinda knew what they were doing....but they chose to NOT go out and get someone great who knows how to open a place that was expected to be as busy as it was. To me the food wasn't the problem..it was getting there at opening time on a Saturday morning and having the employees not ready to open....seeing dust on the handrails and chairs only a month after it opened. Having our table handed off between 3 different servers in the hour we were there...stuff like that.

Is 'competitive' hockey better than what we have now? Of course. The problem I have is...the ceiling for this team seems to be competitive hockey. What makes hockey fun, and makes being a fan fun..is when your team is competing for championships (above just competitive) and/or is a team good enough that you expect them to dominate other teams on a somewhat regular basis. I think you need more than a coaching change....you need a roster overhaul also to get to the point I am looking for. After all, how did they get into this situation to begin with? They were tires of just being a 'competitive team', and so were most fans....so that is when/why the tank began.