mjd1001

I'm trying to heard? You responding to me clarifying a previous statement. I said Pegula needs to remove himself from decision making and others seem to think I meant he has to remove himself from decisions making on any future GM's. All I did is clarify that statement. You, my friend, are trying to hard to make my comment into something that it isn't.

By decision making, I didn't mean deciding who the GM was...I mean once a GM is in place the roster building and front office building decisions that COULD be left a lot more to the GM.

Their 'point pace' has now dropped into the 60s. In terms of how many games in a row they needs...its up to 13. Win 13 in a row. If they win 13 in a row, they will match the point percentage of the team currently in 8th in the conference....ok, why do I bother.

Yeah, the 'bumbling into a good hire' thing doesn't fly with this franchise. The best hire in the world likely won't work for him. Pegula needs to remove himself from most decision making, I don't see that happening.

Yay

We are just talking about them making the playoffs. 50% of the teams make the playoff each year. Once you MAKE the playoffs, only 6.25% of those teams win the cup. We can't even get to the level of the first 50%

Those who wants Adams gone can only say it so many times. Those who want Cozens traded can only say it so many times. Those who think changes on the defense are needed can only say it so many times. Pegula and management don't get this..or they don't care.......they have lost most of the casual fans with how bad they are playing. They are starting to lose more and more of the hard-core fans. A lot of them will sit thought losing, but they won't stay forever if there is nothing to even think about or talk about. Do SOMETHING at this point. Give the dwindling fan base you have left SOMETHING to talk about.

Yeah...thats just it. Nothing changes. I guess Levi is something 'kinda new' but thats not even much anymore. There had to be a trade or two out there they could have made. I mean...don't get fleeced, but you don't have to win every trade. When the team is this stale, this moribund....when watching it is just a lifeless experience for the fans, please do something already.

this game has scoring, but there have been a lot of games in the past 2-3 weeks that just aren't holding my interest. I have this one one, I'm 'kinda' watching it, but my love for this season has dropped by a rock in the past few weeks. I think it was the news of Pegula saying "no changes". If they would have made a few moves, even if they were still this bad, it would be something to watch, someting to talk about. The fact this team is so bad AND they refuse to move any players or take any chances with the roster, its just drained me.

5 player Defense (the 2 d-men and the support they get from the forwards) was below average last year and its below average this year. Its not as bad as I can imagine, but certainly not good. The big difference from last year to this year has not been the play of the 5 man unit in front of the goalie. Its the play OF the goalie. Last year you had below average play from the 5 guys in front of him but you had good goaltending. This year you have mostly bad goaltending.

I'll start by saying that on occasion I have used🙄 myself. With that said... I don't like bitter. It exists here because anything you can say with it you can do with words, but 🙄 is basically used by most people on this forum to dismiss other people's opinions. There is very little way that it can be taken as anything other than a shot at someone's opinion and a way to put what they are writing down. So again, yes... I have used it on this forum in the heat of an argument with somebody else... But as a general rule when someone uses that emoji, that's the quickest way for me to think less of them as a poster... And if I use it myself, I would understand if someone feels the same way about me for using it

New Jersey I can't figure out. I see no reason why they shouldn't be a 110+ point team if healthy like they were 2 seasons ago. Last year they were decimated by injuries and bad goaltending. This team, has the young guys who are 2 years better/more experienced than they were 2 years ago yet I'm a bit let down by their play. They are on pace for 97 points..in most years that would be borderline wildcard only. They have been virtually 100% healthy and are getting good goaltending on of it. The there is the Toronto factor with them. They are traditionally the exact type of team that gives Toronto fits in the regular season...young, fast, hard skating. Yet Every time Toronto plays them, they seem to handle NJ pretty well. NJ is one of the teams I really can't figure out there most.

I'm less excited about this upcoming trade deadline than i have been in a while. -They had holes early in the season, in a season they kinda stated "playoffs or bust" and didn't do anything. -When they started, were in the middle of, or even at the end of the losing streak, they were SCREAMING for a change, and they didn't do anything. -Before the game against Montreal, it was obvious to many of us they needed SOME kind of shake up..and Pegula shows up to SAY they won't do anything. -The Rumored Cozens Trade that was almost done before the december trade freeze....they didn't do anything. -And if the trade was close but couldn't get done in time, well the trade freeze is over, why wasn't it finished after? they didn't do anything. They made one very very minor minor league deal this year. At this point, they put themselves in a 'no win' situation with their fans. Don't do anything...and we'll be shaking our heads how this team can even exist its like they are playing in a different league with different rules than the rest of the NHL. But do SOMETHING and we'll be like...so NOW you do it when it really doesn't matter anymore.

As of this moment early Sunday evening, 6 teams still alive in the Playoffs, Bills the only franchise without a Superbowl Victory. If there is to be a first time winner this year, its Buffalo or nothing.

Totally, 100% disagree.

I'm not saying they have no use at all, but xga shots, its only from the location on the ice, it doesn't account for other factors? If you are a good defensive team, you may allow one xga shot just like a bad defenisve team does, but the good team will make sure that shot is rushed, or they kept their assignments and aren't causing a screen in front of the goalie. Also, the Caliber of the shooter. A full healthy Tage Thompson (or at the highest end Draisaitl) has the same XGA contributing value as a poor shooter.

I agree. I don't think he is bad, or it was a 'mistake' to make him the #1 going into the year. I think he's still potentially a good #1 guy, but his play this year is one of the top 3 reasons for the failures of this team. The "eye test", watching the games and not even looking at the stats tells me he is letting in a lot more soft goals this year than last. Sure, this year he has had some good games too, but his ratio of good games to bad games was better last year than this year. So if the 'eye' test tells us he isn't playing as well, what do the simple stats tell us? If he matched is GAA from last year, he would allow about 15 less goals this year so far than last year. Save percentage? 13 less goals so far. When you look deeper into the advanced stats, like high danger save percentage, shots faced and where they are coming from...they pretty much all point to the same thing. Now, one might say that the defense in front of him, the positions he is put into have not been good this year. True, but it wasn't good last year either. My impression of his play is that he is letting in more soft goals this year than last, and the numbers back that up. So problems with the Sabres this year....there are many....but his play has been a let-down at times. UPL playing exactly has he played last year and this team allows 10-15 less goals this year. Enough to give them a few more wins. Not the 'biggest' problem, but I'd put it 3rd on the list: Problem #1: Cozens play/lack of a quality 2nd line Problem #2: Lack of a GOOD veteran D-man who can play top 4 minutes Problem #3: Below average goaltending.

I know people point at Adams and the entire front office....there is validity to that. He employs people who 'coddle him', let him have is say, and make him feel like he is 'being heard' on many levels rather than quality people. Oh, and people who are cheap. Now one could say Pegula is not cheap, how many people has he paid for years after they were fired, but that can be viewed as WHY he is cheap. If I have to pay "Guy A" because I fired him with time left on his contract, then I'm not going to pay "Guy B" a lot. But beyond that, I also THINK he has not only input (bad most of the time) on players (he wanted Leino and Erhoff when he took over), but I think he has heavy input into contracts. Not negotiating the terms, but the direction. Now, I have VERY little proof, but this is my feeling: When Eichel wanted the different surgery and there was a little 'back and forth' between him and the team, Pegula didn't like that, so that is a large part why things ended with the team and him. I think Reinhart would have stayed here if initially offered a long term deal, but Pegula didn't think highly enough of him, and with Covid, he wasn't going to get one. I DO think Pegula not only signed off on, but he may have pushed a bit to lock up Tage and Cozens long term. Power. Again, no reason other than a 'feeling' based on reading between the lines of some articles, but I think Power and Dahlin were not 'pushed' for by Pegula, I think those happened the 'traditional' way (Hockey Dept/Adams told Terry why they wanted them locked up and Pegula signed off on it). But with Cozens I am pretty confident. Nothing else to me makes sense why coach after coach puts him out there and he fails to produce and hurts the team, why he hasn't been moved, why he won't get benched. Why when Tage is hurt Cozens gets PROMOTED to the first line. He has to be a favorite of Pegula. Nothing else makes sense to me.

I agree. So when people ask why the Bills are not bad while the Sabres are bad under Pegula, what you said is the best answer. He doesn't view the Bills, for WHATEVER reason', as his 'toy' to play with as much as he does the Sabres. The big issue is...if that is true there are no signs of it changing. The trip to Montreal, the meeting with the players to say basically "nothing is going to change" was as strange as it is disturbing (for fans).

Some people dig in their heels even deeper. When you think you know something, and you start to get outside criticism (fans, fans booing, media), you could either change your ways, or you can do what it appears he is doing....and that is he is saying this will get fixed "his" way with "his" ideas and he's not going to admit he was wrong.

Not impossible. Pegula has always thought he knows a lot more about hockey than he does about Football. When he bought the Bills, he had comments about how he was almost awestruck at how much the coaches know when he sat in meetings (implying he kinda admitted he didn't know a fraction of what they knew). So he lets those guys do their thing. On the other hand, he THINKS he knows a lot more about hockey so he is way more hands on. Remember him saying how much he loved Erhoff and Ville Leino...his personal opinion...and then they go out and get them. The Sabres are a lot less well run simply because Pegula is more actively involved, much more deeper in the decision making. Hes playing hurt. Whatever the injury is (wrist, arm, shoulder), there were a few games he couldn't even take faceoffs it was so bad. He shouldn't even be playing. If you physically can't take faceoffs, you need some games off.

I still think there are 3 things keeping this team out of the playoffs this year. UPL's disappointing play this year compared to last year is one of those 3 things.

The reason having more teams to leapfrog matters is in the conference, those teams are going to play each other, so you KNOW that some of them are likely to get more points than others. The you have a night like last night where many of the teams ahead of the Sabres were involved in 3 point games. So yeah, they aren't 'out' of it totaly, and I always like to say...if you can still get back into it..that means you aren't out of it. But realistically, they are out of it for most of us. Why do I say that? Eigth place in the east right now is at .545 point percentage. In most years, it is higher than that, and there is a chance it will be in the east this year. For the Sabres to match that, they need to play the rest of the year at a 110+ pace. This team right now is playing at a 73 point pace. Last year they had 84. Before that 91. Before that 75. The 2nd half of the season last year we all remember how well they played, well as well as they played last year when UPL got hot, from game 45 last year (where they are now) they played at a 91 point pace...and most on this board were happy with the 2nd half of last year.

To me....what you said is what is just SO frustrating about this season. Not that a GOOD veteran defensman is easy to get but.....I think this team is much, MUCH better (playoffs probably) if you just found a way to get 1 legit 2nd pair quality vet D-man for Power...and if you found a way to move Cozens for a DECENT middle 6 center (give me a guy like McLeod with 5% more talent).

Not related to the thread, but there are times I have trouble on this board figuring out what is, and what isn't sarcasm. It is sometimes easier with the 'spoken' vs the 'typed' word. Plus there are some WIDELY varied opinions on this forum. There was more than one occasion in the past few years where someone said something that was so outrageous (to me) that I thought it was sarcasm and it turned out the poster was serious. So yeah, I guess most of the time I can figure it out, but I miss sarcasm more often than I want to admit.