mjd1001

Beating the already-been-dead-for-awhile horse here, but some serious questions: -Why hasn't Quinn been in Rochester for a while now? Can he be sent down or not? He has not scored a goal by beating a goalie all year, is making dumb defensive plays and brings nothing to the team at all. -Why has Lindy not demoted Cozens? Why does he lead the team in Powerplay minutes this year for forwards when he has a total of 4 power play goals combined this year and last and is shooting 8.8%? Why does he keep getting top minutes overall, when he was a minus player on a plus team last year....and is the worst plus-minus this year next to the above mentioned Quinn? He only scored in the teens in goals last year and is on pace for the teens this year (WITH high offensive zone start percentages and a lot of power play time), and even the most simple of eye test shows he is either a turnover machine or makes dumb plays without the puck that lead to turnovers or scoring chances against? Why is he not 100% off the powerplay (put Mcleod in there he can't be worse) and why is he not getting 3rd line even strength minutes at most? With Cozens, he can have an awful game both offensively and Defensively, yet Granato didn't pull him back, and now Ruff doesn't pull him back. How do both of those coaches not bench him for a game or two or reduce his role, even for a game or two? I know many of us have talked about the above points over and over, but does anyone have a legit reason(s) why to the above?

Only when he as good news to announce or talk about. He's much more likely to show up at the hiring of someone than the firing. My guess is if he fires Adams, it would be done by press release, and you would not hear from Terry at all until the next guy is hired and he can show up and be all happy and full of smiles.

I didn't watch much of the post game show. What was it that was said or conveyed by him?

Oh, and the Sabres got lucky with that challenge in the first IMO. Should have been a 6-1 loss. To Utah. At home.

Looked at the goals allowed from a the couple angles on each goal that are available so far. -1st goal: I put mostly on Power. Power has 2 chances to clear the puck, and the 2nd one had time and just blindly tried to clear it through a player. Thats on Power mostly, but I still want my goalie to make that save also. -2nd goal: well, nothing else matters but UPL being down and the goal into the empty net. -3rd goal: This ones on Benson mostly. Benson chases the puck carrier from one side of the ice to the other. He wasn't stick checking him, he was behind him and chasing him. Because he left the far wing, Cozens had to leave the Center zone and go to the far side to cover for Benson when he started to chase. Benson came across the entire ice and entered Peterka's side of the ice, so Peterka kinda just stood there, not knowing if he should maintain his zone or drop back or cut to the inside. When I watch that goal, once Benson fell BEHIND the puck carrier, he should have stayed on his side of the ice and let Cozens and/or Peterka pick them up as he entrered their zones. Instead, he was overly aggressive when he didn't have a play to make and the other forwards had to adjust and that is what gave Utah the room to score. Cozens actually played that one WELL and Benson didn't. A Switch from usual. -4th goal: Tough call but I put this mostly on Cozens and Peterka: 3 on two with a rebound. Sabres outnumbered around the net. I know the forwards were pressing but all 3 got caught deep. If you look at the replay, if ANY of the 3 would have gotten back 1 second earlier, the goal may not have been scored. I didn't see replay from front to back, but it looks like none of the forwards were digging in and skating hard. I put that goal 1/3 on the sabres pressing and getting caught up ice because they were down. 1/3 on Benson playing the role of a D-man on a 3-on-2 which he doesn't have experience on, and 1/3 on Cozens and Peterka not hustling back with more urgency. Bryson joined the rush and Benson took his spot on D....Benson made the good decision to recognize the D-man joined the rush but when things went the other way, he wasn't equipped to deal with that position he was left in. -5th goal: MAYBE Clifton or UPL? If UPL wasn't screened, its on him. He might have been screened. If not its on Clifton. A couple seconds before the goal, Clifton Instead of taking the body in the corner overskates the guy with the puck, lets him get away which causes Thompson to leave the slot to chase the guy up the boards. Tuch was up high covering the point man so he didn't go to the boards...instead Thompson left the center to go after the puck, leaving his guy in the slot uncovered, who then scores. So, to summarize who made the critical mistakes that led to goals against: Power, Benson, Peterka and Cozens (maybe), Clifton, and UPL.

its not just Adams, its the entire front office plus Pegula. He doesn't make a decision without input from the entire front office (Karmanos, Ventura, Jakubowski, and others) and he doesn't pull the trigger on anything (anything big at least) without running it by Pegula. Firing Adams fixing NOTHING unless/until Pegula changes the structure of how the front office is run, and all the guys below Adams not only do not get promoted, but are gone also because they are the ones giving him input. I cannot fathom the constant cries of "Fire Adams" unless you follow it up with the structure, and all other guys around him, going also.

He'd be better as a winger. He'd be 'acceptable' as a winger. But he still doesn't deserve the minutes he gets. He certainly doesn't (and really never did) deserve his contract/cap hit. And he certainly doesn't deserve to be on the Powerplay at all, in any role, let alone the most PP minutes on the team. But yeah, make him a 3rd line winger, its better than what he is doing now.

I love Saturday matinee games. Going down to our semi-finished basement on a colder winter snowy day. Turning the electric heater on, doing a bit of cleaning while watching the game. Sitting down to watch the goals. When the game ends still having the evening to watch College football, hockey night in canada, maybe a movie with the wife, feeling good after a Sabres win. It may sound very specific, but I used to look forward to days like that. Why can't this team just be better at home and win 5-10 more games per year? They have taken that away from me.

So, you are saying going to buffalo for a player is the 'temporary step back' that allows you to 'spring forward' to your ultimate goal later in your career? Maybe they should market that to free agents. Show a chart of some kind in a presentation that shows all the players who had success after they left Buffalo. Say the Sabres are a step along the way to your ultimate goal. I did not get that at all from him.

I defend power, and I think he is likely to grow into his contract, I don't want to trade him, but a couple of those names are way off. Aho and Hischier? no way. Aho is a star RIGHT NOW. Guy is a threat for 30-40 goals and 90-100 points at the start of every season as he just enters his prime now. He is also signed long term at a reasonable rate just under $10m. Hischier is even worse. He's only 25, scored 30 already and is on pace for 40 this year. 80-90 point potential guy. Oh, and he has gotten some Selke attention before. I like Power and do not want him traded, but I would be shocked if he has as much value as Hischier, just entering his prime, a scorer, set up guy, and actual great 2 way player.

And I don't know all the details, but others have said Pegula pretty much shut down all spending when covid hit. Contracts/signings, Scouting, Layoffs all across the organization. A large part of not signing him (Botts or Adams) may have been due to restrictions Pegula put on spending.

This could turn into something fun...last time the Sabres won a playoff game... JP Losman was the reigning leader in Bills passing yards for the season before Willis McGahee just led the team in Rushing. The Bills thought they had a pretty good rookie in the Secondary, as Donte Whitner just finished his rookie season for them. Afinogenov was on pace for almost 35 goals for the Sabres but missed a lot of games due to Injury. JaMarcus Russell was still in college about to be selected First overall in the NFL draft.

I don't even think their drafting is awful. Yeah it could be better...but to me its not so much the drafting as the roster construction. Right mix of youth and vets. Guys who play well together.

How far out are they right now? Boston is in the last playoff spot now with a points percentage of .554. To be ahead of that number, the Sabres need to win 4 in a row. No losses. No loser points. 4 wins in a row..then they MIGHT be back into that last playoff spot. Might. The depressing part is, if they simply held onto that 4 goal lead the other day for 2 periods and won, and would have found a way to win yesterday even in OT or a shootout, They would right now be just a handful of percentage points behind the Bruins. Right there sniffing a spot TODAY.

Want to take it a step further? We want to win the cup, but how about the last time they WON ONE single playoff series? Take that playoff drought, and 4 more years to it. Last time in the playoffs? 2011. Last time anyone saw this team win a series? 2007.

Ok, in light of the above: -His advanced stats are AWFUL this year. I saw a post on SM yesterday saying they were bad last year and pretty bad for the last 3 years and declining. -His regular stats: -On a good rangers team he went from +25, to +7, to -4, to 'on pace' to be -11. In terms of offensive production his goals went from 11, to 8, to 3, to zero. Well, hes still physical and hits through, we need that, right? His hits per 60 are down almost 40% this year form the last couple years. Right now he would be 4th in hits per 60 among Sabres current D-men. He's over 30. He has a lot of wear and tear on him. His own team is trying to get rid of him. His stats have been in decline for years, this year he is among the worst D-men in the league in terms of both regular and advanced stats. Oh, and would take up the 2nd most cap hit on your team for this and next year. In light of all that, Why would he make this team better?

I'm not so sure I'd like that. I think his play has dipped quite a bit the last 2 years. Not sue why. But...while I am not a big believer in advanced stats, there are a lot out there showing he's playing like a typical 3rd pair guy..and the Rangers don't seem to want him around. Where there is smoke..... On the other side of it...its $8m per year but only for this year and next. If there is something that happened where he simply is not what he was (likely but maybe you can get something out of him), its Terry's money, not ours....and its not going to cause issues for years and years and years. He's still a decent skater and he hits, he could be a partner for one of the sabres big-young-top 3. I can be sold on him here, but in no way do I think he is any kind of savior and my expectations would be limited.

Yeah I know. No logic there but I WANT to think the Sabres will get back into it, and for some reason when I watch columbus, I have a 'feeling' they are going to be there. Again, no logic, just a feeling that I'm probably going to be WAY off on.

Not good enough to make this team a serious contender. You get McDavid, but you open up even more holes.

If I am going to look on the positive side, and yes, this may be a stretch.....This roster, with Tage being healthy and Dahlin not playing hurt, is enough to 'get' to the playoffs. I guess you can say that with any team (pick out a couple or handful of players that if things were different, the team would be different). But I think they are close to being in the 10th-12th best team in the league with 4 things: 1.) Tage is healthy. If he is you are getting 45-50 goals out of him. 2.) Dahlin is healthy. When he is playing 100% un-injured he is a top 10-15 D-man in the league. 3./4.) Cozens and Quinn. If they were replaced with journeymen who don't make mistakes you would be probably in a playoff spot now...If they would stop making dumb defensive plays and be on a pace for 40 goals between them (what you EXPECTED out of them going into the season), you are fighting for 3rd in the division. You need luck to get all of the above and the Sabres are not getting that. But yeah, they aren't super far away.

No one standing out? No stars? Tage is top 10 in the league in goals even with missing more games than those above him. 3 seasons ago he scored at a 40 goal per 82 pace. 2 seasons ago he scored at a 49.5 goal per 82 pace. Last year while playing a good portion of the year injured he scored at a 34 goal per 82 pace. This year he is playing at a 55 goal per 82 pace. He has 128 goals in the last 3 seasons (almost 40 more than 2nd on the team over that time) with 15 game winning goals. 11th in the LEAGUE in goals per game over that time (out of over 700 players who played more than a full season of games in that period) 3rd in the entire league in even strength goals per 60 (which many view as the BEST stat to show how good of a goal scorer you are), ahead of guys named MacKinnon, Draisaitl, Reinhart, Point, Ovechkin, McDavid, Kaprizov, and obviously everyone else except for 2 guys. 3rd out of over 700 players in the league. You may or may not think he is a great player, but to say hes not a star, bordering on a superstar? At least a star there should be no debate.

If they would have held onto that 4 goal lead and came away with a win against Colorado, even todays OT loss wouldn't have been so bad....but alas.....

The last playoff spot in the east is going to come down to Buffalo or Columbus.

I agree. Its almost as if some people don't want to like him and the moment he makes a mistake they are "trade him, he's awful". Well, 3rd pair guys are going to make mistakes, so are 2nd pair guys. For a 3rd pair guy, I think he makes less mistakes than many others in that situation, and when he does make a mistake he often covers up for it. Plus he's physical. I'm very very happy with him as a 3rd pair guy.

When watching replays of penalty killed goals allowed by the sabers, it seems like the vast majority of the goals they allow are when they lose the penalty killing box. Once that box turns into a rectangle, or a rhombus, or worse, that's when they seem to get scored on. Cozens is by far and away the number one offender of making that happen.