jad1

I'm developing a strong admiration for the special kind of nothing that Vesey brings to the lineup.

Miller is also on that list. What I want to know is how many more puck-moving defensemen do we need to make the playoffs?

Yeah, trading top six forwards for other top six forwards isn't the way to dig this franchise out of the hole. Adding top six forwards to the four good forwards on the roster is the better plan. Unfortunately, Botterill favors trading top six forwards for trash.

I'm beginning to think that hiring a Soccer guy to coach an NHL team wasn't a great idea.

Whoever it is, tank for him so that we can pair him up with Curtis Lazar.

FIFY

This team hasn't been able to play team defense for the last 8 or 9 years. Either the players are un-coachable or the coaching has been terrible.

The Vesey thing is mind-blowing. Who watched the Sabres spiral last season and thought, 'what this team really needs is Jimmy Vesey.' And Johansson is a good player, but he's better on the 3rd line. The defenseman they signed looked like good moves, but by not moving guys on the roster, they now have a glut at the position. Maybe as the injuries on D play out, Botterill will finally make a move, but having a deep bench at defense doesn't help when you have no 2C, and are starting Vesey, Sobotka, and ERod on scoring lines on a nightly basis. The current set of forwards will not get this team to the playoffs. Having Pilut, Scandella, Bogosian, and Gilmour in the pipe won't win games night after night. Botterill needs to channel Muckler from the mid 90s or Regier from the early 2000's to make some deals to get this team more even with the best teams in the division.

No doubt. This roster was built to fail.

Seriously? Botterill has at least 7 slugs playing forward (8 if you count Olofsson's 5x5 play), but blame Eichel. Botterill has built a mess here, and Eichel has been one of the few players who has been able to cut through JBott's reign of mediocrity. But let's lose Jack too, while Botterill keeps icing guys like Sobotka, Sheary, and Vesey on the 2nd line. Jack is the captain, but the captain doesn't coach the team (a soccer guy does that) and he doesn't build the roster. There's more than a dozen things wrong with this team. Eichel's not one of them.

It's being countered by the 'no talent' effect on the top lines.

Any longer and it would have been considered cruel and unusual punishment.

Another streak, another skid. Let's see if Botterill sits on his a## during this one too.

Gotta wonder why the Isles can play defense like this and the Sabres can't. Maybe Steve Smith should have been replaced this season.

Botterill will spend the next 3 months talking about needing forward help, and then at the trade deadline he'll trade for another puck-moving defenseman.

That's the price for keeping him in the top 6.

If it's 70's night, Doug Allen needs a frilly shirt to go with that tux.

He might need to be benched now and then, or spend a game in the press box, and there's nothing wrong with that.

Refs must have early dinner plans. I'd rather have the refs call everything. Buffalo's not good enough to win 5x5. They are good enough to win the special teams battle though.

Sure, and he's going to make mistakes while he gains experience. Management has to balance his development with the needs of the team, though. They also owe it to the rest of the team to manage his ice time when he's struggling.

Yep.

The parts are greater than the whole. A bunch of skilled players not playing together and making dumb mistakes.

As much as I like Krueger, I think that most of these players would have benefited playing under a dinosaur coach for a couple of seasons. This team lacks fundamentals.

Start trading d-men for forwards and he can skate a regular shift.

Is Glimour going to be in the lineup tomorrow night?