Kruppstahl

That's it, direct your anger at me, a fellow fan of the team.

Of note: "The toxicity of the Sabres' lack of success is beginning to seep into the marketplace. Buffalo's average tickets distributed per game is 17,146 (90.8% capacity), down from 17,908 (93.9%) last season. In the Pegulas' first full season as owner, it was 18,550 (99.9%)." "Here's what I know, according to sources: The Sabres were looking for a president of hockey operations-type last season. They never hired one, and seemingly cooled to the idea. If Botterill comes back, I can't see a scenario in which he doesn't have someone above him to help facilitate this turnaround, or at least sign off on his plans." "If they don't retain Botterill, there are two other directions in which I'd support the Sabres going. Scenario No. 1: If the New York Rangers ever allowed Chris Drury to take another job, I think Buffalo hires him in a millisecond as its Joe Sakic/Steve Yzerman conquering hero. Scenario No. 2: Krueger becomes coach/general manager, which we haven't had since Darryl Sutter in Calgary. Look, if anyone could do it, it's that guy."

Sorry, didn't realize it was posted twice already. I just posted another from the Wyshnyski article today; hope that's not another repeat.

Article today from Greg Wyshnyski. The national media is really focusing on Buffalo right now. Maybe this will force something to happen. https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/28643117/why-buffalo-sabres-nhl-biggest-disaster

Was this already posted here? Didn't see it. https://www.tsn.ca/sam-reinhart-calls-out-buffalo-sabres-gm-botterill-admits-owners-are-frustrated-1.1438078

Something he didn't go into in that video but worth a look is the number of points we have missed a playoff position by over the course of our drought. It's not good. We have been missing by a lot, say 15 or more. I think there may be a record in that alone already.

"This shouldn't be a rebuild. The rebuild should be over. It's been long enough. A decade isn't a rebuild...it's a commitment to complete and total mediocrity." Holy ***** I love this guy. The number for this season is "50". The number for next season is going to be "10". ?

He speaks in the way business-oriented self-help motivational type books are written! Why in the world would he seem engaging? This idiot Botterill is worse in that regard.

I think starting JJ in net is the right move, and I will root for him personally. But I think I'm to the point where I am rooting against the team. More good can come from bad play at this point. I want to see the wheels come off and Botterill to either be fired in-season or at its conclusion. Nothing is going to change with this team until Botterill is gone and replaced with someone much better. Remember that!

It's a minor form of the Lucic incident. It calls our basic credibility and toughness into question, and certainly Montour's, and he's the kind of guy to do nothing about it. That's no surprise, by the way, but it's just the sort of team we have and it's b/c Botterill is attracted to these types of total non-competitors. And then Sabres fans wonder why the team sucks and will miss the playoffs 9 years in a row in a league where half the teams make it every year.

Yeah right. Montour is a ***** and we have a team filled with pussies. That was basically my point.

This was commented on in passing in the GDT from last night, but I thought it deserves it's own thread. This reminds me of the Lucic incident when he railroaded Miller for fun and no one did anything about it. For the record, I totally agree with Kadri's assessments of both Montour and the team in general. But it still sucks! It's just a shame we have no one on this roster to punch a total punk like Kadri in the face after that level of trash talk. The fact that Montour didn't do it himself speaks volumes to the type of guy he is--spineless. He's a great Jason Botterill find.

I think Reinhart will be moved at some point not too far from now. I like Joker a lot, but I'm not sure I'd call him a core piece; he's a step down from that. Olofsson remains a mystery IMO; too soon to call him a core piece too. Hell, it's too early to call Dahlin a core piece. He has a very, very long way to go before he becomes the next Lidstrom we were all promised, and it's not going to happen simply b/c he was projected to be that guy. It's not a given or automatic that he will ever become what we want. Look at Tyler Myers. He's still nothing close to what we thought he would be and he's never going to be. Needless to say, I would think of Dahlin as a "core piece" in terms of planning; I would not move him for anything, I don't think. My point is we don't have as many solid pieces right now as some would suggest.

I legitimately tuned in today to some WNY media outlets to see if there is any interesting news, like Botterill getting fired. I have done that a few times in the last few weeks. I always go into it thinking the same thing: "Nah, it's a long shot at best...but you never know, and my God, last night was an embarrassment!" Unfortunately, I never seem to find the news I'm looking for. ?

Unlike almost all of the dead beats on this team, I have faith in Skinner. He is a "feisty" kind of player who is actually very difficult to play against, despite not being a fighter, hitter, or a particularly big guy. He is a great example of "toughness" that I and others talk about, and which is completely lacking on this team. Skinner brings a high level of self motivation to the game and is a super talented guy. He will be all right long term. He needs to be with Eichel or a similar guy who can drive play. He's being horribly misused this season (mostly) and you see the results. I keep saying it, but the guy that screws the whole thing up is Reinhart. He should be the 2C but he is too slow to be a center and he is utterly incapable of driving a line on his own. If he could be a "close enough" replacement for Eichel on a 2nd line, so much on this squad would be freed up. A lot of misplaced players would become properly placed. I am happy turning over 95% of this roster, but I would keep Skinner and don't mind his K.

Your Point #2 hits on the problem in my opinion. Botterill's personal taste in hockey players is not very good. Joker was a good find and add, as was Skinner (though he's being horribly misused right now). The rest has been terrible. The ROR deal was maybe the worst in franchise history. I would love to sit around watching some of the deep round playoff series with Botterill, have a few beers, and talk hockey and what makes a winning team deep in the playoffs. I get the impression Botterill is clueless, which is funny considering he is an NHL GM.

I think Larsson is one of the few Sabres who could be moved at the trade deadline. I.E., he represents value to the right sort of team. Don't think he'd get more than a 1 year deal though.

I watched the Colorado broadcast tonight. They commented on the "weird and strange" atmosphere in the building a couple of times. They mentioned that the building was almost silent, except for Colorado fans making some noise. They highlighted the Sabres going off the ice to end the 2nd frame to a chorus of boos. At the end, they mentioned how the handful of Sabres fans still in attendance were booing. LOL. Just another night in hockey heaven! EDIT: Forgot to mention...they had an ongoing conversation through the game about the state of affairs in Buffalo. What was funny was that they spoke of us missing the playoffs again this year as a foregone conclusion. Mentioned how we are coming up on Edmonton's all-time record of no playoffs 10 straight years. I hope Pegula got to watch this broadcast! I highly doubt it though.

That's true I guess and God knows this team does not play entertaining hockey...but a team definitely feeds off energy in the building and the crowd does have the power to impact the game on the ice. Whenever they show closeups of people in that building they all look like they are 20 years behind in fashion or style and live in Elma, Sloan, or Marilla. Half of them are staring at telephones and no one seems like they care much about hockey. I realize it's therefore tough to get a positive vibe going in the crowd.

Botterill on today with Schopp & Bulldog at 5:30pm. He mentioned that in his "dialogue" (I hate this guy) with the Pegulas, it became clear they are not happy with the results. He mentioned they are looking for development in young players and they want them to "take that next step" and somewhat implied it isn't necessarily happening. That was his response to Schopp saying the team is roughly the same as last year and on pace for roughly the same finish, as one would have predicted....asked if he was surprised by this. I can't stand his habit of prefacing 75% of his comments with: "Look!..." https://wgr550.radio.com/media/audio-channel/2-4-jason-botterill-with-schopp-the-bulldog

For the record, I loved the Lucic incident and the way it totally exposed our gutless, lousy, hockey team. I hated that squad almost as much as the current one.

What a horrible, boring, crap hockey game. Eichel was terrible in this game! That will be forgotten with the game winner in OT.

When this sort of discussion comes up, I always remember back to when ESPN stopped televising NHL games. They mentioned that PBA bowling received better ratings than a NHL hockey game. That always blew my mind, but it shows you just what a small little niche thing the NHL is in the USA. That was a while ago and the NHL has been trying to grow the game since then, and a bunch of US franchises didn't even exist when ESPN last televised a game, but still...