Kruppstahl

They aren't going to sit him. Only a bit more than a week to go; his days are numbered. When Terry Pegula said he would make us a Cup contender, I guess what he really meant was that he'd be a total zero and was just coming here to milk some solid cash on a 1 year rental--especially in a weird year where he didn't have a lot of other options.

If we are going to go all literary, I would suggest Heart of Darkness is more appropriate. I'm thinking of the manager telling Marlow that Kurtz's methods are unsound. I'm further thinking of the later adaptation in Apocalypse Now when Captain Willard responds to that suggestion by saying "I don't see any method at all."

The bad news is free agents won't want to come here right now. The good news is you don't build a good hockey team by signing high priced free agents anyway. The further good news is that we can turn things around, and if we do, free agents will be happy to come here again when we start winning again. The Buffalo Bills were the dumpster of the NFL for a couple decades, but in a few short, well-managed years, they have become a strong franchise that is in discussion for singing the biggest free agents in the league. It all goes in cycles and people *will* want to come here if/when we get things sorted out. We have to sort things out first, though, but that was always the case, if we want to be a solid hockey team ever again.

We were thoroughly out played for most of this one, but the Rangers weren't converting their chances and it kept us in it.

I highly doubt Kevyn Adams was taken in by Ralph. I think Pegula was taken in by Ralph, and Ralph told Kevyn "do not fire Ralph" and so Adams did not. Eventually it got beyond the breaking point, and Adams was able to fire Ralph. I'll believe that version of events until we hear otherwise, years from now.

I don't think he ever wanted to be here beyond one year. There were a lot of factors that came together to make this 1 year deal work well (conceptually) for both Hall and the Sabres. But it was always only going to last the one year. His poor season will limit his return at the deadline, but he will still bring some kind of decent compensation. Why? Because someone around the league will think *they* have the magic power to turn his game around and that Hall just needs a change of scenery to morph into a much better player. You see this all the time, in all sorts of sports. I'll be overjoyed if we get a first for him. Maybe a qualified first (like the team that gets him must win a playoff series for us to get a first round pick) and even then the Sabres will likely retain salary. He'll be gone at the deadline or before, so we will find out soon enough!

Yep; wouldn't want him as No. 1.

As long as NHL contracts are based on past performance and assume career high years will be the norm going forward (they almost never are), teams will continue to be handing out these horrible contracts and be disappointed. Ownership needs to find a way to gear Ks around past performance, not anticipated future performance. How you would go about actually engineering such a system is the difficult part.

I totally disagree with this. I understand some people don't like the tank, and you have a right to disagree with it. But you can't say it was a bad strategy. It set out to get elite talent on the team, and it did. It could have gone better (we get lucky and get McDavid instead of Eichel, and select Draisaitl instead of Reinhart) but we did still get Dahlin, too, don't forget, who some might have suggested was the most special player of all of them. Eichel is still a top 10 center league wide. Reinhart is easily the second best player on the team, finding a way to get production on an absolutely horrible team with injuries and Eichel out of the lineup. Dahlin's development has gone totally sideways, but he's still here. The tank got us the talent we wanted to get. The fact that the organization has been managed incredibly ineptly since the tank years does *not* render the tank an unsound concept. Pegula hasn't figured out yet that you have to pick a lane at the grocery store and then stay in it, if you ever want to check out. He likes to bounce from lane to lane to lane, and then wonders why he is always in line.

Which makes Ralph's organizational waste of Skinner all the more outrageous. He is one of the few guys on the team who has been getting his scoring chances all year long, despite what he has had to work with, and he still rides the 4th line and gets benched for 3 games? His pay rate means he must be used more effectively, as you state; the fact that the guys running the team don't understand that is mind blowing.

Okposo should have been removed from this roster probably at least *three years* ago. The fact that he trudges around out there night after night is truly incredible to me. And folks wonder why we have lost 18 games in a row.

Philly is a much better team and I expect last game to have woken them up somewhat. I expect another loss, but in a more traditional style where we probably never have the lead, or don't have the lead for long. I will enjoy being able to watch on TV tonight; game starts at 7:30pm, I'll start watching around 9pm, will be done around 10:20.

Yes, tacky royal blue, a fake "gold" orangey-yellow, and white is so much more attractive! Combined with an association of decades of mediocrity. It's a classic Buffalo look.

I don't consider that a desperate move! I love the red/white/black uniforms. I always loved them the day we switched to them and there is a reason why we abandoned what we are currently wearing now back when we did! It was to get away from decades of being a loser organization. Remember what a big deal "May Day" was? You know why? Because that goal signaled the actual winning of a playoff series for this organization, which was a crazy and rare event. The new uniforms were going to signal in a new era of "winning" at least in theory. I greatly dislike the goathead design, but guess what? That can be replaced with something much better. Our all black uniforms, combined with the best Sabres teams I have seen iced in my lifetime, still brings chills down my spine. Let's not forget that's what Soupy Campbell was wearing when he delivered the greatest hit I have ever seen thrown by a Buffalo Sabre on RJ Umberger. The funny thing is that now, our uniforms remind me of like the early to mid '80s era, when we were f-ing terrible. Lots of very good memories from the black/red/white era, all delivered in a relatively short period of time.

Not sure how closely you have been paying attention, but the "if I need more money, I will dig another well" era of Pegual ownership ended at least 2 years ago. The fracking business is down, covid is killing the NHL, and Pegula threw lots of money away in a very foolish manner during the first several years of his ownership. It's more than obvious he has tightened things up financially. Have you been to the building in the last few years? It's rather rundown and poorly kept up. I was surprised to see that Pegula actually fired Ralph Krueger, knowing he'd have to eat the contract money. But then again, he didn't replace him with a real coach, did he? Not yet at least. Probably wants to avoid having to pay 2 HCs at least for this year, so he can simply eat the K for next year alone. There is an entire thread dedicated to the financial tightness of Pegula over at HFboards on the Sabres page. Go read it and enlighten yourself.

...and had completely mailed in the first two periods playing hockey that was so bad, it was going to get the coach fired tomorrow. And yet we found a way to lose. I am so proud of these guys!

"Highmark Bluecross Blueshield Stadium" really rolls off the tongue, doesn't it? I'll keep calling it Rich Stadium, thanks, until the next corporation pays for a "name change" again. Is there sponsorship on the uniforms yet? No? How dumb are these NFL owners anyway?

Duly noted. LOL Did you think he would be something other than garbage at this point in his career, on an overpaid 1 year rental deal?

Can't believe you are only coming around to this feeling *now*. Where have you been the last 8 years or so? Did Pegula announce he's selling the team? No? Then get ready for more of the same. You have to roll with it and enjoy it for what it is at this point. I want that streak to get to 25.

I can't believe how many people are actually taking this loss hard. I thought *for sure* the streak would end tonight after the 2nd period. It had that look the entire game, in fact. But of course, we found a way to lose, which is laughable. I genuinely want to see the streak continue at this point. I think we can get it to 20 or maybe even 25. Dare to dream, Sabres fans! Reinhart is one of 2 really good hockey players on this team, and we tanked an entire season of God awful hockey to get him. OK, he should have been Draisaitl that was a huge miss by GMTM, but he's still a damned good player. If we trade him, we will lose the trade. Why do Sabres fans hate on the good players? The team sucks so get rid of the 2nd best player on it? Trade Eichel too? I don't get that.

Our goaltending plans should involve bringing in a new, real, No. 1 goalie. Ullmark can be retained as a good No. 2. Hutton should have been gone before this season.

I'd be wildly overjoyed if we get a 1 for Hall. I think it will be less than that.

Jack Edwards goes nuts over a blown call. Kind of funny. You gotta love the NHL.

Daytime drinking again, huh? It happens to the best of us.

Just having a look at NHL standings. Well past the halfway point now, and all the cellar dwellers (DET, OTT, ANA) have 28 points, except the Sabres. We are still sitting on 16. There's no one close to us! We do have 3 games in hand on the other 3 division bottom feeders, but with the streak as it is, that shouldn't be a problem. We have a really solid shot to (and should) end up with the worst record in the league this year. Still have to win the lottery, and I assume we won't (LOL) but it's a shame this is such a weak draft. We should still be acquiring a pretty solid prospect though, kind of for free, which hopefully helps.