Kruppstahl

I thought the same thing as I saw Skinner buried on the 4th line yet again. He has been playing quite well since being benched, and has gotten a TON of prime scoring chances, as he has all year long. They just aren't going in, though he has netted a couple. Oloffson is a giant ZERO 5 on 5. He offers good value to a team who wants to pump up their PP going into the playoffs and doesn't get paid very much. Would love to see him offed by the deadline. I have faith in our boys: they will find a way to lose. I think it would be fun to see this streak get to 20 and beyond. There is no doubt he was woozy after that very awkward hit. He was stumbling all the way to the tunnel heading for the dressing room. I really felt bad for him; I've liked his game, that came at the end of another meaningless loss, and no one needs to slam their head into a guy's knee like that.

Listen to the most recent podcast epidode of Expected Buffalo. Episode 15. An interesting point was made in it. It was suggested that Jim Rutherford, if he joins the organization, could come in with 1 of 2 possible roles within the organization. 1) He is brought in to simply act as an advisor, showing/teaching everyone how to build and organize things in the proper way. Who to hire, how many assistants to have, reporting hierarchy structure, and so on. Or 2) He could be brought in in much more of a Hockey Department consultant role, where he is actively making decisions on players currently on the team or off the team, advising who to dump, who to acquire, and other substantive hockey decisions. If he is coming in here pursuant to No. 1, fine. I'll have him. If he is coming in here pursuant to No. 2, no thanks! He is 72 years old, way too out of it now for that job description, and adequately proved at his last stint in Pittsburgh that his best days are far behind him now. He's the Bill Polian of the NHL now; once a solid man but now just too old and too past his prime to be making important hockey decisions. Lastly, the podcast seems to suggest that the hold up in hiring him hinges on Rutherford getting approval from Pegula that Pegula will stay out of the way and give final say authority to Rutherford, or something like that. That's a good thing, and it shows, I think, that people like Adams are trying to slowly get Pegula to understand that as long as he is going to play "hockey administrator" the organization is going to be a circus. Whether Rutherford comes in or if this is just a mirage, it does seem to suggest there might be some movement in getting Pegula to stay the hell out of the way, which would be encouraging. Ultimately, I'm not sure how much Chad really knows; his "sources" seem dubious. Sometimes he gets some things right, some times not. There aren't that many people in the world right now who would know that the Sabres are trying to hire Rutherford. So I guess Chad is talking to one of them? Seems unlikely to me, but who knows. This story needs another week or 2 to cook and we'll see what comes of it, if anything. I *do* think we'll see Karmanos come in here soon as an AGM.

It would be a hell of a lot easier, and more realistic, for him to simply sell the team and focus on the Bills. This can't be fun for him--at all.

They're not bringing in a president of hockey operations. The organization is currently stripped bare of seasoned hockey people. So it's encouraging that they are going to bring in an AGM or 2. Sounds like they will make the hires soon.

Not likely. It's a great little franchise for the league, very much has a regional base, and is sort of the secret 8th Canadian franchise. It will be tough to move; it would probably already be gone if it was easier. What we need moved is Pegula! This can't be fun for him...and he just turned 70. Come on Terry, enjoy those billions and your palace in Boca with the Bills as the jewel in your sports ownership ego filled crown. Dump the Sabres! Now! They are cramping your style, and you ain't gonna live forever!

It's weird how much flak Eichel and Reinhart take from Sabres fans, despite being the first and second best players--by a mile--on this team. Sure, the entire organization sucks! But Eichel isn't a part of that! Why point the finger at him? Ditto Reinhart. And yet watch! These idiots will trade 1 or both of them rather than sort out the organizational failures first! Eichel when healthy and playing at his best is somewhere around a Top 10 center league wide. That's pretty good! 20 other teams don't have a player that good. And we literally sacrificed an entire season of hockey to get him! If he is traded, we will NOT get back a player of equal or better value in the trade, no matter how many pieces it might include. And yet Sabres fans piss on him constantly and want him gone. WTF is up with that?

Boudreau is the guy. He is much more offensively oriented than Julien is, and lots of others, which makes for better viewing as fans. He has a proven track record of winning everywhere he goes, and he know how to take what pieces are available to make them work. He has also seen a LOT at this point in his career, and should know who is who and what is what in terms of player effort, which kids are worth keeping, and so on. As I keep saying, if he was going to be here (or any big name coach currently out of work) I think they would already be the HC of the Sabres. So don't expect one of these guys. I expect another misplaced hire, probably from the coaching ranks. He has definitely modified his approach from the old days, but he's still John Tortorella and would represent a big injection of discipline to this sorry crew we have in Buffalo. I'm not the biggest fan of him for other reasons, but there is definitely a core of toughness/acountabililty that runs through is veins. That isn't gone.

Yes, we'll tie Florida and Edmonton this year for the record. 10 seasons with no playoffs. Next year would be 11 years and that would break the record. Also regarding our infamous streaks, keep in mind we have not won a game in regulation time, in the month of March, since March 31, 2018. There's just something about these March games I guess. 😂 We kept the March streak alive today in Boston too.

I really thought the streak would be broken today. The game had that kind of feel to it. Boston is playing terribly lately, Bruce Cassidy called his team out yesterday, Marchand out on the Covid list, Ullmark back in net...we got the free goal from Boston in the first and were leading most of the game... Nope! Boston played terribly but found a way to win. Onto the Flyers!

The part that literally made my heart sink came around a minute into the video. Brian Hayes is speaking of Dahlin and he says "You know a quality organization is going to scoop him up for pennies on the dollar, and he's going to get there." I can see that happening and it makes me sick. Dahlin's failed development is probably the most important story with the team right now, and at this rate, it's not going to end well. Ditto for Eichel or Reinhart, if either is moved before we get a real, NHL coach in here.

So when they originally talked about allowing fans at "select" games, they really did mean they weren't going to bring them in for all home games! dat's laughable.

With the salary retention a 3rd and 5th is only OK compensation. Not bad, not great. Now keep going! Next up: Hall, possibly Montour.

I really admired his honesty and directness. He's like "Oh yea, I'm outta here." LOL Keep in mind they are ALL pretty much thinking the same thing....at least the ones with enough pedigree to actually go somewhere else. They all do! I'm sure Taylor Hall can think of 8 million ways to ease his suffering in Buffalo dis past year. Jesus Christ.

He's not as young an owner as he once was. I keep hoping things will get to the point, combined with his age, and lots of other things, dat he'll say "it's just not fun like it was supposed to be. I'm selling the Sabres." dat would be my birthday message...nudge him in dat direction. The Bills are the real prize for a guy like Pegula anyway.

Reinhart has actually been pretty solid through this ***** show if you look at the advanced stats. Hall not so much.

Here's the link to the on-air interview from today. https://www.radio.com/wgr550/podcasts/schopp-and-bulldog-20261/03-25-neil-paine-fivethirtyeight-360154763

Tomorrow marks the beginning of the new Formula One racing season. This weekend they are in Bahrain at a garbage race track, but it's still F1 and it's still back. This is totally awesome.

The part that killed me watching it live was just how quickly Dahlin lost a step to Gaudreau, and how once that step was lost, it wasn't going to be found again the whole way down the ice. Dahlin is SLOW and that will never be fixed. He can develop a playing style to protect against that, but it's always going to be a problem for him. I can't believe a guy *this* slow was rated *that* highly.

There have been a number of big time major league sports officiating scandals around the world...just none in N. America.

So Gaenzler has been cancelled, huh? Can we cancel the goal song too while we are at it?

There was discussion on-air today that I had not heard before. The idea being that "ownership" was pushing hard for UPL to be the guy in Buffalo, this season. Apparently ownership had to be talked out of this idea by more intelligent hockey minds. Krueger? Adams? Both? UPL is a million miles away from being ready to play in a Sabres sweater, especially as of the beginning of this season, but Pegula thought that was a good idea? As long as Pegula is going to be this stupid, and yet want to control the team in this manner, we are going to have trouble icing a competitive team. That's why this piece at Five Thirty Eight is interesting. We aren't just bad, we are worst in N. American major league men's sports bad. Until this becomes a larger talking point than it currently is, things are not going to change. I'm not sure it will change even if it does become a major talking point, but it's all we have to hope for right now. We need Pegula to either: 1) sell the team or 2) radically change his approach to ownership of the team.

Those are the 3 names I think all Sabres fans want to see considered. My exact order is bit different than yours, but it doesn't really matter. Here's the thing: none of those 3 are going to come in here, mix up some lines, and turn this into anything close to a solidly constructed team. We have to rebuild. The thing that sickens me is we are really no closer to having arrived than we were when we took Eichel in the draft. It will takes years for everything to trickle down to an on-ice product that is substantially better than what we have now, and that assumes a whole bunch of key decisions are made correctly in the months/years ahead. And the guy we have entrusted to the process has no experience as a GM in the NHL. It will get worse before it gets better.

It is going to get worse before it gets better, and it's pretty bad now. This team is so poorly constructed there is just not much there. It's going to take a period of years for the changes we make--assuming they are all made correctly--to show up on the ice in Sabres games. We have no choice but to sink into a sustained "rebuild". There is nothing here that can be done other than to build again. Hard to overstate how messed up this entire process has gone. See the thread I started on Sabres Dysfunction. Should be a good listen to tomorrow afternoon.