PerreaultForever

Personally fan talk gets boring and repetitive when things are good. If things are going well there's no reason to dissect anything you just kick back and enjoy the ride. When things are going badly you argue about what the biggest issue is and how to fix it and everybody has an idea and they are not always the same idea. Far more interesting for discussion. So do not mistake silence in good times for unappreciation. We just don't get many good times here.

I love it how every year the Sabres disappoint and the fans start to turn on each other and take it out on them instead of the team. It's an annual event that usually starts around this time.

I figured that would ruffle some feathers. Consider however, that 1) he went down fast and easy with just a shoulder and 2) he did nothing and not a single Sabre on the ice did anything either. So give me more red X's if it makes you feel better about it, but it won't change it.

That is a pathetic reply.

He was warned earlier in the season. It's about time. I think he is under greater scrutiny in Edmonton than he was in Buffalo so these sort of things are just getting noticed. Long overdue imo.

I can't see that being the issue. If it was you'd notice it in his skating and his skating is fine. imo he's just a soft coward. That's it. Nothing more, nothing less. Foligno knocking him flat with a shoulder sums it up. He still looks like a child playing with men and is only effective in open ice.

I will give you the definition, and it has nothing to do with fighting. Yes, gritty hard nosed players are generally tougher and more ready and willing to drop them, but it's not what determines tenacity and grit. What it is is going after a loose puck and/or hounding an opponent who has the puck. Going after it regardless of how big or tough the opponent near it is. Going for it and not giving up on going for it until there's a whistle or a goal. Moving past and through a defender who wants to use his physicality to keep you from it. Being relentless in that pursuit and taking the contact, the bumps and the bruises along the way. It's also initiating some of that contact to intimidate the opposition and have them back off, or at least throw off their timing and puck movement rather than just defending in a passive manner that only plays the puck and not the body. It's Benson. But Benson is small and young so he has limited effectiveness. If the big bodies on this team played with Benson's tenacity and grit this team would be a force, but it's not. It has speed, skill and offensive potential but it's soft as butter and will never win in the playoffs with that if it can ever even get there. It's also Greenway, but only sometimes. When he is that guy he's effective but he's only occasionally that guy and often he just doesn't seem to care and I guess he's injury prone or ? (no idea but he's out a lot in the time we've had him). It's no one else on a consistent basis.

Since you've "had this argument" with "countless fans, numbers untold" has the possibility that your position on it is simply dead wrong ever entered your brain? The word I used was "VALUED" those type of players. The list you give is mostly in the last 2 years, which is as I also said, a recent small attempt. (not that Clifton etc. are all that gritty, but it has been a slight recognition of this problem). Deslauriers is a perfect example of a guy we didn't value, just like we didn't value Foligno. Scott was a Lucic response for sure, but that was a temporary measure to say the least. Getting into ROR and Kane/Bogo is a whole different discussion involving Murray and his perhaps conflicting views with Pegula. Show me ONE SEASON in these 13 years where the Sabres were not viewed as soft by the rest of the league. You can't.

Yup. Since Pegula took over they have never valued grinders, muckers, checkers, 2 way guys with grit, whatever you want to call them. Last 2 years there's been a small recognition of this and so they've brought in Greenway, Malentstyn, Gilbert, but nothing for the core really. Nothing substantial. It's a long standing mistake most exemplified by trading away Foligno. You need a balanced roster and you need toughness with your speed and finesse. It's never really been any different and why they haven't got that is beyond me (but likely because of Pegula and what he wants and values).

I'd steer clear. He was one of the people they cleared out in Philly. There's issues.

They have energy, they lack tenacity. They do not fight for pucks and win puck battles the way good teams do. Aside from Benson and occasionally one or two others but not all the time.

Some of them might. Those that do get bag skated.

Just getting in is everything. It gives them a taste. It gives the fans hope. It makes them legit again. Once they have that taste they will want it again and then you can tweak and make moves to get a better playoff style roster if needed, but you have to walk up the steps and not try to leap to the top from the bottom.

I thought with the Vancouver game there were signs that they were starting to get it and they realized they had to fight their way through these kind of games but alas, not to be. Right back to the same old problems. It's not a pretty style of hockey the Islanders play and it's not a lot of fun, but you can't win against it just by trying to skate in open ice. They owned the wall and they play everything down low and they out muscle you on a constant basis. Soft teams struggle with that and that's what we are. Boston plays the exact same way and they are simply going to have to learn to fight through this style if they want to have any hope of making the playoffs at all. Give 'em hell Lindy, I am sure you are more than frustrated by this.

Well it did tell us a lot, but not what we wanted to know.