PerreaultForever

No, I expected a win as I said. I'm just not about to break something jumping on and off the bandwagon. A beer league team could have beaten Chicago tonight. they were horrible.

I think he slid because he's small and teams didn't think he would have the same effectiveness playing against the big boys.

I'm not surprised by this. It's happened many times before. A complete garbage game, coach yells at them, they win the next one big. I really didn't think they played all that well though. It was a wide open game and they love those always. Zero physicality, no D anywhere and Chicago coming off a demoralizing controversial loss. If you get excited by this you are a fool. Nothing has changed with this team. Starting UPL also tells me this team is not serious about winning this year. They are still showcasing/deciding and they don't have a clue on what they are doing with the goaltending. But hey, lots of goals, win better than a loss. So enjoy it while you can.

I think part of this comes from less reliance on the old time actual scouts. Guys who went around to the rinks. They talked to the coaches, the parents, people watching. The kids themselves. They got to know the families and their stories. How they worked. Their character. They got to know and see things that don't always show up on video. They still do some of that but not as much. Benson is clearly a character guy with a work ethic. If I'm tearing this down to the studs (again) he'd be one of the few I'd actually keep. Maybe the only one. Well that's true but I really see no correlation with Savoie other than the fact both were smaller and so both fell below their ranking. otherwise they have nothing in common.

Benson was ranked as high as 5. He fell because of his size. They lucked out. It happens all the time with smaller guys who end up being good. The best way to evaluate it is to look at who was drafted after him. Nobody there in the first round stands out as a missed opportunity. Benson was the best pick at that spot. No question. I don't think that's genius on the Sabres part though. Just luck.

I actually think Hamilton's comment was spot on. "Terry must be okay with it".

There's an old story about Rick Dudley that sticks with me (and no I do not remember the source) from like 20 maybe 30 years ago. He's watching a junior allstar game (I think the old Don Cherry one) and he points to three different guys (not the main stars) and says that guy, that guy and that guy, they all have it. All 3 went on to star NHL careers. I know, it's folksy, but it showed to me that he gets it. He knows what it takes and can identify it. I think he's had a hand in shaping Florida. It fits. The culture is strong there. We need a culture overhaul. Oh I am 100% sure Terry wouldn't like it. Terry has to step away. Dudley is very connected. Dudley gets it. Dudley gives you the short list of candidates. It'll never happen, but it would work. It would all change.

That's a very valid point that goes to the core of the problem. Similar to what Hamilton said on the podcast. Terry must be okay with how things are (or else he would do something). They're fine with it. Nobody cares. They just enjoy their fat pay days and relax. They don't hate to lose.

I suppose so. I just feel the whole thing needs a severe shock to the system. That may make it worse before it's better but this path will lead nowhere different from where it's been. Really won't matter who gets hired though if it's still terry's vision, Terry's choices/favorites, Terry's idea of what type of hockey (and type of players) and so forth. new management needs autonomy and I don't think terry will give that.

Games like this make me want to hire Tortorella to bag skate them into submission, subtract half the roster and create enough chaos to build something new out of. I know I know, dinosaur, over the hill, not the guy we want. I don't care. I just want to hire him to punish these guys. They deserve it.

I've said it before and will keep saying it until they do something else. Hire Rick Dudley as Senior Advisor. Give him free reign to hire/fire everyone else.

Problem is I don't think moving Tuch for a prospect does anything to help this team. It'll just further the narrative of being a farm team for the league and players all want out. You going to tell Dahlin to wait another year or two? I think you need multiple trades and a roster overhaul. Change the direction. Moving Tuch in a larger package or a roster reshaping for next year is a better sell to everyone.

They don't battle. They don't seem to care. They accept losing too easily. I hate to say it but it is just like Shorsey. "they don't hate to lose". In all these years they have had a broken culture and they do not fix it. They just think it will fix itself and it doesn't. Fine and dandy for guys like Tage to say they took them lightly but where was he? What was his mantra? I did the work with Detroit so it's your turn tonight? Was that it? It has to be every game. Every shift. Every loose puck. It just never is. Lazy stupid team.

This is how the Sabres slowly kill their fans little by little. Every year we get that tiny glimmer of hope where they look like they might be becoming something and then they deliver an absolute turd of a game like this one. The most winnable game on the schedule. Bottom feeder team tired on a long road trip should be easy pickings but Sabres have no fight, lose every puck battle, play shoddy D as usual and even quit on home ice with 20 seconds remaining. Disgusting effort all around. Usual suspects all garbage. Timmons really turning into garbage now too. There is absolutely nothing positive you can say about this game. Just pure absolute trash. Games like this (and we get them every year and more than once) make me hate this team and want EVERYBODY fired and EVERYBODY gone.

Well if he doesn't earn it he doesn't earn it. He could end up being the Sabres waiver version of Ellis as I believe next year he is not exempt.

He certainly does doesn't he? I don't really like it. I think it risks an injury or burn out on any goalie. Very few teams nowadays run one goalie multiple games in a row like that. I also think it doesn't do right by the goalies in question. There's too many goalies. Time to s@@t or get off the pot. Stop procrastinating cause you don't know what to do Kevyn. They don't fix this Levi will want out for sure. UPL obviously will be unhappy and Lyon might start to get unhappy too. Yes, that tracks. UPL also has a habit of letting in soft ones at inopportune times. game killers. He's unreliable. It should be Ellis-Lyon 60-40 split in games with Levi pushing for a real shot next year and then Georgiev as an injury insurance policy for the season at best. That's it. It's not that complicated. Adams is the only GM in the league that can turn a waiver gift like Ellis into a complicated mess and controversy where nobody will be happy. I would have started Lyon tonight and then back to Ellis on Friday. Calgary is a dumpster fire but watch out for the Johnny Beecher hat trick 🙂

No. Don't assign motives to me that are false. What I want is to not lose the season. Somehow they aren't out of it yet despite the lost and blown games. Make the team better to compete and don't worry so much about trades and who gets whatever. get some D help. I also want to stabilize the goaltending and do right by the guys we go with. As such I'm not even complaining if he traded UPL for "future considerations". I think he can make a better trade but I really don't care. Ellis is better.

I just don't want Adams to try to "win the trade". Just make the deal to make the team better now.

I'm thinking forward not creating crises. If you are a good GM you can't wait for the crisis, you have to think ahead about what is coming and what you need. You know there will be extra roster players very soon. You also see you just lost your D man for "an extended time" so if you want to compete seriously you make a move. You at least try and look for opportunities. I don't want to blow a season on any sort of if only they'd................

Consistency is exactly the issue though. That's why he is garbage. You don't get that consistency or effort. Not just game to game, sometimes in the same game. If I'm the coach I want guys who I can rely on. Guys that give me whatever they give all the time and every shift.

To me I'm actually not dropping Dunne either. I'd actually move Krebs, or make him 13th guy and go Dunne, Kozak, Malentstyn as the line. I want Greenway off the roster. He is garbage.

There are too many bodies. Adams needs to make a 3 or 4 for 1 deal. Time to move UPL most of all.

Beecher is a former first rounder who underwhelmed. Lost his spot with Minten playing well. Bruins opted for the tougher, heavier guy in Viel for the 4th line. Beecher is a decent face off guy and PK guy but not much else. The Sabres equivalent move would be keeping Dunne and waiving Danforth (if healthy) or maybe Krebs. Calgary probably just wants bodies for their tear down to come.

Why? Because you want to be a playoff team and not scrub another season. You also want to assure Levi that there is a future spot up here. There's going to be a bunch of roster issues soon. You have some chemistry and success with what you have so you have to think about changes. Do you really want to send Östlund and Rosen back just because you can? Or do you want to move other bodies and keep them. This is GM do some moves time. Edmonton for example. Is there a deal there? Let them try a low risk run with UPL that still gives them time to find another later if UPL isn't their guy. I'll go wild and say could you get something big out of there like Nurse? UPL, Quinn, Greenway, ? clear the roster spots and bring in a big heavy D. I'm just throwing that out there cause I saw some stuff from Edmonton chat about trading Nurse solving their issues. It's just an illustration of how/why Adams needs to think big and think now. Build on momentum. Don't just sit back and say "see, I am a genius, we just needed time". It's currently a house of cards. Multiple assets for one good asset should be the thinking.

That's what I said in the game thread. Time to end the nonsense with too many goalies and just get rid of UPL. It's Ellis Lyon until it's Ellis Levi. I've also been saying we need to pick up waiver guys now and again in all positions. There have been some decent gambles out there in the last few years and we could have easily built a decent bottom 6 without making trades.