Broken Ankles

Matt Ellis is our poster child for a level below mediocrity. I would love to hear what Sam Reinhart thinks about the Sabres assistants/developmental staff compared to Florida. It has to be a huge contributing factor to the overall suckatude of our defense. If they fire Ruff not Adams (which I think is unlikely) it would be Appert. But if Adams is gone, And Lindy is gone, Appert may get some rope but likely soon to follow if an outside GM assumes the helm. If it’s all internal promotions, god help us. And if it’s sold as a quick rebuild with Jerry Forton and Seth as the new leaders, I might take a knee for a bit after a long cry.

Ruffs record with this team is 11-19-4. That is a winning percentage of 38. RFK (callback for Stoner) had a record of 36-49-12 when fired. If you want to include last season with the Devils, Ruffs last ~90 games is 41-49-8. Not much better than Krueger. Who is by most, the poster child of unqualified coaches during this horrific 14 year nightmare. The fact that Ruff is approaching a Krueger like winless streak and has a similar winning percentage does not bode well for his installment as the agent of change for this team. It’s definitely looking like another bad decision in a long line of bad decisions for Adams.

I think you forgot to finish with a crazy yeah! Most Weary.

Botts sure - and still a defensible hire. Didn’t work out but a good swing and miss. Murray was already 52 and his only success was tied to his uncle giving him a job in two markets. If Pegula would have spent a few thousand he probably could have had a private investigator confirm he was a functioning alcoholic and ixnayed the decision to hire him at all. Agree on Pitt/Penn State - any affiliation is a dealbreaker.

Here’s an idea. How about we look for a qualified up and coming coach (regardless if they come from College or NHL ranks) that has absolutely nothing to do with the Sabres organization yesterday or ever. And the same applies for the GM. There has to be another version of McBeane out there operating in an assistant capacity waiting for their chance to run a big club.

“These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.” Thomas Paine wrote this in 1776 when General Washington was seeing volunteers leaving the Continental Army. But it applies to Sabre fans in 2024.

It never gets old.

Speaking ill of Benson. Not allowed here.

Good call! True. Shesterkin and Quicke played. But the “stat” sounds so much better as stated, even if not true.

Agree with Krebs. In a similar manner, why have an AHL call up on your top pair? With Rasmus out, and Powers struggles, Byrum is going to get top minutes. Which means Johnson will see big minutes. And one of the two will have to play on their offhand when together. Did Gilbert have that bad a game? I mean compared to others? One of the few players who actually hit, separated man from puck, and put a body in front of the net.

Bills mafia representing at SoFi.

I had to watch it until the end. The boo-birds didn’t disappoint. Oh well, the Bills are in town, so easy to move this memory to the recycle bin. Excuse me while I enjoy the view of my lovely palm trees.

Necas is having a year. I wonder what KA’s overpayment proposal was. If that was the one.

At one point during the press conference, Adams alluded to the fact that there was a possible trade this summer that was not consummated. The interesting part of that was his follow up comment that either the media or the fans would have construed the trade as Adam’s getting “roasted”. Why would he bring this up? In one sense it only confirms that his evaluation of his own players are significantly higher than that of his peers, right? Because even though he was getting f$@ked, the other GM didn’t make the trade. What was that trade?

The overlap is small. The Sabres average share for viewership on MSG is around 4 or 4% of the local market. Conversely the Bills/KC game (maybe an anomaly) had an 82 point rating. The Bills viewership dwarfs the Sabres. I have a feeling the average Bills fan that knows little of Terry’s meddling with the Sabres probably have a somewhat neutral view about the Pegulas as owners. Where as we have disdain they have ambivalence.

Lots of this face….dismissing media questions about roster construction. GO AWAY Kevyn!

The Sabres already have $36.5m tied up on the blue line. There was no space to get a Brad Peche type defender and overpay. Adams deserves all the criticism for doubling/tripling/quadrupling down on the puck moving defenseman. No disagreement that Owen should be paired with a respectable vet but decisions were made to trade for a similar piece to Dahlin and him. Knowing that none of the three were going to receive third line minutes this meant that some combination of Dahlin, Power and Byrum would be playing together often….and it’s translating to horrible play in our own zone. Especially when you add in other possible pairings like Bryson and Joki. He should have moved one of Dahlin, Power or Bryum for a top 3/6 forward, moved Joki to the third line and traded/signed two competent defenders (Weegar or Peche types) to play with the two you did keep with cap space you opened by moving one of the top three. If Adams is dead man walking (and I hope to God he is), I hope he is replaced sooner than later, b/c Dahlin NTC kicks in July 1st, and if there will be a massive shakeup to the roster, move as much money off the blue line and replace with able-bodied big men (not boys).

Dude - Not even close. And I love Jim. Our era. Apples and oranges in terms of overall skillset. He will break all Jims records. Edit - And fun factor which was the orignal comment. YES

Where is the speed JJ?

Clifton - proving your point.

Gorgiaev has his B game tonight.

I will never understand the rule. Looked like he his is skate.

I think it’s the effort and how he grinds for puck possession. Plays the right way. I agree with your assessment that he seems to be immune from criticism and I have never understood the notion of having him play top 6 minutes. I thought he would be a solid complement to Greenway on the third. But injuries and circumstances (Quinn’s play) have elevated his TOI. He has fewer points than Krebs, which is one of the many reasons why this team has averaged less than 2 goals/game their last 7. You can’t run out a second line of Benson/Cozens/ Krebs - scoring .28 PPG an expect to win games.

Let it roll, baby, roll Let it roll, baby, roll Let it roll, baby, roll Let it roll, all night long

I can just see Ruff right now in the locker room. Doing his best Ara Parseghian. “Cozens, if you had a tenth the heart of Benson, you’d be an All-Star by now. As it is, you just went from the 2nd line to the fourth line”.