Alaska John

Is it possible that Cozens played like crap to force a trade?

Adams runs the team as if it's a developmental squad to get promising players ready to go somewhere else and win. He hasn't figured out that all the little guys he keeps drafting don't know how to win at the NHL level, and he hasn't built a core of veteran leaders who are willing to show up for each other and to show the young guys what's required. Cozens should be a lot better but he's lost right now, so people are talking about trading him to get a more veteran player. I don't know if the players even like each other. No one seems to have the other guy's back. Sure they're all smiles when someone scores a goal, but generally they don't seem connected to each other. And I'm still trying to figure out what the Sabres saw in Owen Power to justify the number one pick. Plays like he's a big marshmallow. Adams isn't as bad as GMTM, who stockpiled a ton of high draft picks during the tanking for Connor McDavid, and then tossed them around like candy for players that weren't worth what he was paying other teams. The Eichel saga really soured the players around the league on the Sabres -- not wanting to pay the guy because of his neck issues, which seem to have turned out just fine for the Golden Knights. At every opportunity, the Sabres have gone the wrong way. Some of the coaching choices boggle the mind. A soccer coach, really?? Sort of a reverse Ted Lasso situation, except our guy broke the team. Granato was exactly the right guy if the goal was to prepare young players to go somewhere else and succeed.

The Sabres ought to give Kaiir Elam a tryout. Maybe he can play hockey -- he sure can't play football.

They blew a 5-3 lead with less than four minutes remaining in the third period. Cruel criminal animal abusers will procure weaker dogs for their fighting dogs to learn to attack and kill. That's a horrible thing of course, but it's exactly the role the Sabres play for the 2/3 of the teams in the league that give a damn. We are there to make them feel better.

A lot of Sabres fans would sign up immediately for any plan that (a) keeps the Sabres in Buffalo and (b) gets them a new owner. Could the new ownership be worse? Well, yeah, it's possible. The way large corporate interests are buying up sports teams and news organizations, and then running them as cash cows instead of teams interested in winning championships and news organizations reporting the news, is concerning.

I said before the season that the best trade Adams could make, would be to trade himself for a bag of used pucks. That would open the door for a real GM to come in.

I miss RJ but I'm glad he's not here to see this.

Jose, can you see By the goaltender's light That the Sabres have scored And it's bad what you're feeling. I'm here till Thursday. Try the veal.

Perhaps you're being sarcastic, I'm not sure, but I hope you realize that even THAT would be a tremendous accomplishment for this team, as long as they don't give up more of the future prospects to do it.

As for offside challenges I would change the rule that the offside would negate a goal only if the goal was scored within, say, 30 seconds of the offside actually occurring. That should be enough time for the defenders to clear the zone. I think a side benefit of the penalty for shooting the puck directly over the glass is that teams can actually get power plays in the third period. For years it was a problem that officials would put their whistles away in the third period, particularly in close games. Now, there's a no-arguing penalty, and that's more exciting. Even better is that officials will actually call other penalties in the third period too. All this is a good change in the game. A penalty shoul be a penalty no matter when it happens.

OK, I get it. I refuse to pay attention and this damned team wins two games by 11-2. Hmmph. Message received. For only $2 per Sabres fan, I promise to keep ignoring the team. That ought to make me, oh, about $48.

Agreed. Coaches can do only so much to address this effort issue. It's up to the leadership among the players to get everyone working hard, together, and to call each other out when the production is not there. Ruff's a good coach but he's an old man, and the current players don't know how hard he played back in the day. Ruff was probably playing with/against the fathers or grandfathers of the kids down in Rochester. Having Ruff say things does not mean these kids are listening. I think the player with the personality to be an effective captain is Tuch. Dahlin is injured and can't play to his normal standards, and the kids see what he's doing now and thing THAT'S the standard.

I was pretty much done with the Sabres last year, when they followed up a season just barely missing the playoffs, with a complete collapse. So they do their thing, they show up and skate around and screw up and lose. And every so often I check in to see if they're still sabreing, and yep they still are, so I check back out for a few weeks. I do this a few times and then it's December and they're in a hole too deep to dig out of. I was willing to put up with the Bills going through long stretches of mediocrity, still watching the games and paying attention to the players. I'm just not willing to do it with the Sabres.

If Adams can figure out a way to trade himself to another team, even for a bag of used pucks, that would open up a slot for a competent GM to step in.

Great news today. The Sabres didn't get outscored on their own power plays. They finally scored a PP goal, but then gave up a shortie, so it comes out to even. Which is better than they've done in some other games this year. But, kvetching aside, when I checked the standings today, the Sabres were in second place in their division and in a playoff spot. This with a 4-4-1 record. I don't think playing .500 hockey will be good enough to make the playoffs, but it was so nice to see them that high in the standings. And the Sabres have a three game win streak. Whoo-hoo!

Amazingly there are seven Eastern Conference teams below the Sabres in the standings.

I watched the highlights of the Sabres' only win of the year, when the Panthers started a terrible goalie and played without key players who were injured. The Sabres scored but many goals were soft. Now I just check the scores to see their latest loss, and I shrug. Like others I haven't been able to root for another team, even though I left Buffalo nearly 50 years ago. And so I just ignore the NHL regular season, except to check the scores and shake my head.

I said a week ago the main question for the Sabres is whether they'll win a game before Thanksgiving. Looks like you and I think alike. Yeah, sure. But it looks like the bridge is out already. Pegula is simply not investing in the club to the extent it's obvious he's trying to win. Not paying for players, not maintaining an effective front office.

Well the theory has been that the Sabres have been stockpiling young talent, and it's supposed to be ready this year. I'm not saying it's a sure thing, anything but that really, but that's the plan.

The true question is, do the Sabres win a game before Thanksgiving?

I realize the Texans just beat the Bills, but what have you got against Houston?

Dominik Hasek is 6' 1". I don't know if anything else needs to be said.

Good observation. The Bills are going to line up with two TEs and at least three WRs, all 6' 4" or taller. None of them are blazing fast but the Bills are building for mass and power. Maybe the memo went out to all or Pegulaland.

I have suspected for some time that Adams was reluctant to trade any of the players he considered blue-chip prospects, not wanting to see them blossom in another city. So he sat on too many of them, creating a logjam and blocking needed development. Finally he broke loose. I honestly hope Savoie does great in his career. After you trade a player, he's a sunk cost, he's gone, and there's no point in fretting over the loss, unless of course you got completely hosed in the deal. This deal looks like it could be a win-win.

It's interesting that the Oilers with their cap problems went out and signed Jeff Skinner, who it appears got a $3M contract (more in line with his actual value than what his Sabres contract called for). Trading us McLeod helps with their cap, and maybe Adams squeezed a little to get Tullio thrown in. He's a minor leaguer so far but could help in Rochester.