Pimlach

Luce was the throw in, and ended up the best player in the deal, up to then a good prospect that needed an opportunity. Robey only played a few years and then was sent to Vancouver (along with Tracy Pratt) for Josh Guevremont. They added a strong puck mover with a hard low shot from the point. Robey also played briefly for the Calder Cup winning Buffalo Bisons in their last season, he was brought in for the playoffs from the Central League. Good player. Liked to throw hip checks in open ice.

That team was built as much with great trades as it was with drafting. Maybe Adams should read up.

This is old. The Cali teams are nothing great, in fact 2 of them are worse than Buffalo, and not everyone wants to live in crime ridden and depraved south Florida. Like the Bills, avoid the rock stars, look for rock solid people instead. The Sabres have very good young talent already and they have a sufficient pipeline. They need vets in their prime to fill the holes on the roster. Trades need to be made to jump start the current core players we have or the losing will continue. Mid priced free agents are also out there.

Yes. This is what we are as a franchise. Hope to make the playoffs as a mediocre wildcard team. It is a realistic next step. I am in North Carolina on vacation. All I hear is how great the Canes fan base is. Sell out every game. Buffalo is a joke here. Not a threat at all. They laughed at the Brind'Amour to Buffalo comments.

Lots of passion here @Thorny I am still going to hope Adams plan is the right one for the long term, it’s already failed in the short term, as you mentioned 5 years is long enough. Since he started with a deliberate, slow, long term approach, that is what we have and were we are.

Good to see this. I don’t get to see the lacrosse game very much but it’s nice to see Buffalo had a strong team that wins. It’s something positive for the sports fans and the team deserves more honors.

So we only need 4 defensemen and 8 forwards?

Leaves signed Berube.

Brind’Amour is fine. The Canes are a result of his coaching and his disciplined system. The Rangers are the better team, and their goalie was amazing in the 3rd period.

If he were a Sabre he would be a legendary fan favorite. He dishes it out, he takes it.

Rangers tie it in the 3rd Trochek turned out to be a fine player, a 3rd round pick.

Yes indeed. I sure hope Adams turns out correct in the long term view.

100%. Contrast to Boston, who's team got booed after one lax home game. Montgomery said the fans are right and that they are smart and know what's going on. Marchand shrugged and said if we play better they will cheer. Even fans in Buffalo and several here at SabreSpace dismissed this as a nothing because the fans salute is "stupid". Maybe it is, but the players and coaches reaction was the exact opposite of what it should have been.

Yzermann in Detroit has been trying a different approach than Adams. Yzerman has not had great results yet either, but he is a bit closer than Adams. After stockpiling picks and acquiring some good young players (like Adams did), Yzermann then added decent goaltending (Husso and Lyon) plus many veterans with some tread on the tires (Perron, Fabbri, Copp, Sprong, Compher, Brindicat, Chiarot, Gostisbehere, Petry, etc). Contrast this list to Sabres who shopped in the $700K bargain bin to prevent blockers. The results are that Detroit is only 7 points better, and they missed the playoffs once again due to a late season slump, and a tie breaker. But more important, not all the pressure is on Larkin, Raymond, and Seider to carry the team - which they are doing anyway. I like Buffalo's young players better than Detroit's, Buffalo has more good looking young players, but Buffalo's overall mix is way wrong and has been for the past few seasons. Players like Perron, Sprong, Compher, Copp are so much harder to play against than Borg, Jost, Robinson, Olofsson, etc. Kane's decision to go to Detroit over home town Buffalo says something about what players around the league think. Hoping that Ruff's presence can help Adams to upgrade about 5-6 spots on the current roster. The team needs to get past their ~24 average age and join the NHL, were most teams average age is between 28-29 years old. I am so dam tired of watching boys against men. Adams so far is not helping his Core, and bringing in more 20-21 years olds is not helping them either.

Okposo was the best choice given what had on the roster for captain. Looking back we can say he was too tame a person to really make a difference with this young club. I think they needed a much stronger hand (refer to the booing and chanting reactions, the complaining about UPL/Levi, the slow starts and home record) Overall, I think the Captain role is being overrated here at SabreSpace. I am not looking for a transformation because of who has the C. Some teams have a guy like Barkov or McKinnon, but most do not. What do have going forward? Dahlin - best player on the team, one of the few fiery players on the roster, but still young, shows immaturity and erratic play at times, and has never experienced winning in this league. Tuch - would be the right age and right experience, not sure he has enough leadership influence, but he seems to do the little things that captains do. Cozens - too young and still very immature, not an option. Maybe in 4-5 more years. Z - not influential enough, the longest standing drought player should probably be moved along Tage - Maybe give him an A, we need a bounce back scoring season from him - giving him a C might add more pressure. Trade for a player that has been a Captain before - not out of the question for Ruff but not ideal either No C - share the role with three A's.

Maker ties it up.

I know. And his assistant coach job was based on being a player with a Cup. He managed Harbor Center but was also Terry and Kim's boy around the business side of things. He was assigned by the owners to help figure out what is going on within the team. There were stories about him going on a road trip with the team, even though he was not part of Hockey Operations. He basically provided Terry and Kim with his assessment of things under Krueger/Boterill. I thought Murray and Boterill had minimal qualifications, especially to take on a tank/rebuild. In some areas Adams has been good. Analytics and drafting seem to be a strength. Acquiring NHL level professional personnel has not been one of them.

You heard over an over from Granato, Adams, most of the players at locker cleanout, and now Okposo - you hear them speculate on what went wrong, you hear them say that they felt it and realized it it, but no one stepped up. But you NEVER hear any accountability. No one says they have to get better and hold their teammates to be better. Adams just wants the players to stay, "we want to be here", and not make waves. The players just want to be friends and have fun. It is still in the culture to expect to lose and to excuse it away. If they ever needed a trade for a Drury/Briere type its right now.

I recall reading about grumbling from some Sabres players when Levi came up from NCAA and was handed a job.

UPL was a key factor. Now those high danger stats are a problem with the entire team defense, including forwards, and including the face-off performances in our zone. I don’t think Dahlin regressed defensively, but Samuelsson did. They added Byram, which will lead to another considerable jump in pay for the blue line.

The Sabres are close right now. They needed better coaching. Let’s give Ruff a shot. They also need to replace 4-6 players on the current roster, depending on how much risk Adams will take. Past tendencies are that he doesn’t cover risks.

Kenny Linseman was also a major Rat. Butch Goring. Matt Barnaby.

Reinhart scores after Maurice inspired them with a spirited conversation.

So your saying he didn't win a Vezina Trophy?

I think my last paragraph is 100% correct. He has not earned anything. He is there because of time and the new coach. Those are the things keeping him in the job right now. Being loyal and following Pegula's demands are another factor in his favor. As we know, Boterill eventually refused to do that Yes, he brought in some good analytics guys and he seems to have drafted some decent prospects while dealing away Eichel, Reinhart, Risto, Montour. The loss of Linus and the subsequent handling of goaltending for 3 straight years has been a big problem. I made not one assumption either, it all there in the reality of what happened.