Pimlach

My experience is that when games are on NHL network or TNT, then they are not on EPSN+

We need a play-by-play guy even more than we need a replacement for Mitts. The broadcast work of Dunleavy and Ray is not good enough. Once again, this organization settles for whatever.

No problem.

Sign are not allowed. Even the famous "Phantom Sign Makers" were told to shut it down. @PASabreFan might like this video. https://www.wgrz.com/video/news/local/unknown-stories/unknown-stories-of-wny-the-phantom-signmakers/71-fce5add0-8188-4f6c-90e6-23af600f44a8

OK, got faked out by the title. Let him play and be on the first pair, and experience leading a team and maybe even winning.

On a team that has big trouble scoring goals, Jeff Skinner is not the biggest problem. He is a limited player but he brings more than a lot of the guys on this team. The facts are we have a weak forward group. Last year we thought we had this highly potent scoring machine. Well the rest of the league has figured some things out, and several players are having down years, and the Sabres coaching staff has no answers. But yet Skinner plugs along on pace for 30 goals once again. I think we have one more year to go on that crazy contract, then we can look at a buyout. If I was Skinner I would be begging for a trade to a contending team and willing to rework the contract. He has to be sick of losing. If he isn't, then that is most likely his problem as a player.

Yup, when they lost Drury, Briere and to a somewhat lesser extent, Dumont and Grier, they lost a lot of good old fashioned grit. But they lost these players because Golisano would not pay, not because Ruff and Regier were bad. The core of homegrown Sabres that followed could not keep the team going forward.

Why? Why not let him continue to help a team make the playoffs? Is it just for the home stand?

If its on NHL Network then I'm pretty sure I cannot stream it on ESPN+. This great new cable package (sarcasm intended) that my wife just bought is missing key sport channels and instead added 50 other channels of fluff. I am going to have undo her best efforts to negotiate a lower bill. It takes me back to the early-mid 70's when I father proclaimed "no way am I paying $10/month just to watch television when I can watch it for free". He later found out you can watch R rated movies on HBO and that tune changed.

Roofing is too hard. How about sold Chevy's, or opened a restaurant, or moonlighted for State Farm (yes that means you Derek Smith).

Who logged in as @PASabreFan? What is this? Sarcasm veiled as optimism is my guess.

No. It’s not true. Linus simply says “ it was time to leave Buffalo”. Meaning, he wanted out, and money wasn’t going to change that. If this organization does not make more effort to improve, more players will do the same.

I don’t get all the Tuch complaints. Last year was a career year for him. This year, with all the trouble this team has scoring, he is on track for his second best scoring season. He has played through several injuries, he has become an excellent penalty killer, he still plays a physical game. Tuch is the least of our problems.

Come on out of the dark.

I think he wants his kids to run the sports empire someday.

And what makes it worse is that they have been terrible even with lots of good players coming into, and out of, the organization. The old Seals/Golden Seals were bad because they had no players and could not catch a break acquiring them. The Capitals were terrible but eventually established a pipeline of good players. The Sabres organizational badness triples these past haunted franchises. Their problems go far beyond the talent on the ice - it is the way they are run from the top down. It is shameful and its a good thing that Seymour does not have see it.

It will be very telling, and bad news for Adams, if Byram does not re-sign and goes into his last year without an extension. He could be gone by the next trade deadline.

Hell, why doesn't some crack reporter from the BN just come out and ask them about missing the playoffs? Ask what the team is missing? Ask them what they think needs to happen to get the Boston/Avalanche level?

One BIG problem is that player development coaches are entry level positions. Peca did that in Washington about 4 years ago. Adam Mair: Director of Player Development Tim Kennedy: Development Coach Zach Redmond: Development Coach Seamus Kotyk: Goaltending Development Coach

Boston does not have a McKinnon. Or a McDavid. Or a Burgeron ....

Pretty much almost every losing team can say this. And they would all be wrong because they would have played even more games under pressure. Handling pressure and playing consistently is what the team lacks. You cant wait until after the season and make this assessment, it is not being honest. They did this exact same thing last year and the FO decided to come back with the same team and they played worse. They had the best goaltending in the league for 3 months and yet they never gained any significant ground in the standings. What more do you need? They just got buried by a team in their division and far below them in the standings while playing at home when under pressure to win and stay alive. They don't have it and they don't deserve to make the playoffs. The fact that Terry Pegula extended DG contract too soon is a glaring example of his poor decision making. We are probably stuck with this coach for another season, unless Terry eats the money and I do not see him doing that.

Granato has done all the good he can do. He is a one-on-one players coach. In this role he can get individual players to be better. He does not have an NHL system. The BS about putting in defense after they learn offense was rubbish. You all see the results. He cannot coach special teams, and he cannot find anyone else that can. His game day coaching, adjustments, use of timeouts, handling of goalies - all below the NHL standard. His coaching staff is lousy. Mike Weber and Michael Peca left Rochester for NHL positions, and Granato stayed with his band of misfits. The Power Play speaks for itself and that alone is a fireable offense. Granato is nice but he s stale. Imlach, Bowman, Muckler, and Ruff could all be mean. It is time for mean. At some point mean will become stale, but this team needs a kick in the ass to shift their mindset.

Was this before the first period started? If so then it really says a lot about the coaches getting these guys ready and about the team leadership, or lack of. Especially when Cozens talks to the press about winning over the fans. I hated to hear him talk about their side and the fans side. It should never get to that.

This is what I see lately: 1. UPL is looking tired, slower, and less sharp. We might as well give Levi more games and let UPL stabilize and not loose his mind. Adams better remember this for next year. UPL cannot play a 60+ game pace next year. He cannot hold the pace. We need ~30+ games from the backup, not Comrie and maybe not Levi either. 2. Byram is looking like a Sabre now, he waits for the play and he has slowed down his game. Defensively he is just like the rest of them. He gets paid $4.6M next year and after that he is an RFA. Adams seems committed to him so we will have another big investment on the blue line. Joker is an RFA this off- season, so he could leave at anytime with nothing in return. 3. No player on this team ever owns anything. All I ever hear is how the problem is something else, whatever happens they always have something to say except "I need to be better". Just recently I heard lame excuses from Tuch, Cozens, and now Dahlin. They don't even know they are doing it, these guys have been infected by the bad culture. 4. Adams won't own the drought, so no one on this team will. Adams allegedly talks to Beane. He had McDermott come out to the prospect camp last year and talk. Is this all for show? Does he listen and try to do what these guys do every day? I don't think so. 5. Future salary structure was a key reason that Adams would not bring in "blockers". We still are going to have some serious cap decisions to make this year (Joker, Krebs, UPL) and next year (Byram, Quinn, Peterka). 6. For a team that drafted 3 centers in the first round just two years ago they are really hurting up the middle. The departure of Mitts will have to be filled in with someone not named Krebs if this team is going to get better and going to handle normal injuries next season. They need to bring in a 2/3C and 3/4C - but salary space is almost gone with Power getting $8M next year and other guys on deck. 7. They could have made a better environment for the kids to come up and play in, and still have these same cap decisions. We should have been better - I am still not sure Adams knows what to do once the money constraints are lifted (if they ever are). 8. Coaching is a problem. This staff has reached their limits and they are overmatched on gameday. The entire staff needs a friendly handshake and a good bye after this season. The search for a coach is my only hope for next season.

Are the players going to stop talking to the press now?