Pimlach

If I was buying an NHL hockey team I would want an new expansion team and to operate under the same rules that Vegas and Seattle got. I suppose I could buy the Sabres and move them to the next new hockey nirvana (Houston/ Salt Lake/ Atlanta/ Boise/ Austin/ or where ever) if that was my only option. I just don't think the league wants that. We can agree/disagree. What I really want is Terry to sell to a local interest, and local means more than Buffalo proper, and I want them to be honest with the fan base and fix things.

To the last sentence. My main point is that it is not a simple supple/demand problem, it is more complex. I think I supported that argument adequately. It is not as simple as go to the largest cities and the population will take care of it. Which is exactly why the NHL changed the expansion rules to allow teams like Vegas and Seattle to be competitive right out of the gate. No more morbid Oakland Seals, Colorado Rockies, KC Scouts, Cleveland Barons, and Atlanta Flame/Thrashers. Look at how many cup winning vets are on Seattle, it is quite a few. Now put the exact Sabres roster, FO/GM, coaches all in Vegas for their start - most likely by the 5th year of dysfunction and losing no one cares and no one goes because Vegas has lots of ways to spend entertainment dollars. As for the first bold - I honestly do not know what "NHL stewardship years" even means? I will say that Golisano saved the franchise and the NHL wanted a savior and did not want to see Buffalo out of their market. I think the NHL still feels this way. I think the Buffalo market could and should be a hockey hotbed once again, if they can ever be a serious competitor for the Cup.

True, and central counties in NY. My point is a big population alone is not a sure way to get high demand for a product. It helps, but there is more to it. The LA football market for the NFL really lags. Florida's baseball team (Miami) has terrible attendance. which is amazing considering their population and demographics. There are other factors in play. To think that Buffalo cannot support an NHL team is wrong. To say that Pegula is killing the fan base, which I think is @Scottysabresreal point, is not wrong. But that does not mean that Buffalo can not support NHL, they have and they still can. Look at the TV stats during the Stanley Cup payoffs, Buffalo's market is always one of the top. So, any Joe blow Billionaire from anywhere in North America can buy the Sabres and leave them in Buffalo. All he has to do is hire good people to run it and get out of the way. It would be easy to do a better job than Terry and Kim, given their history and track in the NHL. Thankfully Terry has done an excellent job with the Bills. The Bills are the franchise with small margins for error and we could lose the NFL much easier than the Sabres.

Clifton was not a trade, he was a free agent. Clifton has helped us. I just don't get all the Clifton hate on this board. Yes, he made some errors, fell twice and had two pucks deflect off of him, but overall he has been pretty good. Took time to adjust to DG's "system" (whatever that is) and went from a minus 8 to a plus 5 so far. That is not easy to do playing on a 3rd pairing role on a team that cannot score goals. It is a real indicator that he has played well. Decent on the PK, willing to hit hard and move people. I like him for what he is. You wanna be disappointed in the defense this year - look at drop off in play of Muel and Power first. Both have been mishandled, per usual with the Sabres. Bjork was a flier throw in on the Hall trade and never any more than a AHL/NHL tweener. You want to complain about a player, Hall is your man. He basically quit on the team and waited for the trade deadline while cashing in on a big contract via a friendship with Krueger. What a waste he was. One of my most least respected players to ever wear the Sabres crest is Taylor Hall.

KO would be a loaner player, maybe Z can hang there for a few seasons. He would fit in on the grinder lines.

The bold is spot on. Good NHL teams bring their prospects up slower. Adam’s inability to field a roster that is not filled with boarderline players (JAGs) makes it tempting to move young players up too fast. Power is another example of a kid being asked to do way too much.

Xerox? Why not Pan Am, or Kodak, or Blockbuster, or Sears? smh

This is wrong. The supply/demand theory is cute, but not factual in the way you are applying it to sports . Not all of the people have the same need, or any need, for the NHL or any sport. You seem to think demand and population are exactly the same. Sell winter coats in Las Vegas versus Buffalo - then tell us which has more demand? The Atlanta franchise failures are proof. The demand for hockey In Atlanta sucks, they failed miserably twice. Los Angeles football teams versus Green Bay or Buffalo? Why does LA barely support a team? There are other factors that you are missing. Buffalo is a great hockey market, it is a market that extends beyond WNY. It is unique in that it extend into two countries. It’s been a market for 50+ years. I don’t think Pegula has completely killed it yet, the people care about holding on to their teams and their identity. Buffalo has the potential to sell out every game. All they need is a competitive team and a few star players. Whenever they have this, the tickets are scarce. There is demand to sell out games and be a great TV market. What you also neglected is how much money people are willing to pay to watch them - wealth and disposable income. That is the only factor that hurts Buffalo.

Interesting. What would they give up?

So did Jim Lorentz before Andy. Always to the net, one way or another he would get there.

Not if you get taxpayer money like the Bills did numerous times. Terry knows how. Everyone does. The market is big enough to sell out every game. It did it before and it can do it again.

What happened to drill a well?

Why not? Renovate the building. Fix the entire way the game is produced and marketed in that region. Build a team the right way. If they had a great team fans from WNY, Southern Ontario, Rochester, Syracuse would be coming to games and going crazy. It’s a great market being wasted.

Was the penalty the right call? One view shows the stick past waist on the second hit to the face, another view does not. The fact that check that blows my mind. Given the blood and severity, the two below the belt hits to the face could easily been called roughing or slashing or something, if not a double minor high stick.

But his wife oversaw a really sweet dressing room overhaul.

Exactly. Even if Adams stays and hires a proven veteran NHL coach, he could let him have some say on the roster and maybe make the few changes that make us competitive. We are talking playoffs but the reality is the team is regressing. The Blues knew exactly how to play the Sabres and they shut it all down in the 3rd period. No one could or would get into the high danger places. DG is showing he is over his head.

Have you seen and met the local sportswriters?

There is. Blowing it up is called the Tank. Lesson Learned: Do NOT do it again. Hire a better GM. Hire a better coach. Then you let them fix the roster. We have enough good players and young players to avoid blowing it all up.

But the Sabres franchise value has done nothing but go up. He can sell it now and make a fortune (which is a tidy profit for him).

Come on, you skated, you played. ? He was creating traffic in front. Sometimes you lunge forward, sometimes your pushed forward, sometimes you lose balance, …. There is lots to complain about, this isn’t one of them.

He extended Granato. The guy didn’t win anything and he extended him.

Blues played a great road game with their back up in net. The Sabres disappoint the home crowd once again. Terrible performance. No urgency. Nothing. I want change.

Really????

Matty Ellis with the white board.

Wow. That is unusual. It looks waist high from one angle. Not from the other. We don’t have enough fans to chant “ref you suck” or “let’s go Buffalo “. sad