Pimlach

Why not do 4 and let them handle 1, 2 and 3. A big name coach worth his salt will want roster control. Which might be why we don’t ever hire one.

He quit. They traded Rayan Miller when he was out of town. Patty wanted to keep Miller and a few vets during the rebuild that turned full tank. That was not agreed upon by the bloated Pegula organization. Terry liked the trade offer, Murray (the GM) made the trade. A Pegula strap-hanger named Joe Batista told then coach Ted Nolan. Teddy told Pat. Pat quit, he was supposed to be running hockey ops, he wanted control of a move like that. He has not been around since.

He quit. He wasn’t banished. Next question, why did he quit?

He contributed last year, but you could see his role was an easy spot to improve upon. But they didn’t. Best wishes to him.

I would not call this settled. I am sure they do want to build a successful franchise, they must believe that winning is better than losing, the business itself would be easier to deal with. Terry does not know how to , or where to go to find out. Adams has a plan and after some steady improvement they are off the track this season and likely to miss their goal of playoffs. There are signs (IMO) that Adams is limited by some of the past problems with this organization and signs that his slow and deliberate approach is further alienating the fan base. Eichel wanted out and his injury, and the treatment for it, was a vehicle for that. We acquired Tuch, Krebs, Östlund, and another pick (can't recall who). Tuch is a top 6 power forward that had more points than Eichel last year, this he is slow by injuries and the overall bad start of the team. Krebs so far is a very young bottom 6 player, and shows a bit of upside. Östlund is a top prospect, right now playing as the 1C for Sweden in the WJC. Considering Eichel was injured and going for a surgery that was still fairly new I think Adams got about as much as he could, there was the injury risk that hurt the return. Reinhart was not going to re-sign so the trade was made. We acquired a first round pick who turned about to be Jiri Kulich, now a top prospect in Rochester, on e of the top scorers in the AHL, and currently Captain of Czechia WJC Team. In addition we received Devon Levi, our top Goalie prospect. Reinhart is fulfilling his promise in Florida, while Kulich and Levi show enough promise to make this trade one of the best in Sabres history. Ullmark was an UFA, free to go anywhere. He wanted to move on from Buffalo. Can't blame him. Players cannot void their contracts. That has never happened to my knowledge. If you are referring to Eichel, why would you want the distraction. You would certainly lose favor with players around the league. The divorce was better for both parties. I don't like everything Adams has done, and I think he has not done enough overall, but you must acknowledge that he has the additional and painful job of repairing this clubs poor image around the league with players, coaches and FO people. That unfortunate fact has been a hindrance to progress. So far he has handled that part well.

Thanks for the correction. I should have known that.

Ok Teammates, After the CBJ and Leaves games, both home games, I was hopeful that the Sabres would straighten out their game. I was hopeful that the comments the players made about the "fire Donny" chants would stick. I was hopeful that the young core would take over and grow. Since that time they played on the road versus the Rangers and managed to get a tie in regulation before losing in OT. It was another game were they fell behind and despite the comeback, they did not get it done. They had chances to win, but in the OT goaltending was the difference. This result was disappointing because the Ranger were on a back to back. Next was a Christmas break. Time to heal, re-group, practice, fix things, and get ready for a difficult push for the playoffs - the stated goal for 2023-24. First game back at home versus Boston. The game was not as close at the score indicates. The same problems were there: another slow start; a terrible power play - which boosted the level of the opponents play; a bad PK - which started good this season and is now bad. The "best players" are still not getting it done - Dahlin had what I thought was his worst game of the season. Tuch and Skinner were bad. Tage Thompson was out for personal issues and he is not the same player this year. Injuries, a slow start, maybe other things too? Granato has done a nice job developing players, but his message and his system are no longer working. The league catches up with you, you have to have more. Donny looks like a one trick pony in the NHL. He added defense to his system (I really hate saying that but I am repeating him), and now everything is worse. They no longer do what they they are good at offensively, and the defense has slipped to last years levels anyway. I doubt the Leaves game was the meaningful sign post that I was hoping for. This looks like a year were almost everything goes wrong, injuries, and player slumps. All the signs point to a coaching change right now. I have a lot more to say about that, but for another day. I think the next 4 games are critical for DG.

What do Lidstrom and Neidermayer have to do with this? They have no ties to the Sabres and great players are not very often great coaches too. Girardi was a very good defenseman, is he helping coach Power. Not really seeing the results are we? To the bolded, you are correct. The kid is talented, and he has size, and usually demonstrates poise. I think it was Panger last night that said (paraphrasing) - Power looked really good last year and he was expecting him to step up, but sometimes second year players do not and there is still a lot of learning going on. Young defenseman take awhile. Dahlin struggled with consistency for a few years. Power is doing the same. So is Samuelsson for that matter. The smartest thing they could have done was bring in a vet to pair with Power. If you are old enough to remember, the Sabres brought in Tim Horton to help out Schoenfeld - it is the oldest trick in the book. They need to get him a complimentary defender to play with. Joker is not it. Clifton is not it (he is a bottom pair guy, at Boston he was 6/7). E Johnson cannot log that many minutes. R Johnson is a rookie too. Samuelsson is often injured and he also has hit a wall. The GM did not do enough. Rumor has it he spent a long time on Pesce and that of course did not pay off. I think that Adams inherited some real issues when it comes to getting players. This is just becoming a real bad year for the team. Most all of the players are underperforming from last season. It is not just Power, but what really sticks out for Power is the decision to pay him after one season. I still feel pretty confident he will turn out to be a good one, maybe even a good one for the Sabres.

Of all the players to extend long term he picked Owen Power after just one season. Next year he gets big money for a long time. Think that will motivate him? $8.35M for 7 years and he is 21 years old until next November. He could not convince Brett Pesce to sign here, he could have overpaid a vet for 3 years with Power on a prove it bridge contract, but no. KA likes his prospects.

No. I am surprised you believe this? Adam’s is all set as long as he will continue to execute the Pegula EEE plan, he will hold his job. They still have a half dozen prospects to try to rush into the NHL in the next year or two. That is the plan because no one of any consequence will come to play for Buffalo. None of this plan has anything to do with winning those games you mentioned, or even making the playoffs this season. None of it matters. Pegula prefers to have no more turnover but he might get rid of DG if he absolutely has to. Fan unrest might push that along. This is not an organization that wants to win. Do you know what the last straw was on the Blues firing Betube? It was their 6-4 home win against Buffalo. The owner had a fit because Buffalo tied the game and totally outplayed his team for about 40 minutes. Berube called a timeout and the Blues scored two quickies but the owner knew they barely beat a bad team with an AHL goalie (UPL), and he saw a pattern that teams were dictating their game to his team in his arena. He was afraid the team was getting soft. He was afraid of missing the playoffs two years in a row. Being outplayed by Buffalo, even in a win, was the last straw. It took him a few days to get the GM on board but the Buffalo game was the end for Berube. Terry Pegula is the opposite. His hockey knowledge is extremely limited, and he overrates himself on top of that. He runs other businesses that are more important to him than the Sabres. His wife is ill. He just wants Adams to keep the status quo while the prospects cook.

Where does this type of news media come from? NY Post, X, after the whistle? Just sound bites tossed into the social media jungle? . Michael is a very nice guy, lots of great qualities. But really, as a first year assistant coach in the NHL what is he doing to “Turbo Charge” the Rangers? What are the facts behind the story? Is Laviolette just a figure head? I doubt it. I expect Peca will be an NHL HC someday. I hope he doesn’t jump back to Buffalo before he is ready. It might ruin him.

Talent and skill is not translating to performance. The PP has been bad for a year. This coaching staff has no answers. Other teams figured it out and that’s all this staff has. Inept is a word to describe them.

Yes, been there done that. Wasted a lot of money too. The home record has been bad for a long time. You didn’t mention the dark atmosphere, the bad food, and the overall bad fan experience. The place is a morgue. Worst NHL experience I’ve ever had. The seats are far away from the ice, there is no intimacy or energy. I hate going there and I stopped going after the first month. Enough.

Grant Fuhr

Today’s performance was not because of any one player. They were all bad. Dahlin’s worst game of the year, Tuch and Skinner were also terrible. They were not ready to play. Three days off and not ready. Unprepared. No fire. No desire to start new and win. You can’t cut them all or trade them all. It’s the coach and his minor league staff. The home ice performances are atrocious and the Sabres fans are being run out of their building.

^ This is all just crazy. There is so much wrong here that I’m not going to take time to correct it. You have everything backwards. This is misinformation on every level. Trolling at its finest. You are close to being the first on my ignore list.

I saw it. They even talked about getting a way-back machine to dig up some names. Embarrassing. 13 years is upon us. Meanwhile in the East the Flyers, Detroit and Montreal are all in the race. In the west, Arizona is playing good hockey and in the thick of it. Nashville, the Kings and the Canucks are all improved. Our long, long, long term plan sucks. Robinson would have been better against Boston than Olofsson.

He had more than one bad play. So did all of them.

Again. It’s not the market. The market would embrace good hockey, it’s proven. The owner is clueless and he has hired one bad GM after another. All first time GMs, all young, all willing to listen to and put up with his crap. Vegas has done ok.

Benson played 10 minutes. I didn’t hear his name since his bad turnover on the first goal. He is 18 and just 170 pounds. Soon the grind of a full NHL will be upon him. But we need him because we are trying to win. Adams, is a complete doofus. He has really disappointed me this season. And we’re stuck with him. Terry likes him, as he really liked Boterill. It will take Adams disobeying a direct order for Terry to fire him.

It’s not. Winning is not a priority. Winning someday is their plan. They tell us that all the time, we just don’t pick up on it.

TNT talking about Florida. Montour and Reinhart doing well of course.

Not enough boos for me tonight. The boys were drowned out by Boston cheers. That was another terrible effort. Just abysmal. That is how they play after 3 days of rest? What a Country Club they must be running.

Pasta holds the stick, draws the penalty. Classic

Yup. I doubt he has the authority to fire the HC AND he has nothing lined up. Do you think he has even talked to this guy? He got fired for missing the playoff once in a row