Pimlach

He’s checking the list @PASabreFan, better be nice.

All the vets were purged for the tank. The team was left with no vets that cared about the crest. Aside from Skinner, who has huge contract from TP meddling with Boterill, the bulk of the cap money tied up with the young (Dahlin, Thompson) and the very young players (Power and Cozens). We have Mitts, maybe our best two way forward, up next for a contract. Tuch or Dahlin should be Captain.

who would you give the C to?

Yours is a big list and there are interdependencies for every item in it. Does this team have the players, the coaching, and the heart to play .570 hockey the rest of the way? Players - probably not Coaching - No Heart - No It will take a fortunate coaching change, on the scale of when Berube took over the Blues, for this group to even seriously compete for a wildcard. Will TP want to pay DG not to coach? No Will Adams have the gumption to hire a strong and experienced NHL coach right now? No

who would you give the C to?

Good point. None of of our star players are playing anywhere near the level they did last year - Tage, Dahlin, Tuch, Cozens -all way down in production. Dahlin at least looks ok, most of the time. The one guy who gets a lot of criticism for his 200 foot game, Skinner, is at least producing at a 30 goal pace. Mitts has not had a point in the last 4 games. He needs to contribute in the Vegas game. On defense we complain about EJ and Clifton but they have been better overall than Power and Samuelsson. Peterka has stepped up. Ryan Johnson and Benson are pleasant surprises. Levi and UPL are doing ok. Its the big guns that are MIA.

I said I would comment on the coaching more at the Holidays. Well they are here. We have 12 wins in 30 games, 0.400 winning percentage. We have to play somewhere around .650 -.700 hockey to get into the race. If you fire DG now and replace him with Appert as the interim, then maybe they wake up and play better. The problem with that is this cheesy organization will most likely stay with Appert, and next year we back where we started with an unproven NHL Coach that is part of the losing culture. Painful as it sounds, I keep going with DG a bit longer, with the thought of doing a thorough coaching search in the off season. Not the laughable coaching search they did when Granato got the job. I want to them talk to Berube, Gallant, anyone else who becomes available, and to also talk to the highest regarded assistants in the NHL. The time to retool is the off season when the coach gets input into the roster, the GM makes the changes, the owner stays far away on his yacht.

Hank had some excellent and very pointed words last year too. He is repeating the same thing, which is sad.

Seems like another beat down is coming. Which is why they might show up for tonight.

Willing to accept Berube? That sounds funny. Willing to accept a recent Cup winner. Is he willing to accept Adams or Pegula? Berube is both a motivator and a good X & O guy. He is not going to jump on a Sabres offer. He will be coaching in the NHL next season, but not in Buffalo.

Really? Fan apathy is now the reason that they stick with this coaching staff? There will be no change to GM and coach because ownership does not care enough. They have guys that do the job without making waves. That is most important to ownership. Stay under the cap and don’t make waves. Fan apathy is merely a byproduct of the worst ownership in any era of NHL history. By any measure, the ownership is a gigantic, colossal failure, and they don’t care. That’s why good veteran players that want to win still will not come here.

Seems like an opportunity for Kulich or Rosen to get some 1st line shifts. I guess they didn’t do enough? Murray won’t keep up, more shuffling coming. Tuch lite up Tkachuk early in the season.

They won’t trade KO. Doubt there are any takers.

He should take the profit, thank the league, and go. No way does he retain majority and not run the show.

That is his point. The Core players know they needed more help. They also know the system they play doesn’t work in the NHL. ROR/Eichel/Reinhart is going to turn into Cozens/Dahlin/Thompson unless they get help. Start with the coaching staff. Its the only logical move.

At some point Pegula has to sell. He can’t be having fun with this? He doesn’t go to games. What’s the point in this for him? He won’t trust an experienced GM. He hires rookies because of it. In Adams he has a guy he trusts and he can control. Adam’s had a core of good players to work with. Hire some help and start winning.

He did it last year too. He asked when will they play defense.

Trying to listen on the radio does not work. They don’t call the game play by play. Just talk and filler. Under Pegula everything is worse, I think the team got a nicer dressing room but that’s it. Do I care about them? Yes. Since before day 1. I want them fixed. Berube is available, not sure he would take the job. In St Louis they missed the playoffs last year, and the owner does not want that to happen again. Armstrong had to fire him, even though he knows he gutted the team and did not replace the core vet players with anywhere near the same quality. Imagine, they are on the verge of missing the playoff for 2 years and they took action. Hard to even fathom 13 years right now. Not even one lucky year in there. Pegula doesn’t care as much as I do.

Well I watched it last night. Embarrassing game to play on TNT. No effort right from the start. The first period was the worst I’ve seen all year. Would like to blame the air because the motivation should be there. Good 2nd period but no goals, no finish, no fight in them. They barely went through the motions in the 3rd. Would like to know what the National TV said with their mics offs. On to Vahgis.

I heard that. I like Panger but the comment was cosmic. Still don’t know what it means.

I’m too old to hear this. I want a Cup. Just one.

He has not been a long term answer anywhere. But he always left it better than when he got there.

Spooner still jamming

He was the first round pick of St Louis. FOA. The fans gave him a wonderful tribute.