Believer

Come on, Skinner…

Bravo, Sabres… Solid 1st period…

About time we got a bounce…

Think Granato promotes this… but not in Ruff-like words… Granato is a development coach who spent the bulk of his coaching career with teenagers and young adults… not men… He is a nurturer… You hear it in his media messaging… Is it time for our youngsters to be treated like men… so they can act like men when challenged??… This is the NHL… not Juniors… It is new to most of his roster and to him as a Head Coach as well… Not suggesting Granato can’t be the long term solution in Buffalo… Just suggesting… like the kids… he needs to elevate his game, too…

The problem is consistent effort lately… especially early in games… Whatever messaging Granato is sending the team about their effort… isn’t getting through to the bulk of them… Granato needs to shake the bottle… to get their attention… Giving them an optional skate the day after a lopsided defeat??… Let’s give the Coach the benefit of the doubt… Maybe it was his test to see who showed up…

What I’m telling you is… the lineup on the ice comes out flat in 1st periods too often… and don’t get going until 3rd periods too often… It is an effort issue… It is a coaching issue… Has nothing to do with injuries… These players are paid professionals, most young… and none overworked recently… After last night’s humiliating effort… it is hard to believe Granato gave the team an optional skate today… Hard to believe Granato wasn’t compelled to get their attention the morning after…

Team is young… is not overworked… yet plays weak in 1st period last several games… and not much better after a locker room break and coach’s messaging between periods 1-2… Only seem to come alive in 3rd when behind a couple or more goals… and trying to save face… This is on Granato and his staff… Where is the sense of urgency??…

Why do we play so soft and passive in both ends??…

You and I will disagree then… My read of those faces and hearing their words says it is genuine healthy chemistry between teammates… an essential attribute in a young team experiencing the mostly downs of an early rebuild…

Love to see the grins and humor among this group… Good chemistry… Now if they can convert their off-ice camaraderie… to on-ice killer instinct…

Cozens’s had a couple whiffs and a foul ball tonight at open nets…

No excuse for the lack of energy and effort… unless our guys had to clean the snow off their cars and shovel their driveways to get the the game… 🤔

Agree… Looks like Tuch has chemistry with Krebs… Gotta use them as long as Krebs sticks in Buffalo…

Agree… Tuch tried to do too much himself last night… Entered the zone a few times and tried to split defenders only to lose the puck immediately …Like his aggressiveness … Just needs to build some experience with line mates…

Worst power play effort… Two man advantage and still passing up shots with less than minute in the game… Pathetic… Embarrassing… Who was captaining the power play??..,

Hmm… If Pegula sells the Sabres… and the new owner moves the Sabres to a new city… think Pegula will lose the goodwill and investment he’s bought himself in Buffalo over the years… Don’t see it happening myself…

Subban played a helluva game… Happy for him…

Thompson…

Whatever League Bonehead(s) made that call should be sent down to the AHL… for further development 🤬

BN reports Mittlestadt had surgery on undisclosed upper body injury… Expected to return later in the season… ”Granato doesn’t know if Mittelstadt reinjured his previous problem. He said the latest injury is in the area of the first one.”

It’s Granato’s job to motivate the players and to keep them from quitting… Both he and the players say the locker room is committed to playing better… Need to put several wins together as evidence to back up the words…

Just read Granato’s post game comments in the BN… He is saying the right things… If the team is learning from their mistakes as he suggests, Granato must keep them focused on -Breaking out of their own zone; Attacking the offensive zone; Shooting and buzzing the net; Clearing the puck from their own zone when under pressure… It’s up to the Coach to get his team to be positive and focused… It’s up to the Coach to create motivation… Results will come if the team is learning from its mistakes…

Fair enough… Watching was the wrong word… We did pick it up in the 3rd, but most of the period shot differential was on the PPs… We were badly outworked 5-5 the last half of the game as I saw it… Most of it was our weaker roster and dismal defense in our zone, but Granato can’t get them to play aggressive for 60 minutes… No excuses for that…

The rest of the team was working in the 1st along with Dell… The rest of the team was watching in the last half of the game along with Dell…

Tells the sorry story… Tells the sorry story tonight…