Believer

The hits on Eichel and the response of his teammates... are emblematic of the Sabres roster... With the exception of Skinner and a handful of other honest-to Pete hockey players and leaders, the bulk of the roster appear to be losers... who cannot muster the will to win through adversity... Over-paid... Over-appreciated... It is a disease of the common professional athlete... The true champions among pro athletes... Ovechkin (as gritty as they come), Backstrom (a fourth round pick over a decade ago and all-time franchise assist leader) and so many more throughout the league... Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Rothlisberger, Kyle Williams, Lorenzo Alexander, Shady McCoy among so many others in sports... Never quit... Are always prepared... Live to win... And when they lose, they don’t make excuses... They work harder... The Sabres roster is a product of Botterill’s design... and the game effort is Houseley’s domain... Botterill is reshaping the roster, so deserves another couple years... Would have said the same about Housley except the players don’t seem to respond to him... Housley should be spitting mad with their effort... and if he is saying so the locker room... the players should reflect his disapproval on the ice... Just don’t see it happening.... This team quit 20 games ago... Sorry for the rant...

Should have been more clear... My comment was in reference to Nelson and any other player who watched what happened to their Captain... and did not respond...

Are the Sabres soft??... You bet... Confounding when teammates don’t immediately defend their Captain and best player... Kudos to Skinner and Reinhart... Nelson should be benched for the remainder of the season, then dealt away... A team is a reflection of its Coach... Housely was a great player but perhaps too cerebral as a Coach for this second-rate roster... Botterill needs to bring in a Coach who demands performance... Give me a Punch Imlach and Scotty Bowman over a Housely any day... Didn’t see the game, but Housely should be spittin’ mad at his players lack of pride...

Harsh assessment... Botterill and Housley seem to disagree... Still, hope the young man does retire... Coach his kids teams... Enjoy the fruits of his labor... Way worse things in life... As someone posted earlier, KO had a good 12 year run... Risk/reward just isn’t worth it given his concussion history...

Hahaha... Have no idea who the other Beleiver might be... but appreciate the welcome!... Okposo might come to his senses yet.... Imagibe how hard it is to give up a lifetime dream when you’re living it...

Appreciate the insight... Every player in contact sports confronts the reality... The research is indisputable... Hate to see a good guy with his history calculate the risk/reward and keep playing... Like the NFL... the NHL has a real problem...

Three concussions... Okposo is a young man... Lot of life to live... Wife an two young children... Well-established fact repetitive head injuries can lead to chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and dementia later in life... Hard to understand why team doctors clear him to continue to play...