JohnC

As you noted, the individual line time in this game was chopped up due to the PK. But what is noticeable with Lindy is that he is very willing to limit ice time based on how a player is playing compared to his predecessor. The experienced HC is also not afraid to sit out players who he feels are underachieving. The simple term for this approach is "holding players accountable" for their play. In my view, Granato was the right coach to bring the young players along while Ruff is the more suitable NHL coach for competing in the league for the playoffs.

I just watch a summary of the game. So I don't want to give the impression that I was in touch with the tenor of the game. But from the five minute clip it seemed that both teams were playing with a lot of intensity recognizing that a single goal was going to be very decisive. To say the least, it was apparent that this was not going to be a shootout where there were going to be any big comebacks.

The vicissitudes of life. The longer you hang in there eventually you will hit the up cycle. Within the required period of patience you will be subjected to frequent bouts of agitation. Eventually it will settle down. Hang in there. There definitely are some good signs to cling to. One of them is having a coach who knows how to work in this challenging environment. 😷

I just saw a five-minute capsulation of the game so can only superficially comment. Stating the obvious, UPL was outstanding. This was Vezina caliber netminding. On Zucker's goal he was in front of the net battling for position to redirect Tuck's shot. The net presence under Lindy is so much better than under the other coaches. As someone else stated, Lindy is imprinting a tougher and more responsible brand of hockey. There is less perimeter and more interior gritty play with him behind the bench. UPL is separating himself from Levi for the primary goalie job. This was a tough win with its best offensive player not playing. The Sabres squandered getting points against Montreal and Islanders at home. Getting a hard-fought win on the first game of a road trip should boost the players confidence in themselves and one another. For those that watched the game, how did Kulich and Quinn play?

I'm not trying to be impolite but your logic is askew. How in the world is the hockey franchise a success? Certainly, not by record and understandably lagging fan support. Your up is not my up and your down is not my down. The both of us have exhausted this topic. We're going in circles and will never intersect.

Absolutely, getting rid of Skinner was the right decision for us. My judgment on the team's operation is based on its performance for the past 13 years. That's more than enough body of work to make a fair judgment. At least it is for me.

You don't even recognize the incongruity of your own view/logic. Why is his football team a success while his hockey franchise is a generational failing team? After the ludicrous PR hiring of Rex Ryan, whom he fired and walked away with the remaining portion of a rich contract, he hired quality staff (coach and GM) and let them run the operation. Compare that to how he has overseen the hockey operation? He's churned through coaches and GMs who he hired. Is he meddling in the operation? I don't know to what extent. What I can say for sure is that since he has owned the hockey franchise it has not only not made the playoffs in nearly a generation, but it has sunk to being an irrelevant and invisible franchise in the NHL with a steadily eroding fan base. No matter what metric one uses to assess his tenure as an owner over the past 13 years, only one conclusion can be made: He has been a dismal failure. If you don't believe me then check the record. If your head is exploding it is from your twisted logic when attempting to declare success from stupendous in your face failure. 🙃

You hit a chord with me on the issue of having, or I should say, not having a standard to judge by. What a faction of the lenient evaluator crowd want many of us to do is to suspend the normal standards for evaluating success and failure. (As you noted.) It's basically dumbing down the standard and being required to be happy with the participation ribbon. I'm not going to fall into that debased world of mediocrity. I will not passively accept that standard in a competitive endeavor that has a simple basis to judge: W/Ls. Up is up and down is down. For most of us, we know the difference. It's not a difficult concept to grasp. For some, it's a challenge.

Why do you think attendance is down for the Sabres? I watched the KC game in Buffalo where the stadium was not only filled but was rocking from the beginning to the end? Why do you think there is such a difference in fan participation between the two franchises located in the same region?

Based on Carolina's record and playoff history over the past decade I would give a lot of credit to their decision-making. You are making a big mistake if you want to make a determinative judgment on a team's operation based on a single player transaction. Overall, their body of work associated with hockey decisions is stellar. How do I know? Their record and playoff participation. Overall, the body of work associated with Buffalo's hockey decision is to put it kindly is very inadequate. How do I know? Check out our record and playoff appearances over the past decade or so.

I have never been a Skinner basher. However, Carolina understood beyond the goal scoring stats what he was as a player and how he fit in with what the coaching staff wanted to establish as a team. (He didn't fit in.) We then belatedly came to our own conclusion about him as a player. It seems that Edmonton is now coming to the same realization. If one dimensional players are not prolific, they then become liabilities. He is what he is and what he has always been. Some organizations are quicker to see.

There are a variety of styles of ownership in hockey and all sports. There are involved owners who have a say in decisions and there are laissez-faire styles of ownership where the owner is completely detached from the operation. Regardless of the management style in the end what's being evaluated is the overall record. From that standpoint, our owner has been a dismal failure. You may find the question of rating our owner a difficult and complex issue. I don't. It's as simple as counting wins and losses.

Depends on what? What I know, and you know and everyone else knows is what his franchise's record is during his nearly a generation of ownership. It's not a mystery. If you want to ignore the reality of his tenure, that's your prerogative. His record as an owner is abysmal.

He's owned the team for I believe 13 years. During that period of time he was instrumental in the hiring process of the upper staff. The people who he hired to make the hockey decisions have not succeeded during that extended interlude. The onus of his decisions do not make him a successful owner, at least that is how I view it.