JohnC

Is the food that bad and costly? How much is a beer? Is it watered-downed light beer? Does Sports Service still have the concession contract? As you smartly point out there are deficiencies about the arena that you can't quickly fix. Quality service is something that you can quickly upgrade if you have the desire to! Even if there is a dearth of paying customers that doesn't mean that you can't properly service the ones who do show up.

You are absolutely right. The GM recognized the talent and ended you with (we expect) a good value contract. One of the most appealing traits about Samuelsson is his hockey intelligence. His positioning and decision-making are already at the level of a good veteran defenseman. Because of his already mature and understated game (not an ostentatious banger) he can be undervalued until he is not on the ice. And then you notice the difference. Can you imagine what kind of player Risto would be if he had Samuelsson's smarts?

Everyone has their own perception when watching a game. On balance, I thought the Sabres had an overall edge. Was it a decisive difference? I thought it was but if another observer comes to a different conclusion, I can't say they were wrong. The Sabres had more scoring chances. They just couldn't capitalize on them. I thought both goalies played well. The difference in this game for me was that there were not enough players in the low (dirty) area when the puck was being scrambled for around the other team's net. The goal that went off Power was a quirky goal. The goalie made the stop, and it then ricocheted off of the defenseman who was in a good position to support his goalie. That's simply hockey! There were some positive takeaways in this game. The main one is the solid play of Comrie, and the second was the obvious value of Samuelsson. Not having him made a big difference.

Absolutely! Dahlin, Tuch, for this game Power with injuries in the unit etc. etc.

I'm re-stating the coach's position because I understand what his approach is to this roster and player development. I have no problem with it. From a broader roster development standpoint it makes sense to me. I'm as much of an Asplund supporter as anyone else here. I just don't see him sitting in one game in order for another young player to get playing time as a significant detriment for this one game.

Sitting Asplund down for one game in order to allow another young player ice time is not going to hurt the team's ability to win this game. The coach is expressly doing what he said he was going to do. Relax.

For the coach and the organization there is a big-picture aspect to this rotation related to player development. He had made a decision before the season started on how he was going to handle the young players. He's determined to not having players such as Quinn, JJ and Krebs sit out a number of consecutive games. And that's exactly what he is doing.

The coach is exactly doing what he said he is going to do as far as rotating players. The issue for him is not having young players out for an extended period of time. And that's exactly what he is doing. As I stated to @webster guyAsplund is one of my favorite players. This one game sit-down will not hurt him or the team.

The coach feels that it is important that the youngsters (Krebs, Quinn and JJ) don't sit for consecutive games. Casey certainly blundered on that particular play, but for the most part his effort and contribution has been positive. As for the play of Vinny it has also been more than satisfactory. He gives you a veteran presence on a team laden with youngsters. (It should be noted that Vinny has done some time upstairs.) Even before the season started the HC was upfront on how he was going to handle the excess in forwards: He was going to rotate players. And that's exactly what he is doing. You are simply exaggerating the meaning and impact of a one game sit-down. And it should be known that I am a fan of Asplund. His assignment in the company box for this game will not hurt him or the team.

Don Granato on WGR talked about sitting players down because he doesn't want any player to sit for an extended period of time. He stressed that this is not a punishment due to poor play or sending a message to anyone in particular. It's simply rotating players in and out because currently there is a surplus of players. I wouldn't read too much into who is watching the game from the box.

I have no hesitation in crediting Botterill for some of his transactions. If he was responsible for hiring Granato, then he certainly deserves credit for it. As you well know it was KA who elevated Granato as the interim HC when Krueger was fired, and then gave him a contract to be the HC. And as you noted KA reworked the roster Botts brought in and refashioned much of it. No new GM can do a complete reconstruction of his predecessor's roster because of contracts on the books and cap issues. And as I stated in prior posts KA deserves credit for dispatching the old core and getting a reasonable return for them, and then replacing them with players already on the roster. He was judicious and prudent in making the roster transition.

You've made this point before that although these young players were added to the roster, the players they replaced were merely JAGS. Veteran JAGS will in the short run be more consistent making fewer glaring mistakes. But as JJ has already demonstrated he is capable of making an impressive play that a JAG has no ability to make.

Most of us are excited by this successful start. However, assuming that this team isn't undercut with an accumulation of injuries, it is going to be interesting to see where this team and players such as JJ and Quinn are at the halfway point, and near the end of the regular season. Both Quinn and JJ proved that their level of play is past the AHL level of play. One of the most enjoyable parts of this season will be tracking the development of these two players during this season. I'm confident that as this season advances this team will get better (assuming the goaltending remains at its current level).

Granato was on WGR a couple of weeks ago and said it must be understood that with the addition of Quinn and JJ to the roster this team is younger than last year's team. He made the point that you have to give them playing time recognizing that their play is going to be inconsistent. He also added that these talented young players will undoubtedly get better as the season advances. As a coach he trusts the process knowing that being patient not only benefits these inexperienced players but that it will also pay dividends for the team in the near future.

I'm hoping that after a very successful west coast trip that the Sabres draw a big crowd for the Montreal game, the next home game. The players deserve it.

I don't look at the Eichel trade in isolation. I see it as part of the Eichel/Reinhart/Risto group in which the old core was exchanged for a new core that included players young players on the roster, such as Dahlin, Tage, Cozens and Mitts etc. The GM was judicious in not only sending out players for pieces for new building blocks but also was smart enough to not completely blow up the roster up for the sake of starting over. I remember when he took over the hockey operation he was on WGR and spoke about his philosophy in building a Cup contending team. He stressed the importance of building a roster where the talent was spread out throughout the roster as opposed to relying on one a high-end first line. Carolina was his model for a Cup caliber team. As you also point out overall he has done a sterling job.

This is just my opinion but the issue is more problematic with the Sabres than with the Bills. I'm hoping that I am wrong and that the arena becomes more populated with paying customers sooner than later.

Beyond his problem with his receivers he's also playing behind a makeshift OL that is forcing him to get rid of the ball quicker than any other qb. He's playing with the realization that he doesn't have much of a chance to succeed.

If the owner would have waited until the end of the year to fire this lost cause coach, this franchise would have been set back even further. As it turned out there is still a sizeable faction of the fandom that left and may never come back. Demoralizing is too weak a word to describe what happened to this proud franchise. The slate has now been mostly wiped away of its ignominious past and it is at a renewal stage with a promising future.

It had to be an excruciating experience for him. My understanding is that Krueger didn't tolerate dissent from his staff. So, it's likely that Granato kept his views to himself. As soon as he took over, he undid everything that Krueger did, including how he conducted practices. Another interesting bar room question is how much further along would this franchise be if Granato was hired instead of Krueger? I've said this before so I apologize for the repetition: Kevin Adams has made a lot of good decisions in his relatively short stint. The most consequential is elevating Granato to replace Krueger, and then making him the head coach.

Don't be embarrassed because you are not alone in being seduced by the word master at the podium. I was also for a spell seduced by his inauthentic act. However, it didn't take long before his act was no longer tolerable to me. Excessive losing wasn't the worst part of his tenure. Because of his inflexible hockey ideology he killed the enjoyment of the game because of his joyless style of play. His brand of hockey was painful to watch. When Granato took over, even when his team struggled to win, the liberated style of play was so much more entertaining to watch. Of course, all of us are happy that the Sabres are winning. But even if the team was winning at a lower rate, no one can deny that the Sabres are entertaining to watch.

Skinner was a $9 M a year player. Under Krueger he became a replaceable $300,000 JAG. Under Granato, Skinner was revitalized and became a $7M first line player who regained his goal scoring touch. I can't think of one player who was better under Krueger than under Granato. One unsuccessful coach subordinated the talent of a player in pursuit of his system while the replacing coach took the opposite approach of prioritizing activating the talent of each player that collectively would benefit the team.

An interesting bar room discussion can be had over who is more happy about the firing of Krueger: Dahlin or Skinner?

You properly/smartly categorized the caliber of players those young players you listed in your last sentence as developing players in contrast to being merely tweeners. Just as it took some time for players such as Mitts and Cozens to reach a more established level, the hope is that players such as Krebs, Quinn and Peterka will also follow that uneven grooming process. What's most encouraging is that we have a HC who knows how to handle that challenging and exasperating process. That's why I'm so upbeat about this team now and in the near future. As you and others have noted for a long time you can't overstate the importance of goaltending in this team building process. The issue for me this season is whether Comrie can handle being the primary netminder with Anderson filling in for a segment of games. If Comrie can't handle the heavy load, and Anderson is given too much of the load, then much of the good work in developing this roster will be undercut.

Last year on WGR Granato was asked what was the primary reason why the team finished the season on a high note? Without hesitation he said the team got healthy. As you noted, the Sabres were a shallow team that couldn't afford injuries to a roster that had little depth. When the inevitable injuries occurred, the floor collapsed. Steadily due to the development of the young players this team has more depth to better absorb the injuries that happen during a bruising season. The issue that I was uncertain about was whether the success in the last third of last year had any meaning for this upcoming season. I still can't say for sure, but I'm now more inclined to believe after the start of this season is that the play at the end of last year did augur well for how this season will unfold, of course much of it dependent on the play of our goalies.