JohnC

My growing concern is that our best players (Dahlin most notably) will get so frustrated with being stuck in this hopeless situation that they will demand to be dealt. You don't think that there are some pangs of jealousy when they see former teammates (who demanded out) such as Eichel, Reinhart and ROR hoisting the Cup? You don't think that Dahlin sees that his friend, Mitts, is happier with his new team and will feel some envy when he sees Mitts playing in the playoffs while he is on the couch watching the postseason games again? How many road games are played in raucously full arenas while the Sabre home games are played in front of half-filled sleepy and agitated audiences? And don't you think that the players take notice that when the Sabres play the Maple Leafs at home, it seems like a road game? The players are very much aware that the franchise they play for is a league joke. You don't think that it bothers them that their place of employment is universally mocked? There is a lot of mention that a lot of players don't want to come here to this toxic waste site. There is an even more worrisome problem that the players here are desperate to get out of this manure pile. The irrefutable truth is that through its own ineptitude the organization put itself in this pitiful situation. It didn't have to be this way. An accumulation of bad decisions has sunk this franchise into the depths of irrelevancy. So freaking pathetic!

I'm in the minority in my positive view of Power. He's not a banger and never will be. He's more of a skater and finesse style of player. I'm confident that as he gets older, he will get stronger and will play a tougher game. If this dumb organization put him on the market, there would be a lot of teams salivating to get this young player with a lot more potential to tap into. The shame of it is that he is stuck here to wallow in this garbage pile of franchise.

I'm not disagreeing that this team is fragile. However, if that fluke play wouldn't have happened, the Sabres would still have gotten pummeled. The play was disorganized throughout the game. Individually, our players are not bad. If you put them on a pro functioning team, they would thrive. But from a team composition standpoint, this team is disjointed. It just seems to me that both the coaching staff and the players can't get on the same page and react as a team. Everyone is scrambling around, and the concept of team play has been lost. Sandlot hockey might work in midget hockey but it certainly doesn't work in the NHL. Players have lost their confidence. They expect bad things to happen leading to an onslaught. It's so sad that things have gotten to such a low point. The diminishing fan base deserve better. This franchise has become the laughingstock of the league. What more can be said that already has been said. Simply pathetic!

I think you are excessively optimistic about the prospects for the not-too-distant future that this GM and franchise is facing. The hideous disarray that is evident right now is going to reverberate to the point where our options will be limited in attaining help from the free agent market and in making trades because there are so many no trade clauses. Next year, Byram is going to be in his UFA year. Do you think that he has much appetite to stay here with this lagging franchise rather than pursue better options somewhere else? If that materializes, then the Mitts trade will turn into another boondoggle just as with the Eichel and Reinhart scenarios. The plummeting of this team has stunned me. I didn't expect it. The players seem to be just as dazed as the HC seems to be. Who would have thought that there is less structure and cohesion now than under Granato, the developmental coach. I'm simply at a loss for words trying to understand what has happened. Because of this ignominious/embarrassing losing streak, the erosion of the already withering fan base will accelerate. The damage to this franchise is self-inflected. It starts with the top of the pyramid. It's both sad and pathetic.

https://www.buffalobills.com/video/20th-anniversary-greatest-comeback-highlights-9268067 Historical classic!

I've said this before as have others, especially @LGR4GM :Cozens is better suited to be a winger than a center. Reading plays is not his strong suit (as you noted). When he plays in the international tournaments at wing, he usually thrives. He's simply miscast. That's what happens when you traded away a potential 2C and don't have an option to fill the hole you created.

The coach is already limiting playing time during games and sitting players out because of poor play. Maybe seeing and touching some robust titties can re-energize some players who are in a fog. Let's see if it works.

Maybe just giving the players more down time will help the players get their minds off this losing streak. Players, especially Cozens, are too tensed up and tight. They seem to be worrying too much about making mistakes and waiting for the inevitable tide to turn against them. This is a fragile team that can't handle adversity. The players need to just play the game with less anxiety. There are many who would rather see the coach have some rugged practices as punishment for their less than stellar play. What would that prove and do at this point? Having the team enter the game with heavy legs so that they will skate as if they were stuck in cement won't help the cause. I have no problem with the staff giving this mentally weak and anxiety wrecked team a little off time to refresh. I predict the Sabres will win tonight. As a note of caution, I have been wrong on six consecutive times during my prediction slump. For the bettors out there, bet the opposite and your pockets will be bulging with cash. Do you hear me @Wyldnwoody44?

Forget it.

You never paid me the commission when I advised you to run the table with your parlay. I'm a Sicilian. My boys will be knocking on your door to collect on what is due. Nothing personal, simply business.

I'm not sure what you are referring to. Everything the Hockey Guy stated was a reprise of what has been repeatedly stated in this forum. The-is inept organization created a deep hole that it hasn't figured out how to solve. When you constantly shoot yourself in the foot it is difficult to keep up when racing with the big boys.

You don't have to be historically bad to keep your franchise stuck in hockey irrelevancy. Simply being mediocre at your job is sufficient enough to maintain a generation of non-playoff participants. The standard is so low that it is a testament to where this franchise stands in the hockey world. Simply pathetic!

Stop complaining. Haven't you won enough gambling games to absorb some small losses? That football parlay that you won last week should give you more than enough margin to keep your wallet bulging and you smiling. 😀

What you noted is probably a big factor. But however one looks at those early upgraded contracts, the return on value is not maximized because the young players don't have the benefit of playing with a better mix of more rugged and muscular players who complement the more skilled (finesse) younger players. After almost 5 years on the job, our GM hasn't figured out what the structural problem of the roster is when it is plain to most people. He's a checkers player playing a chess game. Futility laid on top of futility!

More big artificial boobs on that show. 😀 Planet idiot.

What planet are you residing on? If you aren't aware of what my position has been on this issue for a long time, then your ability to discern is minimal.

What has exhausted my patience with this franchise is not that this is a bottom feeding team as it is another season of lost opportunities due to the passivity of the front office. Even in this ignominious losing streak, and against many good teams, most of our losses are by one goal. The difference between success and failure is minimal. This staff simply didn't properly assess its own team and make the right adjustments to better balance out the roster. It's more of the "should have been" than that gets me agitated. Just a few more smart tweaks could have made a big difference. This team should have been on an up cycle while the some of the standard good teams are on the down cycle.

My worry is that some of the young talent get so frustrated with the extended struggles they are having and with the team that they end up requesting a change of scenery to be reinvigorated. I can see that happening with Cozens, Quinn, JJP and even Power. It certainly happened with Eichel, Reinhart and ROR. This organization needs to demonstrate more urgency to address issues rather than let them linger in the hope that it will work itself out. Losing is corrosive.

Terrific summarization of my evaluation of KA as a GM. A scout looks at a player/prospect as an individual. While the GM looks at a player with a wider lense, taking into consideration the prospect's role and how he fits within the roster. The problem that I have with KA is not that he isn't drafting well enough as he is not augmenting his picks with the right players through free agency and trades. Team building is more than stocking the team. He simply can't get the mix right, and he's had more than enough time catch up with his lapses.

Put Cozens on the wing where he belongs and get an authentic 2C for his line. We had Mitts and he was dealt. When you dig a hole you can't forget to go back and fill the hole. Bad judgments lead to bad consequences. The problem wasn't in dealing Mitts as it was in not having a reasonable backup play to fill the vacancy. We have one dimensional thinkers attempting to play a 3-dimensional game. Even Forest Gump knows that!

It would be great. You are sitting next to a fellow who isn't a chit chatter. Plenty of uninterrupted snooze time.

I doubt that he is. This is what happens when you construct a team not meant to play the way you want it to play. It's simply a poorly constructed roster asked to play a particular style of game that most of them are not suited for. It's like building a finesse roster in football and then force them to play a power running game. It's so stupid.

I'm not trying to be funny because it is sad to say. If you have seen any one of the games in this losing streak, you have seen them all. A consistency of distinctive ineptitude. There are short interludes of good play placed within longer interludes of inattentive play. When you have no conviction, you play without conviction. You don't have to be a hockey maven to see it.

What a ridiculous situation! A clueless owner who selects an ill-equipped person to be his GM to preside over his meandering franchise. What can go wrong? It's a clown show produced by the owner, himself.

Some GMs are better than others. There are mediocre GMs and top tier GMs. That's not the issue for the Sabres. The owner bestowed the critical GM position on someone who was manifestly unqualified to begin with. You look at the numerous transactions that the Caps GM has made. Many of them have worked and some have not. You have to have an ability to adjust to the ever-changing circumstances. Our novice GM simply doesn't have that essential ability to make those required adjustments. My problem with the owner isn't that he hired this novice when Botterill refused to fire the staff. If he would have hired him as a temporary GM (place holder), that would have been understandable. But he is going on five years in that critical position. That's an incomprehensible absurdity!