JohnC

I agree with you that it was Adams who convinced the owner to fire Krueger. And that reluctance to fire Krueger sooner rather than later was another one of the owner's bad decisions. I give Adams credit for putting in the effort to coax the owner to do what he was hesitant to do. My opinion is that the owner got tired of paying people who were no longer working for him.

Why do you think that Granato has for now decided to pair Dahlin with Joki?

When Pegula bought the Bills he was the person who signed Rex Ryan after a number of interviews to be the head coach. When he was asked why he preferred Rex he said he wanted to make this nondescript franchise more relevant. Rex was for the most part a Pegula hire. I have no doubt that it was Botterill who brought Krueger to the owner's attention. And I have no doubt that the owner was in the room when the main candidates for the GM position were interviewed. It likely that Botterill was the main influence in the Krueger hire. As you noted he had the connection to him. But Pegula was also involved in interviewing the finalists. And as you noted because he signed the checks he was the one who signed off on the decision to hire him. Neither Botts or the owner should be absolved of that terrible decision. And in my opinion the owner should have stepped in sooner last year to fire the coach when the team clearly quit on him.

With the Seneca One project completed, the proposed DL&W Terminal and the north aud block proposal (see link) you can start to see that once barren area repopulated with social and business activity included to the mix. Momentum added to previous momentum. That's a good sign. https://www.wkbw.com/news/wny-development/proposal-for-redeveloping-the-north-aud-block

I don't doubt that. But my understanding when it gets to the stage of finalists the owner is in the room and ultimately the decider.

You bring up an interesting question: Was it Botterill or the Pegulas most enamored with the articulate dispatched coach? My understanding is that with the Bills the owners made the selection. Terry P flubbed it with Rex but got it right with McDermott.

If KA is willing to judiciously use his abundant assets in cap space and draft picks I believe he can quicken the speed of the choo choo train on the tracks of this rebuild. If he can add two to three solid to good players to the two to three young players already in the system (Quinn, Peterka and Power)this team can compete for a fringe playoff spot. That would be a refreshing change from being a predictable bottom feeding before the season even starts.

If Hinostroza is traded the GM should be charged with felonious stupidity! He is a good fit for the Sabres and the Sabres are a good fit for him.

Sam would have been more than worth it on a $7 M on a 5 yr deal with the Sabres. If Reinhart were on the Sabres, the rebuild timetable would be shortened. Not getting him signed to a long-term deal when he was willing to sign a few years back was one of the biggest blunders this franchise has ever made. This franchise's setbacks were mostly self-induced. It's maddening.

Krueger took a $9 M player in Skinner and turned him into a $150,000 scrub. Granato took the same player and made him into a $7 M player. He then put him on a revamped first line that can hold up with any first line in the league. You don't have to be an analytical wizard to understand the return on the dollars spent. Another player that has blossomed under DG is Tage. He moved him from the wing to the center spot. Now Tage is emerging as a worthy first line center and became one of our biggest scoring threats. Krueger had a tendency of caging players while Granato knowns how to open the door and unleash their talents. One of the biggest faults of Krueger when coaching players is that he straitjackets players that limits them while Granato adjusts to the player and maximizes their assets while also managing their limitations. That's what coaching is all about! Let's not even bring up Dahlin. Under Granato Dahlin is emerging as one of the top players in the league whose creativity and flow are something to marvel at. Under Krueger Dahlin became robotic and over-thought the game to the point of constant hesitancy. In a year and a half Krueger crushed the soul of his players and of the fanbase. The amount of damage the erudite coach did in his short stint is astounding.

Fitz in my view is a third or fourth pairing defenseman. I think there is a good chance that Samuelsson can be a second caliber pairing player. If not, a good third pairing player who could easily move up to the second pairing when needed.

Heck no! If you want him on next year's roster next then keep him on the roster and have him continue to grow and have chemistry with his teammates . It would make little sense to trade him for a medium pick and then risk losing him in the future. Let's not get cute and fool around. If you like him, then stay with him.

Of all the posts in this thread your posting of a picture of you and your son at this game was the coolest. Although the both of you probably froze your arses off, you and he will never forget this event. ⛄

I'm not knowledgeable enough about the play of the two players you mentioned. What I can say for sure is that for an inexperienced NHL player he already plays a mature game. I remember how posters were clamoring to bring him up from Rochester a lot sooner than he should have. He is a good example on how to develop players the right way. The AHL experience served him well. And that is a tribute to the organization for not moving him up to the big league before he was ready.

You really hit the mark on how out of touch the theme of the pre-arranged exchanges were. The trio in the booth weren't responding either to the game or to the audience of today. As someone else brought up it was like a group in a bar talking about the games and players of yesterday. As you noted it was a missed opportunity to promote the game to a more current audience. There were more than enough story lines associated with Toronto and Buffalo that they could have included in this game. They instead looked to the past instead of the game that was in front of them. Way off target and irritating to listen to. And as I said in a prior post I usually like Albert covering games. In this game he was neutered.

You are allowed to gush. But if you send him candy and a love note then you are crossing a line where he may end up calling security. 🏴‍☠️

Others have singled out the play of Samuelsson. Just to add to their recognition of his play when watching him the thing that sticks out to me is his efficiency. He plays a strong game but isn't noted for banging because he is so efficient at getting to and moving the puck out quickly. For a young player he plays a mature game. Risto was noted for his big hits but lacked the instincts of where to be positioned. Samuelsson has a cerebral way of playing the position that Risto doesn't, and will never have. I'm really impressed by him.

Because of the cold this was more of a whiskey than a beer game for the announcers.

And at least they comment on the game. Gretzky is arguably the best hockey player in the history of the game. Being in behind a microphone diminishes him.

Absolutely yes.

As you noted it seemed that the game was an afterthought while the focus was on Gretzky reminisces. It was horrible.

The broadcast with Gretzky in the booth was terrible. The broadcast was more about Gretzky's reminisces than it was about the game. I usually like Albert doing hockey games. It just seemed that the announcers were deferring to Gretzky instead of covering the game. The jolly jabs at Jonesy got tiresome and were inane.

The Cozens's hit on Mathews was clean. The broadcasters also said so. I'm not suggesting that you are saying otherwise. Just commenting on the clip.

One lesson that this game demonstrated is when in doubt shoot the puck. A couple of goals by Hinostroza and Krebs were fluky but that's hockey. Anderson was stout and efficient in this game. He was adept at moving the puck to a player to get it out of the zone. If I were giving out stars I would give the first star to Hinostroza. The second star would go to Anderson. I thought Krebs played well and showed more willingness to shoot. I also liked the play of Skinner. Prior to the game the analyst near the benches (Jones) noted that the Sabre bench was active while the Toronto bench was sedate. The play reflected the respective benches attitude. Something is very amiss with the Maple Leafs. Cozens is becoming the fighting spirit on this team. He is leading this team by his hard core style of play. The one negative aspect in playing on outside game is the condition of the ice. It makes it difficult to skate. At the end of the game the camera went to a smiling Pegula. I hope that is a sign that he is very invested in winning. Winning games over the past six games or so offers hope for the not too distant future. I'm hoping this offseason the organization uses some of its abundant assets to add a few more good players.

When watching Krebs play the talent is evident. He is a young player who needs to get stronger. There are episodes where you get wowed by his playmaking ability. And then there are spells where he is outmuscled off the puck and in his defensive responsibilities. Tage, Mitts and to a lesser extent Dahlin struggled early on keeping up with stronger NHL players. It took time for them to get stronger. Now you can see the results where they physically match up with the opposition. And the same issue applies to Quinn. Especially for Quinn and Krebs offseason conditioning is going to be critical for next season success.