JohnC

Addressing #4, Terry got into the hospitality business at a full throttle pace. Then covid struck. That substantial part of his enterprise was financially obliterated. He saw that his business strategy to move into that new area was quickly draining off his resources. He sold off much of that part of the business. So his approach was to understandably cut expenses. The problem is that he didn't change it when the economic environment went back to relative normalcy. With respect to #3 and his wife's involvement, I do believe that if she didn't get ill, she would have been better suited to be involved with the hockey operation than the owner. (I'm aware that a lot of people would disagree with that.) She seems to be better with people, listening and communicating. As far as not being in tune with the NHL network, that's because the owner wants it that way. There is nothing unusual that when someone enters a new field of endeavor that has a unique culture that it takes time to understand the uniqueness and complexities of this new realm. However, he's had more than enough time to adapt. He hasn't because that is his wish. My sense of Terry P is that he is comfortable in ordering people to do things and is not good at listening to others giving input that is contrary to his inclinations. Billionaire stubbornness and hubris.

The state of affairs of this franchise is such an absurdity. It takes a lot of effort to be bad for so long. Exponential incompetence is a rarified state to be in. That in itself is an ignominious accomplishment that a lot of others are incapable of achieving.

There is a saying: Penny wise and dollar foolish. If the owner and organization would have been willing to make a few "substantial" moves to augment the "draft and develop" rebuild strategy, this team would be in a much better position. The margin between success and failure can be small. The owner and GM took the cheaper route of thinking small and wasting time. (As you point out.) In a competitive endeavor it is a loser's mentality. You end up getting what you deserve.

What other owner in the league would hire such an inexperienced hockey fellow who already was working in the business side of his hockey organization to take over a downward spiraling franchise? It's an absurdity. It makes no sense other than the owner's priority was to cut costs. No serious hockey person would have been interested in coming here. And the owner wasn't interested in bringing in a serious hockey person because his priority was to cut costs. And that's what made KA appealing: His willingness to do so.

What makes me angry about this mediocre GM is that the time to have made an impactful deal for a second-line player was the offseason. He over-assessed his roster and miscalculated what his roster needs were. Yes, he did a solid job on rebuilding the lower lines, but he was unresponsive to the biggest need of adding a second-line player that would have made the offense more potent. It was a tepid response to a major need. Repeating what I have previously stated: He's a checkers player playing a chess game. He's a congenial fellow who is simply inadequate for the task. Mediocrity breeding more mediocrity.

There certainly are players that are unattainable due to contract clauses. That doesn't mean that all options are foreclosed in acquiring players. Trades still can be made, quality secondary free agents are available, and players move up from within the system. Compare us to the Capitals who have steadily reworked their roster since they won the Cup in 2018. For the most part, it is a reworked roster with the great Ovie still remaining, although he is now hurt. Their record is 17-6-1. There is no question that some franchises are unappealing destinations. But what puts them in the "disfavor" category is that they are recognized for their systemic incompetence. Who would want to be stuck in such a place?

I'm not going to bother discussing this game. Everyone saw what they saw. This 13-year doldrum is inexcusable and absurd. The system is designed for the down teams to move up and make it more challenging for the up teams to remain in their loftier positions. Let's compare Buffalo to the Washington organization that won a Cup in 2018. Over the past few years, the Calpitals have steadily reworked their roster. The front office has added young players from their system, making smart trades and acquiring the right free agent players. Their best player who will be in the HOF, Ovie, will be out for an extended period of time. Their record is 17-6-1, winning 7 straight road games. They won last night in a come from behind win against the Devils, one of the better teams in the league. What has handcuffed this franchise is an owner who personally hired the top staff. He doesn't know what he is doing. But what makes things even worse is that it doesn't seem that he is even invested in his own franchise. Tell me, what NHL franchise would have hired such an inexperienced person like KA to be their GM? I'm not saying that every decision the GM has made is wrong, but what is evident is that there are not enough right decisions to enable this team to be a serious team in the league. My worry is that because this franchise has been stuck for so long in the muck of mediocrity that some of their best young talent will become demoralized and want out like Eichel and Reinhardt did. Players at this level are fierce competitors. They don't like to regularly lose and not have a chance to participate in the playoffs. Don't kid yourself, consistently losing and not winning enough does demoralize even the most talented players. The owner and his GM need to demonstrate more urgency that they care and want to win. It's a ridiculous situation for a fan to be subjected to. What's worse than fan anger is fan apathy. That's the fast-track road that this franchise is on.

The offseason was the time to have acquired a top six forward. Our lackluster GM didn't address that obvious need. What's frustrating with such organizational passivity is that often when you make an impact move it positively reverberates to other players and lines. It has a multiplier effect. On the other hand, I am more positive about Quinn and Cozens's recent play. I do see an uptick in it. The extra two minutes added to Cozens's original penalty were deserved. The linesman allowed him to vent after the original call, but he wouldn't stop. He has to have better situational awareness. His immaturity and discipline were costly. It's on him!

He ended up getting the procedure he wanted. The outcome of the procedure worked out well. The irony is that after he had that particular procedure other players had the same procedure for similar injuries, also working out well for them. The procedure he got was considered experimental in the US while in Europe it was considered a standard procedure. As @Thorner pointed out, he is a tremendous passer. And it should be noted that they two of the top players in the league, Eichel and Reinhart, were drafted and played for Buffalo. Both have their names on the Cup while the franchise they left have struggled. The Sabres are what they are because the organization does what it does. Systemic incompetence is ugly to witness and tough to take.

The call on Cozens was certainly a borderline call. It was a questionable judgment call that both sides have to contend with all the time. That's part of the game. In an overview, we lost this game because we couldn't convert enough when the opportunities presented itself. We lost because we lost.

That was an atrocious call! Quinn was in front of the guy and ready to play the puck. You are right that both players were chasing the puck and heading to the boards. But it was clear that Quinn was in front of the opposing player and was ready to get the puck or may have even had the puck. You are right that linesman very often predict the play and out of caution rule icing. But that wasn't the case here. There was nothing to predict because Quinn was in front of the other player. The Sabres didn't lose the game because of this bad call. Sometimes the call goes in your favor and sometimes not. That's part of the game you can't control. We lost the game because we didn't score when the opportunities were there to do so. The Tage down low at the end of the game is an example of that. Tage is one of our main scorers. He needs to vary his game and move around more because the opposition is ready for him when he is stationed on his spots. The penalty that Cozens took was very questionable. Vancouver scored on the PP. Cozens additional penalty due to his response at the call was reckless and irresponsible considering the time and situation of the game. Vancouver didn't score on the second penalty but it took time away from our offense.

What the helll is going on? There are a lot of crabby and cantankerous people in the room. There are lot of people with sore arses in this thread. Try this to get some soothing from the burning sensations: https://www.cvs.com/shop/preparation-h-hemorrhoid-cooling-gel-prodid-1040197?skuId=898510

I'm not putting Granato on a coaching pedestal.. Let's not forget what the situation was at that time. Any coach coming to this franchise at the time was coming to a blow it up situation, stripping away the foundation not only to the roster but to the innards of the organization. Both the GM and owner set a course that was a full throttle rebuild with a spartan budget. KA and the owner set a course that was going to shed players, contracts and resources within the organization during the covid and the retool period. From a competitive standpoint, this team was set up to fail. As you point out, the owner was not going to pay the going rate for a first-rate coach, and on the other side of the coin no credible coach was interested in coming to this no-win and sure to fail situation. (As you point out.) Where we seem to diverge is that I give Granato more credit for the development of the younger players, such as Tage, Mitts, Dahlin etc. than you seem to do. DG was presiding in a period of time where this particular rebuild strategy ordered from above presented him with a situation that made it impossible for his team to be a serious team. I would say (and so do you) that under the circumstances his 91 pt season was impressive. This team is definitely at a more mature stage than when DG took over. I still contend that during this flux period Granato was the right coach for that turbulent time. The team is now at a more mature stage of the rebuild. There is no question that Lindy is now more suited to be the coach at this time than Granato would be.

Minnesota's record is 14-4-4. Their road record is 10-1-3. I wouldn't call them a powerhouse, but they certainly are a good team that is exceptional on the road, at least so far. In this game, their goalie was superb, as was our goalie. I'm disappointed with not winning but I'm not disappointed how the Sabres played. In hockey, as in all sports, sometimes you lose games that you should have won, and sometimes you win games that you should have lost. In a long season those upside-down outcome usually even out. Speaking for myself, despite the lack of scoring, this was a well-played and hard-fought game that I enjoyed watching.

A lot of people will be aroused if that type of player is brought in. 😀

You misinterpreted the point the poster wanted to make. He wants a top 6 scorer who has a bonerrrrr.

Minnesota is one of the best teams in the league. We matched them, if not slightly played better. Their goalie was outstanding, making saves and not giving up rebounds. UPL was also superb. As others have said, if the Sabres consistently play at this level, they will be in good shape. One of the most encouraging things about this game was the play of Quinn. He played with more confidence in the offensive zone, getting off a number of good shots. Tage also got off a lot of powerful shots. You can see that Lindy is getting through to his team on how he wants them to play i.e. with structure and responsible play in their zone. I'm disappointed with the loss but am pleased with how this team played. The Sabres had no lulls in this game from what I witnessed. Not much scoring but a good game to watch.

Dahlin agrees with you. 😀 Kruger is an example that employers shouldn't get too enamored with job interviews. Some people are good at giving a presentation but not so good at producing.

I agree that odds are that he won't get another HC job. But that doesn't mean that he didn't do a good job developing young players during his brief tenure. As an example comprare how Dahlin played under Krueger vs Granato? The Sabres are now at a different stage where a more experienced NHL HC is more suitable. Now is about the now. That's where we are at. And getting from there to here has been an excruciating process, especially for the fans.

Granato was coaching a lot of young players. It was the GM who when he took over publicly stated that this was a rebuilding job that emphasized a "draft and develop" approach. Eichel was our best player. He was dealt. (Let's not reprise the issues about him.) Reinhart was also one of our best players. He was dealt. (Again, let's not go through that saga again.) It's not a surprise that a roster laden with young players is going to be inconsistent and lacking a defensive focus. That's a byproduct of having such a young roster. There was an expected trade off of how young inexperienced players play and how veteran players perform in the NHL. Was the GM's exceedingly youth-oriented approach the best approach? That's not worth debating because that was the organizational decision made by the GM with the owner's consent. I stand by my belief that Granato was the right coach to take over from Krueger considering the direction that was set by the GM. And the time came where a more experienced NHL was required to replace Granato. Different stages of the rebuild mandated the coaching change. We are now at a more mature stage where the emphasis on wining for today.

Great in diagnosing plays and is elite at tackling.

Granato is better than Lindy in developing young players. While Lindy is better than Granato in managing his lineup for NHL games. Granato was the right coach to take over from Krueger. And it is clear that Lindy was the right coach to take over for Granato. The big change is that players through their play determine where, how much or if at all that they play. It's easy to talk about accountability but it is more challenging to enforce accountability.

What conjectural proposal are you suggesting?

Would you be willing to give up a Kulick, Quinn, Peterka and more in a deal? I wouldn't.

I was originally critical of the Mitts/Byram trade. It was not because from a talent standpoint it was an unequal trade. The basis of my criticism was that I felt that Mitts was a versatile player who could fill a greater variety of roles than the player he was dealt for. Watching Byram play and getting more comfortable with his new players, I've come around (although not fully) to a large extent. A few years ago, our blueline had a dearth of talent and was a major liability. With recent additions of Power and Byram that unit is not only becoming a strength. And it should be noted that Clifton was a good complementary addition. Pieces are steadily being added to make this roster a NHL solid roster from a talent standpoint. And the best aspect of these young additions is there is more upside to draw from as time moves forward.