JohnC

The most interesting part of this story is that Dahlin took him in and engaged with him as if he is a family member. That's leadership and caring for a young teammate. https://www.buffalohockeybeat.com/no-world-juniors-no-problem-sabres-zach-benson-thrilled-to-be-in-buffalo/

I could see a situation where a young player/prospect would state his preference to management to play in an international tournament. If he were on the NHL roster but given a limited role with limited minutes, I could see him wanting to play on the international stage with his peers. That's not the case here. He is playing regular minutes on one of the top two lines. And from a developmental standpoint playing with the big club makes sense for him and the organization.

Did Benson want to go rather than stay with the Sabres?

I'm not trying to be sarcastic or condescending. But if you don't believe that there are games in which the Sabres benefit from bad calls or non-calls, then there is little basis to discuss this topic. There were certainly questionable calls in this game. I'm not arguing otherwise. However, the Sabres didn't lose the game because of them. The Sabres lost because the opposition had the better goalie who made a number of exceptional stops. We had more than enough opportunities to win regardless of the caliber of officiating. We simply didn't capitalize on them because their goalie was up to the task.

The word never in my prior comment is not a loaded word. There are games where the erratic officiating benefits us at the expense of the opposition. And there are games where erratic officiating benefits the opposition at our expense. That's a part of the sports world that will always exist. I thought the game was poorly called. From my perspective it seemed to tilt toward the Rangers. Did the calls result in us not coming away with a win? Not necessarily. The difference in this game was the play of their elite goalie. There are games where the officiating tilts toward the opposition; and there are games where the officiating tilt toward the Sabres. That's an inescapable aspect of all sports. My point regarding the officiating issue in this game or any game is that you play on and control what you can control. Johnson's manufactured fight didn't help us. It hurt us because the team was forced to PK instead of possibly create some scoring chances on 5 on 5. The Skinner 10 minute unsportsman's penalty ended up taking one of our best goal scorers out of action for 10 minutes in a close game. It's frustrating to say but erratic officiating is part of all sports at every level. The best way to handle it is to play through it and not allow yourself to get frustrated to the point where you take yourself out of the action.

I thought this game was poorly officiated. That's not an unusual occurrence in the NHL. However, are you arguing that the Sabres never benefit from bad calls and non-calls that favor them?

If you advocate for fighting in certain situations, then do you advocate it for football and basketball? Do you believe that it should be a part of the college or Olympic games. If not, why not? There are always missed calls in the pro ranks, in all sports. You act as if inconsistent officiating is an unusual occurrence. I would argue the opposite: That it is more the standard than it is not. Responding to bad calls in an unproductive manner doesn't help you, it hurts you. Do you complain when bad officiating benefits your team? I don't! Inconsistent officiating certainly is aggravating and agitating when it hurts your team. But that's part of the game.

My point about Cozens needlessly dropping the gloves is that it didn't help the team and it resulted him in getting hurt. How was dropping his gloves beneficial? What if he broke his hand that kept him out longer or suffered a season plaguing concussion. How would you respond to that?

What does fighting have to do with bad refereeing? It's a problem in all sports.

There is no question the officiating in this game was uneven. It's uneven in all sports. What's your solution? Beat up the referees.

It wasn't that long ago that Cozens deliberately got into a fight (instigated it) in order to energize his teammates. He got his face punched in and got injured. His play after that faded. How would you have felt if he ended up with a serious concussion that cost him the season or even his career? Thankfully, the hooligan era of fighting has been severely curtailed. There is no need for it at all. My recommendation would be to play harder and tougher. Dropping the gloves accomplishes nothing good. And when it happens it raises the risks of injuries. It's unnecessary.

I don't accept fighting. It should be completely banned. It's archaic and creates a safety risk for the pugilists. There are already enough inherent health risks for the players when playing. The best way to retaliate against another player is to legally body check the opposition. Playing hard and tough have nothing to do with fighting. I enjoy watching hockey; I don't like hooliganism. Fighting is not allowed in college hockey and in the Olympics. Ask yourself why?

I have repeatedly said this before during the Ullmark contract saga so I don't want to get into a "what if" sad song reciting. But "what if" KA would had shown more flexibility and signed Ullmark to the contract that the player wanted? We would have been a playoff team last year, and our season this year would certainly be better. We had a good NHL netminder in our system, and we allowed him to walk. It was a foolish mistake that has had major repercussions.

Echoing what @Sabres Fan in NS regarding the HC and his response to EJ's play you are way off the mark. There is simply no basis for your conclusion.

The Ranger goalie is a top tier goalie. He was the difference in the game. The Sabres had more than enough chances to win. We had a number of breakaways that we didn't capitalize on. Their goalie stymied those chances. On the positive side, the Sabres showed character after they got behind 2-0. They kept playing hard and pushed the play. They got back into the game. The biggest plus for me was the play of Quinn. He seems to have regained his speed and quickness. Another positive thing about this game is the play of Ryan Johnson. Although he's young and inexperienced he is very composed on the ice. He plays like he belongs. I thought Mitts played well in this game. I also liked the play of Greenway. There is little flash or speed to his game. He simply adds some beef and strength to the lineup. His muscle play behind the net where he got the puck to Mitts for a score was impressive. He's also a valuable penalty killer. No question that I'm disappointed at the outcome but we at least got a point out of this game. If the Sabres would have played with this effort throughout the season, we would have at least 6 more points. The injured players are returning to health so the lines should be stabilized. The team dug a hole for itself. They need to continue playing the way it did last night to get back into playoff contention. There is little margin for error. Just keep playing hard.

I'm not going to disagree with you that our goaltending is not consistently at a high level. That's a roster reality that is not going to change this season. But that isn't the biggest reason why this team has not met our expectations. Last year, mostly when Levi joined the team at the end of the season, this team played at a high level in their playoff push. For nearly a third of a season the team played at a level that upper tier teams play at. And during that end of season push there was a consistently in team play. That's not the case this year. We have beaten upper tier teams such as the Rangers, Boston, Vegas and Colorado. In those games, the team played as if they were Stanley Cup contenders. However, this year, the level of play has been too erratic especially against lesser talented teams, regardless of the caliber of our goalies. That's the main problem. Entering this season our roster is better than last year. The younger players should be getting better and the roster has been stable enough where there should be more cohesion. What happened? Who would have been satisfied prior to the season knowing that Detroit, Montreal, Phil, and others, would be ahead of us in the standings at this point? The Sabres have some roster flaws. So what! Most teams do. The difference this year has been the level of effort and a fragility that is evident when dealing with adversity. This team has to toughen up both mentally and physically. They have demonstrated that episodically that they can do so. That's not good enough. I disagree with you in your belief that our playoff aspiration already has been squelched. I still believe that there is enough time to turn it around and get back into the playoff race. There's no question that the team has dug itself into a deep hole. The solution is to play harder and do it with greater consistency. A generation of excuse making is long enough. No more excuses!

To show you how obtuse I am I thought the whiner line was a about wine. If you are looking for a HOF candidate for gullibility I should be on the ballot. https://www.google.com/search?q=bottle+of+wine&oq=bottle+of+wine&aqs=chrome.0.0i131i355i433i512j46i131i433i512j0i512l8&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

I agree that my descriptive word doesn't apply to last night's game. And I agree that your descriptive word, effort, applied last night. However, I am freaking mad that it has applied to too many games in this season.

I, like you, don't believe that the HC has lost the room. However, what I can say is that there isn't a HC in the league whose team entered the season with such high expectations wouldn't be in a precarious job situation. That's the way it works in this bottom-line business. If the players are upset that there were calls for their coach to be fired, it is because of their desultory play. The Sabres already are in a desperate catch-up mode because of their lackluster and up and down play. In a long season with 82 regular season games you are always going to have games that are clunkers. That's normal. But when a team has been out of the playoffs for nearly a generation it shouldn't be surprising that the abused fans would expect to see greater urgency from the players. There simply is no excuse for this hideous pattern of up and down play. I'm hoping that the Toronto game was a pivotal game for this team.

Just some quick thoughts on this game. Toronto's goaltending was one of the worst I have seen this season. The Sabres took advantage by shooting the puck on net. We didn't do that enough against Columbus. I would give Okposo the first star. Our first line with Tuch/Tompson/Skinner was terrific. Tuch did the intangibles that made this line click. This was Clifton's best game. I don't know what Mitts stats were but I thought he played well. He was nifty with the puck. Quinn seemed to move a little better with more quickness. JJP made a terrific pass to Quinn for his goal. JJP is getting better and better. This game means little if there isn't a follow-up. Elevating its play against the better teams while lowering its play against lesser teams is an exasperating flaw that has sabotaged this season. Skinner's value to this team beyond his goal scoring is that he adds a spark to the team. This team needs to string some wins together to get back into the playoff hunt. I hope it's not too late. There are so many teams that we need to jump ahead of. I know there were a lot of Toronto fans in the building. But regardless which fans are in the seats there is a tremendous amount of energy when the building is full.

If Snoop Dogg buys the team it will go up in smoke.

The decrepit reputation of this franchise has been known for more than a dozen years. You don't have to be a NHL insider to know what every casual hockey fan has known for a long time.

You identified the issue that is plaguing this team: Effort. What is exasperating and even more inexcusable is that against some of the best teams in the league this team has shown that it has the capacity to play hard and tough against throughout the game. The Colorado, Boston, Ranger and Vegas games are examples where this team has shown what it is capable of when it is determined to do so. What does these episodic examples of playing the right way mean? It means that there is a team character and roster flaw. When you can't maintain an acceptable level of effort on a regular basis, then the mix in the roster and coaching staff have to be altered. Buffalo plays Toronto tomorrow. The house will be filled with a lot of Toronto fans. I won't be surprised if the Sabres play well and win. A win tomorrow won't impress me. They have to play the right way on a consistent basis. That's the problem! For whatever reason/s they can't do that.

There is no one established grooming formula that is suitable for every player. The route that Levi and Power took in their NHL journey isn't necessarily appropriate for every prospect. Benson went to this year's training camp and demonstrated that he can play at a level that earned him an NHL roster spot. And his play so far has earned him the right to get playing time on top lines. Everyone has their own evaluations when watching the games. Speaking for myself, he has not only been one of our better players but he has also been one of the grittier players on this team. He might be one of the least physically developed players on the roster, yet he has given us as much, if not the most, net presence in the games played so far. He's good, smart and tough. He's playing where he should be and where he would want to be. Some decisions regarding prospects are difficult to make. This isn't one of them.

I don't understand your reasoning from Benson's perspective. The Benson case is an example that should be celebrated. He outperformed expectations for such a young player/prospect in camp and earned a roster spot. And as you point out he has demonstrated by his play that up to now he is actually one of our better players on this team. I doubt that if Benson was given a choice to play in the Worlds or to stay with the Sabres that he would prefer to play in the Worlds. From a developmental standpoint, it is better that he played in the NHL right now than it would be to dominate at a lower-level competition. If he were a marginal player with limited playing time, I would agree with your stance. But the reality is that he has become a positive outcome in a season that so far has been a major disappointment. In this very disappointing season I'm not going sneer or be dismissive with this pleasant and unexpected outcome.