LabattBlue

...and then Hortons lost their love for good quality products and customer service. 🙂

If Covid starts reaking havoc on the number of games a team has cancelled, I really think the NHL will have no choice but to go to point percentage instead of total points. There just isn't a lot of wiggle room for a team to make up games short of them ending up with crazy 4 games in 5 night stints down the road.

I'd like to be angry about this whole thing, but instead I give it a big "who cares". Maybe the players can sneak out of town for a quick trip to the Caribbean. I only have one word to describe the franchise right now...INSIGNIFICANT!

I agree with ALL of this except the comparison to the Bills. In the NFL, before this year, 12 out of 32 teams made the playoffs every year(~38%). In the NHL, 16 out of 31 make the playoffs every year(~52%), and despite this the Sabres have missed 9 years in a row. One other note on the Bills, without Allen, Beane and McD may still have had the Bills treading water. In a game of QB roulette, they lucked into Allen, and he appears to be on the road to making them SB contenders for the next decade. On RK, no one can convince me otherwise that the Pegula's went with RK aka motivational man because they viewed him in the same light as McD. Swing and a miss!

Wasn't Botts quoted as saying he was against long term/big money deals? If so, did he want to pass on Skinner and let him walk, and the Pegula's overruled him?

...at least there is a game on NBCSN and another on ESPN+. Probably won't watch the entire games, just flip on for 3rd period/OT. Many will laugh at me, but I am looking forward to baseball...and now that may be delayed a month.

Posters have a right to be upset/negative, just as you(and others) have a right to be overly optimistic/positive. Each side gets more frustrated as the games go by because of the other sides stance. Your choice, but no need to go...just let it go in one ear and out the other.

Is any team taking a cap hit of $15 mil and getting so little production out of their duo, like the Sabres are with Skinner and Okposo?

I disagree. Even if playing at last years level, NO team is paying KO $6mil over two years(post 7/1/21), let alone giving up something for him in a trade.

I understand that, but I’d bury him, and hope he retires instead of going to the AHL. In his place, give Smith, Thompson or Mitts an extended look, instead of yo-yo them between the lineup, press box or Rochester.

If there is a compliance buyout this off-season, they shouldn’t have to take more than 5 seconds to decide that Skinner is the player to buy-out. Then turn around and bury Okposo in Rochester and hope that he retires.

This is likely the case, but still makes me sad. 😞

I’m not even sure these guys like each other.

How is it that Josh Allen feels like one of us, yet Eichel doesn’t seem to have that same connection with the community. If the Sabres miss the playoffs again, and it is certainly trending that way, if Eichel doesn’t tap out, then maybe the Sabres need to be the ones to initiate the move.

At this point, I think Mike Comrie could come out of retirement, slap on some goalie equipment, and beat googly eyes.

The core of the team is rotten, and the HC, GM and owners don’t see it, or don’t want to admit it. Unfortunately, with a green GM, and a motivational speaker as your HC, I don’t trust them to try and pull off a trade involving any of the core. I’m really not sure what the next move should be as long as Adams is the GM? 😞 IT REALLY SUCKS BEING A SABRES FAN...AND HAS BEEN THAT WAY FOR 10+ YEARS NOW. 😡

As long as the bandwagon is running Mr and Mrs Moneybags over and over and over again, I’m in. So sick of the Pegula era. Just sell the freaking team. I don’t care who buys it. I really don’t. 😞

I'm putting the cart before the horse, but it would be great to go 4-0 against the Rangers and Devils. Here's hoping for a victory tonight.

HC's always have a double standard when it comes to "performance determines play". Early into this season, but Dahlin has arguably been the worst Sabre on some nights, yet he still dresses every game, still plays significant minutes, and still gets PP time. So for all those who say Skinner deserves what he gets for not buying in, I say BS.

These are the kind of posts that make me peruse every thread...even the ones that don't interest me, such as advanced analytics. Well done Inkman! 👍

I’m not saying Skinner is great away from the puck, but he at least seems to be putting the effort in offensively. He is being wasted on the 4th line. If by the trade deadline, Ralphie still has him on the 4th line, I’d ask to be moved. Of course with his contract, there will be no takers without the Sabres retaining a huge chunk.

If that is the case, then the organization is also being “stubborn”. 😉

I watched from mid-3rd period on. That OT was played like when 3 on 3 was first started. Now it’s just a game of puck possession and hope for a good shot. Nothing is more infuriating than watching the team with the puck in OT, skate BACK into their own zone in order to change-up. One other note...Vegas still has the annoying “monster truck” PA announcer, but it is even more comical that he is doing his screaming act to an EMPTY arena. 😂

I’m glad they won, but it was so predictable that they would get badly outshot in the 3rd period. The mentality of protecting the one goal margin is what leads to games getting tied up, and then lost in OT/SO.

In addition, shouldn’t the AHL teams also have a taxi squad? I’m assuming they won’t just be able to sign and dress guys on a days notice. Wouldn’t they have to be tested and quarantined prior to playing?