WTF is wrong with this team?

[GASabresIUFAN]

Actually I asked for both NHL D, and D prospects. Duda, feel better?

 

The passion here is because we all want this team to succeed. Buffalo fans, whether they live in Buffalo, Toronto, Atlanta or Sweden are passionate knowledgeable fans who only want the best for our teams (Bills as well). This is a place to vent because our spouses, signifcant others and/or kids don’t want to hear it.

 

In my case, I was 4 years old when I went to my first game. I remember beating the Russians (twice), I was at the Bat game. I remember a fight between Schultz and Korab at center ice. I remember when Housley and Barasso were drafted and have been a Wowie fan ever since. I moved to Atl in 1988, but never gave up on my Sabres. I watch Mogilny, Patty, Big Dave, Hawerchuk come and go and my hope remained. I remember sitting glued to my laptop watching the resurgent post lockout Sabres.

 

Not only am I a fan, but I played in the Amherst rec leagues and travelling teams growing up and then at Nichols.

 

I love this game and it is painful to watch my team play so terribly. Yes Duda, this will turn around at some point, but sadly it won’t be any time soon and I’m tired of the suffering. Enough already.

Edited October 12, 2017 by GASabresFan

[Pokey Jones]

@bunomatic - Nanaimo BC, wow? I lived there for 10 years and never met a single Sabres fan or saw a single jersey ever. Figured I was the only one in that town. Amazing! 

 

That was like poetry up there. Very nice. Guess that's one way to go. Myself, I'm more in the "enough already" camp but you all already knew that. 

[darksabre]

Wait, was Evander flirting with Kim?

[3putt]

 Bravo.  Well done. You can rest up until the playoffs.  You earned it.

Wait, was Evander flirting with Kim?

Isn't that why he is on PP1?  #Meddling :P

[nfreeman]

Outstanding.

[bunomatic]

@bunomatic - Nanaimo BC, wow? I lived there for 10 years and never met a single Sabres fan or saw a single jersey ever. Figured I was the only one in that town. Amazing! 

 

That was like poetry up there. Very nice. Guess that's one way to go. Myself, I'm more in the "enough already" camp but you all already knew that. 

No kidding. Thats cool. I'll see another Sabres fan every few years. It happens so infrequently that I'm actually taken aback when it does. My immediate reaction is there must be something wrong with them,lol .My hope is that this team eventually takes its place amongst the greats and a new generation of kids latches onto them. I became a fan in 75 for the same reason. But I'm losing hope that'll ever happen. 

[Drunkard]

It's not about science, it's about humanity. This is where analytics fails. Coaches need to be smarter than to rely solely on information spit out of a computer. Eichel comes out. The crowd goes crazy. Eichel finally gets over the hump and scores an enormous shootout goal. It could have been a huge moment in his career, and I'm not surprised he has faltered after not getting the chance. Risk vs. reward. The reward was high, the risk was what?

 

Maybe Housley knows Eichel isn't strong in shootouts (from practice or his track record) and he wanted to protect his $80 million special snowflake. I can create a narrative too (possibly even a more likely one based on how things played out).

 

Eichel comes out. The crowd goes crazy. Eichel misses his shot wide, or over the net, or he plants the puck right into the goalies crest. The crowd boos. Eichel crawls into a ball and sucks his thumb. There's your risk.

 

Housley wants to win and he picked the 3 shooters he thought would give him the best chance of doing that. It didn't work and we lost. It's still his decision because he'll be the one who ultimately gets fired if/when the team doesn't perform to the owner's expectations on whatever time frame of Pegula's (more likely Russ Brandon, amirite?) choosing. 

Edited October 12, 2017 by Drunkard

[R_Dudley]

Dudacek, that's what keeps me coming back. 

 

Well played sir. 

 

Abandon hope all ye who enter here or just come along for the ride.

 

I guess the choice is ours. 

 

I'll take another of what your having..

[Sabres Fan in NS]

I agree completely.  This was a mistake by Howie.

 

Me too.

 

Completely disagree.

 

I completely disagree with your disagreement.

[Eleven]

Nicely done, dudacek.

[Stoner]

Two young men pedalled in behind me on a tandem bike. The one in the front didn't seem to know whether he should be steering down the middle of the corridor, or along its right-hand side. The one on the back wasn't moving his feet.

This was my favorite line.

[Sabres Fan in NS]

Post of the year, duda, you handsome devil, you.

[Stoner]

Post of the year, duda, you handsome devil, you.

Wait... handsome and brilliant?

[Sabres Fan in NS]

Wait... handsome and brilliant?

 

:flirt:

 

And, welcome back, my friend, to the show that never ends.

[LTS]

Dudacek... are you kidding me?

 

I have no words.. you used all of them.  Bravo sir.

[Randall Flagg]

Yeah, awesome.

[Georgia Blizzard]

Housley will be fires after this road trip.

Troll, it's fired not fires

[That Aud Smell]

Glad I stopped in.

 

Dudacek, that right there is easily, readily one of the top-10 posts around here of all time. Probably top-5. Shoot - it's 1B to the 1A of PA's story about Lindy in retirement.

[Doohicksie]

Troll, it's fired not fires

 

No, right now the Bay Area is all fires.  :o

[GASabresIUFAN]

How many players on this current roster would play for and in a similar role of good hockey team?

 

I think the answer is 2 (3 if Johnson is your backup in goal). Jack & Sam, I think Sam is a 3rd line center on a real team. Like Kadri in Tor.

 

Is ROR a No. 1 center? Or Should he be a winger? Colo tried both way. FO% keeps him in the middle, but he is really a 2nd line center at best and on a team like Pitt, he'd be the 3rd center.

KO - Played first line with Tavares on a marginal playoff team, but he is really best suited for a 2nd line role. I'm also not sure he is 100%

Pommers - playing top 2 line here, but shouldn't be playing top line minutes at this point in his career

Josefson shouldn't be in the NHL

Moulson shouldn't be in the NHL

Pouliot may also be done as an NHL player

Kane - the puck hog. He seems like a top 6 winger skill wise, but his inability to add anything to his line mates makes him a 3rd line player. No championship calibre teams wants a guy in the toip 6 that can't and won't pass.

Girgensons and Larsson - Neither would be anything but 4th line players on a real team. Both have visit that rightful place, but because of the lack of talent above them, both keep getting looks at better lines.

Griffith - not sure if he is Girgensons or Larsson or another Josefson. He doesn't (and didn't) make good teams like Tor and Boston other then as an injury replacement.

Nolan - 4th liner here, but cut from a team also unlikely to make the playoffs.

 

Would Risto be a top pair D? - No. His defensive gaffs would prevent that.

Scandella - played 2nd and 3rd line minutes for playoff regular Minn. Now a top pairing guy here.

McCabe - our third best D, but a 3rd pairing who can move up for injuries guy elsewhere. He is close to sloted right.

Bogo - injury prone and overrated - dumped on us by a bad team. TM thought he could be a top line guy here, production and injuried means he should be at best a 3rd line guy elsewhere. When healthy, he's second line guy here.

Baloo - Third line puck mover with limited D zone skills. Has been playing as Risto's partner to start the season. Enough said

Antipin - KHL rookie - he needs time to figure in out. Frankly I'm surprised he started in the lineup. Not ready yet. Wouldn't have been given a contract by many contenders, although D depth is hard to find.

Tennyson - Another AAAA guy who is best in the AHL and would be there on a good team.

 

Lehner - is he a goalie for a conteder. Not if he can't stop a breakaway. Everything else is there.

 

Bottomline: we are miles away from having the core to compete with the big boys. We need better players with better attitudes.

Edited October 12, 2017 by GASabresFan

[Sabres Fan in NS]

Troll, it's fired not fires

 

Please don't encourage him to spew more BS.

 

Thanks for making Sabrespace a better place.

[erickompositör72]

Griffith - not sure if he is Girgensons or Larsson or another Josefson.  He doesn't (and didn't) make good teams like Tor and Boston other then as an injury replacement.

 

Or maybe just a slightly faster Derek Grant?

 

Lehner - is he a goalie for a conteder.  Not if he can't stop a breakaway.  Everything else is there.

 

And he can't stay upright and square to the shooter when moving laterally. Watch the way Miller could move across the net- on a 2-on-1, for example- pass comes across, he is in butterfly, totally upright, forcing the shooter to make the perfect shot. Lehner is just sprawling all over the place.

Edited October 12, 2017 by ericcomposer72

[shrader]

Please don't encourage him to spew more BS.

 

Thanks for making Sabrespace a better place.

 

And don't quote it either.  It forces us to actually be able to see the posts.

[Sabres Fan in NS]

And don't quote it either.  It forces us to actually be able to see the posts.

 

The fatal flaw of the blocking system.

 

At least, I know that you don't have me on your blocked list ...  :wub:

[shrader]

The fatal flaw of the blocking system.

 

At least, I know that you don't have me on your blocked list ...  :wub:

 

Give it time