Playing themselves out of a playoff spot.

[LGR4GM]

4 minutes ago, apuszczalowski said:

You cant compare it to the Bill's, right or wrong, they decided to continue dismantling the team this offseason instead of building off of what they accomplished last year. We will see if it works out in their favour or if it would have been smarter to build with what they had.

But for so long in Buffalo it's been all about getting the best picks cause finishing in the middle, or just making the playoffs doesnt do anything good and keeps the team from getting better cause they dont get a high pick....

Buffalo needed to break the cycle. They did. 

[LGR4GM]

1 minute ago, apuszczalowski said:

Hes only been gone a couple games, the problems were the same with him here and with him away. His return isnt going to change much. They have one good line and that's it, they need to start bolstering the rest of the team...

We said the same thing about our defense and in 1 off season botterill greatly improved it. I think we're seeing that overhaul of the forwards too, it's just a longer process. 

[PerreaultForever]

9 hours ago, darksabre said:

I attribute little value to making the playoffs this season, especially if it comes at a large cost.

The Bills made the playoffs last year even though they shouldn't have and it doesn't seem to have helped them at all...

I'm not interested in throwing away the future of this team just to make the playoffs this year with a squad that can't score a power play goal to save its life.

I want Botterill to build this team right. So that they go to the playoffs many years in a row once they finally do get there.

yes. 

[Taro T]

2 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

We said the same thing about our defense and in 1 off season botterill greatly improved it. I think we're seeing that overhaul of the forwards too, it's just a longer process. 

You do realize that until the past few games (when Pilut was finally called up), the entire extent of the change in defensemen was drafting the absolute no brainer that he was gifted by winning the lottery.

The rest of the change was Bogosian & McCabe actually being as close to 100% that an NHLer will ever be, and Beaulieu & Nelson actually looking like NHLers after having 1 year in this system under their belts.

Now, had you gone with his having fixed the goaltending in a single off-season, you would've been onto something. ;)

 

[Thorner]

14 hours ago, darksabre said:

I attribute little value to making the playoffs this season, especially if it comes at a large cost.

The Bills made the playoffs last year even though they shouldn't have and it doesn't seem to have helped them at all...

I'm not interested in throwing away the future of this team just to make the playoffs this year with a squad that can't score a power play goal to save its life.

I want Botterill to build this team right. So that they go to the playoffs many years in a row once they finally do get there.

I agree with the latter half of this post whole-heartedly (though teams making the playoffs and then taking a small step back is fairly common (Colorado, Winnipeg, etc)) but can't really get there with the bolded. 

I think there's a ton of value in making the playoff for a team and locker room burdened in the past with apparent waves of negatively and atmosphere. Getting in on it's own is going to mean a lot to these guys, and the Bills also didn't have their Franchise QB (their Jack Eichel) wallowing away on a terrible team for years. 

Edited January 8, 2019 by Thorny

[darksabre]

8 hours ago, Thorny said:

I agree with the latter half of this post whole-heartedly (though teams making the playoffs and then taking a small step back is fairly common (Colorado, Winnipeg, etc)) but can't really get there with the bolded. 

I think there's a ton of value in making the playoff for a team and locker room burdened in the past with apparent waves of negatively and atmosphere. Getting in on it's own is going to mean a lot to these guys, and the Bills also didn't have their Franchise QB (their Jack Eichel) wallowing away on a terrible team for years. 

I think they're over all that. Jack has made it known that this is his team and there's no moping on his team. I think the locker room is just fine.

[MakeSabresGrr8Again]

On 1/6/2019 at 9:28 AM, Weave said:

The Sabres aren't lacking compete.  They are lacking centers, and IMO they are also lacking a bit of sand.  But I don't think the lack of sand is what has caused their fall from grace, it is their lack of centers.  I do think that the lack of sand will become quite evident should they make the playoffs though.

The current results were to be expected.  Despite the early successes, they weren't often playing 60 minute games.  They were either breaking out into an early lead and hanging on, or playing cardiac kids.  There were many 20-30 minute games in that stretch.  Once the season tightened up and teams started focusing on playoff standings it was inevitable that the incomplete games would catch up to them.  Add in an injury to the only top 6 center on the team, and they've been fortunate to keep scores close.

We really need another center on this team badly.

I'm not sure how you can start out with the 1st bolded and then contradict that with the 2nd bolded. And then comes the 3rd bolded.

[dudacek]

2 hours ago, MakeSabresGrr8Again said:

I'm not sure how you can start out with the 1st bolded and then contradict that with the 2nd bolded. And then comes the 3rd bolded.

 Can’t speak for Weave, but in my book there’s a difference between lack of compete and lack of execution.

[MakeSabresGrr8Again]

52 minutes ago, dudacek said:

 Can’t speak for Weave, but in my book there’s a difference between lack of compete and lack of execution.

Sorry, in my book if they had 20-30 minute games, that's not execution it's compete. During the "streak" you could see them ramp up the compete in come-from-behind games. I'll agree that sometimes execution is part of competing. We're seeing a team with limited skill that needs to step up the compete more so than the execution.

[pi2000]

2nd, 3rd and 4th efforts win hockey games.    

Two mice fell into a bucket of cream.    The first mouse, he swam and swam and swam.   But recognizing the situation was hopeless, when his arms and legs tired he gave up, accepted his fate and his lifeless body sank to the bottom of the bucket. 

The second mouse also swam and swam and swam, his little arms and legs tired and he too recognized the situation was hopeless.   However, this mouse, he never gave up... he kept swimming and fighting.   In fact, he fought so hard that he churned that cream into butter and walked out of the bucket.

When you step out on the ice, the question to ask yourself isn't "Which mouse am I?"... instead ask yourself "Which mouse do I want to be?". 

Edited January 8, 2019 by pi2000

[darksabre]

Who wouldn't want to be the mouse with impossible super strength and stamina?

[pi2000]

1 minute ago, darksabre said:

Who wouldn't want to be the mouse with impossible super strength and stamina?

We found the first mouse ?

[SwampD]

Some of our mice don't even know how to swim yet.

[dudacek]

Screw the mice, we need more cats.

[darksabre]

9 minutes ago, pi2000 said:

We found the first mouse ?

Stories involving miracles don't tend to provide particularly useful lessons. 

[MakeSabresGrr8Again]

7 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Screw the mice, we need more cats.

we don't need any more p.....oh, never mind.

[josie]

Who wants mouse butter anyway 

 

chunky AND squeaky 

Edited January 8, 2019 by josie

[LTS]

1 minute ago, darksabre said:

Stories involving miracles don't tend to provide particularly useful lessons. 

Even if it did happen, the volume of butter churned from cream is about half the volume of the cream used.  If the bucket were full of cream the mouse would swim out.   Since it can't, we know it's not full.  Once there was butter the bucket would be half full.  Butter, presumable would be soft, so the mouse would be stuck in it and unable to jump out.  Unless the butter hardened sufficiently. 

Of course the mouse would be dead by then from exhaustion, hunger, or dehydration.

?

[MakeSabresGrr8Again]

Just now, josie said:

Who wants mouse butter anyway 

 

chunky AND squeaky 

and what's the FDA limit on mouse hairs in butter?

[LTS]

Just now, MakeSabresGrr8Again said:

and what's the FDA limit on mouse hairs in butter?

Not sure, thought I read somewhere at one point that hot dogs could have 16 hairs... this was years ago though.  I would imagine butter not being much different. ?

[darksabre]

Just now, LTS said:

Even if it did happen, the volume of butter churned from cream is about half the volume of the cream used.  If the bucket were full of cream the mouse would swim out.   Since it can't, we know it's not full.  Once there was butter the bucket would be half full.  Butter, presumable would be soft, so the mouse would be stuck in it and unable to jump out.  Unless the butter hardened sufficiently. 

Of course the mouse would be dead by then from exhaustion, hunger, or dehydration.

?

Exhaustion is easily overcome by willpower. Just ask all the people on the Titanic who swam back to shore.

2 minutes ago, josie said:

Who wants mouse butter anyway 

 

chunky AND squeaky 

Mouse butter second only to mouse potatoes.

[josie]

4 minutes ago, LTS said:

Even if it did happen, the volume of butter churned from cream is about half the volume of the cream used.  If the bucket were full of cream the mouse would swim out.   Since it can't, we know it's not full.  Once there was butter the bucket would be half full.  Butter, presumable would be soft, so the mouse would be stuck in it and unable to jump out.  Unless the butter hardened sufficiently. 

Of course the mouse would be dead by then from exhaustion, hunger, or dehydration.

?

A better metaphor would be the donkey at the bottom of a well. 

Paraphrasing but, make it two to fit the parable. A team of donkeys fall into a pit. They bray and bray and the town comes out and stares at them pitifully "there's no way to save them, I guess bury the poor things and put them out of their misery". As the dirt falls onto them, shovelful by shovelful, one donkey sinks to its knees, braying pitifully, and succumbs to suffocation. The other donkey continuously shakes the dirt off, stepping up on the newly made ground until it walks out of the pit, a survivor.

 

Of course if you know animals and drive ot live you know that's BS too because the doomed ass would follow the smart ass out of the pit... and the humans around the edge burying them alive are cruel and idiotic in their own right. So we need a really good smart ass and some smart supporters who may be helping by hindering and... ah screw it 

 

Hooray metaphors!! 

Edited January 8, 2019 by josie

[pi2000]

 

[jsb]

44 minutes ago, pi2000 said:

2nd, 3rd and 4th efforts win hockey games.    

Two mice fell into a bucket of cream.    The first mouse, he swam and swam and swam.   But recognizing the situation was hopeless, when his arms and legs tired he gave up, accepted his fate and his lifeless body sank to the bottom of the bucket. 

The second mouse also swam and swam and swam, his little arms and legs tired and he too recognized the situation was hopeless.   However, this mouse, he never gave up... he kept swimming and fighting.   In fact, he fought so hard that he churned that cream into butter and walked out of the bucket.

When you step out on the ice, the question to ask yourself isn't "Which mouse am I?"... instead ask yourself "Which mouse do I want to be?". 

You've watched one too many Christopher Walken movies.

Edited January 8, 2019 by jsb
I need to read all the posts in a topic before posting myself..... pi beat me to it.

[Drunkard]

1 hour ago, pi2000 said:

We found the first mouse ?

Dahlin? Because it can't be Eichel. That bum can't even will himself healthy. No compete in this guy.

On a side note I love how compete is a verb to the rest of the English speaking world, but Buffalo fans have turned it into a noun. Thank you Teds Nolans.

Edited January 8, 2019 by Drunkard