GDT - Sabres @ Colorado - March 9, 2019 - 3:00 PM - ALT; MSG-B

[nucci]

26 minutes ago, Huckleberry said:

I like to see this team win, but I come to a point I'm good at this team not winning much for the rest of the year to get a higher draft pick.

With luck we are this years Carolina.

because this has been working so well the last few seasons....

[Pimlach]

Well game day thread seems to reflect reality for this game anyway.  

 

Some of us were immediately concerned by the response to the hit in Jack.  Maybe it’s the trend of the past few months?  The game was chippy.  The Sabres ability to play a game like this and still execute and bring offense is under question.   It sure wasn’t there yesterday  

This is now the focus of fans, media, and even some of the players ... Phil seems less concerned.   The rest of the league knows. 

Bots has a lot of work to do.   It looked like this season was going to a big step forward but it will likely end with frustration as we find the team among the bottom feeders once again.  

 

Edited March 10, 2019 by Pimlach

[woods-racer]

5 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

Well game day thread seems to reflect reality for this game anyway.  

 

Some of use were were immediately concerned by the response to the hit in Jack.  Maybe it’s the trend of the past few months?  The game was chippy.  The Sabres ability to play a game like this and still execute and bring offense is under question.   It sure wasn’t there yesterday  

This is now the focus of fans, media, and even some of the players ... Phil seems less concerned.   The rest of the league knows. 

Bots has a lot of work to do.   It looked like this season was going to a big step forward but it will likely end with frustration as we find the team among the bottom feeders once again.  

 

Soft.

 

This team is best described as being soft.

 

Skilled and soft will get the President's trophy, but never get you deep in the playoffs.

 

 

[SABRES 0311]

1 hour ago, New Scotland (NS) said:

Dude(ette) has been around since 2010.  No rookie there, but I like your spunk.

+++++

What a stinker.  Of all the stinkers this season this one may very well have been the stinkiest so far.

You got me. I’ll think twice next time. ?

[Stoner]

9 hours ago, Brawndo said:

I’m not 100% convinced that Phil was Jason’s Pick. After he was hired all the Insiders were saying that Rick Tocchet was Botterill’s Top Choice, and afterwards Dreger said the Sabres never requested an interview with him. And the first statement Pegula made at Housley’s Opening Presser was “I remember watching him play at the Aud” 

Botterill has also done fairly well in every trade he has made with the exception of the ROR which is a giant CF. The Pegulas were not happy about the fact that ROR celebrated being the at the time highest paid Sabre in the club’s history by “allegedly” driving his truck into Tim Hortons.  Then came the locker room/ organizational dysfunction that lead to GMTM and DD’s Dismissals. Perhaps during his interviews with TP, Botterill was told to move Kane and O’Reilly ASAP and Botts said he wanted to evaluate them and the team first as he said in interviews at the beginning of last season. Things continued to spiral  and ROR was available in trade prior to the 2018 Deadline.  After the season he made his infamous comments which lead to Pegula saying I’m not paying him another dime get him off my  team before the 11:59pm July 1st when the bonus is due.  I also believe there is merit to the rumors that ROR didn’t want to play second fiddle to MacKinnon in Denver and he sure as hell wasn’t doing it in Buffalo either. 

Botterill had discussions with multiple teams that we know of, Montreal, Carolina, Arizona. Armstrong thought he was out and signed Bozak on 7/1 and Botterill contined discussions with the Islanders as Lou was trying to alleviate the sting of losing JT. Of course those talks fizzled. 

Pegula still most likely kept his self imposed deadline intact on Botterill so he called Armstrong again. The Blues initial offering could have been the First and any prospect not named Thomas or Kyrou. When he called again Armstrong said I need to move money out, so Berglund and Sobotka were added along with the second to close the deal. This would also explain why Berglund was blindsided by the trade, as Armstrong moved fast to get a dealIt was and remains a horrible deal for the Sabres, but I believe there was Ownership Pressure to get it done. 

Now what I wrote is most likely completely dead wrong, but Botterill seems to calculated to mess up this badly. 

All this being said I think Botterill and the Pegulas have seen the regression of this team the past two years under Housley and realize it’s not working, particularly since Housley has final lineup decisions.

 

If the St Louis Pick falls 21st or higher Anaheim gets to choose which selection they want. 

Whoa! Where were you when I needed an assistant prosecutor?! It's OK. I did it all myself. I got the conviction; the sentencing phase is still being held up by technicalities (can a sitting owner be sentenced?)

2 hours ago, Cascade Youth said:

They don’t hate losing.  I keep saying it.

In fact, most of them don’t seem to mind it at all.  Much easier than putting pressure on themselves to compete every shift of every game.

And that lack of accountability and urgency starts in the owner’s box.  The well-meaning Pegulas have run two franchises into the ground through poor hires, mismanagement, a stubborn insistence on learning on the job, and the mistake of repeatedly trusting the last circus barker they spoke with.

I thought the Wilson/Golisano years were bleak but these owners are somehow managing to lower the bar.

I've said it before and will say it again. The franchise is BEGGING for a hockey president/czar to come in and evaluate everything. I can guarantee that Jason Botterill would be doing very good work as the assistant GM in charge of cap management and Phil would be watching Fox News from his tan Barcalounger back in Minny. The former Sabre and Pittsburgh fetishes would cease. For this to work, Terry not only has to hire said person, he then has to get out of the way and do what he does best: provide the resources and care about the result. (If you're worried about Terry's ability to hire the right person, he could form a search committee to go find the right person.)

Or... Terry's owned the team for eight years, as long as Golisano had it, as long as most U.S. presidents serve. They did good things and bad things, and eventually someone else gets a shot. The Pegulas could sell and focus on the Bills, selling it as what's best for both franchises. The same language can be added to the sales agreement about keeping the Sabres in town.

Or, short of that, give operational control of the Sabres to the two adult kids.

A bold stroke is needed to dramatically change the trajectory of the franchise.

22 minutes ago, woods-racer said:

Soft.

 

This team is best described as being soft.

 

Skilled and soft will get the President's trophy, but never get you deep in the playoffs.

 

 

Easy there, you old contrarian who's never satisfied! Now eat your meat or you don't get any pudding.

Edited March 10, 2019 by PASabreFan

[Weave]

11 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

Or... Terry's owned the team for eight years, as long as Golisano had it, as long as most U.S. presidents serve.

Holy crap.  Is that right?  Damn.

[Sabres Fan in NS]

1 minute ago, Weave said:

Holy crap.  Is that right?  Damn.

Damn is right.

On the other hand, TG didn't take over a team that was about to be gutted.  Bankrupt, yes, but not about to be torn to the studs, or less.

I give full marks to the NHL when they controlled the team for that brief, but stressful, period that they let DR run it in a reasonable fashion and the NHL payed the bills.  If that didn't happen, at very least, the Sabres would not be in Buffalo now and at worst would have folded.

So, the 8 years under TG cannot be compared to the 8 under TP.  We will need another few years, maybe by year 10 the team will be back to where it was when TG took over.  Damn!!

[#freejame]

In his PG-presser, Eichel said “if I’m going to be at the forefront of it [late runs/physical play] I might as well push back a little bit.”

I hope we see the Jack pushing back from this point forward. Yes, he shouldn’t have to be the player pushing back, but if he adds that tool to his belt it’s only going to make him a better player. 

[Stoner]

19 minutes ago, New Scotland (NS) said:

Damn is right.

On the other hand, TG didn't take over a team that was about to be gutted.  Bankrupt, yes, but not about to be torn to the studs, or less.

I give full marks to the NHL when they controlled the team for that brief, but stressful, period that they let DR run it in a reasonable fashion and the NHL payed the bills.  If that didn't happen, at very least, the Sabres would not be in Buffalo now and at worst would have folded.

So, the 8 years under TG cannot be compared to the 8 under TP.  We will need another few years, maybe by year 10 the team will be back to where it was when TG took over.  Damn!!

It's an interesting question: who inherited a worse situation? You'd have to go with Tommy G. The team had bottomed out after losing Peca and Hasek going into 2001-2002, and then the ownership crisis struck the season he took over as owner (March 2003). Attendance dipped below 14,000. Stu Barnes and Rob Ray were traded at the deadline. OTOH the cupboard was hardly bare. Darcy had just traded for Danny Briere when Golisano took over, Ryan Miller was starting out in goal, Jay McKee was a stalwart, Brian Campbell was emerging, Miro was near a point a game player (wow!), and Roy and Pominville were in the development pipeline. To be knocking on Stanley's door three years later? Astounding.

[LGR4GM]

They need heart. Miles and miles of heart. 

[#freejame]

1 minute ago, LGR4GM said:

They need heart. Miles and miles of heart. 

And a brain. And courage. And to rid Oz of that damn wicked witch of the east. 

[Stoner]

22 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

They need heart. Miles and miles of heart. 

How would you feel about a firebrand coach? Housley is the second straight Sabres coach who's a total lump back there.

[dudacek]

That was perhaps the worst effort of the year.

We looked like a pouty team feeling sorry for itself, more interested in petty battles than actually playing the game.

We absolutely were soft, but not because nobody tried to beat up Zadorov. It was because we allowed the chippiness of the Avs to distract us from playing hockey. I actually agree with Phil: we were far more concerned with whining, trash talking and face washing than actually executing a forecheck or driving hard to net.

You want $9 million Jeff? Stop diving and crying and score some ***** goals! One point in his past five games. Hasn’t scored a goal in 11.

Lack of talent and immaturity are a bad mix. If these guys get Phil fired, it won’t be because he used Sobotka or Ristolainen too much,  it will be because they weren’t ready to be treated like men.

[Jacque Richard]

How is that nice fancy lockeroom working out for this group of softies. Expectation must be really low with Pegula’s. They know the fan base will be back again and again. 

[nucci]

3 minutes ago, Jacque Richard said:

How is that nice fancy lockeroom working out for this group of softies. Expectation must be really low with Pegula’s. They know the fan base will be back again and again. 

probably raise ticket prices again

[Kruppstahl]

1 hour ago, dudacek said:

That was perhaps the worst effort of the year.

We looked like a pouty team feeling sorry for itself, more interested in petty battles than actually playing the game.

We absolutely were soft, but not because nobody tried to beat up Zadorov. It was because we allowed the chippiness of the Avs to distract us from playing hockey. I actually agree with Phil: we were far more concerned with whining, trash talking and face washing than actually executing a forecheck or driving hard to net.

You want $9 million Jeff? Stop diving and crying and score some ***** goals! One point in his past five games. Hasn’t scored a goal in 11.

Lack of talent and immaturity are a bad mix. If these guys get Phil fired, it won’t be because he used Sobotka or Ristolainen too much,  it will be because they weren’t ready to be treated like men.

Oh, not touching Big Z was a good part of it too!  

Our overall talent level is quite poor.  We have zero toughness.  The stars we have are not gritty nor do they exhibit any leadership whatsoever.  That starts with Jack.

We also have a lot of professional floaters.  The modern NHL is rife with these guys.  They like the 7 figure pay check, bur don't really care if they win or lose.

Bogosian, I'm looking at you, among many others!