Nathan Balloon: Playing in Buffalo "Mentally degrading"

[ubkev]

Mentally degrading, huh? He should try being a fan. At least playing for the sabres isn't a ***** life sentence.

[shrader]

26 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

Barrie Moore will be making a statement at 2:30 p.m.

And what always follows Barrie Moore?  The coming of Satan.

[kas23]

1 hour ago, That Aud Smell said:

Nothing he's quoted as saying surprises me. I don't disagree with any of it.

I'm just about signed off on this season. The franchise's inability to get the ship righted is nothing short of astonishing.

While I also can agree with his perception (it’s his after all), I just don’t think it’s appropriate to put it into words and have it published. And dragging ROR into it too. That’s just really poor form. 

[Doohicksie]

1 hour ago, shrader said:

When it doubt, just add vowels.

That will work fine with Beaulieu, since it's a French name.  For Germanic names, the secret lies in adding more consonants until it looks right (thinking of Mittelstadt here...)

[Randall Flagg]

I think Beaulieu, if still here and playing regularly, wouldn't feel this way. He was frustrated about how often he rode the bench. But I know he looooved the guys on this team, became bros more publicly than most NHL teammates do. 

[Doohicksie]

Subtract one of the D (but not Montour, Dahlin, Risto or McCabe) and add in Beaulieu... do you think he plays a regular shift?

[bunomatic]

4 hours ago, Doohickie said:

Do you think there's *anyone* in the Sabres room that feels any different at this point? 

Well if thats the case there’s your problem. 

[Cascade Youth]

[Doohicksie]

1 hour ago, bunomatic said:

Well if thats the case there’s your problem. 

I know.  It makes me sad.

[That Aud Smell]

5 hours ago, Taro T said:

But though they aren't damaged, they are definitely gripping the sticks too tight.  In the 1st alone they had at least 4 excellent scoring chances ( and probably 6) that the puck wasn't even on the net.  

I saw those too. Fair point.

[Pimlach]

Bowl-You was really bad that first year. I liked him the second year but Phil didn’t.  

He seemed to like Buffalo (the City) and the players/fans. I don’t get why he wad compelled to spout off.  ?

[PerreaultForever]

10 hours ago, Taro T said:

Understand the sentiment, but blowing it all up again won't be the answer unless they are really lucky.  (And they don't seem to be particularly lucky; landing Dahlin not withstanding.)

Everybody's trade value when losing gets depressed a bit so they won't get full value in most cases.  Simply cutting guys like Okposo would put the team right back into cap jail when the new crew starts to need all the cap space available to it.  And they'll end up letting guys that could've helped, such as Byron, walk because they haven't stood out enough to be believed to be part of the solution.

Really don't believe these guys are "psychologically damaged.". They just are now finally at a spot where they're actually icing an NHL team though they have some holes still to fill to ice a good NHL team.  1-2 forwards and a goalie that plays like it's October would definitely help. 

But though they aren't damaged, they are definitely gripping the sticks too tight.  In the 1st alone they had at least 4 excellent scoring chances ( and probably 6) that the puck wasn't even on the net.  Maybe playing Boston next will be a good thing as Eichel usually plays well there and a win against "a good team" could seriously help the psyche.

And if they get bombed, we get to read more stories about former Sabres who are glad they aren't here any longer.  (Just shoot us now and put us out of our misery.)

Blowing it up would be difficult and take time, granted, but after all these years of consistent failure (and despite plans that on paper seemed reasonable) are you still convinced that it just takes one or two players to turn this all around? The failure imo seems much larger. Call it the culture, blame it on the organization, call it what you like, but it's larger than just a few better players.

[Taro T]

44 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

Blowing it up would be difficult and take time, granted, but after all these years of consistent failure (and despite plans that on paper seemed reasonable) are you still convinced that it just takes one or two players to turn this all around? The failure imo seems much larger. Call it the culture, blame it on the organization, call it what you like, but it's larger than just a few better players.

I do believe that if they had 2 better forwards (at least 1 legit 2C or even 2W and another true top 9) and got the goaltending they did in October that this is a playoff team.  And do expect them to be better next year than they've been this year too.

[PerreaultForever]

7 hours ago, Taro T said:

I do believe that if they had 2 better forwards (at least 1 legit 2C or even 2W and another true top 9) and got the goaltending they did in October that this is a playoff team.  And do expect them to be better next year than they've been this year too.

Well I suppose it's safe to say any team that gets 2 better forwards than they have would be better than they are, but unless these 2 are vastly superior talents to say a Johanson or some other who is better than what we have but not a star than I simply don't think it'd be enough. We haven't even hit the harder second half of the season when teams actually start playing full out and more physical. These should be the easy games.  

and I don't blame the goalies, they are still (mostly) making the same first stops they did in October, it's just now we aren't clearing the net area, as the formula for beating us is pretty simple and known. 

[Gatorman0519]

I feel the same way about being a fan.

[7+6=13]

What a total wuss.  Below average players shouldn't be mouthing off about much.