WTF! No game day thread? The boys are in Filly tonight (12/19/19) at 7ET

[PerreaultForever]

27 minutes ago, North Buffalo said:

 Sabres need to analyze drive as well as talent... 

This was what Krueger was supposed to fix but it doesn't seem to happen. I also scratch my head wondering why do players always seem to get worse when they come to Buffalo. Most recently Johanson looked great in Boston, started similarly here but now looks like he's lost interest as well. It seems to happen again and again. There is something deeply wrong here. 

[North Buffalo]

8 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

This was what Krueger was supposed to fix but it doesn't seem to happen. I also scratch my head wondering why do players always seem to get worse when they come to Buffalo. Most recently Johanson looked great in Boston, started similarly here but now looks like he's lost interest as well. It seems to happen again and again. There is something deeply wrong here. 

Didn't use to be that way... too much good food and beer?  Really I think it is not enough of the right kind of talent...  Sabres need more lunch bucket players like the LOG line... and EROD aint it.  Vesey maybe... Skinner kinda with talent but needs a set up guy.  Sam again is too affable... Oloffson is working at it and same with Asplund, but they really need a couple young instigators... Pekar needs to get here soon, not sure who else but it ain't Mitts.

[North Buffalo]

Look at Toronto... same kinda of problem... I think they really miss Kadri... he was a motor that had to be accounted for as well as an agitator... Boston still has Marchand and some younger guys with 'tude... Larry is getting old... Sabres need three young versions of Larry in the lineup... but Id take one more at this point.

[bunomatic]

1 hour ago, North Buffalo said:

Signing ROR and getting nothing in return set Sabres back 3 years easy... I still think despite his talent he wasn't a good fit in Buffalo.  In addition, loading up on D with no offense is a problem and drafting Casey, as skilled as he is, the drive isn't there.  Sabres need to analyze drive as well as talent... Cozens seems to have it... ok, who in this year's draft has it and is there anyone else that can be signed or traded for that has talent and drive?  Need guys besides Jack that are self motivated... Sam is way too demur...  Without Jack expect Sabres to head straight to the bottom.

I agree with getting guys with what you call drive or self motivation. The will to win. Hate losing. Whatever ‘it’ is. Some call it the it factor. Look at Alex Burrows. The Canucks found him playing in a roller league. Undrafted. Worked his tail off to make it. They are scattered throughout the league. Drury had it. Bring in two or three of those guys throughout the lineup. Have them get in the face of their team mates and hold them accountable. Too many times I see our guys watching the opponent come into our zone and our guys are gliding in behind them like they are waiting for a team mate to do something. Its maddening. 

[MakeSabresGrr8Again]

18 minutes ago, bunomatic said:

I agree with getting guys with what you call drive or self motivation. The will to win. Hate losing. Whatever ‘it’ is. Some call it the it factor. Look at Alex Burrows. The Canucks found him playing in a roller league. Undrafted. Worked his tail off to make it. They are scattered throughout the league. Drury had it. Bring in two or three of those guys throughout the lineup. Have them get in the face of their team mates and hold them accountable. Too many times I see our guys watching the opponent come into our zone and our guys are gliding in behind them like they are waiting for a team mate to do something. Its maddening. 

Iginla was another one I loved the way he played.

[nucci]

6 hours ago, Kruppstahl said:

A second really disinterested, soft game in a row!  Great.  The work ethic problems continue under their 4th (5th?) coach. 

Connor Sheary you suck so bad.

Reinhart you are such a floater.  No way in hell do you get the big K and I hope to God they move you for equal value this year.

Carter Hutton you aren't even a solid backup these days.

Sobotka!  I haven't forgotten about you!  You aren't sneaking by just because you are out of the lineup!  This is still all your fault!

I've been asking for over a year now and I will continue to ask: how long do we have to endure this before Botterill gets fired?

And when he is gone, why should we think Pegula will get the next hire correct?

If you're Pegula, how much longer do you want Botterill F-ing this ***** show up?  

It's hard to believe we are still this bad after being this bad for so long.  The cavalry never arrived.

 

 

 

 

When you gut the entire organization to lose on purpose, it's not easy to recover

[inkman]

2 hours ago, nucci said:

When you gut the entire organization to lose on purpose, it's not easy to recover

None of the players were trying to lose 

[nucci]

4 minutes ago, inkman said:

None of the players were trying to lose 

No, but they were set up to lose and it affected the entire organization

[inkman]

Just now, nucci said:

No, but they were set up to lose and it affected the entire organization

I still think it's a lack of talent vs culture, mindset, mysterious forces of nature stuff. 

[Thwomp!]

Very disappointed that we somehow have NO ONE to step up, even temporarily if Jack is out.

Reinhart? No.2 pick should be able to, but no.

Skinner? $7 million man. Nope.  $9 million man?  So much better.

Risto? Any of the other D?

Hutton sucks.

Young guys and rookies looked the best before I shut the game off in disgust.

Edited December 20, 2019 by Thwomp!

[Pimlach]

6 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

This was what Krueger was supposed to fix but it doesn't seem to happen. I also scratch my head wondering why do players always seem to get worse when they come to Buffalo. Most recently Johanson looked great in Boston, started similarly here but now looks like he's lost interest as well. It seems to happen again and again. There is something deeply wrong here. 

Some of it is who they play with.   In Boston he had to play hard every minute just to get ice and stay off the 4th line.  In Buffalo a third line forward with skill becomes a 2C because we have nothing else.  

 

 

Edited December 20, 2019 by Pimlach

[Stoner]

Hank, I just saw Carin at the fax machine and she said she heard Rick wants to see you in his office this afternoon.

[Torpedo Forecheck]

14 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

Some of it is who they play with.   In Boston he had to play hard every minute just to get ice and stay off the 4th line.  In Buffalo a third line forward with skill becomes a 2C because we have nothing else.  

 

 

This is a really good point!

I turned over to the Islanders/Bruins game when the Sabres game started to crap out. Man am I jealous of the "sandpaper" guys those 2 teams have.

[LGR4GM]

10 hours ago, Kruppstahl said:

A second really disinterested, soft game in a row!  Great.  The work ethic problems continue under their 4th (5th?) coach. 

Connor Sheary you suck so bad.

Reinhart you are such a floater.  No way in hell do you get the big K and I hope to God they move you for equal value this year.

Here's the problem with this sentiment. It is highly unlikely you can move a player in a trade that returns equal value. I assume you mean trading 60 pt Reinhart for another 60 point winger that fits your mold better. A team is unlikely to do that without a reason. It is why you see things like the Hall trade where a team gives up a bunch of pieces. 

[LGR4GM]

3 hours ago, nucci said:

When you gut the entire organization to lose on purpose, it's not easy to recover

It is not easy to recover when you have a GM do the dumb ***** he did. We wasted 2 picks from the deep 2015 draft. We shipped out or missed on all our 2nd round picks from 2013, 2014 and 2015. Murray screwed us, Botterill hasn't done enough to fix it, and here we sit. We salvaged the 2016 draft fiasco by ditching Nylander for Jokiharju but still there is simply not enough talent in the system. It will take years of good drafting to get us back to where we need to be. It was not the losing but the complete inability to build up after. It is like an army outrunning its supply line. 

[nucci]

36 minutes ago, inkman said:

I still think it's a lack of talent vs culture, mindset, mysterious forces of nature stuff. 

I agree...my point was the talent level was dropped to minor league level and it's difficult to build it back up

[LGR4GM]

3 minutes ago, nucci said:

I agree...my point was the talent level was dropped to minor league level and it's difficult to build it back up

As I stated above that is because Murray made strategic mistakes and they were compounded when Botterill completely whiffed on the ROR trade (also I don't care if the Owner forced the trade, the GM still pulled the trigger).

[inkman]

33 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

Hank, I just saw Carin at the fax machine and she said she heard Rick wants to see you in his office this afternoon.

Is this a Northeastern Pennsylvania spelling of Karen? Or am I missing a specific reference here? 

[Stoner]

42 minutes ago, inkman said:

Is this a Northeastern Pennsylvania spelling of Karen? Or am I missing a specific reference here? 

Carin's a millennial. She was at the fax machine all confused and asked me if she could text the expense reports to corporate instead. Then she started crying, so I did it for her. She's at home now receiving counseling over FaceTime.

[MakeSabresGrr8Again]

1 hour ago, Torpedo Forecheck said:

This is a really good point!

I turned over to the Islanders/Bruins game when the Sabres game started to crap out. Man am I jealous of the "sandpaper" guys those 2 teams have.

As long as we suck anyway maybe we could talk Peters, Rivet, and Ray to play the rest of this season, lol.

And replace Hutton with Biron.

Edited December 20, 2019 by MakeSabresGrr8Again

[North Buffalo]

Wonder if Ray can still fight and ps is John Scott available.

[MakeSabresGrr8Again]

3 minutes ago, North Buffalo said:

Wonder if Ray can still fight and ps is John Scott available.

Scott would probably take a pass....he already had a near death experience.

[nfreeman]

4 games under DeLuca .500 and fading fast.  They are still in the playoffs if the season ended today, but only 1 pt ahead of TB and Toronto and 2 ahead of Florida for #3 in the Atlantic.  If any of those 3 passes them -- which is almost certain to occur -- then they would need a WC spot, and they are currently 4 pts behind Philly for the last WC.

And THAT is why no one should feel comfortable about going, say, 3-3-3 in a 9-game stretch because it's a ".500" pace, or about "getting points in 7 out of 9 games" or other similarly useless achievement.

 

 

[Randall Flagg]

The frustrating thing is that even when we get our three game win streak, it's all against western teams, and we immediately come back to teams we're actually battling with and lose all three games

[Torpedo Forecheck]

2 hours ago, MakeSabresGrr8Again said:

As long as we suck anyway maybe we could talk Peters, Rivet, and Ray to play the rest of this season, lol.

And replace Hutton with Biron.

I get the joke, but I'm more concerned with having guys like DeBrusk, Coyle, Kuraly, Wagner, Heinen, Norstrom, Bailey, Cizikas, Clutterbuck etc. I realize some of these guys aren't analytics favorites. I don't give a crap, these guys have intangibles that people with a good eye for hockey can value properly.