GDT: 2/27/21, 1pm Philadelphia @ Buffalo, MSG & ESPN+

[Thorner]

3 minutes ago, Scottysabres said:

I'm not. The truly shocking situation of it all is that the Pegula's have not learned a damn thing in these 10 years.

That is the ultimate baffling part of it all, because the vision from them is the product we see on the ice at the end of the day.

Terry cannot be happy. 

Call me a hopeless romantic. I thought a team with Eichel, Reinhart, Hall, Skinner, Staal and Olofsson in the top 6 would be able to find the back of the net 

[Scottysabres]

7 minutes ago, SabresBillsFan said:

I have notice that Victor Olofsson isn’t a factor at all in 5 on 5 situations. He’s great on the Power play and he’s goes unnoticed the rest of the game!

Trade him. Some teams will pay handsomely for that power play threat. You trade him, it's that simple honestly.

[Sabre fan]

Isn't the old blame-the-goalie thing getting tried? You really think we would have won with that "effort" they put forth today with Linus in net? That was really hard on the yes...an dyes I am totally on board to trading Jack and a bunch more but I do not trust the current regime to do any real moves. We first have to clear deck then hire a real President who then hopefully will bring in a compentant GM then coach. And they actually are serious about bringing fans back into the stands? That would have been a complete boo-fest today if there had been any poor souls fool enough to pay money to watch that crap. Absolutely 100% disgusting.

[DarthEbriate]

2 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

Elliot 15-2-2 versus Sabres

4 shutouts, including 2 in a row.  
 

Only 23 shots on him today. No Sabres in front of the net.  No need to worry about rebounds either.  

We've been really bad for a long time.

A long time.

[Norcal]

3 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

Elliot 15-2-2 versus Sabres

4 shutouts, including 2 in a row.  
 

Only 23 shots on him today. No Sabres in front of the net.  No need to worry about rebounds either.  

Put him in tomorrow too

[Carmel Corn]

Just now, DarthEbriate said:

We've been really bad for a long time.

A long time.

The playoffs seem so far, far away.....

[Claude Balls]

I'm sick to my stomach. Thank you Pegula's thank you sooo much!!!

[eman]

8 minutes ago, SabresBillsFan said:

This team is absolutely brutal to watch. These players are lost. Upper Management has no clue on how to put this team together. And all the talk about Gallant. He’s not gonna be the answer to this shitshow. So please stop with any Gallant talk.

Nope, I think Gallant can get way more out of this group. RK is brutal. Listen to his BS post game. You won't get answers like that from Gallant (or Torts, or Babcock) he holds his players accountable or they won't play or they get moved. Sometimes you need a coach like that, "my way, or the highway" with the backing of a GM and owner with a spine. That way, if things still go south, you can rest assured it is the coaching that isn't working. I do believe there is talent on this team but the coach, yet again, has lost the room. Dahlin, Risto, yes, even Skinner, Reinhart, Cozens and Jack will all excel elsewhere. They could excel here to, with the right coach. Linus is a very capable goalie, Huts is a back up and was good at it until he got here. This management/ownership group  has not been able to get a decent coach in quite some time. Trouble is, would Gallant, Boudreau or Babcock even come here? Babs is coaching the University of Saskatchewan for the time being.

[Claude Balls]

***** this franchise, from top to bottom. ***** off Terry.

[Cal Naughton Jr]

[SabresBillsFan]

2 minutes ago, Scottysabres said:

Trade him. Some teams will pay handsomely for that power play threat. You trade him, it's that simple honestly.

Not saying trade him but he goes unnoticed practically every game unless he scores on the power play. He’s needs to be better and a factor on 5 on 5 situations. 

[Norcal]

4 minutes ago, DarthEbriate said:

The capfriendly buyout calculator on Skinner is brutal. He is a Jedi cap crusher, like Ehrhoff's front-loaded contract, Moulson, and Okposo before he.

This team desperately needs someone with passion. Or craziness. They need either a Kaleta or Foligno, or... someone whose a total a-hole like Avery that they're ashamed of, but at least wakes them up.

Yes they do, badly. They've missed Foligno since the day he left. Heck, Deslauriers is still playing those type of minutes in the league. 

[jad1]

1 minute ago, Thorny said:

Call me a hopeless romantic. I thought a team with Eichel, Reinhart, Hall, Skinner, Staal and Olofsson in the top 6 would be able to find the back of the net 

Don't think you were wrong to make that assumption. 

Ralph is done.  All those fancy stats that hinted towards the light at the end of the tunnel are going to disappear as the Sabres play better competition.

Krueger's incompetence will soon be laid bare and Terry will be forced to make a move.  

[SabresBillsFan]

2 minutes ago, eman said:

Nope, I think Gallant can get way more out of this group. RK is brutal. Listen to his BS post game. You won't get answers like that from Gallant (or Torts, or Babcock) he holds his players accountable or they won't play or they get moved. Sometimes you need a coach like that, "my way, or the highway" with the backing of a GM and owner with a spine. That way, if things still go south, you can rest assured it is the coaching that isn't working. I do believe there is talent on this team but the coach, yet again, has lost the room. Dahlin, Risto, yes, even Skinner, Reinhart, Cozens and Jack will all excel elsewhere. They could excel here to, with the right coach. Linus is a very capable goalie, Huts is a back up and was good at it until he got here. This management/ownership group  has not been able to get a decent coach in quite some time. Trouble is, would Gallant, Boudreau or Babcock even come here? Babs is coaching the University of Saskatchewan for the time being.

I’m here in Vegas and will tell you Gallant isn’t going to be the answer. And not no to Bruce Boudreau but hell no.

[Pimlach]

4 minutes ago, Norcal said:

Nobody on the current lineup is physical.

Somebody needed to go out and hit someone in the mouth today to wake up this team.

I don't mean fight but go out and have high energy, make hits that they'll remember, cause turnovers and otherwise just be hard to play against. 

Risto, McCabe, Borgen, Lazar.  That’s it.  None are fighters but these four are the ones that will hit.  Big Contrast to older era hockey like the pre-2000’s.   In the 60-70’s you had the complete opposite, and you might have four players per team that don’t hit much.  

Todays game is faster, and more skillful so they say.  But that has translated into lower scoring, less hitting, and almost no fights.  Goalies are much better now and the equipment is huge and takes away a lot of net.  
 

I liked the older era much more.  

[SabresBillsFan]

1 minute ago, jad1 said:

Don't think you were wrong to make that assumption. 

Ralph is done.  All those fancy stats that hinted towards the light at the end of the tunnel are going to disappear as the Sabres play better competition.

Krueger's incompetence will soon be laid bare and Terry will be forced to make a move.  

Ralph and this coaching staff need to go period!

[Scottysabres]

Just now, Thorny said:

Call me a hopeless romantic. I thought a team with Eichel, Reinhart, Hall, Skinner, Staal and Olofsson in the top 6 would be able to find the back of the net 

The writing was on the wall early on to be honest. Eichel alone is a 80 to 100 point a season, 40 goal player, in an organization that has good management/coaching. The Sabres are not that team.

In the end, we have a real opportunity to cleanse the entire culture. The players are obviously emotionally detached from winning here. The coaching staff is clueless. The General Management team is completely inept, sure, covid is a contributing factor, but hardly large, other teams are making moves after all.

I mean, you have Staal on the interview, right now, openly admitting confidence is shot. What more is there to say? The confidence issue is "culture", and that is the core of the problem. Remove the components that are the issue of that, management, coaching staff and those players inflicted by it, hire an experienced, successful President of Hockey Operations (Lou type) and this all changes. But a majority of the current organization will have to be jettisoned imho.

[Pimlach]

8 minutes ago, SabresBillsFan said:

How many more years can Rasmus Ristolainen , Reinhart and Eichel continue to be apart of losing teams. 

Im sure they wonder the same thing.  

[DarthEbriate]

1 minute ago, Scottysabres said:

Trade him. Some teams will pay handsomely for that power play threat. You trade him, it's that simple honestly.

He'd get a solid return, too. That shot is worth 15 goals on the PP minimum every season. It's not a bad contract, and you put him on a 3rd or even the 4th line where he belongs. Olofsson is going to give a good effort as a forechecker, but he's not a possession or go to the corners guy and so you use him accordingly.

Here and now, Olofsson should be on a limited-5-on-5 line of specialists. Olofsson (PP1), Mitts (PP2, SO specialist) or Eakin (PK), and Rieder (PK). They're only going to get 8 minutes at night 5 on 5, if that, and yes --- they could get caved if they get caught in their own end, but they could turn the puck up-ice fast for an occasional transition goal. More importantly, they each have a really important role on the special teams.

[eman]

1 minute ago, SabresBillsFan said:

I’m here in Vegas and will tell you Gallant isn’t going to be the answer. And not no to Bruce Boudreau but hell no.

At least with Gabby Boudreau, we'll have one hell of a regular season! (then most likely go out in the first round!) I'll still take Gallant. (and Babcock)

[eman]

Watching some of the Nashville/Columbus first period now. Huge difference in effort, speed, passing, hitting etc. Both clubs playing hard. Like night and day between that game and this one. It also shows how far away this Sabre club is from achieving anything. 

[Norcal]

5 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

Risto, McCabe, Borgen, Lazar.  That’s it.  None are fighters but these four are the ones that will hit.  Big Contrast to older era hockey like the pre-2000’s.   In the 60-70’s you had the complete opposite, and you might have four players per team that don’t hit much.  

Todays game is faster, and more skillful so they say.  But that has translated into lower scoring, less hitting, and almost no fights.  Goalies are much better now and the equipment is huge and takes away a lot of net.  
 

I liked the older era much more.  

Those guys can and will hit people and their style could translate to any era.

I think they're missing a Rust, Gallagher, Anderson type, and I know there are plenty more guys out there, players who aren't a liability and can skate and hit and provide that bulldog mentality out there.

[DarthEbriate]

14 minutes ago, eman said:

Watching some of the Nashville/Columbus first period now. Huge difference in effort, speed, passing, hitting etc. Both clubs playing hard. Like night and day between that game and this one. It also shows how far away this Sabre club is from achieving anything. 

This is just it. The core: Eichel, Reinhart, Ristolainen, Girgensons, McCabe haven't played an intense, do-or-die, playoff game in 6+ years. They don't know how any more (by any more I'm including WJs, Olympics, etc.). It takes a postseason of two for young teams to "figure out how to win in the playoffs". This core is now objectively worse than the core that couldn't win in the playoffs that the owners wanted to blow up for McDavid in the first place. Individually, they're good players, sure. But they don't know what playing hard means anymore.

We've seen it time and time over the entirety of their careers. Good teams will occasionally "turn it on" against us. We'll score a goal, and then Boston will light us up for the next 10 minutes, get the lead back, and push us around. And we have no answer. Because our players don't know how to do that. They've never had the opportunity to learn how to, or gain the experience of pushing back even harder, like the playoffs brings out in the game.

Edited February 27, 2021 by DarthEbriate

[steveoath]

Eichel's gone this summer.  And if I was KA in looking to leverage a Tkachuk to buffalo. 

[IKnowPhysics]

RK postgame:

Blames the busy schedule for preventing the players from matching Flyers energy (Sabres had played eight games, Flyers had played four in the same time period).  Says this, along with lack of practices, has caused a lack of sharpness and confidence.

Points out that defensive zone puck management was bad.  It seemed to be a tendency today to over-complicate and over-pass on offense too.

"There's no easy magic here.  It's grind, it's character, it's grit and bite that we need to find."

 

Edited February 27, 2021 by IKnowPhysics