GDT:Somethings Got to Give! Buffalo at New Jersey March 16, 2021 7pm MSG WGR

[Brawndo]

Your Buffalo Sabres have lost 11 consecutive games 

The New Jersey Devils have lost 11 consecutive home games

Somethings Gotta give

[\GoBillsInDallas/]

Edited March 16, 2021 by \GoBillsInDallas/

[#freejame]

Sabres take lead, Sabres blow lead, Sabres wheels fall off, Sabres lose

4-2 Islanders after being up two in the first. 

[miles]

 

 

 

[Sabres Fan in NS]

1 hour ago, #freejame said:

Sabres take lead, Sabres blow lead, Sabres wheels fall off, Sabres lose

4-2 Islanders after being up two in the first. 

Islanders?

That's a neat trick that only these Sabres could pull off ... a loss to a team they are not playing.

That said ...

Since they are playing NJ ... they will win big and RaKru will be around for another 10+ games.  I would be surprised if he does not finish this hopeless season as HC.

MUST WIN!!

GO SABRES!!

I predict a 6 - 2 win for the good guys (the ones from Western NY).

[steveoath]

0-0 shootout to last until the end of time.

[#freejame]

7 minutes ago, New Scotland (NS) said:

Islanders?

That's a neat trick that only these Sabres could pull off ... a loss to a team they are not playing.

That said ...

Since they are playing NJ ... they will win big and RaKru will be around for another 10+ games.  I would be surprised if he does not finish this hopeless season as HC.

MUST WIN!!

GO SABRES!!

I predict a 6 - 2 win for the good guys (the ones from Western NY).

Long Island, New Jersey...what’s the difference? 

[Norcal]

[Stoner]

Something's got to give... this summer. Until then, it hardly matters.

[Stoner]

To be clear, that something needs to be a FOR SALE sign on the arena or at the very least a new POHO with the Pegulas' vow to change their ways.

[Radar]

15 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

To be clear, that something needs to be a FOR SALE sign on the arena or at the very least a new POHO with the Pegulas' vow to change their ways.

Ten years into this ownership this seems to me the only possible solution. I hold no personal feelings against the Pegulas. I supported them as owners for years and have no reason to doubt they are nice people but that's not the criteria I look for in owners of the Sabres. Ten years of futility in operating and hiring has brought me into agreement PA with your assessment.

[IKnowPhysics]

[John Tucker]

51 minutes ago, Radar said:

Ten years into this ownership this seems to me the only possible solution. I hold no personal feelings against the Pegulas. I supported them as owners for years and have no reason to doubt they are nice people but that's not the criteria I look for in owners of the Sabres. Ten years of futility in operating and hiring has brought me into agreement PA with your assessment.

Agreed.  They have kept the Sabres here and have helped bring a little bit of life downtown.  Just not inside the arena where it's supposed to be happening.  Hopefully their egos will erode and they will be able to see that they are not capable of owning two legit franchises.  This situation has gone past laughable.

[ubkev]

1 hour ago, PASabreFan said:

Something's got to give... this summer. Until then, it hardly matters.

PA to Terry: And to answer you question, pal, why am I here? I came here because Mitch & Murray asked me to. They asked me for a favor. I said the real favor, follow my advice and fire your ***** ass, because a loser is a loser.

[KC Scouts]

Hmmmm .. going out on a limb here........Sabres give up an early goal and never catch up.

What are we to expect based upon recent performances?

The opponent's goalie will look like a Brick Wall and it doesn't matter who we put between the pipes 

We can't score a goal to save our lives...but even a Blind Squirrel finds a nut, so maybe we get one or two

Could be 5-2 or 3-0....the point is....We will lose again  

[Flashsabre]

To start the 3 rd period Lindy comes out behind the Sabres bench and Ralph to the NJ bench.  Sabretooth removes his head to reveal it is Darcy. The gang is back together in Buffalo!😛

[Curt]

12 minutes ago, Flashsabre said:

To start the 3 rd period Lindy comes out behind the Sabres bench and Ralph to the NJ bench.  Sabretooth removes his head to reveal it is Darcy. The gang is back together in Buffalo!😛

The game in NJ.

[Mustache of God]

I foresee three outcomes:

This game is an absolute trash fest and ends in a 1-0 shootout NJ victory that goes to the 6th round. In his post-game presser Ralph praises the team for fighting and making progress. Wants to see more of a reaction on Thursday...

OR
 

NJ absolutely blows us out. In his post-game presser Ralph praises the team for giving the appearance of fighting and claims progress is merely around the corner. Wants to see more of a reaction on Thursday...

OR
 

The Sabres score 9. GMKA fires Ralph mid-post game presser. The lotto ticket I bought hits and I low-ball Terry and become the new owner of the Sabres and attempt to fix this mess, starting with a 36 month "evaluation" process.

[darksabre]

4 hours ago, PASabreFan said:

Something's got to give... this summer. Until then, it hardly matters.

That's the thing: it does matter, right now. In fact, I would say the situation is as dire as it gets.

It's about honor. It's about pride. It's about taking the soul of the franchise seriously.

If they let this team look like this all the way to the end of the season, the message being sent is: we don't care.

What good player would want to be part of a team that, in this moment, isn't doing everything it can to save its soul?

[Randall Flagg]

11 minutes ago, darksabre said:

That's the thing: it does matter, right now. In fact, I would say the situation is as dire as it gets.

It's about honor. It's about pride. It's about taking the soul of the franchise seriously.

If they let this team look like this all the way to the end of the season, the message being sent is: we don't care.

What good player would want to be part of a team that, in this moment, isn't doing everything it can to save its soul?

Nailed what many of us can't put into words. 

Superficially, financially, in a vacuum, one can logically discuss the merits of keeping Ralph around in a season like this. But when you're in the real world and dealing with actual humans inside and outside of your building, where stuff like the bolded are tangible if not measurable, it feels like we are recklessly dancing with the devil. Flirting with the edge of some proverbial cliff, playing a bit too much a bit too close to the edge. 

To get out of this the Sabres need to spend every ounce of energy they have fighting and clawing to fix it. Upgrading every little thing they can. Turning over every rock for any modicum of improvement. This desperation should never leave us until we take our week off to party with the cup. 

[darksabre]

13 minutes ago, Randall Flagg said:

Nailed what many of us can't put into words. 

Superficially, financially, in a vacuum, one can logically discuss the merits of keeping Ralph around in a season like this. But when you're in the real world and dealing with actual humans inside and outside of your building, where stuff like the bolded are tangible if not measurable, it feels like we are recklessly dancing with the devil. Flirting with the edge of some proverbial cliff, playing a bit too much a bit too close to the edge. 

To get out of this the Sabres need to spend every ounce of energy they have fighting and clawing to fix it. Upgrading every little thing they can. Turning over every rock for any modicum of improvement. This desperation should never leave us until we take our week off to party with the cup. 

Yup. It's about the identity, the character of the franchise. A sports team exists entirely due to human experience. It's an inherently personal thing. We develop intense feelings towards individuals and subsequently the team as a whole, and the business side gets to turn that in to profits. It starts with the personality, the principles, the ethos that binds the players together, and then binds the players to the fans.

But this team, as it sits right now, has no character. It has no identity. It is entirely without meaning. The Sabres aren't the team that always plays tough, or always plays fast, or always has too many good goalies. They are nothing. An ancient pyramid emptied of its treasures and filled with nothing but sand and the subtle hints of what was.

And you can only sit in this state for so long before it becomes permanent. Many would probably argue that it already is, that the Sabres will never recover from this. I don't agree, but I think if they're going to they need to start right now.

What are the Buffalo Sabres if they are not to be a sucking void into which everything goes and nothing, not even the light, returns?

[sabremike]

I will be there tonight, hoping some other fellow masochists show up and we can start an audible Ralph Must Go chant.

[dudacek]

1 hour ago, darksabre said:

That's the thing: it does matter, right now. In fact, I would say the situation is as dire as it gets.

It's about honor. It's about pride. It's about taking the soul of the franchise seriously.

If they let this team look like this all the way to the end of the season, the message being sent is: we don't care.

What good player would want to be part of a team that, in this moment, isn't doing everything it can to save its soul?

What player, what coach, what hockey executive, what sponsor, and — most importantly — what fan?

They've used up most of the considerable good will capital this franchise accumulated over its first 40 years.

I don't think it is an exaggeration to say the future of the business is at risk.

[LTS]

1 minute ago, dudacek said:

What player, what coach, what hockey executive, what sponsor, and — most importantly — what fan?

They've used up most of the considerable good will capital this franchise accumulated over its first 40 years.

I don't think it is an exaggeration to say the future of the business is at risk.

Buffalo is an established market that craves hockey. Everyone recognizes that. This ownership team has pretty much used up its capital, but the franchise and the city continue to be held in high regard by many.

This ownership group may be on its last legs barring some miraculous turnaround, but I think everyone comes running back if the Sabres return to even a moderate level of respectability. 

 

[pi2000]

==============================================================
BUF even strength goal differential through 27 games = -42
BUF even strength minutes played through 27 games = 1428.82
exp+/- is a function of %min played at ES and team ES goal diff
TRpm(team relative +/-) is the diff btwn actual+/- and exp+/-
%min is % of ES minutes played
==============================================================
Team  Player                   TRpm    GP    +/-  exp+/-  %min
BUF Jake McCabe                8.37    13     2   -6.37   15.2
BUF Riley Sheahan              7.03    26    -1   -8.03   19.1
BUF Curtis Lazar               3.01    25    -5   -8.01   19.1
BUF Jacob Bryson               2.74    11    -3   -5.74   13.7
BUF Tobias Rieder              2.62    24    -5   -7.62   18.1
BUF Rasmus Asplund             2.53     5     1   -1.53    3.6
BUF Cody Eakin                 1.84    26    -7   -8.84   21.0
BUF Kyle Okposo                1.80    22    -6   -7.80   18.6
BUF William Borgen             1.79     4     0   -1.79    4.3
BUF Henri Jokiharju            1.47    18    -7   -8.47   20.2
BUF Jack Eichel                1.46    21    -9  -10.46   24.9
BUF Tage Thompson              1.15    12    -3   -4.15    9.9
BUF Dylan Cozens               0.25    20    -7   -7.25   17.3
BUF Rasmus Ristolainen         0.05    20   -11  -11.05   26.3
BUF Jeff Skinner              -0.20    24    -9   -8.80   20.9
BUF Matt Irwin                -0.28    14    -7   -6.72   16.0
BUF Brandon Davidson          -0.95     5    -3   -2.05    4.9
BUF Brandon Montour           -1.07    25   -15  -13.93   33.2
BUF Casey Mittelstadt         -2.85    12    -7   -4.15    9.9
BUF Colin Miller              -3.68    25   -16  -12.32   29.3
BUF Taylor Hall               -4.42    27   -17  -12.58   30.0
BUF Victor Olofsson           -5.39    27   -17  -11.61   27.6
BUF Eric Staal                -6.84    27   -18  -11.16   26.6
BUF Sam Reinhart              -7.83    25   -20  -12.17   29.0
BUF Rasmus Dahlin            -12.95    27   -27  -14.05   33.5
==============================================================

VS

==============================================================
NJD even strength goal differential through 25 games = -3
NJD even strength minutes played through 25 games = 1261.55
exp+/- is a function of %min played at ES and team ES goal diff
TRpm(team relative +/-) is the diff btwn actual+/- and exp+/-
%min is % of ES minutes played
==============================================================
Team  Player                   TRpm    GP    +/-  exp+/-  %min
NJD Matt Tennyson              6.30    10     6   -0.30   10.1
NJD Dmitry Kulikov             3.95    24     3   -0.95   31.6
NJD Andreas Johnsson           3.74    25     3   -0.74   24.7
NJD Ryan Murray                3.66    17     3   -0.66   22.1
NJD Yegor Sharangovich         3.62    23     3   -0.62   20.6
NJD Janne Kuokkanen            3.52    20     3   -0.52   17.2
NJD Mikhail Maltsev            3.32    13     3   -0.32   10.8
NJD Travis Zajac               2.63    21     2   -0.63   21.1
NJD Nathan Bastian             2.60    25     2   -0.60   19.8
NJD Nicholas Merkley           2.13     5     2   -0.13    4.4
NJD Jesper Bratt               0.61    19     0   -0.61   20.4
NJD Will Butcher               0.32     8     0   -0.32   10.5
NJD Nico Hischier              0.16     5     0   -0.16    5.3
NJD Jesper Boqvist             0.10     5     0   -0.10    3.2
NJD Ty Smith                  -1.00    25    -2   -1.00   33.2
NJD Jack Hughes               -1.03    25    -2   -0.97   32.2
NJD Miles Wood                -2.27    25    -3   -0.73   24.5
NJD Sami Vatanen              -2.49    15    -3   -0.51   17.0
NJD P.K. Subban               -2.90    25    -4   -1.10   36.6
NJD Kyle Palmieri             -3.17    24    -4   -0.83   27.6
NJD Michael McLeod            -3.44    23    -4   -0.56   18.7
NJD Damon Severson            -4.91    25    -6   -1.09   36.2
NJD Pavel Zacha               -7.22    25    -8   -0.78   25.9
NJD Nikita Gusev             -10.60    17   -11   -0.40   13.3
==============================================================