This is gonna be fun

[Sabres Fan in NS]

I think this season will be fun.

The Sabres will not be good, but we will like the effort.

I think the coach is a good one for this team.

[Radar]

Just now, New Scotland (NS) said:

I think this season will be fun.

The Sabres will not be good, but we will like the effort.

I think the coach is a good one for this team.

This is my hope. I thought they should keep Donato and feel this is confirmed by what we see. It's not about wins and losses it's developing our young team. A change of focus is needed for us fans  to embrace that. It's just where we are.

[MISabresFan]

6 minutes ago, Radar said:

This is my hope. I thought they should keep Donato and feel this is confirmed by what we see. It's not about wins and losses it's developing our young team. A change of focus is needed for us fans  to embrace that. It's just where we are.

Here comes the Beef - Hayden = a solid defensive option for the fourth line who also has some experience penalty killing and will engage physically when needed. 

[Kristian]

2 hours ago, Mustache of God said:

The morale in the youth who are still in the "oh geez, I'm actually playing in the NHL which is a dream come true".

I’m sorry… They think playing for the SABRES in NHL is a dream come true…?

[GoPuckYourself]

I'll focus on the Sabres I think will be legit stars for us to make the pain go away LOL 

Dylan Cozens looks like he'll be our next big star, Dahlin showed real promise at the end of the season and so did Middlestadt. I'm intrigued with Levi/UPL for the future of our goaltenders and think we have 2 gems there. This Levi kid seems like a steal imo. Plus we should see Owen Power/Jack Quinn both get another year under there belt in the minors before making the team next season so I'll be watching those 2 also.

Edited July 29, 2021 by GoPuckYourself

[Doohicksie]

15 minutes ago, Kristian said:

I’m sorry… They think playing for the SABRES in NHL is a dream come true…?

It is what they make of it.  How many other teams ask their young players to play key roles?  Play well, earn your minutes.  You're not competing against stars for playing time, you're competing with other "kids" and the better you play, the more time you'll get.

[PerreaultForever]

5 hours ago, Doohickie said:

I dunno.  I thought the end of last season was fun and they didn't win much.

I think you've lowered your bar so low you're digging a trench. 

[Cheektorado]

5 hours ago, Doohickie said:

Good.  So let's make some lemonade!

There is a truth to the saying that "When you hit Rock Bottom it offers a solid foundation to rebuild your life".

Sabres should of done what they are doing years ago.  I HATE that they waited this long.

The only question for me is do I purchase Center Ice to watch the kids of take the year off.  I probably will purchase it.

One thing I will not do is think about next years draft during this season.  That's a rabbit hole I will not go down again!

[Thorner]

5 hours ago, Weave said:

Yes yesterday’s signings were by design for the most part, but Linus and Jake leaving were not.  That tells me that goalie at minimum was not intended to go the way it did.  
 

We lost 2 of the most dependable, soft spoken, good attitude vets on the roster yesterday.  We can’t keep home grown good attitude players.  Yes, this team is now being shunned.

My gut tells me that KA is concentrating on futures because what we have been seeing is that the vets we obtain via trade just simply lay down on the job.  Because this team is being shunned.  We have no choice but to focus on futures.

Nope, we cannot let them off the hook, here. Can only be judged on results. They of course had a choice. They could have kept Ullmark. Etc. etc. 

[Thorner]

5 hours ago, Pimlach said:

Losing Ullmark was not by design.  It was 100% due to an inexperienced GM, not locking up a player that he protected.  It was ridiculous and it shows how bad things are.  Of course Ullmark left to go to Boston.  Who wouldn’t?  
 

Quickly signing the two journeyman goalies we did, for the minimum wage, was desperation not design. 

No team is ever going to be like "want WANT to lose our goalie". It's beyond the point - it's not about what they "want" ideally. It's about what they are prioritizing - as there is no excuse for not knowing the potential side effects, they are willfully aware that these negative events will transpire, likely, should they be prioritizing the long game 

Edited July 29, 2021 by Thorny

[Sabres Fan in NS]

28 minutes ago, Thorny said:

Nope, we cannot let them off the hook, here. Can only be judged on results. They of course had a choice. They could have kept Ullmark. Etc. etc. 

He choose to leave.

There is really nothing that the Sabres could have done about it.  Except maybe offer a 8 year $80M contract and even that may not have been enough for Linus to stay.  Seems like he really wanted to go.

Same with Jake.

[Thorner]

6 minutes ago, New Scotland (NS) said:

He choose to leave.

There is really nothing that the Sabres could have done about it.  Except maybe offer a 8 year $80M contract and even that may not have been enough for Linus to stay.  Seems like he really wanted to go.

Same with Jake.

Not true. Apparently they just needed some more term

Term is a no bueno during a tear down rebuild

Why do we need to argue about it when the proof is in the pudding? Every person we have brought in, to be on a team that plays in a league where fans watch to see if that team can win a competition, for entertainment purposes, has been on a 1 year deal for 750K

[Radar]

1 minute ago, Thorny said:

Not true. Apparently they just needed some more term

I'm disappointed he's gone but I don't think at this time I would have given him the contract Boston did.

[Doohicksie]

1 hour ago, Cheektorado said:

There is a truth to the saying that "When you hit Rock Bottom it offers a solid foundation to rebuild your life".

Sabres should of done what they are doing years ago.  I HATE that they waited this long.

The only question for me is do I purchase Center Ice to watch the kids of take the year off.  I probably will purchase it.

One thing I will not do is think about next years draft during this season.  That's a rabbit hole I will not go down again!

There is no more Center Ice. NHL games will be on ESPN+ (for a lot less)

[HoosierDaddy]

Just now, Radar said:

I'm disappointed he's gone but I don't think at this time I would have given him the contract Boston did.

I think that I would have given him the contract that Boston did, but I think that Buffalo would have had to extended it for more than four years or paid more money. That I would not have done.

[Doohicksie]

HEY THERE'S AN ULLMARK THREAD. DISCUSS IT THERE. Thank you.

This is the Have Fun thread.  😄

[Thorner]

Just now, Radar said:

I'm disappointed he's gone but I don't think at this time I would have given him the contract Boston did.

That's fine. I've already said I am more than willing to debate things under the context of the plan Adams is attempting to employ (regardless of my thoughts on said plan) - and I've been speaking about this for weeks, laying out my position so it's all fair and square with no funny business or hidden agendas. The one thing I just have literally no interest in doing and am close to not doing any further is discussing/allowing for the possibility Adams had "no choice" here and that he's simply beholden to the market and the circumstances at large. 

B.S. 

This is a choice, this is a plan. 

Please, let's just judge him based on the merits and results of such and not give him the "well, what could he have done differently?" caveat. 

2 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

HEY THERE'S AN ULLMARK THREAD. DISCUSS IT THERE. Thank you.

This is the Have Fun thread.  😄

Fair enough. Sorry - last off topic post on the matter in this thread) 

[DarthEbriate]

4 hours ago, Pimlach said:

It won’t work.  Look at the forwards. Look at the center spline without  Eichel.  Even 3 goals will be hard to get consistently.  
 

Part of the plan should have been to improve the goaltending by signing Linus and adding a competent backup via free agent or more likely by trade.   Let the goaltending try to  keep it close and give the young team a chance.   That is a plan for a team that wants to get better than they were the year prior.   They need a goal driven plan that shows year over year progress.  That will help build the illusive “good culture” people talk about so much   It is long overdue that we actually try to win.    

Instead we have this recurring dream of tearing down any progress made, however limited it may be, and then magically rebuilding from the rubble.   That dream has become a nightmare.  

Oh I agree it's likelihood of working is approximately 3,720 to 1. But this is the gonna be fun thread, so I figured I'd give it a shot. 🍺

[Cheektorado]

20 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

There is no more Center Ice. NHL games will be on ESPN+ (for a lot less)

This is what I am going by.  I stream and don't have cable or satellite.  I have Sling but just the Blue.  I don't want to add the Orange AND add the ESPN+ package too.  I guess I'll wait till later in the year and see what would be cheaper.

Quote from article:

Cable’s NHL Center Ice out-of-market service will still exist. As far as I can tell, this also doesn’t affect the similar package offered in Canada by Rogers, NHL Live.

https://www.diversetechgeek.com/nhl-moving-espn-abc/

[Sabres Fan in NS]

49 minutes ago, Thorny said:

Not true. Apparently they just needed some more term

Term is a no bueno during a tear down rebuild

Why do we need to argue about it when the proof is in the pudding? Every person we have brought in, to be on a team that plays in a league where fans watch to see if that team can win a competition, for entertainment purposes, has been on a 1 year deal for 750K

That is not what I heard.  Both really wanted to leave.  Maybe lack of term from Buffalo helped.  Anyway, I don't like when we fight.  So, what do you say we just kiss and make up, hun?

And ... not everyone is on $750K deals.  I think one of the goalers signed for a kool mill and somebody else (Pysyk?) gets $950K and some others $800K, but I get your point.

[Doohicksie]

1 hour ago, New Scotland (NS) said:

I don't like when we fight.  So, what do you say we just kiss and make up, hun?

Or at least take it to a more appropriate thread.  And if you're gonna start kissin', GET A ROOM!  😛

[Curt]

8 hours ago, JohnC said:

Did you read what I wrote? They are not retaining the players they drafted and developed. The issue isn't about enticing players to come in. The organization has made it clear that isn't how they are going to operate. (I'm aware you pointed that out.)  The problem is that the players they drafted and developed are moving on. The escalator going down is faster than the one going up. That was my point.

As long as the team is terrible, most good players will want to leave when they reach UFA status.  No brainer.

My point was that the reason they didn’t sign anyone for more than $1M is not because no one will take their money.  It’s because they didn’t want to sign those “good” players for UFA prices.  They don’t want to spend to the cap and finish the season in 24th place.  They want $20M+ in cap space and finish in 32nd place.

[JohnC]

37 minutes ago, Curt said:

As long as the team is terrible, most good players will want to leave when they reach UFA status.  No brainer.

My point was that the reason they didn’t sign anyone for more than $1M is not because no one will take their money.  It’s because they didn’t want to sign those “good” players for UFA prices.  They don’t want to spend to the cap and finish the season in 24th place.  They want $20M+ in cap space and finish in 32nd place.

I don't know what point you are getting at with me. I didn't disagree that good players who reach UFA will want to leave such a disheveled disorganization. It's understandable  that it would be a normal/rational desire not to want to waste one's career anchored to a team that has been stuck in the mud for half a generation. And contrary to what you just stated I acknowledged the fact that the GM wasn't going to spend at a high level to enhance the roster. How is it known to the audience at large? Because he clearly stated that is what he was going to do. So there is no mystery about the strategy he was going to take in this offseason.

What you did is basically miscast what I actually said. For what reason? I don't know and I don't particularly care because that is what you do. 

[Curt]

13 hours ago, Curt said:

I don’t believe this to be true.  NHL player will take NHL jobs for money.  Buffalo won’t be 1st choice, but it won’t be truly shunned.  No, the types of signings we saw yesterday were by design.

 

10 hours ago, JohnC said:

There is a another self-sabotaging side to running a dysfunctional operation. It goes beyond enticing players to your team. It's about retaining players that you already have. As you well know contracts have expiration dates. What we are seeing this offseason is that players on the roster who were drafted and developed by us are determined to find better situations when they no longer are contractually obligated to the team that drafted them.  The problem this offseason isn't enticing people to come as it is enticing them to remain. Ullmark exemplifies that trend. 

 

11 minutes ago, JohnC said:

I don't know what point you are getting at with me. I didn't disagree that good players who reach UFA will want to leave such a disheveled disorganization. It's understandable  that it would be a normal/rational desire not to want to waste one's career anchored to a team that has been stuck in the mud for half a generation. And contrary to what you just stated I acknowledged the fact that the GM wasn't going to spend at a high level to enhance the roster. How is it known to the audience at large? Because he clearly stated that is what he was going to do. So there is no mystery about the strategy he was going to take in this offseason.

What you did is basically miscast what I actually said. For what reason? I don't know and I don't particularly care because that is what you do. 

The sentence that bolded is me agreeing with what you said, not mischaracterizing it.

Above I’ve quoted my OP and your reply to me.  I honestly could not figure out what your reply had to do with what I wrote.  That may be why our conversation took a wrong foot misstep.

My point summarized was: They didn’t spend more in FA because they don’t want to, not because they couldn’t find players who would come to Buffalo.

Your reply summarized:  Not only couldn’t they get FA’s to come, they can’t get their homegrown players to stay.

You seemed to totally bypass what I said.  I wasn’t sure if you misunderstood me, or were disagreeing.  Can you offer clarification?

[I-90 W]

I’m staying away from this thread til we get better goaltending, then I’ll jump on board.