Dylan Cozens: naive kid, or culture change spokesman

[PerreaultForever]

8 hours ago, dudacek said:

There was no intention of actively trying to improve the team’s record this year. None. Ever.

“For me, it isn’t about giving an exact timeline, it’s more about setting players up for success,” Adams said. “Putting them in a position to grow, learn, develop now, but then also making sure that when they become Buffalo Sabres they’re set up for success.”

How is going into a season with no decent goalie setting them up for success? 

“What we do expect is that we are going to continue to learn, get better, push each other on and off the ice to be the best we can be. If we do that then the timeline of success will take care of itself. We are more focused on today, getting better, how do we improve individually and collectively, and when you have that type of mindset it can be really powerful.”

So where's the improvement? We're worse. Nowhere in there does he say bear with us, we're going to tank for Wright and then start to bring guys up and get better. 

Lots of people were excited about Granato believing that late season rally would carry over. It has not. Not at all. meanwhile Gallant, Boudreau, not too shabby in their new homes are they? 

You measure the team by what they do ON THE ICE NOW, and not by some promises of the future. We've had those for over a decade. RIGHT NOW this team is worse than last year. It is a joke of a hockey team. You can list any excuses you want, but that's the fact. They suck. 

Edited January 13, 2022 by PerreaultForever

[dudacek]

6 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

“For me, it isn’t about giving an exact timeline, it’s more about setting players up for success,” Adams said. “Putting them in a position to grow, learn, develop now, but then also making sure that when they become Buffalo Sabres they’re set up for success.”

How is going into a season with no decent goalie setting them up for success? 

“What we do expect is that we are going to continue to learn, get better, push each other on and off the ice to be the best we can be. If we do that then the timeline of success will take care of itself. We are more focused on today, getting better, how do we improve individually and collectively, and when you have that type of mindset it can be really powerful.”

So where's the improvement? We're worse. Nowhere in there does he say bear with us, we're going to tank for Wright and then start to bring guys up and get better. 

Lots of people were excited about Granato believing that late season rally would carry over. It has not. Not at all. meanwhile Gallant, Boudreau, not too shabby in their new homes are they? 

You measure the team by what they do ON THE ICE NOW, and not by some promises of the future. We've had those for over a decade. RIGHT NOW this team is worse than last year. It is a joke of a hockey team. You can list any excuses you want, but that's the fact. They suck. 

I’ve never argued that today’s Sabres don’t suck.

Yes or no, do you think that Adams made the moves he made this off-season - getting rid of 6 of his best players for no immediate return, slashing his payroll by $30 million, and adding a bunch of role players for $750,000 - believing it would result in a better record this season?

[PerreaultForever]

34 minutes ago, dudacek said:

I’ve never argued that today’s Sabres don’t suck.

Yes or no, do you think that Adams made the moves he made this off-season - getting rid of 6 of his best players for no immediate return, slashing his payroll by $30 million, and adding a bunch of role players for $750,000 - believing it would result in a better record this season?

Oh no, I've always felt his words were a crock of sh@t.  I think I was one of the first to say this was a tank year. I called it a "clever tank" or a disguised tank, as unlike the last one some people at least initially thought this wasn't a tank. 

I think the old core had to go. He had no choice in that matter. Optics were what they were, but Reinhart wasn't going to sign long term (unless maybe they backed up the money truck and dumped it out but they weren't going to do that), I personally think the early Jack wants out rumours were true and the surgery thing was just a pile of spin. he wanted out and that was a good way (they thought) to make it acceptable. 

The Risto deal was actually a pretty solid hockey trade. Flyers management is dumb. This is being shown this year. Their fans are not happy. We won that one. 

Goaltending was completely botched though. He thought he could sign Ullmark to hold the fort until UPL was totally ready. That's obvious. He blew it.

Granato? idk There were experienced good coaches available. He went with the cheap untried easy choice. I think he's a decent teacher. Not sure he's an NHL head coach. Certainly scratching my head over line combinations lately.

So what do you want me to say? He won 1 trade. The other ones won't be known until the future. He lost on the goalie. He's done nothing with free agents. Drafting, we shall see. 

[LGR4GM]

4 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

“For me, it isn’t about giving an exact timeline, it’s more about setting players up for success,” Adams said. “Putting them in a position to grow, learn, develop now, but then also making sure that when they become Buffalo Sabres they’re set up for success.”

How is going into a season with no decent goalie setting them up for success? 

“What we do expect is that we are going to continue to learn, get better, push each other on and off the ice to be the best we can be. If we do that then the timeline of success will take care of itself. We are more focused on today, getting better, how do we improve individually and collectively, and when you have that type of mindset it can be really powerful.”

So where's the improvement? We're worse. Nowhere in there does he say bear with us, we're going to tank for Wright and then start to bring guys up and get better. 

Lots of people were excited about Granato believing that late season rally would carry over. It has not. Not at all. meanwhile Gallant, Boudreau, not too shabby in their new homes are they? 

You measure the team by what they do ON THE ICE NOW, and not by some promises of the future. We've had those for over a decade. RIGHT NOW this team is worse than last year. It is a joke of a hockey team. You can list any excuses you want, but that's the fact. They suck. 

Lol imagine using the hc of the nyr as proof the hc of the Sabres is bad. 

Vancouver is living in the same bubble Buffalo was after Krueger got replaced. 

Granato is currently holding a trash roster together with ahl goalies, ahl replacements, and whatever other pieces he can scrape together like some weird episode of MASH where Hawkeye is a hockey coach. And for the record, Granato is a highly experienced coach with experience at multiple levels: ushl, usdp, ahl, and nhl over a 25 year coaching career. Anyone notice the players with talent are doing pretty good under him?

Idk how we'd expect him to win with a lineup missing 4 players from the top 6, Okposo, Tuch, Mitts, Krebs and missing 3 of his better defenders in Power, Samuelsson, and Bryson. We lose all that plus the goaltending and we expect to still compete? Gallant, Boudreau, Cooper, Trot, etc... couldn't win with a roster relying on eakin, mckinnis, Jankowski, Hayden, and wait who's the goalie now? The top of the roster is not strong enough to hold up that much dead weight. 

I'll say it another freaking time. This team, is not talented enough, at any level, to win consistently. You could change coaching, you could fire the gm, you could destroy the new analytics department, ship Terry to Timbuktu, but this team would still lose. It's not the coach, it's not effort, it's not some other mysterious bs, the Buffalo Sabres do not possess enough talent to win. It's that simple and it's why 2023 is perhaps the first season we can actually hope to be decent. 

[Dreams Burn Down]

1 hour ago, LGR4GM said:

Lol imagine using the hc of the nyr as proof the hc of the Sabres is bad. 

Vancouver is living in the same bubble Buffalo was after Krueger got replaced. 

Granato is currently holding a trash roster together with ahl goalies, ahl replacements, and whatever other pieces he can scrape together like some weird episode of MASH where Hawkeye is a hockey coach. And for the record, Granato is a highly experienced coach with experience at multiple levels: ushl, usdp, ahl, and nhl over a 25 year coaching career. Anyone notice the players with talent are doing pretty good under him?

Idk how we'd expect him to win with a lineup missing 4 players from the top 6, Okposo, Tuch, Mitts, Krebs and missing 3 of his better defenders in Power, Samuelsson, and Bryson. We lose all that plus the goaltending and we expect to still compete? Gallant, Boudreau, Cooper, Trot, etc... couldn't win with a roster relying on eakin, mckinnis, Jankowski, Hayden, and wait who's the goalie now? The top of the roster is not strong enough to hold up that much dead weight. 

I'll say it another freaking time. This team, is not talented enough, at any level, to win consistently. You could change coaching, you could fire the gm, you could destroy the new analytics department, ship Terry to Timbuktu, but this team would still lose. It's not the coach, it's not effort, it's not some other mysterious bs, the Buffalo Sabres do not possess enough talent to win. It's that simple and it's why 2023 is perhaps the first season we can actually hope to be decent. 

I agree with all of this, except the effort section.  I don't see the effort from this team on a consistent basis.  Add to that the timidity around the puck and fear, for lack of a better descriptor, of physical contact from most of this group and my aggravation piques.  The lack of talent is obvious, but these are still professional ice hockey players.  Effort, toughness, and urgency on even a semi-consistent basis is not too much to ask.  Or is it?

[nucci]

2 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

Lol imagine using the hc of the nyr as proof the hc of the Sabres is bad. 

Vancouver is living in the same bubble Buffalo was after Krueger got replaced. 

Granato is currently holding a trash roster together with ahl goalies, ahl replacements, and whatever other pieces he can scrape together like some weird episode of MASH where Hawkeye is a hockey coach. And for the record, Granato is a highly experienced coach with experience at multiple levels: ushl, usdp, ahl, and nhl over a 25 year coaching career. Anyone notice the players with talent are doing pretty good under him?

Idk how we'd expect him to win with a lineup missing 4 players from the top 6, Okposo, Tuch, Mitts, Krebs and missing 3 of his better defenders in Power, Samuelsson, and Bryson. We lose all that plus the goaltending and we expect to still compete? Gallant, Boudreau, Cooper, Trot, etc... couldn't win with a roster relying on eakin, mckinnis, Jankowski, Hayden, and wait who's the goalie now? The top of the roster is not strong enough to hold up that much dead weight. 

I'll say it another freaking time. This team, is not talented enough, at any level, to win consistently. You could change coaching, you could fire the gm, you could destroy the new analytics department, ship Terry to Timbuktu, but this team would still lose. It's not the coach, it's not effort, it's not some other mysterious bs, the Buffalo Sabres do not possess enough talent to win. It's that simple and it's why 2023 is perhaps the first season we can actually hope to be decent. 

agree, I'm just really tired of losing and not as optimistic as some on here

[JohnC]

7 hours ago, nucci said:

agree, I'm just really tired of losing and not as optimistic as some on here

It's easy to understand why individuals are so frustrated with this franchise. You have every right to be frustrated with how this archaic franchise has functioned during the decade's long Pegula ownership. The issue now is how do we get out of this seemingly entrenched mess and have a glimmer of hope that the franchise is moving in the right direction? What they are doing is the standard formula for a bottom feeding team to retool and get back to the competitive level i.e. mostly rely on a draft and develop approach to restock the empty cupboard. 

The futile quick-fix or patchwork solution doesn't work. The Sabres are a testament to that failed strategy. It's simply a recipe for long-term mediocrity that gets you nowhere. As @LGR4GMhas repeatedly stated this NHL home team lacks the talent to compete with the big boys in the league. The best way to address that disparity is for the Sabres to continue to do what they are doing under Granato/KA stewardship. If anyone has a better way than what is already being done, I would like to know what it is. It's going to take time.

 

Edited January 13, 2022 by JohnC

[nfreeman]

4 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

Lol imagine using the hc of the nyr as proof the hc of the Sabres is bad.

17 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

Lol what bs

Both of these are obnoxious. 

[LGR4GM]

36 minutes ago, nfreeman said:

Both of these are obnoxious. 

funny that LOL is what triggered you. I will endeavor to be less snarky in responses. 

Edited January 13, 2022 by LGR4GM

[PerreaultForever]

9 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

Lol imagine using the hc of the nyr as proof the hc of the Sabres is bad. 

Vancouver is living in the same bubble Buffalo was after Krueger got replaced.  

Funny, I remember back earlier in the year when we were set to play the Rags you said they were rubbish (forget the exact word you used so feel free to claim it didn't mean rubbish if you like) and we would beat them. 

Vancouver's in a bubble? Sure why not, it's all an illusion..............

You can make excuses every year and every year they are different and yet the sad sack story still goes on. Don't stop believin' good buddy.  

[Thorner]

11 hours ago, JohnC said:

It's easy to understand why individuals are so frustrated with this franchise. You have every right to be frustrated with how this archaic franchise has functioned during the decade's long Pegula ownership. The issue now is how do we get out of this seemingly entrenched mess and have a glimmer of hope that the franchise is moving in the right direction? What they are doing is the standard formula for a bottom feeding team to retool and get back to the competitive level i.e. mostly rely on a draft and develop approach to restock the empty cupboard. 

The futile quick-fix or patchwork solution doesn't work. The Sabres are a testament to that failed strategy. It's simply a recipe for long-term mediocrity that gets you nowhere. As @LGR4GMhas repeatedly stated this NHL home team lacks the talent to compete with the big boys in the league. The best way to address that disparity is for the Sabres to continue to do what they are doing under Granato/KA stewardship. If anyone has a better way than what is already being done, I would like to know what it is. It's going to take time.

 

I disagree with the notion that only a full-scale rebuild represents an avenue to success. 

Plenty of other teams have gone for a more quicker retool and had success - just because the Sabres tried it and failed doesn't mean it can't work. They also tried, and failed, at a longer-scale rebuild before, too. It's all about the execution. 

The plan could be a logical one and work out well. But to say it was the only option for KA isn't true, and isn't fair, and it doesn't allow us to evaluate Adams properly. 

[Doohicksie]

1 hour ago, Thorny said:

The plan could be a logical one and work out well. But to say it was the only option for KA isn't true, and isn't fair, and it doesn't allow us to evaluate Adams properly. 

This is Adams' plan.  He wanted this rebuild.

[LGR4GM]

7 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

Funny, I remember back earlier in the year when we were set to play the Rags you said they were rubbish (forget the exact word you used so feel free to claim it didn't mean rubbish if you like) and we would beat them. 

Vancouver's in a bubble? Sure why not, it's all an illusion..............

You can make excuses every year and every year they are different and yet the sad sack story still goes on. Don't stop believin' good buddy.  

Yea, cuz I hate the rangers and want them to suck.

Granato isn't the problem and I'll bet a lot Vancouver has that new coach shine wear off.

[JohnC]

1 hour ago, Thorny said:

I disagree with the notion that only a full-scale rebuild represents an avenue to success. 

Plenty of other teams have gone for a more quicker retool and had success - just because the Sabres tried it and failed doesn't mean it can't work. They also tried, and failed, at a longer-scale rebuild before, too. It's all about the execution. 

The plan could be a logical one and work out well. But to say it was the only option for KA isn't true, and isn't fair, and it doesn't allow us to evaluate Adams properly. 

Jack made it clear that he wanted out. On top of that there was an irreconcilable issue over what surgery he should have. Reinhart made it clear that once his contract ran out he was going to be a free agent that he was going to bolt. Risto publicly stated that he wasn't going to sign an extension. I'm not debating what should have or could have been done differently. Those are issues dealing with the past, and not the present. 

No one disagrees with you that the past rebuilding efforts were repeatedly botched. There comes a point where you have to move on from the inglorious past and deal with the present situation. And in my opinion the front office is handling this current version of a rebuild in a more intelligent and coherent manner. Will it work any better than the previous futile versions? I believe so. 

[Thorner]

5 minutes ago, JohnC said:

Jack made it clear that he wanted out. On top of that there was an irreconcilable issue over what surgery he should have. Reinhart made it clear that once his contract ran out he was going to be a free agent that he was going to bolt. Risto publicly stated that he wasn't going to sign an extension. I'm not debating what should have or could have been done differently. Those are issues dealing with the past, and not the present. 

No one disagrees with you that the past rebuilding efforts were repeatedly botched. There comes a point where you have to move on from the inglorious past and deal with the present situation. And in my opinion the front office is handling this current version of a rebuild in a more intelligent and coherent manner. Will it work any better than the previous futile versions? I believe so. 

I'll keep mentioning it: Adams could have signed Reinhart the first summer he came aboard - he bridged him while Reinhart was still, by his own account, open to a longer term extension. We know from Eichel and Adams interviews that Adams original plan was to rebuild - he decided to go with a "go for it year" once Eichel expressed his displeasure with the strategy. We know from Brawndo and others Adams was under the impression it needed to be a rebuild - I'd be highly surprised if his decision to bridge Reinhart wasn't specifically influenced by his thoughts about where the team would be, after the failed "go for it" year. 

He could have signed Reinhart and gone a different route. I'm not arguing the merits for either side, whether we needed to go full rebuild or not, merely that I'd like to agree it was a choice. 

Edited January 14, 2022 by Thorny

[JohnC]

2 minutes ago, Thorny said:

I'll keep mentioning it: Adams could have signed Reinhart the first summer he came aboard - he bridged him while Reinhart was still, by his own account, open to a longer term extension. We know from Eichel and Adams interviews that Adams original plan was to rebuild - he decided to go with a "go for it year" once Eichel expressed his displeasure with the strategy. We know from Brawndo and others Adams was under the impression it needed to be a rebuild - I'd be highly surprised if his decision to bridge Reinhart wasn't specifically influenced by his thoughts about where the team would be, after the failed "go for it" year. 

He could have signed Reinhart and gone a different route. I'm not arguing the merits for either side, merely that I'd like to agree it was a choice. 

There is no doubt that Adams wanted to rebuild. I'm not arguing otherwise. The core players that were there when he took over were all dealt for a variety of reasons, mostly revolving around the issue of players who had little desire be part of another torturous rebuild. Was the return for them adequate? It was a reasonable return considering the situation. The pathway the GM want to be on is the pathway we are on. Now it is all about the execution of the plan. 

[PerreaultForever]

39 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Yea, cuz I hate the rangers and want them to suck.

Granato isn't the problem and I'll bet a lot Vancouver has that new coach shine wear off.

hehe okay fair enough.

I didn't mean to say Granato was the problem. I was talking about Adams words vs. actions. I don't think he's terrible, but I do think those veteran coaches are better. If we'd hired one of them and kept Granato as an assistant I'd be happier.