GDT: 🏒 Buffalo Sabres @ New Jersey Devils 27 October 2023 7:00 PM MSG

[sabresouth]

17 minutes ago, Carmel Corn said:

So on Sunday we may end up getting what many of us hoped to never see again.....UPL in net and Bryson on defense.  Not the start to the season that any of us wanted, but we are quickly getting thru the first 10 games and it seems like they've regressed vs. how they ended last season.

THANK YOU KA!!!!!!

[Huckleberry]

just home, will look at this game and the jersey goals tomorrow, but UPL glove high is his weak spot.

[Gatorman0519]

2 minutes ago, Scottysabres said:

It's a straight out disaster now as it stands. Playing catch up season after season only proves to me that this team, from GM on down, is not learning. They brought back nearly the identical roster, we shouldn't expect completely differing results to be honest. Is the season already over? Of course not, but until changes are made, expect similar results. After all, this isn't happening in a stasis bubble, other teams have, are and will continue to make changes to try and get better results, Buffalo, not so much.

13 straight years of this. Unprecedented. Depressing. We literally never have a good hockey team while other teams have rebuilt twice in the same time period. 

[...]

We have a goalie and coaching problem. Effectively the same issues exist from last season. 

Why do we have a goalie in the rotation who sucks at break-aways when the team is prone to defensive breakdowns that allow break-aways?

[Taro T]

8 minutes ago, zow2 said:

When the opponent makes that big push in the 3rd to get that tie breaking goal or put the game away, the Sabres have no ability to stop it. That’s a really bad sign.  Top flight goal tending would help and could steal some points, but the Sabres just lose too many games in regulation as of today. and they will not make the playoffs from what i can see. 

They'll get Levi back healthy soon.  That'll help.  The "big" guys that they depend on are starting to get on rolls.  The PK is actually good (at least when UPL isn't between the pipes).  Don't have faith that the PP will click better than middle of the pack but winning 5v5 and playing well on the PK should be enough to get them wins.  

The playoffs are still very much in play.  (Even if they lose as they very well might should UPL get into his 3rd game in a row.)  If they get Levi and Comrie back soon, could see them going on a 3 game winning streak after Sunday's game is in the rearview mirror.

[Scottysabres]

Just now, Gatorman0519 said:

13 straight years of this. Unprecedented. Depressing. We literally never have a good hockey team while other teams have rebuilt twice in the same time period. 

The Pegula ownership, at least for the hockey team, has been a very brutal, very public disaster. Poor hiring at the top organizational positions, lack of patience in some instances to see what unfolds has led to an organizational catastrophe.

They look to have started to mend it, but again, organizational management has not addressed a couple of the core issues, mainly defense and especially goaltending.

I am starting to heavily question if Granato is the guy for the job. Developing is one thing, but pushing those developed assets to the next lvl doesn't appear to be his strong suit. The teams core of now locked up contract wise, there is 0 reason to not go after additional pieces to move to the next phase.....playoff hockey caliber roster.

[K-9]

42 minutes ago, French Collection said:

Is Matt Ellis better at drawing up plays than he was creating them?

Matt Ellis is the Matt Ellis of play design.

[Derrico]

9 minutes ago, ... said:

We have a goalie and coaching problem. Effectively the same issues exist from last season. 

Why do we have a goalie in the rotation who sucks at break-aways when the team is prone to defensive breakdowns that allow break-aways?

Exactly this.  His lateral movement and success on breakaways is way below average. Maybe on a defensively structured team he would look ok but that’s not how meatballs has this team playing and the strength of the team is more run and gun yet give up chances. It’s also why Levi should be better for this team as those are his strengths.  But he’s 21.  Sabres fans shouldn’t be asked to continue to wait forever.  
 

Goaltending was the issue last season.  Goaltending was the issue all offseason.  Goaltending is still the issue 8 games and 3-5 record into the season. 

Edited October 28, 2023 by Derrico

[zow2]

4 minutes ago, Gatorman0519 said:

13 straight years of this. Unprecedented. Depressing. We literally never have a good hockey team while other teams have rebuilt twice in the same time period. 

I always lament the same thing. We’ve seen other clubs, many of them, have up cycles where they are really solid and make the playoffs for a few years. Down cycles where they miss for a couple years, rebuild and make the playoffs for a few more years, go back down, etc..  New Jersey is another example.  Meanwhile Buffalo is the only club that just stays down, for eternity! The fans here deserve so much better.

[PerreaultForever]

Well it did sort of come down to goaltending, but in an odd way. Comrie, boy, he must be made of glass. Great signing KA. 

I see a lot of lovers of soft hockey here. That's fine, it's your preference, and it'll never work in the playoffs. 

Clifton's penalty was BS imo and I'm truly surprised so many of you are anti-Clifton on that. Ridiculous. 

Clifton is short. He didn't jump. For him to "target the head" means the opponent's head was down, way down, and as such Clifton can't be faulted as it's a fast game and following through is what you're supposed to do. Anyone who thinks he can suddenly pull up has probably never laced up a pair of skates. You suspend that and you're basically saying no hitting allowed or you can only run into big tall guys with their heads in the clouds. 

I expect lots of eye rolls, vomit and red x's from Liger and the softy crowd. Bring it on. It's what you do best. 

Two teams that love to play the same way and so it comes down to one shot or save here or there and this time they got it. Dead equal otherwise imo. We probably deserved a loser point. 

VO is still rubbish. 

 

4 minutes ago, Scottysabres said:

The Pegula ownership, at least for the hockey team, has been a very brutal, very public disaster. Poor hiring at the top organizational positions, lack of patience in some instances to see what unfolds has led to an organizational catastrophe.

They look to have started to mend it, but again, organizational management has not addressed a couple of the core issues, mainly defense and especially goaltending.

I am starting to heavily question if Granato is the guy for the job. Developing is one thing, but pushing those developed assets to the next lvl doesn't appear to be his strong suit. The teams core of now locked up contract wise, there is 0 reason to not go after additional pieces to move to the next phase.....playoff hockey caliber roster.

cause they did it backwards. 

[Crusader1969]

19 minutes ago, Gatorman0519 said:

We will have to agree to disagree. To me it’s borderline a disaster. Even if you don’t have 8 game losing streaks, two months like this can sink you. 

2 months of winning 3 out of every 9 games would be a disaster.     But it’s just one stretch and they haven’t even lost on Sunday yet!  

[K-9]

1 hour ago, Cheektorado said:

Cuz their Cousins, identical cousins all the way!

[Scottysabres]

2 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

Well it did sort of come down to goaltending, but in an odd way. Comrie, boy, he must be made of glass. Great signing KA. 

I see a lot of lovers of soft hockey here. That's fine, it's your preference, and it'll never work in the playoffs. 

Clifton's penalty was BS imo and I'm truly surprised so many of you are anti-Clifton on that. Ridiculous. 

Clifton is short. He didn't jump. For him to "target the head" means the opponent's head was down, way down, and as such Clifton can't be faulted as it's a fast game and following through is what you're supposed to do. Anyone who thinks he can suddenly pull up has probably never laced up a pair of skates. You suspend that and you're basically saying no hitting allowed or you can only run into big tall guys with their heads in the clouds. 

I expect lots of eye rolls, vomit and red x's from Liger and the softy crowd. Bring it on. It's what you do best. 

Two teams that love to play the same way and so it comes down to one shot or save here or there and this time they got it. Dead equal otherwise imo. We probably deserved a loser point. 

VO is still rubbish. 

 

cause they did it backwards. 

Maybe. They definitely didn't do it correctly for a long time. We'll see what happens this season, but as of right now, I have the Sabres not making the playoffs, ranking them 23 out of 32 teams.

[Derrico]

4 minutes ago, zow2 said:

I always lament the same thing. We’ve seen other clubs, many of them, have up cycles where they are really solid and make the playoffs for a few years. Down cycles where they miss for a couple years, rebuild and make the playoffs for a few more years, go back down, etc..  New Jersey is another example.  Meanwhile Buffalo is the only club that just stays down, for eternity! The fans here deserve so much better.

It’s a salary cap league.  What the Sabres are doing is unprecedented.  Ok I’m drunk and logging off.  
 

Will be there Sunday cheering them on…..

[Believer]

Think Biron put it exactly right in his post game comments…

Paraphrasing him… Sabres played pockets of good hockey tonight… and not 60 minutes of good hockey…

Players focused on their individual performance in those pockets… and not the team performance over three periods.

My take is it’s a mindset challenge… Only the coaches and players can fix it.

Not KA… Not Pegula… Not any one player or line or D pairing.

Ruff had the Devils prepared to play… and they wanted it more than we did.

Sunday is the first game in a new week… 

 

[Taro T]

6 minutes ago, Derrico said:

It’s a salary cap league.  What the Sabres are doing is unprecedented.  Ok I’m drunk and logging off.  
 

Will be there Sunday cheering them on…..

As will we.  An early lunch at Union and then hopefully the goatheads work their weird magic.  Would trust them to be able to do so a lot more if we hear tomorrow that Levi is back on the ice looking good and that the league office decided to treat Clifton like he was Brady Tkachuk.

[Quint]

I Hate to Lose, Season 12, Episode 8.

(When will this show be canceled?)

[zow2]

Once they got that one chance and tied the game 4-4, you have to get that game to OT.  That’s all that matters and they just lack urgency or a killer instinct or any of that intangible stuff that the good teams have.

[LGR4GM]

58 minutes ago, Gatorman0519 said:

Colorado with the red hot start. UPL probably in net. Looking at the possibility of 3-6 with a tough Philly team 2x and Toronto. Total disaster. 

We'll beat the flyers. Step away from the ledge.

[CallawaySabres]

Refraining refraining 

[Mango]

23 minutes ago, Scottysabres said:

The Pegula ownership, at least for the hockey team, has been a very brutal, very public disaster. Poor hiring at the top organizational positions, lack of patience in some instances to see what unfolds has led to an organizational catastrophe.

They look to have started to mend it, but again, organizational management has not addressed a couple of the core issues, mainly defense and especially goaltending.

I am starting to heavily question if Granato is the guy for the job. Developing is one thing, but pushing those developed assets to the next lvl doesn't appear to be his strong suit. The teams core of now locked up contract wise, there is 0 reason to not go after additional pieces to move to the next phase.....playoff hockey caliber roster.

This season has barely started but the last 12 years have been historically bad. Like Terry might actually be the worst owner in NHL history. 

On the football side of things, Terry Pegula and the Sabres are my big argument for sticking with McBeane through whatever it is that’s going on over there.

That said, I’m really hoping the Sabres can figure this thing out this year. As a fan I’m not sure I can do another tear down.

[shrader]

3 minutes ago, Mango said:

This season has barely started but the last 12 years have been historically bad. Like Terry might actually be the worst owner in NHL history. 

On the football side of things, Terry Pegula and the Sabres are my big argument for sticking with McBeane through whatever it is that’s going on over there.

That said, I’m really hoping the Sabres can figure this thing out this year. As a fan I’m not sure I can do another tear down.

They’re treading water at this point. One up, one down, …

Things are going to break at some point, one way or the other. That’s when we’ll know what kind of team we actually have here. 

[Flashsabre]

It’s over.cant believe they are mathematically eliminated in October. Unprecedented. 

Pack the franchise up and move them to Houston. 

[Pimlach]

2 minutes ago, Mango said:

This season has barely started but the last 12 years have been historically bad. Like Terry might actually be the worst owner in NHL history. 

On the football side of things, Terry Pegula and the Sabres are my big argument for sticking with McBeane through whatever it is that’s going on over there.

That said, I’m really hoping the Sabres can figure this thing out this year. As a fan I’m not sure I can do another tear down.

Terry is the worst owner in the history of the NHL based on his W/L and playoff performances over any equivalent window in time.  He probably is also the worst based on his hiring and organizational management but that is subjective. 
 

We agree on the football side for the same reason. No faith in Terry to get it right. 
 

They won’t be tearing down. They have the core starting long term deals and a good pipeline behind them. If they don’t make the playoffs again they will have a new story on how and when their master plan works.  

[Mango]

5 minutes ago, shrader said:

They’re treading water at this point. One up, one down, …

Things are going to break at some point, one way or the other. That’s when we’ll know what kind of team we actually have here. 

I totally agree. Dancing around .500 is “fine”. I’ll start to show a lot of concern if their first streak is a 4+ game losing streak.