GDT: Blue Jackets @ Sabres - Tue. 7 pm ET, Dec 19, 2023, MSG-B, BSOH 📺 WGR 📻

[SabresBillsFan]

12 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

This is true, and I've talked about team defense for years (it was the "easier" part according to Meatballs) but I don't put the blame on Power. I put it on a team that expects a kid his age to come in and be a team's number 2 D man right away. It's an absurd concept to say the least. 

Yes you’re right. Worst thing is giving him a big extension without proving yourself more. They need a gritty veteran defenseman who can help these kids get to the next level. To me it’s mind blowing that any GM or head coach can be happy about their play this year. 

Edited December 20, 2023 by SabresBillsFan

[PerreaultForever]

2 minutes ago, SabresBillsFan said:

Yes you’re right. Worst thing is giving him a big extension without proving yourself more. They need a gritty veteran defenseman who can help these kids get to the next level. To me it’s mind blowing that any GM or head coach can be happy about their play this year. 

idk what is going on in E Johnson's head but I look at a guy like Clifton and have to wonder. Sure he came to Buffalo because they promised him a starting job (he was 7th D in Boston) and they paid him 3-4 times what he was making there so of course he came but he isn't anything like what I saw in Boston. There he was a fearless hit leader and he worked his butt off all the time. Here he floats like the rest of them and only throws a hit occasionally. Gets caught out of position (in fairness that happened in Boston too but forwards covered for him) and is basically an ineffective bottom level D man. It's like something happens to you when you get to Buffalo and you realize you no longer have to be accountable. Some sort of laziness or lack of interest creeps in and you just laugh all the way to the bank. 

Lack of accountability from management/coaching

Lack of accountability to the leadership core (if we even have one)

Lack of accountability to the team and the jersey

Lack of accountability/concern with what fans think of them

It's just rotten through and through. 

[SabresBillsFan]

5 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

idk what is going on in E Johnson's head but I look at a guy like Clifton and have to wonder. Sure he came to Buffalo because they promised him a starting job (he was 7th D in Boston) and they paid him 3-4 times what he was making there so of course he came but he isn't anything like what I saw in Boston. There he was a fearless hit leader and he worked his butt off all the time. Here he floats like the rest of them and only throws a hit occasionally. Gets caught out of position (in fairness that happened in Boston too but forwards covered for him) and is basically an ineffective bottom level D man. It's like something happens to you when you get to Buffalo and you realize you no longer have to be accountable. Some sort of laziness or lack of interest creeps in and you just laugh all the way to the bank. 

Lack of accountability from management/coaching

Lack of accountability to the leadership core (if we even have one)

Lack of accountability to the team and the jersey

Lack of accountability/concern with what fans think of them

It's just rotten through and through. 

Yeah you’re right. Here is the thing I just don’t get. Why any owner would be okay with this is beyond me. I know it’s a process to do a rebuild but no playoffs for how many years. At the end of the day I want to put together a Stanley Cup contending team year in and year out. It means season ticketing sales, merchandise sales and popularity among fans not in that market. Why in the hell wouldn’t you want that. I understand your not gonna be the top dog every year but this is just too much that the Sabres fans have been going through!

[\GoBillsInDallas/]

[Rasmus_]

Fire Granato into the sun 🌞 

[triumph_communes]

It wasn’t the usual suspects today it was the better players. 

[PerreaultForever]

1 hour ago, SabresBillsFan said:

Yeah you’re right. Here is the thing I just don’t get. Why any owner would be okay with this is beyond me. I know it’s a process to do a rebuild but no playoffs for how many years. At the end of the day I want to put together a Stanley Cup contending team year in and year out. It means season ticketing sales, merchandise sales and popularity among fans not in that market. Why in the hell wouldn’t you want that. I understand your not gonna be the top dog every year but this is just too much that the Sabres fans have been going through!

Oh I can answer this really easily. Because Terry Pegula is the BOSS. 

This started with Pat LaFontaine's resignation. Terry (and Kim before) have hired a series of Yes people who will not stand up to them or question them. No experienced hockey people. No hockey man at the top. Just a series of greenhorns who are excited by their new big pay cheques and titles and are willing to bow and be loyal within the hierarchy. Ain't nobody going to go to Terry and tell the emperor he got no clothes. 

Meanwhile Terry is on the record saying he likes fast hockey and goal scoring and doesn't like fighting and so that's the kind of team we build (if you can call it a build). maybe he even meddles in trades and drafts idk about that but it's possible. In any event, this could have all been different if he'd just handed it all over to an experienced hard nosed hockey guy at the top who hired other experienced hockey guys and created a culture based around the legacy of what used to be in Buffalo as well as other teams where those guys might have come from. 

It's just that simple and yes, it's ALL Terry's fault. 

[Nitro60]

6 hours ago, SwampD said:

No. It was not.

For two years, 200-3-2005, the team was in limbo.  Rigas empire was in tatters and the fate of the Sabres was in the balance.  Rumors of a new owner and moving the team were rampant.  In 2008-2009 Jim Balsillie was with a group trying to land a team in Hamilton.  The Sabres were in their sights.  Fortunately Gallisano resisted and sold the team to the Pegulas.  

[That Aud Smell]

5 hours ago, Thorny said:

This is the most brain numbingly dumb post game comment I’ve ever seen

 

Did this one get discussed as well?
 

That’s the fu*king epitaph for these Sabres: “We bear some of that.”

 

[Slack_in_MA]

6 hours ago, Thorny said:

This is the most brain numbingly dumb post game comment I’ve ever seen

 

Rookies, either literally or figuratively, up and down the organization.

[phil_soisson]

8 hours ago, Pimlach said:

No.  Of course not. But lose to the Leaves like that and someone has to go.  
 

But won’t.  DG will finish the season, hopefully then he gets a merciful ending, and he will learn that putting in defense hurts offense.  

"putting in defense"? They gave up nine goals.

[Scottysabres]

Just now, phil_soisson said:

"putting in defense"? They gave up nine goals.

I wonder if they give up 10 or more in practice and Donny sees....."improvement" with 9? 🤣 

[#freejame]

1 hour ago, That Aud Smell said:

Did this one get discussed as well?
 

That’s the fu*king epitaph for these Sabres: “We bear some of that.”

 

the fact the there’s people on this board who like KO has at times disgusted me. He’s been nothing but a loser here and has contributed absolutely nothing to this organization. He’s the first one making excuses now and was the last one contributing before his injury. 

5 hours ago, ExWNYer said:

Terry Pegula is 72 years old. You'd think that of all of us, he'd be at the top of the "just one before I die" list. Apparently, he'd rather line his coffin with his billions than spend it trying to see a Stanley Cup hoisted in WNY during his last years on earth. This once proud franchise in a laughingstock, Terry, and the blame lies squarely on the shoulders of the obtuse dolt staring back at you in the mirror every morning. Do something now or sell the team and get the f*ck out of the way. We deserve much better even if you feel you (and we don't). Cripes...

<rant over>

Terry doesn’t care. 

[Quint]

Home? The Sabres have no home.

I was thinking about this..it's been haunting me. Twelve years of extreme losing has turned the KeyBank Center into a lions' den for the home team. The team is filled with young players who have impressionable mindsets..as well as inexperienced coaches and executives who are supposed to be in control. In twelve years the once-lively, supportive and loyal fans  who in its history have been among the best in the NHL have become ultra jaded, mortified with an avalanche of poor results and quick to boo with gusto. Most other times, the place is a morgue. Home games must have a deadly effect on players who are very young and not much better for vets.The players must really dread home games in anticipation of the very negative response of the fans, who in truth are booing Pegula's extreme mismanagement. The players are being thrown to the wolves every game at Keybank Center and they must hate playing at home.

Okposo is right. These players are not responsible for all the losing over 12 years. Pegula is solely responsible. But the only ones who have been here for all 12 years are the fans. The players must certainly be sick of losing but they have no idea. The fans are the ones who have suffered for over a decade and it's showing. Pegula couldn't have done a better job at ruining this franchise. He needs to sell soon. He is a disaster at hockey.

 

Edited December 20, 2023 by Quint

[Scottysabres]

5 minutes ago, Quint said:

I was thinking about this..it's been haunting me. Twelve years of extreme losing has turned the KeyBank Center into a lions' den for the home team. The team is filled with young players who have impressionable mindsets..as well as inexperienced coaches and executives who are supposed to be in control. In twelve years the once-lively, supportive and loyal fans  who in its history have been among the best in the NHL have become ultra jaded, mortified with an avalanche of poor results and quick to boo with gusto. Most other times, the place is a morgue. Home games must have a deadly mindset for players who are very young and not much better for vets.The players must really dread home games in anticipation of the very negative response of the fans, who in truth are booing Pegula's extreme mismanagement. Tha players are being thrown to the wolves every game at Keybank Center and they must hate playin home games. 

Okposo is right. These players are not responsible for all the losing over 12 years. Pegula is solely responsible. But the only ones who have been here for all 12 years are the fans. Pegula couldn't have done a better job at ruining this franchise. He needs to sell soon. He is a disaster.

 

He's not selling. I get people wanting this, but it's not happening.

[Quint]

5 minutes ago, Scottysabres said:

He's not selling. I get people wanting this, but it's not happening.

You must be "in the know."

[steveoath]

Granato addresses media from his office

[Scottysabres]

Just now, Quint said:

You must be "in the know."

We all are. Him and Kim answered this 7 or 8 years ago. The team will be going to the oldest daughter, from Terry's first marriage, a rabid fan like her dad. Short memory?

[Quint]

5 minutes ago, Scottysabres said:

We all are. Him and Kim answered this 7 or 8 years ago. The team will be going to the oldest daughter, from Terry's first marriage, a rabid fan like her dad. Short memory?

Things change. 

[phil_soisson]

6 hours ago, ExWNYer said:

Terry Pegula is 72 years old. You'd think that of all of us, he'd be at the top of the "just one before I die" list. Apparently, he'd rather line his coffin with his billions than spend it trying to see a Stanley Cup hoisted in WNY during his last years on earth. This once proud franchise in a laughingstock, Terry, and the blame lies squarely on the shoulders of the obtuse dolt staring back at you in the mirror every morning. Do something now or sell the team and get the f*ck out of the way. We deserve much better even if you feel you (and we don't). Cripes...

<rant over>

That ship sailed when he was awarded an NFL franchise.

[Scottysabres]

8 minutes ago, Quint said:

Things change. 

This is Terry Pegula were talking about. What has changed in 13 years? Because based on Pegula's track record, change isn't coming.

[Quint]

8 minutes ago, Scottysabres said:

This is Terry Pegula were talking about. What has changed in 13 years? Because based on Pegula's track record, change isn't coming.

We all dreaded it when he announced that Kim was going to be "President for life." That has changed. She is no longer in the picture. In fact, she has completely disappeared from view. Pegula is in hiding from Sabres fans. That has changed too. It wasn't always like that. RJ, the face and voice of the franchise, is gone, that's change. Pegula, as thick-headed as he is, must notice all the rejections he has gotten from players and coaches he wanted to woo here with his big money. Money isn't everything. It's the situation. And this one is dire and unfixable under this Hindenburg of Hockey.Change could happen, even to someone as intractible as Pegula. 

[Doohicksie]

9 hours ago, Carmel Corn said:

Interesting...TNT and Tuch were -4, but Benson was only -1....thought they played on the same line tonight?!?!

If you look at shift beginnings/ends relative to COL goals scored, 3 may have come during line changes.... or was Donny switching the lines up?

[sabremike]

53 minutes ago, Scottysabres said:

We all are. Him and Kim answered this 7 or 8 years ago. The team will be going to the oldest daughter, from Terry's first marriage, a rabid fan like her dad. Short memory?

I have a question: WHY DON'T THEY PUT HER IN CHARGE RIGHT NOW? MIKE BROWN PUTTING HIS DAUGHTER IN CHARGE OF THE BENGALS IS HOW WE BECAME A SERIOUS CREDIBLE FRANCHISE, WHY CAN'T TERRY DO LIKEWISE????????????????

[Doohicksie]

9 hours ago, Scottysabres said:

Interesting that post game was only KO. Donny and the dwarfs must of shot up to Mitts room at harbor center for some fortnight.

Tage was interviewed too, at least on WGR he was.