GDT: Sabres @ Islanders- Nov. 30, 2024, 7:30PM, MSG 📺 WGR550 📻

[Broken Ankles]

1 hour ago, Kronsteen said:

I really wish all of our players had even half of the amount of give-a-damn that Benson has.

I can just see Ruff right now in the locker room. Doing his best Ara Parseghian.  “Cozens, if you had a tenth the heart of Benson, you’d be an All-Star by now.  As it is, you just went from the 2nd line to the fourth line”.

 

[Hawerchuk]

2 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

I thought with the Vancouver game there were signs that they were starting to get it and they realized they had to fight their way through these kind of games but alas, not to be. Right back to the same old problems. It's not a pretty style of hockey the Islanders play and it's not a lot of fun, but you can't win against it just by trying to skate in open ice. They owned the wall and they play everything down low and they out muscle you on a constant basis. Soft teams struggle with that and that's what we are. 

Boston plays the exact same way and they are simply going to have to learn to fight through this style if they want to have any hope of making the playoffs at all. Give 'em hell Lindy, I am sure you are more than frustrated by this. 

Spot on analysis right there. Good post. 

[jad1]

2 hours ago, K012010 said:

I know that the bills try to be pretty supportive of the Sabres and hang out with them a bit, but I honestly think the Sabres roster needs a field trip to go see how a professional team operates. Sitting in on meetings, talk to the veterans and how they prepare, etc.

You keep these historical losers away from the Bills.  With this city's luck, the opposite will happen and the Sabres sh##tiness will rub off on the Bills.

[K012010]

21 minutes ago, jad1 said:

You keep these historical losers away from the Bills.  With this city's luck, the opposite will happen and the Sabres sh##tiness will rub off on the Bills.

A very fair point. Wouldn’t be worth the risk. 

[Kristian]

2 hours ago, Broken Ankles said:

I can just see Ruff right now in the locker room. Doing his best Ara Parseghian.  “Cozens, if you had a tenth the heart of Benson, you’d be an All-Star by now.  As it is, you just went from the 2nd line to the fourth line”.

 

Lindy loves Cozens, he can do no wrong.

[Kristian]

4 hours ago, Believer said:

Trade him.

Yes please, I’ve seen enough of his floating.

[Scottysabres]

7 hours ago, DarthEbriate said:

Whether you want them to be or not, if you have four top-2 picks those are your franchise players. They might not be hall of famers or the best players in the league, but they're your current franchise cornerstones. 

Personally I'm not unhappy with the picks, merely pointing out that as of right now they aren't the type of players, position wise or system wise that can elevate this club.

Some of that isn't by their doing I fully realize. For example, both would excel with select other clubs, even at their younger ages.

My observation was to point out they need that in the forward ranks, or, God forbid I can't believe I'm going to say this, they need a Hasek if they are going to continue to play this way in this system.

As for Eichel, Reinhardt, ya, we had a talent stacked team, with ROR, even Kane, and still could not get any traction. There's a rot in Buffalo for some reason, and I've identified 1 common denominator, they all played their early young NHL careers here.

Having a true veteran supporting cast means something I'd surmise. Yes coaching, GM decisions have a significant impact, but the level of s uck here in Buffalo points to something much deeper, imho.

[LabattBlue]

Rob Ray immediately after the Isles scored their 2nd goal…”The Sabres need to just keep doing what they’re doing”. 🤔

 

We should have a thread titled “What did he just say?” dedicated to all the nonsensical things RR & DD utter.  

[Carmel Corn]

30 minutes ago, LabattBlue said:

Rob Ray immediately after the Isles scored their 2nd goal…”The Sabres need to just keep doing what they’re doing”. 🤔

 

We should have a thread titled “What did he just say?” dedicated to all the nonsensical things RR & DD utter.  

The Sabres SUCK disease permeates the entire organization, including their own television media (Dunleavy and Ray) AND the local media who covers them.  I wish the local media would act like New York and castigate the team like they deserve for 13 years of sucktitude.

[LTS]

Last night was the reality of this team. They have no heart, no desire, no desperation to play the game. This was the Minnesota game except this time more pucks went in the Sabres net.

I'm not even going to get into the players on the team other than to echo what others have said. Benson gets it. Krebs might be the next hardest working player on the team.

I'm done with the Lindy Ruff experiment. This team looks the same as it did last year. They sucked AGAIN on the PP. They show no adaptability to when others teams have their number. Ruff is clearly not demanding accountability or Jack Quinn would be sitting in the press box. Who cares who plays over him, it's not like Quinn scores. Granted, after last night I'd want to sit the whole team.

I'm done with ANY coach on this staff, no keeping some of them. they all get to go.

I'm done with Adams who has built this joke of an organization.

I'm done with Alex Tuch as the poster boy of players who want to be here. The only way he could try any less harder would be to not take the ice. He's loving his paycheck I am sure.

And of course, it's all Pegula's fault. Year after year.

This board has more emotion about the Buffalo Sabres hockey club than all those who step on the ice or work in the front office.

[Pimlach]

8 hours ago, Stoner said:

I had to listen to him on the radio yesterday. I noticed something when I really paid attention. It's a statement and a pause... a statement and a pause... and so on. There's no flow to his call. And he doesn't modulate his voice much. It just doesn't sound like a hockey game. 

A puck rolled past an empty Vancouver net and he said something and quit... the crowd was going nuts. Dan was quiet for a good 10 seconds.

Punch is gettin upset!

[LabattBlue]

2 hours ago, Scottysabres said:

There's a rot in Buffalo for some reason, and I've identified 1 common denominator…

Don’t forget Pegula. 😉

[WhenWillItEnd66]

It is hard to get excited about this team.  They are the same inconsistent team as always.  Different players And coaches come and go,  but the play is always the same

[CallawaySabres]

Wake me up when this nightmare on key bank street part 14 ends. Go Bills

[Pimlach]

These Sabres forwards are losing minutes lately -  Malenstyn, McLeod, and Zucker.  
 

Does this seem odd to anyone else?   They brought them in for Lindy to add toughness, speed, and NHL experience.  
 

I don’t get what’s going on with the constant line changes either.  

[Believer]

4 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

These Sabres forwards are losing minutes lately -  Malenstyn, McLeod, and Zucker.  
 

Does this seem odd to anyone else?   They brought them in for Lindy to add toughness, speed, and NHL experience.  
 

I don’t get what’s going on with the constant line changes either.  

See LTS’s post above.

[Pimlach]

2 minutes ago, Believer said:

See LTS’s post above.

Fine.  One week ago McLeod was helping fill the void with Thompson out, Zucker was contributing in multiple ways, Malenstyn was hitting everything in sight.  

We win 3 on the road, come home and get Thompson back and poof.   Everything changed.   

The shots stopped going in and they are folding.  

[North Buffalo]

At this point I am ok trading TT in even swap for no 1

[JohnC]

I'm not going to bother discussing this game. Everyone saw what they saw. This 13-year doldrum is inexcusable and absurd. The system is designed for the down teams to move up and make it more challenging for the up teams to remain in their loftier positions. Let's compare Buffalo to the Washington organization that won a Cup in 2018. Over the past few years, the Calpitals have steadily reworked their roster. The front office has added young players from their system, making smart trades and acquiring the right free agent players. Their best player who will be in the HOF, Ovie, will be out for an extended period of time. Their record is 17-6-1, winning 7 straight road games. They won last night in a come from behind win against the Devils, one of the better teams in the league.  

What has handcuffed this franchise is an owner who personally hired the top staff. He doesn't know what he is doing. But what makes things even worse is that it doesn't seem that he is even invested in his own franchise. Tell me, what NHL franchise would have hired such an inexperienced person like KA to be their GM? I'm not saying that every decision the GM has made is wrong, but what is evident is that there are not enough right decisions to enable this team to be a serious team in the league. 

My worry is that because this franchise has been stuck for so long in the muck of mediocrity that some of their best young talent will become demoralized and want out like Eichel and Reinhardt did. Players at this level are fierce competitors. They don't like to regularly lose and not have a chance to participate in the playoffs. Don't kid yourself, consistently losing and not winning enough does demoralize even the most talented players. The owner and his GM need to demonstrate more urgency that they care and want to win. It's a ridiculous situation for a fan to be subjected to. What's worse than fan anger is fan apathy. That's the fast-track road that this franchise is on. 

[North Buffalo]

BTW watched that last Amerks game and Metsa is a force on D... what is his story... I dont remember... tough and good skater... Helenius making progress but a bit inconsistent... Syracuse plays tough hard nose game so good eval for type of players that show they can compete... recommend everyone watch.

[Archie Lee]

10 minutes ago, JohnC said:

I'm not going to bother discussing this game. Everyone saw what they saw. This 13-year doldrum is inexcusable and absurd. The system is designed for the down teams to move up and make it more challenging for the up teams to remain in their loftier positions. Let's compare Buffalo to the Washington organization that won a Cup in 2018. Over the past few years, the Calpitals have steadily reworked their roster. The front office has added young players from their system, making smart trades and acquiring the right free agent players. Their best player who will be in the HOF, Ovie, will be out for an extended period of time. Their record is 17-6-1, winning 7 straight road games. They won last night in a come from behind win against the Devils, one of the better teams in the league.  

What has handcuffed this franchise is an owner who personally hired the top staff. He doesn't know what he is doing. But what makes things even worse is that it doesn't seem that he is even invested in his own franchise. Tell me, what NHL franchise would have hired such an inexperienced person like KA to be their GM? I'm not saying that every decision the GM has made is wrong, but what is evident is that there are not enough right decisions to enable this team to be a serious team in the league. 

My worry is that because this franchise has been stuck for so long in the muck of mediocrity that some of their best young talent will become demoralized and want out like Eichel and Reinhardt did. Players at this level are fierce competitors. They don't like to regularly lose and not have a chance to participate in the playoffs. Don't kid yourself, consistently losing and not winning enough does demoralize even the most talented players. The owner and his GM need to demonstrate more urgency that they care and want to win. It's a ridiculous situation for a fan to be subjected to. What's worse than fan anger is fan apathy. That's the fast-track road that this franchise is on. 

I agree with this. I think our GM is now stuck in the rut of not wanting to rock the boat when things are going well and not wanting to over-react when things aren’t going well;  not being willing to trade a youngster/prospect when they are playing well because their value is high and not trading them when they are struggling as their value is low. 

[inkman]

8 minutes ago, North Buffalo said:

BTW watched that last Amerks game and Metsa is a force on D... what is his story... I dont remember... tough and good skater... Helenius making progress but a bit inconsistent... Syracuse plays tough hard nose game so good eval for type of players that show they can compete... recommend everyone watch.

Metsa is 5’9” 

[zow2]

12 hours ago, Second Line Center said:

Washington.  No OV?  Oh and he’s 40 years old?  No problem.  16-6 and beating NJ 6-4 right now.  
 

 

There is something grossly wrong here.  New coach again.  Everything looks exactly the same.  

 

The Caps are exactly what i thought the Sabres would be this season. Just coming out every night, regardless of opponent and being the more desperate and physical team. They weren’t expecting too much from Ovi this season based on last year, but he’s done well.  Even without him, they have a bunch of guys that muck it up and grind out wins. 

[JohnC]

1 minute ago, Archie Lee said:

I agree with this. I think our GM is now stuck in the rut of not wanting to rock the boat when things are going well and not wanting to over-react when things aren’t going well;  not being willing to trade a youngster/prospect when they are playing well because their value is high and not trading them when they are struggling as their value is low. 

What makes me angry about this mediocre GM is that the time to have made an impactful deal for a second-line player was the offseason. He over-assessed his roster and miscalculated what his roster needs were. Yes, he did a solid job on rebuilding the lower lines, but he was unresponsive to the biggest need of adding a second-line player that would have made the offense more potent. It was a tepid response to a major need.  Repeating what I have previously stated: He's a checkers player playing a chess game. He's a congenial fellow who is simply inadequate for the task. Mediocrity breeding more mediocrity. 

[Pimlach]

15 minutes ago, North Buffalo said:

BTW watched that last Amerks game and Metsa is a force on D... what is his story... I dont remember... tough and good skater... Helenius making progress but a bit inconsistent... Syracuse plays tough hard nose game so good eval for type of players that show they can compete... recommend everyone watch.

Metsa does not project to the NHL.  Not even on the worst franchise in NHL history.