Anonymous players spill on what went wrong this year

[shrader]

1 hour ago, Weave said:

No, YOU put shaving cream on Larry’s hand and tickle his nose.

I thought you put his hand in warm water while he’s sleeping and then pee on him. 

[Doohickie]

48 minutes ago, MISabresFan said:

those players should be released or traded.

Only if they don't want to be here.

[Pimlach]

1 hour ago, bob_sauve28 said:

He is still playing...in the playoffs for a good team. I don't get the complaint about him, he was a very solid player. 

I'm sure there is some wing-ding analytic saying he is weak in 2 on 2 situations away from the puck in high scoring situations, or something. But he is solid 

That article, or what was posted, just came off as really strange. Just simple bi tc hing 

Certainly E Johnson did his best.  I was complaining about Adams minimal effort to improve the team defense.  Just adding a 6/7 vet was not nearly enough.   Lybushkin was just as effective in that role and was younger, less expensive, and healthier.  

The players are complaining and it does sound babyish.   They are Adams entitled group and acting the part.  Adams created and this culture, he earned this.  

Meanwhile the SS Mother Fracker is pulling into the Port of Milwaukee.  The NFL draft is tomorrow, the Sabres can wait.  

 

 

[Taro T]

30 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

Certainly E Johnson did his best.  I was complaining about Adams minimal effort to improve the team defense.  Just adding a 6/7 vet was not nearly enough.   Lybushkin was just as effective in that role and was younger, less expensive, and healthier.  

The players are complaining and it does sound babyish.   They are Adams entitled group and acting the part.  Adams created and this culture, he earned this.  

Meanwhile the SS Mother Fracker is pulling into the Port of Milwaukee.  The NFL draft is tomorrow, the Sabres can wait.  

 

 

 

He brought in Johnson the Elder only and not much else because he and Granato were both convinced the team was pretty much a lock to make the playoffs if they simply kept working hard.

Not only did they pretty much run the band back with almost no changes to personnel, they spent the preseason doing stuff like seeing if come March should they need to have someone step up from Ra-cha-cha would it be Kulich or Rosen that was the right fit on Thompson's line and so on and so forth.

They forgot that the reason they'd been having great starts usually was them gearing up to hit the opening of the RS like it was the start of the playoffs and few of their opponents were taking it that seriously and those opponents definitely weren't taking the Sabres seriously.  When they treated October just like everybody else treats it, October ended up looking a lot more like the rest of the calendar.

My 2 cents.  YMMV.

[PerreaultForever]

6 hours ago, JohnC said:

The world has changed from the 60s where dictatorial coaches controlled their peasant players. Communication is not a one-way street in the modern world of life that includes businesses, education, sports etc. When you noted that Ruff met his players halfway, I considered it demonstrating flexibility and an ability to listen before responding. That's a sign of growth in how to handle players/people, not weakness of yielding to players. What you may consider to be a weakness in style of coaching is something that I see as showing positive traits of a willingness to listen and adjust to players of today. The era of the "old school" coaching for all sports is long gone, eras and people change. You either adapt or go by the wayside. 

Perhaps. But that also speaks to having veterans in the room who want to compete and who drive the kids rather than listening to the kids get their way. Consider that in Buffalo Eichel was in charge. They did whatever Eichel wanted and ran things Eichel's way. Eichel goes to Vegas, with Bruce Cassidy, a far harder coach than Ruff. Probably the meanest next to Torts among recent coaches. Eichel needs to adjust but gets on board. Why? Because that team was led by people like Mark Stone who are warriors and competitors. That's the difference. 

[JohnC]

1 hour ago, PerreaultForever said:

Perhaps. But that also speaks to having veterans in the room who want to compete and who drive the kids rather than listening to the kids get their way. Consider that in Buffalo Eichel was in charge. They did whatever Eichel wanted and ran things Eichel's way. Eichel goes to Vegas, with Bruce Cassidy, a far harder coach than Ruff. Probably the meanest next to Torts among recent coaches. Eichel needs to adjust but gets on board. Why? Because that team was led by people like Mark Stone who are warriors and competitors. That's the difference. 

You are preaching to the choir regarding adding more veterans to this youthful and immature roster. Why would you think otherwise?

The central point in my previous post dealt with having an old school iron-fist coaching approach with today’s players. It doesn’t work. Dinosaurs are extinct and not coming back. Nostalgia is about the past and not the present and future.

[PerreaultForever]

1 hour ago, JohnC said:

You are preaching to the choir regarding adding more veterans to this youthful and immature roster. Why would you think otherwise?

The central point in my previous post dealt with having an old school iron-fist coaching approach with today’s players. It doesn’t work. Dinosaurs are extinct and not coming back. Nostalgia is about the past and not the present and future.

But it does work. Cassidy won a cup. 

[Pimlach]

2 hours ago, JohnC said:

You are preaching to the choir regarding adding more veterans to this youthful and immature roster. Why would you think otherwise?

The central point in my previous post dealt with having an old school iron-fist coaching approach with today’s players. It doesn’t work. Dinosaurs are extinct and not coming back. Nostalgia is about the past and not the present and future.

[JohnC]

11 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

I’ll tell you one dinosaur who had a good run is Lou Lam…… However, his time had run out as it does for everyone. 

[JohnC]

1 hour ago, PerreaultForever said:

But it does work. Cassidy won a cup. 

Do you know what happens to people who look in the mirror instead of looking forward when driving? They crash. 

[PerreaultForever]

3 hours ago, JohnC said:

Do you know what happens to people who look in the mirror instead of looking forward when driving? They crash. 

Adams is the one that needs to look in a mirror. He's a failure plain and simple. 

[JohnC]

8 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

Adams is the one that needs to look in a mirror. He's a failure plain and simple. 

That’s like saying water is wet. Not very illuminating because everyone is aware of it except for the oblivious owner.

[Archie Lee]

14 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

But it does work. Cassidy won a cup. 

The reason it works with Cassidy, in my view, is that aside from being difficult/demanding he is also just an elite-level NHL coach. I don’t think the “hard on players” approach works if you don’t have the coaching chops to render results. I guess that’s pretty obvious. 

I think the evidence is pretty overwhelming, particularly when it comes to the parts of the game that we are lacking (defensive structure, discipline), that Ruff has not been a good NHL HC for a long time now. 

I think that good coaches, regardless of whether they are difficult/demanding or a “player’s coach”, instil discipline, structure, and urgency. I frankly don’t care which style of coach we have. I just want a really good one. 

[JohnC]

14 minutes ago, Archie Lee said:

The reason it works with Cassidy, in my view, is that aside from being difficult/demanding he is also just an elite-level NHL coach. I don’t think the “hard on players” approach works if you don’t have the coaching chops to render results. I guess that’s pretty obvious. 

I think the evidence is pretty overwhelming, particularly when it comes to the parts of the game that we are lacking (defensive structure, discipline), that Ruff has not been a good NHL HC for a long time now. 

I think that good coaches, regardless of whether they are difficult/demanding or a “player’s coach”, instil discipline, structure, and urgency. I frankly don’t care which style of coach we have. I just want a really good one. 

I really don't know if time has passed Lindy by or not as an NHL coach. Are his coaching views much different from most other NHL coaches?  I don't think so but can't say for sure. There are a lot of different coaching styles and personalities that have succeeded. It just seems to be that the biggest problems for anyone standing behind our bench is the talent level and roster construction. And those would be tough challenges for any coach.

[Jorcus]

"And, according to multiple veteran players, the frustration of losing led to some griping over factors that were out of their control."

 

When I think about this statement there are only a handful of current veteran Sabres who could make these statements. Thompson, Tuch, or Dahlin are the obvious 3. Beyond that it would be hard to call many of the players veterans that were here last year to comment about the Levi, Benson and Johnson group. I guess Greenway Clifton or Krebs might be considered veterans. Then there is last year vs this year so some sources may be mixed. A few things to note though. It sounds like in 2 cases the players were being heard about their concerns. Levi and Johnson got sent down. Maybe Benson would of gone back to Jr's if Quinn did not get hurt again. In any case they started to bring players in. The second issue was about the defensive structure this year. I think the players convinced Lindy to go back to the zone defense that Granato used in he second half of last year. We saw a lot more boxing in and less attack and race toward the end of the year. I would take those as positive developments. Now if they can only fix that stupid power play. 

[JohnC]

20 hours ago, Pimlach said:

Certainly E Johnson did his best.  I was complaining about Adams minimal effort to improve the team defense.  Just adding a 6/7 vet was not nearly enough.   Lybushkin was just as effective in that role and was younger, less expensive, and healthier.  

The players are complaining and it does sound babyish.   They are Adams entitled group and acting the part.  Adams created and this culture, he earned this.  

Meanwhile the SS Mother Fracker is pulling into the Port of Milwaukee.  The NFL draft is tomorrow, the Sabres can wait.  

 

 

I'm not trying to be snarky in asking this question: Is that really his boat?

[PromoTheRobot]

8 minutes ago, JohnC said:

I'm not trying to be snarky in asking this question: Is that really his boat?

I doubt it. Why boat to Wisconsin when you can fly private?

[Pimlach]

22 minutes ago, JohnC said:

I'm not trying to be snarky in asking this question: Is that really his boat?

Indeed it is the SS Mother Fracker. 

14 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

I doubt it. Why boat to Wisconsin when you can fly private?

Any billionaire can fly private, real men use the St Lawrence Seaway.

After the draft he is headed to the bustling port of Erie Pa, the pride of western PA. 

He plans to meet with @PASabreFan, aka @Stoner, to discuss a Front Office VP position with the Sabres.

The plan is to woo him with the yacht to help seal the deal.  

 

[Mr Peabody]

35 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

I doubt it. Why boat to Wisconsin when you can fly private?

Arthur Bank took his little dinghy to Minneapolis for an owners meeting last August.  I passed it in the Thousand Islands. Not a bad ride.

Edited 5 hours ago by Mr Peabody

[shrader]

25 minutes ago, Mr Peabody said:

Arthur Bank took his little dinghy to Minneapolis for an owners meeting last August.  I passed it in the Thousand Islands. Not a ride.

“Arthur Bank” is the best typo ever 

 

Edit: autocorrect sucks. I have no idea why it originally changed “typo” to “your”

Edited 5 hours ago by shrader

[DarthEbriate]

30 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

I doubt it. Why boat to Wisconsin when you can fly private?

The Great Lakes are beautiful. Plus, you've got fun ports of call like Sheboygan and Manitowoc.

[Pimlach]

There is a careful plan in place to lure @PASabreFan to a VP position.   They say his favorite color is gold. 

 

[zow2]

It’s just crazy to me that the Sabres aren’t the most desperate team on the ice in every game.  There’s plenty of games where they just look like they are going through the motions.  The home wins in the back of half of the season are encouraging.  They have to be solid at home before they can move on and make the playoffs eventually. 

[Pimlach]

8 minutes ago, zow2 said:

It’s just crazy to me that the Sabres aren’t the most desperate team on the ice in every game.  There’s plenty of games where they just look like they are going through the motions.  The home wins in the back of half of the season are encouraging.  They have to be solid at home before they can move on and make the playoffs eventually. 

This is about setting high expectations - not slogans, but real expectations that everyone buys into.

That takes leadership and caring and self respect and team identity.  The stuff we lump into culture.  

[PASabreFan]

26 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

There is a careful plan in place to lure @PASabreFan to a VP position.   They say his favorite color is gold. 

 

I got the job. Head of DOUGH for TP. I'm going to make Elon look like your Nana pulling out coupons in line at the grocery store.