JohnC

I don't see every game but I do see the majority of their games.

I'm out of town and haven't been to a game in a long time. I have the Hockey Package and watch them often.

Someone else posted that Olofsson was going to be out for a number of weeks. https://www.nhl.com/news/victor-olofsson-out-5-6-weeks-for-sabres-with-lower-body-injury/c-313426766

I just got back from out of town so I haven't posted in a while. My position and outlook has not changed about the team and its future. I'm upbeat about its prospects in the not too distant future. With respect to Mittelstadt he needs to be forgotten about as a Sabre player this year and allowed to play significant minutes in various roles as an AHL player. With the big club he was pressing and not playing freely. He has offensive skills but has played too tightly to allow his talents to be exhibited. He's a young and talented player who needs to play in order to blossom. Some people have claimed that his playing in the NHL too soon has stifled his development. I agree that he was rushed but I also believe that the significant exposure to NHL play will in the end benefit him by making him realize what it takes to play in this league. If he and Tage Thompson can break through it would mean a lot in bolstering an offensively challenged roster. The road to success is predicated on drafting and developing the young players. That's the foundation for success not only for the Sabres but for every successful team. Trust the process and stick with it! And that's exactly what the GM is doing.

When you drive do you look at your rear mirror instead of looking through your front windshield? If so, I'm sure your insurance rates are sky high! Organizations make mistakes. That's the nature of the business. Not all decisions are going to work even in the best run organizations. Overall, I think our GM has done a good job. He's not into the quick fix mode of acting that you seem to favor. That's fool's gold. I really believe that the GM has put us in a good position for next year because of the smart way he has managed contracts. You sneer when I say that the Sabres are in an upward trajectory. It may not be quick enough for you but I believe it is the right course to take.

The ROR deal was a factor in rushing Mitts to the NHL. That's not to say that it was totally the reason that he was rushed. In hindsight, Mitts should have been in the minors learning his craft and earning his way into the NHL. GMs make a lot of decisions. Not everyone works out. The handling of Mitts was not wisely done. Hopefully it won't permanently damage him. But to be fair whether Casey is wisely handled or not doesn't mean that he as a prospect will become a full fledged NHL caliber of player. Some prospects that you believe will become good players don't make it, and some that you don't believe will make it do so. Except for the very elite prospects there are no guarantees You still are chasing the Housley bogeyman. When your hemorrhoids are on fire do you blame him?

The attached link is a BN's column by Mike Harrington. He makes the case that the GM needs to make deals after the holidays to upgrade the scoring potential. I do see some marginal deals being made but nothing of significance. The problem is that the players that would be offered would not bring back much in return. Our primary asset that has value on the market is Risto. Because he is playing so well and has become our anchor defenseman I don't see him being moved. Next year the organization will have plenty of cap space to make deals. My guess is that our GM has a longer horizon than this year and is not willing to make an impact deal where he has to give up significant assets that will hurt the near future. Just maybe our cautious GM will act more boldly than expected? https://buffalonews.com/2019/12/21/buffalo-sabres-nhl-jason-botterill-linus-ullmark-2/

He needs to be forgotten about and allowed to just play a lot. If he develops it will be on his own individual developmental schedule. Listening to people who cover the Sabres what is noticeable to them is that he is not relaxed, he is playing too tight. Will he be ready to get back to the NHL this season, or the next season or the year after? Who knows? Ultimately his play will determine his status. There are no guarantees that he will eventually be a credible NHL caliber player just like there are no guarantees for nearly every prospect except for the exceptionally elite ones. In hindsight what is apparent is that Casey was rushed into the league before he was ready. That was an organizational mistake, and not his. The ROR trade deal has had repercussions. One of them was the rushing of Casey into a role that he was not ready to bear. Hopefully he doesn't turn out to be permanently damaged goods.

The attached link is a Bill Hoppe article from Buffalo Hockey Beat focusing on Johansson and his disappointing play. This link was taken from the hockey side of TBD. Needless to say this team needs players like him and Skinner to augment the big Jack line. http://www.buffalohockeybeat.com/sabres-marcus-johansson-says-he-hasnt-felt-like-himself-all-season/?view=getnewpost

The attached link is a condensed version of the game taken from NHL.com. https://www.nhl.com/gamecenter/lak-vs-buf/2019/12/21/2019020552#game=2019020552,game_state=final The below link is the standings taken from NHL.com. https://www.nhl.com/standings/2019/conference The below link has Krueger's post game comments. On that same WGR page there are post game comments from some players. https://wgr550.radio.com/media/audio-channel/12-21-ralph-kreuger-postgame

It was good to see Jack back on the ice. Ullmark would earn my first star. When you have good goaltending you are in every game. I thought Scandella and Risto played well. Risto is not going anywhere. He's Krueger's anchor defenseman. At the end of close games he is going to be garnering a lot of ice time. The Kings play a tough bottleneck type of game that doesn't give you much room to work. The Sabres didn't get impatient and played with the same tight style of play. One of the best sequences in this game for the Sabres was when they were on the power play at the end of the game and they were blistering the Kings' goalie with shots. That was abruptly ended when Reinhart retaliated on a play where a penalty should have been called on the Kings. That was not the right time to respond. The entertainment value in this type of game isn't great but a win in a win. I'll gladly take it.

When the teams are reporting their vague injuries the truth is not only elusive but it is also very malleable. If both Harrington and Dreger are saying that their sources are indicating the health issue is related to an illness then I'll lean toward that explanation.

Darren Dreger was on the Instigator Show for a 15 minute segment. The biggest revelation is that his sources told him Jack didn't play because he was ill. He talked about some players who were subject to be traded, not relating them to any Buffalo deals. Dreger pointed out that the supply for defensemen on the market is flooded. At the end of the segment he talked about how Tampa's coach, Cooper, sat out Nikita Kucherove to send a message to the player and the team. https://wgr550.radio.com/media/audio-channel/12-20-tsns-darren-dreger-with-the-instigators

The primary takeaway in that article on Jack is that he is invested in the success of the team. Not only is he the most talented player but he is also the hardest worker and the most driven player on the team. He isn't shrinking from his leadership role---- he is embracing it. Jack knows that he is one of the best players in the league. But he is also smart enough to realize that what elevates the stature of the best players in this league is team success. And that is what he is focused on. When Jack signed his long term extension with Buffalo he could have signed a short-term bridge deal to give him some escape options if the team continued to struggle. He didn't go for the short term. He signed a long term deal to show that he was where he wanted to be and had a belief that the future for this organization was going to be bright.

The below link is a 25 minute segment with Elliotte Friedman on WGR's Instigator show. A chunk of the segment dealt with the Hall trade. Ilya Kovalchuk's availability was also discussed. Friedman brought up that Botts is willing to deal but he is not going to be pressured into making a deal for the sake of a deal. The guest on the show believed that more deals will be made as the trade deadline approaches. (That's like saying that it will be dark at midnight. Stating the obvious is stating the obvious.) https://wgr550.radio.com/media/audio-channel/12-19-sportsnets-elliotte-friedman-with-the-instigators

The attached link is an 18 min. segment with Paul Hamilton on WGR talking about the Sabres. He makes some fair criticisms of the GM for not making deals prior to the season to better balance the roster. He makes the point that addressing the second center position should have been done in the offseason. I thought his assessment of this roster was fair and reasonable. https://wgr550.radio.com/media/audio-channel/12-19-paul-hamilton-with-howard-and-jeremy

If your stellar starting goalie has a major groin strain you will regret not seizing the opportunity that I am offering you. ?

This is a 13 minute link with Krueger on WGR talking about the Sabres and various related topics. He talks about the emerging relationship and friendship with McDermott. https://wgr550.radio.com/articles/news/krueger-we-need-to-be-a-threat-with-more-secondary-scoring

What I found encouraging about this game and has been exhibited so far in this season is that this team under this coach is not a fragile team. It seemed that Toronto was toying with us in the first period. In the next two periods we played them even or outplayed them a bit. Some of that may have been due to the fact that they may have coasted a little with their lead. But this trait of playing to the end clearly has been evident in the last five games or so against good teams. We have been keeping up with more talented teams even when they play well. I find that encouraging. There is no question that there still is a talent deficit when measured against the good teams. As you noted it is apparent in the forward groupings after the first line. On the positive side this team is playing the right way. Whether you have high end talent or not that doesn't mean that you can't play with consistent effort and play a responsible two way game. And that's exactly what this team is doing. Your biggest vulnerability is that the Leafs desperately need a credible backup goalie. How about making a trade with us where we send you Hutton and you give us one of your good forwards. It will benefit both teams. ?

Wish you the best.

Toronto is ready to put things together and move up the ranks. I see the same scenario for Tampa. There is just too much firepower to unleash for both teams. For the Sabres beyond the Jack line there isn't much scoring potential. The Sabres need to surround Skinner with more support so that his scoring talents won't be wasted. I just don't see where the help is going to come from. What really impressed me about the Leafs is their team speed, including their defensemen. They outgunned and out paced the Sabres. The big issue for Toronto is that the attributes that favor them in the regular season get neutralized in the playoffs when the games qualitatively change from a skill to grind out game.

Teams such as Toronto and Tampa have so much more firepower. Because of their abundant forward talent they have such a greater margin of error. When we miss on our chances we struggle. When they miss on some of their chances they go out and get more. I thought Ullmark played well and made some exceptional stops. I was happy to see Jack continue on with his streak. He's got such a wicked shot! The Sabres were outgunned. They didn't quit.

The attached link is an article by Lance Lysowski of the Buffalo News. It deals with the Mittelstadt demotion to the Amerks. There is a universal agreement by the organization and people covering the team that this was not only the right move but the obvious move. As I said in a prior post if Tage and Casey can use this AHL experience to improve their games it will not only benefit the players but also the Sabres. The organization believed that this lower league experience benefited Tage putting him in a position to be called up. It's a shame that he got hurt shortly after his call up. https://buffalonews.com/2019/12/16/buffalo-sabres-rochester-americans-casey-mittelstadt-chris-taylor-curtis-lazar-nhl-ahl-news-2019/?view=getnewpost

I understand your position, and it makes sense. But I don't see the Coyotes dealing him under any circumstances. The Coyotes may not know for sure if Hall is going to sign with them but when they acquired him there were no guarantees that a deal could get done to lock him up. So as @shrader stated the organization has most likely made the decision to keep him until the season ends. The Arizona franchise has been lackluster for quite a while with much of it due to financial limitations. So they acquired a former MVP player who appears to be demoralized playing on a struggling team to not only add some juice to an upcoming young team but also add some spark to a subdued fanbase.

The attached link is a 11 min WGR segment with Paul Hamilton talking hockey. Some of the topics dealt with the Hall trade, Mitts and Bogo situation. https://wgr550.radio.com/media/audio-channel/12-17-paul-hamilton-with-howard-and-jeremy