JohnC

The attached link is Buffalo News column on the game by Lance Lysowski. As you indicated the effort was there but this team doesn't have much margin of error. Their PK is hurting them badly. In this game the 5 on 5 play was fairly even. When they were short-handed the other team converted. What's impressive about the Bruins is that they have a grinding and unrelenting style of play that is evident throughout the game. In the first period we dominated the play but after that the Bruins returned to form playing their tough brand of hockey. They are not a team full of stylish players like Tampa as much as they are a team throughout all their lines that all play the same style of hardnosed hockey. This is a team that plays a playoff style of hockey in the regular season. I don't particularly like them but my hats off to them. https://buffalonews.com/2019/11/21/buffalo-sabres-boston-bruins-ralph-krueger-evan-rodrigues-rasmus-ristolainen-brandon-montour-nhl-news-2019/

Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman was on WGR's Instigator Show. This is a 20 min. segment. Part of the discussion dealt with the firing of Babcock and the Toronto situation. There was another segment that dealt with potential trade scenarios for Buffalo. The point was made that making a deal is very difficult to do for Botts because he is not in a position of strength and the potential trade partners are aware of that. https://wgr550.radio.com/media/audio-channel/11-21-sportsnets-elliotte-friedman-with-the-instigators

There is plenty of blame to go along with the current and prior regimes. But when you make an accumulation of personnel mistakes in a cap system you weigh the franchise down for an extended period of time. Mistakes made regarding talent, contracts and term reverberate for years. The Okposo contract is very damaging to the franchise not so much because of its cost as it is for its length.

I don't want to only blame TM about the roster composition. Our current GM definitely deserves blame. The Sheary acquisition is the poster child for players whose style of play aren't conducive to playing around the net. When you combine this deficiency with the lack of goal scoring talent who can't convert when opportunities exist then you have an offense that is impotent.

You don't need every player to be able to play in the dirty areas around the net but you do need enough of them on your roster to be effective on offense. There are more dirty goals than pretty goals. Especially from an offensive standpoint this is a poorly constructed roster.

If he had to work with the same level of talent that the Sabres had during the past few years he would have not been very successful. Talent prevails.

Paul Hamilton has often made the point that one of the main deficiencies of this team beyond the lack of talent (obviously) is the manner it is constructed. There are too many perimeter players who refuse or are incapable of going to the net on offense. Two many players couldn't or wouldn't do what was necessary to be infront of the net when shots were taken. The player mix needs to change with more physical players added and less finesse players subtracted. The issue isn't so much size as it is style of play. Sam Reinhart isn't so much a big guy as he is a tough player who is willing to do what is necessary to position himself around the net and be in a good position to put the rebound in. We need more players who are willing to do what is necessary to score/win.

I respectfully but strenuously disagree with the gist of what you stated. I believe with a lot of confidence that the owner knew exactly the course that Botts was going to take when he was hired. Just as Pegs knew exactly what the plan was going to be when he hired McDermott to be his HC. McDermott has publicly stated that in his interview for the job he talked mostly about his approach to building a franchise and how he was going to go about doing that. It was as much a conceptual presentation as it was a detailed presentation. You don't think that when the owner was interviewing the candidates for the hockey GM position he asked what the candidates' strategy was to make this competitive team? I'm confident that the GM is going to make some deals this season using his surplus in defensemen as chips. Will these deals be consequential? Probably not unless a major Risto deal is made that includes additional assets. Next year this team is going to have plenty of cap space to make more substantive deals that will upgrade the roster. Rebuilding the team was never going to be a quick or easy process. I have repeatedly stated this point of view and you have repeatedly dismissed it. If you can't handle this harsh reality then I suggest a Sabre hiatus in order to free yourself from your self-induced state of agitation.

Paul Hamilton was on WGR's Instigator Show. I thought he gave some good insights about this team's construction and a fair representation of this team. This is a 12 minute segment. https://wgr550.radio.com/media/audio-channel/11-20-paul-hamilton-instigators

The below link was Ralph Krueger on WGR. It is a 13 minute segment. Not much was revealed. https://wgr550.radio.com/articles/news/krueger-we-feel-theres-upside-group

The GM has little cap flexibility to make major changes to the roster. He put himself in this position to make more significant changes next year when a number of contracts expire. That was his intention. You may disagree with that next year timetable but that is the strategy he decided to take. This was never going to be a quick or easy process. Last year when you and others were blaming Housley for everything including globing warming the actual primary issue with this lackluster team was a lack of talent. I repeatedly made that point last year with your repeated haranguing that it was a coaching deficiency. Now that we have a better coach the issue remains that there still is a talent deficit. What's obvious is obvious! There was no magical solution this year because the plan for the hockey team, as it was for the football team, was to clear cap space in the near future and then bolster the roster. Even those who are in a state of hysteria have to acknowledge that the Sabres will be in much better cap situation to make meaningful deals next year. For all those in the clamoring chorus screaming for a GM change let me ask you how do you not know that the owner agreed to this rebuilding strategy with the GM he selected? Just as the owner agreed with the rebuilding strategy when he selected McDermott for the Bills. This is an excellent post and analysis.

This is a 9 min. link of Paul Hamilton on WGR talking about the Sabres. The second half of the interview deals with Dahlin and his struggles. Some people act as if it is a surprise that young players, even premier talents like Dahlin, sometimes struggle in the early stages of their career. It's part of the learning process that is unavoidable. https://wgr550.radio.com/media/audio-channel/11-19-paul-hamilton-howard-and-jeremy-0

What people forget is that when Pegula bought the franchise he made some major mistakes with his organizational hires. When he acquired the team there was no clear cut authority to make decisions. The Fontaine confusion and his quitting or firing??? are factors why this franchise under the new ownership had a bad start. The Fontaine departure resulted in a settlement that included a non-disclosure clause. How chaotic can you get? Two or three years of bad decisions weighed this franchise down. Let's not forget about the Pegula money splurge for useless free agents when he took over. That set this franchise back. The Murray years were not a period of good decisions. The person who took over for him was Botts. Many people understandably disagree with my view but I believe he has brought some order and a unified vision to this organization. How many years were wasted by bad management brought on by the new owner? It's obvious that the new owner had a learning curve to go through that effected the franchise. To his credit he has learned from his mistakes with the hockey franchise as he did with the football franchise. It can be argued that the GM missed on the Housley hire but he hit a home room with the Krueger hire. For those who complain about the lengthy amount of time for this franchise to become competitive my response is not to blame the current GM but to blame his predecessors who set this franchise very far back.

The attached link is an article by Lance Lysowski of the Buffalo News regarding Dahlin. He discusses the learning curve for the young defenseman. https://buffalonews.com/2019/11/17/buffalo-sabres-chicago-blackhawks-rasmus-dahlin-brandon-montour-nhl-news-2019/?view=getnewpost

I'm not worried about the Captain demanding a trade. He's invested in the team that he is leading. I can see him demanding talent help. And I can see the GM bringing in talent, especially next year when many contracts expire.

Two years ago the Sabres garnered 62 pts. Last year they earned 76 pts. This year my guess is that they should earn around 88 pts. and stay in the playoff race till the end of the season. As JRB1979 noted the organization will have a number of expiring contracts entering next season which should allow for some higher yield talent to be added to the roster. Some alarmists act as if the organization is in a state of disarray and is spiraling toward a catastrophe. That is far from what is actually happening. If you stand back and take a broader perspective where this franchise was and is currently at and where it is heading the outlook is more positive than many people are portraying. I understand why some people are frustrated to the point that they are arguing to blow up the roster. That would be an act of self-immolation. My stance remains to stay the course and make smart deals when it will benefit you. It's not an easy process to undergo but there is no other way.

Happy birthday rancorous fellow. The Buffalo GMs, Beane and Botterill, have a simple birthday message for you: Trust the process!

The attached link are the post game comments of Krueger on WGR. He made some interesting comments about Asplund. He also explained his reasoning regarding Dahlin's playing time. This a 3 minute segment. https://wgr550.radio.com/media/audio-channel/11-16-ralph-krueger-post-game This is a five minute link of Jack's post game comments. He made comments about Dahlin and Asplund. https://wgr550.radio.com/media/audio-channel/11-16-jack-eichel-post-game

One player I am not worrying about is Dahlin. Teams have learned not to give this scintillating talent room. As soon as he gets the puck they press him so he will give up the puck. It's evident that he is struggling but that shouldn't be a surprise for a young player. In the defensive zone he isn't always well positioned, and because he isn't fully matured physically he has trouble holding his space. So it shouldn't be surprising that at the end of the game when the opposition is making that this smart coach has him on the bench. The pairing that is more relied up at the end of the game are Risto/McCabe. They simply are the most physical and stronger pair for these end of the game situations. I, like you, worry about Okposo's hits. The accumulation of hits may be coming into play here.

It seems that the coach got his message across to shoot the freaking puck instead of trying to make the perfect pass. Jack was certainly the first star, and I thought that Ullmark made some terrific stops to keep us in the game. He made some nice anticipation stops in this game. I'm not giving up on Mittelstadt but he has been a big disappointment. Right now he's invisible with no impact out there. He's not hurting us but he is not helping us either. I agree with you that the Senators are much more competitive team than originally thought of. They played a basic game and played hard throughout the game.

If the GM isn't worried about the return in a Risto trade or any trade then he should be fired for malfeasance. As BillsFan4 stated Risto is without a doubt a top four defenseman. In addition, he is a rugged physical player on a team that mostly has puck moving defensemen. He adds a trait on a unit that doesn't possess much of it. Although you might not see it there is a reason why Krueger puts Risto on the ice more than any player on the team. By the way I never said that Botts was a great GM. That is one of your typical fabrications and exaggerations. I do believe that he is a good GM. I consider Yzerman to be an exceptional GM as reflected in his work in building Cup teams in Detroit and Tampa. Now he is back with Detroit. In time he will have that franchise back to being a top tier team. I don't consider Botts in that lofty category.

How do you know that deals aren't being worked on now? And what do you think is the return on a Risto deal (that might happen this season)? I'm not trading Risto if the return isn't at least of an equal value. You are characterizing this team as if it is continuing to bottoming out and descending even more. I'm simply don't see it with the same dire view as you do. We are on different parallel universes and we will never meet. Your worldview is different from mine. That in itself gives me confidence.

Pilut will be called up sometime this season. He is getting extensive playing time that will make him a better player when called up. The same process applies to Tage Thompson. He will be better prepared for the NHL because of his extensive playing time in the AHL. Of course winning is the object of the game. Stop with your silliness. The issue is how do you get there? If you think that the right approach to take is by making short-term foolish deals due to frustration you are grossly wrong. There is no quick fix other than to stay the course, develop your players and make good deals when opportunities arise. You don't think that the GM's Skinner, Joki and Montour deals were good deals? What are you suggesting to do? Get rid of the GM? Trade off your assets for immediate help? Talking and fretting about weaknesses are easy to do but accomplish nothing other than ventilation. How do you know that the GM isn't already working on a number of deals that will help this team? Of course he is doing that as is every GM in the league is doing that. If you got some recommendations then make them. If not, then stop with your incessant whining.

Is Plenzmd1 your brother? If so your family has depression issues that call for happy pills to remedy the problem.

I believe that there will be some roster changes this season. Changing the mix from too many perimeter players to adding more stout inside warriors will happen. It's not going to happen right away. Don't bet against more Rochester call ups to demonstrate to some members of the current roster that this finesse style of play isn't going to be tolerated so much. This team is in good cap shape after this season because we have a number of players on expiring contracts. I truly believe that next year will be our bump up year. I don't think that the GM is going to panic and jeopardize the good situation he is in for next year for a short term gain. He's got a plan and he is following it. I agree that not all of his player transactions have worked out as well as he would have wanted. Sheary is a good example of that. But hockey is a sport, maybe more than most, where there are a lot of transactions made. Overall, there are more plusses than minuses.