Buffalo Sabres and NHL: 2019/20: Sabres season officially over. Draft lottery June 26th

[Foxx]

https://twitter.com/davelevinthal/status/1231418233846145024

 

[\GoBillsInDallas/]

Sabres win again!

 

[BillsFan4]

Another Nice win!  5 wins in their last 6 games! 

[Buffalophil1948]

I'm thinking the canes need a goalie.  I believe Hutton could be made available 

[JohnC]

The attached link is a summary of the game taken from NHL.com.

 

I only watched the first period so I can't give a fair assessment of the game. But from what I did see of the game the Sabres played a simple and defensive oriented game emphasizing protecting their young goalie.

 

The Sabres have won 5 of the last 6 games (as noted by BillsFan4). What is a lingering frustration is losing to Ottawa on a few occasions and losing against Anaheim at home on the extended homestand. This season would be viewed in a much better light if the team could have seized on those opportunities.  

 

There is a large segment of the population here that believes that everything associated with this GM and how he is building the team has failed. They are wrong. Many of them are ferociously clinging to their collapsing narrative because they have repeated it so often that they are invested in it.   There are obvious needs that need to be addressed but steadily this roster is being upgraded. It takes time. Although this team is unlikely to make the playoffs this year the trajectory is clearly upwards. To the tiresome snickering crowd I repeat what I have been saying all along: Stay the course!

 

 

https://www.nhl.com/gamecenter/wpg-vs-buf/2020/02/23/2019020960#game=2019020960,game_state=final

[JohnC]

The link is Krueger's post game comments on WGR. You can bring up the other post game links from this page. 

 

https://wgr550.radio.com/media/audio-channel/2-23-ralph-krueger-post-game

Edited February 24, 2020 by JohnC

[4merper4mer]

13 minutes ago, JohnC said:

The attached link is a summary of the game taken from NHL.com.

 

I only watched the first period so I can't give a fair assessment of the game. But from what I did see of the game the Sabres played a simple and defensive oriented game emphasizing protecting their young goalie.

 

The Sabres have won 5 of the last 6 games (as noted by BillsFan4). What is a lingering frustration is losing to Ottawa on a few occasions and losing against Anaheim at home on the extended homestand. This season would be viewed in a much better light if the team could have seized on those opportunities.  

 

There is a large segment of the population here that believes that everything associated with this GM and how he is building the team has failed. They are wrong. Many of them are ferociously clinging to their collapsing narrative because they have repeated it so often that they are invested in it.   There are obvious needs that need to be addressed but steadily this roster is being upgraded. It takes time. Although this team is unlikely to make the playoffs this year the trajectory is clearly upwards. To the tiresome snickering crowd I repeat what I have been saying all along: Stay the course!

 

 

https://www.nhl.com/gamecenter/wpg-vs-buf/2020/02/23/2019020960#game=2019020960,game_state=final

Don't be a jerk by insinuating people aren't rooting for the Sabres.  I don't think that is true for anyone and it certainly isn't true for me.  I want them to win every single game.  Two good wins in a row and you're on here with a "see I told you so"?  Shirley.

[BillsFan4]

 

More than I thought he’d get, though he only gets the pro-rated amount. Tampa’s defense is really banged up right now, though. 

 

Edited February 24, 2020 by BillsFan4

[shrader]

At this point, the frustration shouldn’t be about any individual game no matter how bad certain ones were. For me, it’s about how they came out of the all star break. With the way Toronto is sinking, that stretch may very well have cost this team the playoffs. 
 

Still, at this point I want to see a strong push to the playoffs. It will wind up falling short, but this season needs to end on a positive note. We haven’t seen one of those in a long time. 
 

And they can definitely do that while still dumping a few of the expiring contracts at the deadline. 

[Lurker]

While the weekend was fun, the upcoming four game road trip will let the air out of the baloon...

[JohnC]

3 minutes ago, shrader said:

At this point, the frustration shouldn’t be about any individual game no matter how bad certain ones were. For me, it’s about how they came out of the all star break. With the way Toronto is sinking, that stretch may very well have cost this team the playoffs. 
 

Still, at this point I want to see a strong push to the playoffs. It will wind up falling short, but this season needs to end on a positive note. We haven’t seen one of those in a long time. 
 

And they can definitely do that while still dumping a few of the expiring contracts at the deadline. 

I agree with you that not taking advantage of the schedule in the extended homestand was very disappointing. I'm still not sure that winning some of those more winnable games would have catapulted us into the playoffs but it would have kept us in contention up to the end.  

 

I also want to see a strong push for the playoffs as much for the fans as for the players. As far as the expiring contracts I would hate to see either Larsson or Gergs dealt. What's the point? Because they are UFAs they won't  result in much of a return while their value is still reasonably high for us as reflected in their play. I'm hoping that they can be retained and their line maintained for next year. 

[BillsFan4]

50% retained 

 

 

Quote

So barring a late change of heart by Kreider, who apparently is in his last day as a Ranger after nearly eight years as a member of the organization, the Blueshirts will spend Monday sifting through trade offers, not only for No. 20, but in a cascade effect, for fellow pending free-agent winger Jesper Fast and perhaps others on the varsity.

 

That represents Plan B. If management had been able to come to an agreement with Kreider, the Rangers were prepared to hold tight and make a run. But removing that top-six piece from the picture changes the dynamic. The Rangers won’t give Fast away, but they are likely to deal the four-time-running Players’ Player if they can get a second-rounder as part of the package in return.

 

The Blueshirts also might be prepared to listen if teams come calling on Brady Skjei or Marc Staal, the latter of course with a no-move clause he would have to waive. 

 

With Toronto struggling and Montreal + The NYR (the 2 teams closest to buffalo in the standings) waiving the White flag, it’s somewhat tempting to keep our UFA’s to be, and/or make a smaller, cheap add and try to chase down a playoff spot. Realistically though, I know they won’t make the playoffs. But I still don’t want to see guys like Larsson or Girgensons traded for 4th round picks. They should re-sign Larsson, but I wouldn’t trade him for anything less than a 3rd (ideally a 2nd). I’d rather keep him for this season and lose him for nothing vs. trade him for a 4th or later. Staying in the playoff race is meaningful for this group IMO and they need someone that can play center besides Eichel. 

Edited February 24, 2020 by BillsFan4

[bbb]

The Rangers are red hot.  Why are they waving the white flag?!?

[JohnC]

10 hours ago, bbb said:

The Rangers are red hot.  Why are they waving the white flag?!?

They have tried to come to a contract deal with Kreider but he wants to test the market. They know what the range of what he is asking for and are not willing to at least now pay it. So instead of losing him for nothing they will try to extract as much value in return as they can. 

 

The Rangers' goal is not to eek into the playoffs. They are to a degree involved in an accelerated rebuild so that they can become a cup contending team in the near future.  

[snafu]

20 minutes ago, JohnC said:

They have tried to come to a contract deal with Kreider but he wants to test the market. They know what the range of what he is asking for and are not willing to at least now pay it. So instead of losing him for nothing they will try to extract as much value in return as they can. 

 

The Rangers' goal is not to eek into the playoffs. They are to a degree involved in an accelerated rebuild so that they can become a cup contending team in the near future.  

 

An accelerated rebuild ya say?

How reckless!

 

 

 

 

[JohnC]

1 minute ago, snafu said:

 

An accelerated rebuild ya say?

How reckless!

 

 

 

 

When you have talent you can parlay that talent for younger and upcoming talent. When you don't have that talent you can't do that to the same extent. Different teams in different situations. 

[snafu]

3 minutes ago, JohnC said:

When you have talent you can parlay that talent for younger and upcoming talent. When you don't have that talent you can't do that to the same extent. Different teams in different situations. 

 

Please just be honest about how the Sabres got into their situation:  They tore down the team too far.  They screwed up the rebuild by trading away too many draft picks for players that weren't talented enough; or players who were overpriced and past their prime.  Their former GM couldn't pick defensemen from names in a hat.  The current GM can't pick forwards from names in a hat.  They hired a couple "system" coaches and never had accumulated the talent to fit the system in place at the time.  With all the shi**y talent, nobody could bring in a decent goaltender to at least keep the team in games.  It took years to get into cap hell and at least this year to wait to get out of it.

 

Yeah, different teams, different situations.  Don't sugarcoat the Sabres' ineptitude by characterizing it as a NON-accelerated rebuild.  It is rightly called a long-term s**t-show.

 

[Cripple Creek]

47 minutes ago, JohnC said:

They are to a degree involved in an accelerated rebuild so that they can become a cup contending team in the near future.  

So, the anti-Sabres?

[JohnC]

6 minutes ago, snafu said:

 

Please just be honest about how the Sabres got into their situation:  They tore down the team too far.  They screwed up the rebuild by trading away too many draft picks for players that weren't talented enough; or players who were overpriced and past their prime.I a  Their former GM couldn't pick defensemen from names in a hat.  The current GM can't pick forwards from names in a hat.  They hired a couple "system" coaches and never had accumulated the talent to fit the system in place at the time.  With all the shi**y talent, nobody could bring in a decent goaltender to at least keep the team in games.  It took years to get into cap hell and at least this year to wait to get out of it.

 

Yeah, different teams, different situations.  Don't sugarcoat the Sabres' ineptitude by characterizing it as a NON-accelerated rebuild.  It is rightly called a long-term s**t-show.

 

I agree with you that this franchise through its own ineptitude created its own mess. But let's not forget that Botterill inherited a mess from the previous GM. It wasn't our current GM who shed its assets for the intended quick rebuild. Our GM is in his third year. In the first year he had to put a staff together and assess what the talent in the system that he presided over. 

 

Botterill hired Housley. It didn't work out. So he fired him. He then hired Krueger who is an obvious coaching upgrade. GMs make mistakes and then have to correct their mistakes. GMs make a lot of decisions, and not all of them work out. That's the nature of the business. 

 

Where I strenuously disagree with you and others is that this GM shouldn't be blamed for what went on before him. That makes no sense. It was because of the extended period of mistakes of the prior regimes his task became even more challenging. It's my belief that in a relatively short period of time of his tenure he has put this team on the right path. Two years ago this team earned 63 pts. Last year this team earned 76 points. This year this team should earn somewhere around 86-88 points. The trendline is up. For this franchise there was never a quick fix because of where the GM was starting from.  

13 minutes ago, Cripple Creek said:

So, the anti-Sabres?

Read my response to Snafu to get my answer. 

[shrader]

No matter how badly that contract has worked out for us, it was nice to see Okposo have a moment yesterday.  You can see the talent in him, but his body gave out on him so early.

 

The other thing I really enjoyed from yesterday's game was Eichel's reaction at the buzzer.  The guy is fired up, there's no denying it.  I thought he was going to rip Johansson's head off with that hug.  Okposo had a very animated interaction with him two.  Those are two guys where I won't question their heart.