Buffalo Sabres and NHL 2024-2025

[QCity]

5 hours ago, The Jokeman said:

have a GM that wanted to keep a Center he overpaid for in Dylan Cozens 

 

Maybe Adams should wait until a player actually earns a big contract before just handing them out like candy.

 

He gave Cozens a 7yr $50M contract at the age of 21 with less than 2 yrs in the NHL.

 

He gave Power an 8yr $58M contract at the age of 20 with 1 yr in the NHL.

 

He gave Samuelsson a 7yr $30M contract after 54 (!!!!) games.

 

That's a lot of money on unproven kids barely old enough to legally drink.

[The Jokeman]

15 minutes ago, QCity said:

 

Maybe Adams should wait until a player actually earns a big contract before just handing them out like candy.

 

He gave Cozens a 7yr $50M contract at the age of 21 with less than 2 yrs in the NHL.

 

He gave Power an 8yr $58M contract at the age of 20 with 1 yr in the NHL.

 

He gave Samuelsson a 7yr $30M contract after 54 (!!!!) games.

 

That's a lot of money on unproven kids barely old enough to legally drink.

Yeah tbh not happy with any of those contracts. Power is the best of the bunch but he could have waited.

[QCity]

To be fair that tactic looks like it worked with Tage's contract, but he's essentially gambling a lot of money on kids.

[Mike in Horseheads]

I might as well jump on the it's Adam's fault train.  I never liked that first name anyway

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

9 hours ago, Mike in Horseheads said:

I might as well jump on the it's Adam's fault train.  I never liked that first name anyway

He's resulted in more money being saved by 'Wheel of Fortune' just by having parents who spell differently.

Edited December 13 by Ridgewaycynic2013
Visual aid. 😁

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

Deer Derry Bagoola,

 

     Mage mee da goach ov deez bumz vor a weeg, an I weel ahv dem blaying gud ockee.  Tabarnak!

 

yurs drooly,

Mar-DEE BOO-rahn

[That's No Moon]

13 hours ago, QCity said:

 

Maybe Adams should wait until a player actually earns a big contract before just handing them out like candy.

 

He gave Cozens a 7yr $50M contract at the age of 21 with less than 2 yrs in the NHL.

 

He gave Power an 8yr $58M contract at the age of 20 with 1 yr in the NHL.

 

He gave Samuelsson a 7yr $30M contract after 54 (!!!!) games.

 

That's a lot of money on unproven kids barely old enough to legally drink.

He offers those contracts because he knows if he doesn't lock them up when he can they'll walk the second they are able to. "Pleeeease take our money....."

[BillsFan4]

21 hours ago, BADOLBILZ said:

 

Palm tree protests are out.   Need something simpler and more sustainable.   My idea is white sunscreen on the nose and leis.  

 

 

Like Spicoli said "Those guys are fans!"

 

 

So on brand for this 🤡organization to be more concerned about inflatable palm trees than the results on the ice.

 

 

22 hours ago, Jauronimo said:

Half the roster had career years in scoring.  Skinner was out of Krueger's doghouse and had one of his bigger seasons, with a scoring % of 14.5%.  Tage exploded with 47 goals and a 15% scoring % (hes shooting 19% this year!).  Tuch had a career year with 36 goals and 16.5% shooting %.  Tuch's next best year was 22 goals.  Cozens netted 31 and was scoring on 14.7% of his shots and hasn't sniffed 10% since.  He scored 18 last year. 

 

Tage is the only guy listed who has come close to performing at the same level.  

 

Our Power Play was top third in the league in 2022-2023 instead of nearly dead last.   We are getting much better goal tending and the defense is playing considerably better but the results are pretty much the same as the year we almost made the playoffs. In 2022-2023 we also had a nice 10 game losing streak in Nov-Dec so maybe we are back to that level?

 

 

Yep. Basically the entire roster all had career years and Adams banked on them not only repeating it, but improving upon it.

 

I feel like that one stupid season has set this team back because it seems to have made the front office believe that this roster and “core” is good enough to be perennial playoff contenders even though they’ve never made the playoffs.

[BillsFan4]

On 12/8/2024 at 12:32 PM, BADOLBILZ said:

 

 

I honestly believe that the Bills turnaround really started with the Bills mafia stuff.   I initially hated the goofy "mafia" moniker but having watched(in person many times) how the north side of Chicago kept the pathetic Cubs franchise alive by turning games into nothing more than a social event.....and thriving...... I always felt it was imperative for Bills fans to also somehow identify as a separate entity from the team.   It changed the dynamic of how the team and players viewed the fans.   Then the team wanted to profit from that fan solidarity and the players wanted to perform for it.  

 

There is a dynamic in place where the Sabres suck continues to mount and the fans feel increasingly victimized and then their voiced frustration only adds to the toxicity.   We saw it last year when the players were refusing to acknowledge the fans after games because they were bitter about booing.   With so many games I know that it's harder for hockey fans to separate themselves from the results while still supporting the franchise.   But that's the approach that's needed, IMO.  The organization is a joke........so don't take it seriously.   Unite around something different than the performance and results.   Easier said than done but it's been proven to work.   

I think the tailgating parties + drinking are a big part of what kept Bills fans engaged. A big part of going to Bills games all those years they sucked was the tailgating scene for a lot of fans. Not sure how you replicate that at the downtown arena. You can’t even get drunk at the games unless you want to spend insane $ on beers. 😂 although the bandits sure do well at that same arena. But they win.

 

I do think the atmosphere at the arena adds to the issues, for sure. Sabres players have talked about it for years and years now, how the arena is so quiet and dead, or how easily fans boo.

 

The Sabres definitely play worse at home than on the road.

[Fleezoid]

52 minutes ago, BillsFan4 said:

So on brand for this 🤡organization to be more concerned about inflatable palm trees than the results on the ice.

 

 

The irony is, the organization created this sentiment.

 

So sorry their feelings are getting hurt. 

[BillsPride12]

1 hour ago, BillsFan4 said:

I think the tailgating parties + drinking are a big part of what kept Bills fans engaged. A big part of going to Bills games all those years they sucked was the tailgating scene for a lot of fans. Not sure how you replicate that at the downtown arena. You can’t even get drunk at the games unless you want to spend insane $ on beers. 😂 although the bandits sure do well at that same arena. But they win.

 

I do think the atmosphere at the arena adds to the issues, for sure. Sabres players have talked about it for years and years now, how the arena is so quiet and dead, or how easily fans boo.

 

The Sabres definitely play worse at home than on the road.

I'm not saying the arena doesn't need some improvements but that same arena wasn't quiet during the 05-07 years and special nights like RJ Night.  The atmosphere is 100% on the s***show that the team has been the last 14 years

[May Day 10]

1 hour ago, BillsFan4 said:

I think the tailgating parties + drinking are a big part of what kept Bills fans engaged. A big part of going to Bills games all those years they sucked was the tailgating scene for a lot of fans. Not sure how you replicate that at the downtown arena. You can’t even get drunk at the games unless you want to spend insane $ on beers. 😂 although the bandits sure do well at that same arena. But they win.

 

I do think the atmosphere at the arena adds to the issues, for sure. Sabres players have talked about it for years and years now, how the arena is so quiet and dead, or how easily fans boo.

 

The Sabres definitely play worse at home than on the road.

 

The Bills were run in a similar fashion than the Sabres are now (flat structure with owner-trust being the most important trait, control costs).

 

However, those Bills at least were fun most of the time and only really had 2 terrible seasons.  They usually were able to jump back in the race for the playoffs at various times (only to deflate us).  The Bills never really bottomed out.

 

The Sabres have been a level of bad that exceeds what the Bills did. They are almost always considered out of it by November/December.  They havent had a really important game in many years.  I would also say that bad NHL hockey is the worst product in pro sports.  Its awful and boring.  Especially the weak, reasctionary team that has been a hallmark of the Pegula era.

[May Day 10]

14 minutes ago, BillsPride12 said:

I'm not saying the arena doesn't need some improvements but that same arena wasn't quiet during the 05-07 years and special nights like RJ Night.  The atmosphere is 100% on the s***show that the team has been the last 14 years

 

There is nothing to cheer for.

However, the arena does have an assist.  That bubble roof takes noise away and makes the arena way less intimate-feeling than other venues.

 

But the game presentation is hideous.  The entire game (starting an hour prior) is a bombardment of ultra-loud, shrill sounds, bad techno/noise/"music".  Even the PA announcer makes me cringe its so loud.  Any time the crowd starts, there is some awful ultra loud music, promotion, or something else that stomps all over it.  For example, UPL made a great save last game, everyone, the only non-Dion Dawkins related excitement all game, people got up an cheered... but immediately "THATS THE TOYOTA BIG SAVE OF THE GAME!!!!" overly loud, followed by some super loud save of the game theme song that shut everyone up and put them in their seats.

 

When the game is going on and there is quiet, I feel my senses recovering and my head decompressing to a normal pressure.  The last thing I want to do is make any sort of noise.

 

The pregame hype video is super loud and super long.  At the end of it, there is super-loud shrill crowd noise.  Then the piped-in-crowd stops and everyone/everything is in silence.  You look around and everyone is sitting there doing nothing.  Its a really awkward/funny moment every game.  

 

Going to a Sabres game feels like going to the movies.

Edited December 13 by May Day 10

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

11 minutes ago, BillsPride12 said:

I'm not saying the arena doesn't need some improvements...

That's what I thought the inflatable palm trees were for! 🤔

[Jauronimo]

Sabres end the streak today, pretty much guaranteed.  I watched nearly every minute of the 9 game losing skid so while my attention is firmly on the Bills this afternoon I expect the Sabres to score 7 goals and only give up 6.  Same thing happened in 2022.  I watched every minute of the 10 game skid then I went on vacation and they rattled off 8 wins in 10 games while I was unable to watch.

[zevo]

10 hours ago, Jauronimo said:

Sabres end the streak today, pretty much guaranteed.  I watched nearly every minute of the 9 game losing skid so while my attention is firmly on the Bills this afternoon I expect the Sabres to score 7 goals and only give up 6.  Same thing happened in 2022.  I watched every minute of the 10 game skid then I went on vacation and they rattled off 8 wins in 10 games while I was unable to watch.

Nope

[That's No Moon]

How many in a row does it have to be before someone loses their job?

[BillsFan4]

I bet Lindy is wishing he would have stuck to that “no” he gave Kevyn Adams when Adams first tried to hire him…

 

 

I don’t think he really realized just how broken this team is.

 

I actually feel bad for him, especially because like he said it really does seem like it is all on him. He doesn’t have a GM that’s willing to do anything to try and help stop all the losing. I mean, how can he? We don’t have palm trees…

 

and maybe there truly aren’t any worthwhile trades out there right now. I’m sure every GM is trying to throw him an anchor or steal a good young player. But he’s also in year FIVE. If he hadn’t waited until this past offseason to start trying to improve the team, maybe he wouldn’t be backed into a corner right now.

[BADOLBILZ]

On 12/13/2024 at 2:38 PM, May Day 10 said:

 

The Bills were run in a similar fashion than the Sabres are now (flat structure with owner-trust being the most important trait, control costs).

 

However, those Bills at least were fun most of the time and only really had 2 terrible seasons.  They usually were able to jump back in the race for the playoffs at various times (only to deflate us).  The Bills never really bottomed out.

 

The Sabres have been a level of bad that exceeds what the Bills did. They are almost always considered out of it by November/December.  They havent had a really important game in many years.  I would also say that bad NHL hockey is the worst product in pro sports.  Its awful and boring.  Especially the weak, reasctionary team that has been a hallmark of the Pegula era.

 

 

Tailgating certainly helps but we had that for 50 years before the Bills Mafia thing kicked in.   And like I said, Cubs fans made it work and they don't have the ability to tailgate in that neighborhood either.   It's about the fan base separating itself from the losing while still supporting the team.   It's not easy to do.   That's why so few team's fans have such distinct identities like Bills Mafia.   

[BADOLBILZ]

1 hour ago, That's No Moon said:

How many in a row does it have to be before someone loses their job?

 

How many are left?

 

At this point might as well just let them play it out and allow the new GM/HC to sort them out this summer.

 

It's not a normal hockey situation where a HC move or a trade can change fortunes drastically.