May Day 10

Im fine with that

This is a huge problem with this team IMO. While Eichel has a ton of talent, he seems to be not be a very good teammate, let alone captain. The team never seems particularly close to one another and it shows on the ice. There seems to be little/no accountibility among the players. They tried to foster that through Gionta/Gorges, and OReilly wanted to carry that torch but they were largely rejected by the likes of Eichel, Reinhart, Kane, and Bogosian.

Love this shot another good one

I see this as a possible major issue for the team and why we keep seeing this same movie. From the outside, and looking at body language, interviews, the past 5 years' history, etc Eichel seems like kind of a bad leader, if not, a bad teammate in general. It appears there is not a great cohesion in the lockerroom (hasnt been for years). These guys dont seem close. Players who come in look or act miserable, if they dont leave the country. I know they tried to infuse the team and young players with some leadership in the form of Gionta and Gorges. OReilly tried to run with it and failed/was rejected. IMO the worst crime committed to the Sabres (outside of the Pegulas' failure to get help), was when Murray infected the young core of this team to Kane and Bogosian.

I agree, but I dont think the NHL ever elects to do picturesque games as long as fans are allowed to attend. The ratings and image jump is probably very marginal compared to holding it at Safeco Field or something. No idea why they would have such dark imagery in the logo and some on-ice ads. I have a backyard rink and if I leave something dark on there like a puck or even a leaf, it eats through the ice quickly under the sun.

I dont have high expectations at all. I have no expectations. But when you do see a team with some of the pieces they have on paper like Hall, Eichel, Staal, Skinner, Olofssen, Reinhart.... it is mind boggling that they can produce like 15 even strength goals in 13 games. And the team of Adams and Kruger is woefully inexperienced, in over their heads, and cant get it done. It is pretty clear this franchise is headed toward a major crossroads soon. Eichel clearly has checked out and will be overtly floating trade talk soon (awful toxic captain, but that is another convo). Adams and Kruger are not equipped to handle this. The Pegulas need help. Would have loved that team of Burke and Hextall. I was hoping that Kruger would somehow create a galvanizing thing out of the NHL's treatment of the Covid shutdown and stuff and they would come in with some fire in their belly. They have been completely shut down and lifeless. New Jersey had the same shutdown and have back to back wins coming out of it. As far as guys available, Id say Boudreau and Gallant are at the top of the 'well known' list. The problems here are much more than coach though and Im not sure those guys would even entertain the possibility of coaching here.

The team has checked out. Unbelievable

That could be it. I believe there were 2 though symetrically placed (maybe 4, with what was on the broadcast camera side). Maybe I can ID it with a few of the blemishes there.

seems like a very plausible way to go. I would maybe flip-flop the Colts and the Bears though

I do remember hearing that the Canadiens payed a fine or something so they could have a steeper grade. I have been to a number of contemporary buildings. Philly and Boston do seem a few degrees closer/steeper than the Sabres' arena with better building materials and better sight lines. It isnt only grade. It is how far back the upper level is without an overhang. The way our suites were set up as well as the 200 level, the 300 level is a mile away. I do believe it is similar to Washington (but no bubble roof). Venue designers have changed their tune recently though. The new ballpark in Arlington was built with the old ballparks in mind and bringing fans closer to the field. https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/mlbs-newest-ballpark-is-a-shift-away-from-retro-era-stadiums/

The new building was a terrible design. The grade of the seats and footprint are large. Too large. Similar to its contemporaries, but some, like Montreal and Toronto, were built with the seating overall closer to the ice. In the current arena, if you are in the upper corners, you might as well be in another zip code. About half of the seats in the 100 level are a complete obstruction where you need to watch much of the game on the video screen. Also add in that awful bubble ceiling that sucks any atmosphere and ambiance right out of the building

I hate the pictures of the aud from the break-ins and the demo photos. I appreciate the sharing of them, they are just sad. Whenever you look for aud stuff, that is all that comes up. The public needs to come together, collaborate and curate aud photos and stuff out of personal collections. There really isnt all that much out there digitally. I started to post some full-games on youtube and some others have as well which helps. It is criminal what the team and city did with the aud post-1996. So many artifacts lost and destroyed forever. Rigas had zero interest in the team's past, as he wanted an Adelphia 'expansion team'. As far as the aud goes. I have a few full sized limestone bricks. A little piece of rubble. A set of 3 Blue/gray seats that need restoration, and a section of dasher boards with a Nynex ad on them.

I have a few friends thinking of getting season tickets. I advised them to jump on it now. Once the dust settles on covid (hopefully) and the 2021 season is coming close, I think we are going to see a cap on season tickets with a substantive waiting list. I dont believe that will let up until a few off years (hopefully that wont be for awhile). The down-side is that it will allow them to increase the pricing of season tickets every year as well as over-charge for box office. In the Sabres case they kind of had a false sense of demand due to the waiting list and the price points are now set way too high

The problem is Adyms has no GM experience and very limited/no NHL front office experience. Kruger talks a big game with his language skills... but I fail to see what he has actually accomplished in the NHL, or how he has helped this team in any way. I feel like the Pegulas like the success they have with the coach-centric model with the Bills which is so common with the NFL. I believe they have empowered Kruger and they have a think tank of Kruger, Mr and Mrs Pegula, and Adyms. This is not going to turn this around. We see where this is heading. Same place. This is the same team we see every season. Next phase will be when Eichel pouts his way out of town and forces their hand. Kruger and Adyms will be given at least 2 seasons here, Id say 3... and then a full rebuild will be necessary and they will have probably squandered Dahlin along with Eichel. If I were the owner, I would have brought in Burke and Hextall. This should be torn down and treated like an expansion team (it will need to at some point anyway it is just a matter of when the clock starts ticking). The foundation is warped and the studs are rotten. Come in with a scrappy, hungry group who works hard and creates the foundation of a real culture. I kind of get the "give Adyms a chance" thing.... but if he were on the street, there is ZERO chance any other NHL club is hiring him to be their General Manager

Although I have chilled on it for a good amount of time, I have been trying to diminish his accomplishments and minimize Brady for years. We lost. Its over. its the wrong side of the argument and 98% of people on Earth will laugh it out of the room. No matter what the situation is, cheating, TB12 booster shots, etc... 10 Superbowls and 7 victories is pretty insane. It is hard to make and win a Superbowl. I have always been "I would take Manning in a heartbeat" guy over Brady... but now its very difficult to make that case. I have no desire to waste time and energy. Just go with the flow. Tampa Bay winning with Brady is a huge thing for his legacy in the face of doubters.. Completely takes Belichick and the NE 'environment' out of it.

Such an NFL/AFC staple during the Bills' glory years. Also an ex-Buffalo Bill. He did seem like he got results wherever he went. Probably a very underrated coach without the glitz and glamour of a Super Bowl win(s) or a huge market.

I have always maintained that Brady was JAG (although executed gameplans like few can), while the system and coaching set New England over the top. Its pretty clear now that Brady will be hard/impossible to replace. With that said, Tampa Bay is currently an all-star team I would never openly root for another team to win a championship because a former player(s) are on the team. I mean, maybe I would root for them, but not take any satisfaction in it. One of the most pathetic things in the history of sports was when Ray Bourque won the cup with Colorado and brought in back to Boston for an open celebration. I think I would actually have rooted against Brady, because him failing would lend the possibility that the existing framework in-place was teflon

Complete gift of a drive with ticky tack dpi calls on uncatchable balls

Beavis and butthead

Derrick Henry deserved votes He carries that team on his back and is putting up #s unheard of at his position in this era

Typically, Buffalo hasn't been able to win a lot of games in regulation in recent years. They still aren't going onto the ice and winning games. They havent for 5 years, and I have seen little to get me hopeful that will change this season. Pittsburgh and Boston, you would expect will get their fair share. We will see though, everything could go in reverse too, its not out of the question. Regulation wins are going to be key this year though as all games are within the Division.

So were the New Jersey players immune from covid concerns being packed into the same bench amidst an outbreak? The measure that gets me is 2 regulation wins in 10 games. That is poor and symptomatic of what we have seen the past number of seasons. Visually they were awful in the 4 games vs the Rangers and Devils. Based on the first 10 games, I'm expecting the same movie. We are likely to see a decent stretch of games at some point, but also a crater that buries the season and then some as the give up. They arent far back (nobody is thanks to the terrible 2-2-1-1-0 points system that creates a false sense of closeness). Its quite possible they go on a nice run of games and jump into playoff seedings, sure.

The Sabres looked like trash against the *two supposed worst teams in the division (excluding buffalo). The Sabres have 2 real wins in their first 10 games. That is indicative they aren't very good either. Maybe they can improve and roll a bit... but all the recent body of work shows that this is just more of the same.

Apparently he was diagnosed in 2014, so not sure if he would have his capacities long enough. Anyways, the team was un-workable at that point. It was Russ Brandon's team and nothing other than a new owner would change that. Was anyone ever so coveted/rumored to be a Bills head coach through the drought than Schottenheimer (probably Haslett)?

EA Sports jumping back into NCAA football! https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/30821045/school-plan-ea-sports-do-college-football